NLH MTT Grind to High Stakes

Hello, guys! I’m here with a new update!

After playing around 15k hands this week, I'm happy to report that my stats look consistent and are on the better side. I believe I've achieved a level of consistency in my game that will keep my stats relatively stable moving forward. My win rate is a bit on the lower side at 2 BB/100, but I think there are two main reasons for this:

I didn't play well enough when super deep-stacked.
I didn't run well deep-stacked, even though my overall run was quite good.
Now, let's dive into some interesting hands from this week:

We were on the final table with UTG as the big stack (70 BB), the small blind (SB) and I both had 40 BB. UTG opened for 2 BB, and the SB, who was a middle stack, called. I was in the BB with AQo. According to Nash ranges, calling is better than raising to 9 BB or jamming, but because the SB was too capped and UTG wouldn't 4-bet me enough, I believed that raising to 9 BB was better than calling.

In hindsight, after discussing with my coach, we concluded that jamming would have been the best option. However, I ended up raising to 9 BB, and UTG called. The flop came J♦A♠4♦. I bet half the pot, and he called. The turn was Q♦, completing the flush draw. I jammed for slightly over pot, and he called with 9♠9♦, which gave him a set and I finished 6th. No comments on the post-flop play; it seems like the best option was to jam the river given the situation. It's worth noting that there were two shorter stacks than me at this point, adding some ICM considerations.

Blind vs. blind (BvB) play is always complex, especially when there's ICM pressure and varying stack sizes. Here's another final table hand from the Vanilla Deep Stacks €5. We were 3-handed, and I was the chip leader with ATo. I raised from the SB against a 25 BB stack in the BB, who was the shortest stack, making it 3 BB. The BB then jammed.

During the game, I perceived him to be on the tighter side, with a 16% RFI (Raise First In) and an 8% 3-bet. I thought he would jam with hands that we could comfortably call. In theory, with Chip EV, we would call more and jam the weakest suited aces and small pairs with the top of our range while slow-playing AA, KK, and sometimes QQ. In this ICM spot, the strategy is to call with suited hands and jam with off-suit hands, including K2-K5 offsuit plus.

After discussing with my coach, we analyzed the tightish range we assigned to this player: jamming top hands, some percentage of suited small Kxs, and always jamming with the top of his range. We discovered that, based on his likely range, AT was a marginally winning call, with adjustments removing hands with less than 0.1 EV. We concluded that limp-jamming with AT would also have been a viable strategy. I lost this hand but managed to win the tournament later.

My new warm-up routine before each session involves focusing on a specific spot from the BBZ charts. For example, I might study an out-of-position (OOP) 3-bet situation on a final table when short-stacked. Then, I compare this to the same chart for equal stacks at a final table, and finally, I review the Chip EV charts. This comparative analysis helps me solidify my understanding of different spots.

Results from the Last Week:
Bounty Builder $4.40: 7th place for $70
$5.50 Deep Stack: 1st place for $290
Big $3.30: 3rd place for $210
I also had several cashes between 13th and 30th place, but they weren't significant enough to highlight here.

Overall, I feel like I'm running well, and I'm definitely on an upswing. I hope it lasts forever, but I know that's not how poker works. I'll keep working hard, and I look forward to updating you next week.

See you all then!

99 doesn't give him a set on a JA4Q board, we're missing something here haha.

Solvers prefer jamming 40bb here because UTG goes absolutely bonkers putting icm pressure with his 4bets if he plays perfectly vs a merged 3bet range from you. This is likely not the case especially on the stakes you play, and players that play like that you notice them quickly in a FT so your 3bet pre is good imo. Im curious what did your coach say to explain why jamming is still better?

Also, we'd love some graphs instead of just text to share your results, good luck on the journey

Hey guys, I'm back with another update! Last week, I was running pretty well with a consistent all-in adjusted win rate of around 2 BB/100 and then climbed to an 8 BB/100 win rate. This week, the cards have cooled off for me, but I'm still maintaining an 8 BB/100 win rate. I'm running a bit cold, but hey, that's poker! The lack of deep runs since my last post has been frustrating, but I'm hopeful for some final table binks soon.

I'm not going to focus too much on stats this time because I'm confident in my ability to maintain a consistent aggressive game that keeps my stats where I want them. However, one thing I noticed is a slight increase in my river bet frequency. This is mainly because, as we get deeper in tournaments, I tend to become more aggressive.

I want to share more about my thought processes and some specific hands this week. Quick note on the Bounty Builder tournaments: I don't particularly enjoy calling super wide when I'm the chip leader and risking my stack for a bounty. But when you get good pot odds, you sometimes have to take the gamble.

I've been working extensively with the Holdem Resources Calculator (HRC) and my charts. My routine is to analyze a hand on HRC, then look at equal stack charts for the same BB, and finally, look at the same spot at a final table. This three-pronged approach helps me understand how certain factors change ranges. Since the last update, I've specifically focused on calling off for bounties and figuring out how wide we can rejam for them. It's crucial because bounties significantly increase EV.

Another spot I've been refining is the squeeze play, which I do a lot and quite wide with a linear range. In ICM spots, such as when the cutoff opens, the button calls, and we're in the small blind, we squeeze with our top range and some suited broadways and suited aces. However, we avoid calling with medium suited aces. In chip EV situations, though, we start calling more with suited hands like medium-strength aces and suited connectors. But if we overcall too much with an unprotected range, the big blind can squeeze, and we end up losing.

In real-life situations, not many players will overcall-squeeze, so we don't necessarily need to call with AQs just to be unexploitable. Still, it's always good to understand the theory.

Now, I want to share my new hot spot for both bounty and vanilla tournaments: when two wide ranges clash, especially when the button raises and the small blind 3-bets. Assuming the small blind isn't playing too tight, this spot becomes interesting. In bounty tournaments, especially with bigger bounties, we can jam against these ranges super aggressively because it's often an overfolded spot. After node-locking ranges, I saw that we could jam close to 70% of the time. In vanilla tournaments, however, it's common to fold more in these spots and not jam with good blocker hands. This is a good exploit and an unlocked theory for me.

That's it for this week! See you next Sunday, and hopefully, I'll have some new exploits and huge wins to share!

For some reason, I post it as 99 and set, he had K10o and straight, I think I also add another hand and deleted that hand it was 99 and set anyway, he had straight. It was bounty builder tournament and we are thinking he will call wide enough for us to jam to be better. Yeah you are right he will definitely not going to 4 bet me nowhere near the Nash ranges.

Okey, next week I also add some graphs here, thanks for advice.

Hey guys, back with another update. This week has been a bit of a rollercoaster. I played around 10k hands with a pretty standard 10bb win rate. We’re keeping up the good momentum, and the stats are looking solid, just like in previous weeks—aggressive and on the better side. One thing I noticed is that my river bet size is a bit higher. That’s because I’ve been splitting my ranges into 10%, 25%, and 50% instead of the usual 33% or checking. Plus, I’ve been using a lot of big sizes lately.

I made some final tables but prices were not significant and I don't have any 3 number score this week.

