Official Online NLHE Chat Thread

do you play for a living?

My advice...

Continue to get better at the game. Each week deep study one specific formation and think about any exploits can use vs fish/regs. Study it every day.

And then just play through it...what cards fall is out of ur control.

When ur deep in a downswing, table select a bit harder. I play 100+ and i dont really have downswings greater than 15 buyins.

Wtf is up with Wordle lately? It was easy for like 2-3 months, but lately we are just getting wrecked. It's just like poker in that regard.

No not at all, but i enjoy the extra money as an addition to my work money

Thats accurate. One day its the easiest thing in the world and you wonder how it is that you're not playing for 10k by now and the next day you cant beat 50nl.

Sometimes they try to just give you their money but the poker gods wont allow it.

I know i am missing exploits now. I dont think ive ever had a downswing more than about 15 buyins before either even when i played nonstop in college back in the online boom days. I lost my roll, close to 10k on black friday and never got it back and didnt play online again until like 2015.

Thank you for the advice, much obliged

This has happened to me before. I thought I was a much better player than I was, I was a "100nl reg", huge ego, and lost my 4k bankroll due to tilt. Ended up reevaluating everything, realizing I wasn't as good as I thought I was, and ended up getting staked for 50nl (demeaning right?), took the slow path, and after a year was up to 100-200nl and a much better player.

Worst thing is, it happened again. But at that point, I was more experienced, and caught my mistakes quicker. Again, I had developed a huge ego, and was trying to play 500nl on ROW sites, and ended up losing ~10k both in cash and playing MTTs (for no reason). Again, I had to take a step back, reevaulate, and get better at the game.

My bankroll has taken huge fluctuations over the past 2 years, from 0- -> 4k very quick, back down to zero, then slowly grinded from 0 -> 40k, then down to 20k, and from there slowly up to 40k again, even with ~20k in withdrawals. Now, I hope, I am experienced enough where I can at least control these swings to the best of my ability

The point is A. You are probably not as good as you think you are and B. even if you are, the mental aspects and bankroll management of the game is just as important as your poker skills, if not more. You need to take a break from the game (playing live is actually a good idea), study, and try to start again in 2-3 weeks with a better mindset and clearer goals about what you want from poker.

How many -bb/100?

Thank you for that. Yea i grinded up from 25nl on bovada up to almost 5k and then the runbad started.

And you are right, i realize i do have a lot of leaks in my game so running bad took a bigger toll than it should've. Ive always been good about bankroll management, ive never gone bust in all my time playing, still not bust now technically, but its close enough that i consider myself busted.

But i got to a point where i just wanted to make serious money and decided i would be stuck at micros forever if i kept being so conservative with my bankroll.

I appreciate you sharing that youve been through it as well. The frustration of starting at the bottom again is hard to overcome when every big pot feels so much more important than usual and people try to give me their money and the poker gods wont allow it.

This also happened to me as well, I basically overestimated my abilities and was like a 1bb winner at 100nl for like 130k hands in 2022. Then I realized I just wasn't that good. Joined Metgame in June 2023 and got MDA coaching and now I am playing 200nl with a very good winrate.

I would invest in some form of coaching if I were you, specifically MDA coaching from someone reputable (make sure they show you the actual data) + good results.

It's not the bottom though. The whole point of my post is that this stuff is necessary for your progression as a poker player, don't think about it like all your work was just reset.

Thank you i appreciate it

It's never AA amirite

Haha, that reminds me of the "degen test". I can't remember who came up with it, but it goes as follows:

If you look at what hands your hole cards would be making at your other tables, you're a degen.

I definitely fail the degen test. When I have 44 at one table and there is a 4 on the flop at another, I always chant "Switch the boards!"

I dont understand what am i missing?

Edited nvm i get it. I have a superstition where i will always try to play a hand if i get it twice in a row

All the signs were there for me to defend my SB with 74o against this whale.

His stack in BBs. His PFR.

But alas some nerd had to 3bet him so I was forced to fold.

Spoiler

Show

I feel like I mentioned this before, but I never like playing suited hands if it would have made a flush the previous hand lol

Yep. Pretty much confirms the games will never die.

Of course, it makes perfect logical sense, this is just good advice

Ugh i was at a table like this last night and my wife needed me to do something and i got timed out and booted off the table and then i ended up being at a regfest after that.

Wives, they just dont understand our hunt for moby dick. Why dont you support me!!!

So ive grinded 25nl last couple days and of course running amazing since dropping down haha. Seems to always happen like that. But i am playing better too. Finding some plays i wasnt before and scooping some extra pots. Had to get out of autopilot A B C poker mode.

Added a couple tables of 50nl and was fortunate to have a guy call my UTG 4bet w aces w TT on the button and then stack off on a low flop.

If i can maintain this mindset and working for extra pots like i have i will hopefully be back to 100nl soon and who knows maybe higher. When my downswing started i was just about ready to shot take 200

That's what we like to hear. Good Luck

Thanks man appreciate it

The GOAT dropped a play and explain. This guy is a complete legend

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4fDvNsZ...