I finally understand how to get ur redline to go up

no one is taking into account the added bragpost equity and the fact that everyone stopped bluffing d7 overnight

and call a river shove with 33 on KQ954 with a flush possible

River calls don’t affect redlines fwiw

They affect: if you fold your redline goes down and your blue line stay the same. Now if you call your red line stays the same and blue line changes

ok yeah I was trying to say that it doesn’t make it go up; but it doesn’t make it go down, I should have worded it diff. Thx

I mean the main reason high stakes players like llinus have winning redlines isn't because they bluff all the time but mostly because they also call down a lot

Hello Donald,

I just found your blog. I never wrote anything for 2+2 but your situation is so much similar to my one in the past. It’s might be a strange first comment from a guy you don’t know but your story means a lot to me.

I also played poker for 9 years, I also had a coaching team with over 20 students and I also tried to play poker and go to uni at the same time. On august 2017 I had basically the same mental collapse as you.

There are small differences, like to me it was enough to take meds for a month but on the other hand it took me much more to get back on track socially. My partners wanted me to leave the team so I found myself in completely lonely situation where I left school for the team but I was not even a member of it anymore. To me it was so painful that everytime I tried to play again I felt myself super annoyed and after almost 2 years I still haven’t played and still haven’t really find out what to do next.

You are now insipiring me to at least consider play again. Big thank you for sharing your story, it was super brave from you.

Updated Ponty on skype about this, but incase anyone is interested - I paid some guy $158 on fiverr and he did a few things to boost our SEO - most notably he halved the loading time on our site on both mobile and desktop (mainly by compressing some images and maybe something about a cache not sure). Anyway, the Thursday before it was finished we had X visitors to the site, of which 3% came from search engines. The Thursday after (no social media activity either day) we had 1.6X, or which roughly 20% came from search engines. Obv large sample size issues here, but possible there was some difference made. We're also getting hits from search engines other than google for once (most notably duckduckgo) but yeah, seems likely the investment will show some return over time.

Taking it pretty slow with the site overall rn, actually one thing I'm doing is talking to a few developers about the prospect of putting up a HH converter, might drive some extra traffic but not really sure what it would be worth to us, probably next to nothing tbh, but it's one of these things that is almost 0 work once it's up and it works, and I imagine will help things along.

Cheers Max

Think it's a pretty bad manner value shove with the As, haven't simmed it though.

Cheers budddyyyyyyyyyy. The boys just love to fold tbh. And hate to Vbet thin.

No te creo amigo!



****22 hand went here ****

Gattem!

Thank you very much my brother, just caught up on your thread actually I'll be following

A fair summary

Quack quack

Lol, yup we might've got the instant quit for this one

Stick that up your piosolver

I mean it was one of those, I rolled I think a 2 and I knew I was calling. Was honestly already pissing myself before I called, was pretty confident I was good lol

Think this was regarding the A5 hand.... IDK man I'm just clicking some buttons, playing my ranges. Me sientes?

Lol, nah he's a warrior he'll be back. Thanks mang!

Tilt equity is a real thing

When you know, you know



Yes, you're quite right. Flop, turn and river are all 0% frequency in PIO. But I can't be out here grinding all day every day and making no mistakes, can I?

FWIW at this stack depth IP is meant to call basically every FD OTT, and I'm fairly sure this guy would shove them very, very often. The river call is about -14bb (looooool), -1bb with a heart.

Also, his play is literally 100% freq all streets lmfao. But I have his cash! What a silly game we play

I did it all for the redline, the redline.

Lololol, nuclear superheat engaged for sure.

Definitely this, solvers can't teach you to have massive bollocks

JT folds flop, FDs (imooooo) shove turn ====== he has 76 or 63, I call.

Quite.

Indeed!

Exactly, it's 14 fockin BB who cares?????

Precisely, sometimes you gotta take a stand and let them know who's boss.

