Hey!
firstly I'm gonna introduce myself, I hope it's not gonna be too long, I'll try

My name is Iveta, I come from Slovakia, I'm 24. Playing under nick 0ivka.
I've been playing poker for like 5 years, having it as a job for like 3-4 years.
A little poker history:
I started with 9man turbo KO sit and goes on stars, then in 2014 I played 9man KO hypers for like a year, then I moved to 6max hypers in november 2014 with a challenge to make SNE in 2015 up to 60$ BI. I was a grinder back then, could play 200-300 tournaments daily on 9man hypers.
Unfortunately I had a pretty bad run on 30s and there were news that SNE might be cancelled etc so I gave up the challenge.
I played over 100k tournaments on sit and goes.
After that I played 9mans again, MTTs, etc to get out of markup which I successfuly did. But I still wasnt satisfied so in November 2016 I joined Smart Spin. I wasn't sure if it's a right thing but it showed as a very good decision, that community is great.
So currently I'm playing 15s Spins, I've been stuck there for about 4 months, because my volume was pretty ****ty - I'll explain why
some graphs:

I am also a foosball player, in 2016 I took two 1st places and two 3rd places in women world rankings. Currently I'm on 2nd place in the world in women singles. I was travelling around the world a lot since last year, but getting a break and I'm gonna put all my effort to poker
Some people can't imagine how tournaments in foosball are huge, I will just post some photos
you can check more photos on my fb page and insta (I'm not sure if I can post link here but simply add /0ivka behind both )

Otherwise I also love going to the gym (crossfit, weightlifting etc), nutrition stuff, anything about mindset and self improvement and bla bla bla.

And I am a beginner streamer, I streamed regularly first time in July, but there will be another blog related just to twitch so I will post link here when I create it

That would be all - in short version tho

And why I'm writing this blog?
track my progress, get feedback, opinions, support. And that I'm not just a random girl but gonna be a high stakes crusher

GL, rooting for you!
Probably won't take long until u move up.

Week 7-14.8.

I was a bit frustrated and I don't know if it was boredom or what, but it led to pretty funny creative plays first time I cried laughing at the coaching.
After I realized I should just play solid results went okayish.
I feel very good now and I'm back in crushing mood. from next week


I am trying to do some high intenstity workouts every day. But I would love to move even mooore! nutrition wise I count calories and having cheat day every sunday. I feel like I have pretty nice results. I'm going to experiment a bit with creating more strict schedule during the day so I don't need to grind in the evenings and just do whatever I want, feeling good that the work is done

I am experimenting with creating more content and this came out:
just let me know if you have some feedback / ideas

Plans for August:

• 120+ hours grinding (57,5 done)
• 2,3k games (937 done)
• stream regularly (12 times total)
• update blog/social media regularly

Plans for week 15.8.-21.8.

• 36 hour grind (6x6)
• study 1-2 hours every day
• 5x gym/workout
• 3 streams

Nice, I have some similar goals. I also grind at the 15s, for now . See you at the tables and gl

Good luck! Nice video and will be following and rooting for you!

will deffo follow this
gl Iv

Goals review
for week 15.8.-21.8.

• 36 hour grind (6x6) 30/36 because I didn't notice I check results with the last day of the previous week. and I was so happy that I made it FAIL
• study 1-2 hours every day DONE
• 5x gym/workout DONE - [COLOR="DimGray"]one day twice, and attended training called Equilibre focused on balance/ handstands and stuff. It was very interesting and I'm on my way to do some first handstands
• 3 streams DONE

GRAPH: not the best results, but not too bad.
I'm a bit dissapointed with my volume.

GOALS for next week 22.-28.8.:

• 42 hours grind (6days x 7hours)
• gym/movement/play every day
• 1-2 hours of study daily
• 3 streams

Kinda happy with my schedule now, moving daily, grinding and studying and enjoying it!

AND something super exciting came up:

I was invited to play a huge foosball tournament to China!! They invited few best players from Europe.
Even tournaments in Europe are very expensive, and as you can imagine finding a sponsor is very hard for this kind of sport even if you are on the top. But it's my huge dream to go there and I can't really afford it by myself. I wanna bring some nice content from there That's why I'm looking for a support. Any support will be really appreciated. If you are interested leave me a pm! gl on the tables

Goals review for week 22.8-28.8.

• 42 hours grind
• gym / play / movement every day
• 1-2 hours study daily
• 3 streams

I played 42,2 hours, this one was pretty challenging for me. I was so motivated to complete this goal that I came home at 1am today pretty tired and managed to play 6,5 hours in less then 7,5 hours and went to sleep at 8:30. And I drank just one monster! results weren't great, but I'm still satisfied with the volume. Still don't know how I made it
Failed in studying. Attended mandatory coachings and reviewed some games, otherwise I just played and went outside on bike/ workout park.
Also I streamed just 2 times because I was travelling yesterday and I had no chance to make it, but gonna move that stream on Thursday so at the end gonna stream enough times.

I also tried how is it to completely turn my schedule; instead of grinding since 9am I went to sleep at 8am, wanted to test how is it to play on weekend nights. And I think tables are way way better than playing during the day.



