Costa Blanca grinder 2025

24 February, 2025

We played the first tournament in the new casino in Villajoyosa yesterday
80€ buy in - 20 minute levels - 60k startstack

200bb effective
Hand 1
limp, limp, hero raises 4x in CO with AhQs, SB callt
Flop Qc7h5h check, check, check, hero bets 1/3 pot only sb calls
Turn 2d check, hero bets 1/2 pot, sb calls
River 6c check, i know he is a station he calls every Q or even every 7, so i bet pot, he calls and shows A7o ... lol so easy

Hand 2:
150bb effective, MP opens, hero calls in CO with 9h9s, BTN 3bet squeeze 10x, MP calls, hero calls
Flop Ac9c5c, check, hero checks, btn bets 1/3 pot, MP shoves, MP is a lady who shows up with the weirdest hands postflop so Hero re-shoves with pleasure, BTN folds
MP shows AsJs we hold, it is almost like chipdumping lol

Hand 3:
MP raises, CO calls, BTN calling, Hero calls in SB with Tc6c, BB also calls
Flop Ac5c3h checks around, BB bets 1/3, hero calls, it's heads up, the table is really soft. Also this guy is passive, i decide to just check call and try to get there.
Turn Ts hero checks, BB bets 1/3 again, hero calls
River 8c now i donklead pot, he snaps and mucks when i turnover my flush, he has probably an A.

A 100k pot at our table, i'm not involved, Qh5h calls preflop 3bet and managed to make a straight flush vs nutflush, crazy Spanish gamblers, these guys are so much fun to play with, they enjoy it so much and the table is laughing it out loud when the guys with the nut flush says NUTS! No way Jose, so funny!

We win another all-in with AA and we go in to the dinner break with 150k or 150bb

100 entries - 60 left - 12 ITM - 2k for first

Hand 4:
30bb effective
Hero raises 4x vs limper with AsJs btn calls limper folds
Flop Jc4s2h Hero bets, BTN raises, he is all over the place whole evening long, so i snap shove and he snap calls with JTo we hold

50 left

We win a few small all-inns and build our stack to 72bb

Hand 5: 35bb effective
Hero opens UTG with AA, BTN and SB are calling
Flop T97 rainbow, SB donks 1/2 pot, hero calls, BTN folds
Turn 9 SB bets 1/3 hmmm , i decide to call once again with top 2 pair
River 2 total blank, i decide to call the turn and immediality stare him down afther i call, he's a young guy, not used to play live. He is nervous as hell, his hands are shaking, he is scared to look at me, and checks after a minute or 2, we check behind. He shows T8, vamos!

We lose a big all-inn with QQ vs AK K on the flop, standard but we prefer to win this close to the bubble

32 left 26bb
We call a shove from CO in the BB with ATs vs A7o and we hold, let's go!

2 places left before the bubble we call with Ah7h in BB vs 3bb shove from MP QhTh we hold again

At 2h00 bubble finally burst and a few minutes later we already reach the final table.

In a short series of all-inns hero managed to kill 6 villains on his own. Blinds are now 100k / 200k ante 200k, everybody is short so we decide to shop it 3 way for even money.

We cash 1350€ each for our second win of the year, vamos!

Tonight we play a turbo in Orihuela

Adios!

Bankroll: 39907€
Average Buy in: 176€
Final tables: 5
ITM%: 23%
22/200

Hey!

Best luck in your new adventure!

I'm also from the Costa Blanca 😀

Enjoy the weather and the good life!

Thank you! Its a great vlog.

Thank you, are you also playing poker?

26 February, 2025

Small report from the 50€ turbo from last monday

100 entries in total 12 ITM we finished 19th.

Before the break we only played one big hand, just before the break a guy shoved almost 20k in the middle because he wants to rebuy (re-buy is 25k, so stupid move imo), hero is dealt AKs so we snap it. Villain shows QTo we hold.

After the dinner break we can't run it up, and our stack goes downhill, we lose 88 vs AK en are down to 2bb
Blinds are coming in the next hand so i shove QTo UTG+1 and got called by KQo an AQo flop TT4 46
After showdown UTG says he folds 44 😃

At the end we got it in with 55 vs AJo - A on the river

We play again tonight 60€ progressive bounty

We did a really nice hike yesterday in the mountains of Hondon de los Frailos
Here are some pics, magnificent views, we did 12km with 200 altimeters

Adios!

