I have been spending some time thinking about what the best way to grind is. Is it mass tables at a comfortable stake? Maybe finding four great tables at one limit higher? Perhaps the best strategy is something in between? What about ultra bum-hunting several levels higher? I constantly find myself thinking of multiple scenarios and continuously flip flop and never truly make decisions. I can find pros and cons to each that seem to cancel each other out.

With mass tabling you likely generate a lot of rakeback but also probably have a few to many tables that are not ideal because of bad lineups. Finding really good games at a stake higher seems to have the benefit of playing in lineups you can beat while at the same time playing regulars that are better than the ones from the stake below. However, the rake generated would likely be considerably lower; thereby, receiving less rakeback. The third option being somewhat of a hybrid between the first two in that we won’t play quite as many tables but the quality of the games will be fairly good. Seems like the best of both worlds doesn’t it? What about the fourth option and just completely bum-hunting several levels higher? Your ev will be pretty high but you have a much larger risk of losing a lot of money.

The other day I was railing a 400nl table which is outside of my skill at the moment but I wanted to see what it was like. I happened across likely the best 400nl table running online at that time. There were two fish that were limping pre and betting min post and two regs. I railed this game for about 10 minutes and couldn’t understand why it didn’t fill in seconds. I tried to assess the risk/reward of playing in this game and I thought it was similar to jamming turn with 2p in a 3bp vs a 2 brl on a flush completing card. It is easily a +ev ship but when called we will be lucky to be ahead so other options should be considered. I knew it would be +ev to play in this game but losing $400+ was a likely outcome. Long story short I played and lost $400 so was it a good decision I wondered?

I don’t regret bum hunting that 400nl game but what do you think, should I have played in this game?

Anyway I made a video where I try to find some playing style reads on regs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9pD...ature=youtu.be

on one of my sites the 400nl euro games are played by 50-100nl regs

you don't need to be good you just need to only play in t he good games

Yeah that sounds pretty great to have 50nl regs in a 400nl line up.

Working on my bluffing game:

I think CO was leatherass in this hand but I have not seen his vids in years so it could have been someone else. I think MP had a King because he tanked for about 1min.

$2 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BB: $244.25
UTG: $292.16
MP: $277.64
CO: $267.63
Hero (BTN): $200.00
SB: $213.70

SB posts SB $1.00, BB posts BB $2.00

Pre Flop: (pot: $3.00) Hero has T A

fold, MP raises to $6.00, CO calls $6.00, Hero raises to $20.00, fold, fold, MP calls $14.00, CO calls $14.00

Flop: ($63.00, 3 players) 9 Q J
MP checks, CO checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($63.00, 3 players) T
MP checks, CO checks, Hero bets $30.00, MP calls $30.00, fold

River: ($123.00, 2 players) 8
MP checks, Hero bets $150.00 and is all-in, fold

Hero wins $120.00

$0.24 was deducted from the pot for the jackpot.

This hand might be spew but i've been told to make these small cbets here and I find this happens a lot so I tried this. I think I will discuss it with my coach because i'm not sure if it was good.

€2 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 5 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

Hero (SB): €203.00
BB: €225.13
UTG: €200.00
CO: €262.90
BTN: €205.25

Hero posts SB €1.00, BB posts BB €2.00

Pre Flop: (pot: €3.00) Hero has Q K

fold, CO raises to €4.00, fold, Hero raises to €14.00, fold, CO calls €10.00

Flop: (€30.00, 2 players) 7 3 2
Hero bets €12.00, CO raises to €26.00, Hero raises to €44.00, CO calls €18.00

Turn: (€118.00, 2 players) 6
Hero bets €44.00, fold

Hero wins €159.00

This one I have no reads but this cb size does not seem to strong and I have some equity but can't face brls. I hit one of my turn brl cards and I fire river because I assume many strong hands shove turn or 3b flop so I think villain has a marginal hand. Not sure if this was a good bluff or not but perhaps it helps I have no spades.

$2 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: $221.24
SB: $191.97
Hero (BB): $232.27
UTG: $224.20
MP: $231.34
CO: $208.75

SB posts SB $1.00, Hero posts BB $2.00

Pre Flop: (pot: $3.00) Hero has 6 4

fold, fold, fold, BTN raises to $5.00, fold, Hero calls $3.00

Flop: ($11.00, 2 players) 4 9 5
Hero checks, BTN bets $5.98, Hero raises to $18.00, BTN calls $12.02

Turn: ($47.00, 2 players) 7
Hero bets $34.00, BTN calls $34.00

River: ($115.00, 2 players) Q
Hero bets $75.00, fold

Hero wins $112.20

This one I think villain will have a lot of one pair type hands and I assumed i'd fold them all. Maybe Jh isn't great for this but I think it was alright.

