In eighthundred Days around the World
07-06-2023
, 11:58 AM
Hi,
I am Panne.
Around 10 years ago, I was 19, I made my first thread in 2+2 complaining about online poker being rigged.
Now I want to travel the world, and the journey shall be paid by my poker bankroll, while I make even more money when playing in casinos around the world.
Short Intro about myself
Picked up the game when Pius Heinz won the WSOP. He is german and I am too, so this got my attention.
I was 18 and making lots of money by playing cards seemed better than working a 9-5 all my life...
Of course I did not make it. I tried hard several times to get good but always decided the amount of work is not worth it.
This time is different.
Studying the game seriously for 2.5 years. I don't avoid the most difficult topics because I know I have to know it all to get really really strong.
Since starting again I have come a long way. Started at 2nl and studied for many hours each week while studying for a degree, having a social life, and not trying to burn out.
I listened to hours of poker podcasts, where pros explain how they got good. I connected with way better players than myself, trying to learn from them.
Now I play 25nl / 50nl online, or shortstacking live 200nl or 400nl.
My roll is at about $2.2k.
I always dreamt of living in hotels, travelling the world, and all is paid by me playing a game.
But the dream was unreal and far away and there is no way I could possibly do this, right?
Well.. I will try at least.
What's the goal?
In exactly 818 days I get my masters degree (Psychology and Psychotherapy).
After that, the plan was to move to the region where my family and my girlfriends family live.
Even if it is not sure yet, we might want to have kids and own a place. Settling down.
But with an own place and kids it is difficult to travel the world...
So I decided to take the opportunity: After my masters I won't live with my girlfriend anymore so I can save rent money.
Instead I live in hotels around the world, see things, meet people, play cards.
I don't really know how long this journey will be, it kind of depends on how big my roll is when I want to go.
I wish to take my time and be abroad for six months to two years (or maybe 800 days),
maybe meet my girlfriend in Japan, my best friends in Jamaica and my mother in Canada.
How to reach the goal?
Obviously study poker a lot, but always prioritize other important life aspects like my girlfriend, friends and my health before poker.
I recently found some motivated players and we want to study together, which should give me even more motivation and keeps me on the right track.
Now I can't really write up everything I learned and want to learn, because it is too much. I just say that I want to understand poker at a really really deep and fundamental level and rip off everybody else
What will I write about?
This question is still unanswered.
I am thinking about making a blog on 2+2 for some weeks now and the purpose of this blog has changed drastically in my mind between these options:
1) connect with people and make friends
2) talk about strategy and hands, get critizised for my approach and learn new things
3) get tips about where to play good poker around the world
4) get tips about travelling
5) tell a story
So I don't know what I want this to be. I mainly use discord groups and my study group to talk about strategy and hands, but I could write about some thoughts here too.
You can leave a question if you are interested in anything, I am happy to get into conversations with you guys.
Sadly I can't post a graph right now because I switched HUDs multiple times and the integration of my database often did not work.
I will post a graph when I played a decent amount of hands with my new HUD.
Alright, wish me luck!
I am Panne.
Around 10 years ago, I was 19, I made my first thread in 2+2 complaining about online poker being rigged.
Now I want to travel the world, and the journey shall be paid by my poker bankroll, while I make even more money when playing in casinos around the world.
Short Intro about myself
Picked up the game when Pius Heinz won the WSOP. He is german and I am too, so this got my attention.
I was 18 and making lots of money by playing cards seemed better than working a 9-5 all my life...
Of course I did not make it. I tried hard several times to get good but always decided the amount of work is not worth it.
This time is different.
Studying the game seriously for 2.5 years. I don't avoid the most difficult topics because I know I have to know it all to get really really strong.
Since starting again I have come a long way. Started at 2nl and studied for many hours each week while studying for a degree, having a social life, and not trying to burn out.
I listened to hours of poker podcasts, where pros explain how they got good. I connected with way better players than myself, trying to learn from them.
Now I play 25nl / 50nl online, or shortstacking live 200nl or 400nl.
My roll is at about $2.2k.
I always dreamt of living in hotels, travelling the world, and all is paid by me playing a game.
But the dream was unreal and far away and there is no way I could possibly do this, right?
Well.. I will try at least.
What's the goal?
In exactly 818 days I get my masters degree (Psychology and Psychotherapy).
After that, the plan was to move to the region where my family and my girlfriends family live.
Even if it is not sure yet, we might want to have kids and own a place. Settling down.
But with an own place and kids it is difficult to travel the world...
So I decided to take the opportunity: After my masters I won't live with my girlfriend anymore so I can save rent money.
Instead I live in hotels around the world, see things, meet people, play cards.
I don't really know how long this journey will be, it kind of depends on how big my roll is when I want to go.
I wish to take my time and be abroad for six months to two years (or maybe 800 days),
maybe meet my girlfriend in Japan, my best friends in Jamaica and my mother in Canada.
How to reach the goal?
Obviously study poker a lot, but always prioritize other important life aspects like my girlfriend, friends and my health before poker.
I recently found some motivated players and we want to study together, which should give me even more motivation and keeps me on the right track.
Now I can't really write up everything I learned and want to learn, because it is too much. I just say that I want to understand poker at a really really deep and fundamental level and rip off everybody else
What will I write about?
This question is still unanswered.
I am thinking about making a blog on 2+2 for some weeks now and the purpose of this blog has changed drastically in my mind between these options:
1) connect with people and make friends
2) talk about strategy and hands, get critizised for my approach and learn new things
3) get tips about where to play good poker around the world
4) get tips about travelling
5) tell a story
So I don't know what I want this to be. I mainly use discord groups and my study group to talk about strategy and hands, but I could write about some thoughts here too.
You can leave a question if you are interested in anything, I am happy to get into conversations with you guys.
