I like Poker but man I suck... lets change that?
Hello 2+2, I'm codehdn and I suck at poker, hopefully we can change that.
Background:
I first learned to play poker when
February 24 - March 2
This week was interesting but disappointing. We did lose money playing poker this week again which sucks. We also didn't complete many of the goals we set for ourselves. Lets just dive in.
Live Poker
I went played some cash 1/2 this past Friday night and it went interesting. We still haven't made a straight or a flush in live cash yet so just losing money on draws. However we did get positive at one point during the session which is the first time that's happened since starting this saga of going more often. However I had no hands that could make me money for the last 2 hours of the session and with an open of 5x - 7.5x depending on limps, chips bleed fast. Was in for $325 total and out for $221 total. I think the disappointing part here is at one point when I was up to $500ish I was considering just getting up and booking a win for the first time. I know at the end of the day it's one long session but just such a defeating month.
I decided on Saturday to enter the morning flight for a $300 250k GTD multi day tournament where we we're holding our own and doing ok until a really bad 3bet that got called multiway and the flop came AK high. Ended up having to let some JJ go. We then found ourselves in the BB with less than 14bb with AQs and got it all in preflop and ended up knocked out 49th out of 345.... 35 bagged and made it to day two. The worst part is I did some napkin math and they only played 2 more levels which would have been 65k chips which is what I shoved for. I think I could have tanked and just sneaked into day two to get ITM... :( Action for the hand we busted on below.
Spoiler
BB AQss 67500 in stack 5000 blind level
UTG+1 12000 LJ calls BTN calls hero jams folds to BTN he calls
Flop
KJ478
Button shows 77
I have some money I'm willing to reload the bankroll with. Thinking of dropping around $1500 into the roll. We gotta start seeing some forward momentum soon. Also in a weird spot where I'm out of hours live so going to have to pay for more time which comes at $13/hour.
Live BR: $1512 (-$405)
Online Poker
I did not hit my goals for playing this week, I had 4x 2 hour sessions and only got 2300 hands played. Yeah, 10000 hands is a lot. We barely profited at 5nl this week, I think just under 3 buyins is where we landed. I'm still punting off stacks in pretty dumb ways (check the spoiler below for some really dumb choices.
Spoiler
Spoiler
This one I think should just be fold on river. I made the call and instantly knew this was going to be a king. However before that feeling sunk in my thought process was, how many kings can this guy have here in a limp pot. Bad thinking probably.
Spoiler
This one is super punty, was hoping for AK/AQ and just ran it into aces
Spoiler
This is what it looks like when 2 idiots collide
Spoiler
This hand we probably shouldn't have even gotten here with this line, but essentially on the river I was trying to fold out an Ax with my sizing... It didn't happen I think part of it is my line but also this guys sticky, he has the tag from drivehud that if he connects to flop he isnt folding.. Just dumb.
Spoiler
This hand was weird I mean technically A7s is something he can have here but probably not often. I tried buying the pot with the river raise getting other Ax to fold out the reraise was unexpected so I don't know for sure what he had but thinking better than me.
Outside of CoinPoker I put $100 onto ClubWPTGold and started to play that on Sunday. Had a session yesterday on coinpoker where we just couldn't get paid with our premiums and were having QQ+/AK cracked consistently. Luckily we we're up on ClubWPTGold. So I've now put $200 of my own money in to play online poker. WPTGold so far is interesting, 10nl is the lowest stake and plays incredibly soft so I decided to try my luck at the 40nl stake and it's gone ok, we only have like 300 hands played but up about a 40nl buyin from the site.
Online BR: $503.45 (+$49.20 // added $100 to balance as deposit to ClubWPTGold)
Studying
This week I didn't do much study at all. I also didn't get the play and explain in like I wanted to. I did however hit my hand sharing goal and got feedback from a 100nl reg.
