Bribri's blog

Best of luck!
Will be following!

15k hands a month is not serious approach imo try to increase volume, anyway gl mate

Gl gl. See you at the top.

I know it's a tiny amount of hands but I recently started playing 3 tables instead of 4 (regular) in order to force myself to think about why I want to do a certain action.
I also have a fulltime job so can play around 2h - 3h per day max during weekdays.
Quality over quantity for now, will prob go for 4 tables again sooner or later, as it is very slow a lot of the times

Good luck

Disappointing results, even though I feel like I made massive progress. There's a big, positive difference between how I play now and 2 months ago. If I just stay focused and keep improving on a daily basis (both in life and poker) then success is inevitable.

Also took 3 aggressive shots at 20NL which all failed due to both bad play and variance.

Due to all the progress I have made when it comes to my strategy and understanding of poker I am confident August will be a solid month.

Below the result for 10NL and 20NL,

What have I learned?
- the impact of rake structures on preflop ranges
- significantly improved strategy against both aggro players & fish
- better understanding of 3B SB v BN heuristics
- it's all about EV!

What are my biggest leaks I will work on?
- 3B OOP (especially v strong EP ranges)
- don't try to win every single pot, it's ok to let go sometimes

Goals for August:
- play 40k hands
- drill 3B OOP at least 3h per week
- have 2 coaching sessions
- daily 10min meditation
- daily exercise

I have also set myself a life goal. Have the option to play fulltime by 02/2026!

lets get that moneyyy

August 2024:
Win/Loss: -44,8eur
Rakeback: 117,01eur
Total: 72,21eur

Started off the month with minus 13BIs and struggled to climb out of it. It was the accumulation of runbad, bad play and tilt.
For the remainder of the month I focused on study and played a bit of 5NL. In the beginning I got a bit overwhelmed by all this new information until I was overthinking every simple spot to the point where I didn't know what to do anymore.
So in order to resolve this I implemented a study routine: 1 coaching session per month & 5 times per month study on my own (only 1 topic per month allowed until I feel confident in given topic in order to avoid jumping all over the place and getting overwhelmed again). These study sessions on my own are always after office days since I have less energy then.

With this study routine focusing mainly on exploits instead of drilling GTO things started to pay off and made me feel very confident playing.
Climbed out of the by then 15BI hole and took a shot again at 20NL.

Anyway, below the results;

The minus 44eur came from losing 2 stacks at 20NL which I think I could've avoided.

First hand v what seemed to be nitty villain which makes it in my opinion an easy fold as I don't think he will do this w anything less than 2p

Second hand v bad reg

GG

ps: will be updating weekly from now on as it feels ages ago since last update

Following! Gl dude

Allright! Didn't play as much as I wanted (results below include 2 Sundays which is my highest volume day). Still figuring out the balance between study and play.
Happy with the results though. Played a mix of 10NL and 20NL during the week and full 20NL during the weekend.
Starting to feel more and more confident in my game, more composed, less punting. It is easier to stick to the plan when you actually know what the plan is 😀

Will be playing 20NL only this month unless I drop down to bankroll of 200eur.

0109-0809:
Win/Loss: +65,02eur
Rakeback: +72,77eur (normal rb + commissions)
Total: +137,79eur
BR: 455,48eur

Biggest pot of my poker career so far:

Inspired by kidcudi, I will turn this thread into more of a diary. Would be cool to look back a couple years from now and see the rollercoaster journey.
Today I feel like talking about why I want to turn this poker thing into a success and how it has affected my life so far.