€1 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

CO: €111.64
BTN: €22.66
SB: €128.85
BB: €134.19
UTG: €100.00
Hero (MP): €131.79

SB posts SB €0.50, BB posts BB €1.00

Pre Flop: (pot: €1.50) Hero has K J

fold, Hero raises to €2.50, fold, fold, fold, BB calls €1.50

Flop: (€5.50, 2 players) T 3 9
BB checks, Hero bets €5.00, BB calls €5.00

Turn: (€15.50, 2 players) 5
BB checks, Hero bets €12.50, BB calls €12.50

River: (€40.50, 2 players) 6
BB checks, Hero bets €27.00, BB calls €27.00

Hero shows K J (High Card, King)
(Pre 28%, Flop 19%, Turn 11%)
BB shows Q Q (One Pair, Queens)
(Pre 72%, Flop 81%, Turn 89%)
BB wins €92.35

Today I lost between $10-15k due to having effectively lost my court case against my tenants for a notice of eviction. I was able to evict them but because they are on welfare, they can get away with not paying. On top of that, when I went to the house after the case to do an inspection I found that they had also robbed me and stole everything in the house. I had left it furnished after I finished school to go back home to live with my mom and so they took it all. I would like to just say these people are scammers and it’s their entire fault but I must accept a certain amount of responsibility. I saw red flags when I leased the place to them but I ignored it. Anyway I will do what I can to not allow them to get away with zero consequences but in the end they got me good.
I wanted to write this post because I have some personality flaws that I don’t know how to overcome. Three major traits in my personality are that I am nice, passive, and generous and although I don’t think these are necessarily bad (being passive seems bad), it does lead to me getting in many situations I’d rather not be in. I consistently allow people to take advantage of me because I don’t want to be an ******* but I should at least look to be more assertive and plan for how I will deal with situations where people can take advantage of me.
Being an ******* doesn’t fit into my personality but some people can pull it off while still being likable. My brother for instance is the biggest jerk I know yet everyone gravitates towards him. He has no problems calling someone an idiot in public if he feels they are acting like one. Even though he is blunt and sometimes cruel, he still does things like buying me $500 jackets on a whim or gives me $5k when I’m in a jam without ever asking for it to be repaid and overall is just the life of the party type of person. If he does happen to refer to me as an idiot I don’t really get offended as I earned a full academic scholarship to one of the best schools in Canada while he never got into a postsecondary school (that helps me shake off the remark easier). However, I always feel guilty about being rude to someone so I often avoid doing so.
About four months ago I bought headphones for my computer for about $60 but after a day I realized I didn’t need them so I was planning to return it to the store but I lost my receipt. I decided I would sell it online when I had the time. My brother in-law asked to use it one day so I said “sure but bring it back because I’m going to sell it”. He brought it back but then a few days later he took them without asking and he hasn’t returned them since. Due to my passive nature I thought he let me use office space in his house and asked for nothing in return so I shouldn’t make a big deal of this and I never asked for them back.
I would often wake up very early to start my grind at about 4:00 am and one morning I was working at my sister’s house and she usually leaves for work at around 6:00 am. She asked me for a ride to the train station and so I said “sure” and stopped my grind to drive her there. The next day she asked again and the next and the next. The way I dealt with this was I started coming over at 6:30am and messing up my own grind schedule just because I didn’t want to give her a ride (I felt like such a weirdo doing this). She eventually started asking me to pick her up from the train station after work and so I ended up moving my setup back to my mom’s house.

My phone has become one of my worst enemies. When my family members call me, 90% of the time it is to ask a favor and because I am incapable of saying “no” I always end up doing it. I have come to hate my phone and now I answer my phone about 20% of the time. As I stopped answering my phone over the last couple months I started receiving more text so then I turned off my phone for most of the day. I have noticed my family looks to me a bit less to ask for favors but my way of dealing with it makes me feel like a creepy weirdo. Over the last three or four months I have become reclusive. I strongly consider changing my phone number and only giving it out to girls and my friends. Nonetheless, even when they call me nowadays it is usually after 7:00pm and I likely already went to bed.
Working on one’s personality is much like working on one’s poker game. As you plug one leak another one pops up. I am a generous person and I like helping people but on my time. I think the problem I am having here is that when people ask for my time I usually don’t have any to give and I can’t find a good way of expressing that so I act like an odd ball and just avoid everyone. On top of my main goals this year I also want to work on myself. I don’t want to change the core of who I am but I do want to be more assertive and find more effective ways of letting people know that they can’t always get what they want from me.
I know this isn’t a life blog, it’s a poker blog but sometimes real life things happen and if there is one place where being a reclusive weirdo is acceptable then surely it must be an online poker community right?

