MDAmicros 2024 Goals/Challenge: Went from 5NL -> 25NL, now let's try for 50NL and 100NL!
Hey everyone, happy New Year's Eve and soon New Year's!! I'm very close to reaching my goal of 50NL on my [U][COLOR="blue"]first thread[/COLOR][/U... (check it out if you haven't yet! I went from 5NL -> 25NL on Ignition 6max 😀 ) and I wanted to make a brand new thread to highlight my goals/weekly (and/or daily) updates for 2024.
I still haven't fully completed my goal of reaching 25NL, but I am close to the goal line of 25-30 buyins and/or +5evbb/100 @ 25,000-30,000 hands. I anticipate another week or two before I reach 25,000 25NL hands and I will make my decision then to officially take my first shot at 50NL. Until then, I will continue to make updates on my first thread and then I will consider my first thread concluded with updates continuing here for 2024 pertaining to the goals/challenges below!
2024 Goals and Challenges
These are general guidelines, but things are open to adjustment as I or others see fit/recommend. Thanks for tuning in and hope we all have a great 2024 😀
Move up goals:
50NL -> 100NL: 35-40 buyins and/or +4evbb/100 at 50,000 hands
100NL -> 200NL: 35-40 buyins and/or +3evbb/100 at 75,000 hands
I want to force myself to really play a lot at these 2 stakes (especially 100NL if I make it there) because I am aware that this is when CFPs really start showing up as well as a lot tougher competition. Hopefully these move up goals keep me honest and ensure I am a solid winner before moving up.
Shot taking guidelines:
First 50NL or 100NL shot take: 5 buy ins, recoup 10 buy ins at previous stake if shot fails
Subsequent shot takes: 5-10 buy ins, recoup 10 buy ins at previous if shots fails + replenish bankroll externally if necessary
Subsequent shot takes will have to be on a case-by-case basis. I will move down to the previous stake to mainly recoup mentally before shot taking again. I am allowing an external replenish of the bankroll for subsequent shots if I deem it acceptable (i.e. I ran super under EV, etc.). The main point of these guidelines is to set a responsible framework where I can hold myself accountable as financial requirements for bankrolls at these stakes are not an issue with my IRL job.
Volume/study goals:
Volume: 15,000 - 20,000 hands per month tracked on Ignition (Global volume possibly when bonuses are good or it is convenient)
MDA Work: Perform a review and implement adjustments to my MDA strategy every 10,000 hands
GTO Drilling: Start a drilling routine for spots that give me trouble (hopefully more on this later)
Thread updating goals:
I hope to update this thread weekly once I start my first 50NL shot as I did in my first thread with summary of results, etc. I also want to start implementing daily updates if possible with session results and plenty of hand reviews. I don't want to the thread to get too crowded with hand review discussion so I'll have to see how to approach that.
Saw your update in the old thread. Don't think you'll have any problems at 50nl
The main difference from when I was playing those stakes on Bovada is the regs will definitely be 3betting a lot more than they did at the lower stakes.
Also the whales can be a little more spewy/aggro postflop.
Saw your update in the old thread. Don't think you'll have any problems at 50nl
The main difference from when I was playing those stakes on Bovada is the regs will definitely be 3betting a lot more than they did at the lower stakes.
Also the whales can be a little more spewy/aggro postflop.
Hi thanks!! Yea I agree, I'm expecting to have to face some more aggression in general as well as improved regs. I'll be trying to update more frequently here for 2024!
gl on your journey im starting at nl10 on party
Yeah where you'll see increased aggression is from the regs that already played more of a LAG style
VPIP 25-35
PFR 21-33
At 25NL they were already 3betting close to 16%, but at 50NL it was around 18.5%
There's not much of a difference in your standard GTOWiz Range using regs.
Thank you very much and good luck to you too!
Thank you!! This is your pool results for 25NL and 50NL? I'm sure fish are just as bad in 50NL as 25NL, but I am expecting improved and more aggressive regs.
Yeah where you'll see increased aggression is from the regs that already played more of a LAG style
VPIP 25-35
PFR 21-33
At 25NL they were already 3betting close to 16%, but at 50NL it was around 18.5%
There's not much of a difference in your standard GTOWiz Range using regs.