Sadly I can't post a graph right now because I switched HUDs multiple times and the integration of my database often did not work.
I will post a graph when I played a decent amount of hands with my new HUD.
Alright, wish me luck!
07-07-2023
, 10:31 AM
07-24-2023
, 06:15 AM
Pressure
Things changed since my first post.
I started a blog publicly, announced to travel the world financed by my bankroll, and joined a group of more competent players.
I perceive them as being much more skilled than me. Got to catch up fast, so I can learn with them, not only learn from them.
This has put a lot of pressure on me.
I feel like my emotions since then get amplified.
I feel more anger and frustration than before, for example when playing and losing or when studying and realizing, that my study is not the most effective approach.
I feel fear. Fear, that my new group is too advanced and will proceed to learn without me some day. And fear of what will happen on my journey around the world, or if I can even start it.
I did not grind much the past weeks because I am mostly studying. Now I went on a downswing of about 20 Buy-Ins. This put even more pressure on me. I have all these goals and want to get good, but the work I put in seems to not pay out. Last session I felt lots of frustration. But putting in lots of work does not mean that I am entitled to win.
At the same time I can see how the pressure forces me to use my time really effectively, which is a good thing. Don't have too much time to get good.
Diamonds are created under pressure, so maybe this is a good thing after all.
___
Bankroll: $1.988
Days left: 800
___
Things changed since my first post.
I started a blog publicly, announced to travel the world financed by my bankroll, and joined a group of more competent players.
I perceive them as being much more skilled than me. Got to catch up fast, so I can learn with them, not only learn from them.
This has put a lot of pressure on me.
I feel like my emotions since then get amplified.
I feel more anger and frustration than before, for example when playing and losing or when studying and realizing, that my study is not the most effective approach.
I feel fear. Fear, that my new group is too advanced and will proceed to learn without me some day. And fear of what will happen on my journey around the world, or if I can even start it.
I did not grind much the past weeks because I am mostly studying. Now I went on a downswing of about 20 Buy-Ins. This put even more pressure on me. I have all these goals and want to get good, but the work I put in seems to not pay out. Last session I felt lots of frustration. But putting in lots of work does not mean that I am entitled to win.
At the same time I can see how the pressure forces me to use my time really effectively, which is a good thing. Don't have too much time to get good.
Diamonds are created under pressure, so maybe this is a good thing after all.
___
Bankroll: $1.988
Days left: 800
___
08-28-2023
, 06:44 AM
I am highly motivated right now.
Listened to lots of podcasts, talked to people and just thought everything through. I got a plan.
Habits
Wrote down what habits I want to have and how to be consistent. To be precice, I have my desired habits and will do them daily/weekly, but I won't define a precise time for them. I just want to get them done, it does not matter if I do them at 8am or 8pm - important is that I do them consistently.
Some of my (poker related) habits are:
- Drilling for 1 hour each day (Playing against the solution. Will get more than 1 hour later, want to start low).
- Creative time after that: Work on what is most important, like creating new drills, updating my strategy notebook or summarizing theory videos.
- Grind for 30-45 minutes (can get more later, want to start low).
- Review session: Review ALL hands that are >6bb (this way, all single-raised pots get filtered out where there was only a cb and a fold)
I will never start a session before I reviewed my last session.
Some other habits which are not poker related:
- Early in day: check to-do lists, make appointments, check e-mails, do administrative work, etc.
- Physical exercise at least once a week
- learning danish for 15 minutes a day
- Before going to sleep: Write down what to do tomorrow (don't write up daily habits since they are daily anyways). This way I know what to do after getting up the next day without thinking too much. By writing down what to do tomorrow, I don't have to constantly think about what to do, so my mind can rest. Also, the habit in the evening acts as a cue: When I do this habit everytime before going to sleep, my brain will get conditioned / trained - it will know that now is sleeping time. It helps with getting tired.
Travel
I am asking so many people where they have travelled and what they experienced to get some inspiration where I want to go. It is great because travelling seems to be a good starter for conversations. I listend to great stories and am more motivated than ever to go on that journey, even though I am scared as hell to do it.
Of course I am communicating with my girlfriend a lot, because going away for such a long time is a high-risk factor for a relationship. It won't be easy but I somehow feel the need to do it. We only live once and I promised myself to use the time I have in my life to experience life itself. It won't be easy but it will be awesome.
___
Bankroll: $2.053
Days left: 765
Listened to lots of podcasts, talked to people and just thought everything through. I got a plan.
Habits
Wrote down what habits I want to have and how to be consistent. To be precice, I have my desired habits and will do them daily/weekly, but I won't define a precise time for them. I just want to get them done, it does not matter if I do them at 8am or 8pm - important is that I do them consistently.
Some of my (poker related) habits are:
- Drilling for 1 hour each day (Playing against the solution. Will get more than 1 hour later, want to start low).
- Creative time after that: Work on what is most important, like creating new drills, updating my strategy notebook or summarizing theory videos.
- Grind for 30-45 minutes (can get more later, want to start low).
- Review session: Review ALL hands that are >6bb (this way, all single-raised pots get filtered out where there was only a cb and a fold)
I will never start a session before I reviewed my last session.
Some other habits which are not poker related:
- Early in day: check to-do lists, make appointments, check e-mails, do administrative work, etc.
- Physical exercise at least once a week
- learning danish for 15 minutes a day
- Before going to sleep: Write down what to do tomorrow (don't write up daily habits since they are daily anyways). This way I know what to do after getting up the next day without thinking too much. By writing down what to do tomorrow, I don't have to constantly think about what to do, so my mind can rest. Also, the habit in the evening acts as a cue: When I do this habit everytime before going to sleep, my brain will get conditioned / trained - it will know that now is sleeping time. It helps with getting tired.
