Digging out of a downswing at live $1/$2

Could you please share what resources you use to find AP slot opportunities?

Sure. Unfortunately, I don't really have a great answer to this question. I have a lot of different ways that I have found out about different machines. The best free resource to learn how to play a machine would be Wizard of Odds. He will provide a breakdown of the rules of a machine and then will usually provide a guideline for how to know what the machine is in a +EV state. Here is a link to his page on Buffalo Link (one of the classic examples of an AP slot) for an example: https://wizardofodds.com/games/slots/buf...

If you google "Advantage Play slot machines" you will find some lists of different machines that you can AP. Unfortunately, a lot of content is behind a paywall. I've never paid for any of this content.

I also just like exploring the casino and checking out different machines. I kind of know what to look for now, so if I see something that looks like it could provide a player advantage, I will Google it. There are a couple people at my local casino that I know are serious AP slot players (once you start checking machines you will notice these people yourself) and if I ever see one of these players at a machine that I don't know, I always research it.

It can be pretty frustrating and very high variance. I'm still not 100% sure that the juice is worth the squeeze for me, but I also just enjoy the process.

I'm excited for ClubWPT Gold! They've put a ton of money into promotion and advertising. Did you see the Jason Alexander commercials. I imagine the player pool will be dope.

I am concerned about longevity though. I'd set the over/under at 4.5 months before being banned in CT.

I agree! I am definitely planning on playing on that site when it launches. I agree that the player pool will probably be very soft. I think the average player who will be drawn in through vlog advertisements and whatnot is a pretty big fish online. Haven’t seen the Jason Alexander commercial but I will seek it out!

4.5 months seems like a fair over/under for CT. I am definitely not optimistic since Global and Stake both follow the same model and were banned this year. I’ll take the under for now, mostly since it is being advertised so heavily and there has been a long lead up. CT legislators have some practice tackling sweepstakes casinos now too.

Time to share some 2024 results! I shared the poker stats in the live strategy subforum already, but I am including my online casino/sportsbook promo hustling efforts over here. I had a massive year overall.

After a hot start in the first couple weeks of the year, I set a goal to win $10k at poker this year. It seemed too ambitious at the time (I only won about $4k last year) so I didn't really talk about it with anyone or even post about it in this thread. Somehow, I managed to totally crush that goal.

Online Poker: +$8,385.00 (all on stake.us)

Online Casino/Sportsbook: +$11,488.37 (across about 15 sites in 4 states)

Total: +$32,665.37

-

Last year I won about $11k total and felt awesome about it. I honestly can't believe how much more I was able to win this year. The increase is a result of a few things:

- I ran insanely pure at live poker, and played quite a bit more $2/$5
- I played better at live poker this year than I did last year
- I joined stake.us at the right time and put in a lot of volume
- I took the online casino stuff extremely seriously this year

I have a lot of this money saved up because I am going to have to pay taxes on some (all?) of these winnings. I think I qualify as a professional gambler now for tax purposes? I will be seeking out some advice on this in the future.

Looking forward to getting back into the live poker arena this week. Hopefully can start the year off hot again.

Hell. Yeah. Dude

You've definitely played enough Mohegan 1/2 to permanently move up to 2/5. There's no good "2/5 only" regs (literally 0) and you're already more studied than all of them combined. No reason to believe you can't make 10 bb/hour over 3-500 hours this year there.

Just got to remember it's the most unique of player pools. A5s type plays, playing actual poker, doing things that are good... aren't actually good in that game, somehow. It's the nittiest player pool in the history of poker. I don't know you exactly but I've seen enough here to know you're more studied than every 2/5 only player at MS. Just play.

Thanks for the encouragement. What you are saying tracks with my experience. My goal this year is definitely to play more 2/5. Last year I had a shot-taking mindset towards playing and I think I feel comfortable enough to make the transition to mostly 2/5 later this year. I am in a better spot bankroll wise now as well.

Don't think I'm totally done with 1/2 though. I feel a lot more relaxed and comfortable at that stake, and I really enjoy trying to figure out how all the random freaks that sit down play.

First week of the year was a small win for me, though I had a significant loss at poker. I am happy with the volume I got in though.

