From lurker to blogger...

Good Luck Cap 🫡

As I told previously I will play PLO10 for this challenge.

Why? because after years of playing, it's clear to me that PLO is what excites me most, I can play play more hand, see a lot of flops, remember, I told you I have every symptoms of the gambler (who said fish?). More seriously I find it's the game that balances the most patience, strategy and putting chips everywhere. 😀

It may be weird to have a tendency to tilt and still play PLO (at least I'm not playing 5 cards PLO), but I feel I have more control as I can't throw all ins each and every hands. I could play limit holdem...haha...come on, I'm not 70...no offense old men. 😀

Moreover, I feel like I have a natural understanding at PLO, I subscribed to PLO mastermind (Jnanez) and read his book, and it feels like pretty straightforward BUT I'm (very) far from being a GTO star, it's painful for me to apply those concepts consistently and I rely way too much on intuition.
This will be something to work on (maybe).

As I said earlier, I live in Belgium and guess what Rakeback is forbidden here...yeah I know, this is the most stupid think...we know why, they want to protect the player from addiction...as if rakeback was the key...so we pay an insane rake and we don"t get anything in return, as they say: Casino always wins. This is adding difficulties to success but I LOVE this game, I don't have any trouble putting the hours...I always find the motivation to play. I have to admit that I always struggle to understand when I read people not enjoying the game of having troubles putting the volume. The explanation might be that I'm not a pro player and as it's a hobby, I keep loving it...Same way, I dream about living in the sun close to nice waves to go surfing everyday and maybe I would be disappointed to have that everyday...naaaaaah, no WAY, I would play poker on the beach and surfing during my breaks...😀

Well, you will notice I sometimes go out of the road when I write...sorry for this.

So, I will play 4 tables of PLO10 (again we are limited to 4 tables here...), I know I could do more but at the same time, it allows me to focus on every decision. (hahaha I would love this to be true).

I played higher than PLO10 but more than the money, I want to prove myself that I can succeed not going in every direction.

The goal is to reach 1.500$ before moving to PLO25, it will certainly take time but I have quite some time now to put some volume so I'll take advantage of this.

I don't want to commit on a frequency of updaes as I know this is the most difficult thing but the other think I know being a professional lurker is that CONSISTENCY IS KEY so I'll try to be consistant.

I will obviously post graphs, probably no hand, not something I like to read in blogs (even if I appreciate hand analysis) and if you allow me I will also sometimes post off topics posts when I feel like it.

Next post will be the first results, wish me luck

First 4K hands are in the book and I've to say that I couldn't have hoped for a better start...I've been running like - choose your prefered messiah - (I have none).

From experience, I know this won't last and this might seems odd but I'm always afraid of the boomerang effect. I told you from the beginning that I'm far from having the cold blood of those pro's player so I'm always dealing with emotions. (Maybe this is what keeps me in love with the game)

As you can see, I use an uncommon tracker - Poker Copilot - well, I've never seen one using it here, but it works fine for me.
I just noticed that everything was in french but guess what I'm sure you will understand and realize you're that close to speak français. 😀

Overall and it's not a surprise, the level is catastrophic at PLO10 and you need to wear your bullet proof vest but it's good to see poker is not dead.

2 observations:
- Rake will always win and I'll keep publishing the amount because I need to remember that I've no other hobby that cost me so much
- Throwables on PS...I can't say enough how I'm direspecting player using this feature 😀

I make this one short, don't hesitate if you have any question/comment

GLGL, keep it up!

It was too good to be true...Played again 4K hands and things didn't go as planned, to say the least...

I didn't run well, so many bas rivers, but hey, we are here in total honesty I also played overconfident and made some donkey moves 😀

I guess it's part of the process. Only good point is that I really sticked to the plan and didn't go degen in higher limits or spewing everything in a Spin, which I did a lot in the past...I'm sure you know what I'm talikng about.

So here are the graphs:

It hurst...

Let's stay positive...we are still in the green

Evrytime I see the rake amount I have an heart attack, you must love the game 😀

See you for the next roller coaster!

Back on track...I was able to play well and run good which is a nice feeling even it started badly.

