Hey there, I'm Nikachu.

I think TLDR posts are super gay so I'll do it just this once.

Long story short I am now a bum playing the bum stakes.

I haven't played so much poker for the last 3 years because I put my focus back on chess (a game that took priority before poker). I then got bored of chess and for the last year I have been playing Magic: the Gathering nonstop which has been a huge waste of time because I suck and can only beat little ponies.



I'm done playing with the ponies. I want to play poker again.

Every time I tried to get back into poker in the past 3 years it failed. Somehow it didn't maintain my interest. But I really like this game. It's not chess but it's still a great game. I think a major problem is that I've disconnected myself from the community. I'm rarely opening twoplustwo, rarely thinking about poker, never talking about hands or the metagame, and most of my poker friends have quit.

This has to change.

But I feel VEEEEEEEEEERY RUSTY. And no doubt the game is harder than it was 3 years ago. I just can't throw myself into a midstakes game or I'll get torn apart. So what to do?

First I bought Pokertracker (unfortunately HEM doesn't work on Macs. Get your **** together guys). Next I immediately started playing at 10nl which is a limit I assume I could beat. I just wanted to get used to the HUD before moving up to say 25nl to restart all over again.

Unfortunately 2 tables was overwhelming. I wasn't even paying attention to the stats either. Over the last week and a half I've slowly built up my number of tables to 5. I've also slowly day by day play less like a robot. I actually over adjusted on many days. I for sure have been spewing all over the place but I don't remember basic strategy or have any idea what the metagame is like right now. As of today these are my results:



So seeing as I am not even beating this limit at the moment I will just sit here then :P But I have been talking poker with other players. I like starting sessions. I want to feel the swings. I want that bum's money.

I TASTE BLOOD



Unfortunately it's my own at the moment. My priority above everything else is just getting in hands. Nothing will improve my play faster than just plain experience and trial and error. But I don't play anything like I used to.

I'm lost in every normal spot.

I raised the button and have have bottom pair against a regular. Do I c-bet? Do I check back? What kind of regular do I want to c-bet against? What kind of regular do I wan't to check back against? What kind of player can I c-bet for thin value? How much does it matter if the board is dry or wet?

fk, I don't know. But I am slowly relearning why every day.

My goal is simple. Just play poker on a regular basis and slowly move up the ranks from 10nl. I will give myself a $250 bankroll and move up to 16nl (what a dumb limit) when I am at $400 (25 BIs) and so on. I think I'll post an updated graph every 10k hands. I'll leave it here for now and perhaps elaborate how I'm relearning the game in another post.

So, I am now a bum playing the bum stakes :P

Nikachu

First!
GO GO GO

GL Mate! Go Get 'Em!!

Always loved your graphs, wish you the best in this. I'd recommend starting at 25NL or 50NL, it seems easier when you can actually win a little bit of money by the end of the month, and considering the games are probably of similar skill, the lower rake will probably make up for any loss of winrate due to a slightly higher reg/fish ratio.

blast from the past lol, glgl.

GL! Your videos on cardrunners are some of my all time favorite in both poker content and humor. Hope you can get back to making more of those!

GL with the grind

Good luck. I'll hopefully see you at 10NL soon.

wow didnt expect to see you here...

gl man, you got this!

always loved your vids and graphs

gl gl

gl

gl

your videos were always entertaining. GL

Loved your training videos. And the carrot drawings. GL with your poker reboot

Hey Nikachu, I love your videos and your bunny drawings. GL

Make new friends? My skype is pitabread189

good luck, following!

Has anyone else been here before? lol

Alright. So I've lost about 9 buy-ins in the last 2 days. In a lot of ways I feel like I'm running stone cold but I could easily be overplaying hands in a lot of situations. Especially at 10nl.


For example in this hand against a reg I try to get value from QQ/JJ (which easily might not exist given positions) and some Ax hands that can bluffcatch because of some theoretical small pair of mine is counterfeited. Alternatively I could maybe bet/call something small or maybe it's just best to b/f because he won't turn Ax into a bluff. One thing is for sure, I am consistently on the losing end of my bigger pots.




This might be the 7th time in 15k hands where my set is oversetted. I didn't even want to call here in this hand because his range is representing so much strength. I for sure can't shove and it's possible this is a fold here.




Well, no surprise here that's for sure...




This was just gay




Now this hand was against a large fish (62/15) and it could very well be a fold on the turn but I preferred to error on the side of calling against bad fish than error on the side of folding especially since I'm rusty. I can only really hope he has A9/AJ/AT/88 because at our stack depth he is really representing a very strong range Like JJ/KQ/AA. But he's a fish so I click call. Definitely could be a fold.




I'll post some interesting winning hands when I get them :P

At the moment I'm reading Hasseb Qureshi's book "How to be a poker player." It really could not have been published at a better time because as I read it it feels like exactly what I need. It mostly goes over the philosophical and psychological aspects of the game. What it has repeatedly done however is remind me why my game used to successful and what I am not using in my game right now.

Just as an example he goes over "centrality" which describes plays/strategy that everyone is familiar with and can automatically respond to. We just know the best ev move in such situations because we've seen them so many times. The moment you start really thinking about a situation is when you have been put out of your area of centrality and this is the moment you are vulnerable to make big mistakes.

The thing is I used to put people in unusual situations all the time. With over bets, under bets, strange bet sizes, strange donk bets; all for bluffs or value. A week ago none of that existed. So now I'm trying to slowly incorporate those little things. I try to find a donk bet or over bet each session. Even if it's just once I want to make sure I am equipping myself with the weapons that nl holdem have to offer. I am not sure how people respond to these things these days but the experimenting is worth it.

On a side note, 10nl feels exceptionally nitty preflop. I thought people were capable of 3betting light but I doubt it now. I just see TT+ and AQ+. Maybe this is no surprise but whatever.

UGGGGGGGHHHHHH.... yeah so if I'm downswinging I will sit comfortably at 10nl until it goes away and I get better

Let me know if you guys like what you read. Maybe I'll make some short youtube videos. Cya later.

Definitely have a lot of sessions like that. "Woop woop, I'm up" " how am I not up"

All the hands look fine, sizing could be bigger on the flop w/TT, definitely never folding the 88, shipping vs some/most opponents, would probably either c/r the flop or bet/bet/bet instead of bet, c/r(?), bet.

In and glgl!

I remember studying your videos when i first started out playing cash online!

some players 3bet light with any2 lol random, most of them its value...

gl

Ha, nice master of waves in your op.

I have also switched back and forth between magic and poker. They both require a high level of thinking and are complex games. Gl in your return to poker!

+1

glgl, will be following

Just remember, no graphs without bunnies.