Hi all - long time lurker. Been playing poker for many years. Took it seriously for 12 months a few years ago and enjoyed myself. Had a decent amount of success at the live tables in the UK, grinding my way from £200 to £3000. Playing live was as much about the social interaction and having fun, as it was making money etc. Great times, interesting characters and a general blur (unsurprisingly). Also played online, working my way from 2NL to 10NL, graphs below, nothing special as I didn't play for too long:

5NL


10NL


Stopped not long after I saved these graphs, as I changed job and location and didn't have much free time anymore - had to split time between working down in the South of the UK and going back up North for the weekends with my mates. Now I'm more settled and have been picking up poker again, although mainly online now. I've been playing 5NL with a decent win rate and have moved

Personal fitness is very important to me, justifies the constant piss ups etc . I enjoy BMX, MTB'ing and running. The latter isn't really an enjoyable hobby but it helps give me clarity, which is time to work on my mental health/game. This is very important to me, years ago I used to let tilt affect my game. Coaching sessions and books have helped lessen the effect but it's a constant battle, as I'm sure many are aware of.

I'm currently playing 10NL. I'm splitting my time between studying, hand analysis (GTO+, leakbuster etc - all stuff I had from a few years ago) and playing, although I'm obviously doing more of the latter than anything else. Will post some graphs and hands once I've played a bit more, just wanted to start the thread now.

Day 1 (of PGC)
Had an interesting morning. Started off watching a few videos from Upswing's poker lab and analysed some hands from previous sessions. Feeling pretty good so decide to take to the tables. Had a mixed day, I feel I played well but ran poorly, only 1 buy-in under though so can't complain.

Found myself in some interesting spots:

Hand 1
Standard pre-flop and on the flop, however my x/r should have been much bigger, I think between 20-22BB. Turn is a blank, I went for a larger bet but given the stack-pot ratio I'm wondering if I need to either down bet to have a reasonable shove on the river or if I should just over-jam now and charge draws. The river is the grossest card in the deck, V is representing every draw that just completed and has played the hand as if those are his holdings. As played I think I have to x/fold. On any red card I'm calling, even if it's a sigh call.

Given V 3bet my UTG open he definitely has some AA-QQ (I think JJ gets it in on the flop), AK, AQ that can all continue against a flop x/r. However he has very few bluffs once we reach the river.


PokerStars - $0.10 Ante $0.01 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 91.7 BB
SB: 108.4 BB
BB: 128.7 BB
Hero (UTG): 150.8 BB
MP: 100 BB
CO: 107.9 BB

6 players post ante of 0.1 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.1 BB) Hero has T T

Hero raises to 2.5 BB, fold, CO raises to 8 BB, fold, fold, fold, Hero calls 5.5 BB

Flop: (18.1 BB, 2 players) 5 J T
Hero checks, CO bets 5.4 BB, Hero raises to 17 BB, CO calls 11.6 BB

Turn: (52.1 BB, 2 players) 7
Hero bets 40 BB, CO calls 40 BB

River: (132.1 BB, 2 players) 9
Hero checks, CO bets 42.8 BB and is all-in...


The very next hand after this one ^^ I got AA in against KK pre, flopped a set of Aces and the board ran out for a monotone flush and a split pot .


Hand 2
Interested to get other people's thoughts on this hand. No stats on V, no real previous experience with him.

Pre-flop is pretty standard. On the flop when he x/jams for 240BB I sense weakness. Given he flatted a 4bet OP pre I think we can remove pocket 88's and I block all AK holdings, plus AA & KK are raising again pre when out of position. Maybe he has TT but I wouldn't expect a jam.

My thinking was he's on a FD, maybe with the A of hearts in his hand, although again the combos are limited given my hand and the pre-flop action. I think we're ahead here. Will leave the results in the spoilers. I was happy with my call but interested to know if people think it's spewy with stacks this deep. If we're ahead it's close to a flip I would have thought..


PokerStars - $0.10 Ante $0.01 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 126.2 BB
SB: 266 BB
BB: 97.8 BB
UTG: 107.7 BB
MP: 109.8 BB
Hero (CO): 294.4 BB

6 players post ante of 0.1 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.1 BB) Hero has A K

fold, fold, Hero raises to 2.5 BB, fold, SB raises to 8 BB, fold, Hero raises to 22 BB, SB calls 14 BB

Flop: (45.6 BB, 2 players) A 8 T
SB checks, Hero bets 17 BB, SB raises to 243.9 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 226.9 BB

Turn: (533.4 BB, 2 players) 2

River: (533.4 BB, 2 players) K




Hand 3
Pre-flop a make a standard 3-bet with a good holding & BB 4-bets. I struggled with a decision here. QJs feels too strong to fold to a potential squeeze with the pot odds we're getting, however we could go to a flop easily dominated out of position. Given we still have 100BB effective stacks (after his 4-bet) can we profitably call here? I actually lent slightly towards a 5-bet jam given the action but think that's spewy.