Last week, someone suggested I start posting graphs instead of just writing everything out. Since I started my blog on an old laptop, I didn’t have all my hands uploaded. But this week, I’m sharing my PokerStars journey. Next week, we’ll dive into my GGPoker graph and discuss that in more detail.

I started playing on PokerStars after my coach and I decided to add a second site and play more than 4 tables. Plus, in Germany, you can play more than 4 tables, so we decided to add PokerStars to the grind. The graph pretty much sums up my journey—lots of ups and downs. It's frustrating to see my profits and ROI drop after that upswing, but it's a good reminder that variance is always going to be part of the game. My adjusted line is close to my actual winnings, which is a good sign that I’m doing something right, even if it doesn’t always feel like it.

I played 522 tournaments, and the graph pretty much tells the story. Started off strong, felt like I was on fire with my ROI and winnings shooting up, but as always, poker had other plans. I hit some swings early on, and after the first 100 tourneys, things got pretty rough. I was still cashing here and there, but the big scores just weren’t happening. It’s super frustrating, but that’s the grind.

Then, around the 330th tournament, I hit a crazy upswing. Everything finally clicked. Maybe it was a deep run or a tourney win, but it was one of those moments that keep you going, even when the downs are brutal. Unfortunately, after that high, things started to dip again. The recent stretch hasn’t been kind, with my ROI and profits taking a hit. I’m still cashing at a decent rate, but closing out those bigger spots has been tough.

But it is really tiny sample, which shows that I should play more and grind more, see you next week, here is my graph also :

Hello guys, I am here with a new update. Unfortunately, I can’t post the GG graph for this week. For some reason, the PokerCraft graph and PT4 graph don’t match, and I can’t get the graph in PokerCraft since the beginning of this blog. The graph from last week also shows my winnings to be around $500 less for some reason. I will solve the problem and come back with better graphs eventually.

Anyway, I played around 10k hands with a win rate of 11 big blinds per hundred. I got two titles since the last update: one of them was a $5.5 Turbo Vanilla on PokerStars for €130, and the second win was the Daily Big $3 for $150.

Studying is going really, really well. I believe in every single final table I play that I will have an edge. The good thing is I have a WCOOP second-day tournament exactly one week later for a 500k GTD. I have big hopes—let’s see how we do there!

For my study routine, I use two different methods. First, my warm-up is the chip EV trainer on BBZPoker Trainer. Second, I take screenshots of every single spot I play and then:

Look at the chip EV charts of the spot (I don’t have every single chart for every single spot, so I generally look at the equal-stack charts).
In final table scenarios, I check those charts and run a sim on Holdem Resources Calculator to see the Nash range (it doesn’t matter if it’s PKO or vanilla). I then node-lock and see how we should react.
The final step is looking at the threshold of the action. For example, how wide should they resteal for us to call KQo in position?
Before closing the update, I want to share two really cool postflop hands that I played. The first hand was in a WCOOP tournament after the money just burst—a $5.5 PKO tournament. I rarely tag people as good regulars, but the small blind was a good regular. We had played more than 250 hands together. I was on the button with KQs, and I opened 2bb. We were 40bb effective, and he covered me. The big blind was unknown, probably on the fishier side. The regular 3-bet to 7bb, and he has a 13% 3-bet rate, so I know he’s able to resteal a lot.

I had three options: call, jam, or fold. I ended up calling, but since he may overfold a bit more than GTO, I could have jammed, though he was covering me, so I decided to call. I would fold KQs against a tight player (depending on how tight they really are, though). The board came 667, and he c-bet 50%, which is the correct sizing with his entire range. Most players will bet small with bluffs and thin value and bet big with thick ones. The correct sizing with his entire range is 50%, as all sizes are overfolded. So exploitatively, going smaller isn’t a mistake and makes a lot of money. I called without backdoors. I would fold without backdoors against a tight opponent, which is the majority of people.

The turn was an Ace, and he checked it over to me. So, what is his range, and what are we going to do about it? First of all, all bluffs will keep barreling after the 50% bet (at least most of them), so he basically has pure give-ups and a pocket pair-heavy range. Here’s the thing: he may have weak Aces or traps, but I don’t think he has a lot of traps. With weak Aces, he will call a jam, so don’t jam against the bet. What are my options with my hand? I could bet small, like 25%, or I could jam. I’m not checking this hand, though, even though it might check in theory, because we have good fold equity on the turn, if not on the river. I tanked and decided to bet small. Here’s my reasoning: I would get calls from pocket pairs, I wouldn’t get jammed on a lot by bluffs, and he would only call with weak Aces.

If I jammed, would I get more calls from pocket pairs and weak Aces or fewer? How can I make him fold more of his range? I decided I’d get more folds and deny equity with a bet-25%/jam line than by jamming on the turn. He called. The river was a Queen, we checked (no other option), and he had 55s. We won a good-sized pot.

The second hand is also really similar. This hand was played in a Daily Deep Stack $5 on GGPoker. It was still early stages. I was in MP, and the villain was in the small blind. He had aggressive and fishy tendencies and had a 20% 3-bet rate, but it was only over 25 hands, so it wasn’t too meaningful. He 3-bet me to 8bb in a 100bb effective game. I had 33, and I would generally fold this hand, but I thought he’d give up a lot and wouldn’t barrel enough with bluffs. Plus, if I hit my set, I’d get paid almost all the time. I ended up calling, though I could have just folded.

The flop was J84 two-tone, and he bet 33%. Against a stronger range, I would fold my hand, but I think this was a good call given the villain’s tendencies. The turn was a 5, completing the flush (clubs). He checked it over to me. Now, his range was similar to the first hand, but this time, he was extremely capped—more capped than in the first hand. He would fold a huge part of his range on the river. The thing is, although he was really capped, he didn’t have a lot of folds. Most of the pocket pairs with a club might call, and also one-card clubs might call more than theory suggests.

So, this is the line where we get a lot of calls on the turn and more folds on the river if it’s not a four-flush board. I bet 50% pot, he called, and the river was safe, so I jammed. He folded, and I scooped a nice pot.

See you next update!

Hey everyone, I’m back with a new update! I couldn’t post for a while because I was traveling to Germany and setting things up. I also did a huge cleaning at my place because I like to live super clean. With everything going on, I couldn’t put in a lot of volume. However, apart from the volume, everything remains the same, which is how it should be.

I’ll give you a brief overview of the week and then dive into some hand analysis, future thoughts, and more. This one’s going to be a long one, so stick with me!

I played around 25k hands with a win rate of 6 big blinds per 100, both all-in adjusted and in total. This win rate is a bit on the lower side compared to previous weeks. There were some things I gradually changed over time that I shouldn’t have, and with the help of my coach and staker, we are working on improving them. Everything has clicked now, and things are going to get better. I was actually doing well, but I made some changes over time that affected my results. Now, I’m going back to doing what I did previously, and I’m confident that things will improve. After my last session with my coach, something really clicked in my head, and now we’re on track, better than ever.

