Hey guys, it’s been a few months since I last posted on two plus two. 2019 was definitely not the year I hoped it would be poker wise. Off the table though it was pretty good and it really made me wonder if I should still play this game. I spent a lot of time playing and studying so I felt there was definitely some opportunity cost if I continued. But after a lot of back and forth and some time off I have decided I will continue to play in 2020.

In order to not repeat what happened last year my plan is to really trust myself. I have had a lot of coaches, cfps, courses, etc. and I’ve always been looking for answers from someone else instead of putting in the work and trusting myself. I also kept changing my strategy and study methods depending on the coach instead of sticking to one methodology. Lastly, I will post my goals and updates to this blog monthly instead of weekly unless I have anything interesting to share. This way it will be a bit better mentally for me. It was very disheartening posting losing graphs every single week. I think it might’ve added some pressure to win in the short term instead of thinking about the long term.

So to begin 2020 here are my January goals:

- 75k hands
- 30-40 hours of study
- Discuss hands & strategy with friends daily
- Feel confident enough to shoot 100z

Let’s have a great year!

Played some mtt's for fun tonight and ended up getting second in the hot $4.40. Nice to get lucky sometimes. Wish I could've closed it out. Oh well, next time!

Just finished reading the wrap up from the end of the year.
Just curious, in broad terms why you think you've had such a tough go of it? Do you just feel out matched a lot, like everyone knows your hands all the time? Hard to get paid off? Losing too many big pot but winning small ones? Is it certain spots really holding you down? I know it's been a lot of hands but do you feel like it's just been bad luck?
This is like the nightmare scenario for me as well - putting in all the time and effort but just not winning. Wondering how you just 'feel' about the whole thing.
GL going forward!

Good questions.

1. I definitely don't feel outmatched. In fact, that is one of the most frustrating parts. Especially on Pokerstars, where you have 3-4 recs at every table and I know people who I don't think are as good as me have a win rate.

2. I don't think it was bad luck. It's too big of a sample. I have been told by some friends and coaches who have looked at my sample that I am definitely not running the best for sure, but it's definitely not the reason.

3. I think the main reason I didn't have success last year was because I was constantly switching my strategy/game plan and I never fully committed to one. This was mainly because I would lose confidence in that method or coach because I wouldn't see results when in reality I probably didn't give it enough time. I also didn't every fully trust myself and go with what I thought was best. I was always looking for validation from others instead of just trusting myself and putting in the work.

4. Lastly, I am fortunate that I love playing the game still, poker is not my main source of income and these stakes don't matter that much to me monetarily. If I was in a situation where I needed to make money and this happened, it would probably be a different story.

Especially on Pokerstars, where you have 3-4 recs at every table

What Pokerstars is this of which you speak?

Yeah, I dont play on stars but from what I see on here the consensus seems to be that it's toughest or at least one of the toughest sites.

Yeah that's not true at all. People just use that as an excuse without actually playing or doing research. Especially at peak times. They might not be -50bb+ recs, but there are plenty. Pokerstars also has the lowest rake by far. Even with the rakeback on other sites, the effective rake will still be lower.

That is it for January. I thought I left running under EV in 2019 Oh well nothing I can do. There was a little rust from taking that time off, but overall I was happy with my play. Of course I still have lots to work on.




I ran pretty well in chests this month. I guess stars felt bad for me. Since I played more mtt's it seems they started giving me a lot more sng tickets as well as some tournament money sometimes.






These were my January Goals:

- 75k hands (X)
- 30-40 hours of study ()
- Discuss hands & strategy with friends daily ()
- Feel confident enough to shoot 100z (X)

Like I said above, I was pretty happy with this month. Even though I started on the 9th (Back in Canada) I still finished with good volume. I felt I studied hard too. I just didn't run the best.

February Goals:

- 75k hands
- 30-40 hours of study
- Discuss hands & strategy with friends daily
- Focus more
- Get back to 100z

I will have pretty much the same goals as last month. Except this month I am going to try to focus a bit more. Sometimes I get distracted by my phone or have a show on or video in the background. I want to try and avoid that as much as I can this month and see how it goes.

Hopefully I can have a good February and be back at 100z soon!

Nice volume and some nice chest run good. Hope you start to run better at the tables! You seem to have a great work ethic.

GL in feb!

9h in 7 months for 50% lololol

Hey guys I finally had a breakthrough month! Obviously I ran well, but it feels good to finally be rewarded for my hard work.




I also put my tournament money and SNG tickets to good use.





The chest run good continued as well.



Overall, this was my best poker month to date. Feels really good after a slow start to the year. I obviously don't want to get overconfident because this was an above average month in terms of running well, but I feel really good about my game right now. I followed a really good routine this month in terms of playing and studying that I will definitely continue to implement.