As a starter, I don't mind my job. It pays decent, mostly from home and honestly don't have to do a lot. But if somebody would tell me that this is what I need to do for the coming 30 years or so, like "this is it man, your life from now on", I would immediately fall into a depression again. So in a way I am actually grateful for the life I have right now (it has been way way worse which I will probably talk about later).
But the thing is, I can't stand spending energy on something I am not passionate about. Working for a company I don't really care about, just spending 40h a week on meaningless tasks, abiding by other people's rules, corporate nonsense, creating an IT ticket, having to go bouldering (climbing) in the evening when everybody is there because that's the time when everybody else has time to go climbing, only being allowed to go on holiday 26 days a year, I also cannot spontaneously go to Spain tomorrow if I wanted to, I have to get approval first. These are of course "first world" problems, as said I am grateful but I want the life I want to live, not somebody else's life.
It is my dream to make a living out of something I am passionate about. The 'working days' wouldn't feel as work because I love to play and study. Also, I could go climbing during the day when I will have all the walls for myself. This game of cards keeps me sane in a way as well. For the greater part of my 20s my mental state was far from ideal. Lots of depression, alcohol, drugs, rock bottoms, 2 months in rehab in SA and eventually daily panic attacks and not wanting to live anymore.
By now I have worked a tremendous amount on this already. I had to take drastic measures a couple years ago though, leaving everything behind (quit job, sold house and left with nothing but a backpack) and started traveling without a plan, I just knew I had to do it.
I spent a lot of time in Spain, then 3 months alone on a Croatian island where there were times I couldn't recall one word coming out of my mouth for 4 days straight, 7 months working as a volunteer in a dog hotel, sleeping in the house of a Berber family in the mountains of Morocco along with 2 crazy Germans, working for a gambling company in Malta and living with a drunk aggressive Hungarian. To leave my country was the best decision of my life. Of course there were a lot of ups and downs. My lowest point being in Malta, spending all my savings in one depressing alcohol fused night and waking up not knowing how to buy food. But I got back up every time, every time a bit stronger.

But now, I have balance in life, I am confident and mentally strong, I'm in a very good relationship with somebody that supports me in every way.
Then poker came into my life again (I played on and off before, never really winning or taking it very serious). I met (online) new people with the same goals which inspired me a lot.
So for a little over 2 months now, I didn't drink any alcohol, didn't smoke 1 cigarette, no coffee and I started working out, running or climbing almost on a daily basis. I even changed the way I eat. All of this for my own mental and physical health but also because I want to give myself the best odds to turn pro and live the life I have envisioned for myself.

Feels good to write all of this out honestly. Anyway, the motivation is there, the passion and the hearth are there, I am in no doubt I can achieve my goals!

Thanks for reading and GL!

Study
Monday after weekend of playing:
Do course or coaching session
- if I do course: take it as serious as playing, take notes, and by taking notes I don’t mean just screenshot the slides and paste them in word doc.
- If I do coaching session it needs to be about spots or certain lines that kept coming back throughout the week where I felt uncomfortable and unsure what to do

Once a week (after office day prob best) take 5 or so hands where I saw river (or memorable hand I tagged) and analyze in detail:
- What are the pro’s and cons of each possible action
- What are the scenario’s and how likely is each and how bad/good is each
- What adjustments are best based on villain type

Post 1 analysis in discord and 2p2

Other days I try to play as much as I can (especially Saturday & Sunday are grind days). Of course always take time to workout first after work.
Gf is extremely busy herself so we will plan fixed days to spend time together when she is less busy training horses

Thanks man! Hope everything is going well on the felt for you as well!
I see that you are pretty serious about poker as well.
Hit me up on discord if you want to join our study group
bribri94#3555

I would send you PM but I can’t

The whole week I was playing around break-even. Being a bit conservative, trying not to punt, in which I succeeded for the most part. (punted of a bunch of stacks for absolutely no reason a bit too much for my liking in the past).
Yesterday though I was looking at my red line and it was just going downhill very steeply which started to frustrate me as it was obv crushing my winrate.
Apparently my winrate from the blinds was atrocious. It's gonna be negative of course (except maybe a crusher can get positive winrate from SB) but mine was around -35bb/100 from BB.
So, Today I woke up earlier in order to do some analysis before my grind to change my whole blind play. Especially BB v BN & BB v SB. Also started playing more aggro in general and stealing more blinds. Did some crazy exploits as well!

