Haha, thanks man! I am from a place called Kenilworth right in the middle of England. Very quiet it is here!!!

---

I had a really, really good weekend...

After work on Saturday morning I went straight to the pub (for 7 hours whoops) to have a "few" beers for my mate's birthday.

Nearly got into a brawl when some Scouse lads started giving my Scottish mate some stick but soon sorted that out!

On Sunday, feeling somewhat delicate, we drove up to my brother in Newark and had a meal for our mum's birthday and then went to watch their Christmas Lights switch on. Had a great day out and the kids loved it... Fireworks and rides FTW!!!

HOWEVER!!!

I need to be careful... That was 3 nights of drinking! Only one was "heavy" but I know all too well how easy it is for me to fall back into the trap of drinking daily!

Some of the problem for me at the moment is that work is so bad that I am finding it all too easy to "have a drink to relax". Fortunately I have not had a drink on a work night though so hopefully it is all in check!

Just something to watch out for!

Especially as I need to focus on preparing for if the worst does happen at work...

So... Not much poker over the weekend either.

Last night I played a few hands...



I flopped a straight early on when I 3b SB v BTN (JTss on KhQh9c) but it ran out to have 4 hearts on board so had to XC turn XF river.

Flopped another straight soon after BB v SB with A4o on 532ddx and we got it all in on the flop... he had AQdd and I won the first run out but he won the second!

Soon after I got-it all in pre BB v CO with QQ versus AKo and for the first time in ages I didn't look at the board!!!

Managed to hold that one though and then things ran smoothly thereafter to book another 2 buy in win!

The heat is good lately!!!

Played another chilled session last night but unfortunately it was a foldfest!

I haven't been this card dead for ages!



I felt afterwards that I was very lucky to only be 50bb's down.

I was talking yesterday to a guy who has played 300k hands in November at 200z and 100z and is up $30000!!! Pretty incredible!

Doubt that I will play tonight... I've got to see a man about a dog!

So wtf is going on here???

To summarise...

Work is going shit!

I spent the last few weeks making some preparations to make things as smooth as possible for me if/when the company I work for goes bust/makes me redundant/tries to sack me!!! So I am kind of ready for it...

Poker is going okay...

I have not played much since I realised we have problems at work.

The results have been "quite" nice though...

Recent graph of "chilled" play!



Most of this is at 10z but these last few days I have been playing some 16z...

16z graph



It feels like I should be okay at 16z so hopefully bad variance will stay off my back for a while!

The Future

Well work is kinda bleak but as I say I have made some preparations.

I can draw a small income from my property portfolio (money I never usually touch but instead re-invest) if I am suddenly out of work (plus will get some redundancy) so my situation is certainly not as bad as some of my work colleagues might face.

I am going to try to push all of that to the back of my mind now. It is mostly out of my hands.

I particularly want to make sure that we have a good Christmas at home and a good holiday in January and it won't help that to happen if I am being negative talking about work issues!

As for poker I do still feel that I am approaching the end of the road...

I think I initially said I will give it until April 2018 to see if I could get out of the micros and I still feel I should do that.

What I don't really want to do though is to just fizzle out of the game slowly. I kind of want to try to give it one final last "push".

Unfortunately December is not the best month for me to start this. Having kids 6 and 8 and Christmas approaching means our schedule is really packed!

We've got my daughter's birthday AND my birthday before Christmas as well as all the Christmas performances at school to attend AND we are going to Center Parcs January 2nd too.

But, other than that, I am going to re-focus my efforts into poker a little bit.

I am not exactly sure how, I am just working on figuring that out. I will probably have to sacrifice some sleep (again) to get done what I need/want to do but I am not going to go back to the 4.5 hours per night routine as that was beyond crazy.

I'll let you know as I work things out!

In before the haters say "quit now ffs" and if anyone has any good ideas for me to finish off with a spurt it will be most appreciated!

Wish me luck amigos, surely we want A SUCCESS STORY here right???

I spent a lot of time yesterday trying to figure out the best way to attack my (possible) last few months of poker...

One good friend advised me to still take it "easy" in December until I get back from holiday January 6th with "still 3.5 months to go". It doesn't sit too easy with me but he has a good point as December is pretty bonkers for us at home!

However, I want to be as productive as possible in the small amounts of time I will have in December. So somewhere in the middle ground...

