Starting the Grind in 2024

Graph

Completely forgot to throw the first graph as that's what everyone really wants to see. Graph is of insignificant volume and missing $121 in rakeback/leaderboards

P.S. I hate when people start a thread with a 2k sample winning 20 buyins, you are just setting yourself up for failure.

I hate when people start a thread with a 2k sample winning 20 buyins, you are just setting yourself up for failure. :P GL

The Epiphany

I was recently listening to a podcast with Matt Marinelli, highly recommended, and it changed the way I view poker studying.

"If you want to be a professional poker player, treat it like a professional."

While I enjoy the poker grind sessions and putting in 50k hands/week, it is now clear that if you want to truly improve and make substantial money, volume comes secondary. Nobody makes 6 figure salaries playing microstakes, the value comes in beating the mid-high stakes.

I will post a graph when I hit the 50k hand mark for those who care about the graph (everyone).

Hands of Poker

H1 Pretty sure I'm punting vs Population and in theory haha
Yatahay Network - $0.25 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: $25.84
SB: $44.94
BB: $29.76
UTG: $27.63
Hero (MP): $39.12
CO: $35.79

SB posts SB $0.10, BB posts BB $0.25

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.35) Hero has Q♣ J♣

UTG raises to $0.50, Hero raises to $1.75, fold, fold, SB raises to $5.53, fold, fold, Hero calls $3.78

Flop: ($11.81, 2 players) T♣ 3♥ 4♦
SB bets $3.25, Hero calls $3.25

Turn: ($18.31, 2 players) 4♣
SB bets $9.05, Hero calls $9.05

River: ($36.41, 2 players) 2♥
SB checks, Hero bets $21.29 and is all-in, SB calls $21.29

SB shows Q♠ Q♥ (Two Pair, Queens and Fours)
(Pre 84%, Flop 91%, Turn 80%)
Hero shows Q♣ J♣ (One Pair, Fours)
(Pre 16%, Flop 9%, Turn 20%)
SB wins $75.99

H2 Thought villian would use more geometric turn sizing with value. I was wrong....
Yatahay Network - $0.25 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: $27.16
SB: $25.46
BB: $35.08
Hero (UTG): $34.53
MP: $37.94
CO: $27.80

SB posts SB $0.10, BB posts BB $0.25

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.35) Hero has T♥ A♥

Hero raises to $0.62, fold, fold, fold, fold, BB raises to $3.10, Hero calls $2.48

Flop: ($6.30, 2 players) 8♥ 6♦ A♣
BB bets $1.89, Hero calls $1.89

Turn: ($10.08, 2 players) 5♠
BB bets $5.04, Hero calls $5.04

River: ($20.16, 2 players) K♣
BB bets $25.05 and is all-in, Hero calls $24.50 and is all-in

BB shows K♦ A♠ (Two Pair, Aces and Kings)
(Pre 69%, Flop 81%, Turn 93%)
Hero shows T♥ A♥ (One Pair, Aces)
(Pre 31%, Flop 19%, Turn 7%)
BB wins $66.16

H3 Click-to-win, should probably use Tx but no idea
Yatahay Network - $0.25 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

Hero (BTN): $25.17
SB: $30.68
BB: $25.00
UTG: $30.35
MP: $39.18
CO: $26.68

SB posts SB $0.10, BB posts BB $0.25

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.35) Hero has J♦ J♥

UTG raises to $0.75, fold, fold, Hero raises to $2.50, fold, fold, UTG calls $1.75

Flop: ($5.35, 2 players) T♣ 7♠ K♥
UTG checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($5.35, 2 players) 6♦
UTG bets $3.81, Hero calls $3.81

River: ($12.97, 2 players) 8♣
UTG bets $9.24, Hero raises to $18.86 and is all-in, fold

Hero wins $29.88

H2 - probably it's a fold on the river against the default NL25 opponent.

Welcome to 2+2 and good luck!

50nl Shot

It did not go well!! But got stacked twice QQ v KK so a non story. If I am being objective with myself I thought I played reasonable. I was aggressive pre/postflop and didn't feel the need to force anything or adjust my strategy. Not sure if anyone else feels the same, but ACR feels relatively weak compared to what everyone claims; but this could definitely be sample bias.

I will drop back down to 25nl to grind back to $1250 bankroll before taking another shot at 50nl. Going to continue the GTOWizard studying in the meantime to plug the many, many, many leaks in my game.

Recked

Not Recked

Quick Update

I feel like I am a definite winner in the 25nl Blitz pool on ACR, no doubt; but I am also on a top 1% run right now. Has anyone else experienced a sense of dread when running that well?

It is extremely illogical and a downswing is not more likely given a big upswing, but the cognitive bias still persists. I would love to hear some thoughts from those that have been in the space a while.

Thanks!

Top 1% is unlikely, even if you look at the luck bell in PT4 and its telling you that . And idk, I feel at ATH sometimes an expectation of a big downswing but its better to not think about it because thinking about it can only make it worse. I always try to look for positivity so you could think: damn, it feels scary now, Im gonna study my main opponents in the pool or refresh my GTO skills and I want to see it continue to go up

A Tale of Two Stakes

I have been sun running at 25nl for quite some time, but getting destroyed at 50nl. I've been relieved that all of the 50nl losses have been standard stuff; QQvKK, AKvAA, etc. While it is much to early to tell if I am +/- EV at 50nl, I can be confident that I would have lost of the big pots if I was a winner.

All of that said, I am taking another 5 buyin shot at 50nl; the games should be softer during the weekend. 25nl has been going very well and I've made $320 in rakeback/LB as well.

My work is not very demanding and I have had at least an hour every day to study GTOWizard. Mostly patching up my preflop leaks and starting to create some flop heuristics. The more I learn, the more I realize I suck at this game haha.

50nl

25nl

Subbed

is acr blitz tougher than pokerstars zoom ?

I have never played on PS as I'm in the US. ACR has historically been a very tough site, 50nl blitz was notoriously challenging for low stakes. However, 25nl blitz has been very soft recently with 4-5 fish on every table.

Overall, I would have to say PS given my recent experience with ACR.