From NL200 zoom to never having a 9 to 5 Job

Been a while since starting this Thread:

3 years ago, after having a tough time in Uni, I decided to move to vienna to go allin with Poker. I knew no one in Vienna and had limited success in Poker but was hopefull this could be me.
Posted on 2+2 mostly to make Poker Friends in Vienna I got lucky meeting good friend PietPiraat on 2+2 who interduced me to alot of Poker people right away.
Definitely ran Top 1% in meeting people here. Probably biggest reason for success.

First 1.3 years:
200z stars-> GG 500 masstables -> GG1k masstables --> loose 10buy ins on 5k GG while 8 tabling 1k on side, good plan yes -> 1k GG masstables

Made good money but felt like I didn't improve at all. Playing my B/C-Game most of the time. Did help me to build a roll and proofing to myself I could make money with Poker.

1.7 years after:
Changed approach only played 4tables/5max.
Went to Canada for a couple of month at the start of the grind to be in a better time zone. Decided to play no GG1k from now on, only all other sites 1k/2k. -> ran good, kept improving, moved up in stakes when fish was good and tried to slowly establish. When failing shot -> tryed again after mentally rested.

Hit nice Milestone in my Tracker since changing my approach so thought was a nice Update:

Graph 01/2023-now(8/24)

Main things that helped for me:
- love for poker, always wanting to play/talk poker don't care where/when, going on too long vacation is tough for me always itching to play after 2 weeks pause, hope I'll get better 😃
- willing to play at night when the best regs are sleeping ( the difference between good reg and bad reg is almost the same than bad reg and fish to me espeically on 5k+)
- taking advice from people who might know better/are more experienced to heart, actually thinking about it dont have to blindly follow of course(this is so big for me, got so much help where people probably didn't even realize they were helping me with what they were saying)
- not being too hard on yourself when making mistakes, others make mistakes all the time(fish definitely make more than you pokerwise)
just keep showing up
- confidence, you are where you are at for a reason do your thing
- thinking/giving yourself the opportunity to play your best poker (less tables/being healthy/social balance)

Some hands:
Was so high in confidance after this hand lead to next one 😃

One of most influencial hands in my Career I think, was a big Hand at the time and hurt quite alot but more than dollar amount think the level of ownage was just hard to take had a good talk with friend after and just rethougtht Poker and what I want in life after.

Madness

Was very happy with my Turn Size here

would love to do a small AMA if ppl are interested 😃

Absurdly sick results, congrats man

What felt like the toughest jump in stakes? Guessing you saw some of the discussion about that in the HS thread

I'm sure people are interested in your routine/approach to studying and how that's changed 😀

Really cool post man! Really epic how far you came. I sometimes have that realization when I"m on the rail and see you in the mix, that you became one of the big boys. Keep it up 😀

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Did you have any process oriented goals while moving up stakes? Maybe a vague question but any drive besides the money and/or moving up

might have more questions later

How does mentally resting go for you specifically after failing a shot? And how did you cope with financial losses (potentially losing x% of roll), did you get stressed and do you have advice how to deal with it well?

Congrats, super inspiring to see someone rise up in today's landscape.

Can you describe your thoughts and emotions when you decided to move to a new city and pursue poker full time? What gave you the confidence to do it instead of following the default path?

Also in the 57o hand above, you said it made you rethink a lot of things about poker and life. Can you share what went through your head and how you overcame those feelings to keep going?

Mind blowing results, great stuff. Unreal progress youve made over the years.

My q: hows living in pighouse?

Always forget how newschool you are, very impressive progress!

#STAYHUNGRY

Think big jump is GG1k to other sites 1k+. Just because GG Games are so special, worse level of play overall (exception of some regs) but with the rakeback grind most regs are doing and infinite tables is just becomes a different kind of game. Also everything higher than 10k is just so mentally draining for me, you sweat the pots on such a different level. At the start I was so exhausted every time after playing highstakes and needed time to get used to it.