My target last night was to study 19.30 - 20.30 and then play 20.30 - 23.00

Of course the kids didn't go to bed too easily so I got to the PC to study at 19.45 and did 45 minutes watching an old (but recent) coaching session and making notes.

I then played 1 table of 16 Zoom until 23.00 (with a 20 minute unplanned break).

Focus was:-
- Taking time to make better decisions
- Avoid auto piloting as much as possible
- Think about how ranges interact with the board
- Be more aggressive

I have to apply myself to finishing my session then getting to sleep as quickly as possible IF I want to optimise my time management and last night I did a pretty good job. I think I was asleep within 20 minutes of shutting the table down!

I considered getting up at 06.00 to do some study but in all honesty I woke up but decided to let nature make the choice. I fell back to sleep for another 20 minutes and by then it is not quite worth starting anything as I leave for work at 07.15.

It was a good day. Especially the quiet time I have during my car journey. In particular it seems to be helping me form questions about what it is I need to be working on. Namely range v range, leading to bet frequency, leading to bet sizing.

Hopefully it will be a similar poker day today. It will almost certainly start late again as Grandad is here for a few more days meaning kids will be spending valuable time with him.

So it did NOT quite go to plan...

Wife and father-in-law decided we should go out for a meal (again)! As I don't get home from work until 18.00 we did not get home after the meal until 20.20... Kids settled in bed by 20.45... Finally got on PC at 20.50.

So I did 15 minutes of study. This probably seems as though it is not worth it BUT for me it is about forming the HABIT of doing a bit of study before playing. It is also a good warm up for me and resets my mind for poker.

I then played (one table of 16 Zoom) from 21.05 until 22.40 and to be honest I was too tired to carry on AND it was obvious I was starting to lose focus/play weak and passive.

I learned some pretty cool stuff about ranges/equities/boards these last few days. I am computing it slowly but surely...

Tonight I will be late to the PC as I have got Wing Chun but should be on it by 20.10...

Got back from Wing Chun 19.50, said g'night to the kids, washed up and was at the PC by 20.15...

Studied a coaching video for 30 minutes and hit the tables feeling confident!

Played (one table of NL16 Zoom) from 20.45 to 22.45

Focused on:-
- Taking time
- Avoiding autopilot
- Being aggressive
- Mind control

The session was one of the most enjoyable I have ever had!

I made a couple of big bluffs (neither of which "worked") and I did not care about the outcome at all (usually I have some sort of negative reaction).

Overall I can see/feel my thought process during hands is improving.

One tabling, getting good coaching and talking to people who actually understand this game seems to be helping!

Only time will tell...

I should get a full evening at the PC (from 19.30) tonight. The poker outlook for the weekend is practically non existent though as my beautiful daughter will be 9 on Saturday!!!

Love it!

Can I ask how much reviewing of your own hands you do?

When studying ranges, the one thing that has helped me the most is Flopzilla, looking at my opponents hands in specific detail. Has helped me learn so much

Hi mate!

I review marked hands every day but not so much of reviewing whole sessions etc. Maybe i should???

I put in a solid 3.5 hours last night.

Girls were out at Girl Guides so I put my son to bed and hit the PC at 19.30.

Studied for 40 minutes (recent coaching video) and hit the 16z table at 20.15

Played until 23.00 (2h 45m) and played super solid.

I was running pretty bad and had to fold often to raises and 4bets so I was really pleased to see I only lost 40bb overall.

More importantly my mindset was brilliant. I would have expected that I was down a couple of buy-ins and in those instances I am usually starting to tighten up but last night I stayed aggressive.

I am still only playing 1 table! This takes tonnes of discipline but it is SUPER helpful in improving my hand reading skills (not hard to improve those I guess). Last night was a bit too much folding going on but I managed to stay on track and play my A-game. Very pleased.

---

I am looking for a poker mentor. I would consider being staked/CFP/paying hourly. You can see my work ethic so if you fancy a challenge hit me up. Skype is chinnyandhels

My bank roll is small now (I used some of it to invest in myself in case my work goes bad).

I could do with buying some coaching but cannot afford it out of my roll (and always refused to use IRL money for this).

I have spoken to a couple of staking stables (and also chatted with some other very helpful people - thank you) and it seems my low volume is putting them off accepting me.