Travel
I am asking so many people where they have travelled and what they experienced to get some inspiration where I want to go. It is great because travelling seems to be a good starter for conversations. I listend to great stories and am more motivated than ever to go on that journey, even though I am scared as hell to do it.
Of course I am communicating with my girlfriend a lot, because going away for such a long time is a high-risk factor for a relationship. It won't be easy but I somehow feel the need to do it. We only live once and I promised myself to use the time I have in my life to experience life itself. It won't be easy but it will be awesome.
___
Bankroll: $2.053
Days left: 765
10-08-2023
, 10:34 AM
Currently studying theory videos for 2 hours after morning routine, then creating and studying solves a bit, and just recently I got back into grinding.
I can probably post a graph in a month or so.
Bankroll building
Since my bankroll is not big enough to comfortably play 100bb deep 200NL live, I decided to build my roll. I want to do this as fast as possible while spending the least amount of time, so I can invest more time into studying.
I have found some efficient ways to earn money without working too much, which is a blessing.
I expect my roll to grow at a decent rate. In a few month I'll be ready to go live, I think. Until then, I have to get good.
I really want to go on that journey. Spending lots of time and energy to make this work while still living in the moment and having a good life until I travel.
Let's see how much money I earned when I'll post next time
PS: I can probably share how I make money next time I post, too.
___
Bankroll: $1.987
Days left: 724
I can probably post a graph in a month or so.
Bankroll building
Since my bankroll is not big enough to comfortably play 100bb deep 200NL live, I decided to build my roll. I want to do this as fast as possible while spending the least amount of time, so I can invest more time into studying.
I have found some efficient ways to earn money without working too much, which is a blessing.
I expect my roll to grow at a decent rate. In a few month I'll be ready to go live, I think. Until then, I have to get good.
I really want to go on that journey. Spending lots of time and energy to make this work while still living in the moment and having a good life until I travel.
Let's see how much money I earned when I'll post next time
PS: I can probably share how I make money next time I post, too.
___
Bankroll: $1.987
Days left: 724
11-04-2023
, 02:22 AM
October was the most profitable month I ever had. Feels good. I made money from Poker, Matched Betting and Random Online Sites.
Poker
In the beginning of October I started to play on private club games (Apps like ClubGG). The games are soft and I received good rakeback deals.
I made about $1.3k in October playing a mix of 20NL and 50NL !
I am aware that I am running overwhelmingly hot, but I can also see how all the work pays off. When playing, I make moves that I did not before, just because I grinded so much theory content. I still make huge and frequent mistakes, so I have a long way to go. Anyways, here is the graph for October :>
Matched Betting
Matched betting sounds very shady at first, but it is fun and +EV. While I hate gambling like slots and sportsbetting, I love to play Robin Hood: Steal from the rich and give it to the poor (myself). While it is not really stealing, it feels like it.
This is how it goes:
I register at a sportsbetting website which offers a signup bonus. While I think sportsbetting in itself is -EV, there are some options to make it +EV: through boni.
Now, while sportsbetting is gambling and using signup boni is still connected with variance, matched betting is without variance and simply +EV. How?
I use the Bonus to bet on an outcome of a game, but at the same time I bet on the opposing outcome of the same game on a different site. This way I win the bonus, no matter the outcome. If you are interested in doing this, I highly advice subscribing to a matched betting guide website and learn from pro's before you bet yourself. Lots of things you can do wrong.
I made about €800 ($860) in October with this method.
Random Online Money Making Sites
So I also registered to various online money making sites. Some were more profitable than others.
I spent a good amount of time doing questionnaires for scientific studies.
For other websites, I walked into supermarkets to take pictures of lots of products they have, from different angles and taking pictures of their prices. It felt a bit weird doing this, but hey, I got paid.
And then I did a good amout of usertesting, which are also high-paying jobs but it is difficult to get access to them.
As my payout was not very high, at least I managed to filter through sites that are worth continuing.
I made about 100€ ($96) this month.
What now?
Before October, my goal was to play live 2/2 when my BR hits $4k. I wanted to use the time to study poker a lot. Now that I suddenly made a lot of money, I am already over $4k, but I don't feel too comfortable yet to play live again. Also, as I had such a huge upswing online, I want to see how much money I can make there. So probably grinding a good amount of hours online in September.
Going to hit the live streets again when I feel like it, but I could also wait until my bankroll is at $6k.
___
Bankroll: $4.133 (yay!)
Days left: 697
Poker
In the beginning of October I started to play on private club games (Apps like ClubGG). The games are soft and I received good rakeback deals.
I made about $1.3k in October playing a mix of 20NL and 50NL !
I am aware that I am running overwhelmingly hot, but I can also see how all the work pays off. When playing, I make moves that I did not before, just because I grinded so much theory content. I still make huge and frequent mistakes, so I have a long way to go. Anyways, here is the graph for October :>
Matched Betting
Matched betting sounds very shady at first, but it is fun and +EV. While I hate gambling like slots and sportsbetting, I love to play Robin Hood: Steal from the rich and give it to the poor (myself). While it is not really stealing, it feels like it.
This is how it goes:
I register at a sportsbetting website which offers a signup bonus. While I think sportsbetting in itself is -EV, there are some options to make it +EV: through boni.
Now, while sportsbetting is gambling and using signup boni is still connected with variance, matched betting is without variance and simply +EV. How?
I use the Bonus to bet on an outcome of a game, but at the same time I bet on the opposing outcome of the same game on a different site. This way I win the bonus, no matter the outcome. If you are interested in doing this, I highly advice subscribing to a matched betting guide website and learn from pro's before you bet yourself. Lots of things you can do wrong.
I made about €800 ($860) in October with this method.
Random Online Money Making Sites
So I also registered to various online money making sites. Some were more profitable than others.
I spent a good amount of time doing questionnaires for scientific studies.