Think regarding studying didnt change much but when playing less tables and thinking more you are naturally more inclined to study more/care more on how you played a hand, then if you play 5k hands a day where its impossible to look at your hands after.

♥

Never made it a big thing to move up in stakes but more as a natural development of my career which will eventually happen anyway. When starting I didnt have a end in mind but knew if I keep winning I will not stop trying to move up. Dont have any specific drives in Mind though, just loving the game. Didnt see myself much different then the people I know who play high so didnt see why I couldnt achieve it.

Some where definetly tough espeically my first irresponisble 5k shot where I just moved down to 1k after a couple weeks again, or loosing 4buyins on 20k. I am quite good at forgeting not being to hard on myself but it takes a couple days until your in your right mindset again after loosing on a big shot. Would recommend alot of exercise in the days after. Always makes me think clear and be thankful for whats going well even when I just lost a lot. And then realizing that you get the chance again to shot, if you keep grinding your current stake and then try again. Also nice to have a couple buy ins ready for the shot on the site and not play it with one or two, since you will probably just play more Money scared then, even if your roll is enough.

Thanks!
I was struggling in my default plan finding what to do and had some recent success in Poker so didnt really think much of it. Had the backup option in the first half year to go back to uni if things went horribly but never really thought about it again 😃.

Mostly thoughts about why I am playing this game i think. Also just pain definetly a good fuel for grinding harder in the next couple of month.

Think talking about it with someone whos been through this helped alot! and just being grateful for where you're at. Feel like everytime I remind myself to be grateful, its tough to have a negative outlook on life no matter how bad things are going.

♥

seeing everyday how lazy you are in compairson, really gets you motivated to do more stuff. Loving it

Amazing post, and congrats !
What was your last Aha moment ? What do you think are the main differences between a decent 500 reg and a decent 2k reg, or what do you think most people at 500 are missing to make it higher?
What’s your study routine now? Did it change since you are playing 1k+ all sites?
Thanks 😀

Other one I got is: how much do you simplify, as in do you use multiple betsizing on a given flop? Or just 1 per flop/flop type? What’s your take on simple strat well executed vs complex strat but inferior execution ? (not talking about range cb 1/4 without thinking but just choosing 1 size per flop for example or cbetting range some spot just because you want think you'll play way better on turns and rivers in that node vs pop)

Lets goo you know studying is fun 🙃

Think different is quite high, you got quite strong players playing 2k. Think main different I see in alot of ppl on lower stakes is trying to mimic solver to hard without having a game plan or thinking in game. Which might be a good step to strong solver strategy etc but still miles away from a strong Player with a good game plan.
Barely studied when playing 1k mass tables only in pushes, since less tables just caring more about my game quality so studying comes more naturally also cause opps are just stronger and make you feel like you have to be on your a game to compete

Imo complicated strategy never actually good game plans except maybe couple people in the world.
Definitely up to 5k, simple is the way to go. There are so many things in Poker you can improve on why care about adding second size on flop.

Any unconventional study methods you used during the years (that you are willing to share lol)? And what I mean with unconventional is basically anything other than solver 😃

Do you have steady solid routine or you go with the flow?

Most underrated highstakes opponent in your opinion?

Pretty epic story, well done chris.

I'd love to know how that 75 vs AJ hand changed your approach to poker/life as mentioned?

I study more with the flow, but think both work. Think being excited about learning will definetly increase youre studying quality by alot.
Think just putting in work consistently and staying excited very underrated and will get you very far.

Think some very strong Player who avoid reg battling abit more get undervalued.

Dejan K, Artem Shaganov, Taisto rate all quite high. All very sharp

Quite basic some exercise, some social and then poker no strict routine, just do what I like but mostly that's poker so good don't really force myself to play/study

Tyty 😃
Think moments like these which hurt just very good to make a new plan for the future. Intrinsic motivation for yourself to try hard and show yourself you can do it better. Get another spot like that

sick! looking forward to listen

This is an insane thread, absolutely the dream is still alive. Hope for us all

Very much enjoying the podcast, almost done with it. Inspirational