Here are some things I discussed with my coach:
We reviewed some hands where I was going small, then sizing down really small and “setting up” for an overbet on the river. I was really overdoing this in spots where going small didn’t even make sense, and normal sizing would’ve been much better. For example, I had a 3-bet spot with a gutshot and Q-high, and when the turn was an ace, I block bet. My opponent called me with QJ when I overbet the river. Maybe they didn’t believe me or were just being a station, but the problem was that the really small sizing didn’t make sense with any value hands in my range.

We also talked about something we’ve discussed in previous sessions—mixing in theory. Unless the opponent is doing something pure, they should be mixing, and almost all of our decisions should be pure if we nodelock everything (well, almost everything, but you get the point). The key is to simplify the game tree instead of complicating it with unnecessary decisions or doing things like “setting up an overbet,” inducing raises, or targeting a very small part of their range when the majority of their range consists of another hand group. These plays should be out of my arsenal unless I’m in a rare spot with a lot of information.

Maturing in this game means realizing more and more what makes someone a crusher and a huge winner—it's still about the fundamentals. Whoever has better fundamentals will have better ROI in the long run. Thinking logically and exploiting ranges is crucial, and the same applies even in high rollers. Having a 15% or 25% c-bet vs. a 50% c-bet on the flop with a jamming range can make our life way harder, and most of the time, we’re actually doing something wrong without realizing it. The key for me is to keep improving my fundamentals. Even after 20 years in this career, my main goal will always be to improve, especially in the fundamentals of poker.

Now, coming back to my win rate: I definitely played some big pots poorly over these 20k hands. I’ve learned from my mistakes, and it’s time to improve. For example, after my last session, I played with a 20bb win rate, but I know the sample size is extremely small, so it will drop. The main point is that things are getting better, and I’m learning from my mistakes.

I also widened my VPIP because I realized I could’ve definitely called more in positions like the button, cutoff, and big blind. There were a lot of spots where I wasn’t calling enough. Now, I’m playing with a 28% VPIP and feeling more confident than ever playing these hands in position. Generally speaking, the hands we don’t 3-bet are at the bottom of our range when we’re deep-stacked, and as we get shallower, we become more polarized and start calling with hands we don’t want to get jammed on but still have to call.

Recently, I’ve been dedicating a lot of time to studying small blind vs. big blind preflop spots, especially rejamming spots, which I realize I’m not playing well and need to be wider in. I’ve always been aggressive in the blinds against steals, but now I’m refining my approach.

A quick note on multiway pots: I definitely feel more confident attacking wide ranges, especially in position. People cap themselves too much, even out of position, and we gain a lot of information depending on the runout. I recall some hands where my opponents called too wide, which I didn’t even expect.

I’ve been running pretty bad on rivers lately. Maybe I’m calling too wide in some spots, but most of my river calls were just unlucky. That’s fine, though—we keep going. My squeeze spots were on the lower side, which surprised me. I filtered those hands and realized I could’ve squeezed more, especially after checking them on HRC.

I’m also switching to Windows because there are a lot of apps that work better on Windows than on my Mac. All my other stats look really fine. The only problem is out-of-position c-betting. I talked to my coach, and he told me I was overdoing it, but now my c-betting frequency has lowered. We reviewed the hands and realized I was missing opportunities to bet with trash on boards where I could bet, and I was also missing some small pairs. There were also spots where I check-raised but could’ve done better with bluffs.

Another area of improvement is out-of-position play in 2-bet pots, where I may be calling a bit too much.

Anyway, this update has become quite long. On Sunday, I’ll be back with some hand analysis, and hopefully, we’ll have some wins since I’ve been running cold lately. I haven’t had a deep run in a while, with my closest being 13th place in the Fifty Stack, which is really frustrating. Hopefully, I’ll be back on Sunday night with a lot of wins.

Before I go, I want to share something really frustrating. I’ve mentioned many times that I had a big stack in the WCOOP Day 2 event for a huge prize, but my account literally lagged before the tournament started, and I was 1 hour late to the game. I started with just 6bb and lost the first flip with 66, finishing in 1000th place. I had been waiting for this tournament for a long time, and this happened. I was so sad. I emailed PokerStars, and maybe they’ll send me a ticket or gift, which they should because it was their mistake. They apologized in the email, so let’s see what happens.

See you all in the next update!

Hey guys, I’m here with a new update. Things are not going well for me these days. I’m actually running bad and not making any final tables, which is really frustrating because in my last update, I said that everything was going to get better and better. Confidence-wise, I see no problem because I still feel confident even though the results aren’t great, and I’m in a downswing at the moment. Statistically, apart from c-betting a little more in OOP heads-up pots, I feel like I’m playing well. I don’t think my gameplay has gone downhill. My studying is going really well, and I’m keeping up the hard work, hoping things will improve soon. The only thing that upsets me is my win rate, which is pretty low right now, at around 2.75. Hopefully, after this Sunday, it’s going to get better. Technically, when I post this, it’s still going to be Sunday, so I’ll share my hopes here. I always believe that poker is a lot like going to the gym—if I stay consistent with good work, I know for a fact I’ll see results, whether that happens sooner or later.

Here are some interesting hands to share with you:

I was playing super deep in a Bounty Hunters Turbo tournament, and I had AKo UTG (Hero) against the CO. I faced a cold 5-bet to 50 big blinds after my initial 4-bet to 28 blinds. I opted to fold here. Touching on deep stack play, it’s pretty tricky because, especially in a bounty tournament, you never know if someone is just spewing, trying to induce some kind of weird play, or just a gambler. At the same time, these 400 big blind pots could be against a super tight reg or the type of player I just described. Playing cautiously in these spots is really crucial in my opinion. I’m not just talking about this hand specifically, but about postflop play in general. This particular hand is pretty normal and common, but playing the flop after a call is a very situational thing. People tend to play super big pots while being calling stations, and as the pot gets bigger, the player types affect how aggressive and spewy they’ll be. If we’re talking about population tendencies, there will always be fewer bluffs and more calls unless you’re facing an aggressive gambler. But sometimes, after playing hundreds of thousands of hands, you develop a "feeling" for these spots and start recognizing spewy players. Everyone has different leaks in different parts of their game. For example, when I first started, I would overcall a lot. Now, with experience, things have changed, especially in big pots.

Another hand related to this topic: I was facing a 4-bet in position with JJ on an A-high board. It got checked to the turn, and I decided to fold against a smallish bet. The only real reason to call here would be pot odds, but for that to make sense, my opponent would have to bet with 10s as a bluff, which is never going to happen.

Another thing I want to touch on today is BB vs SB limped/iso and 3-bet pots. You won’t believe me, but I’m one of the rare full-time players who actually enjoys playing from the SB. I believe it’s a spot where you can really leverage your edge by playing super wide ranges and attacking fold equity. The best part is that you will most likely get value from the top of your range. SB vs BB spots were really tough for me at first. Limping with a polarized range was hard, and I was overflowing a ton. The thing is, you can limp with almost any two cards against fish. We should also be limping more with the top of our range when we’re deep because when we limp and then face a big 3-bet OOP, we’re getting more value. In reality, people don’t iso nearly enough, so every blind vs blind spot is super dynamic. Studying these spots with the Holdem Resources Calculator helped me a lot. Since people aren’t aggressive enough, we need less protection for our limping range, and we don’t need to 3-bet super polarized. Instead, we can 3-bet more linearly and avoid facing 4-bets or shoves. Pretty cool stuff.

