Hello all,

I'm back starting yet another PGC thread. The many previous attempts to set goals and stick to routines have ended fairly miserably.

Although in this thread I did managed to loosely journal my progression from 5nl to 25nl: https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/1...85/?highlight=

And here, my rollercoaster from 25nl to 100nl: https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/1...67/?highlight=

About me: 22yr old, living in London, working full time in finance but since covid all my other free time has been spent playing poker. I am playing 100nl at the moment but hopefully if I work a bit smarter I can start moving up!

Results to date

I recently requested all my hand histories from pokerstars, all the way back to when I first started playing in July 2017. I'm not sure whether to be proud or embarrassed by the results. I think it shows that I learnt most of my strategy from random YouTube videos and twitch streams. I probably would've progressed a lot faster by seeking coaching or at least subscribing to runitonce.

Lifetime in $



Lifetime in BB



Stakes



I think the highlight of this database is that over a 300k hand sample I am still losing at 5nl zoom, and my hourly is just over a dollar (having played for 2500 hours)

Over my 'Career' I have won ~$11.5k playing online poker which I am quite proud of. However, It is quite depressing that without a sick 5k hand heater at 200z I would be basically breakeven in EV on poker stars.

Moving forward

Maybe this sample shows I don't have an innate poker ability but I'm pretty confident that I can am capable of a winrate of above 1bb/100 and can get to stakes higher than 100nl if I actually study and focus in game, instead of just autopiloting zoom while listening to music! Recently I have been identifying and working on my leaks (both in Poker and Life). This PGC will help me to pin down my leaks, plan how I am gonna improve the, and then track that improvement... in addition to monthly poker results.

GL brother. Poker can be brutal, I find trying to seek achievements in other aspects of life, while on the poker grind, w/ more tangible results helps w/ fulfillment. As long as we're striving for growth!

Sent from my G8441 using Tapatalk

Subscribed GL.

Getting Serious...

I’ve spent the last couple of months trying to get a bit better at my soft skills - setting goals, making good habits, staying focussed ect. I have had mixed success However, I feel I am in a very good place now to set some goals and start working toward them.

I withdrew my online roll (~$13k) to repay the last of my student loans - so now I have a completely clean slate to build upon. It was sometime last month that I finally reached a positive net worth!

I am going to start treating poker as a side income instead of a hobby and have the attitude/work ethic to match that. If I can show myself that I can approach poker like a professional and be consistent then I can start thinking about making it my main income. I will be playing a mix of live and online as I really enjoy both formats.

Weekly Goals

Poker Goals - Minimum 20 Hours per week:

• At least 5 hours of study
• At least one session live per week
• Do some sort of warm-up before every session
• Review all my VPIPs after each session
• Track all hours spent and results

Life goals

• Meditate everyday
• Write a journal entry everyday
• Sit down to read at least once per week
• Cook one new meal once per week
• Play sport at least once per week

Longer Term Goals - End of Year

• Build live bankroll to start playing £2/£5 Live
• Winning 100k hand sample at 200nl online
• Save up 6 months worth of expenses

GL! I wish you can keep this thread updated

Thanks I will do my best! I have been using a physical journal recently instead of updating here. I often find I compare myself to others in a negative way. I used to get a lot of inspiration from other PGCs but now I find I think "wow this guy is crushing, why aren't I?". I don't really use social media for a similar reason, it is silly to compare ourselves to others (especially when often people are only posting their highlights and not their low moments). I still really enjoy tonnes of threads on here, but I am going to mainly track my progress offline.

Week 1

I decided to start my goals Aug 1st, so this is the end of week 1. I failed on many of the goals but was pleased with how I spent my time. I had a lot of social stuff and life admin, so while I didn't get a lot of time for poker - I didn't waste a lot of time in bed or watching TV either.