wow tough luck.

thats why i dont rent my house when im not living in it. I dont trust myself allowing the right people. Im also way too helpfull when im offering a service because i want to do it better than others.


This is also why i ***** hate canada more and more every year.

The only people with right after non-workers + haitian or arab immigrants. Rest of the world be damned. Terrorist? welcome to canada. Quality worker from a stable country with no religious views? wait 3 years in limbo with no job or health insurance ****er.

I won't be renting to anyone anymore.



Personal best day. I ran really well though as I cracked AA twice with KK, I chopped a set vs a straight, I got in a straight with a fd and held 3 way, and I made several bluffs that all worked. I do think I played pretty well too but anyone could have won with the setups I got.

I find so much myself in your story. Always trying to be nice to people and all I got from this is that there is more and more stories how people took advantage of me.

I'm also in process of improving on this part and I think I'm doing better and best advice you can get imo is:
Honestly say to people what you think and what you want!

Do it in polite way, be short and explain simple, if they don't understand, then you shouldn't be hanging with that person and avoid them in future.

Like this brother-in-law, call him and say that you need headphones, that they broke or one friend offered you money for it something.
And for sister, just tell her that you have strict working schedule and if she respect you (she don't have respect your job) that she won't ask for that. Like you can do it today and that's it, you have big goals, dreams and really want to make it.


What I realized from looking other examples, like you mentioned your brother, it's not really about what kind of problem we are dealing with, it's just how you set up yourself into others eyes. And you can't do that without telling exactly how things are, what you want and what you think! Problem is that people can't know what you think and that everybody thinks same way as you do (just today I've watched one RIO video where coach mentioned how this concept can be applied in poker ).

So, 1st thing, don't use mobile phone while grinding. Put it on silent and after session when you return calls , say it loud that you were "working" (I was using "playing poker" before, but term "playing" seems not serious) and if you can help them now.
Next time someone wants a favour you don't want to do, just don't do it. Just say that you don't have time for this or whatever. Make some reason or if you don't want it just say loudly. Important is to be loud sometimes.
One solid stuff I'm using is google calendar for productivity and if someone need me something, I just say let me check, look at mobile and say, sorry I can't that time, that're my working hours, I'm very strict following this (it helped me improve my earnings...), maybe some other day. Some people would smile, like, you're using calendar like you're doing something important and not playing cards, but when they see you're serious they will start to value yourself.

Best way is to pay attention to others who have more success in this field. Like in poker, watch them and apply, even try to test them with asking for some ****ty favour. I've learned the most that way, coz I seen examples where if I declined doing same thing, I would think I would look as an *******, but when you see it's not that way, you won't have problems with that anymore.

"If you don't value your time neither will others"

Same apply for your job, way you look on yourself, your stuff...

Gl and gratz on great day

Thanks niveaformen this post was incredibly insightful. I will look to use a lot of these tips. You are right that I am not setting a high enough value on my time so others don't either.

Thanks for the advice!

I decided I will try 200nl almost exclusively now as i've been having some success over a small sample. I had been playing 50nl-200nl at the same time and at times it takes a lot of focus to know what limit i'm playing. I haven't made any big mistakes but I sometimes have to remind my self of the stakes when I am 400bb deep and 50nl and go to make a $20 3b. It just takes away from my focus so i'll play only 200nl for the next couple weeks and see how it goes. I had a stoploss today and after I told my coach I was told to now increase my stoploss to 7bi. I am a bit nervous about it as i've had at least one stoploss per week since starting cfp so I hope to at least go a couple weeks w/o having one.



Next stoploss $1400 hope it doesn't come soon.

Incredibly good advice from niveaformen imo.

Can't believe i read it on this forum...

GL to OP. You remember that case with some payment stuff (don't wanna go into detail in public). But essentially after you kicked their ass and stayed persistent, you got what you wanted. It sucks that you had to be persistent in the first place, but you gotta show some muscle when needed.

@ThinkItThrough Yeah I understand.

