A New Beginning

Happy new year

Haven't played at all for the last 3-4 days due to motivation issues. Had a horrible NL20 session where I basically lost every single hand for a hour straight no matter how much equity I had. Decided to take a few days off since I don't think its a good idea to play while tilted

Even though I have faced trials and tribulations I am still happy with the progress considering that I started about 2 weeks ago with just a 20€ bankroll

Last 14 days

Being around 250€ under ev playing microstakes has honestly been bit tilting, hoping to run better this year. '

Leaks that I have identified:
-Obsessing over graph

Goals for 2024:

-Play atleast 1 million hands
-Reach NL200
-Study poker frequently
-Gym / run 5 times a week
-No tiltsessions

Update

Since the start of 2024 I have started to play zoom on Stars again because I think its a faster way to improve at the game compared to regtables. The problem with zoom is it being super nitty and my winrate is significantly lower when comparing it to playing regtables on softer sites. I can't really decide if playing zoom is worth it.

I think I could reach atleast NL100 in a few months with just good game selection on sites filled with whales with the cost of me improving slower. My goal in poker is to reach mid-high stakes like NL500-NL2k.

I hope someone with more experience can help me decide what should be my plan moving forward. Is zoom even worth playing nowdays due to the reg-fish ratio and the overall nittiness of the pool. Should I just continue playing regtables vs whales and perhaps study more outside the game with solvers etc. ?

Also here are some hands which I prob ****ed up and would like to hear advice that could help me moving forward:

H1 - I thought the villain shouldn't have many strong hands on this texture and would overfold weak pairs to aggression

PokerStars - $0.10 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 394.2 BB
Hero (SB): 186 BB
BB: 100 BB
UTG: 141.8 BB
MP: 185.3 BB
CO: 100 BB

Hero posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has A♣ K♦

fold, MP raises to 2.5 BB, fold, BTN calls 2.5 BB, Hero raises to 15 BB, fold, fold, BTN calls 12.5 BB

Flop: (33.5 BB, 2 players) 2♥ 9♥ 4♣
Hero checks, BTN checks

Turn: (33.5 BB, 2 players) 2♣
Hero bets 40 BB, BTN calls 40 BB

River: (113.5 BB, 2 players) 6♦
Hero bets 131 BB and is all-in, BTN calls 131 BB

Hero shows A♣ K♦ (One Pair, Twos)
(Pre 61%, Flop 23%, Turn 11%)
BTN shows 9♣ 8♣ (Two Pair, Nines and Twos)
(Pre 39%, Flop 77%, Turn 89%)
BTN wins 360.5 BB

H2 - I need to learn how to fold

PokerStars - $0.10 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 115.9 BB
SB: 112.7 BB
BB: 100.9 BB
Hero (UTG): 217.7 BB
MP: 138.3 BB
CO: 101.5 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has A♦ A♥

Hero raises to 2.2 BB, fold, fold, BTN raises to 8.1 BB, fold, fold, Hero raises to 22 BB, BTN calls 13.9 BB

Flop: (45.5 BB, 2 players) K♦ K♥ 3♠
Hero bets 4.3 BB, BTN calls 4.3 BB

Turn: (54.1 BB, 2 players) Q♦
Hero checks, BTN bets 14.1 BB, Hero calls 14.1 BB

River: (82.3 BB, 2 players) 9♥
Hero checks, BTN bets 75.5 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 75.5 BB

BTN shows Q♣ Q♠ (Full House, Queens full of Kings)
(Pre 19%, Flop 8%, Turn 91%)
Hero shows A♦ A♥ (Two Pair, Aces and Kings)
(Pre 81%, Flop 92%, Turn 9%)
BTN wins 222.8 BB

Ty for advice

Gave zoom another shot today and realized the format is just not for me. Especially when multitabling I just start buttonclicking like an imbecile after 15 mins and get tilted easily. Sticking to regtables will be better for my winrate and sanity.

I've noticed a few leaks of mine after reviewing hands with the main one being too passive in certain spots. 2nd one is just being a ****ing calling station especially when tilted.

