Week 16

Start bankroll: $3000
Last weeks Profit: $155.94
Overall Profit: $698.68
Today's Bankroll: $3698.68
Goal: $15000

Dear Alchemists,
this week I am writing a somewhat shorter post than usual, as I am still dealing with the aftermath of my knee surgery. Unfortunately, there were more things to repair during the surgery than were seen before on the MRI. I still have to take a lot of pain pills because of it and am still a little dizzy about it. I hope when the stitches are removed on Monday it will finally get a little better. It just feels difficult not to be able to walk from one day to the next and to have to rely a lot on help from others. Without my wife it would have been really hard to manage alone, so I am very grateful to her.
On the poker side, despite this, I was able to play a few small sets with a few tables that went quite ok. I have a hard time concentrating because of the pain and I'm afraid to make many easy mistakes. From the mindset while playing poker I also always unconsciously tried to tell myself that I make normal mistakes only because of my pain. This makes grind much harder overall because I have to look twice to see if I really messed up or not. This is also why I can't play my normal table count. For these reasons, I'm currently studying a lot of game theory and reading the first of two books by Andrew Brokos: "Play Optimal Poker 1 and 2". These are very good books as Dara O`Kearney also recommended. I can only recommend everyone to take a look at the books.

Week 19

Start bankroll: $3000
Last weeks Profit: $555.41
Overall Profit: $1254.09
Today's Bankroll: $4254.09
Goal: $15000

Dear Alchemists,
this week I would like to take this opportunity to let you know that I am joining the pokerstrategy team. I am very happy that my journey in the poker world in the year 2006 now results in a coaching job at the site that I have been a member of for 16 years now.
I am very happy to be able to record videos of tournaments for you in the future, initially in German. On 15.02.2022 I was already interviewed for the English community by Coach Lemon about my poker journey. So if you missed the coaching on Tuesday, I'll be happy to post the link to the video here as soon as it's online. At the moment I'm still working on the stream layout for the first video which will be about my bread and butter format SNGs. Of course I will continue to participate in the BR-Challenge and continue to maintain this blog, which I owe all this. This will also allow me to offer private coaching, which I am particularly looking forward to.
On the health side, I'm slowly getting better and I hope that after my knee surgery I can finally start to put some weight on my leg again. So things are finally moving forward again and I am very happy to have managed these difficult times well thanks to my family and especially my wife.
At this point I would like to end with one of my favorite quotes from the late Mike Sexton:

"May all of your cards be live and may all of you pots be monsters."


Regards

bennie

| twitter | discord |

Week 21

Start bankroll: $3000
Last weeks Profit: $239.92
Overall Profit: $1494.01
Today's Bankroll: $4494.01
Goal: $15000

Dear Alchemists,
I hope you are doing well in these difficult times. In such days it is certainly just as difficult for you to concentrate on everyday life. Especially when after so many years the war is again at Europe's gates and you just wonder why it had to come to this. For this reason I would like to use the beginning of this block to again explicitly condemn any form of violence. On such days I mourn very much and the many children these so something must witness.
Despite this, I have committed myself within the BR-Challenge to write this blog, which of course I want to comply.
Unfortunately, I can not yet show you my first videos for beginners, as I had hoped. Unfortunately BetOnline forbids any recording of videos, which is why my account must first be activated for advertising purposes. I hope this will work soon and I can present you the first results. I am already looking forward to feedback from you and can hardly start to produce content.
My own grind is running ok so far. I'm slowly making progress and trying to learn as much as I can before it starts so I can didactically process my knowledge for you guys.
After my last interview with Lemon I decided to go back to my old grinding routine and see if I can get up early. I have assumed as motivations as a small challenge with a friend in which in until next Wednesday 3x at 5:45 must get up. If I don't manage it, I have to try again to get up at 4 o'clock on 4 days. The important thing is that we have to sleep at least 3 hours before, otherwise the day doesn't count. In the same way, once you get up, you can't lie down on your ear again. For this we write each other messages in the morning on the respective days to control this. In addition, his girlfriend is involved around my wife, so that they control whether we really do that.
Finally, I would like to say that my health is still not better and I am still trying to adapt to the partial load on my knee. I need more time to get fit again. That's it for today. Greetings

Week 24

Start bankroll: $3000
Last weeks Profit: -$23.62
Overall Profit: $1470.39
Today's Bankroll: $4470.39
Goal: $15000

Dear Alchemists,
slowly my leg is getting better and I am looking forward to start the physiotherapy next week. This but only on the sidelines because actually I am very happy with my results in the last two weeks. Since I only play mtt on the Stars account most of the time it just takes time to see results because of the variance. Especially since I can only play four tables per poker site my winnings always spread out. I have, although I play poker for so long, never really dared to play on Stars, because I found on other site always easier to grind. Therefore, no winnings and little to no SNG's have been played on the account before and even if times had played a little there I'm always incredibly bad run. Somehow I was, although it beat equal limit for a long time, somehow on stars in the made and had rather negative thoughts when I played there. That, although I have always dealt a lot with poker mindset and actually knew that is complete nonsense and just variance. However, I always avoided it because other sites were better and since poker is all about how much money you win, I never tried it again.
That's why I'm so happy after all this time of learning how to switch from SNG's to MTT's to finally see small successes and my first small heater and that too on Stars. I am super motivated and hope to show you soon my first video for pokerstrategy. We are still working on the layout but I have already written the PowerPoint with the results. That's it for today, see you in a few days.

