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Nervous Mike - My poker journey!
Nervous Mike
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October 14, 2014 - 6:23 am
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So another weekend with grind is over. Put in around 25hrs. Friday was a couple of deep runs but nothing big enough. Saturday I did bink a $10 2k gtd bounty for 15x$2 bounties and $417 for the win. Saved both Friday and Saturday with a lil profit. Sunday was a big downhill (I never seem to do good on sundays). Yesterday was on it again. Managed to go deep but bust all except 1 before any bigger cash (for my stakes). Last table was a $5 6k gtd rebuy (non turbo). Was Cl and abused both ITM and FT bubble… Got down to 4 big blinds when around 18ppl left. I minopen 66 button, gets raised from sb and he is very agro. I 3bet shove. Had him covered but he called KK. 6 on flop. K river. So had to grind short stack. Managed to double and steal some blinds, and was back to chiplead pretty fast. Did play good and slowed down. FT as 1/9. Busted 3 or 4 on the FT and then we got to heads up. Around 40 mins of heads up, managed to come up as the winner. 6.5h later $1020 shipped my way.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bz3I-jlCQAAXIsX.jpg:largeImage Enlarger
Nervous Mike
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October 15, 2014 - 6:32 pm
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https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B0BXWuTCMAISPS_.jpg:largeImage Enlarger

The guy to my left didn’t really understand ICM and made many questionable calls when I put pressure on him with 3 shorties with 2bbs on the table and I was Cler. He managed to take 1 down when I was a 80/20 favorite pre.

Down to 3 handed…
I was dealt AKs with 13bbs, guy in SB have 15 and the short stack got 6bbs. I jam AIPF and is fine to just steal the blinds. But the SB wakes up with 99 and busts me. Not sure if that is a ICM misstake or not. Turbo and blinds about to go up so might been able to wait. I haven’t runned it in a calculator yet but I can never fold AKs there I think.

Well well, close but no cigar. Still a nice boost.

EDIT: Ok, head spins. I had to get the answers. I did run the hands I was thinking about and was thinking was questionable plays. Seems I played them all correct and all moves was +EV according to ICMIZER. Still I think I have to adapt to the fact that players at those stakes probably not know about this or take this into consideration.
3rd place sucks, because of the moneyjumps yes. Because I am a better player than both of the others yes. But most of all because I didn’t win. It’s always the will to win that drives me, if it’s $3 for first or $3000, I always play to win! To be nr1. That is the most satisfaction.

Nervous Mike
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October 19, 2014 - 6:26 am
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A sick week come to an end. I did plan for a Friday grind but did fall a sleep after regular day job. I did sleep for 17h in a row. I guess I did need it.

Did run some errand to city and then back to the grind on Saturday.

3 way deal, 8881 runners. I got 8k as the picture shows. When host came he said how he could help as usual and I tried to be tricky. “We want to see numbers by chips please”, Then another fast responded. -“ICM numbers aswell”. 8k was in between the 2 so I wrote in chat. “I get 8k, think that is fair”. The 2nd player gave away $100 more and the 3rd player $140. Think it was a pretty fair deal.

Too bad I couldn’t lock up the win in heads up for Pocket5s ranking. But hey, I’m happy with the 8k. I take it 🙂

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B0RP__lCYAAkKiv.jpg:largeImage Enlarger
Gsmyth5
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October 20, 2014 - 6:22 pm
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Epic mate, very, very well played!!!

tazzjazz
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October 22, 2014 - 10:32 am
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man, just looked up your stats…very nice. 36% roi on Party Poker and 28% roi on Pokerstars this year. i've spent 2 years trying to get to 25%. lol. keep up the good work

NeverAA
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October 22, 2014 - 10:49 am
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Hey where do you look em up? sharkscope?

Nervous Mike
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October 22, 2014 - 11:55 am
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Thank you guys, not sure what stats are good or not, but I have played and runned pretty hot lately.
Would be interesting to see what a pro player got for those numbers as in playing for a living. So there is something to compare with.

Also, I’m still playing very low stakes. Unless if I sat into something bigger.