Yep makes sense for the regs!
What’s the plan when you hit 200+? The bots, collusion, and RTA are real at small stakes Iggy.
What’s the plan when you hit 200+? The bots, collusion, and RTA are real at small stakes Iggy.
I don't have a plan for 200+ yet, probably won't ever make it there haha. I definitely don't like the idea of playing against bots, but if I'm still a winner overall I'd probably be happy enough. The rake is better up there though, right? I'd probably consider a move to live if I ran into a wall online. I'm sure I'd have plenty of fun live too 😀
Week 1 Update: Slow start....
Hey everyone! I know I wanted to update more frequently, play more volume, etc., but I ended up getting sick earlier last week so I had a really slow start to this 2024 2p2 blog. Ended up splitting my volume between 25NL and 50NL based on the times that I play. If I'm playing at good recreational volume times on iggy/bovada (5PM-10PM PST), then I'm trying to 3 table 50NL and then all other times was 25NL. Trying to hit 5000 hands per week to start while I'm only 3 tabling, but missed it by 1500 hands due to my illness. Feeling recovered now so let's hope things pick back up!
1st Week Results
so solid it's bonkers
Week 2 Update: Still slowly moving
Been really low volume all around, playing and studying. No good excuse for it other than I've been trying to play at high recreational volume hours and that hasn't meshed so well with my current schedule. I'm relocating soon which comes with packing/moving so I don't foresee an increase in volume anytime soon. Should be settled in within the next month or 2 so hopefully by then I can pick things up.
Things generally still going well, and feeling good about my playstyle/MDA strategy. Trying to attack capped ranges more on turns/rivers with overbets as well as pounce on great autoprofit spots. Been splitting between 50NL and 25NL just due to heavily prioritizing table selection. I really hate sitting with 2+ regs or less than 1 fish +80bb deep directly on my right which is tougher to come across at 50NL than 25NL for me. At least that's what I've noticed in my recent play times.
2nd Week Results
Good approach, gl mate
Thank you!! Hope to get the ball rolling a bit faster soon, but we'll see. Good luck to you too 😀
Your progress looks great to me, allow me for some questions:
1. How far are you usually deviate from the GTO solution? I'd assume that mostly depends on your population analysis and how far population deviates?
2. Do you take suboptimal lines to get to the spots, where population makes the most mistakes, more often? GTOWizard calls this the setup and the exploit the punish
Your progress looks great to me, allow me for some questions:
1. How far are you usually deviate from the GTO solution? I'd assume that mostly depends on your population analysis and how far population deviates?
2. Do you take suboptimal lines to get to the spots, where population makes the most mistakes, more often? GTOWizard calls this the setup and the exploit the punish
Thank you!! I'll try to answer your questions to the best of my ability:
1. I'm honestly not sure how far I deviate from the GTO solution as I have not really studied GTO all that much. I am pretty sure GTO databases like GTOWizard are providing solutions for GTO vs. GTO ranges. When I am playing at my stakes, I don't believe the fish and even a decent portion of the regs are playing these GTO ranges. Additionally, there are a ton of leaks postflop that are not going to be near any GTO solution. For these reasons, I have been able to get away without studying GTO much as population leaks are so bad to the point of "autoprofit" in certain spots. I think the true answer lies in running nodelock simulations and getting the optimal solution for those situations.
2. I'm sure the lines I take and the frequencies that I take them at are suboptimal, but I'm not sure it really matters as population would probably make mistakes regardless of the lines I am taking. This is largely as me being the aggressor vs. population defend ranges which for fish are far too wide (e.g. high VPIP). The way I see it, if a fish is defending against me with say 70% VPIP, I would be giving up a lot of money trying to achieve optimal bet/check frequencies on the flop.
This is not to say I don't think GTO is useful as I believe I am slacking too much with my study there. I believe it's super useful for improving your own play as the defender. Even though fish may have 70% VPIP, they often have a much lower PFR meaning they might be closer to some position's GTO range as aggressor that would make database solutions useful to study as defender. For this reason when I get more into GTO study, I'll be mainly drilling as the defender.