Live poker:

This week I played two short sessions at Mohegan Sun. The total was 8 hours at $1/$2 (-$261) and 1 hour at $2/$5 (-$120). I also played four hours at a $0.25/$0.50 home game (-$75).

My first session was on New Year's Day. It was my first time playing poker in a couple weeks and I felt really rusty. I didn't really get locked in at any point and wasn't thinking about the game clearly. I punted a couple times and made some pretty obvious mistakes. I also ran poorly and got coolered in a couple spots (set vs straight, set vs flush). I had a couple interesting spots, including one hand that I posted in the live strategy subforum. This was my first time making a thread on that board in a while. I do think it is a worthwhile exercise but some of the feedback was a bit tilting. Ultimately, I lost $317 on this day and I think I was lucky it wasn't more. For obvious reasons, I turned down a seat at a decent looking $2/$5 game on this day.

Next up, I played in the home game. This was a fun time. I was deliberately playing a bit more loose and passive than I might normally, but I felt good about how I played overall. In my biggest pot of the night, I found what I thought was a cool check/jam spot with KdQx on Jd9d6dAx. It was a 3-way pot where I was the PFR and the flop checked through. It felt like both of my opponents were weak and at least one of them I thought would fold a weak AX hand to me. I ended up getting tank-called by QdTx which is an awesome result (I am somehow an 86% favorite) but of course the river was an offsuit 8 so I lost. I haven't gotten good sleep this week so I had to leave the game early as I was pretty close to falling asleep at the table by the end.

And then I played Sunday afternoon again at MS. This time, I felt a lot better. I started out at a pretty bad $1/$2 table where I was playing with my brother and a couple other decent players. After losing in a 3bet pot with JJ, I got called for a new $2/$5 table and decided to take the seat. The game was not particularly good. After a couple fish either busted or got called up for the main game, all of a sudden the game felt like it was entirely nitregs and one big fish. It didn't seem like a great spot for me, so I moved back down to 1/2. I ended up at a great table that had several loose young players. The stacks were deeper and a few players were straddling every opportunity. I'm pretty sure my EV is higher in this type of game than at a bad 2/5 table. I had a few good hands and I thought I played well overall, booking a modest win at this table to round out the week.

Online poker:

None

Other gambling:

Mohegan Sun's online casino ran a bigger deposit bonus to start off the New Year. I ran hot and won about $600 on this, which saved my week. At Mohegan Sun, I won small on advantage slot plays on New Years Day (+$53) and lost small on Sunday (-$35).

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I am hoping to put in two sessions of live poker this week if I can, but it might just be one. I am busier with work this week than I have been in a while, which is probably good. This is going to be a big and busy year for me outside of gambling, so poker will take a back seat at times.

Low volume this week but a fun update nonetheless

Live Poker:

I played one session this week, yesterday at Mohegan Sun. I got to the poker room and was seated at a new $1/$2 table. I was playing 5-handed with a couple familiar faces, including one player who I have significant hours with who I thought was pretty good. I ended up losing a couple small-ish pots (including one to the "pretty good" player when he called my open with 69o on the BTN and the board came 996AX). A new $2/$5 table got called and I figured I would move over even though the table that was forming didn't look very good. Shortly after I sat down, a distinct looking young guy sat down on my direct left. My brother had texted me about a player matching this description (he looked very similar to an old friend of ours). The report was that this player was incredibly loose, playing virtually any two cards and bragging that he "crushed $5/$10." It did not take long to verify this was the same guy, as the new VIP player started opening hands like 42o from EP and proudly showing after he won the blinds. One player like this is all it takes to liven up a standard nitty Mohegan Sun snoozefest, and we ended up getting a second fishy gambler as well. I had a couple interesting spots against these players.

KK - VIP player straddles $10 (*he just lost a big pot and only has a $60 stack*). UTG limps. Folds to me in SB. I overlimp? BB (other fishy gambler) raises to $75. VIP folds. UTG thinks and calls. I jam for $600. BB tanks for a long time and folds. UTG sigh folds.

I think this is an interesting pre-flop spot. I expect this player type to jam basically everything when he straddles and only has $60 but maybe that's a mis-read. Is overlimping too tricky given that read? Maybe. Once BB ISOs big, I expected he was really strong. I kind of wish I had 3bet to a smaller size here, but I thought jamming better represented a bluff or an AK/AQ type hand. BB told me he folded JJ (UTG said he had TT as well) which is kind of a disaster for me. I also don't think that's a good fold, since I would make this same play with AK/AQ, TT, and maybe even 99.

