Costa Blanca grinder 2025
January 1, 2025
Hello 2+2 community
Happy new year!
The poker story
It tickled me and I had to write about it. This is a story that started more than twenty years ago when I started to play poker for the first time. I was hooked from the first hand, it started with a home game, then it evolved in playing online and much more. At first I was losing but I wanted to win badly and started buying books and later took a coach to learn how to win at poker. In the second year I became profitable and never had a losing year since then. But I am and still am a small/mid stakes player, because I have always done this alongside a busy job. But nevertheless I played millions of hands online and I still love the game so much.
I have also been able to make a lot of poker dreams come true, I have been to Las Vegas multiple times and played WSOP tournaments, I played an EPT main event and made the final table of an Unibet Open Tournament. And during all these events I could meet and play with alot of my poker idols. Unlike celebrities in other sectors, you can just bump into poker players of all stakes at big events and just talk to them. Not one I spoke to was unfriendly or didn't make time for a chat, I spoke with Ben "Spraggy" Spragg, Lex Veldhuis, Daniel Negreanu, Adrian Mateos, Phil Helmuth, Julien Sitbon, Davidi Kitai, Jason Mercier, Kenny Hallaert, Brad Owen, Phil Ivey and many others! Great memories!
The real life story
Around the time that I discovered poker I also found out about the FIRE movement (Financially independent retire early). At that time in my thirties, I made a career in the corporate world and had a management position at a relatively young age. Since I traveled a lot for work I didn't feel the need to go on vacation much, unless it was to play poker abroad.
So during the years I could save a lot and my FIRE dream took shape. I decided a long time ago that I wanted to live under the sun when retiring, so in 2021 during the corona crisis I bought a second house in the south of Spain. The past four years we used the house as a holiday home, we visit like four or five times a year. The weather is great here and there are four casinos nearby where I can play daily tournaments with a low buy-in. Paradise!
At the age of fifty I reached my personal FIRE goals but I decided to work for a few years more. We are now two years later and this year I decided to have fun for the rest of my life so I sold my house in northern Europe and quit my job. As of the second of January I live in Spain permanently.
The future
You only live once, so do as many things you enjoy and make you happy. I always loved my job, but the main reason I worked hard is to reach FIRE as soon as possible. At a younger age I already made my mind up that I am not gonna work until I die. As of now I am gonna focus on the things that I like the most in life such as playing live poker, reading, investing, hiking and writing blog posts.
Poker goals
Playing live poker as much as possible, there are tournaments every day so you can choose which days you wanna play. On the weekends there are higher buy-ins with slower structures. So that’s where I want to lay the focus on.
Play 200 live tournaments with an average buy-in of 200€
Share some key hands i play and discuss them over here
Become a better player everyday
Starting bankroll 40k
I don’t need poker profits for living expenses, so my first goal is to be profitable and enjoy what I'm doing. My second goal is to learn Spanish while playing poker.
Other goals
I set myself 10 daily life goals, I'm gonna track them, not aiming for 100% but they are just reminders for myself.
Don’t smoke cigarettes
Walk 10k steps a day
2 hour poker study
1 hour of reading
1 hour of reviewing my investments
30 minutes of studying Spanish
Sleep minimum 8 hours
Blog every day
Drink no alcohol
Lose weight
Notes to end
English is not my main language so excuse me for spelling errors
I searched on Google for poker blogs and the first that popped up was 2+2, so that’s why I'm gonna start the blog here.
I know there are some tax considerations in Spain for poker winnings, but like I said I'm not in it to make a living off poker, I'm here for the lifestyle and the good climate. I have a gestor (financial advisor) here in Spain, so he takes care of that, you may deduct your buyins and then pay taxes on the profit (If you make profit ofc).
I’m not only gonna write about poker but also about the mental game, my real life goals, the Spanish lifestyle, the weather, books that i read, investing and a lot of other interesting topics.
If you have questions or if you just want to say hello, please leave a message below!
I wish you all the best for 2025, speak to you soon!
Start 01/01/2025
Bankroll: 40000€
Average Buy in: 0
Final tables: 0
ITM%: 0%
January 10, 2025
Yesterday we played day 1 of the mensual in Alicante and we made i to day 2. we harvested 182k chips good for 91bb at starting blinds 1k - 2k on day 2.