I would assume the numbers are pulled from …..nkings.com

/Mike

Nervous Mike
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November 12, 2014 - 3:00 pm
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Long time since update again, for the cash I won in the 8k win I have withdrawn a fair bit and gonna improve my setup with a new 28 inch 4k display. 3048*2140 in resolution to fit more tables. I also did order a crazy mounting thing that can hold 6 screens, only got 5 monitors with the new but it was cheaper to buy one for 6 screens than for 3.

No score to brag about, bankroll got a little setback, I blame my regular dayjob. Crazy hours and a lot to do at the moment.
Probably shouldn’t play much poker as I don’t play good so gonna go back to studying more and probably only grind on the weekends when I feel fresh.

Good luck to you all at the tables!

/Mike

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November 14, 2014 - 3:50 am
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Pics of the new setup plz! Nice score keep up the good work! GL

Nervous Mike
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November 14, 2014 - 4:12 pm
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So today I spent time with my setup and assemble the stuff etc. Was too tired after work to do it yesterday, and today too tired to play and this had to be done.

Danny, you requested a picture so a picture you will get at the bottom.
Note that I’m not playing, only railing. But 50 tables is possible as you can see.

I will add a 6th monitor, it does look so empty on the left wing without one. Might put up push/fold charts or other useful notes or something there for now.

I’m not very happy with my new 28″ Asus screen actually (The top middle one). I think the resolution is good etc, but text gets too small, and it’s not as sharp and crisp as my 27″ (bottom middle (This screen is supposed to be a re-branded South Korea imported Apple Thunderbolt as I wrote about earlier in this thread)).

I also think that Windows got a bit of trouble to handle those 4k resolutions.

But for the price, it will do ok. My goal was to fit more poker tables, and this screen will do that. Will work OK as a secondary monitor as I keep my Shimian 27″ as main. It is also another type of panel in the 27″, that is why it so much better than the other monitors I have.

As for the desk mount I’m very happy with it, only downside is that I get the monitors closer to my eyes / my desk isn’t deep enough… Before I had 2 monitors on the wall, now I loose about 2.5 inch in depth as the monitor stand is fixed to the back of my desk. I Would like to sit a bit more away from my screens but I will figure that one out also. (Might invest in a motorized desk later to alter between standing and sitting when grinding)

Everything looks a bit funny too as I don’t have the same type of monitors or even the same size on them…
Oh, and another downside I can think off is that middle pole sticking up above the middle monitors, can’t adjust the size of it without a Do It Yourself solution.

Enough rant, here is the picture!

http://oi58.tinypic.com/rs5z6h.jpgImage Enlarger
Nervous Mike
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November 22, 2014 - 11:40 am
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Friday grind…

Got 15th in big $8.8 and 24th in big $22. Really tired last hour and made misstakes when I can’t afford to. Was a good run but not good enough, had some coolers etc. But the most interesting thing is that I mentaly didn’t blow up or let it affect me.

When I got to bed I didn’t run the hand in my head over and over. I could really just let it go right away!

Interesting for sure as I worked on my mental game and before session use a warm up routine.

Anyway, that monitor setup picture is now old. Today I did get myself 2 new cheaper 24″ inch monitors to add to my setup. The most old 22″ died on me and since I can run 6 monitors I couldn’t resist.

Might come a picture of new setup again and I guess it was a long time since a picture of the graph. So I will see if I can add this in also in next post.

/Mike

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Killingbird
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November 22, 2014 - 12:40 pm
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that setup ravages!

Nervous Mike
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November 23, 2014 - 9:52 am
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Ok, so an update on my progress.

Let’s start with a fresh picture of the grind station. The 2 new 24″ monitors added. As the nerd I am, if I can run 6 monitors, I will run 6 monitors.

http://oi60.tinypic.com/2whfe3b.jpgImage Enlarger

Also had a binky last night! Was a pretty long heads up match and I made some mistakes but I managed to fight back and win it.

http://oi62.tinypic.com/14txxd.jpgImage Enlarger

Last but not least comes an updated picture on my graph from the start of this post to the date of today…

There is swings in it, there is bad bank roll management in it, and it’s some binks in it! But what I am most glad to see is the steady results of hard work! Just nothing really life changing yet that makes me able to do this full time… But I guess I can call myself a semi professional now.

http://oi57.tinypic.com/20su6qb.jpgImage Enlarger

Good luck at the tables! Take one down for the good guys!