These were my February Goals:

- 75k hands ()
- 10-20 hours of pio/week ()
- 5 hours of simple gto trainer/week ()
- Discuss hands & strategy with friends daily (X. More on this below)
- Feel confident enough to shoot 100z ()

March Goals:

- 75k hands
- 10-20 hours of pio/week
- Find new players discuss hands & strategy with
- Stay at 100z
- Complete exclusive poker challenge

Hopefully February has been just the start of a good year. I got this exclusive poker challenge that I think I can complete this month for an extra $2400 as well. I have 10 days left to complete it.



Lastly, if anyone who is playing around the same stakes who is serious about getting better this year and willing to put in the time is looking for some people to work with send me a message. That's the only thing I miss about my old CFP's. That there was a group of people who shared the same goals and we're willing to put in the work. Most of them anyways lol. Some of the players I used to talk to, have fallen off or quit the game completely so looking for some new people. I always found working with someone/a group has been helpful.

good stuff brother

Nice! Good to see u finally had a great month!

I was able to complete the challenge!



In order to do so I had to play some 200z for the extra rake. Fortunately, I ran pretty well there and so far this month has gone just like last month.



I am not sure what my plan is now. Should I just go back and play 100z? Take this bonus and continue my shot? I don't want to be overly confident in my game because I am running well, but I honestly do feel really good about it right now. I know a downswing/break even stretch will come, but I feel like I will be able to handle it this time and not change my game like before.

I have put in a lot of time and hard work in this year and well the past couple years it's nice to finally see some results!

you just love to see those results keep the heat going!

Nice work, it's good to see you getting good results after all the positive comments from YMB etc before

I think just stick to 100nl til you build a sample, pad the roll and know you're a consistently good winner there. You know how brutal variance can be and you know that 200z is most likely going to be considerably tougher than 100z. Keep working hard and if you're good enough to move up you'll get there in a coupla months anyway.

Gl gl

Keep up the great work . I'm with QWUT, I'd stick to 100NL: to build up a nice sample and pad the roll.

Thanks for the comments!

Fortunately for me the roll isn't the issue. Not at these stakes anyways. Due to my life outside poker. Having a big sample at 100 would go a long way for my confidence though. So I can definitely see some merits there.

I will say it's nice playing some better regs at 200 to see what they are doing differently. I won't say it on here, but there is a big difference in what the regs do at 50 to 100 to 200 and its cool to see and learn what types of stuff I need to be working on and compare where my game is at to theirs. So there is some value there too.

I'm leaning toward just continuing a 20 buy in shot and go from there. Never know what could happen. It's sort of a free roll right?

Starting to look really nice! Thanks for a great read.

GL dude

have played with you at 200 and donated a whole lot of stacks I believe

GL, you clearly know what youre doing and 200z is far from being tough imo.

Go for it man.
Gl Gl!!!

After having the best month of my poker career last month believe it or not I was able to have an even better month this month!

As a result, I decided to take the last few days off and relax before getting back at it in April. Unfortunately, I was supposed to be in Las Vegas for a birthday this week. I was really looking forward to it. But I guess some tv shows and movies will have to do.





These were my March Goals:

- 75k hands ()
- 10-20 hours of pio/week ()
- 5 hours of simple gto trainer/week ()
- Find new players discuss hands & strategy with (X)
- Stay at 100z ()
- Complete exclusive poker challenge ()

April Goals:

- 75k hands
- 10-20 hours of pio/week
- 5 hours of simple gto trainer/week
- Do some preflop work
- Find new players discuss hands & strategy with
- Stay at 200z

This month my goal is to look into some pre flop solutions. I have the standard ranges that everyone has, but I notice a lot of people using way bigger 3 bets oop or even ip quite often and I am curious how much things change when people use those sizes. I have an idea, but I just want to be sure. So I am likely going to buy simple pre flop and test some things out. If anyone else has a better recommendation feel free to share, but that's probably what I am going to go with.

Last month I was also hoping to find some new players to talk some strategy with, but haven't found anyone yet. Maybe I can find some people this month. Most people just don't seem to be willing to put the time and effort I want to put in or we don't have similar styles or ideas about the game and how to improve.

Lastly, I feel pretty confident at 200z so I am going to stay there for now. I have a big enough roll so that's not an issue. Yes the regs are a bit better, but there are still lots of recs and I feel like I definitely have an edge.It's funny how last year I had no confidence and now I have a lot. Yes, I am probably biased because I am winning and running well, but I truly do feel like I am getting better every day (I didn't feel like I was before) and I am a much better player now than I was before.

Hopefully I can continue to play well, run well and April will be just as good as March!

Wow, great results.

I am glad to see all your hard work paying off.

GL next month.

Feel free to shoot me a dm on here. We've been playing and chatting at 200z tables

Way to go man!!!