Easy river fold no way you're good more than 0.8% of the time smdh

Why are you not ripping the turn there? Recs aren't folding after bet 3 betting the turn these days are they? (I have no clue, don't play online)

edit: Oops, misread who had what there. Nevermind.

Fish do this crap all the time to "trap"

Where have you been? Hope everything is good

I love the fact that coupdejarnac who literally has 6 posts on 2+2 showed up, as his first post in this thread was something I revisited immediately upon posting here because it was such a thought-provoking post the first time, and I even was fascinated to read my own response of 2019 Aesah. And of course, I try to say it as often as I think of it but I am also so grateful for all of the other regular posters in this thread throughout the years, it really brings me so much joy.

Back to that post, it basically boiled down to "2019 Aesah decided to pursue the 'easy' life of grinding 5/5 NLHE instead of trying to be great in poker. Is he actually happy with this decision, or is he deluding himself because his ego can't handle failure?" It was a really difficult question back then, and also a difficult question now.

I thought long and hard about it today, and I am happy with my decisions. I was listening to a podcast with Runchuks and Jnandez explaining how life has seasons, and just to enjoy that fact rather than resent the winters when your motivation is low. Sure, sometimes I get intrigued (read: sometimes I get tilted as fk) about what could have been if I grinded poker hard with full ambition in the past 8 years. But, instead, I did what I wanted to do, and there is really no price on that. I can't say I have absolutely zero regrets, but overall I really wouldn't have it any other way.

GarlicPepper who plays full time and commentates on LATB was a huge influence on me here. This guy is a poker god in pretty much every aspect IMO, and he also mainly plays 1k cap games. I don't know what his reasons for not playing higher, but I truly believe that it makes way more sense for poker to be a vehicle to have a good life rather than dedicating your life to poker.

The counterarguments of course is that more financial freedom is better. Perhaps it is true for some people, but my biggest struggle is with variance. Even right now, I feel motivated and very clearheaded, it is because I had a good day in poker. If I were down 1k, a measly 5 buy-ins, I probably would not be writing this post right now. I am working on my mental game of course and hoping that I can eventually get over it. I want to be proud of myself for recognizing that.

In summary, everyone has to find their own way. No one else can find it for you

Another hand from the past couple months that I found amusing. River call was scary for sure but villain was an aggro rec who would bet any piece- I just really didn't think it would be physically possible for him to click the check button with any two clubs on the flop, much less AcXc

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

SB: 96.5 BB
Hero (BB): 141.25 BB
UTG: 178.93 BB
MP: 156.64 BB
CO: 98.5 BB
BTN: 127.05 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has K K

fold, MP calls 1 BB, CO calls 1 BB, fold, fold, Hero raises to 5 BB, MP calls 4 BB, CO calls 4 BB

Flop: (15.5 BB, 3 players) 3 T K
Hero checks, MP checks, CO checks

Turn: (15.5 BB, 3 players) 8
Hero checks, MP bets 5 BB, fold, Hero raises to 22.55 BB, MP calls 17.55 BB

River: (60.59 BB, 2 players) 4
Hero checks, MP bets 129.09 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 113.71 BB and is all-in

MP shows A 6 (High Card, Ace)
Hero wins 286 BB

Thanks to all you guys who took the time to read this, and extra thanks to everyone who commented. Sometimes I feel cheesy saying it but I really appreciate it

Really unusual hand. SB leads 3 times without range advantage. Pretty bad beat for him lol but I mean what even is this river play

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

BTN: 83.47 BB
SB: 116.5 BB
BB: 100 BB
Hero (UTG): 289.8 BB
MP: 111.83 BB
CO: 78 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has 9 K

Hero raises to 2.5 BB, fold, CO calls 2.5 BB, fold, SB calls 2 BB, fold

Flop: (8.5 BB, 3 players) A T K
SB bets 4 BB, Hero raises to 12 BB, fold, SB calls 8 BB

Turn: (32.5 BB, 2 players) 9
SB bets 11 BB, Hero raises to 32 BB, SB calls 21 BB

River: (96.5 BB, 2 players) K
SB bets 70 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 70 BB

SB shows A T (Two Pair, Aces and Kings)
Hero wins 234.5 BB

I often lose sight of remembering to have fun in poker. I hope to start spending a bit less time studying the technical aspects of poker than I have been doing, and spend more time consciously devoting time and attention to figuring out how to enjoy poker more.

For full-time players, of course there will be come some times when you must force yourself to play even if you don't want to, but even then, try to think of ways to make it more fun. For recreationals (and pros also) tilt-chasing their losses, try to build the habit of asking yourself "am I having fun right now?" and hopefully it will help you realize that poker will always be there.