Nervous Mike
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December 11, 2014 - 4:25 pm
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Deep runs, but nothing to report. Variance. Grind it out…

Kalculater
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December 11, 2014 - 5:37 pm
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Loving the updates. Your YTD graph is pretty awesome.

 

GL for the rest of the year.

Nervous Mike
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January 6, 2015 - 12:32 pm
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It’s 2015 folks. Happy new year. Let’s make this our year.

So I tried to write this earlier, but my post didn’t post, and as stupid as it sounds I didn’t backup the text…
So this is the 2nd edition a few days later…

Time to sum up my 2014 – Let’s just start with a big fat thank you to you all, readers, posters. TPE members.

So, as poker is a game of money it’s easy to be results oriented. Money. Profit?

Before 2014 I was break even, or maybe even a loosing player with some lucky binks. I didn’t keep much record. 2014 that did change. – What did change is my approach to the game. I’m willing to work on my game and learn. 2014 I did learn. A LOT! Both from here, studying and from failure. Get back on the horse, fail, and keep trying…

How much I improved is hard to count, but there is few things that is facts.
Fact is how much I have in my bankroll. Fact is how much I did cash out and put in bank account.
I will be very honest here. My online roll around all sites are now around $2k. Not a lot no. Enough? To build on, Yes.
Lost around $1.5k last 2 months of the year. Playing when I shouldn’t, burned out from IRL job. There is many excuses, I will give none. I lost it. This is fact.

What is scary is this. Put away my $8k chop in the $1.1 3x turbo on stars and I’m pretty much back to 0, zero, zip, nada… Very very scary.

I have cashed out $6300 to my bank account as savings. This is not my bankroll, this is savings for the day I decide to quit my day job. This is a start for my “backup money” to live off to pay rent etc if I decide and believe I can go “pro” one day. (It may come sooner than expected as I told my boss to f*ck off today. Bad feeling is I might be out of work in 1 month… But this is another story)

I have invested poker money in my grinding station as you noticed, also I have payed of all my debts except my flat. But they day I sell it I will get back what I have in loan on it.

I did profit in 2014, just not enough to make a living out of it. Even if it’s just about sleep, eat, poker. I ask myself; would I have done it if I put in more hours? That is the question…
This pretty much sums up my 2014.

Thinking about the future – 2015.

I want to improve as a player. I want to learn. I want to put in the hard dirty work to get better.
I will achieve this, question is what road I decide to take. Question is how much improvement can I make!

Backing? – Been thinking a lot about this… My thinking is… Sigh, here we go. Why play with others money when you can play with your own?

Pros – Because I have a very limited roll, and I have put up results, I know I’m good enough. I can get better with a staking stable, coaching sessions is often included. Will keep me floating so to speak.

Cons – I know I’m good enough, I have put up results. Just not big enough to make me able to pay the rent, and eat. I don’t ask for more at the moment. Backing would cut my winnings. I prefer to do stuff on my own.

Another idea is swapping action. – Cut the downswings. I don’t mind to share with people I like and people I know that work hard. Question is, how?

So… What lays in my future is very unclear at the moment. I might be out of work soon. If they don’t fire me I might quit anyway. (both good and bad. I hate the work, but it pays my rent. If they decide to fire me after 8 years that gives me the kick I need to leave it and find something else to do)

Can it be poker?

I don’t really have a backup plan. If I want to go back to school and study I have 9 days to send in my application… I’m 30, 31 to be in April. Do I wanna put another 3 years of my life in school? I really didn’t like school…
The job market is really poor at the moment. Sigh, so many things to think about.

I’m at a point in life where I gotta gamble. This is the biggest gamble in my life.
I can’t win the pot at showdown. But my story checks out. Can he believe in my story? Can he believe I got the best hand..
That I did outdraw him, that I got there? How do I achieve him to fold? How will I win?
All In!