I only tested it out today but I think it worked wonders. From the beginning of this week until Saturday evening my won without showdown was -20bb/100. Today (Sunday) it was -1.3 over 2.3k hands (most of the time I was running above 0). The winrate from BB was only -5.6bb/100 but I doubt that is sustainable with my current skill level.

Feel like I'm finally playing some real poker instead of being an ABC *** reg that is getting nowhere.

If I hit 650eur next week I might take a shot of 1 BI at 50NL depending how I feel.

Week 2:
Win/Loss: +110,1eur
Rakeback: +36,59eur (normal rb + commissions)
Total: +146,69eur
BR: 608,88eur

Staying consistent and trying to get a little bit better day by day. Next week might be a blast with the new strategy. Trying not to get ahead of myself but I thrive of dreaming about the life I want. Let's get it!

Thanks for reading and GL!

I didn't play a lot this week (had 2 office days and was really tired one day, so did lots of study and climbing) but I actually won 202,9eur this week including rakeback (when villain cashes out it doesn't track). This is my all-time record!
It also felt good to take it a bit easier this week, I've been investing around 40h a week in poker besides my full-time job.

Yesterday I also took a 50NL shot which went pretty good, it felt a lot different then going from 10NL to 20NL though but I more than managed to hold my own, played as usual and felt very confident while playing. Not gonna lie, my hearth upped a few beats when I saw that my 3B SQZ was 7eur, 2 months ago this was almost 1.5 buyins. Got used to it pretty quickly though. Nevertheless I don't think I will play 50NL during the week. Only weekends for now.
If I can get a high enough bankroll to play 50NL only and get a solid winrate there, then I could think about quiting my job in a few months.
The goal for now is 06/2025. By then I'll have a year of expenses saved up (excluding possible poker winnings by then).

Climbing (indoor bouldering) is also very much +ev. I needed a sport where I can completely shut off my mind, I love it as well and I'm pretty good at it.
Lastly I noticed I can focus much better with noise canceling headphones on playing beta waves for concentration. I'm high sensitive to sounds, which is also why going to office is exhausting for me, so being able to shut those noises out is a big plus.

Week 3:
Win/Loss: +155,6eur
Rakeback: 24,57eur
Total: 180,17eur
BR: 811,78eur

50NL shot:

Another week of study and grind ahead. See you next week!

I did some calculations:
In order to quit my job by 06/2025 I want at least the same hourly (before rakeback) as I have now which is 11.25eur per hour of which I can live very comfortably and save more than half each month (Eastern Europe).
By 06/2025 I should have a year worth of expenses saved up. (But once I turn pro will probably move to even cheaper country)

I would need to make:
7bb/100 at 50NL = 3.5eur/100
80hands per hour per table -- 4 tables = 320 hands per hour
3.5*3.2 = 11.2eur per hour before rakeback (won't need to pay taxes)

Ideally I will play 6 tables by then and maybe even 100NL or 200NL but I think that's very optimistic.

Doable or not? Time will tell. All I can do is keep grinding and studying!

That's exciting. The prospect of being able to do the thing you love for a job is something truly special. Few things to think about:

• If you're putting in enough volume, you can get some pretty naughty rakeback to live off. There's many BE regs at NL50/100 that just live off the rakeback and put in mega volume over 4-8 tables
  
• Perhaps you don't even need to quit your job! Having the safety net of regular income is so beneficial to your daily grind as it takes all the stress away
  
• Make sure you have a lot of expenses saved up to deal with downswings, poker can be brutal!
  

- Yeah if I would play 40h a week 50nl 6 tables I would be close to my current salary with rakeback alone

- I will probably try part-time first if they let me but the goal is really to play full-time eventually. I’m way to passionate of a person to waste time on something that doesn’t interest me. This job is not bad at all but still, I want to follow my dreams and spend all my time on something I love to do.