Anyway, here’s another hand from a Bounty Hunters $8.88 tournament: The bubble had just burst, and we were in the money. There wasn’t a lot of ICM pressure here. I had 63s in the SB with 40 blinds effective, and I called. The flop came 48K rainbow, and I stabbed because my opponent is more capped than I am and would raise some of his K-high hands. Both of us can have two pairs here sometimes. He called, and in this spot, he should be floating with every single backdoor draw and raising some of them. I realized a lot of equity on the turn when a 5 came out, so I kept betting. He should have raised with some hands earlier but played his draw passively, likely face-up with thick value. I decided to play the turn with an overbet for my thick value hands and a B60 for my other value hands. With 63s, I’m unblocking junk like J9, which might fold, while still realizing equity. I thought B60 would outperform an overbet here, and Villain may even raise with some two pairs. When a T came on the river, my sizing choice was between a block bet or an overbet. Honestly, I’d never bluff with a block bet here. I’m not balanced in this spot, so I went with an overbet and won a nice pot.

That’s it for today, guys. I’ll see you with another update soon, and hopefully, I’ll have something positive to share by Sunday.

Hey guys, I’m here with a new update this week. Things are still going badly for me. Let’s start with my downswing—I’m not in an enormous downswing, but I’m down almost $600-700. I’m hoping to get back on track soon. The most frustrating part for me is still not making final tables. I haven’t played in a final table since I came to Turkey. The funny thing is, when I first started playing, I was reaching final tables almost every day. I felt confident, and I truly believed I’d be playing final tables frequently because I know I have a huge edge in the late game. I remember mentioning here multiple times that I need to focus on late-game ranges to add the most to my ROI, and that’s what I’ve been doing ever since.

I prioritize ICM spots and am really working on getting better at late-game ranges, especially with the final 50 players. I’m still not where I want to be, but that’s okay—I’m always aiming to improve. Recently, though, it’s been hard to even reach the last 50 players, and when I do, I often bust out in the final 20 on BvB spots. For two days straight, I’ve even hit 21st place, which feels like a sick coincidence. This downswing is also motivating me to get better. Despite not having consecutive final tables, my mindset is strong, as always. I firmly believe that I will work the hardest, outwork everyone, and that I have the capacity to be the best at whatever I dedicate myself to.

Poker isn’t like chess, where you can increase your ELO and be recognized globally. You can be really good at poker and still have a losing year. A couple of days ago, I watched a podcast episode with Orphan, where he mentioned that it’s possible to be one of the best and still lose $10 million playing poker. I’m not saying I’m incredible but just running terribly, not even close! But I do know that I’m on the right track, calculating everything carefully, and this makes me even more motivated because I know I’ll win a lot if I keep up the hard work.

Aside from the late-game discussion, my win rate has been trash lately, and that’s been the most frustrating part. If I were in a 3x bigger downswing but still winning 12 BB per 100, I’d be happier. I feel like I need to improve and raise my win rate again, even though I don’t think my real win rate is over 3 BB per 100 right now.

One of my leaks is definitely in 2- and 3-bet pots OOP. I shouldn’t be c-betting as much, especially in certain spots. In some of these situations, I believe I understand ranges well but still lack in-game application. I’ll be studying these spots in Equilab, which my coach recommended. Practicing ranges and hole cards really helps to see how ranges vary and how we can play based on our equity. My coach also mentioned that when I 3-bet non-all-in without a premium hand and get called, I lose a lot of blinds. So, I’ll be spending hours reviewing these hands on HRC. I believe focusing on these two areas will add EV. My goal is to have at least a 12 BB win rate at limits below €9, and I know it’s 100% achievable. Once I work on these two areas and keep a strong mindset, I think I’ll have a big edge over the player pool.

Another area I want to focus on is exploiting my opponents and not going on autopilot, which is a habit many poker players struggle with. Some river spots after bet-bet lines are crucial, and my old habit of calling certain hands on the river has caught me in huge pots, negatively affecting my win rate.

I recently switched from a MacBook to a 17-inch Windows laptop. The screen quality is lower, but overall, it’s faster for HRC, and the bigger screen helps. I’ll eventually add a monitor as well. I’m still playing 8 tables at the same stakes, but my goal is to move up and increase tables eventually. That’s one of my top priorities right now.

School, on the other hand, is going terribly. It has zero priority for me at the moment. I’m not sure how it’s going to turn out, but I can’t imagine not focusing on getting better at poker and becoming one of the best in the world (hopefully). I was a bit sick a few days ago, so I wasn’t very productive, and I skipped some gym workouts because of a slight lat injury.

Today is Saturday, and I’ll be studying poker the entire day, hoping for the best tomorrow. It’ll be my first Sunday on this new laptop, so let’s see how it goes. Staying hopeful is part of my mindset, and I never give up—just preparing for what’s next. See you guys in the next blog update!

Good luck bro.
We are made out of solid stone us poker grinders, downswings can be tough.
Keep grinding and believe in yourself brother!

thank you so much for the support, variance can't be stronger than us players who put the work and the playing volume

Hey guys, I'm back with a fresh update!

I’ve been grinding hard lately, playing around 20k hands, and finally boosted my win rate up to a little over 6 BBs per 100. I’m confident it will keep climbing. As I’ve mentioned before, I don’t usually dwell on how bad I run here, but it feels essential to add these details now. My all-in adjusted win rate is around 5 BBs higher than my actual win rate, meaning I'm losing a lot of flips. Despite that, I’ve stayed focused on playing fundamentally strong, aggressive poker.

Interestingly, I noticed my betting frequency has dropped in this recent stretch, particularly on the river, where my bet rate has gone down nearly 10%. While I initially questioned if I might be missing value bets or lowering my aggression, I’ve double-checked hands from the past two days and am confident I haven’t missed obvious value or good bluff spots. I suspect it's just a sample issue, and as I play more hands, it should even out. I’ve also increased my volume, playing nearly 2,500 hands yesterday, which is a lot for 8-tabling MTTs. MTT decisions often demand more focus due to the varying stack distributions and the ICM considerations that arise as you get deeper.

The highlight of this update is breaking the downswing by placing 6th in the €3.30 Bounty Builder on Stars for €125. However, it’s been frustratingly common for me to end up in the top 20 without final-tabling. Constantly getting that close but falling just short of the finals can be mentally draining. Sometimes, I start my session around 6 pm and keep going until 3 am. It’s tough when you grind that long, bubble out just before the finals, and have to wake up early the next day – but this is the reality of the grind.

I recently bounced back from a significant chip EV downswing over a 10k-hand stretch where I was losing 5 BBs per hundred, even though I felt like I was playing my A-game. Many of my strong value bets seemed to hit stronger hands, especially when deep-stacked, which was frustrating. I’ve also been getting called more often on my bluffs than expected, but these results haven’t affected my confidence. No matter how many times my bluff gets called, if the hand and villain’s range make sense, I’ll always take the bet. Likewise, if I bet pot with an expectation of over 50% folds, I'm not backing down just because of a recent call.