/Mike

NeverAA
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January 6, 2015 - 2:21 pm
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You are such a poet lol. I liked how you have all the determination that you needed and all I can say right now is to wish you a lot of luck.

However, before putting your life on the line(thats how it sounded) by going pro, please know that there is a chance factor in this game. Yes, we all put in enough work, but that will not affect how the computer puts the cards on the board.

We can play very good, but still lose.

I dont know about you, but I kind of feel like there is scary. Did I think about it? Yes. But then it struck me that I put in a lot of effort to come to this point in my career. Went to the best schools, had good grades and now working for an internationally known top tier company.

Am I loving it? No. But I am loving how they deposit my check every 2 weeks without hassle.

And that is a huge factor in my success because I will not have to stress myself about playing poker to make my living. I cannot say it is easy but I am doing both. I am hanging around 75th in New Jersey in ranked tournaments and have all 5 starts from all networks available to us. It is hard and I cannot put in a lot of volume, but I made around 12k net in 8 months for a total of about 40k in winnings. Its not very good, but I proved to myself it is doable whenever I want to.

Also, a lot of people moved to Canada after black friday. Who knows its not gonna happen again? Im talking about US, and I know you are not here but shit can go wrong with this. After all, government sees this as gambling although most of us think about it as more of a sport.

One last thing is the benefits when you work from a company. You will not have paid time off, no insurance etc. You have to take care of all those. I dont know how that works in your country, but its not easy to visit a doctor without insurance from a financial perspective.

I just wanted to point out a couple of things that you might wanna go over and think twice.Wish you all the best…

Nervous Mike
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January 7, 2015 - 10:00 pm
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So an update. I did quit day job today. Told boss to F off and got 1 month until I have no regular paycheck coming my way.
7th of Feb is the date.

Grinded tonight, gotta be at work in 3 hours. Happydance

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B6y69LcIgAEwvoE.jpg:largeImage Enlarger
Douggyfr3sh
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January 8, 2015 - 6:23 pm
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Hey Mike! 

 

Came here after you posted in my goals thread.  Wish I would have found this sooner so I could have followed you through 2014.  Looks like we had sort of similar 2014 years.  I also just quit my day job too!  I had to give 2 months notice and will be putting in the full time grind starting in March.  Really admire your work ethic and very,very jealous of your setup 🙂 and of course your ability to play stars,888 etc.  

 

Will be following you from now on, it was hard to follow much of anything last year between the full time job grind and pokerz.  Regarding backing- I have always been opposed to being backed and never liked the ideas of giving away a huge chunk of my profits and being in makeup.  Recently I decided that backing would be the best way to improve quickly, as it also includes free weekly coaching and lots of motivation from your backers/coaches if you get with the right people.  I am now playing backed and giving away 50% of profits.  So far it has been good and my coaches have turned me onto some really good stuff- meditation and life balance, etc.  Keep in mind that you can play backed for something like 2k games or so and then end the deal- this allows you to get coaching for a while and improve your game and also network in the poker community.  Just a thought!  GOOD LUCK in 2015 let's crush the games #TPEdge

Nervous Mike
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January 12, 2015 - 9:27 pm
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Another night with just 3 hours of sleep before I gotta be at work… I’ll take it! #heater!

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Kalculater
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January 12, 2015 - 10:29 pm
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on fire. keep it up!

BigSnowball
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January 13, 2015 - 2:53 am
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Great stuff. Congratulations. Suspected it was your tourney when I saw the “Q5 WTF” Tweet.
Hope you treated yourself to a lie in.

Keep up the good work

michaeldi11on
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January 13, 2015 - 8:30 am
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Amazing man. Hard work pays off

Nervous Mike
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January 14, 2015 - 11:44 am
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NeverAA

– Thank you for your long and well written post. I appriciate the time and effort you took into writing your thinking! There is a lot of good thoughts in there for sure. Trust me, I did run this in my head so many times already so you can’t count it.

It’s not about going pro. It’s about life. Life is too short to be a slave to the system and work your ass off, all you get for it is backpain and a bad mood at the end of the day.