All this one tabling and taking things a bit easier because of work has worked against me there!!!

So I am going to up the volume now and put in a couple of 30,000 hand months.

I am sure the quality of my play will drop by adding a table which is a shame as I have been on a nice upswing lately.

I will drop down to 10z for a couple of sessions to get used to playing 2 tables again and if that goes okay will play 16z again.

Target is 30,000 hands by end of play 11/1/2018... I have got a vacation, Christmas, my birthday, loads of stuff on with kids so it will be tough but I will do it.

In fact I got up at 05.45 this morning to set the ball rolling!

Target for today is 1100 hands. I played 320 this morning so it shouldn't be a problem if everything goes smoothly at home tonight!

Bankroll is $596.

Bankroll management will be to move up to 25z at $750 and to move down to 10z at $448.

Let's go!

[x] Play 1100 hands...



Fortunately I played 10z as I wanted to get used to playing faster again and 2 tables of Zoom (one tabled for few weeks to improve hand reading).

Graph



I really played terribly to start with. The first ~300 hands were at 06.00 before work and I was playing too quickly AND much too loose.

In the evening I started in exactly the same way, even though I had told myself to take my time and just settle down!

At around the 420 hand mark I lost a 60bb pot through bad play and sat out.

I decided that I needed to improve my self awareness as I was not in control and could not seem to do anything about it.

I logged in to Headspace and decided to go back to the very beginning and do the Basics pack Session 1.

After that things improved a lot. I was calmer, more deliberate and much more self aware. I still made quite a few mistakes but at least I was around break even for the rest of the session (and redline improved which is usually good indicator for me).

Cliffs:-
- Daily hand target surpassed.
- Played really badly to start.
- Got better after meditating/improving self awareness
- Still played B game

Target for today is 1100 hands again. I got up at 05.40 this morning to get some play in before work.

Bankroll = $545

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

HH 1

This is super strong at these games imo. What's best?



-----------------------------------------------------------------------

HH2

Is this ok? 3bet size ok?




-----------------------------------------------------------------------

HH3

Just want to be 100% this is okay for 70bb v fish (got to be!)?



-----------------------------------------------------------------------

HH4

Looks okay?

[x] Play 1100 hands



I did not get started on my evening session until just after 21.00 (daughter was in Christmas Carol service) and I refused to play without meditating so didn't hit the tables until 21.15ish.

I played at 10z again whilst monitoring my self awareness/ability to not play like a mad man and I did play at a much better pace (slower and more deliberate/thoughtful).



It ended up that I did not get to bed until midnight after my session. I am not using an alarm in the mornings (yet) and I woke up at 06.10 today. I have to start getting showered and ready for work at 06.45 so it just wasn't worth getting up and doing a session.

Yesterday was a long day so I rolled over and got another 20 minutes kip instead!

So, without my pre-work poker session it will be tougher to get the hands in today...

Target for today is 1000 hands.

I will play 16z again today as I am more comfortable with my mindset for grinding "volume".

Bankroll $559

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

HH 5

I've got 77bb left. Jam or XR?

[ ] Play 1000 hands...



Total fail.

Reason: Had a couple of people give me advice (and two possible offers) regarding staking and/or CFP. So I spent a lot of the evening talking and researching.

I got up at 05.20 this morning to try and make amends.



95% at 16z

I played well but variance was not on my side. I feel confident at 16z (as long as i play calm). I played calm > 90% of the time.

I will be talking to people again today about staking/CFP. Hopefully will also get some decent volume in tonight.

Target for today is 1300 hands.

Bankroll $527

Birthday weekend coming up!!!!

----------------------------------------------------------

HH 6

Flips...



-----------------------------------------------------------------------

HH 7

Not flips...

[x] Play 1300 hands





And not many more than 1300! I was absolutely knackered!!!

I got up early (05.20) to make up for the previous day's weak efforts but by the end of the day I was smashed (still woke up stupid o'clock this morning mind).

I had another chat with two different companies about staking/CFP and pretty sure I will go for the CFP option (if I do go for one). I'll let you know!

Going out for birthday beers tonight! Sure sign I am getting old... Coupla years ago there would be 20+ going out... This year I only mentioned it to about 5 people!!!

Getting a few hands in today (Saturday) while kids are at dance/scouts/etc but that could be it for the weekend.