Zoom 4-bet ranges are normally reasonably nutted.



PokerStars - $0.10 Ante $0.01 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 96 BB
Hero (SB): 221.1 BB
BB: 132 BB
UTG: 142.5 BB
MP: 100 BB
CO: 184.2 BB

6 players post ante of 0.1 BB, Hero posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.1 BB) Hero has Q J

UTG raises to 3 BB, fold, fold, BTN calls 3 BB, Hero raises to 12 BB, BB raises to 25.5 BB, fold, fold, Hero ????


Hand 4
When I look at my biggest losses most of them come from bluffs, I usually fold bad rivers etc in a pretty disciplined manor. Thought I'd post an example of one of said bluffs for a line check.

Pre-flop I decide to 3-bet T9s in position and get called. I decide to make a smaller C-bet representing an Ax hand. Given we flopped middle pair I'm actually now leaning towards a X back and wait to see the turn.

On the turn I decide to size up, the board is draw heavy and the K hits my pre-flop 3-betting range (as did the A). V can have some KQ-KTs suited but I feel I can put pressure on these on the river from position. My T blocks some of the SD combos but I don't have a diamond, meaning the FD is still live.

On the river I felt committed to a triple barrel give the FD didn't complete and I want to put pressure on any one pair hands to fold. I don't think my line was awful but I'm fresh back into the poker scene, so interested to get people's opinions.

PokerStars - $0.10 Ante $0.01 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 119.3 BB
SB: 145.5 BB
BB: 50 BB
UTG: 123.1 BB
Hero (MP): 100 BB
CO: 79.6 BB

6 players post ante of 0.1 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.1 BB) Hero has 9 T

UTG raises to 3 BB, Hero raises to 9 BB, fold, fold, fold, fold, UTG calls 6 BB

Flop: (20.1 BB, 2 players) A 4 9
UTG checks, Hero bets 8 BB, UTG calls 8 BB

Turn: (36.1 BB, 2 players) K
UTG checks, Hero bets 27 BB, UTG calls 27 BB

River: (90.1 BB, 2 players) 5
UTG checks, Hero bets 55.9 BB and is all-in, UTG calls 55.9 BB




Hand 5

I think this hand is pretty straight forward until the river. It's definitely one of the worst cards possible, however given the strength of our hand and the fact we checked the flop I feel we have to call as played. Not sure if the correct line here is actually bet-fold?


PokerStars - $0.10 Ante $0.01 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 291.6 BB
Hero (SB): 197.3 BB
BB: 109.4 BB
UTG: 101.5 BB
MP: 339.1 BB
CO: 152.6 BB

6 players post ante of 0.1 BB, Hero posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.1 BB) Hero has Q K

UTG raises to 3 BB, fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to 10 BB, fold, UTG calls 7 BB

Flop: (21.6 BB, 2 players) Q 5 Q
Hero checks, UTG checks

Turn: (21.6 BB, 2 players) T
Hero bets 12 BB, UTG calls 12 BB

River: (45.6 BB, 2 players) J
Hero checks, UTG bets 22.5 BB, Hero calls 22.5 BB

Subbed! GL!

Can't really help with the hands tho, I'm not a cash player.

#Hand 1:
Are you ever folding there?
Is V calling 80% pot on turn with his draws? And only leaving himself 40bb behind, less than 30% pot to the river...?
Is the NL10Z pool capable of this? Or is this a unique whale (if paying that big with draws and folding river when busted)?

#Hand 2:
You were right this time, but are people doing this on average?
I guess it would also be normal to see an oversized raise vs hands beating us that are scared of the draws, but probably not this big..?

IMO You are always either losing or flipping at this point (sometimes winning vs AQ, AJ), and don't know if I would want to flip my 260bb stack there. Probably not folding while playing, but wouldn't like it afterwards, reviewing.


#Hand 3:
+1 to your opinion. If V was also 200+bb deep I guess you could see the flop, given the bigger stack sizes. Not sure anyways.

#Hand 4:
I'd probably slow down on (or after) the turn, either bet smaller and push ONLY when river is not a brick, or bet this size but fold river bricks..
I'd rather bet smaller turn, so you are losing less when river bricks (and even if you decide to push any card, have a bigger fold-equity).

#Hand 5:
Only backdoors get there, not folding ever.. would also be calling pretty happy. After your x/b/x -> Villain should be valuebetting his overpairs and his AJ, AT there, shouldn't he?
Obviously betting his Straights, flushes and boats and probably never bluffing. I'm at work and can't do anything rn, but this one is easy to calc as you know (close guess) his range.


Once again, these are just opinions from a poker-lover, not from a pro or even cash player.
I just love the game and love to see/think/discuss hands!

Again GL with your challenge!

glglglgl

In the same pool as you. Swap Sns?