The post wasn’t a “I wanna go pro post. ” It was more that I had enough. I have to stand up to myself and be true to my real valuation of life. The plan was to look for another job. But now, after this recent heat of run good I bought myself more time and is not in a rush to do so.

In Sweden you can have a insurance even if you got no job, and Sweden also got free medical health care. To visit a doctor, can cost you at most around $150 / year. No matter how many times you have to visit. What you have to pay for is medicine, but also there you have a saftey roof of a max cost / year.

I have thought about all this for sure, and I got no correct answer to give. I just prefer to live my life hear and now. Feel good about it and not take more crap. Life is too short for that!

Doughyfr3sh

– I did read your post and was thinking the same, that we had kind of similar year. I had to give 1 month notice when I did quit so I’m stuck there for 16 more work days. Yes, I’m counting!
I did read about your thoughts on backing. I had similar ones, mostly about getting coaching for free. Then I was thinking that there is so much (almost) free content out there. Just here at #TPE, a real gold mine to dig into. If I put my time and effort in I am sure I can evolve as a player. Maybe not as fast as with a coach, but I prefer to go my own way and pay a coach with my own money instead of giving a way a profit on my winnings. 50% extra is really too much in my opinion. Sure you can limit it by setting a X amount of tournaments played. But I’m still not a fan about it. Maybe I change my mind later.

But the good point you bring up also is the community, to network and get to know other players. That I can see great value in and is something I want to get more off. Just not sure how to get more involved… For now, I will try get some HH reviews going with the chatregs here from TPE and the ones I often talk to.

And to Kalculater, BigSnowball and michaeldi11on. Thank you, this is not the last binks you see this year. 😛

Douggyfr3sh
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January 14, 2015 - 12:25 pm
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“I prefer to go my own way and pay a coach with my own money instead of giving a way a profit on my winnings. 50% extra is really too much in my opinion.”

-This is a great mindset and I think can be a very good plan for some people, and you seem like you are someone who will be able to evolve and put in the time to get really good on your own. Best wishes, crush crush crush!

Nervous Mike
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February 2, 2015 - 7:56 am
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A bit of a downswing at the moment. But I’m on the grind and also trying out this twitch stream thing.

twitch.tv/stalpan

EllDan
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February 2, 2015 - 9:39 am
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Hey Mike, enjoying the posts.  You knew the downswings were coming.  Be great if you could make a video about your last year.  Tools you use, impactful videos, coaching if any.  Maybe you could twitch instead of a video.  Post the day and time I would be there.

Best of luck

Nervous Mike
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February 27, 2015 - 2:26 pm
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Still on a downswing, haven’t played much this last 2 weeks, took a break and now I’m back hungrier than ever. Sadly the band takes a lot of time too atm with lots of gig. But trying to find a balance.

I feel we got a score to come, been playing well lately, but the bad beats deep is still not in my favor. I’ll just keep grind it out!

Also, did get a motorized desk so I can both stand and sit and play. I like it so far. Got rid of most of my back pain!

Let’s take 1 down for the good guys!

Also streaming more and more often. twitch.tv/Stalpan

swhitelex
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February 28, 2015 - 11:56 am
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Hey NervMike! I looked through your post. A lot of times during a downswing, it’s tough to really post things for you feel kind of sucky. I have enjoyed this thread seeing your results. It is nice and encouraging that even good players go on downswings too. I was talking to a buddy about this and in conclusion, we can’t be results oriented in poker BUT we can continue making good decisions. The profit and results long term do come when that happens. That is kind of why it’s called a grind.

Sometimes it may feel like you are taking a pocket knife and sawing a log, eventually if you put in your time and energy, you can do it but not too effective. If you get a hand saw, it will be better but still a bit tiring and still somewhat ineffective but it’s better. But if you take a chainsaw to it, it just breaks right through like butter. I believe that poker will never be the chainsaw, which would mean the game is solved and you see all the hands face up. That is not going to happen. So my advice is to keep tweaking the tools to make the best decsions on each hand. It seems from your posts, that you are consistent. Sometimes, you got to hone in on your tools at your disposal (TPE videos, books, coaching, talking hands through with friends (to rethink your strat). It will all come into play and eventually your 2014 run will come back in 2015. Its not even March yet so Go GRIND.

happy grinding,

swhitelex

Nervous Mike
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March 18, 2015 - 7:59 am
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Hi guys!