For other websites, I walked into supermarkets to take pictures of lots of products they have, from different angles and taking pictures of their prices. It felt a bit weird doing this, but hey, I got paid.
And then I did a good amout of usertesting, which are also high-paying jobs but it is difficult to get access to them.
As my payout was not very high, at least I managed to filter through sites that are worth continuing.
I made about 100€ ($96) this month.
What now?
Before October, my goal was to play live 2/2 when my BR hits $4k. I wanted to use the time to study poker a lot. Now that I suddenly made a lot of money, I am already over $4k, but I don't feel too comfortable yet to play live again. Also, as I had such a huge upswing online, I want to see how much money I can make there. So probably grinding a good amount of hours online in September.
Going to hit the live streets again when I feel like it, but I could also wait until my bankroll is at $6k.
___
Bankroll: $4.133 (yay!)
Days left: 697
12-04-2023
, 01:19 PM
November went really bad. After being unable to work for over a week due to a Covid infection, my favorite clubs to grind on ended their rakeback deal with my Affiliate, so no more rakeback for me.
I tried to set up different table management softwares with regulated sites I could play on.
It took me the whole november to set it up. When I managed to solve a problem, another problem occured. I spent so many hours with solving software issues that it is mentally draining me.
While trying to solve the software issues I had to open up some tables to test and tweak the software.
I was unable to focus and lost many many stacks due to no focus but also bad plays. Emotionally it was tough to run into problem after problem while losing stack after stack.
Luckily I moved down to 25nl while solving issues but still I lost a decent chunk of money through poker this month.
The casinos in my area closed 2/2 and the minimum limit to play for me is 2/4 now. My goal now is to get to €8k bankroll to play 100bb deep poker with a 20 buy-in bankroll.
So some decent setbacks: Got sick, lost stacks, lost good games, lost time ... At least now the software should be set up correctly and maybe I am able to grind some decent volume in december. Let's see.
Poker
All in all I lost about $500 in poker. Next time I struggle with software I better move down to the lowest limits until everything works fine.
Other income
While having Covid and focusing on other software problems, I had less time and energy to generate income through other income sources. Still I made about $220 with things like surveys and other online work. Matched betting generated about $200
___
Bankroll: 4.058 (not too bad for a horrible month but also I ran over EV)
Days left: 667
I tried to set up different table management softwares with regulated sites I could play on.
It took me the whole november to set it up. When I managed to solve a problem, another problem occured. I spent so many hours with solving software issues that it is mentally draining me.
While trying to solve the software issues I had to open up some tables to test and tweak the software.
I was unable to focus and lost many many stacks due to no focus but also bad plays. Emotionally it was tough to run into problem after problem while losing stack after stack.
Luckily I moved down to 25nl while solving issues but still I lost a decent chunk of money through poker this month.
The casinos in my area closed 2/2 and the minimum limit to play for me is 2/4 now. My goal now is to get to €8k bankroll to play 100bb deep poker with a 20 buy-in bankroll.
So some decent setbacks: Got sick, lost stacks, lost good games, lost time ... At least now the software should be set up correctly and maybe I am able to grind some decent volume in december. Let's see.
Poker
All in all I lost about $500 in poker. Next time I struggle with software I better move down to the lowest limits until everything works fine.
Other income
While having Covid and focusing on other software problems, I had less time and energy to generate income through other income sources. Still I made about $220 with things like surveys and other online work. Matched betting generated about $200
___
Bankroll: 4.058 (not too bad for a horrible month but also I ran over EV)
Days left: 667
01-08-2024
, 09:49 AM
My goals for december were:
- Set up all software to be able to grind higher volumes
- Start playing higher volumes to practice against my opponents, get a feeling for their ranges and my strategy
- Implement new drilling method
Grind
Even though I did not win in EV in December, I still consider the month a win.
I managed to grind almost double the amount of hands compared to November. I am currently not winning in 25NL but after rakeback I am at least breakeven, which is good. From January on I will grind as much volume as I can because I have some rakeback deals in place and I can clear a first deposit bonus on Pokerking. So it was important for me to set up the software before January.
To be honest I kind of expected to win when I fully focus on my game but I had to learn that it is not that easy. I focused on my game really hard but still struggled. But I also see players in my pool who can win, and I will analyse their game to find some things I can do better.
Drills
I set up a database in Notion with various drills for specific situations. I now have a ton of Anki flashcards for preflop, lots of GTOwizard drills for postflop, and a Notion system in place. Now what this will do is organizing my drills. I will not have to think too much on what to practice everyday, because my Notion is telling me what drills should be done next.
I am building a system that automatically reminds me to study spots which I have not studied for some time. I am giving each situation a priority ranging from 1 to 5, which determines how important that situation is and how often I have to review it.
If I don't have to think too much about what to drill each day, I can just sit down each day and start drilling without worrying about forgetting any spots. Efficiency is neat!
Costs
While not winning any money in Poker this month, I still spent a lot on it:
- Hand2Note 1 year $360
- GTOwizard monthly $89
- StackAndTile monthly $11
- Rocketsolver License (lifetime) $300
Having costs of ~$140 - $160 each month while playing 25NL is pretty tough, so I got to get good and move up fast
Mental Game
In the end of December I listened to lots of podcasts of successfull people like CEOs and athletes. I learned a lot from them and believe that I can do a lot more with the time I have each day. What everyone of these successfull people have in common, is that they worked really really hard. I plan on doing the same.
Other income
I made a huge mistake with matched betting by clicking a wrong button and lost about $200, which was about the same I generated from matched betting in december. So no real gains here this month :/
Other income sources were also sparse, I made some dollars with various sites but not too much, I estimate I gained about $100 this month at maximum.