Even though I'm still pretty far from promotion to 30s, I finally feel I'm on a good track and feel that dedication which I should have.
I definitely need to put more hours into studying, but first I need to get better in distractions and get my focus better. I can analyze things outside of the tables, but I miss many things during the play because I'm not concentrated enough.

I'm reading a book Awaken the giant within by Tony Robbins, I think its one of the most eye opening book for me.
I can write more about it in the next post together with stuff I have learned in this month.

I'm having a freeish day today, just streaming at 18pm, I'm not writing the goals for next week, will do it after month recap.
Tx for reading this to the end. And see ya on the stream!
GL GL

good luck...I remember you from Tiltbook.

Congrats on the #2 World Ranking, that's legit impressive. What makes you better than the players who are, say, in the 11th-20th range? And what's the gap between 1st and 2nd?

Would also be interested to hear about the Foosball community, how it's similar/different from the poker community, etc.

Subbed to the blog, glgl on the grind!

Oh hi! ;>

Glgl!

hey guys, nice to see you here
@abarone
I would say my technical skills are better than most of the girls. Especially I can play both defendse and offense, a lot of girls stick to play one position in women doubles but aren't good playing singles. I have more shots which I have mastered on solid level in my repertory while many girls can play one shot and if it doesn't work, they cannot change. I'm 2nd mostly because of the points, attending tournaments and having good results on them, I feel I'm better on every next tournament just because of the experience. There are many things which makes good player good - from technical point of view definitely variety of shots, precision (ability to play your shots even when you are exhausted at the right place or under pressure), how fast you are between rods, ball control, etc. From psychological point of view ability to read your oppononent, making game plan and adjusting very fast, taking time-outs in right moments (if opponent screw up important ball and it ends on your rod, sometimes it's good to take time out and let him think what he did bad and he loses focus and so). It's like a sloving puzzle in real time, like poker
Foosball community - there is a big community, I really like people who I met on the tournaments and I have very good relationships with them. I would say it's more personal than poker community because you really spend more time with those people and in poker you don't have a chance to meet that often. While I love going to tournaments because I want to meet guys I can't imagine going to the poker tournament to meet everyone from discord or whatever You have plenty of time between matches to spend time with others and party in the evenings.
Also on the foosball tournaments you basically meet same people over and over again (lets say 10-20% are new people) and in poker community there is too many random people which makes difference imo. I hope it was what you expected to hear. I will def read your blog when I find time for that because I'm also curious how you doin

AUGUST RECAP:

• 137/120 hours
• 1894/2400 games
• 12/12 streams
• blogs updated

Results are not as I wanted, but I'm still very happy with hours I put into play. My average monthly hours was 67 !!!! since I'm in smart spin since December. So quite nice to double it :P
I have learnt many things in this month, the most important is probably that when I play more, I like the game more and I learn more with practice. It's just super important to play as much as you can.
I found out that when I say to myself - I'm gonna do this no matter what, I will complete that task. Even tho I was burned out last 3 days of the month from that last week because of the bad sleep schedule.
I'm not that sad about my results because I learned that it's our beliefs which influences how we react and I could feel like sh*t but I don't. I don't want to focus on problem but on solution. And the solution here is studying and planning (more in next post with plans for September)
Anyway I recommend reading Awaken the giant within by Tony Robbins, I really like this book.

SEPTEMBER GOALS

As I'm in China 20-27.9. and having a bday party after, I will be able to play and stream just first 19 days of September.

In those 19 days I WILL:

• play 120 hours in 16 play days
• have 3 free days (no poker)
• not eat gluten
• meditate every morning and evening
• not be using phone/texting in working hours
• stream 12 times (3 SK streams)
• practice foosball 3 times a week
• move/exercise every day

more about it:
I will play 8 days of 7 hours and 8 days of 8 hours, which shouldn't be that hard.
Not eat gluten - I had the challenge with friend when I didn't eat a single gram of grain for 2 months. My skin was great, as soon as I ate gluten for next 1-2 months it became way way worse. My body basically don't like it so why putting it in my body consciously
meditation - it just helps me to focus more but I was still lazy to do it regularly.
not using phone in working hours - especially avoiding texting and browsing during sessions.
And I wanted to mention that I feel better on the stream now, more relaxed and I realized I'm getting better in my english.

with all of this I need a good PLAN and this is how I plan
(g-gym, F-foosball, M-meditation, AL, RoK are study groups - coachings)


This is one of the days in august, it will slightly differ, I use this program Essentialpim, great tool for me.)



That would be probably it, I'm really trying not to write super long texts

HF in China

Some comments on your goals:

120h in 16 days -> nice, finally good volume!

Don't eat Gluten -> I tried this for some months myself and felt it really made a difference even if u're not celiac, felt a little more energized. But tried a lot of different nutrition and workout plans cause I like experiments and my current one makes the best difference I ever noticed: ketogenic diet. Ever tried? It pushes you hard wrt motivation and sports

Meditate -> Can never be wrong, so great for the mind. Even did some 2h meditation sometimes just because the feeling afterwards is so good.

