Hello,

my name is Daniel and Im 34 years old. I play poker since september 2007. I financed my first dollar by a freeroll tournament. I need about 3 weeks for this goal. I never made an deposit until now. After that I play sng´s for about 1,5 years. I changed to cashgame because I wanted to improve my postflop skills. Mainly I played SH and switched to HU NL50 - NL200 heads up.

The challenge

(1) How did I got to the challenge?
In november 2011 I watched the first video of raskolnikov Simple Heads-up Poker. Hits way of thinking impressed me deeply. I could learn a lot from this video. I watched every video he published. I was very impressed of the 6 part video serie Champions Stand Up One More Time Than The Rest. In the 6 part he promted everyone to sent him application to become his next student. So I applyed and was choosed.

(2) What are my expectation from the challenge?
In 2007 I finished my study (business administration successfully. After that I never got a chance to work in the business. I just did some other jobs. In poker I was scared of losing much money so I stayed mainly on NL50 and didn´t climbed the ladder to higher limits. This project is the last chance to be successfull with poker. I will never be able to work in the personal area. Now I risk everything that I have and are sure that the risk is worth. Gordon wants to proof that everyone with a professional attitude can manage it to climb from NL50 to NL1000 within 1 year.

(3) Heads up Mastermind
I bought the "Heads up Mastermind" in april of this year. All my knowledge that I will get is from this course (+ Coaching with Gordon). Im positiv suprised how much my game had improved since april. I already watched the video series 2 times and will do it again and again until I got everything from this course.



Other matters:
I will update this blog at least every 2nd day. Im glad on interesting discussions with you. ave fun with my blog.

Before each weak I set 1 month goal and 1-2 week goals. I try my best to improve and check it after each day.

Poker goals:
(1) paying attention to betsizes (goal of the month): A lot of player have leaks with betsizes and tell you their handstrength. That is a leak that I observe very intensively to to exploit villain. Its also important to pay attention to your betsize. I also use over- and underbets.

(2) play straightforward + set villain on the best possible hand (goals of the week): I try to play abc poker. What is more I set villain on the best possible hand and try to adapt my betsize. For example: Hero has AK on 952K4 and should try to get the maximum value of Kx and shouldnt bet smaller to get value from the 9.

Mental goals (instant hand analyse):
When we lost by bad luck what do you think? Right. We have a negative situation and have to evalute this. By the suck out we evaluate them negative and the result are bad feelings which cause tilt. To avoid this I analyse the hand directly after I played the hand. I ask myself: (1) Did I play the hand correctly? (2) Could I have played it better (3) Can I learn something from villains play that I can use to exploit him?. When I played the hand well I evaluate the situation positiv and the result are positive feelings that avoid tilt.

Other matters:
I had 4 Coachings with gordon so far und could improve a lot (e. g. attack weakness). After our sessions I rewatch them a make as many notes as I can. At the moment I play on 8 playforms.

Hand of the day:
Villain was unknown. The river is a perfect example for betsizes. I set him on the best possible hand and ask myself how much he would call. And that is the result.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (2 handed) - PokerStars Converter Tool from http://www.flopturnriver.com

Hero (BB) ($59.25)
SB ($30)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 8, 5
SB calls $0.25, Hero checks

Flop: ($1) 4, 7, 6 (2 players)
Hero bets $1, SB calls $1

Turn: ($3) 10 (2 players)
Hero bets $2.50, SB calls $2.50

River: ($8) 7 (2 players)
Hero bets $55.25 (All-In), SB calls $26 (All-In)

Total pot: $60 | Rake: $0.50

Day 2+3

Graph of the week:


Summary:

Im satisfied with the results but not with the quality of my game. I played to fast partly and missed things like handreading, planing the hand anad paying attentin to the betsizes.