I did lose track of the money I made with various online sites because I need a better system to write things up. This month is difficult to summarize in numbers because of this. I will overhaul my sheets and write things up in more detail, so I can provide more accurate numbers for the blog in the future.
Anyways, planing on working really really really hard on my game and play thousands of hands in January. Let's see.
___
Bankroll: ??? (Next month, sorry)
Days left: 632
- Set up all software to be able to grind higher volumes
- Start playing higher volumes to practice against my opponents, get a feeling for their ranges and my strategy
- Implement new drilling method
Grind
Even though I did not win in EV in December, I still consider the month a win.
I managed to grind almost double the amount of hands compared to November. I am currently not winning in 25NL but after rakeback I am at least breakeven, which is good. From January on I will grind as much volume as I can because I have some rakeback deals in place and I can clear a first deposit bonus on Pokerking. So it was important for me to set up the software before January.
To be honest I kind of expected to win when I fully focus on my game but I had to learn that it is not that easy. I focused on my game really hard but still struggled. But I also see players in my pool who can win, and I will analyse their game to find some things I can do better.
Drills
I set up a database in Notion with various drills for specific situations. I now have a ton of Anki flashcards for preflop, lots of GTOwizard drills for postflop, and a Notion system in place. Now what this will do is organizing my drills. I will not have to think too much on what to practice everyday, because my Notion is telling me what drills should be done next.
I am building a system that automatically reminds me to study spots which I have not studied for some time. I am giving each situation a priority ranging from 1 to 5, which determines how important that situation is and how often I have to review it.
If I don't have to think too much about what to drill each day, I can just sit down each day and start drilling without worrying about forgetting any spots. Efficiency is neat!
Costs
While not winning any money in Poker this month, I still spent a lot on it:
- Hand2Note 1 year $360
- GTOwizard monthly $89
- StackAndTile monthly $11
- Rocketsolver License (lifetime) $300
Having costs of ~$140 - $160 each month while playing 25NL is pretty tough, so I got to get good and move up fast
Mental Game
In the end of December I listened to lots of podcasts of successfull people like CEOs and athletes. I learned a lot from them and believe that I can do a lot more with the time I have each day. What everyone of these successfull people have in common, is that they worked really really hard. I plan on doing the same.
Other income
I made a huge mistake with matched betting by clicking a wrong button and lost about $200, which was about the same I generated from matched betting in december. So no real gains here this month :/
Other income sources were also sparse, I made some dollars with various sites but not too much, I estimate I gained about $100 this month at maximum.
I did lose track of the money I made with various online sites because I need a better system to write things up. This month is difficult to summarize in numbers because of this. I will overhaul my sheets and write things up in more detail, so I can provide more accurate numbers for the blog in the future.
Anyways, planing on working really really really hard on my game and play thousands of hands in January. Let's see.
___
Bankroll: ??? (Next month, sorry)
Days left: 632
Last edited by marknfw; 01-08-2024 at 04:35 PM.
02-01-2024
, 10:22 AM
I have never worked harder for my poker skill than last month, January 24.
Around New Years Eve I started listening to the stories of successful people, like professional athletes or CEOs.
Especially Kobe Bryants work ethics has amazed me and I recommend listening to his stories.
All the people I listened to were very different and some of them have weird views.
But what they all had in common is that they worked really really hard for what they wanted.
I am not a winning poker player. But I do see other players who are good, and that it is a matter of skill.
If it is a matter of skill, then it is a matter of work.
This month I played 27k hands. I try to play a lot: Practicing in real world environments means progress.
I see lots of showdowns and get a feeling on how people play. I also accumulate data on the pool and myself.
In the beginning of January, you can see me losing quite a bit. I decided to take a break and look at how the winning players in my pool play.
And oh wonder, they play tight. They rarely bluff and often just have value.
I immediately saw why I was losing, because I did quite the opposite: I tried to bluff a lot, but that doesn’t work if people are not folding.
What is working if people don’t fold is… well, it is valuebetting and not bluffing a lot!
With more hands I made more mistakes. I bluffed calling stations, and I called my bluffcatchers against nits.
Doing this and failing miserably does hurt.
I want to be a pro one day, but I am losing against those fishes!
But I am learning. I get a feeling on who is never bluffing rivers. I do get a feeling on what stats the guys have that are calling down light with Q-high.
I will continue to grind lots of hands. I continue extending my library of drills and extending my knowledge about poker in general.
I watch courses and other content; I exchange hands and opinions with my peers.
February shall be the month I worked harder than ever in my poker career.
___
Bankroll: $4.514,67
Days left: 608
___
PS: I lost access to my main playing pool this month (WPN) because they banned all germans. It was difficult because I just started winning in that pool and kind of figured it out. But I still managed to find a new pool and grinded thousands of hands. If you are a fellow german too and/or are looking for rakeback deals / sites to play on, let me know. I can probably help you find something.
Around New Years Eve I started listening to the stories of successful people, like professional athletes or CEOs.
Especially Kobe Bryants work ethics has amazed me and I recommend listening to his stories.
All the people I listened to were very different and some of them have weird views.
But what they all had in common is that they worked really really hard for what they wanted.
I am not a winning poker player. But I do see other players who are good, and that it is a matter of skill.
If it is a matter of skill, then it is a matter of work.
This month I played 27k hands. I try to play a lot: Practicing in real world environments means progress.
I see lots of showdowns and get a feeling on how people play. I also accumulate data on the pool and myself.
In the beginning of January, you can see me losing quite a bit. I decided to take a break and look at how the winning players in my pool play.
And oh wonder, they play tight. They rarely bluff and often just have value.
I immediately saw why I was losing, because I did quite the opposite: I tried to bluff a lot, but that doesn’t work if people are not folding.
What is working if people don’t fold is… well, it is valuebetting and not bluffing a lot!
With more hands I made more mistakes. I bluffed calling stations, and I called my bluffcatchers against nits.