I made some changes thanks to some great advice and took some control over how my time is used. I turn off my phone in the mornings and turn it back on in the evening. I get back to people who tried to contact me. I also refused all favors asked of me except for one in which I offered to do. I wasn't rude about these refusals I simply said I was working, I can't, or I don't want to and people took it well. I feel really good about this but it will probably be something I have to work on throughout the year.

Some hands:

I showed my coach this hand and after I get called on flop by both players he thought BU would have a set and BB would have 89 and I lol'd. He is a good hand reader.

$2 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: $236.54
SB: $224.41
BB: $275.58
Hero (UTG): $214.42
MP: $232.20
CO: $291.53

SB posts SB $1.00, BB posts BB $2.00

Pre Flop: (pot: $3.00) Hero has 7 7

Hero raises to $5.00, fold, fold, BTN calls $5.00, fold, BB calls $3.00

Flop: ($16.00, 3 players) 7 3 6
BB checks, Hero checks, BTN bets $10.00, BB calls $10.00, Hero raises to $29.00, BTN calls $19.00, BB calls $19.00

Turn: ($103.00, 3 players) T
BB checks, Hero checks, BTN bets $50.00, BB raises to $241.58 and is all-in, fold, BTN calls $152.54 and is all-in

River: ($508.08, 2 players) J


BB shows 8 9 (Straight, Jack High)

Board #1 (Pre 48%, Flop 26%, Turn 77%)


BTN shows 6 6 (Three of a Kind, Sixes)
Board #1 (Pre 53%, Flop 74%, Turn 23%)


I thought this was great awareness of our ranges

$2 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: $892.45
SB: $292.53
BB: $372.79
Hero (UTG): $200.00
MP: $126.17
CO: $236.84

SB posts SB $1.00, BB posts BB $2.00

Pre Flop: (pot: $3.00) Hero has A K

Hero raises to $5.00, fold, CO calls $5.00, fold, fold, BB calls $3.00

Flop: ($16.00, 3 players) 8 6 K
BB checks, Hero bets $11.00, fold, BB calls $11.00

Turn: ($38.00, 2 players) 2
BB checks, Hero bets $34.47, BB calls $34.47

River: ($106.94, 2 players) 6
BB checks, Hero bets $149.53 and is all-in, BB calls $149.53

Hero shows A K (Two Pair, Kings and Sixes)
(Pre 74%, Flop 84%, Turn 93%)
BB shows Q K (Two Pair, Kings and Sixes)
(Pre 26%, Flop 16%, Turn 7%)
Hero wins $403.20

I have some reasons for this 3brl but what do you guys think?

$2 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: $200.00
SB: $200.00
BB: $255.43
UTG: $200.00
MP: $231.21
Hero (CO): $204.60

SB posts SB $1.00, BB posts BB $2.00

Pre Flop: (pot: $3.00) Hero has 5 4

fold, fold, Hero raises to $5.00, BTN raises to $18.00, fold, fold, Hero raises to $45.00, BTN calls $27.00

Flop: ($93.00, 2 players) 8 K Q
Hero bets $30.00, BTN calls $30.00

Turn: ($153.00, 2 players) 4
Hero bets $30.00, BTN calls $30.00

River: ($213.00, 2 players) 2
Hero bets $99.60 and is all-in, fold

Hero wins $210.20

you're on zoom or is this pstar/ipoker 200nl fast?

Typically trying not to play zoom. but I add a table here and there.

A bit of a cold streak but I still feel good about things. It is infact under 5bi so it is really not a big deal. I am still doing well this week so i'll just keep doing my thing. This is the last two days and i'll probably put in at least another session today.

Three losing days and three winning days this week so not to interesting. I will do a weekly review tomorrow and hopefully I make a little money and can end the week in the black. However, whether I end up in the black or not I am happy I survived the week at 200nl, all is going well and i'm close to saying this is no longer a shot and that I am a 200nl reg.

My weekly review.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-1b...ature=youtu.be



In case you don't want to watch the video, this is my week.

MANIES

low steal pcq is it because regs 3bet too much and flat too much?

Pretty much yeah. A lot of them are playing 60%+ from the blinds vs steals. A bit of my fault I should play more in games where I don't have these villains to my left but I think it makes my success a bit more satisfying that my tables are not the best and i'm still holding my own.

raise 3.5x on btn
they just shut down

I would definitely get more steals if I did that but other issues come up like I lose much more on my raise/folds and a couple other things. I think it is ok if someone wants to 3.5x btn but w/r is the main thing to focus on in that position and overall I don't think there is a difference in w/r based on raise size from the btn as each size has pros and cons.