There have been times it feels like cards just aren’t breaking my way – turns that are good for my range force checks, rivers with paired third cards interrupting barrel lines, etc. But I’m not letting any of this shake me; in the long run, I know variance evens out.

Goals and Plans: Before my next coaching session with Milan, I’m aiming to raise my win rate to around 9 BBs per 100. I’ve set a mountain of “homework” for myself, reviewing specific spots I need to sharpen, and I’ll be diving deep into them over the next few weeks.

My downswing isn’t over yet – I’m up on Stars, but still struggling on GG. Regardless, I know the results will come. Lately, I’ve been feeling some future anxiety, questioning where I’ll be in a couple of years. Poker is my sole focus right now; school, while still in the background, isn’t really a priority. My career, family, friends, and personal growth are my main concerns.

Can’t wait to give you all the next update – hoping it’ll be full of good news and solid results. Until then, keep grinding, and I'll see you next time!

Hi guys, welcome back to my blog. Today I am here with a new update. I will separate this update into three parts. I will talk about my results and how I am doing first. In the second part, I will talk about how my studying is going and how I think about these results as well as the mental side of things. In the third part, I want to talk about my life around poker and how things are going for me. This time I want to make an update that I will look at again after two years and want to know how I felt at that moment. This update may be a little longer than usual, so try to keep up or you can just skip the last part because it will be more personal than usual and may not interest you at all.

I played around 25-30k hands with around 10 bb per hundred all-in adjusted win rate. My win rate is around 11 bb. At first glance, I realized I could've played a little wider on BTN. Maybe I missed a couple of +EV calls or 3-bets, especially on PKOs. I am almost always c-betting any two and having no problem with that, even on boards like middling connected cards. Small c-bet with any marginal hands works just fine. My coach tells me it is good, but we will decrease that as we move up the stakes. Barrel stats look just fine; river is on the lower side. We realized with my coach that I missed some breakeven-ish bluffs and maybe a couple of hands of thin value, which I could've gone with. Being more careful and not missing those spots is really important. It is so important that I probably say this all the time in this blog. Maybe as we move up, people's checking range on the river will be stronger on the flop, so sizing up and maybe not going thinly might be the move. On the other hand, though, no one raises the river enough, especially in my limits, so it is not a big deal since we are also not folding a lot, especially way lower than GTO.

I am tired of honestly missing squeezes. I know the range, but for some reason, I convince myself to call or fold. Whenever I node lock the ranges on HRC, it becomes a squeeze. But no problem, because I am not and make it work. All the other stats look good, and I am trying to keep aggressive, fundamentally good poker. Hopefully, we will move up pretty soon with my coach. I played six final tables. The first one is Bounty Hunters Deepstack Turbo 5.40 for 216 euros, 9th place. It is not really an interesting final table for me. I was short from the beginning, playing push-fold BvB, and busting. When I think about that final table, there were no better spots I could've taken another line. I played the 2nd and 3rd final tables at the same time, and it was really fun playing two final tables simultaneously. It is really exciting and requires huge focus on every single action.

I honestly really, really love to play heads-up poker. It feels like a really pure form of poker. Luckily, I got second place in Daily Big 5 for 300 euros. Playing heads-up was only two hands for me, unfortunately. My opponent was either rec or a bad reg. My busting hand was when I had 10 bb and he had 30. He limped, and then I shoved K7o. He called me with A7o. A7o should be shoving, and it is honestly not even close in real life. The other table I played simultaneously was 8.88 Deepstack Turbo for 225 euros, being 6th place. I was short on the LJ and went with the jam AJo (I was the shortest, and yes, it changes a lot of things. I didn't have too much ICM pressure, especially since other stacks were way bigger than me). CO rejammed with AQo, and SB shoved with KK.

Another Deepstack Turbo is 3.20 for 90 euros, being 8th place. I just jammed it BvB with AK and got called with 88s, and we were out. Another Sunday Big 5 happened two days ago for 6th place and 130 bucks, while again I played simultaneously 5.50 Deepstack on Stars for 90 bucks. There is not a lot of spots where I would've taken another line. I only missed a 3-bet on my first hand on 5.5 Stars. I was in CO; a reg open-raised, and he was a middling stack while we had a big stack. I should've 3-bet with KTo even if he slightly overcalls. We had a session with my coach, and it was really important for me. He stated that I should be more careful with every single spot, especially when we are deep. Looking at every showdown and taking notes is very crucial.

That is definitely something that I need to improve. I need to mark people more and take a lot of notes, especially against regulars. It is a mistake by me not taking any notes against regulars who I played almost 800 hands with because, at the end of the day, most of the profit will come from exploits, and it is not even close. I am recently adding some cash games also, since I have some knowledge of it. I will probably play cash games on Fridays and Saturdays, but MTT is and will always be my first priority. I recently purchased GTO Wizard and canceled my BBZ charts. I believe GTO Wizard will be more beneficial for me. At first, I didn't have any need, and I shouldn't actually be using GTO because I was at the start of my poker journey. I tried to play good fundamental poker by analyzing ranges without looking at charts and trying to "understand" every spot and how that works in real life instead of looking at charts and trying to learn the optimal strategy, which I should be deviating from most of the time.

It is not only that. At first, the most important thing is playing preflop somewhat reasonably and playing postflop aggressively while folding a lot to aggression, which I already talked about a lot in this blog. But now, since I am maturing in poker and can go deeper into the theory realm with the only purpose of getting better at exploiting people, I just saw a pretty good video about exploits. It talked about five steps of exploits: 1 - find where they deviate, 2 - deviate in the line where they deviate, 3 - think about exploits before that line, 4 - think about exploits after that line. You probably couldn't understand because I explained it badly, but basically, what I am saying is: 1 - they c-bet too much and check a lot on the Turn on this flop, 2 - I have to call and raise a lot more, 3 - how they react to donk and deviating that, also this may be an indicator of how we deviate on the preflop (do we call less or more, how about 3-bet deviations), 4 - how do they react after raises if they check too much on the Turn? They will have more junk and a capped condensed range on the river, so do we call more? Or, if they also check the river too much, block betting aggressively for both value and bluffs? If they have zero nuts, do we raise them on the Turn, or do they overcall and under thin bet? Literally, one single deviation changes the entire strategy, and most of the money comes from these exploits.

At first, it is all about doing what makes sense against the range and colliding with our ranges. Now I am way more ahead, so what is our game plan? 1 - what do I know or lack already and drill them on GTO Wizard? 2 - what can I learn and then drill them already? 3 - how can I lock the exploits so I can implement my game? 4 (also really important) - how can I use and learn a simplifying strategy? I should be so good at simple strategies and then make my game more complex because I already know and am 100 percent sure of how ranges collide in every spot. Although no human can play 100 percent optimal strategy, I am talking about doing it without making EV mistakes. You probably understand what I meant. So, I am super, super excited to hop on more of the theory train. My study routine will be something like this: mark hands on PT4, check preflop hands on HRC, and after that, study GTO. It is not going to be like my bread and butter, and as my coach says, "HRC is still my best friend." I need to probably increase my HRC volume also these days. I have a ton of hands waiting for me already. After this update, I will probably work on those, and today maybe I would make my first cash session. I will let you know after that.