27 February, 2025

Yesterday we played in Orihuela
60€ progressive bounty, 20 min levels, 25k startstack

We busted in 35 position of a total of 100 entries after firing 3 bullets, sometimes things just don't work out.
In the first bullet we got it in with 88 vs AT -> low board but A on the river. In bullit number 2 we got it in with Ah9h on Flop 5h4h9s
We got called by 67 and villain nailed his 8 on the river.
With the third bullit we managed to double with JdTd, all-in on a 9d5dKc vs AhAd. But after that it went downhill again.
With 7bb left we got it in with A9 and got called by BB with AT, oh well, on our way home!

Today we took a day off and tomorrow we play in the new casino of Villajoyosa again. There is a first mensual for 200€ buy-in.

Weather is great, blue skies and 20C, we did a walk for our 10k steps, read an hour en later on we are doing some GTO Wizard training.

Thats it for today.

Adios!

1 March, 2025

Before playing we did a beach walk for our mental game, totally zen we could drive to Villajoyosa to play at 17h00 😉

200€ Progressive Bounty - 3 day tournament - 40 min levels (great structure)

Hand 1: 250bb effective
To be correct, it is actually literally hand two. Hero calls with 22 in BB in 4 way pot.
Flop 762 rainbow - Hero checks, MP bets 1/3, CO raise 3x, hero calls, MP calls, 3 way to the turn
Turn 6 - Hero checks, MP checks, CO bet 1/2 pot, Hero calls, MP folds
River 7 - Hero checks, CO bets 3/4 pot, Hero folds

Maybe raise turn, but i guess the outcome would be the same because villain is a nice guy and shows 77

Hand 2: 150bb effective
Hero calls in BB with K7o in again a 4 way pot.
Flop K76 rainbow, Hero checks, BTN bets 1/3, SB calls, Hero raises 5.5x, only SB calls (he is sticky, played with him many times before)
Turn 2 - SB checks, Hero bets 1/2, SB calls
River another 2 - SB checks hero bets 3/4 pot, SB folds

We win another big pot with AA against unknow hand we play around 130k at the dinner break

After dinner break we play a few small pots but i forgot to make notes sometimes, in any case nothing special.
In the last level we lose a big hand, i guess i misplayed the hand, you can call it fatigue or lack of concentration.
Anyway, like in the first hand the outcome would be the same.

Hand 3;
We finnaly got KK in the BB, CO raises, we 3bet 4x in BB, CO calls
Flop J65 rainbow - Hero bets 1/3, CO calls
Turn 7 - Hero bets 1/2 pot, CO calls
River 6 - GTO tells us to shove, but Hero check calls river, villain shows 77

Probably it is just a cooler, if you guys have any advice on this let me know, i guess like played we check fold 100%, but for some reason i'm convincing myself that villain has a hand like AJ, QQ, TT.

We bag 47000k, 25bb

We have to run it up again, Adios!

2 March, 2025

Day 2 in Villajoyosa was a disappointment

In the first level we run 77 into KK, BTN vs BB.

We did a rebuy for 25bb but we did'nt saw any cards in the next level. Just after the break, at the start of level 1500/3000 the dealer started dealing to early, UTG raised, hero is UTG+1 and has AKs. Just when i wanted to say all-inn the floor killed the hand because the clock was still on pause...

Ultimately i got it in with A8o from the CO, BB wakes up with QQ. No help....

Adios!

5 March, 2025

Hi guys

Slacking a bit with updates, let me catch you up:

Last sunday we played in Alicante 100€ Turbo with 20 min levels
We lost a big hand with AK vs QQ and from there on it went downhill, we got it in with 66 vs AQ
Board 974 A Q

Bullit 2:
We did'nt see any cards until the dinner break and keep folding, when there is a playable hand we got agression in front of us.
After the dinner break it's the same, no playable hands at all, eventually we got it in with 88 vs KK CO vs BB no help...
36/104

Wednesday we played in Orihuela 50€ Turbo with 30 minute levels
It was more busy than usual with a total of 177 entries (normally around 100 so far this year). There are some school holidays throughout Europe, so probably a lot of people on holiday in the region at the moment.