Long time since a update again, took a break, but I’m back on the grind again.

Nothing major to report. Had a 12th place in a $2.7KO with 4.5k+ runners, and a 6th place in the Big5.5 with runners around the same. A 50th in a $3.3r. A FT on Partypoker but that was just for change.

I’m hanging in there. Back to the grind. #Nevergiveup #Dreamcatcher

Nervous Mike
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March 21, 2015 - 7:52 pm
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Lost a sick all in, I open SB to BB 3 handed AQo, he jams 14bbs or so J7o. Flop KTXr, 7 turn, gg… Then I get it in 9bbs K9o vs 33 and 33 holds. But well played. Turning things around!

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CAqGV-dWEAAVM5E.jpg:largeImage Enlarger
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March 22, 2015 - 6:50 pm
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Sick runout to bust third… Very nice score tho sir. Crushing the larger field mtts on PS. Great work

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April 9, 2015 - 4:28 pm
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Had a small break after that score, just enjoyed life. But back clicking buttons again. Hope to post something good again soon 🙂

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April 17, 2015 - 1:45 am
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Only just noticed you on twitch, although ive probably seen you post before.

How long have you been streaming for teamgripsed?

Nervous Mike
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April 23, 2015 - 10:44 am
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Few close ones, one bink. Let’s keep a few more comming…

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CDOHEd-W8AEdqyO.jpg:largeImage Enlarger

Kalculater: I have been streaming for team gripsed for about 2 months, but I have issues with lag when streaming atm so haven’t streamed that much lately.

Nervous Mike
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May 23, 2015 - 5:35 am
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A month has passed. Nothing to report, down swinging. Keep going deep, just have to be better at closing stuff in a better way.

Nervous Mike
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May 26, 2015 - 6:58 pm
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The downswing has been rough on me and my bankroll… Mentaly, both for real life and poker confidence.
But this time I take it better than ever, I have been there before. I know what happens with your mind and that you just have to grind it out. To help me this time I have approached a poker coach, instead of donking away more money at the tables I invest it in myself and in my skills to get back stronger and better, faster. I also try to balance life more, taking 1 day off 100% from poker.

Swapping to a more sit and go based schedule, getting back to the grind, less tables, lower field size, cutting variance and rebuilding. Rebuilding confidence and roll.

Feels good to reach those final tables more often. Even better as I managed to take 2 of the 3.5r 180 mans down in the past 2 days and today I even had dual final tables at the same time.

Almost half of the year have already passed. I need to set up a new type of goal. I am thinking Supernova… Aim for the stars right? Might be stupid to start such a hard grind, but I am motivated. I have no clue if I ever will make it…

The plan is simple, lower variance. Hard grind, hard work, get better, get stronger.
#Nevergiveup!

/Mike

Nervous Mike
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June 8, 2015 - 3:27 pm
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Downswing is harder than ever before. I have also been sick for a week straight. Back at it today again. Time to get a grip on this … Else it’s time to go look for a job soon. I am not there mentally either. Hard work to comeback or yeah… Look for a job soon.

The supernova grind won’t happen either btw. Not this year.

/Mike

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June 10, 2015 - 8:00 am
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May I ask about your approach to variance? What % of your BR is your max. buy-In, how does the range of your buy-ins vary, what stakes do you play max. and do you play satellites? If so, for T$ or for the actual entries?

Also on what sites do you play and tell me more about your avg. field sizes.

I wish you the best. Especially get healthy soon, don't try to grind when you are sick, I did this often enough, mostly with poor results. Eat healthy, as soon as you feel fit again, do some workout, regularely, have a routine AWAY from poker before you start to play (at least 30 minutes). Hang out with some friends at least once a week.

Maybe you already do all of this, I am sure you know it all, but sometimes one needs a little reminder of the fundamental things not directly related to poker-strategy.