We all know the feeling of being in the zone when decisions are crystal clear and everything is going according to the plan.

However, I still have massive leaks both in the game itself (way too calling station sometimes, but I keep improving) and in my behavior, I keep looking at my results during the sessions, that's crazy how weak I'm. 😀 I'm challenging myself constantly trying to avoid looking but I keep failing, I'll need to work hard on this one.

I don't really understand my focus on short term result, as I said in my first post, this is not life money and the amounts played are not significant but still I can't stand losing man. (classic) I can't imagine how pro players handle the swings with big numbers, I wouldn't be able to sleep. When I was playing out of any Bankroll Management, I lost few hundreds at some point and had the worst nights, it affected me. I always surprised we don't read this that often. Coping with bad results is for me the number 1 skill of a poker player. (not using throwables is the second one) 😀

Now the graphs:

And the recap:

Oh Boy I miss my rakeback!

If only I had stopped my session at the scheduled time...

I can't remember how many times I told this to myself. If I had to guess I would say that it has rarely been a good idea to do the extra mile (or worst the 100 extra miles). 😀

I would love to know where I would be right now if I had have the discipline.

Let's list the many excuses that we tell our(donkey)self:
- I need to stop positive
- I can't leave this F****** fish
- The tables are so damn good
- I'm in the zone, I read minds, I own all those guys...(u see what I mean 😀)
- One more round and I close the tables...One more round and I close the tables...One more round and I close the tables...
- It's 11:23, Ok I'll play until 11:30 ! Damned it's 11:32, Ok let's go until 12:00....u all know it can bring you to 4 in the morning 😀
- I'm up 19,67$, let's make the 20$ mark...(Stop looking at results in session...)....you look again and you're +12$...(see point above)
- I'm waiting for one last big hand/pot..(ridiculous one, well they are all dumb excuses)
- I will close all tables except this one and play it tight...boring...let's open moooore tables 😀
- ...

There are a lot more I guess, anything you can think of?

This is my main resolution for this "challenge". I set a stopping time and I'm sticking to it. I mostly respected this (come on, can't leave that whale!). I'm convinced this is an easy fix that is improving the winrate on the long run!

If I have lot of tlme to play, I include real breaks between session, believe me this is something huge for me...I saw myself playing for 8 hours straight, not wanting to stop the session, being in a parallel universe, the one where you take your computer to go to the toilets...I'm a grown up man so I always realize this is a terrible idea but it s often too late.

So this is it, I decided to cut the ****! 😀 I'm a grown up man and I want to put some structure to this grind.

11:22....hope I won't miss the 11:30 deadline 😀

Good Self-Awareness, keep it up. I do sessions- 1h to 1h 30min and the idea that I'm gonna take 30min and come back feeling better helped me. Now it's a Must for me. Come back and still have a chance to compete, no need to use it all on one 3h session.

Another set of hands in the books...so far so good...

It hasn't been a smooth ride, I got stuck for a while before being having a serious heater. I'm happy the way I handled those sessions where nothing seemed to go my way.

I identified some frustration but no tilt, allowing me to control the damages. Not playing my A-game at all time but not diving to my D-game either.

Games are really soft at PLO10, I'm still amazed at how bad/crazy/brainless some players are, and that's perfectly fine because some of them maybe just want to gamble for a cheap prize...I must admit I struggle sometimes not to think of those desperate souls endlessly bleeding buy-ins, I prefer to think they can afford to lose this money. This may sound a bit cheesy but this is the way I'm built...but that said this is the last time I will mention this because at the end of the day I'm part of the system. 😀

I often open tables and there are 3/4 recreational players identified (they are in RED for me, I know this is of high importance - I go for GREEN for regs / and RED for Whales). I have to improve a lot on taking notes, I often limit the process to: "big whale, CS, don't bluff" or "3Bet = 100% AAxx". I think this is a leak but I often don't have time to carefully make a good note. If you have any tips...

Now for the results:

Recap:

As the Pixies would have sung: "Where is my rakeback?" (well that doesn't really match but I love this song)

GJ Bro ! Awesome thread and y got a new Follower.

I would like to see your "Money Won Without Showdown Line" just becose it would tell me much more than just winning graph by itself. Need Both to analyze..