One thing that I do differently than most other pros is switching back and forth between NLHE and PLO. It does have the downside of slowing my growth than if I were to focus, but I enjoy the learning process of getting back up to speed. The fresh perspective that comes with the soft reset helps too. 2020 obviously was a crazy year which brought me back to online, which has helped a lot as well (and I doubt I would have chosen to play otherwise)

So yeah, reminder to all readers out there to remember to enjoy poker

What a spot to time out

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

SB: 84.77 BB
BB: 50.5 BB
UTG: 58.46 BB
Hero (MP): 105.2 BB
CO: 187.12 BB
BTN: 279.89 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has 6 A

fold, Hero raises to 2.5 BB, fold, fold, fold, BB calls 1.5 BB

Flop: (5.5 BB, 2 players) K 6 6
BB checks, Hero bets 1.62 BB, BB raises to 48 BB and is all-in, fold

BB wins 8.3 BB
BB has J 8

Mixing in PLO too. Games feel softer, been saying it for years and I believe it still holds true. You don't really see these light stackoffs from MP that often in NLHE anymore

Ignition - $2 PL Hi (6 max) - Omaha Hi - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

MP: 91.41 BB
CO: 94.1 BB
BTN: 136.41 BB
SB: 284.95 BB
Hero (BB): 100 BB
UTG: 105.38 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has Q 8 Q 7

fold, MP calls 1 BB, CO raises to 4.5 BB, fold, fold, Hero calls 3.5 BB, MP calls 3.5 BB

Flop: (14 BB, 3 players) 6 3 9
Hero checks, MP bets 13.3 BB, CO calls 13.3 BB, Hero raises to 66.5 BB, MP raises to 86.91 BB and is all-in, CO raises to 89.6 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 23.1 BB

Turn: (280.11 BB, 3 players) 4

River: (280.11 BB, 3 players) A

Ignition - $2 PL Hi (6 max) - Omaha Hi - 4 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

Hero (BB): 112.79 BB
CO: 82.78 BB
BTN: 129.53 BB
SB: 94.5 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has 7 A J 6

fold, BTN raises to 3.5 BB, fold, Hero calls 2.5 BB

Flop: (7.5 BB, 2 players) K Q 8
Hero checks, BTN checks

Turn: (7.5 BB, 2 players) 5
Hero checks, BTN bets 3.57 BB, Hero raises to 17.82 BB, BTN calls 14.26 BB

River: (43.14 BB, 2 players) 8
Hero bets 41.64 BB, BTN calls 41.64 BB

Hate the river bet on diamond

^ hello 11t why is that?

I have a very low sample size playing in online games so far but it seems that the majority of players are folding all non-boats on river here. On the other hand, villain is likely to have diamonds, and many players do not like folding when they improve on that street.

~~~

wow INTeresting play from villain

Ignition - $2 PL Hi (6 max) - Omaha Hi - 3 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BB: 101.5 BB
Hero (BTN): 108.36 BB
SB: 49.41 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB


Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has 8 Q 7 J

Hero raises to 3.5 BB, fold, BB calls 2.5 BB

Flop: (7.5 BB, 2 players) J 5 J
BB checks, Hero bets 3.57 BB, BB raises to 10.7 BB, Hero calls 7.13 BB

Turn: (28.89 BB, 2 players) J
BB checks, Hero checks

River: (28.89 BB, 2 players) 5
BB checks, Hero bets 13.95 BB, BB raises to 69.73 BB, Hero raises to 94.17 BB and is all-in, fold

He just winds up calling with a bunch of high flushes with blockers, you have no blockers to his blockers etc. The chr itself could be bad but I'm not sure.

took me a solid minute to even figure out what hero has on each street. If river bricks hero has quads with a queen right?

@11t I also feel that this hand is too weak to x/r turn theoretically and also lacks any relevant river blockers. In practice I feel that players in this pool are very imbalanced in having a strong enough range to checkback flop + halfpot brick turn to call. I feel extremely strongly about this in say a 5/10 live PLO game as I can credibly have all sets whereas almost all villains would have only rarely 55 and likely not even top two. Still learning online as we go

@tgiggity LOL! I feel like that has to be one of the simplest PLO hands, there are 3 jacks on the board, I have a jack. "Quads with a queen" is technically true but seems overcomplicated as quads never require kickers in any game

Thanks for the comments!