Week 26

Start bankroll: $3000
Last weeks Profit: $1157.7
Overall Profit: $2628.09
Today's Bankroll: $5628.09
Goal: $15000

Dear Alchemists,
You may be surprised that I am writing outside of my 2-week ritual. However, I would like to take this opportunity to introduce you to my Twitch channel.
To celebrate this I will be streaming my Sunday Majors for Pokerstrategy this Sunday. Among other things, I'll be playing both anniversary tournaments on Stars and GG as well as other low to midstakes MTT's on party poker. Of course the streams will continue in case I play the next few days.
I'm still working on my twitch channel and am very grateful for construtive criticism and friendly advice. I hope my old PC can handle it all, so I'm very happy that poker doesn't need that much resources.

We will start at 18:00 GMT+1 and I would be very happy if you drop by.


regards

ben.nie

regards

maniac

| twitter | discord | blog | private coaching | twitch |

turned 5$ into a new career best

Dear Alchemists,

A lot has happened in the last three weeks, at least technically in poker. Healthwise I'm still working hard to get fit again. But more about that another time.
Finally had my first Twitch stream and have to say that my PC is just too bad for it. Way too many frame drops and problems with the software meant that I couldn't stream like I wanted to. Nevertheless it was a lot of fun and I think in the long run I will have to spend some of my winnings on a new PC.
I am quite happy with my results over the three weeks. I am so far in order in the jubilee Milly gerunnt. The following weeks went much better, which is why I was able to post a new career high. After that I had a few smaller ones between 500 and 300, but I didn't want to post them all. I'm rather modest about such things, but I don't know if I should post something like that so that it makes a better impression on others. Maybe then I get more people who would be interested in my coaching. I would be very happy about feedback on this.
I got my layout from Pokerstrategy today and it looks great. I have attached a part of the cover picture. I will record the first video for you before I go on vacation.

I'm also looking forward to my family, because on Friday I'm going home to my parents and then I'm going on vacation with my parents. Had booked the vacation before Covid and always had to postpone. I can't do much there yet, but I don't want to cancel the vacation again.

I still look once a day in the forums and in my chats to answer your questions. Even on vacation I love to read a little bit cant help myself its has to be some poker stuff. I hope to finish reading the two Brokos books and to create many aggregated pio reports.

Week 27

Start bankroll: $3000
Last weeks Profit: $1266.5
Overall Profit: $3894.59
Today's Bankroll: $6894.59
Goal: $15000

Dear alchemists,
In the last two weeks I don't have much new to report for you. Poker-technically I have only read a little on the Brokos books instead I spent a lot of time with my family at the North Sea. Even though we were all sick most of the time, we were together. For me it is important to let poker be poker and to concentrate on other things or just to rest to get healthy again. I think I slept as much as I have in the last two years together. Must have had some catching up on sleep.
Nevertheless, before I left, I finished the first video for you. I really hope that this will be published soon by pokerstrategy. I already have ideas for more. Furthermore I am very happy to grind again myself. Let's see, how I will combine my sleeping time with my playing hours. I have a nice sleeping rhythm right now and actually want to keep it up. The problem with that is that if I keep it, poker gets a bit of a normal work day where I get up early and do my stuff. Just like a 7 in the morning to 5 in the afternoon job. Actually, what I like about poker is that you can do things when you want, but this is traditionally more of an unhealthy sleep pattern for me at least. Since this is however again bad for poker, because one is simply not so fit, physically. Furthermore, from a European point of view, the more unhealthy the rithm, the better it is for one's own grind, because then the table or tournament selection is often better. Finally, an important factor for me is always the so-called time on task, which means when do I have more time to really focus only on poker. When I grind during the day, I have a lot more things to distract me than at night. As you can see, there are different physiological factors that can influence this when choosing when to play, regardless of the poker formats themselves. Which each of you must decide for yourselves how they suit you best.
Let's see I will write you for what I have decided.

Week 29

Start bankroll: $3000
Last weeks Profit: $0
Overall Profit: $3894.59
Today's Bankroll: $6894.59
Goal: $15000

Nice progress, subbed!