Gl HF and keep writing

Thanks for the kind words and for the tip, I will add this in my next post.

It feels great to run good...hope it would last for ever...

It says it all, I had an incredible run the last sessions I played. However I don't know how to interpret the All In ev graph as I use the cash out options....bouuuuuuuuuh....I know it's not what you are used to read here but it does help me. It reduced the variance a lot and even if I know I'm loosing EV in the process, I'm also avoiding a lot of frustration and tilt..and in my case this is a game changer.

Understand me well, I'm aware this is not an optimal strategy but I'm far from playing my A game 100% of the time and unfortunately my decisions aren't always the right ones( surprise?) so I believe "cash outs" can be useful to avoid being in a gambling situation too many times in the session. I'm interested in knowing opinions on this topic.

Anyway, obviously happy with the way things are going but very much aware it can go upside down quickly. I trying to be self cautious, I know this feeling of being unbeatable and it is the most destructive feeling. I must fight the over confidence given by several winning sessions but also find the right balance not be scared of loosing.

I realize all those thought may sound trivial and describe myself as a player with weak mental but this is exactly why I started this blog, to put all those mental leaks on paper and reflect on them.

Don't judge me 😀

Here for the graphs:

Recap:

And the graph with the money won without showdown, happy to have your comments:

May the run continue!

Of course, 30,000 hands is still not a lot, but it shows that you are playing too tight for now. I don't know your stats, but I could imagine that you could play more aggressively and steal more often.

Roller coaster mode on...well at least I didn't get sick at the end of the ride...

I don't know for you but I always hated those kinds of sessions, going up and down all the way is such a test for my mental, it's pretty exhausting but also fulfilling when things turn out well.

So we are still on the good path to reach those 1,5K$ playing PLO10. The field is still very weak and whales are everywhere.

I think I'm playing an appropriate strategy for this stake being careful with my preflop ranges (well, most of the time, I still find myself thinking from time to time: "Come on! why did you open/call this hand!") and playing mostly exploit postflop. Let me explain, I'm trying to think GTO (I mean basic GTO concepts) but not necessary playing GTO as the most important is to adapt my plays to the players at the table who for most of them don't even understand what a range is.

I believe this must be the hardest think to change when you climb up the stakes...I still have plenty of time before being confronted to this. 😀

Here are the graphs:

And the recap:

Will I be at peace with the total rake amount one day? I still make nightmares at the moment 😀

Hey Captain! Glgl on your targets man. I believe Jnandez's mastermind is the best resource out there for PLO cash for sure. Although it can be very expensive, if you really want to climb the stakes I think it's essential. He has some good courses in there. The preflop trainer is ofc invaluable to nail down the preflop game. Spent many hours drilling thise ranges. GL again.

Thanks for the heads up, I subscribed to PLO mastermind a while agao, I think during Covid, I spent hours on the PLO trainer and this gave me a good basic undertstanding of the GTO concepts, I also actually have his book, "Mastering small stakes" and I may be a bit old school but I like to deep dive in it from times to times...(well, when I've to go to the toilets 😀 😀

Thanks for following, always a good motivator. 😀

It can't be an easy ride...downswings are part of the process...

This is what I keep telling me when things aren't going the way I would like. I've improved a lot with my mindset but I feel I'm like an ex alcohol addict, I need to be really cautious because if I taste the tilt feeling once, I would dive into it and it could be devastating. 😀

I think what helps me being serious is to stick to only one limit, one format. I used to mix cash games, MTT, and testing different limits because I didn't have any clear goal.

This time, it's only PLO and I set the filters, I only see PLO10 in the lobby, I need to reach 1,5K before opening the PLO25 tables...I'm not there yet but I'm confident because for the first time I have a plan.

This will be a short update, classical roller coaster for the last 9K hands, unfortunately, this ended the wrong way but I'm not affected and that's good news. I feel I'm playing OK and not punting (too much).

Here are the graphs:

and the recap:

Keep grinding

I know this can't be a smooth ride and I need to handle those ups and downs the best I can

I would love to have a beautiful graph to show every time I write a blog update but as you will see it's not the case, well I hope the long term will show a clear progression and that the variation will be meaningless...