Bagged 182k
Not much to mention regarding hands, won 2 big pots with American Airlines (flopped a set in the first hand and got paid, and in the second hand i got also paid by 2 shorties).
Forgot to make some notes directly after the hands played out, so i don't remember position and stacks sizes exactly.
I try to write down some interesting hands directly after the hand on day 2.
Today they play day 1b so we have the day off. I took time for a nice walk at the beach. With a temperature of 20C and clear sky. I never get used to that feeling <3.
Tomorrow we do some GTO wizzard prep for day 2.
Adios
January 11, 2025
At 16h30 we play day 2 of the mensual in Alicante, tomorrow I will let you know how far we have come.
This morning i started in a new book (yes i'm reading several books at a time) Autocracy inc. by Anne Applebaum where she investigates how modern autocratic regimes, such as those in Russia and China, collaborate to preserve and expand their power and wealth. Applebaum describes how these regimes, despite their differing ideologies, work together to undermine democratic values and institutions. Through the use of propaganda, economic partnerships, and technological exchange, they reinforce each other's positions and challenge democracies worldwide.
She highlights the necessity for democratic nations to take this threat seriously and to act collectively to counter the rise of autocracies. I'm already halfway through it, it reads like a train. I think we have to be vigilant today about the interference of these regimes in our society, highly recommended reading.
That's all for now, enjoy your weekend.
Adios
Good luck on day 2!
January 12, 2025
Thanks!
Day 2
There were more entries on day 2 so we started the day with 134 players and still 2 levels of re-buy left.
After 2 levels we had a total of 335 registrations and 122 players left.
36 players ITM, 18k on top.
i tried to take better notes here we go:
Hand 1 stack 50bb blinds 1.5k 3k
CO opens 2bb, i complete in BB with Q6o (pot 16.5k)
Flop Q64 2 diamonds
Hero checks, BB bets 4k, Hero raises to 10k, BB calls (pot 36.5k)
Turn 8c
Hero bets 9k, CO calls (pot 54.5k)
River 7d, so 3 diamonds
Hero checks, CO bet 14k, Hero calls
He shows 44
I decided to check river, although if i shove there, i could maybe make him fold his set, any thougths on this?
Hand 2 stack 36bb blinds 1.5k 3k
BTN limps, Hero 4x with AKo on SB, BB shovet met +/- 50bb
BTN Folds i call AKo vs QQ
K on the flop, bam!
97 left
Hand 3 starting stack 40bb blinds 2k 5k
BTN limps (again), and i have again AKo in the SB again, so i 4x, BTN calls
Flop QJ9 rainbow, check, check
Turn 7, check, check
Turn 4, check, BTN bets 1/2 pot, i fold
He shows KTo for a flopped straight, pfieuw
Hand 4 starting stack 40bb blinds 2.5k 5k
Hero opens 2x in HJ with 99, SB shovet 9bb, snap call against AKo
Flop 884 Turn 9 River 8
87 left
Some hands later i 3b KK from BB vs CO open but he folds
Busting hand AKs vs TT pre all-in for 20bb (co opens, hero 3bet on BTN, he 4bet shoves, hero calls)
Flop ATx xx
GG, we finished 54th
Adios!
GGWP,
HH1: maybe could do smth like block bet yourself but he kind of did it for you... Unlucky flop, lucky that he did not stack you. Also BB defending ranges in mtt are so foreign to me (no rake + antes).
Hand 1 stack 50bb blinds 1.5k 3k
CO opens 2bb, i complete in BB with Q6o (pot 16.5k)
Flop Q64 2 diamonds
Hero checks, BB bets 4k, Hero raises to 10k, BB calls (pot 36.5k)
Turn 8c
Hero bets 9k, CO calls (pot 54.5k)
River 7d, so 3 diamonds
Hero checks, CO bet 14k, Hero calls
He shows 44
I decided to check river, although if i shove there, i could maybe make him fold his set, any thougths on this?
You can fold pre. Q6o is a flat in theory, but if out opponent(s) aren't playing equally theoretical, we don't need to include the bottom of our ranges because we don't care about being unbalanced. Q6o would be the bottom of our range here.