Dear Alchemists,
in the last weeks I produced a lot of content for Pokerstrategy. A video of it has already come out for the german community. I started with a SNG video for beginners and will continue to record more videos on MTTs. I hope very much that I can translate the videos also for the english community. Then everything would have something from it and for me it is not substantially more work. The first two videos are already done and I hope they will be released soon. So if you have any feedback or wishes you can write me and I will try to take them into consideration.
So when I'm not recording videos, I've been busy learning myself so I can give you more content on higher stakes in videos soon. But first I have to generate more samplesize on the limits and I also have the claim to want to beat them sustainably before I do that. So the resolutions are already good now I just have to run according to that, which was not the case after the many weeks full of winnings. Now I have to continue to learn and work concentrated and not let such momentary setbacks stop me. That's it for today. For a change short and crisp.

Week 32

Start bankroll: $3000
Last weeks Profit: $-369.94
Overall Profit: $3524.65
Today's Bankroll: $6524.65
Goal: $15000

Feeling super pumped to build a PC after such a long time.

Dear Alchemists,
I am very happy to inform you that things are finally progressing. The PC is finished (pictures are attached) and my health is better. I couldn't play much because of the PC and some private problems, but I'm looking forward to the future. As soon as everything is cleared up on the private side, I can concentrate more on playing again. In any case, I'm very happy that you like my two German Beginner Videos. Your positive comments motivate me to produce even more didactically reduced, high quality content for you. Also, I am very happy that Pokerstrategy supports me with a Homework Raffle. I wish you all good luck with answering and with the raffle. Don't worry, the assignments will of course be more challenging and always remember, you're not doing this for me, you're doing it all on your own so you can comprehend and internalize the content. The important thing is that you can recall what you have learned without thinking much like driving a car, so we can learn more content together. Thanks again from my side.

Week 36

Start bankroll: $3000
Last weeks Profit: $243.96
Overall Profit: $3768.61
Today's Bankroll: $6768.61
Goal: $15000

Dear Alchemists,
I am very happy to announce that my second MTT video has come out in German. I would be very happy if you stop by and of course do the homework on it. Unfortunately I myself couldn't play that much besides my private coaching sessions due to private differences. Nevertheless, it is very important for me not to stop learning more about poker despite that. Even when I don't have so much time to play, I read and work on my game.
So I can only advise everyone to remember that for the beginning it is quite normal to work on your game as much as you play.
I understand very well that we would much rather play than learn about poker, however, in my experience, it is just as important that we continue to develop. Because the more we develop, the higher our roi will inevitably be.
So maybe it's easy for you to see learning about poker as increasing your probability of winning over time.

Week 39
Start bankroll: $3000
Last weeks Profit: -$4.64
Overall Profit: $3763.97
Today's Bankroll: $6763.97
Goal: $15000

Dear Alchemists,
unfortunately I have no positive news for you this week. Disappointingly, I was not able to play poker or produce videos for you in the last two weeks. But I'll make up for it in the next week and will record several videos for my beginner MTT course.
On the personal side, I'm finally getting fit again and will be able to start jogging again soon after this long time. I am really looking forward to it.

Furthermore, my personal differences unfortunately ended badly, so I decided to separate from my wife. Sometimes you fight and do everything in your power to make it work, however, it always takes two there. No relationship is perfect or even close to it, but if you don't want to work on it anymore, there isn't much hope either.
I am someone who very, very much does not like to give up, which is why I gave everything I had until the end.
The thought of maybe finding someone in the future who appreciates me and my character doesn't make it any less difficult for me these days. Especially when you are 39 years old and just a few kilos too many on your ribs. Although I did have to give up a toxic relationship, that doesn't mean I'm giving up on life. These are harsh setbacks along with the extension of my probationary period as a teacher, but since I have always been an optimist who is cheerful to the core, I don't let that stop me. I believe in myself and now I have another chance to fulfill my dreams. Whether that be with poker, my phd in physics, my fitness, or finding a new love someday.
The important thing these days is that I stay completely with myself, continue to form my good habits into routines and work on myself.
Of course, I'm also even very afraid that I won't make it and not even a little. However,if I let these negative feelings guide me, these bad feelings only multiply instead of me getting better.
I decided to end my relationship because I couldn't take it anymore and otherwise I might have become severely depressed myself. To keep that from happening, I wrote and journal, meditate (Primed Mind) a lot, and got outside help both mentally and athletically. I just don't want to leave anything to chance anymore and see this now as one of my last chances (last I think is too pathetic) to be really happy with my life from the bottom of my heart.

At this point I would like to draw your attention to the danger of mental illnesses, which are unfortunately still too much under the radar in our society. So if, like me, you are not sure whether you might be affected, please get help from professionals. The first sessions are always probationary, not written in any file and completely free. Even if in the end it comes out that you are better off in the coaching field, at least you have the certainty for yourself. My experience in this area has been entirely positive and if you want to learn more about such topics from the internet, I'd check out Elliot Roe's stuff, who is a luminary in the field.

A more personal blog than usual, but writing just helps me process everything myself at the moment and continue to look positively into the future. If you have questions about specific things, just send me a private message, I'll be happy to help.

Week 41

Start bankroll: $3000
Last weeks Profit: $0
Overall Profit: $3763.97
Today's Bankroll: $6763.97
Goal: $15000