Not the best session this afternoon. Played well overall but running bad still, 350BB under EV according to PT4. Feels like more but it always does in the moment. Just ran KK into AA for 150BB too and had QQ cracked by AK but that's just variance, so I don't mind . Taking the positives though, I haven't tilted and I'm still playing and grinding my way back out of the hole. Years ago I would have jumped up to 25NL and punted my money off tilting. So I'll take that, positive improvement. I can also feel my thinking improving during hands, especially when I'm trying to maximise thin value whilst under pressure.


Cheers man, appreciate it, all feedback is welcome (that's the whole idea of the forum). Yeah hand 1 was pretty sick, felt my stomach go when the river hit. We literally beat nothing. I take your point about his stack but at this stake I don't think that many people think about it.


Cheers man. Haha you mean swap name tags? I dunno if that's a good idea considering I like to fire 3 barrels with T9s and then post it on forums, might give you too much of an edge . GL at the tables.

Brutal session just got finished off by getting AA cracked by KK all in pre for 350BB..

Difficult to swallow, I'd already run incredibly badly but managed to work my way back up to a profit of $55, so at 10NL ****ing good work. So that last hand really stung, variance can be a mother ****er sometimes. Q landed on the board too, so could have lost to either! Genuinely don't feel I could have played any better today, so pretty put out but will dust it off and go again. Still no tilt even after that, so I feel I've made mental progress.

On a positive note check these guys spazzing out

PokerStars - $0.10 Ante $0.01 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 100.9 BB
Hero (SB): 487 BB
BB: 151.4 BB
UTG: 152.1 BB
MP: 180.9 BB
CO: 235.9 BB

6 players post ante of 0.1 BB, Hero posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.1 BB) Hero has J J

UTG raises to 3 BB, MP calls 3 BB, CO calls 3 BB, BTN raises to 17.1 BB, Hero raises to 37 BB, fold, fold, MP calls 34 BB, fold, BTN calls 19.9 BB

Flop: (118.6 BB, 3 players) 8 6 4
Hero checks, MP bets 53 BB, BTN raises to 63.8 BB and is all-in, Hero raises to 449.9 BB and is all-in, MP calls 90.8 BB and is all-in

Turn: (470 BB, 3 players) 7

River: (470 BB, 3 players) A

Hey good luck man, will be following!!

What was that.

Was reading the hand and thinking to myself: how is he ever better THAN 2 GUYS in such a spot?

Micro cash games seem to be crazy.

Thanks man, appreciate it.


Both players looked super weak pre and I was planning on calling a jam. Flop isn't amazing but against such poor players I'm happy to spin the wheel.


The **** variance continues, 10th hand of tonight's session, the poker God's are truly testing my control... The amount of times I've been sucked out on with V @ 13-15% in the last few days has been rough. Hopefully can turn it around, only playing a short session tonight.

PokerStars - $0.10 Ante $0.01 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

Hero (BTN): 106.4 BB
SB: 100 BB
BB: 96.6 BB
UTG: 152.7 BB
MP: 115.8 BB
CO: 100 BB

6 players post ante of 0.1 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.1 BB) Hero has A K

fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to 2.5 BB, fold, BB raises to 10 BB, Hero raises to 25 BB, BB calls 15 BB

Flop: (51.1 BB, 2 players) 2 A 4
BB checks, Hero checks, BB checks

Turn: (51.1 BB, 2 players) 9
BB bets 71.5bb and is all-in, Hero calls 71.5 BB

River: (194.1 BB, 2 players) 8




EDIT: Jesus, so rough . Few hands later haha. Bit light but I was confident we had the best hand on the turn and V's pre-flop sizing made him look fishy.

PokerStars - $0.10 Ante $0.01 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 87.4 BB
Hero (SB): 100.1 BB
BB: 100 BB
UTG: 102.8 BB
MP: 124.8 BB
CO: 119.9 BB

6 players post ante of 0.1 BB, Hero posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.1 BB) Hero has 9 9

UTG raises to 2 BB, fold, fold, BTN raises to 3 BB, Hero raises to 10 BB, fold, fold, BTN calls 7 BB

Flop: (23.6 BB, 2 players) 8 7 T
Hero checks, BTN bets 15 BB, Hero calls 15 BB

Turn: (53.6 BB, 2 players) J
Hero bets 75 BB and is all-in, BTN calls 62.3 BB and is all-in

River: (178.2 BB, 2 players) Q




11% this time, so slowly getting worse for comedy effect.


Ouch - V is a weak player who's been re-raising light pre and post. It never rains but it pours!