Goals for March & Week 10: March 3 - March 9
Goals I've set for March:
- Play 7699 or more hands of 5NL (this gets me across 10k hands of 5nl)
- Shot take 10NL on coinpoker towards end of month should we be beating 5NL at >6bb/100
- 20 hours of live cash or more
- No live tournaments (bankroll is for cash games)
- 40 hours of study or more
- Finish Carrot Poker Grade 1 (Lecture 5-10 & Exam ~7hours)
- Start & Finish CrushLivePoker Blueprint to Live Course (~6hours)
- Watch DBLBoard17 Intro to Holdem Bombpots & DBLBoard24 Secrets of Double Board Holdem from CLP (~2 hours)
Goals for this week.
- Play 2500 hands of 5NL on Coinpoker
- Start & Finish the CLP Blueprint to Live Course
- Watch the 2 Double Board Holdem videos from CLP
Since I was able to determine my goals for the month I figured the best approach for each week would be to try and make progress specifically towards the monthly goals.
February Stats Wrapped
In February I lost -$2887 playing live poker across 20 hours playing. I had a total of 7 sessions. We did not do well live this month.
Online we deposited $340 to coinpoker and ended the month at $355.45 so we technically made some small amount of money however I'd hazard a guess it's probably rakeback.
A lot of work to do going forward. I'm not willing to just lose and lose and lose. Forward momentum is required at some point.
March 3 - March 9
This was a solid week, we didn't play very much poker nor did we hit our goals but we did book a coaching session to try that out.
Live Poker
I didn't play any live poker this week between friends and family wanting to do stuff I would have maybe had 2 hours on Sunday I could have snuck in, however the bankroll went up minorly due to a quick visit to the casino where we played Craps & Slots.
Live BR: $1689 (+$177)
Online Poker
This week was a rollercoaster. I started by playing on ClubWPTGold and would just sit and play it during the work day at 40nl and at one point we switched to 100nl. I think the last update I gave for ClubWPTGold was we deposited $100 and had run it up to $148. This week I ran that up to about $250ish and then decided, lets just play 100nl and get it in good. This was going ehh, up 100, down 100. We ended up losing a flip with KK vs JJ and I had like 125 left on the account and fired 2 bullets in some $11 tournament and cashed out from the site for $102. So all in just a $2 profit.. So why stop? Well the site is super soft, which is great. The potential to make money is high, there are some people in the poker discord I'm in that are up 1.5k or more just from playing some 100nl this week. I was up and just moved up stakes to early... But why withdraw and stop? It started to feel more like gambling then poker. I was just trying to get premiums and get them all in preflop during my work day and that's not good for me. I also don't care about a couple hundred dollars so lets say I ran that $100 into $1000... so what? Like yeah the bankroll grows which is good but, did I get better at poker? Probably not.
On the CoinPoker front we played 2136 hands of poker this week at 5nl and were up $12.99 for a 12.16bb/100 win rate. We're running over EV but I think some of that might be that I turned on run it twice to try it out but also we ran kinda hot. I'm mixed on the run it twice stuff, not sure I like it, not sure I hate it but mostly the fish have it turned on and I had a whale that was dumping stacks a couple weeks ago yelling about people not having run it twice on. Just trying it out. The games are interesting, some days I get smoked and nothings holding and I start making bad decisions and then other days like yesterday I run hotter than the sun and can't make a bad decision. Very fun those hotter than the sun days.
I will say I think my thought process around bet sizing, villain range, the story being told by the actions, etc is all getting much, much better. I attribute that fully to my coach as I've only felt that way for the Sunday night session.
Interesting hands from this week.
Spoiler
H1: This one Coin really setup my villain.
Spoiler
H2: I had a read of smallish pocket pair, by the way he played the hand I wasn't thinking set at all, just very unlucky how the hand ends up. I called the block sizing on the river because small chance he was rocking 44
Spoiler
H3: I sniffed this out sadly a street too late. I was thinking flush draw with the giant raise and then when the flush x/x I was thinking I might be outkicked, sadly I was.
