This is my YTD results. Seems like my skill level is a break even/slightly winning nl5z player. Don't know if I should carry on grinding if I'm not going to change my strategy. But problem is I don't know what the correct strategy is! I need to change the way I play though if I want to beat this game but I don't know what to do...

Interesting that I haven't deposited at all so I'm actually winning with rakeback (lol PS rakeback) but look at that disgusting amount of rake they've taken.



I feel like if I've already played 400k hands this YTD and not improved much then perhaps this game is not for me. But I don't want to do anything else. I like poker only because of the freedom it offers, I don't actually enjoy the mechanics of the game. But once you get to higher stakes you are still at the mercy of chasing whales and bumhunting. So is it really that much more free than other money making pursuits?

I don't know what else I'd want to do in my spare time though but I am disappointed that I haven't progressed naturally out of nl5z just by playing.

nl5z YTD graph (technically on a 150k hand downswing)

This is great advice. OP, you should get a back tattoo of this, post a pic of it itt, and then achieve your goals.

Isn't this only like 5.5bb/100 rake at 5z? That's less than what I'm paying at 50-100nl on ipoker.

If you aren't crushing 5nl consistently, you probably have some major leaks in your game. Try to focus your study on exploiting nits and recs.

Hands:
H1: MP and BTN should mainly be set mining with 99-88 preflop and it all gets there, so the 3bet is definitely too thin. It's closer to folding vs the flop raise tbh.

H2: The funny thing is that he may actually fold vs a half pot bet, as it looks more valuey. Don't bluff like that vs recs. It's not +EV.

Use solvers to develop a strategy, not to check specific combos or to memorize frequencies. Develop heuristics. You know you have to be more aggressive, filter for lines you´re being passive, put them into the solver, see what is the equilibrum strategy, simplify, make notes and build heuritics for you to use in game. Consider building your entire strategy into a playbook you'd be able to check in game (so simplify the way you write them).

See Finding Equilibrium channel, and the videos where he teaches his gf, for a good example of how a playbook would look like, and how to use solvers more effectively.

Go slowly and be patient, this prob will take months if not years, lots of frustrations and setbacks involved. Consider a coach if you want it to be quicker. Like, open your wallet and buy all the hours you really need, not only 1 or 2 for a sample session.

People don´t bluff enough at the micros. They bluff, and you might get some confirmation bias if you see a lot of them in a row, but MDA shows pretty clearly it´s way below what they should be doing. Go figure the lines and formations that are underbluffed, overbluffed etc (or ask your future coach ).

Move away from zoom. You could be beating 5nl reg tables easily by bumhunting them, winning is contagious, give us confidence, and confidence is necessary to improve.

GLGL

Thanks for the comments guys, I’m currently at a BBQ supposed to be enjoying myself but can’t stop thinking about how to beat this game.

I’ve played 25k hands of 5nl reg tables and crushed it so that’s why I’m sticking to zoom because l want to crush that too. Improving is more important than winning at micros for now and zoom puts you in tougher spots.

https://pokerdetox.com/why-you-shoul...-playing-zoom/

Kiranov is a solid reg (at least at the micros and small stakes per his threads and yt channel). He made a BR challenge in the stars.com pool, that you can see here:

LINK

I used to struggle like you, and asked for him to post his stats at 10nl and 25nl, that he very kindly did on page 4. Check his wwsf (and other stats, he posted a lot of them), his redline and some of the HHs. Look at his turn and river barreling, his AF and agg%.

He also has an youtube channel, and seem to have made another (unposted) challenge, with the results being here:

LINK

He played very exploitative obv, which is required to crush these games, but I´m pretty sure this would give you a ceiling on what crushing would be.

And remember, even Finding Equilibrium, a very GTO based guy, said when making the Ariel's vids that it´s better to veer on the side of overaggression than passivity. Think about it and then look at your game.

Seriously, if you really want to keep playing this raketrap called zoom, at least get a coach and pay a lot of hours so you can totally revamp your strategy to smth that stands a chance.

Cheers, and again, good luck!

Hey turtles, sorry to read of your struggles and doubts about pursuing the game. I definitely know the feeling. In your OP you say that you're trying to grind your way to 100nl before finding a CFP, but based on the types of frustrations you're having I think now is the best possible time to apply to one. I'm in Poker Detox, where they teach you certain protocols for playing that massively simplify the game and give you heuristics to crush redline. I'm personally having some issues with the way Detox approaches the game and their CFP, but I'm at a very different place in my poker career than you and the vast majority of players in Detox seem to love it. We've been talking a lot about this recently in my blog on here if you want to check it out.

Thanks everyone for your comments, I shall be checking out the links and blogs.

Had a +6BI session today on nl5z.

Some hands:

1. Maybe I should fold with As blocking bluffs.



2. Fish min 3 bets IP. Almost always nutted but can't seem to fold.



3. Similar as 2.



4. Butchered this hand, wanted value from lower pocket pairs.

H1: Yeah, this texture hits his range so hard that we don´t really dominate any value hand he represents. Maybe JTdd and that´s it, he has so many 2p, sets etc, you´re crushed. And as you mentioned, you block some NFDs he might be bluffing with. Plus the all in being more than 10x your flop cbet sizing.

H2: Looks fine to me. Calling him down would also be fine imo. He's a fish afterall, so you can relax your standards for bluffcatching here. Fish may have worse Qx on this line + the occasional bluff + random ****

H3: Same thing I said + never considering folding tp or better to the turn jam on this spr. The jam would need to be at least 1.5x pot before I could change my mind.

H4: Too merged to reopen the action on the river imho, especially for that sizing. Block would be the only one I could ever think, but I´d rather x river with KK unless villain is a confirmed fish. Only bet tp++ or bluffs on the river vs anyone else. Always think about your range, not only villains.

Back to KK, I would x/f river unless he´s a fish and not a passive one. Even if a reg is opening 53s or 65s UTG (I doubt), and defending them (ambitious thought), that would be obv calls on the flop, they all got there by the river. 55 and 66, not sure if a 5nl reg is turning into a bluff. 99-JJ, he has to be really bad to reopen.

This is an overfolded flop spot vs cbets imho + tight formation (UTG vs SB 3BP), so his value betting range on the river is pretty narrow, and he probably doesn´t bluff enough, if he even end up with any bluff on the river to begin with. So in conclusion still x and folding if he bets.

But again, H4 we can value bet smaller (block sizing) vs fish. In my experience, you get called by worse pps vs them specifically.

1. Didn't think a set would bet turn half pot, I block flushes. Bluffs could be KsX that he 3b pre, unlikely.



2. Perhaps too thin



3. Should I 3b jam river once I block bet induce? Probs just a cooler

H1: Standard calldown. He may have KQ or Q9s playing this same way. Dominating value is enough to justify, regardless of him bluffing enough (he doesn´t, but again, domination).

H2: Too thin to barrel this multiway. You need to tighten up significantly in mwp. Same concept of being merged I pointed in your last HH's.

H3: Definitely close river decision, if we think he flats 87s or 76s pre, might be ok. I'd rather bet bigger then call a raise than try to induce. KK or the quads seem better for that as they block more calls, than 55.

Played some reg tables for fun this evening. I played poorly but still up a buyin over the 1k hands session. Just goes to show how soft reg tables are.

1. Too thin?



2. Should I jam turn?

I'd consider shoving the river here. Most people never 3bet QJ/QT BB vs BTN, so they might be range folding.

Seems too thin. I'd check and probably call it off. People tend to overbluff these spots.


WP