76s - I open HJ $15, CO fish calls, BTN VIP calls, one more caller. Flop: 952r ($60). 1 check, I check, CO bets $25, VIP calls $25, other player folds, I call? Turn A. XXX. River 8 ($135). I bet $175, both players fold.

I think this hand would be a good XR on flop (I had BDFD too) but I don't know how much I want to bluff these guys. On the river, I think there is a good amount of two pair plus in my opponents' ranges (88, 89, 85, BTN could even had 82). I thought about checking but figured an overbet is the best way to get a lot of money against these hands. Maybe this is a good spot to block bet though, because I think these guys are both aggressive enough to raise two pair and either might occasionally bluff raise.

I had a lot of fun spots to squeeze pre-flop, as I had decent cards all day and the VIP player was opening so often (and always getting called in multiple spots). I only got called once after squeezing, and I just ended up checking down AQo on a low board, where I chopped with another player's AQ. I ran it up from $500 to about $850 before I played my new biggest pot ever.

TT - Tilted TAG open UTG $25. UTG1, UTG2, and LJ call $25. I call HJ. CO fish call. BTN VIP call. Blinds fold. Flop: Tc8c7d ($175). UTG check. UTG1 $80. UTG2 tanks and then LJ jams out of turn for $280. Action is corrected and UTG2 still calls $80. LJ jams. Hero re-jams $825. Folds to UTG2 who calls for about $815 and says "I have the nuts." I show my hand. LJ says "don't pair the board" and shows J9ss. UTG2 shows J9cc for the OESF re-draw. Turn K. River is a beautiful offsuit 7. Hero scoops $2100 pot.

Obviously an insane spot where I continued my year-long sunrun. I ended up making a thread about this one in the strategy subforum. A lot of players there saying they would 3bet pre and would just flat call flop, both of which I think I agree with. I didn't squeeze to entice the fish behind me to continue (and because I thought UTG might be really strong). I think the flop jam might be a mistake, but it can't be too bad. Interestingly, UTG1 said he folded K7cc, which would have backdoored a worse full house than mine.

I kept playing until I got called for the main game. I ended up playing 1 hour of 1/2 (-$136) and 3 hours of 2/5 (+$1497). This is my biggest winning poker session to date.

Online poker:

None, and I really missed it at times this week.

Other gambling:

I played through a few promotions on Mohegan Sun's online casino and netted about $50.

At the brick & mortar casino, I found a ton of valuable AP slot plays after I quit my poker session. I found 3 plays on a machine that I almost never find anything on, and 1 of the plays was super valuable, the kind of thing that only someone truly clueless would leave behind. I ended up winning $150 which was a nice way to end a very fun trip to the casino.

While I was checking a Buffalo Link machine, I was approached by an old guy with an extremely raspy voice. He asked me if I wanted to split a play with him. I was really taken aback and immediately said "no" since I wasn't really sure what he was asking. He explained that one of the Buffalo Link machines had a play at one of the higher denomination bets which was too high variance for him to play alone, so he was looking to split the action 50/50. I told him I didn't really have enough time to play (which was true) and he continued to talk to me about his history with the Buffalo Link machine. It was cool and novel to talk to someone else who APs slot machines, but I did find myself trying to exit the conversation multiple times. Afterwards, I sort of regretted turning down the guy's offer. At the same time though, I think it is pretty easy for me to get scammed in this spot since I am sharing potentially hundreds of dollars with a complete stranger in a casino, so maybe it is for the best.

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Overall really good week, but I do wish I had put more volume in. I expect next week will be pretty similar, although I am itching to play some more poker if possible.

Another low volume week. Solid win this time around. Next week should be able to get some more hours in.

Live poker:

I played one session this week, on Saturday. I played 4 hours of $1/$2 (+229) and 1 hour of $2/$5 (+$300).