As played, it's fine, I'd prob go a little bigger on the turn and maybe block bet river. Open jamming 43bb into a 18bb pot would be really really bad. What are you accomplishing? Getting a worse hand to call the max? Worse hands wouldn't take that line and pay you off. Getting a better hand to fold? It's unlikely a better hand would fold, considering your line.
Rest of the hands are pretty std, h3 I'd prob cbet to realize your equity/not give free cards/not give up the betting initiative since a ton of his range is going to be underpairs/Ax hands that didn't connect and will fold easily and you have a ton of turn cards that you like. Obviously it wouldn't get any farther that that considering the runout and his actual hand, so it's not like you lost out on a ton of equity this specific hand.
Hey, really nice Blog and I wish you all the best for all your plans 😉
I am planning to make a trip to Spain this year. Do you know where are the best spots/casinos to play Cashgames at the Costa Blanca?
January 13, 2025
Thank you for all the comments, really appreciate all the thoughts and tips, try to learn everyday.
GGWP,
HH1: maybe could do smth like block bet yourself but he kind of did it for you... Unlucky flop, lucky that he did not stack you. Also BB defending ranges in mtt are so foreign to me (no rake + antes).
Yeah, maybe but he never folds, also according to GTO Wiz this spot is a 100% check on the river.
You can fold pre. Q6o is a flat in theory, but if out opponent(s) aren't playing equally theoretical, we don't need to include the bottom of our ranges because we don't care about being unbalanced. Q6o would be the bottom of our range here.
As played, it's fine, I'd prob go a little bigger on the turn and maybe block bet river. Open jamming 43bb into a 18bb pot would be really really bad. What are you accomplishing? Getting a worse hand to call the max? Worse hands wouldn't take that line
HH1: I don't completely agree about folding pre, because if you don't hit it is a simple c/f and you lose only 1bb. When you hit a flop like this you can win big pots again Qx hands. After reviewing in GTO Wiz i agree that jamming is certainly a bad move.
HH:3 According to GTO Wiz it's even a bet bet shove spot, ofc if you bet turn, it's hard to check river.
Hey, really nice Blog and I wish you all the best for all your plans 😉
I am planning to make a trip to Spain this year. Do you know where are the best spots/casinos to play Cashgames at the Costa Blanca?
From the ones i know Alicante is the best for cash games
Tonight we play a 50€ NLHE turbo tournament in Orihuela.
Adios por ahora!
HH1: I don't completely agree about folding pre, because if you don't hit it is a simple c/f and you lose only 1bb. When you hit a flop like this you can win big pots again Qx hands. After reviewing in GTO Wiz i agree that jamming is certainly a bad move.
If your logic is that you'll play a hand for 1bb if it could hit two pair against someone else's top pair, wouldn't you then be limping into every hand? Because every hand can hit 2p vs top pair. It's just really really really unlikely. In this exact situation, you have 3 shots to hit a 2 outer and a 3 outer...in a spot where someone else has to have a small % of his range.
The value of playing a hand as far down in your range as Q6 there is to not be exploitable while still playing hands that have some sort of value. Vs bad players, you have to care less about being exploitable because your opponents aren't looking to exploit you, they are just playing their hands. Not to mention in a live setting nobody will ever get enough hands vs you (or remember them so specifically) to work out your exact ranges.
HH:3 According to GTO Wiz it's even a bet bet shove spot, ofc if you bet turn, it's hard to check river.
What I like to do in these spots is to reverse engineer it. Take that hand that you just solved and see what the solver says the BU's range should be to take the line of open limping BU 40bb deep, calling a 4x, then calling a 25% pot cbet and 25% double barrel. Do you think that the people you play against/that person specifically has that range, on the river, in that spot? If not, then he's making a mistake, and you can capitalize on that by exploiting. In my experience, people who are limp/calling pre aren't getting to the river vs barrels as light as they should be, so the exploit to that would be to tighten up later street betting ranges because you're getting called if it's gotten that far.
Enjoying the updates.
Do you play any of the series that come to Spain but are a bit further afield from where you live? I know there are some mid range buy-ins at the Sixers series, Unibet's Deep Stack Open, and maybe some Winamax events.
I'm hopping into the Unibet DSO in Barcelona next month while on holiday, if you happen to be playing give me a shout and I'll buy you a beer.