I improved other things like attacking weakness. In the next week I have the following goals:

(1) paying attention to betsizes (goal of the month - poker)
(2) play straightforward + set villain on the best possible hand (goals of the week - poker)
(3) instant hand analyse (goal of the month - mental
(4) take a deep breath after big pots (goal of the week - mental)

Day 4+5

Poker Goals
(1) paying attention to betsizes: I did it great in some spots. All in all Im not satisfied. I played too fast and was not concentrated. You get in a rush and cant stop it. One leak that I have to improve
(2) play straightforward + set villain on the best possible hand
I did it most of the time and get some good payouts. In some spots I played a little bit too tricky and missed at least 1 street of value.

Mental goals (instant hand analyse)
Checked the hands in the beginning of the session. Later in the session I was in the rush and didnt checked it.

Other matters:
In the next days I will buy a monitor for my notebook. It will be a desicion between this two:

(1) LG IPS234V-PN
(2) Dell U2312HM

If you have any other suggestions please let me know.

Hand of the day:
Villain was not very aggressive. I think on the river we should make a small valuebet to get called from worse Jx. What do you think?

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (2 handed) - PokerStars Converter Tool from http://www.flopturnriver.com

Hero (SB) ($79.06)
BB ($73.31)

Preflop: Hero is SB with K, J
Hero raises to $1.50, BB raises to $3, Hero calls $1.50

Flop: ($6) J, 2, 5 (2 players)
BB bets $3, Hero calls $3

Turn: ($12) Q (2 players)
BB bets $5.50, Hero calls $5.50

River: ($23) 4 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero ?

Day 6+7

Poker Goals
(1) paying attention to betsizes: I improved more by coachings by gordon and make thinner valuebets on the flop and turn. Reading villains is easy because the tell you with their betsize what they most likely range ist. Another topic are the overbets on the river. I like them and they like me.
(2) play straightforward + set villain on the best possible hand Do this until you have a reason not to do. When villain likes floating its better to cc turn and river. Normally player on nl50 dont bet the turn to light for value and dont attack weakness often enaugh. So playing straight is much better.

Mental goals (instant hand analyse)
By tooking up more time I was much better by marking hands and checking them instantly or later. Tilt was no topic in my last session.

Other matters:
I bought the Dell U2312HM. When I play on higher limits and earn more money I will buy a new computer. That will take at least 1 - 2 month.

Hand of the day:
Villain was unknown. What you barrel the river?

Full Tilt Pot-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (2 handed) - Full Tilt Converter Tool from http://www.flopturnriver.com

Hero (SB) ($39)
BB ($35)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 4, A
Hero raises to $1, BB calls $0.50

Flop: ($2) 9, Q, 6 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $1.60, BB calls $1.60

Turn: ($5.20) 10 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $4.15, BB calls $4.15

River: ($13.50) J (2 players)
BB checks, Hero ?

Graph of the month:


Goals for august:
(1) Plan the hand and how many bets we want to invest (Poker - Goal): Before we make an action we should be aware how we should react to villains action. For example my line with TPWK is b/c, b/f/, check (depends on villain, board,...) I should also aks how many bets I will invest and which streets I will use.
(2) instant hand analyse (Mental - Goal)
Same goal like last month because Im not satisfied with myself.

sweet graph ;d

haha

but serious question for OP: what are your PS and FTP SNs?

Day 8+9

[Poker Goals
(1) Plan the hand and how many bets we want to invest: This goal works well. I tell myself how many bets I want to invest and how to play it. Its important to keep to this goal. For example I have a bad TP and are tempted to call a third barrel. Dont do that.

(2) play straightforward + set villain on the best possible hand Im sometimes tempted not to play straightforward and be a little bit tricky. Stop it and follow your goals. So i lose some money and that is not good for my winnings.

Mental goals (instant hand analyse)
I did it sometimes and missed it sometimes. But it its an improvement to the past. On really big pots (> 50 BB) I should took some deep breath and that analyse that hand deeply to avoid tilt.

Other matters:
I played more than 1000 hands and had no big tilt. I was a little bit impatient but that was ok. Another thing I should pay more attention is to tooking up more time (at least 3 seconds for an action). Ok, I play some hands very automatic but I should always think about villains handranges. I will play less hands but my game improves more and that is the important thing.