Been a silent follower of your thread for quite a while, so I hope you get back on track, good luck.

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June 11, 2015 - 8:19 am
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A little update, this is probably one of the few times I actually update the thread before I start to play.

But I approach things different today, did play yesterday, just after playing bass with the band, great times. Did bust all and was like meh, not worth to reg more tournaments if I really don’t want to play. I did go to bed early and did wake up early. Perfect day, sunny and warm already early in the morning, did eat a banana and put on my running shoes. As I been sick lately I didn’t wanna go for a run so I decided to go for a walk.
Had no plans for how long, where to walk or anything, just out and walk. Clock is around 7.30am. Haven’t been awake this early in I dunno how long.

Inspired by DannyN13’s thread about workout I decided that a walk won’t hurt as I hate the gym. So I did load in the TPE live podcast, latest episode and went out walking. No plans, just walking. All of a sudden the podcast was over, and I had been passing some very nice houses, some very nice cars, still I have no idea where I am. I see the water. Did load in Thinkingpoker’s latest podcast as well and did fire that up. All of a sudden I am in a forest and all of a sudden next to a golf course. I keep walking. Just clearing my head, getting sweaty. Pulling up the GPS to find my way home and notice I am not that far away from home, so I continue the big circle to end up at home. Feels so good. No clue how long I did walk, or where I was for most of the time but just so great to clear my mind. All I know is that it was 2 podcasts long 😛

Got home and called a friend for a lunch. Had just enough time to take a shower.
And as the whether is so nice to day I did decide to get on my iMac instead of my regular 6 monitor grind station. I moved the computer out on the balcony, opened up the windows at max and this is now where I sit. I am pumped to play, I feel rested, I feel good. Motivated! Good plays, results doesn’t matter today. Focus on good poker!

Sen, to answer your questions I have been running a 250+ buy ins BR. Have tried to keep a really good BRM as that has eaten me before. And I try to not fire up more than 2-5% in total on a session. At least that was my approach at start. The range of my buy ins are pretty much the same. Low / Mid. Now as of the downswing moving down in stakes to compensate for that. Yes I do play satellites. Sometimes for the $T and sometimes because I want to play higher. Depends on what mood I am in, but to me $T & $ got the same value as it gets me in the tournaments no matter what. Sometimes I just want to battle bigger and sat my way in to do so. But then I know it’s a shot or whatever you want to call it. I have been battling in $55-109 tournaments, not as a reg, but often enough. Played 215 buy ins as well. Sunday Million, scoop, tcoop stuff and Party Poker major for example.

I have lately only been grinding Stars, and that means bigger field size, therefore higher variance. My plan now is to go back more to Partypoker again. Some Stars.fr or 888 maybe if I can’t find enough on PP. Lower fieldsize overall. That is the plan.
And yeah, I try to balance, got the band, so I am not a eremite in my batman cave sitting all alone and grinding my life away. I try to balance. Even if I put in a ton of hours at the tables also.

Because I love poker and I love to grind.

I appreciate all the questions and all the help you guys give me. Emb for looking at some hand histories and to my coach that helps me straight me out.

I am now about to start a session on the balcony, fewer tables. No hud (as I dont have one for mac), pay attention and just play good poker. Hope to put some results in here soon enough.

So long and good luck to your own grind guys!

/Mike

Nervous Mike
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June 11, 2015 - 3:16 pm
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https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CHPf47XW4AAvRBN.jpg:large

Ok, so we lost heads up, but I did put him all in twice with best hand and he called of to spike his flushdraw on river. Twice, twice to cripple me. But I am very very happy with my play!

Close but no cigar, and I so wanted to post a win just to reply, “told you so” 😛

Nervous Mike
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June 11, 2015 - 5:10 pm
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https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CHP41TDXIAAzi-a.jpg

I got it in with Q9o on Q9Ar flop. Was up again QQ. Another nice run to finish sesh, a bit unlucky 3 handed and I might have been a bit too much agro 3 handed. I came into 3 handed with a pretty big lead over both of them, but on the same time I can’t sit back and just fold. Something to work on also!