PokerStars - $0.10 Ante $0.01 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 98.1 BB
Hero (SB): 107.2 BB
BB: 205.2 BB
UTG: 107 BB
MP: 111.9 BB
CO: 121.5 BB

6 players post ante of 0.1 BB, Hero posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.1 BB) Hero has T K

UTG raises to 3 BB, fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to 10 BB, fold, UTG calls 7 BB

Flop: (21.6 BB, 2 players) 5 J 6
Hero bets 10.3 BB, UTG raises to 29.4 BB, Hero raises to 97.1 BB and is all-in, UTG calls 67.5 BB and is all-in

Turn: (215.4 BB, 2 players) 5

River: (215.4 BB, 2 players) 3



Finally got one vs weak player, this session is pretty crazy, love it! Bit loose pre but I have the player marked as very weak and he's shoved weak A pre before. Close but I'm happy with this play, especially given he's short stacked.

PokerStars - $0.10 Ante $0.01 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 112.2 BB
SB: 355 BB
Hero (BB): 91.4 BB
UTG: 114.9 BB
MP: 136.5 BB
CO: 76.2 BB

6 players post ante of 0.1 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.1 BB) Hero has T T

fold, fold, CO raises to 4.1 BB, fold, fold, Hero raises to 12 BB, CO raises to 76.1 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 64.1 BB

Flop: (153.3 BB, 2 players) 6 Q 6

Turn: (153.3 BB, 2 players) T

River: (153.3 BB, 2 players) J

Well unfortunate session. I've truly never run this bad before. Just had AhAd COvsBTN, he 3-bet me and I 4-bet him, he called. Flop came As5s6s. I bet, he raised, I jammed and he called - pot was over 400BB...

He turns over Ac7s... and instantly hits on the turn. Honestly cannot believe his hand, the turn hitting is whatever.

So far I've carried on playing through the variance but going to have to walk away and play again tomorrow. Even though I feel I've worked hard on my mental game (in general, not just poker) over the last few years, this one almost caused me to go on tilt.

On the plus side knowing there's players like this in the pool means I know I can easily turn very profitable sessions if I just keeping playing solid poker. Just not my night again unfortunately .

Took a break yesterday and just studied, wanted some time away from the tables after running so badly. Came back refreshed and very well rested today but my bad variance has unfortunately continued.. Think I'm going to have to step down to 5NL. I have the bankroll for 10NL but just need to rebuild some confidence.

Sucks out on me on the flop, I return the favour on the turn and then he rivers a 2% card haha gotta love it sometimes .

PokerStars - $0.10 Ante $0.01 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 111 BB
SB: 77 BB
Hero (BB): 112.3 BB
UTG: 108.2 BB
MP: 472.3 BB
CO: 100 BB

6 players post ante of 0.1 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.1 BB) Hero has Q Q

UTG raises to 2.4 BB, fold, fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to 11 BB, UTG calls 8.6 BB

Flop: (23.1 BB, 2 players) 2 J 5
Hero bets 15 BB, UTG calls 15 BB

Turn: (53.1 BB, 2 players) Q
Hero bets 33.8 BB, UTG calls 33.8 BB

River: (120.7 BB, 2 players) J
Hero bets 52.4 BB and is all-in, UTG calls 48.3 BB and is all-in




Obviously I'm thinking he can hold 55 here but I there's other combos he can also hold, especially at this limit. Maybe we should fold to his 3-bet, I personally think it's just a cooler but happy to be corrected. No FD on the board so maybe that reduces his possible combos.

PokerStars - $0.10 Ante $0.01 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 94.7 BB
SB: 100 BB
Hero (BB): 100 BB
UTG: 200.5 BB
MP: 443.3 BB
CO: 102.9 BB

6 players post ante of 0.1 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.1 BB) Hero has T J

UTG raises to 2 BB, fold, CO calls 2 BB, fold, fold, Hero calls 1 BB

Flop: (7.1 BB, 3 players) T 5 J
Hero checks, UTG checks, CO bets 2.2 BB, Hero raises to 8 BB, fold, CO raises to 16 BB, Hero raises to 97.9 BB and is all-in, CO calls 81.9 BB

Turn: (202.9 BB, 2 players) K

River: (202.9 BB, 2 players) 2



Then lost 2 flips vs a guy who shoved 60BB with T9o and a flip between AK and TT. Final hand was an all-in pre between AKs and AA, obviously he held up. Stopping for the session. I genuinely believe I'm running bad but looking at the 2 pair vs set hand, maybe I'm making slightly clouded decisions after getting it a bit rough. Need to reevaluate, hence considering 5NL.

First hand at 5NL totally standard made me lol.

PokerStars - $0.05 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 106.4 BB
SB: 112.6 BB
BB: 65.8 BB
UTG: 251 BB
MP: 100 BB
Hero (CO): 103.6 BB

SB posts SB 0.4 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has J J

fold, MP raises to 2.4 BB, Hero raises to 9 BB, fold, fold, BB calls 8 BB, MP calls 6.6 BB

Flop: (27.4 BB, 3 players) T 7 5
BB checks, MP checks, Hero bets 13.2 BB, fold, MP calls 13.2 BB

Turn: (53.8 BB, 2 players) 6
MP checks, Hero bets 34.4 BB, MP calls 34.4 BB

River: (122.6 BB, 2 players) 4
MP checks, Hero checks

Decided to heed my own advice and step down to 5NL, at least for a few sessions. Bankroll is still healthy but I'd rather step down and reassess my own play. So far booked all winning sessions, which is always a good confidence boost. Nothing too exciting has happened, my overall opinion of 5NL so far is that it seems to play a lot tighter than 10NL, which surprised me. There's a few more passive players, some weird min 3-betting preflop. I've noticed a lot of people cold call 3-bets pre-flop when they're not last to act either but I see that happen pretty regularly at 10NL too.