Few hands from today:

H1 - Prime example of me just being a passive station when playing c-game. Was wondering when I should have raised and if my line is as bad as it looks

PokerStars - $0.10 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 101 BB
SB: 193.7 BB
BB: 67.1 BB
UTG: 398.6 BB
Hero (MP): 127.2 BB
CO: 149.3 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has Q♥ Q♦

UTG raises to 2.2 BB, Hero raises to 6.5 BB, fold, fold, fold, BB calls 5.5 BB, UTG calls 4.3 BB

Flop: (20 BB, 3 players) T♠ Q♣ 5♠
BB checks, UTG checks, Hero bets 6.3 BB, fold, UTG raises to 22.8 BB, Hero calls 16.5 BB

Turn: (65.6 BB, 2 players) 8♦
UTG bets 32.6 BB, Hero calls 32.6 BB

River: (130.8 BB, 2 players) 9♠
UTG bets 78.7 BB, Hero calls 65.3 BB and is all-in

UTG shows Q♠ K♠ (Flush, King High)
(Pre 35%, Flop 30%, Turn 18%)
Hero shows Q♥ Q♦ (Three of a Kind, Queens)
(Pre 65%, Flop 70%, Turn 82%)
UTG wins 249.6 BB

H2 - Not sure about this. The villain was super agro with high AF rating and absurd 3bet / 4bet ratios. I would have folded against nit.

PokerStars - $0.10 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 5 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BB: 125.8 BB
UTG: 82.1 BB
CO: 113.3 BB
BTN: 104.5 BB
Hero (SB): 269 BB

Hero posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has J♣ A♦

fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to 3 BB, BB raises to 10 BB, Hero calls 7 BB

Flop: (20 BB, 2 players) 6♥ 8♣ J♥
Hero checks, BB bets 7 BB, Hero raises to 23.6 BB, BB calls 16.6 BB

Turn: (67.2 BB, 2 players) T♦
Hero bets 32.1 BB, BB calls 32.1 BB

River: (131.4 BB, 2 players) T♣
Hero checks, BB bets 60.1 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 60.1 BB

BB shows T♥ A♥ (Three of a Kind, Tens)
(Pre 32%, Flop 39%, Turn 25%)
Hero shows J♣ A♦ (Two Pair, Jacks and Tens)
(Pre 68%, Flop 61%, Turn 75%)
BB wins 240.3 BB

I certainly need to fix my mental game and only play when focused to avoid blunders. I would appreciate constructive critisism on the hands posted above

H1:
I think it's better to shove on the flop or a more or less safe turn.
The board will often move against us, and I prefer a fast game.

H2:
Check on the Turn or bet small with a plan to bet small on the river.
As played - I think this is a check in the hope of a free showdown.
Fold to bet.

Played a NL10 session on Stars today and things didn't go well. Profitwise a bad session but I am honestly happy how much my mental game has improved. Kept getting ****ed by the deck for multiple hours but I still played close to my A-game and didn't tilt at all. Made a ton of great folds in spots where I would have usually just sighcalled 100% of the time due to frustration. Hope I run better in the next session :P

I have been thinking joining a stable / getting a staking because grinding micros doesn't seem to be an effective way to improve / reach higher stakes faster.

Few hands Im not sure of:

H1 - RNGd a call on turn and eventually made a nitty fold on the river. The villain I was against was meganitty with like 9/5 vpip pfr after around 120 hands. Also I don't see many microstakes players finding enough bluffs there and I think my hands blocks some of them??. Wouldn't even be suprised if he had quads haha

PokerStars - $0.10 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

Hero (UTG): 311.4 BB
MP: 98.5 BB
CO: 99.7 BB
BTN: 194.6 BB
SB: 91.1 BB
BB: 100 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has 5♥ 6♥

Hero raises to 2.2 BB, fold, fold, fold, fold, BB calls 1.2 BB

Flop: (4.9 BB, 2 players) 3♣ Q♦ 4♥
BB checks, Hero bets 1.6 BB, BB calls 1.6 BB

Turn: (8.1 BB, 2 players) 7♣
BB checks, Hero bets 5 BB, BB raises to 20 BB, Hero calls 15 BB

River: (48.1 BB, 2 players) Q♠
BB bets 76.2 BB and is all-in, fold

BB wins 45.9 BB

H2 - punt?