It is more of the same, card dead and no playable hands for the 4th day in a row. We barely see a flop before the dinner break.
Just before the break i finally get JJ on the BTN, CO opens, with 28bb effective i 3bet 3x, SB folds, BB shoves.
CO folds, Hero calls vs KK, no help...

We re-buy just before the dinner break

Bullit 2
More of the same in this order we see 73o, T2o, T2o, 53o, 32o, 93o etc...
We are patient and finally there they are, pocket rockets
MP opens, CO calls, we shove 7bb on the BTN, MP calls and CO calls
Flop Qd7d4d MP checks, CO checks
Turn 8c MP checks, CO shoves, MP folds, villain shows Ad8d, off course... lol
Running bad the last four days.
56/177

But nothing we can do, tomorrow we play the Mensual in Alicante, the monthly 3 day tournament of 300€ buy-in.
Let's hope for a better run there.

Since February is over, let's take a quick look at our daily goals
Quit smoking: Still 100%, quit on christmas day last year, it is still hard when i see people smoke but i think the hardest part is already done. Let's keep it up!
10k steps a day: 33% i only track the days with 10k steps or better, maybe i need to track this in another way next year. Now it seems that i don't take a walk often enough, but i also have a lot of days between the 5000 and 1000 steps, so fine for now.
2 hour poker study/day: 19% i study almost every day, but with 2 hours a day, I set the bar a bit high for myself.
1 hour of reading/day: 55% Reading the Burgundians from Bart van Loo at the moment, a pil of 600 pages, but very interesting and entertaining book of our ancestors!
1 hour of investing/day 55% I read a lot of quarterly reports in February with earnings season, future is looking bright! (i mean investment-wise, not sure for other matters)
30 minutes of Spanish every day: 41% Like promised, i did a big catch up on this one. Did a lot of Duo-lingo and it helps me a lot on daily conversations, so we keep this pace up.
8 hours of sleep 55% I do my best, but most of the time on poker days i don't manage to get there!
Blog every day 80%
Drink no alcohol 73% Proud of myself for this one, not that i'm a alcoholic but you know how it goes, a beer here, a glass of wine at dinner, etc... So we keep this one up for sure!
Lose weight 23% I lost 3 kilo since 1 janurary, which is fine, i'm not on a diet, i just trying to lose weight with daily exersice and eating healthy.

We end up with the weather, it is a really bad week with rain, wind, sandstorm with sand of sahara dessert, etc...

Looks better next week, so we have to sit it out for a few days, missing the sun already!

That's al for now,

Adios!

7 March, 2025

Yesterday we played day 1A of the mensual in Alicante, 300€ buy-in 50 minute levels

We got KK in the second handof the day in the BB by blinds 100/100, way to early!
2 limpers, i raise to 300 they both fold. 😉

We lost a big pot in level 2
Hero 3bet AQs on the BTN vs CO open
Flop 2Q8 rainbow, CO checks Hero bet
Turn J, CO checks,Hero bets
River T CO checks, Hero bets, CO shows A9s...

A few hands later we got AQo, MP opens, CO, calls, Hero calls in SB, BB calls
Flop KJT rainbow, Hero checks, BB checks, MP bets 1/3, everybody calls
Turn 7 checks around
River 2 Hero bets 1/3 pot everybody folds

We are back to starting stack

From there on, it went downhill, i was dealt a lot of good cards.
But everytime there was a raise and re-raise behind me or we flopped opposite of what we needed and we had to give up.

When we are down to 12 bb when i get it in with 55 on the CO and got called by TT Flop xxT

We try again tomorrow on day 1b

Adios!

Do you do any preparations before tournaments, like meditation or quicky go over strategy etc etc? (before the start of mtt)

8 March, 2025

Yes, most of the time i do a 30 min walk at home before i leave and i also prepare some GTO wiz spots with the effective stacksize i start with in a day 2, for example today it's 66bb, i also rehearsel some shove and re-shove spots today at lower stacksizes. I also look over spots of the last tournament.

I'm interested in meditation, but i'm a noob on that subject, so if you have some good tips (YouTube, Podcasts or books) let me know.

Played Day 1b of the mensual in Alicante yesterday, so far there are already more than 300 entries and again today we have 2 more levels of re-buy to go.