Spoiler
H4: This one hurts but pretty proud of getting it all in on flop with this fish, he showed he had tons of interesting by x/r me and I figured he was inelastic and put him all in. We lose but happy with the line in this hand.
Spoiler
H5: This night I was just runnin cold, 3 bet pot, how many 2s and 7s can someone have here... Oh ****
Spoiler
H6: Same night, we we're just running into it. Actually again happy with putting this fish all in OTT just unlucky run out.
Spoiler
Below is this weeks graph of 5nl
Online BR: $375 (-26.45 [$102 was withdrawn])
Studying
This week we studied but not the content I thought I would focus on. I ended up booking an hour session with a coach and had that session on Friday. We talked a ton around why am I betting, value betting vs bluffing, some things I think are value are really bluffs because I dont want called, reviewed multiple hands, talked bluff thresholds (fold equity required for certain things), lots of stuff. I took a full page of notes and spent the weekend reviewing when I wasn't busy with family. I then reviewed again for about an hour before my Sunday online session. I feel that just that 1 session has already started to shift my outlook on villains and the game as a whole so I decided to go ahead and lock in for a 10 session package so we can dive deeper into various topics and get my fundamentals up to speed.
Sadly I did not get to the live poker course content I wanted to get to.
Goals
Reviewing this past week's goals:
- Play 2500 hands of 5NL on Coinpoker
- Start & Finish the CLP Blueprint to Live Course
- Watch the 2 Double Board Holdem videos from CLP
We didn't do very well, we got close on volume but I really want to be playing way more than I am, Ideally 5k hands a week would be great, its just so much time as I can barely get 4 reg tables going. The training videos I definitely could have done but I think once I decided to explore coaching I set those to the side. I see them working together in the future.
Goals for March 10 - March 16
- 3000 hands of 5nl on CoinPoker
- Start & Finish the CLP Blueprint to Live Course
- Post 10 hands for review in the study group discord
Overall ok week, for me the highlight is the coaching. Looking forward to updating the thread on how this all goes.
March 3 - March 9This was a solid week, we didn't play very much poker nor did we hit our goals but we did book a coaching session to try that out. Live PokerI didn't play any live poker this week between friends and family wanting to do stuff I would have maybe had 2 hours on Sunday I could have snuck in, however the bankroll went up minorly due to a quick visit to the casino
You about blinded me with that graph. Looking at that graph felt like staring at the sun.
You about blinded me with that graph. Looking at that graph felt like staring at the sun.
PT4 not having a darkmode graph in 2025 should be criminal. I've almost switched to H2N just to get a dark mode but pay once with PT4 vs recurring charge with H2N.
I was meaning you are running over EV. I am just joking with you. All in good fun.
Oh yeah we're running kinda hot on our 50/50s, also in the session yesterday I had a $15 pot where I had like 5% equity, got it in KK vs 99 on a texture of 2967 and we ended up rivering a king. Better to be lucky than good.
I also don't care about a couple hundred dollars so lets say I ran that $100 into $1000... so what? Like yeah the bankroll grows which is good but, did I get better at poker? Probably not.
I don't really understand this logic. If you aren't playing poker to make money, what are you playing for?
I also reject the notion that you learn things from playing in tougher pools. If you want to learn, grab a solver and grind it for a few hours. The only thing you'll learn, in my opinion, by playing in tight games is that poker isn't very fun. Which I guess is kind of a valuable lesson.
If you aren't playing poker to make money, what are you playing for?
To get better, I don't need the money nor have any desire to ever try to go pro. I'm very happy with my job and the freedom it provides. The stress of trying to make a living comparable to what I have now through poker would be immense I'd be having to play like 10/25 and winning in excess of 6bb/hour on average for it to make sense and I'd have to play 2000+ hours a year all from a poker room and not the comfort of my own home for it to even be possible. I've said it from the beginning but I'll reiterate it now. I'm interested in this game for the complexities, the problem solving, and the competition. The money is just part of the game, pawns and pieces on a chess board.
