Make Poker Great Again
Hey everyone,
My name is Matt I am 24 years old from Canada. My goal is to document my journey from mid stakes to high stakes and show that you still can make money and move up the stakes in 2019!
Background
I have been playing poker since I was probably 16-17. So probably around 2010-2011. I didn’t know what I wanted to do when I grew up. I just knew I wanted to be rich. I saw people on TV making millions of dollars playing poker and thought it looked fun and I liked math so I could do that.
After a couple years of not having much success, playing on and off, experimenting with all types of games and strategies, depositing with prepaid visas since I wasn’t 18 yet to be legal or have my own credit card, I was fortunate to find a group of somewhat successful MTT players on Two Plus Two. I started to work with them and this is when I first started to take poker seriously. As you can see from my sharkscope the end of 2013-2014 was pretty good playing micro mtts.
https://www.sharkscope.com/#Player-Stati...
Unfortunately, around 2014 because of University and some other businesses I was working on, I wasn’t able to put the time into MTT’s anymore like I wanted. So I had to take a break from taking poker seriously. I still played poker every other week at the local casino because I loved the game and always stayed connected with what was going on in the poker world. I just wasn’t trying to get better or make money at that time.
Finally, in the fall of 2017 I decided I wanted to take poker seriously again. Now that my businesses were off the ground and running smoothly, I had a lot more time on my hands. Although this time I wanted to play cash games instead of MTT'S because I could still have that freedom I desired.
I knew I couldn’t do it on my own and I needed a coach or course, so I started with buying Upswing. I thought it was a good framework to start to construct a basic default game plan, but I knew that if I wanted to reach high stakes I needed to learn more, so I applied to a few CFP’s and I got accepted to one on December 2017.
I worked with them up until the summer of 2018. With them I was able to work my way up to 50z, but then couldn't seem to beat that limit. Since I couldn't beat that limit I started changing a bunch of things in my game and ended up not being able to beat 25z anymore. It was unfortunate because I loved the guys at the CFP, but at 50z we were supposed to get 1 on 1 coaching and since they were in Vegas I never got any coaching for 3 months. That is why we mutually agreed to part ways.
Shortly after that instead of a joining another CFP I decided to get hourly coaching from a few different coaches with different styles. I didn’t always agree or get along with all of them, but I did learn something.
I’ve taken all the information I’ve learned over the past year and made my own. I also started to connect and work with some other players at my stakes. Since the summer I have been able to win again and last month I took my first shot at 100z.
Current Results
Just this week I hit my first 100k hands at 100nl. I am not crushing by any means and I still have a lot to work on, but I am happy with my start.
What To Expect
I want to start this thread to document my journey from mid stakes to hopefully one day high stakes. I want to show that you still can make money and move up the stakes in 2019. Is it as lucrative as it once was? No, but that doesn’t mean poker is dead. I feel like there is a lot of negativity in the community and not enough positive success stories.
Strategy/Philosophy
Everyone asks should you play “GTO” or should you play exploitative. In my opinion, this is a flawed question because we don’t yet know true GTO and even if we did as humans it will be impossible to implement. I think the question that should be asked is should we play like PIO vs PIO or use node locked strategies. When I first started playing cash games again my goal was to learn “GTO” as best as I could. When I say GTO I mean PIO vs PIO. I thought if I could do that I will never lose and I will win by default. I quickly realized that it’s impossible to remember how PIO plays on every board and even if i did if you change the ranges or bet size parameters PIO’s strategy will change. So instead of copying PIO what I do is get an idea of how PIO vs PIO would play in a spot. Then I compare that to how I believe population or an individual player is playing. If I think they are playing like PIO I will try my best to play like PIO in that spot. If I don’t think they are playing like PIO (Which is most of the time) I will node lock and use that strategy as my default strategy. If you understand how solvers work you will understand that this is the highest EV play and the true “GTO” solution for that spot. Not PIO vs PIO. So my style is exploitative, but it is actually what is theoretically correct.
Goals
My long term goal is to make as much money as I can over the next 3-5 years to reinvest into my businesses and hopefully into other business ventures in the future. I think for me this is the most realistic path to make a significant amount of money in that short period of time
My 2019 goal is to beat 200z over a significant sample and then start to play some higher stakes on softer sites.
I feel I have the right plan and a good group of friends to help me achieve this goal and I’m excited for a great 2019! Let’s make poker great again and show that the dream is still alive even if it's a bit different than it was before! 😀
oh I'm literally the person who caught him cheating fyi. I trolled him into posting his graph in discord and he posted a datamined hand sample and quickly deleted it after 5-10 seconds but not before I took the screenshot and gave it to people who reported him. datamining's bad but way more worse cheaters in Ontario then him tbh. The good cheats dont get caught :(
I only play on wsop because its way better if your playing mass volume unless your average stake is like 1k then you just play all 3
That's a bold statement. What kind of cheating are we talking about and what do you have to back up that claim?
Well there's lots of cheating going on its poker in 2024 the sites have proven to us countless time they don't take security that seriously especially gg . If I had concrete proof I would tell people its hard to have concrete proof but we are pretty sure there are lots of euro players playing on the Ontario sites especially gg poker. We can be pretty sure they are from Europe because they play during euro hours and no one in Ontario knows them poker players beating nl500 generally don't come from no where without at least playing lower stakes first. most people who play poker seriously in Ontario know each other its a pretty small place were even all in a discord together. There was also the prop player/bot ring on wsop.ca that finally shut down you must have heard me rant about if not see my recent thread starts.