Hand of the day:
Villain had a 3bet stat of 53 % and was a maniac. He barrelt without thinking. I called him down because his range is so wide and he is crazy.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (2 handed) - PokerStars Converter Tool from http://www.flopturnriver.com

Hero (SB) ($62.07)
BB ($24.52)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 5, 5
Hero raises to $1, BB raises to $2.50, Hero calls $1.50

Flop: ($5) J, 4, 4 (2 players)
BB bets $3, Hero calls $3

Turn: ($11) 2 (2 players)
BB bets $5, Hero calls $5

River: ($21) 2 (2 players)
BB bets $14.02 (All-In), Hero calls $14.02

Total pot: $49.04 | Rake: $0.50

Results below: [spoiler]
Hero had 5, 5 (two pair, fives and fours).
BB had A, 5 (two pair, fours and twos).
Outcome: Hero won $48.54[/spoiler]

Good luck op, hope you crush your goals! **** the haters.

Nice thread. Keep it going, definitely douable goals.
I'm about to start something similiar
GL HF

Day 10 + 11

graph of the week


goals of the week:
I think 2 goals for a special time period is enaugh. In the last weeks I haven´t achieved my goals as planned. So I reduce my goals for a maximum of 2 and will adapt them from week to week.

(1) tooking up time: In may I try to get the habit to have at least 5 seconds for an action an in 3bet pots at least 10 seconds. In gordon eyes that was too much time for 1 decision. So I started playing faster and faster. So I need about less than 1 seconds for an action. I think at least 3 seconds for an action are fine. So I dont play autopilot and make some thoughs like handreading, method of elimination,...

(2) instant handanalyse: I played too fast so I didnt have enaugh time for checking or marking the hands instantly after played them. I will try my best to change this in the next weeks.

Other matters:
If you want something you can achieve it with a lot of work. Why do write people wrote so much ***biep**** comments. I dont have the time for doing this in other blogs. Also before the procect started I had no time for posting such answers. I prefer doing other things in my free time. For me that is a waste of time.

Day 12 + 13

Goals of the week
(1) tooking up time: In the first 3 hours everyhing runs well. I took up enaugh time for handreading, planning,.... But I was not running like god and get a lot of suck outs. I was aware of getting tilt and tiltet. The good thing was. I did not make any big mistakes. Just started playing like speedy gonzales and was angry. I should have stopped playing and meditate for 5 minutes. But you now what happens when you are on tilt. Your emoitions are the lord of the situation. The funny thing is that I know I was on tilt but didnt stopped it. Another reason for tilt was that I checked my results while playing. That had just a bad effect on my emotions. Should never do it again. The good thing is, that I learned something from this situation and that is important. When you learn nothing its useless.
(2) instant handanalyse: Its exactly the same like in goal 1. First I was great but than I played too fast and missed it. Have to work on this goal in the following days. That is why tooking up time is so important. Playing too fast just has the advantage that you play a lot of hands. But when you want to improve you have to play faster and think things like betsizing, handreading, planing, board textur,....

Other matters:
I got my new monitor. The Dell 2312 looks good and the picture is also good. The socket has a firm position and nothing shakes. In the next 1 or 2 month and will by a new computer. My notebook is not enaugh.

hand of the day:
Villain was unknown. Another example of overbetting the river. We have the 2ndNuts and I think Villain will call with any 2P, sets. I think I will post in the future more questionable hands.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (2 handed) - PokerStars Converter Tool from http://www.flopturnriver.com

Hero (BB) ($52.36)
SB ($47.50)

Preflop: Hero is BB with Q, 9
SB raises to $1, Hero calls $0.50

Flop: ($2) 8, 4, J (2 players)
Hero checks, SB bets $1, Hero calls $1

Turn: ($4) K (2 players)
Hero checks, SB checks

River: ($4) 10 (2 players)
Hero bets $2.50, SB raises to $6, Hero raises to $50.36 (All-In), SB calls $39.50 (All-In)

Total pot: $95 | Rake: $0.50

Results below: [spoiler]
SB had J, K (two pair, Kings and Jacks).
Hero had Q, 9 (straight, King high).
Outcome: Hero won $94.50[/spoiler]

Day 16 + 17

Graph of the week:


Summary:
I would call the week of tilt. There was just 1 day where I played well and considered things like handreading, paying attention to betsizes or instand handanalyses. Beside from this I didnt make big mistakes.