I started at a brand new table at 1/2. My first impression was that the table was going to be really good, but it wasn't as action as I was hoping for. We gradually lost the fish at the table too and they were replaced by semi-competent regs. By the time I left for 2/5, it was one of the worst weekend 1/2 tables I've been at in a while. That said, I was running like God and closely watching the UConn basketball game on my phone, so it was still a very enjoyable experience. I had an insane stretch where within two orbits, I went 3-for-3 with low pocket pairs hitting sets (twice with 33, once with 22). I also hit another set with 22 later on in the same day, at a different 1/2 table. Wild. Unfortunately, all four pots were relatively small, but at least I won all of 'em. Running hot when a table first opens is kind of unfortunate, because people usually play tighter at the start of their sessions IME. I made the nut flush with A7hh on QQ89hhh but the river was another Q and I had to check/fold (V showed the case Q, which was the only hand he was really representing with a big river bet multiway).

After the UConn game finished (close loss unfortunately), I jumped at the chance to move to a brand new $2/$5 table. Unfortunately, there wasn't much action at this table and we were losing players quickly to the main games. I played for 45 minutes before getting called for a main game. I won one nice pot, in a spot where I got really lucky:

KQo - EP (unknown older guy, looks like he could be action) limps. LP (unknown MAWG, announced to table he is waiting for PLO seat) opens $20. I call BB. EP limp/calls. Flop: Q93ss ($60) checks around. Turn 3 ($60) I lead $50 EP call LP fold. River K ($160) I bet $125 he calls quick. I show and he rolls over AQo and thinks he won before I point out the river.

I think pre-flop is a close spot. Could 3bet, could fold. I figured I want to play with the limper (I didn't know he'd be limp calling AQo!!!) and a random guy waiting for PLO is loose enough too so I decided to call even though this might be the worst option. Felt like I had the nuts after the flop checked through. My plan was to bomb the river on a brick after getting called by the limper, but the river is kind of weird. In game I thought V had a lot of JT, but that hand might fold to a big bet on a paired FD board so maybe not. Either way, have to target Qx so I went for 3/4 pot and it worked out. Got really lucky the river wasn't a brick, and even luckier that it gave me with the winner. Pretty big swing in my favor.

The main game wasn't a particularly good table either. I had already put my name back on the list for 1/2 as the previous 2/5 table was that bad (5 chopped pots in a half hour; dead silence at the table; no loose action; at least 2 players who seemed like they might actually be good). So when my name got called for a new 1/2 table, I figured I would go. I did win a final 2/5 pot in a spot where I was proud of getting some thin value:

88 - Two limps to me in HJ with 88. I raise to $30 folds to second limper (unknown young white guy) who calls. Flop: K73r ($65) he check I $25 he snap call. Turn 6 ($115) checks through. River 2 ($115) he check I $55 he calls quickly and mucks

I think the range of a young player (who I had seen open raising when we were together at the must move) who overlimps and then calls a big ISO is pretty narrow: low pairs, weak suited aces, good suited connectors. When he snap calls flop, he can't really have a better hand than 88. I had planned to call a modest sized bet on most rivers but then he checked. I almost checked back (might have given a live tell here) but then realized I should have the best hand here so I targeted A7s 76s 78s 55 44 etc and it worked out. Maybe I can go bigger on the river - it's pretty easy for me to have nothing here. Would be an ugly spot if I got check/raised but I don't think random players find that line very often.

At the next 1/2 table, I was feeling extremely confident and had an insane pre-flop hand distribution: AA, KK twice, AQs, KJs, 99, all in the span of about an hour. The rest of the table was pretty passive so it felt like I was raising every hand. People seemed annoyed and I apologized at one point after ISOing the same two limpers two hands in a row. I won almost every hand with the above premiums without showdown. I also stacked a short stack fish with the AQs on Q96r (she donk, I raise).

Just a really good run of cards all day, but I did feel locked in and was really enjoying myself. Unfortunately I can only stay for about five hours at a time due to my family responsibilities, but didn't feel too bad booking a nice win.

Online poker:

None. I did see ClubWPT Gold is starting soon. I will likely be playing in those games as soon as I am able to. I started logging in daily to collect their log-in bonuses, small though they may be.