July Update
Well, I got some EV back. It was a strange month where I actually won on GG and lost on PokerStars. This might be a first for both this year haha.
Unfortunately, my main event lasted only 3 levels. Vegas was a good time as usual, even though I was down in cash as well.
All Sites:
PokerStars:
Party:
GG:
Total was +$4673.94 + $10839.81 ($9889.81 GG $750 PS $200 Party) = +$15513.75
I was thinking about making some videos or streaming again, so I ran a poll on my channel. I was hoping MTTs would win, but people want PLO. Really? 😃
Curious what you mean by ROW in this post? I wasn't aware of any upcoming changes.
Halfway through the year, it's a bit disappointing. It's tough because if I ran at EV, it would be slightly better than last year, especially at 1k. Hopefully, things will turn around soon, and I can end the year strong, ideally before we potentially go back to ROW. Rumors suggest it could be sometime in early 2025 after a November vote. A GG BJJ would help too. Hopefully, it starts with the main event next week!
August Update
Back to normal... lose before rakeback on GG and win on Party and PokerStars 😃
All Sites:
PokerStars:
Party:
GG:
Total was +$12202.77 + $12322.20 ($11322.20 GG $750 PS $250 Party) = +$24524.97
September Update
Not the best month after a good one last month, but still a win. I also had a good score in an Ontario COOP event, and I went to a Colts game again.
I had to laugh in the Ontario Discord someone thought GG was my most profitable site. Not even close!
All Sites:
PokerStars:
Party:
GG:
Total was -$6091.37 + $12,909.36 ($11959.36 GG $750 PS $200 Party) = +$6817.99 (Not including the MTT's)
October is my birthday month, so I'm headed to Vegas again for a week. Looking forward to it! If anyone is there and wants to meet up, send me a message!
wdym your own data suggests you make more at gg then stars. you play 2x+ the volume on gg and you get 85% rb. if its wrong its not by much I dont care to deep dive. the miscommunication must be the fact you count bbj as rake and I don't. I think that's weird. I bet if you veiwed bbj the same or if you binked one we would have the same conclusion. I think if you made more on stars with less then half the volume its just run bad probably from not hitting a bad beat
I hope the Colts play Flacco for a while, first good fantasy game from Pittman this year!
With Flacco it was a functional offence haha. I have Pitt and Downs in another league. So frustrating...
October Update
One of these months, I will run above EV, lol.
All Sites:
PokerStars:
Party:
GG:
Total: +$4,559.88 + $6,696.63 ($5,696.63 GG, $750 PS, $250 Party) = +$11,256.51
Vegas was great! I had 13 friends and family down with me. Didn't get to play much poker, haha, but that’s okay. Can’t wait for next time.
If this is the last month of Ontario poker, let’s make it a good one!
Awesome consistency OP, terrific thread. Best of luck
Hey, how was the Vegas ? Tell us more !!
Fans crave it !!
Any photos and stories ?
I took Matt's Monthly Coaching Program and definitely recommending to everyone who's struggling as breakeven or losing reg on low/mid stakes.
It starts with database review (100k hands minimum), where Matt compares your stats to his gto solves.
Matt gives you notes on where you deviating most and how to fix it in games. Also prepares you GTO Wizard drills to everyday training.
With clear heuristics you follow and play on tables and every week you record one hour session with your live commentary so Matt can analyze your thought process and give you his feedback with notes.
Through whole month Matt is available on discord and answers all your questions and every week you talk for one hour over live call about topics you want or Matt prepares.
You also get Matt's recording with his live play so you can see how he plays what he teach.
At the end of the month you have another database review to see your progress.
For me, month is ideal time window to construct the right questions as you have enough time to think about it and try everything you learn on the tables and solvers.
Big thanks to Matt, nice guy and really helpful. Looking forward for future collaboration.
GL on tables.
November Update
Rough month. Hopefully, Ontario delay's their decision awhile longer so I can make it back! 😆
All Sites:
PokerStars:
Party:
GG:
Total: -$17,874.24 + $12,825.61 ($11,325.61 GG, $1000 PS, $500 Party) = -$5,048.63
December Update
Finished the year strong with a nice bounce back before heading to Florida for the holidays.
All Sites:
PokerStars:
Party:
GG:
Total: +$4,616.72 + $13,095.17 ($12,195.17 GG, $750 PS, $150 Party) = +$17,711.89
Here are my overall results for 2024, sorted by site:
I’m planning to do a recap video on YouTube where I’ll share more of my thoughts on the year. It’s tough to set too many plans and goals given the uncertainty with ROW, but I hope to have that video done in a week or so now that I’m back home.
Here’s to a successful 2025!
followed and good luck for 2025
Congrats and good luck!
gl this year!
January Update
It finally happened...I hit a BBJ!
For those wondering how many hands I've played on GG over my lifetime and whether I'm above or below BBJ EV…
Not to complain too much since I see BBJ as just free money and not part of my EV, but even after hitting it, I’m still down quite a bit in EV.
All Sites:
PokerStars:
Party:
GG:
Total: -$4,084.94 + $42,828.99 ($42,268.99 GG, $500 PS, $60 Party) = +$38,744.05
It’s pretty funny that right after hitting the BBJ, my graph on GG went straight down again.
I did manage to cut back on volume a bit, but I didn’t follow through on creating content. I still have a few videos in mind that I want to put out, so that’s the main goal for this month.
Let’s run well in February too! 🚀