Not be using phone -> GL with that, that was on my list dozens of times, I never managed to until I turned phone off and then gotta deal with "how can u not reply between sessions, i had an important issue blabla"

P.S.: Should prob ask a mod to modify the title into sth more appealing for rnd forum readers. Include the info u're a girl, that will prob be more attention dragging than anything u can write about your projects. Ppl don't give a **** if u excercise 5 times a week or whether u eat gluten or not.

I was doing keto for 2+ months this year and also intermittent fasting combited with keto and I was doing 24 hour fasts. There would be much to tell about this topic from my side
I am really sensitive tho (skin) and keto also wasn't the best for me because of the chemicals and stuff in the fats I ate. BUT! I think keto is the best protocol ever and as soon as I won't need to play that many hours etc I will definitely jump in that again. I studied a lot of books about keto/IF and tried it myself this year and your brain won't run on ketones primarily when you are not fasting for 3+ days, it still runs on glucose. Everything depends on your blood sugar levels tho and metabolic flexibility. I was measuring my blood sugar for about 2 months and never got under 4.1, body will just not let you, it takes months to years. But I felt great, never been so energized like when I was doing keto/IF. I think you need to do keto for several years to be fully adapted and having the best results on it.

2h meditation? never tried this, but definitely it can be really cool will give it a try one time

yeah we are just so addicted to our phones and facebook and stuff. its designed for it :P

Yay nice, another keto lover

Have those ketostix here to confirm body produces ketones, but do not really need em cause I feel when it works. Feeling pumped, motivated and twice as energized then.

Short anecdote on that:
Was trying to prep for an obstacle run with friends, we were all too lazy to get into the regular running excercises and stuff but prefered fun sports (running isn't really fun for me unless connected to sth like "Zombies, Run!" or w/e). I had trouble being motivated enough to even run 5 km. Then keto kicked in, I ran 12km in the morning pre bfast at 30° (I was like: let's do 5km to get into better condition again, but then there was this forrest gump moment coming again and again) cause I just felt like that would be a good idea. Didn't run for half a year before and it felt like the most natural thing to do, steady flow of energy, didn't even get exhausted. GF was riding her bike next to me and prob found it harder than I did

wah, why the diet? You look pretty lean to me, just need to add muscle. Or it's your goal to lose weight?
I have done some of the diets myself, but it's hard to stick to them and eventually you'll give up. Just keep yourself active and watch what you eat. Dieting isn't worth it in my opinion, you can get same results without sacrificing so much. Playing poker is bad for your body in terms of physical activity, but you can easily fix that. I started doing pushups/planks/bridges and stuff between my sessions and it helps. Kinda like rebooting your body in the middle of session. + gym also and some cardio.
Don't go too hard on yourself, all the best in the games!

Wait wat there are woman poker players? Are my eyes looking at the heavens? China sounds nice, but the pollution stretches too far.

q.e.d.

Good luck in poker and hopefully you can be #1 rank in table soccer soon!

I can just agree, once you teach your body to use fat as fuel and avoid insulin its just amazing no cravings, just pure energy. Your body doesn't have the problem to run on ketones. But brain will always be fueled by glucose that's why playing poker was harder for me.
But it's really cool that you ran so much

well - diet doesn't mean fat loss. I did follow protocols like IF, keto, calorie counting etc to see where I feel the best and where I have best performance, not because fat loss is my main goal. I wanna feel good and perform better
and test what my body is capable of I'm a huge fan of nutrition and exercise and finding every edge possible there and I study a lot I'm not that kind of person who would go with some bullsh*t diet plan
yea, doing some work between sessions its definitely fine.
I'm a huge fan of Ido portal - if you don't know him check his new movie Just move. It's really worth it and def reccomend that one so I do a lot of movement stuff and also being outside working out every day. I just love it.

@ImmortalCultivator here I am!

Gotta step in for the latter statement, cause brain can actually run on ketones when there is no more glucose left to use.

Lot of scientific info on that, if u are interested, here is some:

https://scholar.google.de/scholar?q=...e&as_sdt=0%2C5

Poker for me worked well better in ketose (and currently does), I have steady energy to grind 10 hours. Taking a break of 10-20 min every hour, glad that's possible now with spins. Was a pain in the ass before where i still had 9m turbos in the grind and had about 40min cooldown time

I can't say you are wrong. Some things I learned from my experience with studies and some nutrition sickos:
levels of ketones in the blood doesn't mean your body can use them. Often the body is able to make them but not use them (you need longterm ketosis for that) and body will get rid of them in urine.
Blood glucose is the main thing which can tell you what fuel you are using.
I want to say, your brain will never be running 100% on ketones. Read 3 studies, found similar conclusion in 2 of them. And the longer fasting you do, the higher chance your brain will be supplied by ketones. Its like 3+days fasting.



It basically depends also how much glucose is body producing if you are on keto. You can be keto adapted but you can have still high blood glucose (like diabetics) and not even reaching those 4,1 which I had.
IN MY OPINION most people have very good results in keto mostly by avoiding insulin peaks.
Ketones are still very far from understanding and I'm really looking forward to more news, anyway the site looks cool so thanks
And keep keto!