Other gambling:

I lost about $75 total on Mohegan Sun's online casino. Low volume week on that site. I did have a small win on the DraftKings online casino, which is Foxwoods' partner. It is very rare that I get any kind of play-able bonus/promo on this site, but got some crumbs this week. DraftKings is actually the only site that I was an overall loser on last year (I played on about 15 different online casinos) so you would think they would want my action! Went -$500 on DK in 2024, mostly because I was hedging a series of $100 free sports bets that I was given on Fanatics, the CT Lottery's sportsbetting partner.

I didn't play any slots at the real life Mohegan Sun, but I did hit a $10 free bet!

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Next week I should be able to get a couple live poker sessions in. If the snow isn't too bad I will be at Mohegan Sun tomorrow. Hopefully there will be some good action with the bad weather and the holiday.

Big volume week for me this time around, and another chunky win. Online poker is back in the mix too, thanks to ClubWPT Gold.

Live Poker:

I spent the night up at Mohegan Sun last night. I was there with my wife (who is decidedly not a gambler, although she does support my gambling pursuits) so I didn't play as much as I might normally. We had a really nice time though, and between last night and this morning I got about 6.5 hours of play in, evenly split between 3 hours at $1/$2 (+$90) and 3.5 hours at $2/$5 (+$966).

At 1/2, I started out instantly down a $300 buy-in after 3betting AQo and missing and then getting stacked with KK by 56 on 874tt. The latter hand might have been a small punt by me, but it was a low SPR spot against an opponent that seemed capable (young Asian guy in poker gear, on the list for bigger games). I moved up to a decent 2/5 table but couldn't get much going. I ended up switching tables at 2/5 which I normally don't do. I don't know that it was warranted to switch tables. All 3 tables I played at (1 must move, 2 main games) were decent. I think my net result at 2/5 was -$75 and I didn't get into any notable spots.

After getting dinner with my wife I returned to the poker room around 8pm and got seated at a brand new 1/2 table. There was no one at the table that I recognized, which is a really good sign. The table ended up being awesome - just super soft with no one even remotely good. The stacks were kind of short, but I won almost every pot I entered so it was hard to complain. Within a couple orbits I won a big pot to get almost unstuck for the day:

A9cc - UTG Straddle $4. EP (clueless younger girl) limp off $60. LJ $10 off $250. I make it $40 in HJ. Folds to EP who limp calls, leaving $20 behind. LJ calls. Flop: KKJcc ($120). XX I $35 EP calls All-in LJ calls. Turn 5c ($225) x $50 call. River 6 ($325) X I jam he calls with KQhh and I scoop

Obviously just a very lucky spot for me. Not a hand that I would always 3bet pre, but I like to try and attack small raise sizes and the PFR seemed pretty fishy. Once I get called in two spots on the flop, I am planning on checking back turn and trying to hit. Once I make the flush, the hand basically plays itself but I'm glad I was able to massage the pot such that it was very difficult for Villain to fold at any point.

I continued to grind for another couple hours, basically just winning a bunch of small pots. Right around 11pm, I was up $15 for the day (from down $375 earlier) so I decided to call it quits.

This morning, I got to the poker room right as it opened but still managed to miss the last seat at the first 1/2 table of the day. I wasn't really planning to play 2/5 but I jumped in a short handed game with a decent line-up. I got off to a really fast start, with tons of playable hands. One of the first hands I played I rivered a straight with A9s again and got paid off by a guy who donked 3 streets and bet/called the river on a 4-liner. At one point it felt like I was raising every hand and that maybe people were starting to notice. A few people left our table to play a tournament, so we were down to 5 handed when I got this spot:

A5hh - I open HJ. SB calls. BB calls. Flop: 5s4h7h ($45) XX I $15 call call. Turn: 3h ($90). SB donk $50. BB calls. I $175. SB tank fold. BB back-jam for ~$500 I snap and fast-roll. He shows K9hh and river is Ad.

Obviously a pretty sick cooler spot. The crazy part is the SB was adamant that he folded QJhh?? I guess I could see how someone could make this huge fold in a multi-way spot. This isn't really a spot I am likely to bluff. I do think I could raise a worse hand for value, but there aren't that many worse flushes out there.

RE: the turn raise, I am trying to slow play a lot less, but maybe this is a spot to slow play? I'm not so sure though, because it seems obvious one of my opponents has a flush, so why not get the money in? BB can have sets and two pair that might call as well.