Results wise, I'm happy to book a positive result but I feel I'm still affected by short term result during the sessions. I'm trying very hard not to look at the numbers in game and I know this is a must if I want to improve but I'm still weak and check the tracker way too often. Identifying areas of improvement is one thing (a must do) but improving is another. 😀 I value baby step and trying to limit this bad habit is one. I guess it would be better to be more radical and stop looking, like when you try to stop smoking, but I keep failing.

One thing I'm proud of if my tilt management, I've been able to manage my emotional state of mind although I went through rough sessions with plenty of coolers and bad beat, I feel like playing correctly rolled and thus at the right limit makes me more confident on focusing on decision rather than outcomes (well, a bit in contradiction with the above, but I'm full of contradictions 😀). The field is sometimes terrible and you know that if you keep playing your A game you will recover...Still need to understand that recovery might happen on the next session or the one after...

Had the chance to play a bit of live poker at a local casino, felt great to have some chips in my hands, good to know that I still master those chips tricks (even if my hand muscles hurt now 😀). Went busto close to ITM but really enjoyed meeting with the livetards, and there were a bunch of them, those guys come nearly everyday, they all know each others, they are mostly terrible at the game but they enjoy their free time and are really friendly. You need to be prepared for showtime poker and spectacular showdowns but that was fun.

The graphs below:

And the recap:

Online poker is officially my biggest expense when I look at the rake paid 😀

glgl to you!

TY! Appreciate!

Any interesting hand histories? And keep up the good work.

TY! I will think about it 😀

Getting stuck sucks...but getting unstuck is such a great feeling...

When I'm getting ready to write a new blog entry, I'm always thinking: Well, you are only going to repeat what others have already said...and that's true, I believe we all follow the same path, the same struggles and joy but at least we don't live it the same way.

I've plenty of time at the moment (it will end at some point) so I'm enjoying the process of putting some volume (all is relative of course) and I've to say that I love this. I said it at the beginning, I love the game and it's never a constraint for me to put the hours. I've the opposite problem, I always have to convince myself that I've played enough for the day. 😀

I believe it's because I'm not a pro and will probably never be (It's important to keep the dream in the back of my mind but more as a chymera) and playing poker as a serious hobby is fulfilling at the moment. Hours grinding look like minutes and a part from playing and coaching basketball (which I do a lot) and surfing (not doing it as much as I would), nothing excites me like this.

I'm obviously talking of my free time, I LOVE to spend time with the family and they are the most important for me.

Well coming back to this set of hands, (I guess you noticed my natural tendency to digress 😀), the first 2,5K hands were brutal and I'm sure it got me tilted a bit. I was actually surprised I didn't shout that much and didn't break anything...I don't know if we can we speak of experience or improvement of my mental but I feel that I KNOW I will get out of that hole at some point. Again focusing on a single format helps a lot, I haven't opened an MTT or a Spin&go or played a single hand of NHLE since the beginning of this challenge, and it allow me to focus on my game.

As I said starting this entry, what a feeling when you start recovering and climbing. Nothing feels better...Well it didn't last and reality came back hard but we booked a win at the end!

here are the graphs:

and the recap:

I hate Belgian politicians for cutting the rakeback (among other things)

Another 10K hands set in the book...It' not over until you run good...

It was again hell of ride, emotions are what make us alive, right? I'm definitely not a robot, I feel all those ups and downs as they come. BUT and that a huge change, I manage to absorb all those feelings and to focus on the way I played.

I barely write in the chat no more, I almost don't shout or bang my fist on the table and when I start thinking of doing what one this stupid things I know it's either time to quit or to take a break. 😀

I'm a grown up educated man with some responsibilities in my professional life and I'm always dealing with quite complex situations keeping my temper at all time but when it comes to poker (or sport or any other games...) I'm a bit ashamed the way my personality shifts and how I'm (was) able to loose it all. 😀 It slowed my progression a lot but I believe, I had to go through all of this to be a better player today...Well until the next bad beat 😀

Here for the graphs:

And the recap;

I observed 1 min of silence everytime I notice the rake amount... 😀