If your logic is that you'll play a hand for 1bb if it could hit two pair against someone else's top pair, wouldn't you then be limping into every hand? Because every hand can hit 2p vs top pair. It's just really really really unlikely. In this exact situation, you have 3 shots to hit a 2 outer and a 3 outer...in a spot where someone else has to have a small % of his range.
The value of playing a hand as far down in your range as Q6 there is to not be exploitable while still playing hands th
But we are in the BB and we already paid big blind + ante, that does make a difference right?
What I like to do in these spots is to reverse engineer it. Take that hand that you just solved and see what the solver says the BU's range should be to take the line of open limping BU 40bb deep, calling a 4x, then calling a 25% pot cbet and 25% double barrel. Do you think that the people you play against/that person specifically has that range, on the river, in that spot? If not, then he's making a mistake, and you can capitalize on that by exploiting. In my experience, people who are limp/cal
Limping is only working in spots with 25bb or less in GTO Wiz, so i can't solve it. But i understand your way of thinking.
Enjoying the updates.
Do you play any of the series that come to Spain but are a bit further afield from where you live? I know there are some mid range buy-ins at the Sixers series, Unibet's Deep Stack Open, and maybe some Winamax events.
I'm hopping into the Unibet DSO in Barcelona next month while on holiday, if you happen to be playing give me a shout and I'll buy you a beer.
Not planned anything at the moment, in 2023 i played EPT Barcelona (did'nt cash lost KK vs AA in level 12 ouchh).
It quickly becomes expensive if you have to travel and stay in hotels, certainly in the big cities like Madrid and Barcelona.
But there are a lot of possibilities for sure: CNP (Circuito Nacional de Poker), SPF (Spanish Poker Festival), ESPT (Estrallas Poker Tour).
But we are in the BB and we already paid big blind + ante, that does make a difference right?
No, that sounds kind of like a sunk cost fallacy. Just because you were forced to put chips in, doesn't mean you need to put more chips in. Evaluate every decision independently (of what you did, of course you should take previous actions into account when trying to range people).
Limping is only working in spots with 25bb or less in GTO Wiz, so i can't solve it. But i understand your way of thinking.
I thought the screenshot you posted was of the solved spot. If you didn't solve the spot including your opponent's actions then you didn't solve the spot. Wiz not limping in >25bb deep is a good clue that your opponent is not playing optimally. If he's not playing optimally, you can derivate from optimal play to max exploit him.
If your logic is that you'll play a hand for 1bb if it could hit two pair against someone else's top pair, wouldn't you then be limping into every hand? Because every hand can hit 2p vs top pair. It's just really really really unlikely. In this exact situation, you have 3 shots to hit a 2 outer and a 3 outer...in a spot where someone else has to have a small % of his range.
The value of playing a hand as far down in your range as Q6 there is to not be exploitable while still playing hands th
I hate posts that tell people good advice on 2+2, at least start a youtube channel bro
January 15/01
Did a nice hike yesterday, the temperature was around 15C, a bit cooler but normal for the time of year, January is the month with the lowest temperatures.
But in the sun it felt warmer, i just hiked in t-shirt and shorts.
Tonight we are playing in Ondarra, there is a festival running this week.
I play the 500€ tonight and the main event later on.
You may expect a full report of day 1 tomorrow
Adios
January 16, 2025
Only 27 players showed up for this highroller in the series, for a lot of local people 500€ is a lot of money. You often see that the tournaments with 500€+ buy-in only have between 25-75 entries.
You can still buy-in on day 2, so hopefully we see a few people join today. It's no different then in the real highrollers, these fields are also really small. I remember when i was at EPT Barcelona in 2023 that the 100k only had 18 people in it. Different amounts but also different places.
Day 1
We got through to day 2 with 214k (107bb)
Not that many interesting hands and poor note taking again, i really need to work on that. 😉
Blinds 200/400 300bb deep
i open QJo 2.5x in CO, BB calls
Flop J72 2 spades (we have Q of spades), villain checks, i bet 1/2 pot, villain calls
Turn Q, villain checks, i bet 2/3 pot, villain c/r, i call
River 4 (no flush), now he snap overbets pot
I think it through, he is way to fast with his bet, it's nuts or bluff, i call
He shows a busted flushdraw, we pick up a nice pot.