Either way, a great result for me. The BB did not re-buy and left, leaving us 4 handed. Two (and possibly all three?) of the other players are solid regs who I assume are longterm winning players. I decided to decline playing super short handed in this line-up for that reason. I apologized to the other players, but they didn't seem to mind too much, and continued playing 3 handed rake-free.

Ended up only playing 1 hour in the morning, but at least it was a good hour. I finished up $1040.

Online Poker:

The big news this week is that ClubWPT Global is now available to some people, including yours truly. Apparently I got included because I signed up using Brad Owen's sign-up code (lol).

To be honest, the software is pretty bad. Right now you can't multi-table, which is almost a deal-breaker. There is no rakeback or deposit bonuses available. Sometimes it freezes mid hand which is insanely tilting. You can't use a HUD or write notes about your opponents either (although the software does show the VPIP/PFR and total hands played of each opponent).

Also, the structures of the games are unusual. Most games play 8 handed with 3 blinds, which I am really not used to. At times, I have struggled with relatively simple pre-flop decisions. Fortunately, GTOW has comparable charts available which I have referenced.

The games in general are pretty good. The play is generally loose and passive and there are definitely some huge losers in the pool. The pool is not as soft as the stake.us pool, but I would imagine it is softer than most other sites. There are a good amount of tables running as well. The stakes being offered right now are 10NL, 40NL, 200NL, and 400NL. I have played almost exclusively at 40NL.

Right now my stats are 30% VPIP 21% PFR over about 700 hands. I would imagine those stats are within the realm of acceptable, though I know I am leaking pre-flop. I think I'm allowed to play looser and more passively due to the large ante and weak player pool. I'm currently down $70. At times, it has felt like I am running awful. I actually started out up about $150 and then went on an instantaneous 10 buy-in downswing. I have been grinding back though and I am confident I will be a big winner on this site if I keep at it.

Playing 1 8-handed table at a time feels excruciatingly slow. I think the pace of play has caused me to punt on occasion. Hopefully multi-tabling will be available soon.

Either way I plan to put in more volume next week.

Other gambling:

I was a net winner on Mohegan Sun's online casino thanks to a $200 win on a $100 deposit bonus, although I did lose on a couple other plays. At the IRL casino, I found a couple small slot plays and basically broke even.

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Next week should be decent volume wise. Work and life have been pretty busy but things are good.

Yeah when WPT launched their global pool it was only 1 table for the first 3 months or so

One tabling 40nl sounds terrible. Even if you’re crushing those games you are still only making like $4 an hour. I used an ambassador code but am not able to play the games there yet for some reason. Do you grind any other sites?

Ah interesting. Hopefully it won't take 3 months for multi-tabling on the US site.

I am not playing on any other sites currently. In the past I have played regularly on Bovada and last year I grinded pretty hard on Stake.us until it was banned in my state (CT). I am thinking about signing up for Coinpoker, but not totally sure I will. I've also played on Betonline and ACR but am not really itching to return to either.

If I continue playing on ClubWPT Gold, I may move up to a higher stake after I get comfortable with the game structures, the software, and the player pool (as well as the withdrawal process). 1 tabling on that site while playing simultaneously on another site might make sense as well.

Nice week this time around with solid wins across the board. Gonna keep it on the shorter side after a long update last week.

Live poker:

I played two sessions this week, one at Mohegan Sun and one at a low stakes home game. Both sessions were on Saturday which made for a very busy day.

At Mohegan Sun, I switched between a couple different tables. I started out at $1/$2 at a table full of the classic Mohegan Sun limp-happy older regs. It was actually a good time though, with some good banter and just enough action. I had a couple bluffs that got through and won about $50 in my first hour.

I got on the list for $2/$5 and joined a pretty mediocre short-handed table after 5/T got called. I only played for about an hour (I got called for a Main game that looked significantly worse) but it was a swingy hour. I got stacked in a 3bet pot with AQo where I made the second nut flush against KK that just flatted my 3bet. I think I got outplayed in this hand by a younger reg who, despite being an action player, is pretty difficult to play against. I rebought for $500 and decided that I would move back down to 1/2 if I lost this second bullet. Almost immediately, I got into another All-in, where I had KhTh vs QdQs on Jx9h8h. This was in a bloated multi-way SRP where I cold-called QQ's ISO which is maybe a questionable play but I think was somewhat justifiable. Fortunately I won on a TxQh runout. This was a pretty big swing for me. I won a couple other small pots to book another $50 win at this table.