My long term w/r is pretty good from the btn with 2x and i'm not entirely uncomfortable getting 3b or getting called so i'll stick with this size for now.

I personally would amp up my 3b a lot if someone 3.5x btn and i'm guessing a lot of regs would. I would also fold straight away more often so overall I just don't think I want to start developing a different dynamic in a spot where I already do well.

Over the weekend I went to play in a home game with some friends. They have been asking me for months but I never had the time or really the money but I took them up on their invitation this time. The format was a 6 man Sit N Go $100 buy in and the top 2 usually chop starting stacks 150bb so it just seemed like a really good structure for me. After playing the first game I realized all of them are “fun players” so that made it even that much better.

They did all the live tells i’d heard about like whining about the board or their hand strength before making a bet or raise with the nuts or grabbing for their chips when facing a bet to deter the better when they are weak. It was truly amazing at how awful they played. Anyway I chopped the first game and the second game I had a huge chip lead HU so I gave the guy his buy in back. I don’t know much about roi or anything but I hope they invite me again it seems like I would get HU a lot.

Weekly review
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S466...ature=youtu.be

BTN: $233.31

SB: $200.00
BB: $200.00
UTG: $265.65
MP: $206.00
Hero (CO): $231.28

SB posts SB $1.00, BB posts BB $2.00

Pre Flop: (pot: $3.00) Hero has A Q

fold, fold, Hero raises to $5.00, BTN raises to $14.80, fold, fold, Hero calls $9.80

Flop: ($32.60, 2 players) 9 J 4
Hero checks, BTN bets $24.90, Hero calls $24.90

Turn: ($82.40, 2 players) 6
Hero checks, BTN bets $48.00, Hero calls $48.00

River: ($178.40, 2 players) 7
Hero bets $143.58 and is all-in, BTN calls $143.58

Hero shows A Q (Flush, Ace High)
(Pre 34%, Flop 47%, Turn 27%)
BTN shows Q Q (One Pair, Queens)
(Pre 66%, Flop 53%, Turn 73%)
Hero wins $462.76



Hero (BTN): $209.06
SB: $200.00
BB: $200.00
UTG: $530.95
MP: $495.70
CO: $188.33

SB posts SB $1.00, BB posts BB $2.00

Pre Flop: (pot: $3.00) Hero has 6 6

fold, fold, CO raises to $5.00, Hero calls $5.00, fold, fold

Flop: ($13.00, 2 players) K 6 T
CO bets $9.31, Hero raises to $31.65, CO calls $22.34

Turn: ($76.30, 2 players) 4
CO checks, Hero bets $52.92, CO calls $52.92

River: ($182.14, 2 players) 2
CO checks, Hero bets $119.49 and is all-in, CO calls $98.76 and is all-in

Hero shows 6 6 (Three of a Kind, Sixes)
(Pre 18%, Flop 89%, Turn 95%)
CO shows 7 7 (One Pair, Sevens)
(Pre 82%, Flop 11%, Turn 5%)
Hero wins $376.86



This hand wasn't today but some run good.



BTN: $440.48
Hero (SB): $209.50
BB: $413.70
UTG: $227.09
MP: $310.31
CO: $294.48

Hero posts SB $1.00, BB posts BB $2.00

Pre Flop: (pot: $3.00) Hero has K K

UTG raises to $6.00, fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to $20.00, fold, UTG raises to $41.00, Hero raises to $209.50 and is all-in, UTG calls $168.50

Flop: ($421.00, 2 players) 9 Q Q

Turn: ($421.00, 2 players) J

River: ($421.00, 2 players) T
Players agreed to run it twice.

Flop #2: ($421.00, 2 players) K 9 9

Turn #2: ($421.00, 2 players) 8

River #2: ($421.00, 2 players) 4

Hero shows K K (Straight, King High)
Board #1 (Pre 18%, Flop 10%, Turn 14%)
(Full House, Kings full of Nines)
Board #2 (Pre 18%, Flop 91%, Turn 95%)

UTG shows A A (Two Pair, Aces and Queens)
Board #1 (Pre 82%, Flop 90%, Turn 86%)
(Two Pair, Aces and Nines)
Board #2 (Pre 82%, Flop 9%, Turn 5%)

Hero wins $209.10
Hero wins $209.10

Overall the week is going alright I just got to stay focused.