Doing this and failing miserably does hurt.
I want to be a pro one day, but I am losing against those fishes!
But I am learning. I get a feeling on who is never bluffing rivers. I do get a feeling on what stats the guys have that are calling down light with Q-high.
I will continue to grind lots of hands. I continue extending my library of drills and extending my knowledge about poker in general.
I watch courses and other content; I exchange hands and opinions with my peers.
February shall be the month I worked harder than ever in my poker career.
___
Bankroll: $4.514,67
Days left: 608
___
PS: I lost access to my main playing pool this month (WPN) because they banned all germans. It was difficult because I just started winning in that pool and kind of figured it out. But I still managed to find a new pool and grinded thousands of hands. If you are a fellow german too and/or are looking for rakeback deals / sites to play on, let me know. I can probably help you find something.
03-13-2024
, 07:55 AM
February '24 was turbulent, I'd say.
I am studying poker for quite some time now, and I am starting to like the idea to sustain myself trough poker. Going pro, doing what I love whenever and wherever I want it.
Sounds nice but damn, it is tough.
Pain and Anger
So at the beginning of February I was studying exploitative strategies. This is somehow a topic I did not study too much since I began taking poker seriously again about 3 years ago.
So I began to dive into explanations for weak players behaviours and where regulars get it wrong.
Studying leaks of the population opened my eyes a bit on where the money is made. It also showed me that I am also a weak reg and suffer from lots of things the general poker population gets wrong.
After diving into exploitative theory for the first week, I began grinding - and it went well. Too well. I was extremely aggressive in a lot of spots that I expected people to overfold. It worked.
I was hyped. Poker was never this fun in my life, pushing people out of the pot because I know they are weak, or folding very strong holdings when I know they are strong (in the past I always stacked off with 2nd nuts, but now I am considering some other factors and sometimes end up folding very strong hands. Was kind of a station in spots where I really should overfold).
With my EV-graph and my confidence rising to the sky, I fell in love with the idea of finally being decent and getting closer to my goal of being a pro. I said to myself that if I can prove to make decent money the next few month I might take a break from my study for university, trying out to fully dive into poker as a pro. Well...
Now with the mind of "I have to prove it" there was also the mind of "if I lose now I can't pursue my dream". Somehow playing poker got really emotional. I considered myself a person who does not tilt, because I have a good attention for my emotions and know how to regulate them. But poker is also way easier if there is less pressure.
I had a lot of pressure and every small and big pot I lost meant now that I have to "win it back" and "get the graph to over 0 EV" to prove myself I am good enough. But I made mistakes and it made me so angry. Angry because sometimes I knew what to do but made mistakes, because of playing too many tables or being distracted. I was angry because there were so many situations I did not know so I made mistakes. I have never felt this much anger while playing poker.
My body started sweating, I got the urge to smash something, I wanted to scream. Wow, that are strong emotions and I learnt that I am not as cool headed as I thought. I learned that pressure can amplify emotions, especially the negative ones. But I also learned that anger can be controlled too.
When feeling lots of anger and pain, I did push-ups. It felt like a better alternative to smash something expensive, and in February I did a lot of push-ups, which is good for physical health.
I learned that when I feel a lot of anger, that I just have to wait it out a little. 2-5 Minutes of strong anger, but then it vanishes, mostly. Then I am somehow able to smile and maybe even laugh a bit about these exteme emotions that I just felt.
I tried to use the emotions as a guide. When I felt very angry, I tried to see what the cause was. Often it meant that I did not have enough knowledge of a spot, made mistakes, lost confidence in myself. But objectively I just had to learn the spot in GTO then learn how population deviates.
While grinding, winning and losing, I created a ton of drills. I know have drills ready for the most important and frequent configurations. Bunch of SRP and 3BP drills. I drilled a lot. I drill at least an hour each day, sometimes significantly more. It helps so much, because playing against the solution is 1) cheaper to make mistakes compared to real poker and 2) gives me the opportunity to stop a hand and look at the solves in real time. With more drilling I somehow got a feeling on how different SPRs play out and what to do with my range against different betsizes. I also learned where it is good to stack off and where not to.
I would say in February I learned more for my poker carreer than ever. I learned about emotions but also I practiced so much, I feel like my intuition about hands start to guide me more and more to the right decisions.
Extra Money
So while I lost huge EV in February in poker, I ran pretty good over EV.
I also made decent $$ from other income sources this month.
Furthermore, a decent chunk of my bankroll is currently in form of crypto. The prices for crypto got really high this month so luckily I got some profit there. But I consider this variance, because the prices could also fall instead or fall again.
Next steps
- Analyse, discuss, learn, drill, etc.
- Get a sample in 10nl 20nl, prove that I am winning, move up as fast as possible. My bankroll is big enough but I am not confident enough to move up. Once I see I can do it, I will move up fast and go to the casino again, to play live.
___
Bankroll: $5.738
Days left: 567
___
Edit:
Some points I learned that I want to share:
- Some people are notoriously overfolding so pressuring them in (certain!) spots is key
- Other people are notoriously overcalling so pressuring them can be very expensive. I have to see what type of fish a player is before making huge deviations. I learned that people overfold so I started blasting off, but then I learned that some people don't fold their weak holdings anyways. So first analysing what player it is, then exploiting is the correct order
I am studying poker for quite some time now, and I am starting to like the idea to sustain myself trough poker. Going pro, doing what I love whenever and wherever I want it.
Sounds nice but damn, it is tough.
Pain and Anger
So at the beginning of February I was studying exploitative strategies. This is somehow a topic I did not study too much since I began taking poker seriously again about 3 years ago.
So I began to dive into explanations for weak players behaviours and where regulars get it wrong.