Finally, I landed at a great 1/2 table, with several awful players and one older reg who I really enjoy playing with. I made a couple big hands and had fun watching the fish at the table muck about. I found a nice spot to run a bluff and also extracted some thin value which always makes me feel good. At this table, I won $275, for a net win of about $375 at Mohegan Sun.

At the low stakes home game, I played 4 hours of 25c/50c. I ran really well and had a good time. I got to watch UConn win a huge road game against a Top 10 team which was exciting as well. I won $73 at this game. I didn't lose any big pots and was able to extract solid value from one of the looser players at the table on a couple occasions. Also found a spot for a 4bet bluff against one of the good players in the game, which isn't something I normally get to do playing live.

Online poker:

I put in a lot of volume on ClubWPT Gold this week. I played 650 hands of 40NL this week and won $120. Currently at 29% VPIP 20% PFR. Probably playing some spots too loose/passive but, again, with the big ante and the low skill level of my opponents, I think my pre-flop play is OK.

I had one tough session this week where I took a couple bad beats against the same 40NL reg. I had been 3betting him a lot (mostly with good hands, sometimes just in response to what I perceived to be sizing tells) and then he went nuts against me. First he 4bet jammed A8o against my KK for 150bb effective and hit an ace. Then, in an even more absurd hand, he open-jammed BVB for 100bb with 33 and rivered a 3 against my JJ. This is a player who has already played 4k hands at 40NL and who had decent pre-flop stats compared to the rest of the pool. Overall, I would say this speaks to the softness of these games. I bounced back from this bad session pretty well.

At some point, I would be interested in trying out 200NL on ClubWPT Gold. I'm not sure I'm ready for that quite yet though.

Other gambling:

I put in a couple positive sessions on Mohegan Sun's online casino and netted about $150. Mostly, I played their "Slot of the Week" with 35% lossback. I played at $1/spin which is pretty low and hit a nice bonus.

At the brick and mortar casino, I didn't have much time to look for slot plays. I lost $20 on a small play when I went to grab lunch.

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I have a busy week next week, but I expect to find some time to play online. I should be back at Mohegan Sun over the weekend as well. Looking forward to it.

I'm jealous about wpt gold access! I didn't join through one of the selected people 😕

Love that you're game selecting between limits. That just seems so optimal.

Keep rocking it man. Your dedication to maxing value and documentation is admirable 🫡

The way things are going for me on ClubWPT Gold I wish I didn't have access lol.

Thanks for the words of encouragement though! I'm pretty happy with where I am at right now with poker and gambling, definitely gonna try and keep it up. And I certainly can't complain about running bad at 40NL online given how well I've run live of late.

keep up the good work. still following along. I also wish i had WPT gold access. i'm relying more on online poker these days and more options the better. hows the software? is it easily accessible with tracking software or how are you getting the stats?

i imagine the player pool might be a little tougher now than it will be with a good public launch and promo. probably a good sign they ain't rushing it. until we get regulated sites we gotta ride these sweep coins sites while they can hang on.

Hey man, thanks for the kind words. What site do you play on typically?

The ClubWPT Gold software is pretty bad honestly, it is really bare bones. You can't use any HUDs or tracking software to my knowledge, but there is a built-in display that tells you VPIP, PFR, and total hands played for each player. It's helpful for differentiating player types (and keeping track of your own play), but you can't take notes or tag players which isn't great.

The worst part of the software is that you can't multi-table. I would image this will keep the games softer for longer though. Fish mostly single table anyway, and this way you don't get regs clogging up all the tables. I would image that it dissuades serious online players from grinding the site too much as well.

you are right about only single table and maybe they have a different idea for the ecosystem on their site and thats one way to make it fish friednly but business wise more money is made by more tables and i think some fish like to play more than one table online.

online as I am splitting time between MA and VT I'm playing GLobal as its been a good site for me and i'm working out the routine to play a bit more live from VT.

Had a losing week this time around. Only my second losing week of the year though, and it wasn't too bad.