Hangover incoming!!!!!!!

I managed to fit 600 hands in yesterday while my family was out...





Today is gonna be interesting... I had one too many beers last night... We are taking the kids to see Father Christmas later... I hope I don't puke on him!!!

I have got a couple of contracts to read today and will make a decision about CFP/Staking over the next couple of days.

I should also set a target of hands for tonight. Hmm, the way I feel right now I think around 10! I will target 750 hands today. We are going out for a meal for my birthday after meeting Father Christmas so I won't get started until late.

Bankroll $564 (move up @ $750, move down @ $448)

[ ] Play 750 hands. FAIL!





Hangover + Seeing Father Christmas and Sledging + Birthday meal (inc couple more beers) = NO CHANCE!!!

It was a "struggle" to get the hands in that I did play tbh. Was possibly EV- but at least I tried!

Still not completely made my decision for staking/CFP! I won't "make it" alone though so I need to get on with it. Looks like it would start 1/1/2018 anyway so got a few days.

Bankroll $567 (move up @ $750, move down @ $448)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meeting Santa!









If you don't like Christmas, go and get some kids, it's AWESOME!!!!

[x] Forget to set a target amount of hands to play





My wife was out for a Christmas Meal last night so I had the kids. Unfortunately my daughter wasn't feeling very well so I was up and down the stairs to help her.

Still, I managed to get a nice session in.

I got into a few marginal situations that were unnecessary but overall I would rate it as my B game.

I have signed a CFP contract and sent all the required documents in. I am just waiting for the final part of the application process to go through.

Today is my birthday!!! We are going out for (another) meal after work tonight to celebrate.

Not sure I will be up for poker after that! Maybe I will have a couple of celebratory drinks and play some 10z. Or maybe I will have some material from CFP to peruse!?

Have a great day amigos! The birthday beers are on me!!!

I am now a student of Coaching For Profit at BluffTheSpot!

It has been a very tough decision for me to make this past week or so...

I did A LOT OF RESEARCH into various CFP programmes and staking stables and, although many of them would not accept me (at this moment), nobody really came even close to BluffTheSpot.

I spoke to several current BTS students varying from NL10 to NL200 players and they are all happy with the programme.

In fact I was surprised by some of the negative reviews I received from students/players at other stables/programmes that I actually thought would be very good!

After a mostly negative experience with BPC it took a lot of convincing to make me make this commitment!

Huge thanks to all the guys that gave me feedback (I won't name names but you know who you are!).

Massive thanks to BluffTheSpot for giving me this (final) opportunity!!!

---

My contract commences on 1.1.2018 (I am on vacation 2nd Jan unfortunately!)

I am already gradually getting access to forums etc

Excited, intrigued, slightly nervous...

Happy birthday and congratulations on getting the staking!

I started playing Spins with a stable a few months ago and love it! The coaching and mentoring you get is invaluable and the way I approach and think about the game is completely different, I also have much more confidence and having the other guys in the groups to bounce ideas and hands off is brill as well, I wish you all the best with the new journey and look forward to reading all about it!

Hope you and the kids have a great Christmas, here's to 2018!

Thanks Ash! Good luck to you too amigo!!!

-------------------------

My contract with BluffTheSpot starts officially today!!!

However.... I am going on vacation tomorrow morning!!!

So I will be starting to play some hands around 8th January and I am really looking forward to hitting the tables again.

I have had a break from playing over the last two weeks but NOT a break from studying.

I studied 9 BluffTheSpot basic strategy videos and made extensive notes.

I have got a few changes to make to my overall strategy. Most of it is preflop.

To be honest I have always been very poor preflop ESPECIALLY since moving to 6max from HU. Also think I had some TERRIBLE preflop coaching in the past... At least it seems so now!

Postflop so far (not done too much) does not seem too different to what I already play BUT hopefully I have a slightly better understanding of WHY I will make some plays.

I am really looking forward to getting back into grinding and studying...

It will be, as it always has been, a test of finding time to fit everything in (around long hours at work and family etc) with a small amount of balance so that my head does not explode. Actually not too worried about my head exploding to start with but will of course keep an eye on it!

Going to enjoy my vacation now and some really good quality time with my wife and kids...

Happy New Year amigos...

Failing is fine, quitting is not...