- the plan is to have a year worth of exepnses saved up by the time I quit

Nice little boost to the bankroll! Received a 10€ tourney ticket for completing a challenge.

Week 3:
Win/Loss: +85,73eur
Rakeback: 66,49eur
Tourney: 41,56eur
Total: 193,78eur
BR: 1.004,91eur

September:
Win/Loss: +416,5eur
Rakeback: 200,42eur
Tourney: 41,56eur
Total: 658,48eur

20NL stats:

50NL shot so far (tiny sample):

stats:

I made 658,48eur this month and the bankroll hit an all time high off 1k. This is already close to minimum wage where I live. Considering I only made 72eur in August this is quite the improvement. I'm only just getting started though. I have learned so much this past month it's hard to wrap my head around it honestly. I've been investing around 30h-40h a week into poker aside from my full-time job. I'm happy it's starting to pay off. I will keep doing what I'm doing. Not allow myself to float in the clouds thinking I'm a crusher now. The strategy is already very solid but the goal is to beat 200NL so there is still lots of work to do. After that we will see how far we can get.
Won't be able to play as much in October though as I will go on vacation to Montenegro for 9 days. Will be good to have a break.

I have been thinking more about the future as well. Working part-time from next year February or March seems like a great option. I will be able to cover my expenses easily, even save a couple hundred each month. And of course loads more time to play poker!

Thanks for reading and GLGL!!

October week 1:
Win/Loss: -6,09eur
Rakeback + bonuses: 110,17eur
Total: 104,08eur
BR: 1.110,55eur

I started playing mostly 5 tables 50NL. There doesn't seem to be a difference when it comes to fish-to-reg ratio but the regs are definitely more aggro. Especially more 4betting and overbets to which I needed some time to adjust. After a week of play I already feel much more comfortable and my hearth isn't pounding out of my chest anymore when playing for a 100bb pot.
I know what I need to prioritize when studying for now, bluffcatching. What lines are overbluffed/underbluffed, what bet sizes on what boards? I think this will improve my winrate the most.

Yesterday was a bit of a rollercoaster though. I went up 200eur only to lose it all again in 800 hands or so. Last buyin was a bit of a punt. Even though it's only 4 buyins, which I know is basically nothing, it was still a 200eur downswing which is more than my entire bankroll a month or 2 ago, so I'm not gonna lie, mentally I got hit.
But, I am really proud of myself how I handled this situation. I took a break, did a workout and then started to look at the whole thing as a mental test. I will probably go through much worse downswings in the future, if I can't even handle this minor bump in the road, I will never make it. So I pulled myself together and focused on playing my game and try to make the best decision in every spot. I managed to play solid and grinded 120eur back.

I also noticed that it helps a lot to write out my baseline strategy which I repeat every time before a session and I improve it consistently where I can. Because of this repetition I ingrain this baseline into my subconsciousness. Then, when tilt and unable to think rationally, the thinking process will fall back onto the subconsciousness which is my solid baseline strategy. I will save myself a lot of money with this process as it is gets more unlikely to punt off stacks when tilt.

Lastly I am 3 months sober as of today. No alcohol or cigs. I am more confident than ever.
The best feeling overall is that I don't see myself as a drinker or depressed person anymore which makes everything much easier. I see myself as a person who wants to improve himself on a daily basis. Someone who is not afraid to fight for the life that he envisions. Someone who will live his life on his own terms, not the life that someone else or something else says I need to life.

My whole life I was blind, but now I can see.

Why
I’ve been thinking lately about what I want and why.