Off the tables - haven't been able to run for a couple of weeks now, damaged the ligaments in my right knee. Little bit frustrating as I enjoy the head space when I run but the weather hasn't been too great anyway, so not missing out on too much.

Couple of hands from last few sessions:

Hand 1
Pre-flop is pretty standard. I elect to C-bet with good equity. V raises, he can obviously have 88 & 55 but he also has some suited Kx hands and potentially some straight draws. Given the amount already committed to the pot and the fact we're out of position I felt like this was either a fold or a jam. I elected for the latter. I'm interested to know people's thoughts on this sort of thing when we are drawing to the nut flush. Not being results orientated, so whether the hand is a win or loss I'd just prefer to know if it's misplayed on the flop .

PokerStars - $0.05 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 108.2 BB
Hero (SB): 131.4 BB
BB: 100 BB
UTG: 112.4 BB
MP: 107 BB
CO: 100 BB

Hero posts SB 0.4 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has T A

fold, fold, fold, BTN raises to 2.4 BB, Hero raises to 10 BB, fold, BTN calls 7.6 BB

Flop: (21 BB, 2 players) 8 K 5
Hero bets 10.2 BB, BTN raises to 24.4 BB, Hero raises to 121.4 BB and is all-in, BTN calls 73.8 BB and is all-in

Turn: (217.4 BB, 2 players) Q

River: (217.4 BB, 2 players) 6




Hand 2
Pre-flop is standard and I'm happy to call it off if he jams pre-flop BvB. On the flop I felt we have a pretty standard x/call. Given V called a decent size 4-bet pre I don't think he has any of the sets. He can potentially have 99 but I think JJ and maybe even TT are stacking off pre-flop given table positions. This felt like he was getting sticky with an AQ type hand, maybe some other Ax suited combos. Something just really didn't feel right about it, especially given his bet size on a "wet" board (although again, not sure how well it actually connects with our ranges given pre-flop action, so maybe not that wet). However if people believe this is spewy then I'm happy to hear opinions.

PokerStars - $0.05 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 142.2 BB
Hero (SB): 100 BB
BB: 120.8 BB
UTG: 139 BB
MP: 100.6 BB
CO: 135.6 BB

Hero posts SB 0.4 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has A K

fold, fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to 3 BB, BB raises to 10 BB, Hero raises to 25 BB, BB calls 15 BB

Flop: (50 BB, 2 players) 8 5 7
Hero checks, BB bets 15.8 BB, Hero calls 15.8 BB

Turn: (81.6 BB, 2 players) 9
Hero checks, BB bets 25.8 BB, Hero raises to 59.2 BB and is all-in, fold




Hand 3
Pre-flop happy to call the weird mi raise and play against weaker V. The rest of the hand seems pretty standard until the river card. V is repping the flush only. Do we ever find a hero call here given his play on previous streets? Normally when a passive player suddenly starts betting I just assume it's for value and fold.


PokerStars - $0.05 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 103.4 BB
SB: 35 BB
BB: 235.4 BB
UTG: 88.6 BB
Hero (MP): 140 BB
CO: 100 BB

SB posts SB 0.4 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has K 9

fold, Hero raises to 2.4 BB, fold, fold, SB raises to 3.8 BB, BB calls 2.8 BB, Hero calls 1.4 BB

Flop: (11.4 BB, 3 players) 7 K T
SB checks, BB bets 5.4 BB, Hero calls 5.4 BB, fold

Turn: (22.2 BB, 2 players) 5
BB checks, Hero bets 14.2 BB, BB calls 14.2 BB

River: (50.6 BB, 2 players) K
BB bets 48.6 BB, fold



Hand 4
On the flop I called the x/r as I had poistion and I think V can do this sort of play with some Ax and some pair plus SD holdings. I clicked call on the turn without really thinking about it. Should we just be giving up when V continues here? No reads on V and very little hand history.


