hawkeyeK9 said:

Hey man, good post. Always interesting to read these stories. May I ask how old you are? You said you have child support? Are you recently divorced and now have the freedom to follow your dream :)? Just curious, feel free not to answer that if you don't want.

I like your enthusiasm and your rules. What is your poker background? You been grinding cash for a while? Have you had live tournament success? You play tourneys on all the U.S. sites? Are you going to be living with a poker buddy or solo?

Sorry for all the questions. It sounds like you have thought this through really well. I am definitely rooting for you as it has always been my dream but doubt I ever get there. I am pretty happy being a heavy recreational player. I think if you have a good hourly at 2/5 over a really good sample size, that it is definitely doable. However, I do think 8-9k a month will be difficult to achieve at that level. Best of luck!!! Look forward for the updates.

frankly i don't have a big enough sample size to know what my hourly cash game rate is. i know if i want to embrace the dark reality of wage slavery I could make $20/hour and work 60+hours a week grinding MTTs on the american friendly sites and manage to pay the bills(well, the important ones). i could be giving myself too much credit in thinking i will be a consistent winner at 2/5 cash. appreciate the well wishes, thx!

rough start as a cash game pro. down $2500 after 55 hours at 5/5. too damn aggressive, bluffing the pros too often, failing to leave the table early enough….just had session where I bought in for $1300 and ran it up to $6200 after about 6 hours but then lost $2200 pot when I got it in with the nuts but the guy rivered a boat and beat my straight. this is the moment I should have left but I played for 17 hours and cashed out for only $2400. still confident in my game. i'm still watching videos, taking notes after my sessions, and feel myself getting in a pro mindset. i hope my next update will be me bragging about improved results

ugh. just lost $4500 in 22 hour marathon session at 5/5 that ended in a comical farce of what it can be like playing against recreational players. i have about $2600 in my stack and i've been grinding hard hoping to get one big hand and get unstuck and finally i get it:

a woman opens utg to $25 and the button and small blind both call and i also call from the bb with 8h8d. the flop is Js8c3s. the small blind checks, i check, and the original raiser makes it $80. The button calls, the small blind folds, and I pop it to $280. the clearly anxious utg player thinks for a minute before calling and the button player, our villain, quickly calls. the turn is the 2c. now, i realize because i am such a heavy favorite against a flush draw mathematically it is profitable to keep them in here at a steep price and not just to shove and get the draw out. i think it is less because i am a tournament player and more becasue my session has been brutal with every draw getting there (including having kings cracked when i got them in good against flush draw in $2200 pot) that i just decide to go all in. the utg raiser takes a good minute before folding (likely an overpair) and then the action goes to our villain….

this guy is a fifty something year old man who is hyper intense and has had the clenched jaw and wild eyes whenever he has had some money in the pot….a gambler to the core. he has been on his phone on and off for six hours, with the dealer and the players constantly alerting him when the action has been on him. i joked with him that he can't enjoy a day off because there is always work to do and the people at the office are bugging him but he says he has been talking mostly to people about who he should bet on this weekend.

with the action on him the guy looks at me like i've just propositioned his wife, angry that he has been put to this decision. he begins muttering to himself..”if a spade comes i could never live with myself”, “i guess i have to fold but…”…i, with a sense of impending doom, decide to chime in “yes, you have to fold”. he's stressed as hell and hating the situation and says “i think you are bluffing me” and i say “you can't beat a bluff now”. “maybe you have a worse flush draw” he says. the man has around $1200 left in his stack and he would be calling to win a pot of $2140. he is utterly flustered, looking at the other players for answers, i decide i will help him with his decision, turn my cards faceup and let him know he is up against a set. he nods, doesnt muck his cards. his eyes study the chips in the pot, the chips in front of him. several people begin to stand around the table including floor staff. he tanks for a good 40 seconds after i show him my hand. i decide to break it down for him: “well, mathematically you are supposed to fold but if you want to gamble then you could roll the dice here”. he nods, appreciating my breaking it down for him lol. there are now like 20 people watching this hand. “i call” the villain says, happy that he has made a decision and reached a place of don't give a shit bliss. the river is the nine of hearts and i think i have just scooped a $3300 pot. “straight” he says and turns over the Qs10s. i quickly rack my last chips with the guy repeatedly saying “i'm sorry, i'm sorry”. #variance

..but i moved out here to be near my son and i have no regrets