I want to play poker part-time (In the future full-time maybe combined with other sources of income but not a job) because I realized that I feel most content and happy when I am working on something or towards something that I want to achieve and feel passionate about. I feel fulfilled when I have a purpose, when I am improving myself, gaining more knowledge in areas that interest me. Poker gives me that spark, discipline, routine, direction, it makes me feel independent.
In poker it is me versus me. There is nobody else that I have to report to, nobody that needs to report to me, I don’t need to ask permission for anything, I am not dependent on other people’s performance. Just me versus me. I love that feeling. It makes me a better person in every way.

First I thought I would want to go on the road again and see the world which poker would allow me to do. But I don’t care anymore about traveling just for the sake of traveling. I did that for 2 years and while it was the best decision I have ever made in my life, leaving my environment to give myself a chance to heal, it was too long. After 2 years without a purpose or goal I felt miserable and lost again. I started to fall into old habits of self-destruction once more. Waking up every day not knowing what to do, not going anywhere with your life. I was standing still. Yes, you see all these places and meet all these people, but after a while it stops being meaningful, it all becomes a bit bland. You can travel all you want, but if you are not internally content, it doesn’t matter where you go. I didn’t understand that back then, but now I do. I still want to see the world, but in a more balanced way and for the right reasons. Not running away from myself. It is much more important for me to have a home where I can always come back to.

A house with lots of land in nature, some animals. A place of peace and quiet away from the city and people.
What I did learn during that time of traveling is that I love hiking and I refound that forgotten love here in Montenegro. Just downloading the “AllTrails” app again made me feel great. This feeling you get when you are doing something you know in your heart you are supposed to do. I like to compare it to the book, “The Alchemist”. Your heart knows when you are on the path of your destiny. It is a very unique feeling.
“To realize one's destiny is a person's only real obligation.”

So I am sure now that starting to work part-time next year will be the right decision. I can just feel it and that’s all I need. I can spend my days doing things I love to do, which are playing and studying poker, I can go hiking at least once a week, or go on long hiking trips. I can just drive to the mountains and be in nature all day, I can go climbing as a break during the day. I will have more time to read again, to meditate. More time to work on myself in general.
Don’t get me wrong, I will have a strict schedule. I will write out a weekly routine. It will seem very strict and almost unsustainable but I actually feel content and more energized when I am in a routine, when I live a disciplined life, when I am busy.
The routine will consist of amount of hours playing and studying, eating schedule (breakfast, 2 snacks, lunch low or no carbs, 2 snacks, dinner), daily meditation, breathing exercises, a day off for hiking, reading about investing or self improvement, daily workouts (running, climbing or fitness at home), no phone until 4pm (I don’t have instagram or facebook anymore but still get distracted bc of discord or whatsapp notifications).

I’m also very entrepreneurial minded and thus have a lot of ideas I write down, but never really tried to do anything with them. Once I play at a certain level and decide to go full-time, I would like to work on those ideas. Maybe even before if I can find a couple of hours for it during the week. Maybe something around hiking, documenting the journeys, and starting a blog. We will see what the future brings.

No results update for this week as I didn't play. I'm on vacation in Montenegro until the 18th.
I have a lot of time to study though since the gf likes to sleep long and I don't. I am going through the poker carrot school course. After only a couple lectures I realized how little I actually know about poker. It made me realize I seriously lack foundations and for the first time I am starting to understand how poker actually works.
How does equity and EV work? What is a value bet and what are the key factors to consider? Same for bluffing. Polarized ranges, condensed ranges. There is so much to learn.
I am enjoying it a lot, taking a ton of notes and making sure I understand everything the carrot man says.

Hopefully I can start to put everything into practice next weekend when I get back. I am enjoying this vacation, it cleared up my mind completely on how I see the future and how I want to turn my vision into reality, the next steps I need to take. But it kinda sucks to take time off as well after a record month. In the future we will need to do it differently and take more vacations but shorter ones. I don't like not being able to play for such a long time. Taking time off is necessary I guess but I am so wired into creating the life I want that after a couple days, taking time off feels like a waste of time.

Anyway, I will keep studying in the morning as well as enjoy this beautiful country as much as I can!