Rapidesh most underrated strat poster on 2p2 ainec

Sounds ez

Hey man - thanks for taking the time to post, sounds like you've really been through it. I'm pretty surprised you were advised/allowed to just take meds for 1 month, first time around I took them for 5-6 and apparently that was still less than is advised. But whatever works for you I guess. I can definitely identify with the difficulties of getting back to normal socially - I had to be super deliberate about this and make sure I was doing something/seeing someone every day. I think it was and is especially important because I live alone, for me the Jiu Jitsu place just down the road really filled that gap. GL with it if you do get back to poker - honestly for me I considered just chucking it all in (I have a friend who likes to remind me that I told him I was probably in the downer I never recover from when I started back at 200nlz ) but I think it gives me a sense of purpose - that and coaching. I guess I'm extremely lucky to be working with some super understanding and just downright good guys who all stepped up big time for me when I needed them.

==============================

What goes up, must come down



Probably playing a few too many tables, was also self-scripting a few higher stakes tables and yeah, rough couple of days. Will be more careful about table count and game selection when I get back to it, though honestly I think I played fine - haven't been poc 2'ing guys too much Thankfully my chica has a couple days off so been chilling today, going out tonight and will be chilling tomorrow

Back at it Tuesday, month at -8k over 30k hands, 8 days to rostucko. Gonna be a tough one!

Gl out there,

D7

Mexican IP < Scotty IP obvs

gl with the regrind - i'm in a similar situation

<3

Well, I believe every situation is different. The first doctor I met adviced me to get an injection every month for my whole life (he also din’t understand that playing poker is not gambling for me and treated me as addicted during that 1 meeting). Then I went to my current one, who looks like understands me and even if she not advise it she accept that I prefer not to take them. Meds is in my bedroom, I moved home and don’t plan to live alone and I have the plan if something happens. Now I even think I am to cautious with my aprroach and far from to agressive.

Not taking meds was obviously a big choice. I read a lot of studies and articles about it. As I see it my situation now, the whole thing was much more related to the lifestyle I was living and the social circle I was in/ not in that time. That year I was just set up a coaching team from 1 person to 25 students and I also tried to play a ton so I had way to many stress and I think my life was in a wrong direction.

It was 2 years ago and it looks like it’s working, but anything can happen. Whole situation sounds much worse than it is I think and my current social circle don’t even notice anything from this. Nowadays I actually see it as a good think as I got closer to the people who really matters.

Anyway, It was already to much about me in you thread . I hope this might helps you or other readers a bit, to me it was a big help to talk open about this.

Haha, definitely this - my month just ended when my internet had some kind of meltdown and I timed out of all my tables GJ on the regrind, 1/2 of us aint bad!

Interesting - I've probably mentioned somewhere in this thread, but I read a book called 'Anatomy of an Epidemic' which basically came to the same conclusion that you did - the medicines which **** with your brain chemistry have a dubious history and not exactly bulletproof evidence for their efficacy. In some cases it looks like they actually make things worse in the long run, despite obviously helping control the worst of the symptoms in times of crisis. IDK, honestly I've just been trying not to think of this stuff too much - it's worrying to think I might be compromising my health long term by taking my pills, but basically everyone in my life strongly feels I should keep taking them, so what can I do - not trying to stress out those I love. One notable exception as it turns out is my GF's mum - we had big talk about how more and more people (especially children) are being diagnosed with mental health problems and doped up. Scary **** tbh. Anyways, much respect to you for talking about it all publicly, wishing you all the best

===========================

Soooooooooooo,

The results are in, and it's not pretty





Strange as it sounds, I'm actually not all that unhappy with how the month went. I've probably run as many sims in April as in the previous 3 months combined, I played good volume/game selection and I think I played reasonably well in obviously kinda difficult circumstances. There were certainly a few times I got frustrated in game due to just not being able to win/make a hand, but largely I think I did a reasonably good job with those factors under my control.