Goals for the week:
(1) tooking up time: I had big problems this week and was not able to improve in learning as much as I wanted. So this goal will be the same like last week.
(2) instant handanalyse: By playing too fast I had not enaugh time for checking the hands I played. This will be my main goal for next week. The reason for this is cause by doing this I can reduce the danger to get on tilt.

Day 18 + 19

Goals of the week
(1) tooking up time: I had the days of changes. Some time I took up my time and than I started playing faster. Than I played slower again..... As Grindcore advised: "Its important to force yourself to take two seconds to think about all options". For me that were 3 seconds. I think the longer I play the faster I can make my descisions. Learing is more important than winnings in the beginning. Just the learner will have big winnings in the future.
(2) instant handanalyse: In the first session I did a great job. Than I neglected this goal and I had my tilt periods. But it was an improvement and that is important.

Other matters
I had sweet session with gordon after 1 week and could learn some things. I also improved my chess skills. The topic was rooks on open lines and how to conquer it.

hand of the day:
First hand and my draw dominated villains draw. A good example why its important to play your Ah draw fast.

Full Tilt Pot-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (2 handed) - Full Tilt Converter Tool from http://flopturnriver.com/

Hero (SB) ($39)
BB ($35)

Preflop: Hero is SB with A, 6
Hero raises to $1, BB calls $0.50

Flop: ($2) 8, 10, 5 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $1.50, BB raises to $4, Hero raises to $12, BB raises to $34 (All-In), Hero calls $22

Turn: ($70) 2 (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($70) A (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $70 | Rake: $0.50

Results below: [spoiler]
Hero had A, 6 (flush, Ace high).
BB had 9, J (high card, Ace).
Outcome: Hero won $69.50[/spoiler]

Day 20 + 21

Goals of the week
(1) tooking up time: I was moody and had my good times and my bad times. In the last quater of the session I played really well. Before this I was on tilt, played to fast and made some stupid mistakes. I will pay attention by awareness on this goal and try to count until 3 when I stard playing.
(2) instant handanalyse: By playing too fast I missed it again and hope to improve much more in the future.

Other matters
One reason for tilt is my ego. After 10 hands I should make an short villain analyse if this villain will be a good customer. But when I lose for example 10 $ I want my money back and play him altough I shouldn´t do that because my edge is not so big. And on NL50 there are so many fish that I dont have to compete with him. This will be one goal for the next days.

hand of the day:
Villain was unknown. What would be your plan on the flop and turn?

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (2 handed) - PokerStars Converter Tool from http://www.flopturnriver.com

Hero (BB) ($50.91)
SB ($28.06)

Preflop: Hero is BB with Q, A
SB raises to $1, Hero raises to $5, SB calls $4

Flop: ($10) 7, 4, 7 (2 players)
Hero bets $5, SB raises to $10, Hero ?

PS: Where are all the haters. I miss you because you were so funny and entertaining *lol*

Day 22 + 23

Goals of the week
(1) tooking up time: Had a great day yesterday. Played slow enaugh and took up my time for handreading, paying attention to betsizes.... Ok, there were some villains where I played very fast (bad passive). I feels great and I hope I will do it again in the future. No, I know it.
(2) instant handanalyse: Didnt considered this again and have to improve this much more.

Other matters
For every chess lover I can recommend chess network in english and Niclas Huschenbeth in german. You can improve your positional and tactical knowledge in practise.

hand of the day:
Villain was unknown. Is that a good or a bad bluff?