I am somewhat confident about that because what I believe is the best thing in my game is playing my value hands deep stack somewhat well and not missing value. Sometimes I just stop when I am on HRC or PT or even alone and think, "How can I exploit myself?" I go into really, really deep thoughts about that. Whenever I am thinking about exploiting myself, I am always fascinated because poker is such a beautiful game with millions of possibilities. I really have a huge love for this game.

So, how is my life going? My life is going super stable, honestly. Whenever I wake up, I wake up with the mindset of crushing the day. Sometimes I skip lectures or start my day late. The first thing I do is go to the gym. I have been a total gym bro and gym head for years. I always have an all-or-nothing mentality. I become obsessed super easily. The gym is also my obsession, like poker. I like to follow every new data and every new research, and I am a nerd in that regard. I try to optimize my muscle building as much as possible while being natural. After the gym, I go to school, or after school, I go to the gym, or I don't go to school at all. School is not part of my life anymore. It is, for me, just a distraction these days. Then I come home.

The worst part of the day is answering or hearing a lot of questions like "How is poker going?" or "How is school going?" I am basically a broke university student who gambles, doesn’t study, and relaxes while going to the gym and spending nights on the weekend or with girls. I do feel happy a lot. The lack of financial gain sometimes hurts, especially seeing friends who start making money and answering questions like "How much money do you make?" Yeah, I do make money, but it is not life-changing "yet." I am so certain that I will do well, but working hard and answering questions is not fun. But I don’t care. I just want to say that I don’t like answering people’s questions. I come home, study, grind, and repeat, and it’s going well.

The other part is lying to my parents about my school and what I do. I just want to come up to them with a lot of results. The days are coming, I feel like. I will be showing good results to them, and they will also respect me. I don’t want to talk about people my age. I am way more productive than everybody I know. They just think they are ahead because I have bad grades. I don’t care about that either. I am 90 kg with abs and someone who knows and will be crushing poker in the future. It sounds way better than scrolling all day on the phone and studying for one hour before sleep just to feel special. Anyway, that was also something I wanted to point out.

Dating is also weird as a poker player. I tell girls that I am not a good student, and they ask what I do. I just say "finance" with no further explanation. I don’t like to tell people that I play poker and that it is a skill-based game because no one understands. A couple of months ago, I was studying HRC sims in the library, and someone was shocked that poker is a game like this, that you can study, etc. But I don’t play in the library anymore. I just find home more comfortable. The food is in my refrigerator, and I don’t have to carry anything anyway. On the other hand, Berlin is getting really, really cold. That is also something that makes me not want to leave the house, only going to the library. I just prefer leaving the house only for groceries, gym, and socializing, and that’s it.

Sometimes I feel like a "failure" because everyone had high expectations for me, saying I will be one of the best students in the world in a literal sense. I said I become obsessed, and I was obsessed with school. Then I spent time and became one of the best in the country. Then, in the gym, I became obsessed and achieved the body of the top 1 percent of 21-year-old males. Now poker is my obsession and has become my life. I will do whatever I need to do to make it my life and number one in every aspect. And no, unlike other people, I don’t see myself as a failure. I see it as success because I will be one of the best, and it is more important to me and arguably harder because of the mental side. You need to spend more time than in university, and I assure you, 21-year-olds smoking cigarettes on campus all day and talking about each other will not have the same dedication.

My dear coach sent me a book almost nine months ago, which I already read once, but it was really fast. Now I am reading it again with intent. It is called "Mental Game of Poker." That is going to be something I really work on. For example, when I have a low win rate, I say to myself, "Something might be going wrong." The same thing applies when I have a downswing or tilt, which I may or may not realize is happening. This book teaches what to focus on and the root cause of mental leaks, as well as what to do to minimize those in the future. My coach has one saying: "We don’t make your A-game to beat stakes. We always want your C-game to be better all the time."

I finally want to talk about my short-term future goal. I love to drive cars. In fact, I had a car in Turkey, and whenever I go back, I love to drive my dad’s car. Unfortunately, my driver’s license is not valid in Germany, so I had to take a course, but it is really expensive, around 1.5k. I want a good but affordable car, like an old Polo or Golf. I am trying to save money also, but with my first money, I will take my driver’s license and after that, a car. These days, that is the dream I think of every single day before sleep. I hope that day is really, really close. Let’s see what the future brings us.

This is the end of this update. See you guys in the near future. I will build myself up in every realm of life. Every day is a new grind and success for me. I hope you also crush every day so we can see each other not only in poker but in every aspect in the future. See you guys.

Wish you luck, but the way you talk about winrate is kinda weird. If you are playing low stakes MTTs the best use of your money is to pay very strong exploitative players for a single hour, or a few hours, of coaching. Everyone thinks getting lost in solverland and understanding and fleshing out some heuristics is great, but the reality is that all that solver work could be just spent grinding double the volume in your current tiny stakes.

I suggest you post way shorter, more frequent updates, easier for people with experience to follow.

Interesting blog for sure! Gl at the tables.

Hey guys, I’m back with a new update! This one’s going to be longer than usual because I have so much to share, and I want to really dive into all the details about what’s been happening. This is a pretty big milestone for me because it’s the first time I’ve started playing cash games alongside my usual grind. I’ll take you through everything step by step—starting with how things have been going overall, then talking about why I decided to add cash games, how they’ve been going so far, and finally, I’ll share my expectations for the future and reflect on my journey up to now.

Let me start with my progress in MTTs. Over the last few weeks, I’ve been grinding hard, playing around 25,000 hands. It’s been a productive stretch with some deep finishes that I’m really happy about. The highlight for me has to be the 2nd place finish in the Stars Deepstack. That result felt amazing, especially because I’ve been putting in so much effort to improve my game.

Overall, I’d say things are looking really solid in my MTT grind. My stats have improved a lot, and I feel like I’ve leveled up in a lot of key areas. Right now, my win rate is consistently above 10+, which I’m really proud of. That kind of consistency is what I’ve been aiming for, and it feels great to see the results reflecting all the hard work I’ve been putting in. I’ve also been working on fixing leaks in my late-stage game, which has been paying off. With the way things are going, I’m already looking at moving up stakes soon, which is a big step forward for me.

Now, let me talk about the cash games. This is something completely new for me, and I’m honestly really excited about it. I recently started playing on a Korean site, and the games there are very different from what I’m used to. Here’s how they work: every player at the table posts a small blind, and then the small blind and big blind also post big blinds. This setup creates 13 big blinds of dead money at a 9-max table, which completely changes the dynamics of the game.