Thank you!! I'll try to answer your questions to the best of my ability:
1. I'm honestly not sure how far I deviate from the GTO solution as I have not really studied GTO all that much. I am pretty sure GTO databases like GTOWizard are providing solutions for GTO vs. GTO ranges. When I am playing at my stakes, I don't believe the fish and even a decent portion of the regs are playing these GTO ranges. Additionally, there are a ton of leaks postflop that are not going to be near any GTO solution.
Thansk for you answers. I thought you were basically comparing population tendencies to GTO and then crafting exploits for that, but I guess just nodelocking population tendencies and then running the sim / nodelocking on GTOWizard AI does the same, in an even more direct matter.
I actually want to incorporate more exploits into my game so I'll start looking into MDA too.
Are you using Hand2Note to analyze population tendencies?
Thansk for you answers. I thought you were basically comparing population tendencies to GTO and then crafting exploits for that, but I guess just nodelocking population tendencies and then running the sim / nodelocking on GTOWizard AI does the same, in an even more direct matter.
I actually want to incorporate more exploits into my game so I'll start looking into MDA too.
Are you using Hand2Note to analyze population tendencies?
I see what you mean! I think eventually approaching solutions from nodelocked sims with population tendencies is something I want to do. As of right now I'm just using H2N4 to analyze population and find obvious weaknesses. I think once you see what an average fish's range looks like on flop, turn, river as preflop caller a lot of the weaknesses become really obvious and the way to exploit them is rather intuitive. However, I think things can be pool specific so you got to make sure you're analyzing a database that is representative of the pool you're playing against. For example, there was a huge difference in fish C-C-F IP as preflop caller in a Pokerstars EU pool vs. an American Pokerstars pool.
You can hit me up on Discord if you ever want to have further discussion! My username is mdamicros 😀
I see what you mean! I think eventually approaching solutions from nodelocked sims with population tendencies is something I want to do. As of right now I'm just using H2N4 to analyze population and find obvious weaknesses. I think once you see what an average fish's range looks like on flop, turn, river as preflop caller a lot of the weaknesses become really obvious and the way to exploit them is rather intuitive. However, I think things can be pool specific so you got to make sure you're analy
Never thought pool difference between EU and US would be so different. Also why can't US stars players play with EU stars player? Any reason there are separate pools?
Sounds great, send you a friend request!
Never thought pool difference between EU and US would be so different. Also why can't US stars players play with EU stars player? Any reason there are separate pools?
Sounds great, send you a friend request!
Just accepted your request!
There's a lot of regulations with different sites, not sure how it all works, but some sites have joint pools, some are fenced, etc. Has to do with legal stuff though I'm pretty sure.
Just accepted your request!
There's a lot of regulations with different sites, not sure how it all works, but some sites have joint pools, some are fenced, etc. Has to do with legal stuff though I'm pretty sure.
MURICA noticed how much money leaving the country through online poker probably..
Week 3: Pitiful volume :(
Hey everyone I at least want to stay true to weekly updates so here is a 3rd week update. Only got in about another 3k hands on the week, but hoping for 12,000 hands by end of month which is falling quite short of my 15,000-20,000 hand goal per month. Relocating soon so life has been pretty busy outside of poker, but hoping to pick volume back up once I'm settled into my new place.
Things are still going well, but I've recently felt a little disheartened about the anon pools I play with on ignition/bovada. Apart from the short term reads where a fish shows down a hand indicating they're a station or an aggro fish, etc., I have to treat fish very generally and I feel a lot of money gets left on the table. It would be great to know whether a fish is going to say XR a marginal top pair on the flop or if it's always nutted with 2pair+. Unfortunately, I feel I can only make these extended fish adjustments if I have screen names leaving me with ACR or Global Poker. I got some good advice to study the reg population a bit more so that's what I've decided to turn my attention to in the meantime for my anon pools. Overall though this is just me complaining a bit and being jealous of the wonderful looking fenced in sites, but unfortunately I'm not in one of those states.
3rd Week Results