I forgot the note the blinds by this hand
I open 3x with A5s from BTN, BB calls
Flop A32 rainbow, check/check
Turn 6, villain checks, i make a small bet, he calls
River 4, villain checks, he is sticky so if he has an A he calls, i overbet the pot and he snaps.
I show the straight and he throws is hand in the muck.
Later on i squeeze in the SB with AA vs MP open en BTN call, they both fold.
And that's it for yesterday, today day 2
Vamos!
As a fellow Costa Blanca inhabitant, following from now on, gl at the tables! 😉
nice thread, big fan of the whole FIRE thing you mentionned, I’m guessing the idea is to do the maths so you can retire early and live off of passive income
I’m currently working on that, had a good amount of success playing poker overall but I got way too lazy with investing sadly, hopefully I’m in a similar spot you’re in within the next 10 years
that said I disagree with rolled high’s take about Q6o, the 1bb already invested changes massively because you get much better pot odds so you do have to peel a lot wider, not to mention you’re last to act so guaranteed to see a flop, and then if you’re facing a recreational player in theory you usually want to go even wider because they’ll make more mistakes postflop, so you don’t really want to tighten up
January 17, 2025
Welcome and thanks for the GL's!
Do you also play live poker yourself?
nice thread, big fan of the whole FIRE thing you mentionned, I’m guessing the idea is to do the maths so you can retire early and live off of passive income
I’m currently working on that, had a good amount of success playing poker overall but I got way too lazy with investing sadly, hopefully I’m in a similar spot you’re in within the next 10 years
that said I disagree with rolled high’s take about Q6o, the 1bb already invested changes massively because you get much b
Hi, and welcome!
About the FIRE, yes it is! I wrote a google sheets many years ago to do FIRE calculation, but be cautious, it gives you an idea but we have to make many assumptions for the future like tax rate, inflation rate etc... But in the end it gives you a proper idea.
If you want, send me a pm, i will share it with you, if you are interested. You just need to fill in the blue boxes on the left all the rest calculated automatically.
Investing is a big part of this journey, without proper investing i doubt if it is possible.
And i agree with you on the Q6o hand, i would call it again against a recreational player.
We had a lot of rain during the night, and the temperatures where freezing the last days. During the night down to 1C, during daytimes around 15C. Today it is sunny again.
Did not manage to do my daily walk because i was only home at 03h00 and took a good sleep.
And before i forget here is the report of day 2:
Day 2
We had a few more participants, fresh entry's and a few rebuy's to get to a total of 33, 4 ITM, first prize will be +6k (i thought 6213€ but forget to note the excact number)
Hand 1 forgot to note the blinds and stack debt (again!)
MP opens, Hero calls in BB with Th8h
Flop Qh7h5d
Hero checks, MP bet, Hero calls
Turn 6h
Hero checks MP bet, hero calls
River 4c
Hero checks again, MP overbet pot, Hero calls
MP shows AA, easy!
Hand 2
Hero raises AhAd from BTN, BB calls
Flop Ts8s6c
BB checks, Hero bets 1/2 pot
Turn 2c
BB checks, Hero bets 2/3 pot
River 4d
BB checks, Hero checks behind
BB shows 8h6h bummer!
At 20h00 we are down to 9 players and the FT is formed.
I 3bet with A3s vs HJ open on the BTN but i got 4bet and i have to fold down to 17bb
Hand 3 - blinds 4k/8k 14bb
Hero minraise BTN with KsTs, BB calls
Flop 269 rainbow, check/check
Turn T, BB checks, Hero shoves, BB folds
A few hands later i open AQo from the BTN, SB raises 3.5x, i shove. He calls with AJs we hold, full double
Against the same player we open AKs from the BTN he 3bets again, we shove (+/-22bb), he folds and shows AQs
We double again vs BTN open we shove 88 in the SB he calls with K9s we hold.
Bust hand, blinds are 10k/20k we shove 14bb from HJ with 88, BB wake up with QQ, no help and 6th place...
We played good and concentrated all evening so i am satisfied overall, today we play day 1b of the main event (300€ buy-in).
Adios!
Bankroll: 39365€
Average Buy in: 234€
Final tables: 2
ITM%: 16%
5/200