Life-wise, I'm thoroughly enjoying my time out here in Mexico - been to a new beach and a few new cenotes, plus been eating as much fish ceviche as a human body can handle, its actually adsrud how tasty it is.

I fly home back to London on Monday, might make my way into town to see the boys depending how I feel and who's where. Besides that, not much to do but keep on keeping on - I guess it's somewhat controversial that I moved up in the midst of a nasty downtick, but I think it was correct given the opportunities thrown up by the lobby changes. Not gonna be stupid/stubborn about it, I'll move down if I feel I need to - no excuses on volume though, shooting for at least 40k hands again next month. Though, my psychiatrist did note that my last episode was just after a long journey east, so yeah - everything conditional on staying healthy

GL out there!

Not strange at all IMO; losing periods tend to allow me to think far more sincerely about how my Poker's going. Therefore, if you feel good about how you played, and lost, then that speaks volumes.

Best of luck grinding out of it

think the ADHD craze and parents not wanting to educate their children is leading to the rise in doping them up, my step sister started giving her son one of these ADHD drugs when he was ****in 3 yrs old

Your step sister is making a huge mistake. WTF IS SHE THINKING?
You should say something to her

Sup guys - late notice, but wanted to give the thread a quick bump to let you know I'm selling some of the higher SCOOP timbeys. If you're interested, thread is here: https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/1...019-a-1743027/

Peace!

Bit late but gl man with the mental and poker grind!

Hope the stable is going well.

unlucky on the month lad. scoop bink incoming tho <3

Thanks man

Wow, yeah I knew this was happening but crazy it's happening to someone so close to you. I like to believe I'd step up and say something on the kid's behalf in that situation, but obv family situations can be pretty delicate so idk.

Thanks man! Stable is going good - still time to make our June intake if anyone's interested, details https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/1...d-br0-1707797/



I wiiiiiiiiiiiish


================================


So, scoop over, time to assess the damage and reevaluate. The bigger tourneys went about as bad as they could've gone - after mincashing the opening 2k I bricked 13 in a row. I think I made a mistake basically switching formats to purely MTTs for the whole 2 weeks - probably a better plan would've been to play the 3 sundays, but stick to the normal cash grind through the week. I think the increase in hourly playing MTTs is probably marginal at best through the week (especially given I was 6 tabling max), while obviously the level of variance is basically incomparable. That said, I did enjoy switching up the grind for a while - lots of weird spots thrown up by playing 8 handed rake free with antes, ICM pressure stuff, varying stack sizes etc. Definitely feel like I have a more solid understanding of low SPR spots in general too.

So after 2 medium-heavy losing months in a row, I'm definitely going to drop my highest stakes for a while and rebuild. My instinct is to set some goals for the month of June, but actually there's no reason to write off these last 4 days of May. I need to get back in the habit of grinding every night, so I'll just set the goal of playing 1 session every evening to close out the month. Got 2 smallish trips planned in June - going up to Elgin for my Granny's 90th birthday, then have a wedding in France on 1st July which I'll arrive couple days early for, so probably 50k hands is a good achievable goal. Looking forward to getting back into the regular grind

GL out there,

D7

What's up guys, long time no update.

Predictably given the above, poker has been going bad. I'm on my biggest downswing ever in terms of buyins, around 85BI down from peak, 54 buyins adjusting for EV. Been reviewing hands sporadically with the other bitb coaches, and had some guys I trust look through my database - plenty of things to improve on, so trying to focus on those and also trying to view this stretch as an opportunity to work on my mental game. Although I obviously have been, I don't want to be one of those guys who only updates when things are going great, so here it is in all it's glory.

May (Mostly played SCOOP, which went bad)





June





July





August





September I've played exactly 3 days so far - stars offered me a $4k bonus if I raked $10k in a month so I set out to do it, snap lost many more BIs, gave up.