PokerStars - $0.05 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 91.6 BB
SB: 108.2 BB
BB: 213.2 BB
Hero (UTG): 103.4 BB
MP: 91.6 BB
CO: 666 BB

SB posts SB 0.4 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has 7 7

Hero raises to 2.4 BB, fold, fold, fold, fold, BB calls 1.4 BB

Flop: (5.2 BB, 2 players) 3 5 2
BB checks, Hero bets 2.6 BB, BB raises to 6.6 BB, Hero calls 4 BB

Turn: (18.4 BB, 2 players) 3
BB bets 15 BB, Hero calls 15 BB

River: (48.4 BB, 2 players) 8
BB bets 39.4 BB, fold




Hand 5
This hand isn't very interesting, nothing happens, I'm just posting it for general advice on how to play missed hands in 3-bet pots as the aggressor pre-flop. I regularly find myself in these spots and don't think I play them very well. For example, when I 3-bet AQo in the SBvsBTN, when I miss I usually end up just check folding, which may well be a leak. In this hand - should I be c-betting and repping the Q? It felt weak as I don't have any backdoors other than spiking an A and even then it might not be good. Thoughts? Quite a sweeping generalised question I know but still interesting.


PokerStars - $0.05 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

Hero (BTN): 141.4 BB
SB: 101.8 BB
BB: 104.2 BB
UTG: 103.2 BB
MP: 143.8 BB
CO: 170 BB

SB posts SB 0.4 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has A 4

fold, fold, CO raises to 3 BB, Hero raises to 9 BB, fold, fold, CO calls 6 BB

Flop: (19.4 BB, 2 players) 5 Q 9
CO checks, Hero checks

Turn: (19.4 BB, 2 players) 6
CO bets 13 BB, fold

Having a real hard time of it at the tables at the moment. Every session (even the positive ones) ends with me losing out on some huge pots. I was just up almost 400BB across a few tables during another short session. Just got sucked out on 3 times in a row..

AA all in pre vs AK - flops a straight
AK all in pre vs A9 - rivers a 9
flopped set all-in vs overpair - board runs out for a straight and a chop.

Every session I have to battle back to turn a profit or even break even. Last couple of weeks have felt like a never ending up hill battle. Concentrating on taking notes etc to try and extract value from the players in later hands but wouldn't mind a change in fortunes soon.

EDIT: FFS... add another to the list less than 100 hands later. Some donk jams 66 pre into my AA and binks the flop, **** is tragic.

And another... Top two pair all-in on the flop against a spewy player with an under pair, binks a set on the turn. Can't get out of the slump, I'm running so far under EV it's crazy. My PT4 chart looks upside down! Gunna take a break for the rest of the day. Difficult to maintain a positive mindset with this many beats.

For someone who puts a lot of emphasis on studying and mental game theory this thread sure makes for a slightly embarrassing read. I tried a couple more sessions after cooling off but felt my play was suffering and hand histories confirmed that. So I took a day off and finished some books:

• Re-read The Mental Game of Poker
• The Confidence Gap
• The Happiness Trap

I'm not normally one for these sort of books, I don't know why, that just make me feel a bit cringy. However one of my old flat mates left them to me, so seemed an ideal time to pick them up. Not sure how much I really take from them but was nice to relax too, especially whilst I can't run.

Last 3 sessions have been winning ones. Running slightly above EV, what comes around goes around. I knew that anyway, when I played a couple years ago I was always able to ride the variance. Need to take lessons from the last few weeks.

I'm still playing 5NL, bankroll has recovered and once I win another $50 or so I'll take some shots back at 10NL. Well into "the lab" course on Upswing Poker too, enjoying the content so far. The production quality isn't great on the earlier ones but the content is good, as you'd expect. Really enjoying some of the theory stuff later on. No hand histories to post this time, been posting spots in the discussion forum instead.

Took some notes from Mental Game of Poker and started recording my own excel sheet for each session. PT4 obviously has all my detailed stats, this sheet is more for tracking my overall play and emotions/tilt. It's interesting to see the flow and helps me to identify areas of my mental game that need further work. I found the "inch worm" theory very interesting. I've signed up for the free trial of Amazon Audible, as I noticed there were a fair few poker books on there I've been meaning to try out. I'm listening to "The Mental Game of Poker" first. I just read it but want to reinforce the lessons learned and see if I missed anything, then I have "Elements of Poker" to try.

Study wise - finished the first major sections of The Lab. Into the more detailed lessons now, where steps are broken up into a dozen parts etc. I've found it very interesting so far and there's some great "play along" sessions at all stakes to watch.

Been a mixed few days on the tables. I've controlled my emotions very well, haven't tilted in 3-4 days. If I've felt myself becoming frustrated I've just taken a break and come back refreshed. I'm playing 2-3 smaller sessions per day, rather than one long one. Overall I'm having more winning sessions than I am losing. However my win-rate etc isn't improving at the speed it should be. This is down to 2 main things in my opinion after analysing my database:

1. Too many poorly thought through 3 barrel bluffs
2. Making poor decisions on the flop with big hands

The first point is simple, think through my bluffs more. I would say 50% of the time they're fairly reasonable and my opponent has the hands I want him to fold. However at micros many people simply don't, so I need to factor this in, really this means it's poor play from myself. The other 50% are just silly decisions that were never going to work. These often happen in 3-bet pots when I'm the aggressor and OOP, often with hands like AK that have missed the flop. I've just got GTO+ and Flopzilla, so I'm actively studying (learning to) this spots.