PokerStars - $0.10 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

CO: 52 BB
BTN: 100 BB
SB: 191.4 BB
BB: 120.9 BB
UTG: 99.7 BB
Hero (MP): 159.7 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has K♠ Q♥

UTG calls 1 BB, Hero raises to 3 BB, fold, fold, fold, BB calls 2 BB, fold

Flop: (7.5 BB, 2 players) J♥ 2♣ A♠
BB checks, Hero bets 2.4 BB, BB calls 2.4 BB

Turn: (12.3 BB, 2 players) 3♠
BB checks, Hero bets 14.6 BB, BB calls 14.6 BB

River: (41.5 BB, 2 players) 2♠
BB checks, Hero bets 81.2 BB, fold

Hero wins 39.6 BB

H3 - mixing calling / raising on flop. Bet way too small on turn I think. Not sure about the preflop call but villain seemed like a blaster

PokerStars - $0.10 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

SB: 163.4 BB
BB: 95.5 BB
UTG: 100 BB
MP: 101.4 BB
Hero (CO): 310.5 BB
BTN: 127.2 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has 8♦ T♦

fold, fold, Hero raises to 2.2 BB, fold, SB raises to 11 BB, fold, Hero calls 8.8 BB

Flop: (23 BB, 2 players) 9♦ J♦ 4♥
SB bets 16 BB, Hero calls 16 BB

Turn: (55 BB, 2 players) 4♦
SB checks, Hero bets 17.3 BB, SB calls 17.3 BB

River: (89.6 BB, 2 players) 6♦
SB checks, Hero checks

SB shows Q♦ Q♠ (Flush, Queen High)
(Pre 81%, Flop 54%, Turn 23%)
Hero mucks 8♦ T♦ (Flush, Jack High)
(Pre 19%, Flop 46%, Turn 77%)
SB wins 85.6 BB

H4 - Doubt how GTO this was but made the nit fold. Turn call a bit questionable.

PokerStars - $0.10 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

SB: 145.1 BB
BB: 100 BB
UTG: 110.7 BB
MP: 201.7 BB
Hero (CO): 105.7 BB
BTN: 234.1 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has 9♣ A♣

fold, fold, Hero raises to 2.2 BB, BTN calls 2.2 BB, fold, BB calls 1.2 BB

Flop: (7.1 BB, 3 players) 6♠ Q♦ 9♦
BB checks, Hero checks, BTN bets 2.2 BB, fold, Hero calls 2.2 BB

Turn: (11.5 BB, 2 players) J♣
Hero checks, BTN bets 4.8 BB, Hero calls 4.8 BB

River: (21.1 BB, 2 players) K♦
Hero bets 25.2 BB, fold

BTN mucks 6♦ 6♥ (Three of a Kind, Sixes)

Hero wins 20.2 BB

H1 - nice fold.

H2 - isolate bigger like 3.5-4bb preflop. Postflop looks okay.

H3 - fold preflop. The turn size looks fine. WP.

H4 - Wow bravely!😀 If you planning donk on scary rivers, then calling on the turn is fine. I like it.

Haven't been motivated to play much this year so far. Experiencing a lot of variance I am not that used to and being stuck for multiple days now. I always keep winning small - mediums then dusting all the profit when I get coolered in a 250bb+ pots. I still love the game but its hard to find motivation after getting 1 outered in a 350bb pot :P

Enough with the bad beat stories which no-one cares about. I have made a lot of progress within my game both mechanically and mentally. I have been watching many play n explain vids from players way better than me and learned a lot of new helpful information. My work with solvers has been close to 0 recently but I dont think learning to play like a GTO bot is the best way to make money against micro stakes belugas. I still try to play a balanced strategy and so far it has been working decently.