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (2 handed) - PokerStars Converter Tool from http://www.flopturnriver.com/

Hero (SB) ($50.41)
BB ($50)

Preflop: Hero is SB with Q, K
Hero raises to $1, BB calls $0.50

Flop: ($2) 6, J, 9 (2 players)
BB bets $1, Hero raises to $4, BB calls $3

Turn: ($10) A (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $7.50, BB calls $7.50

River: ($25) 7 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $16

Day 24 + 25

Graph of the week


Summary:
I improved my game a lot and learned a some new things. For example I improved my game vs donkbets or cr. My goals (1) taking up time and (2) instand hand analyse didnt get enaugh attention. After the 21 day rule this will remain my goals for at least 1 month. I learn a lot when I mark problemhands and review them with gordon. I toke note of everything important and copy this into an excel file. Before I start a session I check my notes and try to integrate this things. Tomorrow I will start to play NL100.

Day 26 + 27

Goals of the week
(1) tooking up time: To improve this goal I will try 2 exercises. They last 1 hour and I changed them after 1 hours by the other. In the first hours I try to play by thinking deeply and take 3 seconds by feeling. After 1 hours I will count to 3 and than make an action without thinking deeply. I hoped that will improve my game.
(2) instant handanalyse: Yeah, yeah , nooo. Its hard but not impossible. I make small improvements and that is what it count.

Other matters
I had to make my computer more safely because something entered my computer. So I use spybot, comodo, avira and stinger. When you have any good program please tell me.

hand of the day:
villain was a bad player with some aggression. Would you have called, MR or even shoved the river?

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (2 handed) - PokerStars Converter Tool from http://poker-tools.flopturnriver.com/Hand-Converter.php

Hero (SB) ($114.71)
BB ($119.63)

Preflop: Hero is SB with A, 9
Hero raises to $3, BB raises to $5, Hero calls $2

Flop: ($10) 10, 8, 6 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($10) J (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $8, BB raises to $16, Hero calls $8

River: ($42) 7 (2 players)
BB bets $20, Hero ?

call me a nit but i fold turn

for good YT chess i also recommend kingscrusher

Day 28 + 29

I now kingscrusher. He is also very good and you can learn a lot.

Goals of the week
(1) tooking up time: Im improving more and more in the last 2 days. I started bad and was down 350 $ and 250 $ on both days. I stayed callm and took up my time. OK, vs bad passive I played fast without deep thinking. But vs everyone else I took up my time and considered all important thoughts. It feels much better to achieve your learning goals and loose than win and didnt achieve your goals.
(2) instant handanalyse:
I improve this goal very very slowly. But its an improvement and Im sure that I will manage this problem.

Other matters
Having a clear head is very important. So you have to go to bed early to be fit on the next day. There were some days where I had not enaugh sleep (some books are so thrilling and I cant stop reading them) and I had hard days after going to bed late. Now I try to be more disciplinated.

hand of the day:
Villain was bad player. On the turn I bet to make a 6 or worse and Air fold. Would you have barreled the river?

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (2 handed) - PokerStars Converter Tool from http://flopturnriver.com/

Hero (SB) ($50)
BB ($52.28)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 5, 7
Hero raises to $1, BB calls $0.50

Flop: ($2) 6, 9, 2 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $1.50, BB raises to $3.50, Hero calls $2

Turn: ($9) 10 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $7, BB calls $7

River: ($23) A (2 players)
BB checks, Hero ?

The lack of moderation in this thread is really sad

Im only leaving this post up to reply to it. Its going to sound bitchy, but I dont mean it to be.

Contrary to belief mods dont get paid, and we have lives, so we have other things to do than read every single thread in a forum, especially a popular forum like this one. We rely on the users to use the "notify moderator" button, this could have been done at any time and this thread never would have gotten to this point. So if you see some abusive or crappy posts or spam, use the button.

Also, any mention at all of Gordon is going to get you infraction points and your post deleted, so if you see more spam, use the button, if you dont its prolly just not going to get seen, and the thread is going to devolve into BBV drivel.

thanks

does that include the times when one of his students promote him?

@OP: why dont you want to play me?

I thought poker was about winning monies from weaker and donker players, not a penis-sizing contest

I had started these posts when I was newer and realized I was trolling stopped then OP said he missed it so I posted that post. But if OP doesn't think it's funny like he said all he has to do is say please stop and I will and would be happy to stop..since you removed the memes I won't post anymore and after you read this if you want to delete this post it's cool..