But overall, today feels great. Long time ago I had a winning session and cashing for ~$700. It’s not huge or anything, but just nice to see that I can play good poker again!

Thanks for reading and support.

/Mike

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June 12, 2015 - 7:45 am
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Woke up early, was pumped to play, did make 2 toasts and a glass of milk and I was ready to play.

STUPID. I played so bad, I did get it in bad, I wasn’t folding when I know I was behind. Everything you shouldn’t do.
I did say to myself, wtf Mike, why are you doing this again. You noticed yesterday how much that walk and proper food did change your game. I did punt 2 tournaments, did jump in the shower and now I write this.

I am of to store to restock fridge, cook a proper meal of food and some extra to put in fridge. Then, if I still feel like it, when I am ready to play, then I will play.

Just venting, as I am so pissed on myself for thinking like this at start of the morning.
Hopefully back with results after proper preparations.

/Mike

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June 12, 2015 - 10:59 am
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Nervous Mike said:

Yes I do play satellites. Sometimes for the $T and sometimes because I want to play higher. Depends on what mood I am in, but to me $T & $ got the same value as it gets me in the tournaments no matter what. Sometimes I just want to battle bigger and sat my way in to do so. But then I know it's a shot or whatever you want to call it. I have been battling in $55-109 tournaments, not as a reg, but often enough. Played 215 buy ins as well. Sunday Million, scoop, tcoop stuff and Party Poker major for example.
/Mike

These shots do affect your BRM. I've experienced it first hand often enough and finally almost completely stopped playing SATs (those for tourneys in my BI range just offer too small payouts in $T and those for tourneys out of my BR often can't be unregged in time). My swings on days with satellite playing were significantly bigger than on those days without. I know how it feels to have a shot at $100k or even just $30k on top, but mathematically you are better of growing your BR in a steady way than having a very f**king slim chance of suddenly ocatatupling or something like that. Took me about two years to finally completely get rid of this behaviour and feels nice to be clean for about 3 months now. My girlfriend helped me a lot, though. She did study maths btw. ; )

Oh and keep it up on the self-awareness, it's so easy to fall back into the wake-up, eat-crap, fire-up tables in my boxer-shorts without any self-preparation mode. But taking action against this behaviour, especially stopping a grind that already started “wrong” takes a hell lot of effort, so kudos to that!

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June 23, 2015 - 4:46 pm
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As i just posted on my twitter.

Back to effin basics, breaking down hands, doing the math, taking responsibility for things I’m unsure off. #Comebackstronger!

Nervous Mike
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July 6, 2015 - 6:24 pm
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Done some homework. First session in 2 weeks this Sunday, did play very well and had a 9th, 13th and a few other deep runs.
Today we did ship something again!

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CJQ6VY7XAAY6fy-.jpg:largeImage Enlarger

Still got some moves 🙂 #Next #Nevergiveup!

Nervous Mike
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July 8, 2015 - 4:21 pm
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Got a kick in the nuts IRL. Looks like I hold the worst hand possible, and is all in at the moment.

But when times is rough, it can only get better. Gotta stay positive. If you don’t experience the bad taste, the taste of victory would never taste good.

I think it’s time to bring out my one time…

Nervous Mike
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August 2, 2015 - 9:38 am
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Things are looking brighter, still nothing to report really. Grinding and working hard. Results will come

Nervous Mike
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August 29, 2015 - 7:26 am
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Another very long time since update again. All I can say is that I have been grinding. A lot…

Working very hard on my game as well. Have had very many close ones. a 19th in a 2.7 KO on Stars the other day. Last night a 12th in the Big 11.

Few smaller FT’s over at 888 and Party and even on Stars.fr. But still haven’t got me out of the worst downswing.
Very happy with my play, just have to keep grinding to get out of it.

Remember, reach for the stars. #Nevergiveup

/Mike

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September 20, 2015 - 10:13 pm
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4thImage Enlarger

A small FT today, did came to FT as 9/9 with 8 or 9 big blinds, so I am happy with the laddering, another close one. 
Putting in a pretty high volume at the moment. 

Playing well, just not winning those crucial flips. But I keep grinding and #Nevergiveup

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