Another horrible session. First time I hit a set this year I got set over setted. Haven't had even 1 good day this year. Earlier I posted about the improvement in my mental game but honestly recently it has been getting worse. Getting smashed by variance for multiple days in a row took a toll on me no matter how stoic I have tried to be. I honestly don't mind at all losing a stack against a good bluff catch. However, constantly losing pots where I played perfectly and got sucked out on the turn or river starts to get tilting. Especially when villains make massive -ev mistake and get rewarded for it. For example I had a hand where a villain made an atrocious call with just a naked gutshot and obviously binked the 4 outer on the river in a big pot. I know I should be grateful being able to play in games with many fishes but hands like that always hurt.

I have done some reviews after sessions and come to a conclusion that indeed over 90% of the big pots I lost recently were just standard coolers / suck outs. On the other hand my bluffing / redline game has really improved recently. I am now much better in finding combos to bluff and knowing when to give up. The amount of buyins I have lost doing bad bluffs has drastically reduced. In contrast I have picked a great deal of pots by applying more aggression on boards which are good for my range.

I think this mental game issue is part of feeling entitled to win every day. Poker has a major luck aspect to it and short term variance can be brutal. If I want to succeed as a poker player I just have to deal with it and not let it influence me.

I think I'll go back to NL5 for a few days just to get my confidence back. I did withdraw around 150-200€ for additional life expenses and also invested some of the profits to the New Year Series MTTs on Pokerstars without success. Hence I am not rolled for NL20 anymore.
My NL20 graph looks like this:

So yeah I did withdraw the profits from that stake while tilted :P

Btw, I have reached my first 50k hands since the start of the blog:

Not sure if I should try to achieve a positive redline in NL10-NL50 considering that the players there like to call too much. My so called downswing looks insignificant on that graph but it's still painful to run below ev constantly. Hoping to update next time with positive news.

12bb/100 is a more telling result than the red line 😀

Good job!

Haha thanks

I have certainly learnt not to underestimate variance. For instance I just lost 5 buyins in a row to preflop flips in a span of 15 minutes. Even running it twice didn't help because I always lost both runouts :P. Using an aggressive bankroll management allowed me to rise through the stakes faster but I wasn't obviously running horrible back then. I thought I understood variance back then but I certainly didn't.

I plan on switching to more conservative bankroll management to avoid dusting a large % of my bankroll in a few hours or even minutes. Losing sometimes in poker is normal no matter how big the edge is.

Had a meh breakeven session. Ran into AA 5 times SB vs BB with AK QQ etc. Still managed to turn it around and made a little profit. Perhaps I can turn the downswing around 😀

Had an interesting hand I'm not sure if I played correctly. The villain I was against is a hyperagro shitreg so I decided to give him some room to blast off. Not sure if my line makes sense theoretically. Turn & river check good?

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has 5♦ 5♣

Hero raises to 2.2 BB, fold, fold, BTN raises to 9.4 BB, fold, fold, Hero calls 7.2 BB

Flop: (20.2 BB, 2 players) 9♠ 5♥ K♠
Hero checks, BTN bets 7 BB, Hero raises to 20.6 BB, BTN calls 13.6 BB

Turn: (61.4 BB, 2 players) A♣
Hero checks, BTN checks

River: (61.4 BB, 2 players) 4♦
Hero checks, BTN bets 87.4 BB, Hero calls 87.4 BB

Hero shows 5♦ 5♣ (Three of a Kind, Fives)
(Pre 55%, Flop 95%, Turn 100%)
BTN shows A♥ Q♠ (One Pair, Aces)
(Pre 45%, Flop 5%, Turn 0%)
Hero wins 229.2 BB

50k hands is decent volume but if you can try to double it. You need to focus on beating variance. It looks like you can beat the games so play more hands.

Going to take a break for a while. Motivation close to 0 because I have been running so terribly for basically the entire month. I also have to put more focus into studying for my finals and can't realistically fit poker into my schedule. Especially the last few days I have found 0 enjoyment in poker and always end up being tilted after just playing for 5 minutes.