Overall from peak to present, drumroll please:





So yeah, fair to say that it's not been going great. As always though, there's nothing I can do to force good results, in order to get things flowing my way again I just need to refocus on what is within my control - how well I'm applying myself both on and off the tables.

On days where I'd rather not play poker, I've been staying productive making content and overhauling the website, I think it's now doing a much better job of giving people what they want when they arrive at the site. I also started a new article series on bankroll building here for all you nano/microstakes heros out there lurking - I have somehow misplaced my plan for the rest of the series but I'll probably pick that up again one day soon.

===========================================

Anyways, work stuff is work stuff. Life-wise, things have been going really pretty well. My girlfriend has been over from Mexico and that's gone about as well as I could've hoped. I think she's a little frustrated to be spending so much time not working (she's only got a tourist visa) but she's been handling it pretty well. She flies home to Mexico a month today, I've already booked to go see her for 40 days right after Xmas - finally picked an appropriate month to head out there so looking forward to that.

Here's a photo of us from the wedding we were at in Paris:



That was a pretty sick time - the reception was on a boat where we cruised up the Seine, passed the Louvre, Notre Dame and under like 38 bridges or something.

Later in July I went up north for the annual Brora beys golf trip - didn't manage to retain my title but played decent, think I came (distant) 2nd overall. We had the most calm conditions we've ever had by quite a long way, and the grass hadn't fully recovered from the crazy heatwave summer we had last year, so it was playing veeeeeery forgiving off the tee - not really into my strengths as more of a scrambler. But it was soooooo nice to have a week of almost wall-to-wall sunshine, shorts weather every day is not something you can take for granted

Some photos:











August was a momentous month as I finally made my first appearance for the Barcelona trip with the poker boys! There was a massive crew in, something like 25 IIRC including a big Vienna contingent. Had a great time catching up with everyone and meeting some new guys from the poker world - was a really nice pace of trip, didn't try and pack too much into any 1 day. Honestly the tourist stuff we did do (Las Ramblas, Sagrada Familia) was pretty meh, my favourite memories of the trip are some good breakfasts with great people, chilling at the beach and of course the Edinburgh crew showing who's boss at bouldering The club nights involve less of the memories, but I'm fairly sure fun was had

The main happening in September so far was my 30th birthday celebration - I booked a big house near Carrbridge in Scotland and basically used that as a base for walking in the day, boozing in the night. We had a clear but windy week, so we didn't end up climbing any munros, instead we mainly walked through forests/around lochs. It worked out really well - basically the poker boys came from Monday to Thursday, and my normal/working friends came over the weekend.

Some more photos:

Top of Meall a' Bhuachaille (aka the Shepard's hill) on my birthday. This is a Corbett (i.e. between 2 and 3k feet high).



Next day we went Clay Pigeon Shooting. Stevie MVP ldo





Think this was loch garten, but not sure:



So anyway, yeah that was a great success, glad I marked such a big birthday with a trip like that, though renting such a nice place seemed like a better idea before I dropped 30-40k playing poker

I guess I better wrap this up here, feels like this post is already super long, but I guess that's what happens when you don't update for 4 months!

I'll leave you with some zen goodness I recorded last night:



Gl out there gang!

Impressive piano skills mate. Einaudi has been my go to grind music for a few years now.

Pretty savage stuff on the 80 buyin downer. You seem to be handling it pretty well though. My mental game is fkn dreadful, so even a recent 40 buy in downswing had me questioning every single aspect of my game.

You seem to be crushing it in life off of the tables. Good luck for the rest of the year!

Abbbsoluteellyy unreal piano skills mate <3 Ludovico. You improved a lot since upload

And the setting for Brora golf club looks unreal too.

Lovely photo of the both of you!

UL on the poker front, I'm sure it'll turn soon enough <3

Much to my eternal shame I have never climbed anything higher than a Corbet (Goat Fell on Arran). Really should do at least one Munro.