Studying leaks of the population opened my eyes a bit on where the money is made. It also showed me that I am also a weak reg and suffer from lots of things the general poker population gets wrong.
After diving into exploitative theory for the first week, I began grinding - and it went well. Too well. I was extremely aggressive in a lot of spots that I expected people to overfold. It worked.
I was hyped. Poker was never this fun in my life, pushing people out of the pot because I know they are weak, or folding very strong holdings when I know they are strong (in the past I always stacked off with 2nd nuts, but now I am considering some other factors and sometimes end up folding very strong hands. Was kind of a station in spots where I really should overfold).
With my EV-graph and my confidence rising to the sky, I fell in love with the idea of finally being decent and getting closer to my goal of being a pro. I said to myself that if I can prove to make decent money the next few month I might take a break from my study for university, trying out to fully dive into poker as a pro. Well...
Now with the mind of "I have to prove it" there was also the mind of "if I lose now I can't pursue my dream". Somehow playing poker got really emotional. I considered myself a person who does not tilt, because I have a good attention for my emotions and know how to regulate them. But poker is also way easier if there is less pressure.
I had a lot of pressure and every small and big pot I lost meant now that I have to "win it back" and "get the graph to over 0 EV" to prove myself I am good enough. But I made mistakes and it made me so angry. Angry because sometimes I knew what to do but made mistakes, because of playing too many tables or being distracted. I was angry because there were so many situations I did not know so I made mistakes. I have never felt this much anger while playing poker.
My body started sweating, I got the urge to smash something, I wanted to scream. Wow, that are strong emotions and I learnt that I am not as cool headed as I thought. I learned that pressure can amplify emotions, especially the negative ones. But I also learned that anger can be controlled too.
When feeling lots of anger and pain, I did push-ups. It felt like a better alternative to smash something expensive, and in February I did a lot of push-ups, which is good for physical health.
I learned that when I feel a lot of anger, that I just have to wait it out a little. 2-5 Minutes of strong anger, but then it vanishes, mostly. Then I am somehow able to smile and maybe even laugh a bit about these exteme emotions that I just felt.
I tried to use the emotions as a guide. When I felt very angry, I tried to see what the cause was. Often it meant that I did not have enough knowledge of a spot, made mistakes, lost confidence in myself. But objectively I just had to learn the spot in GTO then learn how population deviates.
While grinding, winning and losing, I created a ton of drills. I know have drills ready for the most important and frequent configurations. Bunch of SRP and 3BP drills. I drilled a lot. I drill at least an hour each day, sometimes significantly more. It helps so much, because playing against the solution is 1) cheaper to make mistakes compared to real poker and 2) gives me the opportunity to stop a hand and look at the solves in real time. With more drilling I somehow got a feeling on how different SPRs play out and what to do with my range against different betsizes. I also learned where it is good to stack off and where not to.
I would say in February I learned more for my poker carreer than ever. I learned about emotions but also I practiced so much, I feel like my intuition about hands start to guide me more and more to the right decisions.
Extra Money
So while I lost huge EV in February in poker, I ran pretty good over EV.
I also made decent $$ from other income sources this month.
Furthermore, a decent chunk of my bankroll is currently in form of crypto. The prices for crypto got really high this month so luckily I got some profit there. But I consider this variance, because the prices could also fall instead or fall again.
Next steps
- Analyse, discuss, learn, drill, etc.
- Get a sample in 10nl 20nl, prove that I am winning, move up as fast as possible. My bankroll is big enough but I am not confident enough to move up. Once I see I can do it, I will move up fast and go to the casino again, to play live.
___
Bankroll: $5.738
Days left: 567
___
Edit:
Some points I learned that I want to share:
- Some people are notoriously overfolding so pressuring them in (certain!) spots is key
- Other people are notoriously overcalling so pressuring them can be very expensive. I have to see what type of fish a player is before making huge deviations. I learned that people overfold so I started blasting off, but then I learned that some people don't fold their weak holdings anyways. So first analysing what player it is, then exploiting is the correct order
05-02-2024
, 01:23 PM
March and April ‘24.
Again, I worked like a madman. Paid a friend to teach me how to exploit fishes. Talked with friends about hands, summarized videos. Practiced against the drills. It is very exhausting and sometimes boring. It is especially exhausting when I start to doubt if I will ever be a winning player. It is a fight against myself everyday, but I am happy with it.
Even in the most difficult times, after experiencing intense negative emotions, I still want to follow through with my plan. I dream of sustaining myself through poker. I dream of being free.
And I see light at the end of the tunnel.
March
Graph of March ‘24:
(additionally to $75 winnings I earned about $100 from rakeback and promos x) )
In March I started to try out a lot of new things. Often, these things did not work, but often I learned a thing or two because of it. It was really really difficult to see the graph drop like this. Thing was, I was not only trying out exploitative strategies against fishes, I was also losing really hard against the regs. I played 25nl at the time and seeing the graph crash stressed me a lot. I was angry and it hurt.
I moved down in stakes but I lost more. Moved down more, lost more. This was actually surprising. I moved down to 2nl and still couldn’t win, which was very alarming. ****, I studied poker intensely for a few years but still can’t beat 2nl?
Reset
I formulated a plan: Play only 1 table. Observe every player closely. Find out how they play, formulate counter strategies.
Only invest in situations that are profitable. Get away from all marginal situations. Don't deviate too much if I don't know what player I am up against. Play tight until I have some information.
Now this is where things turned around - actually paying attention to each player, their showdowns and timings, was a lot more informative than only looking at their stats in a hud. And my exploits were more on point than usual. Since there are no regs on 2nl it started to work out pretty good.
April
Graph of April ‘24:
Now that’s what I call a comeback. At the beginning of April I started to move up again and played about 4k hands of 10nl. Things worked out fine and I was so hyped.
In my mind it was smart to move up as fast as possible because “now I know how to do it”.