70bb effective
UTG limp, Hero raises UTG+1 to 3x with AhQs, BTN calls, UTG calls
Flop 8h6h2d UTG first limp calls and now donklead flop for 1/3, Hero calls BTN folds (we can also raise but prefer to call with BTN behind)
Turn Kh UTG bets 1/3, Hero calls
River 6d UTG bets 1/4, according to the bet size he don't have a flush, it is an older guy, who plays conservatively. I put him on a flopped set or 2 pair so i decide to go for full pressure, i have the A of hearts so he can' have the nuts. I shove and he openfolds 88. He ask me three hands later whether i had the flush. I said ofc with the A of hearts, what do you think i shove otherwise, he knots satisfied and mubles that he made a great fold. 😉

80bb effective
Hero raises AsJd from MP, BTN calls, BB calls
Flop AdTd9s BB donks, Hero calls, BTN folds
Turn Kd check check
River 8d BB bets 3/4, Hero calls BB shows Qd7d, bummer...

50bb effective
Hero raises AhAs UTG, SB calls, BB calls
Flop Jd7d2s rainbow Hero bets 1/3, SB calls, BB raises 4x, Hero shoves (i don't want to see another diamond), after a tank of 5 min SB folds (He shows KdQd after the hand), BB snaps with KJ no help for him and full double. Flush did'nt came in for the SB so we could potentitally have tripled if he called. On the other hand when we call SB probably also calls, but if a diamond hits we are f*****.

Table breaks up and we are moved to a though table full of regulars

We win a nice pot with KK on a K6x flop and a 6 river villain pays me off with AK (did'nt make proper notes of this one.

And then when the last 3 hands are announced we pull off a bluff against a strong villain.
CO opens, Hero 3b AsQd, CO calls
Flop Js6s2d Hero bets 1/3, CO calls
Turn Jh I think if i start checking here, he is gonna take over and plays me of the hand. So i decide to bet again, he thinks for a long time and throws his hand violently in the muck.

We build our stack in the last level to 132k or 66bb for day 2

Continue today at 16h30, vamos!

Also a noob, but I'm using Headspace.

Good luck in day 2!

9 March, 2025

Thanks man!

Day 2 mensual Alicante - 339 entries in total after re-buy ended

We see 4 players bust at our table in the first level, a few coolers QQ vs AA pre all-in on KT3 9 J
And a few hands later JJ vs AA with a J on the river, i'm not involved in these hands, but i feel some tension on the table.
It is two times a more fishy player who wins the all-in so that's good for the others on the table of course.

At a certain point MP raises 6x, hero is in the SB with 55, with a normal opening size i would call, but now i decide to fold, BB calls with 88 (he shows me quickly, when he is folding), flop is 52T rainbow... grrrrr....
BB checks, and fishy player shoves all-in for 60bb.... BB folds, MP shows J of hearts, so probably JJ
I would have stacked him, 2 hours later he has 700k, it is also the guy who won the QQ vs AA.
Poker is a weird game sometimes...

But back to our hands

In the third level of the day HJ shoves 17bb, Hero is in the BB with JJ. We have to call this...
Villain shows AA no help

20bb effective
3 hands later, CO opens 2.5x, Hero is dealt AQs, not much we can do, another forced all-in, villain calls and shows 89s
8 on the river smashes our hope of a double... we are down to 8bb

The next orbit we shove on the CO with T8s, BB calls with AKs
Ok let's go, after 2 beats we must win this one to get back on track, 8 on the flop but Barry Greenstein on the river....

Frustrating, 3 flips and we loose them all, in about 10 minutes we are down from an above average stack to 0
But you can't play this hands differently, it is what it is...

On to the next!

Adios!

I know that the question was not addressed to me, but am just putting this out there, if you ever feel the calling : but a 10 day Vipassana retreat is the absolute shyt (I have done like 40 of them over the past 3 decades). There is a centre an hour north of Barcelona (which I served in their kitchen) : https://neru.dhamma.org/en/

And then one near Madrid (that I have never been to) : https://sacca.dhamma.org

No problem at all my friend, welcome to the thread and thank you for the tip. I will take a look at it for sure!

11 March, 2025

Took a few days off due to busy schedule outside of poker, end of the week i go few days to Belgium to visit friends and family.
I'll be back after the weekend.

Maybe i play one more tournament before i leave, keep you posted.

Adios!