The second point pertains to e.g. nut FD in position 200BB deep facing aggression. I overplay these hands. I get them in with equity but I'm not getting the right odds to be profitable, a lot of the time when I see my opp cards I realise I had no fold equity (e.g. they have a set) and therefore have to hit every time to win. Again, these are spots I need to study.

Overall I can feel myself improving, my mental game is very strong right now and I have a good study/play routine and balance going. However a couple of large bad decisions tend to heavily impact my win rate. This is solely down to holes in my game, which I'm working to improve.

Bit of a rough afternoon session, could have sworn the graph wants to be the other way round . Not been a day for big hands but it happens. I was just getting towards the end of it when someone 4-bet jammed my KK, I fist pumped GII thinking we might get 100BB back. V turned over AA, I was 100% we would suck out but it appears it's a one way street today . Overall I managed to get KK in against AA twice. Still, very happy with my play overall. Will go again this evening looking to break the run bad. Been an unfortunate return to poker so far but I can live with getting the run bad out of the way at the start, better at 5NL then 500NL . Accoring to PT4 my all-in adj BB should have been 278BB at a 32.22BB/100 winrate.

Action hand at end of session, glad I got out of the way, even if I hit it would have been a huge sweat on the river! Would have happily GII on the flop if someone jammed, lucky me really.

PokerStars - $0.05 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 104.8 BB
SB: 66 BB
BB: 124.4 BB
UTG: 146 BB
MP: 234.4 BB
Hero (CO): 138.6 BB

SB posts SB 0.4 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has A J

UTG raises to 3 BB, fold, Hero raises to 9 BB, BTN calls 9 BB, fold, fold, UTG calls 6 BB

Flop: (28.4 BB, 3 players) 7 A 9
UTG checks, Hero bets 12 BB, BTN calls 12 BB, UTG calls 12 BB

Turn: (64.4 BB, 3 players) 8
UTG checks, Hero checks, BTN bets 21.6 BB, UTG raises to 125 BB and is all-in, fold, BTN calls 62.2 BB and is all-in

River: (232 BB, 2 players) 8

Good on you, mental game is so important. I'm currently reading The Mental Game of Poker by Jared Tendler. I'm really hoping to master the concept as well. Also, props to fitness and wellness; that's a huge part of my life as well, and I imagine my mental game and overall play would be worse without it.

Yeah, if I don't exercise in a morning it affects my whole day. I have more energy and feel more alert after a run. Right now my knees are causing me a lot of pain, I'm running with wraps but hasn't been helping too much, think I'll need to take a break soon. Went to a running shop today and had an analyse done, turns out the shoes I have just bought were causing me to have a large pronation through lack of proper support. I always wear neutral shoes but these obviously just aren't the same. Picked up another pair after watching the video analysis, hopefully will help .

It's a great book mate, you won't regret it. You can apply a lot of the learning to life in general. Certain parts of it resonate with me, especially when listening to it on audio-book.. must be because I'm a millennial . Recording my thoughts on emotion control and overall rating of my play helps me to ignore the bad beat sessions that inevitably happen in poker. If I know I played well and controlled myself then I consider a winning session, regardless of monetary outcome.

Exercise is everything to me. I've exercised (lift or cardio, I alternate every other day) at least 360 days a year for the past five years. I can't imagine ever going back.

Re your knees: I'm a lot younger than you presumably (22), but I would recommend looking into a chiropractor and/or the active release technique. Seriously, you don't have to be in pain; aging will cause problems, but my chiropractor (who is active release technique certified) has a patient in his 90s and several in their 80s that are able to run every day thanks to the work he does. When I went to him my triceps tendons and achilles tendons were so ****ed that I couldn't run or lift, and he reset my tendons through the active release technique and has given me so many preventative exercises to do every day, and I haven't been kept out from workouts any day, ever, since. I am stretching every muscle group four times a day.

Also, I'm loving the book! I can completely see how it relates to other parts of my life. I've already found a lot of things that I've applied to multiple aspects of my life so far such as the inchworm theory.

I use to BMX ride every day but started to feel it as I got older. So switched to MTB'ing which I love. Dislocated my (last good) shoulder about a month ago doing some downhill stuff, so been focusing mainly on running whilst recovering. I'm 32, so relatively young but still old compared to you . Will check out some YouTube videos man, thanks for the tip.

Yeah the inch worm theory clicked with me instantly. The idea of reducing the gap between your best and worst by working specifically on your worst is so simple, yet I tend to focus on how to "get better". Quite eye opening, even though it should be common sense.

Taking a weekend off from poker. Been a disastrous week overall. I've run badly, which has been a theme for a week or so but now I can definitely see poor play creeping in. Whereas earlier in the week I could laugh off a rough start to a session, now I can feel beats etc niggling at me. They're not fully tilting me but they're affecting my play. I can also see from my charts where I track my "game-play & tilt" ratings that my averages are slowly creeping down, which is also bad.