Because of this dead money, the strategies are way different from typical cash games. There’s a lot more limping, half-pot and full-pot isolations, and even frequent preflop all-ins. It’s super fast-paced and aggressive, which makes it really fun but also pretty challenging. At first, it was a bit overwhelming. The game has a 7-second timer for decisions, and there’s no time bank, so you have to act incredibly fast. I wasn’t used to that kind of pressure, and I ended up punting a lot of chips—both preflop and postflop. It was frustrating, but I knew it was just part of the learning process.

Over the past 10 days, I’ve been working hard to adapt to this format. I’ve spent hours studying, reviewing my hands, running spots through HRC, and talking to my coach about postflop scenarios. Slowly but surely, I’ve started to get the hang of it. Now, I feel like I’m actually playing well and making good decisions in this format. It’s been a steep learning curve, but I’ve enjoyed the challenge. I think these cash games are going to be a big part of my grind moving forward.

That said, MTTs will always remain my main format. I can’t imagine not playing MTTs on Sundays—it’s something I’ll probably do for the rest of my life. There’s just something special about the structure and flow of MTTs that I really enjoy. But for now, I’m excited to see how far I can take this Korean cash game format and how it fits into my overall poker goals.

My daily routine has been pretty structured lately, which has helped me stay consistent. After I get home from school, the first thing I do is review my last session. I usually do this in PokerTracker, where I go through all my hands and analyze spots where I might have made mistakes or could have played better. If there’s a hand I’m unsure about, I’ll either run it through HRC to evaluate preflop decisions or ask my coach for feedback on postflop scenarios. After my review, I move on to drills.

I usually split my time between preflop and postflop drills because both are equally important in these games. Preflop drills help me refine my ranges and decision-making, while postflop drills focus on specific scenarios I struggle with. These drills have been a game-changer for me—they’ve helped me build good habits and eliminate mistakes. Once I’m done with drills, I take a short break to reset, and then I dive into my playing session.

One thing I’ve been struggling with, though, is my sleep schedule. I used to be a morning person, but now my nights have become my most productive time. It’s a complete 180 from what I was used to, and I’m still trying to figure out how to balance it. While I get a lot done at night, I know this isn’t sustainable in the long run, so fixing my sleep schedule is definitely on my to-do list.

Right now, my main focus is to master this Korean cash game format and play it as efficiently as possible. I want to see how far I can take it and whether it becomes a key part of my overall grind. Once I feel confident and established in this format, I plan to reopen my Instagram account and start sharing updates there. When I started playing poker, I deleted my Instagram as a challenge to myself. I told myself I wouldn’t reopen it until I could confidently say, “I am a poker player.”

Even now, I’m not quite ready to make that statement. For me, it’s not about being a crusher or reaching a certain level of success. It’s about having a solid routine, consistently improving, and doing the work every single day. I feel like I’m getting closer to that point, and it’s been incredibly motivating to see how far I’ve come.

Looking back, I’ve made a lot of progress. Last year, I was in a completely different place. Leading up to New Year’s, I felt lost. I was struggling with school, had no job or money, and wasn’t taken seriously when I said I wanted to be a poker player. But now, I feel like I’m on the right path. Every day, I’m getting closer to my dream life, and that’s an amazing feeling.

That doesn’t mean everything is perfect, though. There are still days when I feel drained. After a long study or playing session—or even after going to the gym—I sometimes feel like I have no energy left to do anything else. On those days, I just want to sleep or relax if I have free time. Today, for example, I’m taking the day off from playing. Instead, I’ll spend time studying this new cash game format and maybe clean up my room (which, let’s be honest, really needs it).

In about 10 days, I’ll be heading back to Turkey for Christmas. I’ll spend some quality time with my family and younger brother, but I’ll also continue grinding and studying poker while I’m there. My plan is to stick to my routine as much as possible—reviewing sessions, studying hands, running drills, and playing—but also make time to relax and enjoy the holidays with my family. Fixing my sleep schedule is also a priority while I’m home.

That’s all for now! Thanks for sticking with me through this long update. I’ll be back soon with more to share as I keep pushing forward. See you next time!

Also thanks for support !

Hey guys! I am here with a new update. First of all, greetings from Turkey! I had a really tough journey to my hometown. To be able to come here, I had to fly from Berlin to Istanbul first. Then, I took another flight from Istanbul to a smaller city called Adana. Finally, I traveled by bus to my small hometown, Antakya. It was a long and exhausting trip, but I made it!

In this update, I will share details about my experiences with MTTs (Multi-Table Tournaments) and cash games. At the end, I’ll also talk about how I expect my life to be in Turkey, as well as my future hopes and thoughts regarding life and poker.

I’ve never felt better playing MTTs, even though they are not my main focus. I feel so confident at the tables! I have officially moved up and now play up to $12 tournaments. Things are going better than ever. While I haven’t had any massive wins yet, I’ve been running deep in tournaments frequently. Currently, I’m achieving a win rate of 12 big blinds, which feels great. My confidence is sky-high, both preflop and postflop. I’ve also stopped focusing too much on ICM (Independent Chip Model) adjustments, and my endgame exploits have never been better.

When it comes to studying MTTs, my routine is straightforward. I study MTTs as a warm-up before every session, which I typically play on Sundays and one additional day during the week. My preflop study is mostly focused on GTO (Game Theory Optimal) work using GTOWizard, both for ICM spots and Chip EV. For postflop, I do daily drills on GTOWizard, although this also overlaps with my cash game study. My approach is to focus on general dynamics between players rather than diving deep into every combo and theoretical detail. By understanding how to play spots broadly, I can better exploit my opponents both preflop and postflop.

Cash games, on the other hand, have been quite swingy. I’m not happy with my results and still lack confidence in my preflop play. If you read my earlier updates, you’ll know the format I’m playing. To improve, I record all my sessions and review them afterward. For hands I’m uncertain about, I consult with my coach. My study routine for cash games involves preflop drills before sessions and postflop drills afterward. My warm-up is heavily focused on preflop work, and I aim to keep improving.

Since arriving in Turkey, I’ve taken a few days off. The journey was exhausting, and I haven’t felt great. The last few days in Germany were also busy with friends inviting me out. Starting tomorrow, I’ll be back in full grind mode. I plan to play MTTs and might switch to cash games if I feel like it. I don’t plan on taking any more days off until Christmas, and even then, I’ll take only a brief break. My goal is to regain confidence in cash games and be fully prepared to crush the tables when I return to Germany.

My family still doesn’t know that I’m essentially a full-time poker player. They might be upset initially, but I believe they’ll respect my hard work and dedication once they see great results. Knowing their son has a bright future will make them happy.

Recently, I had a conversation with my coach about the golden era of poker and whether it’s still profitable. He pointed out that the average player is often lazy and doesn’t work hard to improve. Those who put in the effort will always find success. Despite the availability of solvers, many players don’t use them correctly. I’m optimistic about poker’s future, especially given the complexity of formats like MTTs and new cash game formats. As long as players stay committed to improving, the game will remain alive and profitable.

Living in Turkey feels peaceful and slow. I don’t have many friends here, so my time is spent grinding or at the gym. Right now, I’m focusing on HRC simulations for the new cash game format. When learning something new, progress comes quickly at first and then slows down as concepts become more complex. For now, I’m still in the fast-learning phase. My current focus is improving my out-of-position (OOP) play on the flop and turn, which I believe yields the most EV.

