jongordon84

So after a short break from poker and a week spent on the rainy British coast, I've decided to start a new journey thread for a new goal, to be beating 5NL and ready to move up 10 10NL by christmas.

So a little background...

My name's Jon (FlashAhahhh on most sites), 30 year old dad of 2 with a full time job writing sql reportszzzZZZ!! I've been playing poker on and off for the last year, originally at the lowest stakes of 2NL then after an ok run I moved up to 5NL. It hasn't been going too well:

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As you can see a very small sample as I struggle to find the time to play as much as I should, but I'm planning to change that. My aim is to play around 100k hands by the end of the year, roughly 5k a week. I know there are plenty of players on here that bang out twice that in a day no problem but I'll be happy if I make that target. I'll be focusing on the quality of the play rather than quantity, keeping table numbers down.

I'll be playing mostly fast fold poker, 2 to 4 tables, on Betfair (the sample above was on William Hill but after the recent rake changes I've decided to try another site). I'll mix it up with some regular speed games on Sky (to focus on observation skill with no HUD) and maybe Bet Victor (since I like the software and the rake).

On top of my poker goals I'm planning to get back to regular weight and fitness training, with the aim of finally shifting the fat I've accumulated from 10 years or so of too much booze and takeaways. Figure if I don't sort it now I'll soon find myself in the same position at 40 and it will be much harder to do.

Another thing, I have debt. I know most people do in some form or another. But mine has escalated for some time. I finally turned it around somewhat with a nice payout from my last job. That took a huge chunk off it, so now the aim is to keep it spiralling downwards and end the year with less of it than I have right now. Who knows, maybe if I work hard enough I'll pay it all off and win enough money from poker to buy a nice new car, or perhaps own my own house, here's dreaming...

Anyways that's enough for an intro, time to get playing again.

Last Post 6 years ago by

jongordon84

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Hi Flash! I've been playing against you today. Nice hand 66 vs AK xD (elhefazo85). It seems we are in a similar situation. For me nl5 on ipoker has been so difficult to beat, of course I have lots o leaks but I can.t win any session. I have played 50k hands this month and I am 16 buy-ins down, ev line almost breaking even. Hope you can beat this level, Flash, and move up! GL!

elhefazo: Hi Flash! I've been playing against you today. Nice hand 66 vs AK xD (elhefazo85). It seems we are in a similar situation. For me nl5 on ipoker has been so difficult to beat, of course I have lots o leaks but I can.t win any session. I have played 50k hands this month and I am 16 buy-ins down, ev line almost breaking even. Hope you can beat this level, Flash, and move up! GL!

Hey, thanks for that one, kept my losses down on the session

Yeh it's really concerning to me how hard I'm finding micro stakes. Of course I have a ton of leaks too and have some really spewy moments which kill the blue line. Just got to keep playing and studying to get better. I love playing and hate being terrible at something I enjoy, so I'm not giving up.

Good luck to you too, see you on the tables.

How are you doing Flash? Any update?

Not the best start.

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Reminds me of my 2NL graphs when I first started.

On the plus side I'm reviewing hands regularly, reading more strategy articles and, despite this awful blue line, really enjoying poker.

On the non poker front, got back into the gym, eating better Also did my cbt and bought a motorbike, can't wait to pick it up in a couple of weeks, just waiting for 65 plates.

Uff flash, I hope you your graph go north soon! Have you tried regular tables? I quit playing speed poker, I could'nt win a session, maybe I did'nt adapt to the game. But in regular tables the story is the other way around, just bumhunting, playing no more than 9 tables. I took that advice from here, because I was massmultitabling speed and just loosing over and over again. Keep crushinhg mate!

What bike did you get? 125cc?

Red line is looking good...blue line not so much. You make more money folding at the micros.

elhefazo: Uff flash, I hope you your graph go north soon! Have you tried regular tables? I quit playing speed poker, I could'nt win a session, maybe I did'nt adapt to the game. But in regular tables the story is the other way around, just bumhunting, playing no more than 9 tables. I took that advice from here, because I was massmultitabling speed and just loosing over and over again. Keep crushinhg mate!

I like to play speed mostly so I can get the hands in. Most reg tables I've played is 6. I tried Sky for a quick session this week and found myself constantly timing out on just 4 tables. Don't know if you get less time on there but I had to just stop playing. I might try some reg on Betfair this week, see how different it is to speed.

BarraBod: What bike did you get? 125cc?

Red line is looking good...blue line not so much. You make more money folding at the micros.

I started out just like this playing 2NL on 888 and managed to adjust and have a nice steadily rising green line. But the games seem so different on ipoker. Need to find the right adjustments.

Yeh 125cc, got me a brand new Honda CB125F. Waiting for 65 plates to arrive at the shop then I can collect. Not the best move given I'm trying to clear debt, but the saving on fuel economy will pretty much pay for it.

Keep consistent, keep the volume up and good things will happen

Realised hands where I'm all in on the turn accounts for almost half my loss so far on betfair. Around 4500 hands and just 9 lost hands have lost me so much. So getting it in behind on the turn is a massive leak for me, will focus on that area for analysis this week!

Nice opening post there and incredibly honest.

The graph is of course not one we like to see but it does show signs of improvement towards the end there when the downswing is less violent and it looks like you are getting into a break even mode.

Due to being in debt does poker become a very much life and death thing for you...like is it always in the back of your mind if you are losing/winning?

Jon-PokerVIP: Nice opening post there and incredibly honest.

The graph is of course not one we like to see but it does show signs of improvement towards the end there when the downswing is less violent and it looks like you are getting into a break even mode.

Due to being in debt does poker become a very much life and death thing for you...like is it always in the back of your mind if you are losing/winning?

I do find myself focusing on results, whether I'm up on the session etc, but it's more that I'm thinking of progress in poker rather than getting debts paid. I see poker as a potential better future for me and my family (a man can dream right!) but I am in a fairly well paid job so as long as I'm not silly with money, I can get myself out of debt without relying on suddenly making loads through poker.

The thought of doing my job for another 40 years is a real driver. I'm sure being a poker pro feels like a graft plenty of the time, and can maybe get pretty tedious like any job, but I think I'd much rather be doing that 50 hours a week. Plus let's face it, being able to tell people you're a professional poker player must feel pretty damn cool.

I just found a great grinding t-shirt for you

Flash T-shirt

BarraBod: I just found a great grinding t-shirt for you

Flash T-shirt

Awesome, ordered, thanks!

BarraBod: I just found a great grinding t-shirt for you

Flash T-shirt

Gordon's alive?
I could end up buying a lot of t-shirts!

If you did turn pro say in 6 months time how long do you think you could maintain it and how much money do you think you would make per year and at which stakes?

Jon-PokerVIP: If you did turn pro say in 6 months time how long do you think you could maintain it and how much money do you think you would make per year and at which stakes?

Honestly, no idea. But, if by some magic within 6 months I turned my game around, moved up the stakes to let's say 100NL, and had time to play an average of 80k hands per month. Solid winrate plus rakeback, bonuses etc, I'm guessing here but let's say total return of 5bb/100 hands. That's 4k (of whatever currency) per month. I assume no tax on that? That'd be pretty sweet. Is that any where close to reality or am I way off? If I could quite my job and switch to that I would in a heartbeat.

jongordon84: Gordon's alive?
I could end up buying a lot of t-shirts!

haha I think those T-shirts will be better quality. The one I sent will probably shirk in the first wash...hopefully not tho because I bought a few!!

If you ever do a twitch stream, you need to wear one

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