Going to carry on filling out all my GTO+ and Flopzilla charts. I'm still working my way through Upswing. Whenever I take a quiz or answer questions whilst watching I score very well, usually 100% when it comes to broad theory etc. However I'm clearly then failing to put these into practice. I remain incredibly driven to climb the stakes and beat them at a decent BB/100 but right now I feel my mindset isn't right to play competitively. I feel like nothing is sinking in and because of it I'm bleeding my bankroll. Not enjoying myself, which means there's no point in playing regardless of results right now.

5NL should be easy as ABC to beat, so I know (regardless of how I'm running) that if I'm losing repeatedly then clearly I'm making basic mistakes.

Ended up studying for 8-10 hours over the last 2 days. I'm into a load of hand review and database analyse sections. It's helped me look at my weaknesses by looking for the same leaks Doug and Ryan have been looking for in peoples databases. Can definitely feel myself starting to apply the teachings, something sort of just clicked this morning. The content in the Upswing Lab is really picking up now and I haven't even tackled the in depth later sections yet, really pleased with the investment. At first I wasn't sure but the way they've laid it out makes sense the further you get into it. Ryan F is really good at explaining how to improve red line in a sensible and effective manner, mine has been positive both sessions today.

A player from here also sweated me for a bit yesterday and gave me some pointers, including for my HUD, which was much appreciated. Cool to see people offering to help micro stakes players for free.

This bullshit hands just wiped out a bit of profit but still up 4BI today and I've played really solid poker, so improvement overall. When I read my posts from the previous day I always think "you can't be running that bad", then hands like these happen again . This guy tank shoved KK, he was actually scared to do it, which made it worse!

PokerStars - $0.05 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 118 BB
SB: 98.2 BB
BB: 100 BB
UTG: 126.6 BB
Hero (MP): 100 BB
CO: 306 BB

SB posts SB 0.4 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has K K

fold, Hero raises to 2.4 BB, fold, BTN raises to 9 BB, fold, fold, Hero raises to 25 BB, BTN raises to 118 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 75 BB and is all-in

Flop: (201.4 BB, 2 players) 9 7 3

Turn: (201.4 BB, 2 players) 7

River: (201.4 BB, 2 players) 5

Hero shows K K (Two Pair, Kings and Sevens)
(Pre 50%, Flop 32%, Turn 40%)
BTN shows K K (Flush, King High)
(Pre 50%, Flop 68%, Turn 60%)
BTN wins 193 BB


Had this hand not long after which helped ease the sting, poker is definitely not dead .

PokerStars - $0.05 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 101.2 BB
Hero (SB): 241.6 BB
BB: 308.2 BB
UTG: 100 BB
MP: 112 BB
CO: 237.8 BB

Hero posts SB 0.4 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has 9 9

fold, MP calls 1 BB, fold, fold, Hero raises to 4 BB, fold, MP calls 3 BB

Flop: (9 BB, 2 players) 9 3 K
Hero bets 3.4 BB, MP raises to 6.8 BB, Hero raises to 18 BB, MP calls 11.2 BB

Turn: (45 BB, 2 players) J
Hero bets 21.6 BB, MP calls 21.6 BB

River: (88.2 BB, 2 players) 6
Hero bets 84.6 BB, MP calls 68.4 BB and is all-in

Another 3-4 hours studying this morning. Played a solid early afternoon session afterwards. Made two mistakes where I called a huge 3bet after miss reading the sizing from a fishy player and another where I bet a turn card where I knew I should have checked and looked to realise more equity on the river. Other than that the session was steady, ran 250BB under EV for the session. I didn't allow the beats to effect my game-play but they clearly still annoyed me as I expected to lose them when I see my opponent turn over the underdog. I would say that shows poor mental strength, rather than acceptance of potential variance. So something to look at and work on.

Pretty demoralising but glad I fought back to even. If I can keep battling and coming out break-even or on top, then when the winds do change I'll be in a great position to maximise profits.

Will have another session this evening and hopefully can get some more volume in to beat the variance.

This afternoon session has been a roller coaster. Been up 4BI (EDIT: just checked and was actually 5BI's!) for most of it. A guy just x/jammed the flop in a 4bet pot with an underpair, I had flopped the nut flush. 300BB pot, he turned a set and rivered a full house. Soul destroying. 100% lost my **** afterwards and had to walk away.

From my end that I can control I made one very bad river call with flopped trips. Chose to slow play against a guy I knew would bet for me, unfortunately he rivered a flush. I knew I should fold but didn't so lost a fairly big pot there. Also didn't maximise my profit from a couple of flopped sets, was too aggressive and blew my opponents off their hands.

So yeah... up a few BI's still, as just won an all-in for 80BB effective with QQ vs A6s but should be up a lot more. Shame there's nothing in the Upswing Lab about avoiding beats, I'd pay extra .