[DaveduFresne]

Guys, guys, guys. No one said my life's ambition was to play 1/2 NL at B&M's for the rest of my life....its just a way of building up my bankroll, and just fyi, including taxes, my weekly expenses average $400/week, but I've just turned 25 and hopefully in the future I will have a much more ornate life.

No offense, but the purpose of this post wasn't to get ideas of what you thought of playing for a living or whether I'm a slacker or whatever other ideas are in your heads.

What I wanted to know is it doable? If I can average $700/wk than I would say that would satisfy me for the time being. (The cost of living in my city is probably 1/10 of Los Angeles lol).

Just as an update, I went to Turning Stone today. I had to wake up early this morning and had a number of errands to do, so by the time I was able to get up their (1 1/2 driving as well I was quite fatigued. And then it took forever for them to get a 100 NL table together. So it was like 10pm by the time I finally got to play poker, and I had been up since 6am.

But being it was my first "official" day, I was feeling pumped. Mostly college kids at the table and one college kid's dad (which is basically the usual Turning Stone crowd), I knew I had a chance for a good night when college kid in seat 2 called older guys all in on the flop with just overcards.

I got terrible cards for the first half hour or so, and folded pretty much every hand. Then I got KJ suited in UTG +1 and did a little image raise to ten in case I ever happened to get real cards. One caller then a shortstack goes over the top for 25 total. I looked at the first caller as he was looking at his cards and making the call, so I figured him for some kind of speculative hand like suited connectors or a small pp. Still wasn't happy knowing I was behind shorstack, but figured I probably wasn't way behind and the way things go at this casino I could be ahead. So I call and first caller folds like I thought he would. Shorstack flips over fives and I win the race.

A little later I get pocket tens and reraise this midstack fishy player from his ten to thirty. I was hoping he would fold his AJ or whatever he had, but he pushed for like thirty more. I called and he flipped up KQ offsuit and a river king gave him the pot.

So I was a little shorstacked at this point, had about seventy or so. I'm in BB and look down at lovely ladies. There has been a raise to seven by a college kid waiting for a bigger game, and then a reraise to 15 by older guy. Older guy seems pretty solid, but he isn't a nit either. One thing I've picked up on him is postflop anyway, if he bets he doesn't have more than top pair. Any time he had a monster he slowplayed. So I'm hoping this theory bears out and that he would have smoothcalled with Aces. To be honest though, I thought he could have Kings, and less likely Aces. However, the way this game plays (people calling all ins with far less than Queens) I figure a push is in order, as I'm surely not folding. Older guy told me had pocket fours, but he ended up mucking so I'm not sure if that was true or not. College kid calls with some random hand, I want to say KJ offsuit, but anyway he doesn't improve and I a little more than double up.

A little later, an ep raiser makes it seven to go (generally a pot sweetener raise with a speculative hand in this game, although occasionally you have to watch out for a big pair with it) anyway, there's three callers in front of me, and I'm one of the button, and look at J7 of spades. Now online this hand would be in the muck in a second, but in this game if I make a flush, two pair or trips I can easily stack somebody. Flop came J72 two clubs, I led out weakly hoping original raiser would put me all in or something, but he folded, and older guy calls, I jazz it up to twenty on the turn (which was a brick of some kind) and then the river was a Queen (not clubs). This worries me slightly, and I'm wishing I put more money in on the flop, but I put a twenty dollar stop bet in, and older guy folded, claiming he had AJ (I think flush draw most likely.)

Now at some point a little later, a weak player came in to the left of me, you could tell by his body language and whether he appeared interested in the hand or not whether he had something. He had made all small preflop raises up until a hand with me came up. He had lost about 1/3 of his stack by raising preflop and someone else taking his pot down. Anyway, I was on the button or one off the button, and we already had about six callers, I looked down at A5 offsuit, decide to limp in even though I hate Ace rag, but figure maybe I can get a nice flop. Well guy to my left makes it eighteen. Everyone folds to me. Now I've seen this move in B&M a few times before, with a player like that it usually means some kind of speculative hand with which he wants to pick up the pot with. I put him on suited connectors or possibly AJ. I think for a second and then say I'm all in. He fidgets with his chips clearly frustrated but then calls. I then get annoyed at myself for thinking I had made a great read, and honestly tell him "nice call". Except then he flips over his hand and he had QJ. Neither of us improve and I take the pot.

The one hand I cant seem to remember occurred a little after this. I had about 220 before the hand, and it dented me back to 140 or so. I was a little annoyed after it because it was the second race in a row I lost so I guess thats why it flew out of my head. I want to say I had pocket Jacks which got beaten by KQ but that could be wrong.

I got myself back up to about 220 in some inconsequential hands where I raised a couple pots, bet on the flop, got called, and took it down on the turn.

The last hand I was involved in was with AK suited. Old guy raised to seven (I wouldn't say he was loose, but this could mean anything). Guy that beat my Jacks or whatever it was with KQ reraises him. To be completely honest I really wasn't worried about his reraise. Sure he couldve woken up with pocket Aces or Kings, but his range of hands included many considerably weaker than mine. Even though he had over a hundred, I determined I was going to get him all in preflop if I could. I reraise to 45, and older guy mucks. Kid goes into the tank for some time, and then says "what the hell it's only money" and moves all in. I call and he flips over KQ again, but this time suited. This time neither one of us hits, and I take his stack.

At this point a lot of the fish had busted, and a couple other players had stacks around my size (older guy had considerably more) and I was feeling tired and hungry, so I waited for my blind and racked them up for a $240 3 hour profit and used my comp card towards a nice seafood dinner. With expenses, my profit was probably more like 180 bucks, but considering it was a long day for me, I was quite happy.

And yes I know this was only one session, but so far in my ten+ trips to Turning Stone, I've never gone home stuck save for one time when I foolishly played for 36 hours straight where I was up 700 in the first 24 hours, suffered a horrendous beat for $350 and then donked off the rest of my profit plus a couple hundred extra.

If I lived closer to Turning Stone I would surely try it everyday (not sure how live weekdays are though as I've pretty much only gone up on weekends), but as it is its a pretty grueling drive, so I haven't decided what I'm going to do.

I have a few more questions I like to ask of those who would like to help (not bankroll just some other general matters, but I'm completely whiped now so I'll post them later.)

Thanks to those of you who have been helpful, and good luck at the tables all.

David duFresne