I also reject the notion that you learn things from playing in tougher pools
We can disagree on this however you'll note just a few lines in to the explanation of leaving ClubWPTGold I had this gem, "It started to feel more like gambling then poker." This ultimately is the more important reason to leave the site for me. I can't just boot up coin and multitable during the workday but with WPTGold I certainly was pulling it up to the side and getting it all in preflop, not playing my best game. I was gambling. If I'm just going to be gambling there are better games to play to gamble.
Also in everything else in the world, whether its becoming a better software developer, better car driver, better video gamer, better chess player, better chef, it's all done by elevating yourself to a point where the people around you are better than you. Sure theres the 1 in a million thats naturally the best but thats the exception and not the rule. Why should poker be any different then everything else in life?
poker isn't very fun. Which I guess is kind of a valuable lesson.
This is just a misreg take. People play chess to get better, most will never make a dollar from it. Why can't someone play a game like poker to get better and enjoy the competition aspect of it? Money, whatever, its a side thing. The competition, the besting other opponents, the complexity of the game tree... thats what attracts. Which ultimately is why I stopped with WPTGold, I wasn't playing it with any complexity other than all in preflop.
Wanted to drop an update in. Going forward I'll probably just update monthly, progress isn't going fast enough or at all really to justify a weekly update to the thread.
These past couple weeks have been tough, my live bankroll is zero, in fact I donated the last $65 I had in my wallet because I just don't see playing live as something that makes sense at the moment. What happened? I played some 1/2 was holding my own until the last hand of the session where my AA was cracked by KQhh with a flop of 3 hearts. I then stood up decided to be done for the night because I was tilted. Went to bubble craps and proceeded to lose around $600 playing that. I started my drive home from the casino and about 30 minutes from my house decided to pop over to TCH Social with the last $1200 I had in cash and sit the 2/5 game at 3am. I sat down and we had some interesting hands, got my first bluff through at 2/5, had a big loss with a straight vs a fullhouse. I just was feeling tilted down to my last $500 and flipped for it with someone at the table. I was dealt K9 and he was dealt AK, 9 on the flop, A on the turn. Is what it is.
As far as online is concerned March has been a tough month. So far I'm down 11 buyins on ignition zone poker and 12 buyins on coinpoker. So about $115 down in online cash. I'm down about $21 in tracked tournaments but if we include untracked it's probably closer to $60 (coinpoker tournaments dont seem to work in pt4). So for the month I'm down around $175 in online poker. Plus about $600 in online gambling that blew up the accounts twice ($300/blowup). I've since reached out to Ignition, Coinpoker & acr and had the casino disabled on all sites which should help going forward, I've also put a pause in play for stake which is the other site I've used to gamble in the past. Also this month not included or tracked I lost about 8 buyins of 5nl to a Clubgg thing that was being done in the discord I'm apart of for poker. It was a fun thing but I finally stopped, playing against 25nl+ guys is not going to ever be profitable for me. Enjoyed getting to chat and have fun playing wild, was vpiping like 40% and playing super aggro.
Whats the plan? I honestly don't know, I'm still getting coaching every other week. I have 9 more sessions paid for. I probably won't play live again until Memorial day when I'm down in Houston for a weekend. I guess just keep trying online cash, try to find the fold button in spots where villains show aggression, stop bluffing off my stack in 3b+ pots. Try and figure out how to stop bleeding chips. I'll probably also keep playing tournaments on ignition as I'm cashing pretty consistently there in the <$5 buyins.
I think the biggest problem I'm having is just something mental, in tournaments I can make folds and sit and wait for my opportunities to chip up but in cash it's like I'm a completely different poker player, I can't find folds once I've put money in, I'm getting paid the minimum when I have it but lose the maximum when I don't. I'm consistently bluffing off my stack aggro jamming (coach called it merge jamming) to the point that I only get called by better. I just need to simplify, play ABC poker and bet when I have it, fold when I don't.
Next update, not sure, sometime in April probably.