Live Poker:

I played one session this week, at Mohegan Sun on Saturday. I started off getting called for a brand new $2/$5 table that was above average. I think I won the first four or five hands I played, including one where I flopped top set with AA. Then I played two 3bet pots with AKo in rapid succession (one loss, one win). I had a couple semi-interesting hands in the middle of the session which I will share here:

AJo - Bad Reg posts his blinds. Folds to me in SB. I raise to $30. BB (unknown rec) calls. Bad reg calls. Flop 678r ($90) checks through. Turn A ($90) I check BB checks Bad Reg bets $45. I call. BB folds. River 7 ($180) I check Bad Reg bets $95. I call and he mucks.

I was actually pretty surprised to win this hand. This isn't really a spot I expect older Mohegan Sun players to bluff very often (although I have seen this player bluff river in the past). I also don't really expect players to go for thin value on the river here with a hand worse than AJ. Because of that, I really wish I had chosen a different line in this hand. Probably betting small on turn and river myself and folding to a raise is a better play. It happened to work out nicely for me here though.

KThh - Fish limps. Solid reg ISO $20. I call on BTN $750 eff. BB calls. Flop J87hh ($60). BB checks. Reg bets $20. I raise $80. BB folds. Reg calls. Turn 3x ($220). Reg checks. I check. River Jx ($220). Reg checks. I announce "I give up" and she shows QQ.

I don't love how I played this hand. I think the flat pre is OK (don't isolate the reg & invite the worse players at the table in). I think raising or calling flop are both fine. On the turn, I think I probably just need to go for it here. My thinking was that if I bet big and get jammed on, it is kind of a disaster at this stack depth. I'm not sure that is true though, and I don't think it happens all that often. I also can have a lot of good hands here and this is one of my better bluffs. That said, I did get to realize all of my equity for pretty cheap so it can't be that bad. Villain also clearly wasn't folding, from a results-oriented POV.

I bled down a bit at $2/$5 before I got called for the main game. I decided to just leave for $1/$2 after having played about 3 hours. I needed to eat lunch, and wanted to relax a bit in the smaller game. I think this was probably a bad decision, since I should be playing as much 2/5 as possible, but it's OK. I booked a $60 win at 2/5.

At 1/2, I played at a really good table for about 1.5 hours, but I ran pretty bad. I got counterfeited in a limped pot with 93s (I was BB) on 9c8c3x7c7x where I check/raised flop huge and got called by Qc9x. Then I played this one:

AcKs - UTG limps, EP (fishy MAWG) raises to $6. BTN calls $6. I make it $40 from SB. UTG folds EP calls BTN folds. Flop KQJcc ($80). I bet $35. EP raises to $70 off of $170. I just jam and he snaps with T9ss. Runout is 5c Jx and I lose.

I think I played post-flop pretty badly in this hand. It is a cooler-ish spot (TPTK, gutshot, BD NFD at 2 SPR) but I don't think I should be jamming flop here. I don't really know if I can bet/fold flop, but check/call would be good and bet/call might be the best play. If EP is deeper I think I get away from it too, but maybe not. I pay off these spots more than I should.

I ended up losing $240 for the day at live poker.

Online Poker:

I started last week with about $300 in my ClubWPT Gold account and I actually lost it all this week. Mostly this was because of a 1 buy-in loss at 200NL though. I logged in one morning and couldn't find a seat at 40NL, but saw a really good short-handed 200NL game running. My very first hand I was dealt KK in the straddle and ran into the Q8s of a 60% VPIP short stack limp-caller on Q83tt. The session went accordingly from there. At one point I was playing HU at 200NL which probably wasn't a great idea.

After I busted the 200NL shot, I lost a couple more buy-ins at 40NL in ugly spots to bring me down to a zero balance.

It's been a few days since. I feel like I want to reload at some point, but I haven't done it yet. I feel strongly that I am a big winner in this player pool, but the runbad to date has been frustrating and I really don't enjoy playing on the software (particularly being stuck at 1 table at a time). I expect I will play some this week though. I don't really like quitting when I'm stuck $300.

Other Gambling:

I had a modest win this week playing promos on Mohegan Sun's online casino, but nothing to really write home about, maybe +$100. I also found a slot play when I was at the casino this weekend where I won $50.

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Don't feel too down about the losses overall. Looking forward to trying to grind it back this week.