I have been seriously considering trying to get a staking contract. Grinding micros feels so unfulfilling and a waste of time. When I started the blog I thought that it would be a cool challenge to built a huge bankroll from nothing but I didn't really know how badly variance can **** up my profits. I really like watching mid - high stakes games because the people seem to have a brain there. I would most likely be way more determined to grind & study the game if I was properly rolled for something like NL200.

Perhaps I'll find motivation later but right now I'll focus on my education.

Ps. If you know a quality stable I'd appreciate if you dropped the name below

Took few days off then grinded 10k hands of NL5 to get my confidence back

I have been a bit busy for the past days but I will still try to get atleast 10 hours of poker per week.

Tried some NL10 after a while. Won 2 buy-ins at first then I lost AK & QQ to AA 5 times in a row then lost KK vs AK twice.

Back to NL5 I go

2nd attempt was much better:

Switched to short focused sessions and I have noticed how much better I play. Soon properly rolled for NL20 again.

Nice result mate, gl

Thanks for the support everyone 😀

Had my best session of the year so far. All in ev still disgusting but nothing I can do about it. Started to review every session afterwards with GTOwizard and already seen noticeable improvement in my game.

H1 - Chose the fancy option

iPoker - €0.20 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 5 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

UTG: 120.9 BB
CO: 110.35 BB
Hero (BTN): 111.55 BB
SB: 94.65 BB
BB: 118 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has A♥ J♦

fold, fold, Hero raises to 2.2 BB, SB calls 1.7 BB, BB calls 1.2 BB

Flop: (6.6 BB, 3 players) 6♣ J♥ Q♥
SB checks, BB checks, Hero checks

Turn: (6.6 BB, 3 players) 5♣
SB checks, BB bets 4.95 BB, Hero calls 4.95 BB, SB calls 4.95 BB

River: (21.45 BB, 3 players) 2♥
SB checks, BB bets 19 BB, Hero raises to 104.4 BB, fold, fold

Hero mucks A♥ J♦ (One Pair, Jacks)

Hero wins 57.65 BB

H2 - Blundered every sizing theoretically but somehow managed to get the money in against a whale

iPoker - €0.20 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

Hero (UTG): 233.1 BB
MP: 135.75 BB
CO: 128.15 BB
BTN: 138.35 BB
SB: 100 BB
BB: 138.95 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has 6♥ 6♣

Hero raises to 2.2 BB, fold, CO calls 2.2 BB, fold, fold, fold

Flop: (5.9 BB, 2 players) 9♠ 3♦ T♦
Hero checks, CO checks

Turn: (5.9 BB, 2 players) 6♠
Hero bets 7.35 BB, CO calls 7.35 BB

River: (20.6 BB, 2 players) 3♥
Hero bets 5.15 BB, CO raises to 18 BB, Hero raises to 223.55 BB, CO calls 100.6 BB

Hero shows 6♥ 6♣ (Full House, Sixes full of Threes)
(Pre 81%, Flop 77%, Turn 82%)
CO shows 3♠ 4♠ (Three of a Kind, Threes)
(Pre 19%, Flop 23%, Turn 18%)
Hero wins 252.8 BB

Hello mate, in and gl

I think you're being hard on yourself, some very nice results

Zoom variance is beyond sick. Not exactly motivating when you run 5BI under EV in one day for example. so i feel you. I plan to take a break also, but maybe you are back playing now? I need to look at the state of the zoom pools. Not a good sign when 50z regs are playing 25z and 200z doesn't run 24/7. do you only play reg tables now?

I quit zoom entirely, only playing regtables atm.

Took few days off after the "break" post then came back while playing less volume. Currently I play 1-2 short sessions a day with deep focus and review my play afterwards.

I may do that, deffo need a break. A 200nl+ reg I watch is down like 6k in less than a week at 200z. Kinda demotivates lol

How many reg tables do you play?

6. Sometimes 9