I moved up to 25nl, lost a few buy-ins because regs still own me and I got money scared, and just lost all the winnings of my upswing from before. ****.
Moved down to 10nl, started to crush. Moved up to 25nl, started to lose. Moved down to 10nl, thought I can increase amount of tables since I “crushed” this limit before - no, playing more than 3 tables is apparently too much for my brain. I lost hard at 10nl. Down to break-even for the month.
The negative emotions came back. I was angry at myself. I tried my best, then got cocky and paid the price.
I took a break for a few days because I didn’t want the negative emotions to take over. I want to be a pro but not at all costs.
Okay, suck it up, now I at least know that I can’t play too many tables. Let’s play a few tables and focus.
Started the grind, lost a pot, and was tilted again immediately. The break did not solve my tilting problem. I took a short break from grinding, took a walk, thought about everything, and started to meditate. Told myself again and again that there is nothing wrong in losing short-term. I can lose pots, no problem. What I have to do is very clear: play well, analyze hands afterwards to make sure that I played well, and if not, learn from it. Then I began to grind again and just focus on the moment.
That my graph is positive for April is great. Additionally to my poker winnings that are not too big, I got a lot of rakeback this month which makes this the first winning month! I slowly get more confident in my abilities, especially when focusing on specific players.
___
Next:
Taking shots at 2/4 in a casino. My roll is now big enough to handle some swings. Furthermore, I now have a new job to boost my bankroll, which means I can take more risks!
Wish me luck.
___
March ‘24:
Bankroll: $6.166,01
Days Left: 549
April ‘24:
Bankroll: $6.223,26
Days Left: 519
___
In case you wonder, my bankroll did not increase a lot. I do spend a lot of time each day with activities that bring me money. I have lots of small income streams by now, which is great. But a significant amount (about $1.8k) of my bankroll is stored in crypto currencies which swing a lot, which is the reason for my bankroll swinging more than it should. With all my income streams it is a sure thing that the roll will grow, though.
Again, I worked like a madman. Paid a friend to teach me how to exploit fishes. Talked with friends about hands, summarized videos. Practiced against the drills. It is very exhausting and sometimes boring. It is especially exhausting when I start to doubt if I will ever be a winning player. It is a fight against myself everyday, but I am happy with it.
Even in the most difficult times, after experiencing intense negative emotions, I still want to follow through with my plan. I dream of sustaining myself through poker. I dream of being free.
And I see light at the end of the tunnel.
March
Graph of March ‘24:
(additionally to $75 winnings I earned about $100 from rakeback and promos x) )
In March I started to try out a lot of new things. Often, these things did not work, but often I learned a thing or two because of it. It was really really difficult to see the graph drop like this. Thing was, I was not only trying out exploitative strategies against fishes, I was also losing really hard against the regs. I played 25nl at the time and seeing the graph crash stressed me a lot. I was angry and it hurt.
I moved down in stakes but I lost more. Moved down more, lost more. This was actually surprising. I moved down to 2nl and still couldn’t win, which was very alarming. ****, I studied poker intensely for a few years but still can’t beat 2nl?
Reset
I formulated a plan: Play only 1 table. Observe every player closely. Find out how they play, formulate counter strategies.
Only invest in situations that are profitable. Get away from all marginal situations. Don't deviate too much if I don't know what player I am up against. Play tight until I have some information.
Now this is where things turned around - actually paying attention to each player, their showdowns and timings, was a lot more informative than only looking at their stats in a hud. And my exploits were more on point than usual. Since there are no regs on 2nl it started to work out pretty good.
April
Graph of April ‘24:
Now that’s what I call a comeback. At the beginning of April I started to move up again and played about 4k hands of 10nl. Things worked out fine and I was so hyped.
In my mind it was smart to move up as fast as possible because “now I know how to do it”.
I moved up to 25nl, lost a few buy-ins because regs still own me and I got money scared, and just lost all the winnings of my upswing from before. ****.
Moved down to 10nl, started to crush. Moved up to 25nl, started to lose. Moved down to 10nl, thought I can increase amount of tables since I “crushed” this limit before - no, playing more than 3 tables is apparently too much for my brain. I lost hard at 10nl. Down to break-even for the month.
The negative emotions came back. I was angry at myself. I tried my best, then got cocky and paid the price.
I took a break for a few days because I didn’t want the negative emotions to take over. I want to be a pro but not at all costs.
Okay, suck it up, now I at least know that I can’t play too many tables. Let’s play a few tables and focus.
Started the grind, lost a pot, and was tilted again immediately. The break did not solve my tilting problem. I took a short break from grinding, took a walk, thought about everything, and started to meditate. Told myself again and again that there is nothing wrong in losing short-term. I can lose pots, no problem. What I have to do is very clear: play well, analyze hands afterwards to make sure that I played well, and if not, learn from it. Then I began to grind again and just focus on the moment.
That my graph is positive for April is great. Additionally to my poker winnings that are not too big, I got a lot of rakeback this month which makes this the first winning month! I slowly get more confident in my abilities, especially when focusing on specific players.
___
Next:
Taking shots at 2/4 in a casino. My roll is now big enough to handle some swings. Furthermore, I now have a new job to boost my bankroll, which means I can take more risks!
Wish me luck.
___
March ‘24:
Bankroll: $6.166,01
Days Left: 549
April ‘24:
Bankroll: $6.223,26
Days Left: 519
___
In case you wonder, my bankroll did not increase a lot. I do spend a lot of time each day with activities that bring me money. I have lots of small income streams by now, which is great. But a significant amount (about $1.8k) of my bankroll is stored in crypto currencies which swing a lot, which is the reason for my bankroll swinging more than it should. With all my income streams it is a sure thing that the roll will grow, though.
05-06-2024
, 03:00 PM