That’s all for today’s update! I’ll be drilling OOP postflop spots on GTOWizard to finish my day. See you in the next update. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Good luck at the tables and in life!

Hey Guys,

I’m back with a new update! First of all, Happy New Year to all of you! I wish everyone the best for the year ahead. I hope 2025 brings positivity, growth, and happiness to you and your loved ones. For anyone who feels like a failure right now, I want you to know that I understand you deeply. Recently, I listened to a book called The Magic of Thinking Big, and it emphasized how positive thoughts can impact our lives. Without dragging out the New Year’s wishes, let me dive into reviewing my first year of poker.

If you asked me at the start of the year how I’d rate myself as a poker player, I’d have said I was probably a solid 7. If you asked me now, even with all the growth and knowledge I’ve gained, I’d still say I’m a solid 7. While I strive to improve daily, I know I have a lot of room for growth. Alongside skill development, I’m also working on building confidence and maintaining a positive mindset.

In this blog, I aim to keep things both positive and realistic. Over the past year, I’ve made countless mistakes—truly a gazillion of them. If I could go back and watch myself play, I’d see enormous amounts of money left on the table. But honestly, who cares about past mistakes? The answer is no one. The only way forward is not to dwell on mistakes but to learn from them.

Even the best, like Linus Love or Addamo, undoubtedly leave money on the table occasionally. What matters is striving to take the highest EV (expected value) lines we can think of and staying in the flow of improvement.

For 2025, I aim to take the highest EV lines in every aspect of my life—whether it’s poker, relationships, gym, money management, friendships, or even scrolling through TikTok. What enters my body, what consumes my time, or what I invest in—all of it should align with the highest EV decision possible.

For me, January 1st isn’t special. It’s just another day. Goals shouldn’t be tied to a date; they should be set and pursued consistently every day.

This year, my primary focus will be on crushing the Korean cash games I play while also achieving solid results in MTTs. I’ve already started moving up, but I hope to climb even further, aiming to play $50 buy-in tournaments. I’m confident it’s possible, and I’m all in for this challenge.

The start of the year hasn’t gone as planned. I traveled back to Germany, which kept me busy, and I’ve only played MTTs so far. However, starting today, I’m entering what I call ghost mode. This means complete focus and discipline, both on and off the tables.

From this moment, the real grind begins. My goal is to take plus EV lines everywhere and put in consistent effort. I have some amazing MTTs lined up this year, and I’m ready to crush them. While poker is my top priority for 2025, I also have personal goals related to relationships, money, and fitness.

Here’s to a year of growth and success—for me and for all of you. Once again, Happy New Year, and let’s crush it in 2025!

[QUOTE] gym/QUOTE]

Consider running 3-4x a week. 30 min run is a good goal to eventually get to.

What’s up, guys? I’m here with a new update! As always, I want to share my thoughts, feelings, and everything else I’ve been going through on this journey towards my ultimate goal—climbing to the highest stakes, making a name for myself, and one day being recognized as one of the best. I know I’ve said this before, but I feel like it’s worth repeating: this is my end goal, and it’s something I’ll never lose sight of, no matter how tough the road gets.

Let me dive right into it. Unfortunately, I’ve had to take a bit of a break from playing cash games recently, and I know some of you might be curious why. The reason is pretty straightforward: I’ve been dealing with some technical issues that have made it hard to stay consistent in my cash grind. It’s frustrating, but it’s just a temporary setback. In the meantime, I’ve gone back to my first love—MTTs. And while I’d love to say I’ve been absolutely crushing it, the reality is... not quite (yet). I’m in a bit of a downswing at the moment, with no major wins to report. But you know what? That’s just part of the game. I’ve increased my playing volume recently, and I’m confident that a big win is just around the corner.

One thing I have to call myself out on, though, is that I’ve been falling behind on reviewing some hands. It’s been one of those insanely busy weeks at school that just eats up all your free time and leaves you feeling drained. But no excuses—I need to make time to go back and analyze those sessions because I know there are some valuable lessons waiting for me in those unreviewed hands.

Oh, and here’s a fun little milestone: I’ll be turning 22 this week! I’ve been reflecting a lot about where I am in life and where I want to be as I step into my 22nd year. To be honest, I’m not where I thought I’d be by now. There’s still a long way to go before I reach the point I’ve been striving for. I’ve written so much in this blog about my dreams and goals, and they’re as clear as ever. If I could make just one wish for my entire life, it would be this: I never want to waste my time on things that don’t matter. Time is so precious, and every moment spent on something meaningless feels like a loss. That’s a mindset I want to carry with me moving forward, not just in poker but in life.

January is now in the books, and as we move into February, I have to admit I’m feeling a bit frustrated. My cash game goals feel so far away right now, and it’s hard not to dwell on that. But instead of letting that frustration hold me back, I’m using it as motivation. My plan for February is to stick to my routine, but also to push myself harder—not just in terms of volume, but mentally as well. I need to stay focused and keep working on strengthening my mindset because, in the end, that’s what separates the grinders from the crushers.

On the academic side of things, I’ve decided to cut back on my studies for the semester. I’ll probably only take one class and dedicate the rest of my time to poker and personal growth. That balance feels right for me right now, especially with how much I want to improve my game. Speaking of improvement, I want to share a key realization I’ve had recently.

I’ve noticed that when I hit a rough patch—hand after hand going wrong, bad beats piling up—I tend to overplay my hands in certain spots. I’ll admit, I can get a little spewy when things aren’t going my way. It’s something I’ve been working hard to fix because we all know you can’t play your A-game all the time, but the goal is to avoid slipping into your C-game as much as possible. For example, when I’m not in the right headspace, I have a tendency to overbet for thin value, which can lead to big mistakes. I’ve lost some huge pots because of this—200bb pots that really hurt my win rate. It’s a leak I’m determined to plug moving forward.

To address this, I’ve been focusing a lot on GTO Wizard, particularly on resteals under 40bb, both in chip EV and final table scenarios. It’s a complicated area of the game, but I know that mastering it can be incredibly profitable. It’s all about specializing and finding those edges that others might overlook.

Now, on a more personal note, I still don’t have a car, which has been a recurring goal of mine. Every month, I tell myself, “Maybe this is the month I finally get one,” and February is no different. Let’s see if this is the month it finally happens!

As for my mindset, I’ve been reminding myself that running bad is part of the process. It’s something every poker player goes through, and the key is to not let it get to you. I’ve started meditating more as a way to stay calm and centered, and it’s been really helpful. Sometimes, you just need to step back, breathe, and reset before jumping back into the grind.

To wrap things up, I’ll say this: I’m looking forward to overcoming these technical issues and getting back to cash games, but for now, I’m focused on making the most of my MTT grind. Every setback is just a setup for a comeback, and I’m ready to put in the work to make it happen. Thanks for sticking with me on this journey—your support means everything. Let’s crush February and make it a month to remember!

how many hours do you do at school?