~~~~~

Back to a recent NLHE hand so tgiggity can read it ^^ surprising UTG fold lol

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

Hero (BB): 138.5 BB
UTG: 106.19 BB
MP: 166.07 BB
CO: 98.78 BB
BTN: 108.66 BB
SB: 99 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has K J

UTG raises to 2.5 BB, MP calls 2.5 BB, fold, BTN calls 2.5 BB, fold, Hero raises to 16 BB, fold, MP calls 13.5 BB, BTN calls 13.5 BB

Flop: (51 BB, 3 players) 7 J 5
Hero bets 17.5 BB, MP calls 17.5 BB, BTN calls 17.5 BB

Turn: (103.5 BB, 3 players) 4
Hero bets 105 BB and is all-in, MP calls 105 BB, fold

River: (313.49 BB, 2 players) 5

True but in normal poker you can play 0, 1 or 2 hole cards instead of being required to use 2 hole cards. So I have to think about it as quads with a queen to make sure I'm using 2 hole cards lol

my initial reaction was that this is one of the simplest boards because I just think "Does anyone have a J? Does anyone have 55? No? OK then whoever has the best NLHE hand wins", compared to thinking "Is there a straight? Wait, is that even the nut straight? etc." However reading your thought process made me think more about it and actually this board is the one that I see players mess up live most frequently (usually with something like AK on a K6333 board thinking they have top pair). The rule is pretty rarely relevant where you can win with one card but not two. It usually happens when you have the nut flush blocker or a straight blocker but people get used to those, this texture is rare

also these days during quarantine when I think of "normal poker", I tend to think of 6-max online NLHE, but otherwise I would usually think that is missing so many key elements. Because while I do frequently enjoy doing math, the main draw of poker for me to begin with was the psychological aspects, thinking of it as a much more similar game to werewolf, or even the simple card game BS, than to chess. Not even to mention the social aspects which are also a big plus

River sizing, I feel I have a ton of 98xx here and I also can't bluff that often because villain has a ton of 98xx as well so raising larger would be too hard to get paid, but wondering if it's better to just go for pot vs. a rec. Only has to work half as often.

Ignition - $2 PL Hi (6 max) - Omaha Hi - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

MP: 81.68 BB
Hero (CO): 273.4 BB
BTN: 33.24 BB
SB: 29 BB
BB: 205.56 BB
UTG: 13.62 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has 8 Q 9 A

fold, MP calls 1 BB, Hero raises to 4.5 BB, fold, fold, BB calls 3.5 BB, MP calls 3.5 BB

Flop: (14 BB, 3 players) T 7 3
BB checks, MP checks, Hero checks

Turn: (14 BB, 3 players) 6
BB bets 13.3 BB, fold, Hero calls 13.3 BB

River: (40.6 BB, 2 players) A
BB bets 38.6 BB, Hero raises to 97.2 BB, BB calls 58.6 BB

Also considering playing live, casinos opened back up in LA this week but hard to weigh the additional epidemic risk

feels like this hand is way too strong to fold but also feels like I don't win often enough in practice to call here

Ignition - $2 PL Hi (6 max) - Omaha Hi - 3 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 48.5 BB
SB: 263.1 BB
Hero (BB): 106.6 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has T A K 8

BTN raises to 3.5 BB, SB calls 3 BB, Hero raises to 14 BB, fold, SB calls 10.5 BB

Flop: (31.5 BB, 2 players) Q 8 9
SB checks, Hero checks

Turn: (31.5 BB, 2 players) 8
SB bets 20 BB, Hero calls 20 BB

River: (71.5 BB, 2 players) T
SB bets 70.5 BB, Hero calls 70.5 BB

Alright so on Sunday I decided I wanted to play some live poker at the Bike but saw online that there were 50 people on the waitlist. NP I'll wait for Monday and go right when I wake up at 11 AM, no way it'll be full. JUST KIDDING 50 person waitlist again.

I feel like it seems illogical to go when the lists are so long, but I think I failed to account for the fact that most of these guys don't know how to use the internet.

Really kinda want to start betting in some 100% check spots vs. live players

Free coaching

Now that my winrates are good over a few hundred thousand hands and I have more confidence online (well they've always been good, sample size was more the issue), I'd like to get back into coaching

The format I'd like to use is reviewing a recorded session of several hundred hands. I recommend using OBS Studio to record the video, then uploading it as a private video to Youtube. But any method will work, Twitch VODs, etc.

Free for the first person who DM's me a link I can open in my browser and watch them play a few hundred hands. Any limits up to NL100 or PLO100

well that was fast (apparently, my requested format favors twitch streamers ). I'll do another one in a couple days to give others time to prepare, and it will be same thing- first person to DM me after I make the post. Let's say roughly 48 hours from now around 3 PM Pacific on Thursday