Weekly Goals

Poker Goals - Minimum 20 Hours per week = 8.5/20 (+2 hours Coaching):
At least 5 hours of study = 0/5
At least one session live per week = Yes
Do some sort of warm-up before every session (Kinda but was lazy with it)
Review all my VPIPs after each session
Track all hours spent and results

Life goals

Meditate everyday = 0/7
Write a journal entry everyday = 6/7
Sit down to read at least once per week (Read loads)
Cook one new meal once per week
Play sport at least once per week

Results

While it looks like a huge failure, I am actually pleased with week 1 and obviously there is a lot of room to improve!

Live = +£120
Online = -$1.44

Realizes your username and starts brainstorming heavily for a dodgy 0161 joke

0161 Wish you all the best

Thanks! I don't actually have any connection to Manchester just thought it was cool when I was 18

Week 2

Week 2 has not been dissimilar from week 1. Started it hungover and failed the majority of goals, yet somehow I am pleased with the progress I've made. There were a couple of lazy days but generally I think I have spent most of my free time well. I am looking forward to week 3 where I have fewer social commitments and may finally be able to meet some more of my poker goals.

Weekly Goals

Poker Goals - Minimum 20 Hours per week = 11.2/20
At least 5 hours of study = 0/5
At least one session live per week = Yes
Do some sort of warm-up before every session
Review all my VPIPs after each session
Track all hours spent and results

Life goals

Meditate everyday = 0/7
Write a journal entry everyday = 1/7
Sit down to read at least once per week
Cook one new meal once per week
Play sport at least once per week

Results

Finally started running good live! Hopefully can get a bit more volume in online this week

Live = +£628
Online = -$65.3

0161 manny on da map yo

GL Man...Seriously wishing you the best with your goals dude! A lot of people would shy away from admitting the negative and only show the positive side so I commend you for that. You're being real and that is something I can truly appreciate. Keep it coming man!

Thanks man, it means a lot! I have been running pretty well to start this thread, so I hope I can keep this up through rough patches. I like to think my mental game has improved to the point where I am less self-conscious about results.

Week 3

This week has felt like meaningful progress even though I still didn't achieve many of my goals. I began going to bed and waking up very early. I was able to meditate, shower, eat and play a 2-3 hour poker session each morning before work.

Most of my hours were online this week. I started playing 100nl again after a short period playing 50nl while I didn't have much of a roll on the site. I feel quite confident about my game at the moment, especially in smaller pots where I have really increased my aggression. The goal now is to spin this small roll up to where I can get back to playing 200nl.

I played for a few hours live where I ran extremely well and spun £200 into a ~£1350 stack at one point. Most hands were 1/2/5 and everyone was quite deep. Even though the table was really good, I felt it was a bit irresponsible to have such a large % of my current bank/life roll on table even if I could handle the loss. I would really like to build up my live roll to be comfortable in these bigger games as they are very good hourly.

I've not studied at all this month, which really needs to change. I need to work out a way to study while I'm in London and away from my PC. I will be moving with some friends at the end of September and will bring my PC to London, but until then I just have my laptop and no PIO Maybe getting old school and doing hand reviews with equilab and excel will do me some good!

Weekly Goals

Poker Goals - Minimum 20 Hours per week = 15.5/20 (+2 Hours Coaching)
At least 5 hours of study = 0/5
At least one session live per week = Yes
Do some sort of warm-up before every session
Review all my VPIPs after each session
Track all hours spent and results

Life goals

Meditate everyday = 5/7
Write a journal entry everyday = 3/7
Sit down to read at least once per week
Cook one new meal once per week
Play sport at least once per week

Results

Live = +£910
Online = +$590

Week #4

Bit of a meh week. I slept quite a lot and played some bad poker. I still managed to get quite a few hours in, but the quality of those hours was a lot lower than last week. A Friday night live session saved us from our first losing week, so I guess I'm still running very hot. There was one funny hand from that session:

£1/2 @ Hippodrome (8 Handed)

~£400-500 eff with everyone

(UTG) Hero opens to £5 with AQ (Yes, I'm that online kid that opens to 2.5x Live)

(UTG+1) calls

(HJ) raise to £20

(LJ) calls £20 and announces he hasn't looked at his cards, folds around

(UTG) Hero calls (I thought about 4betting here to isolate the "any two cards" player but 3betting ranges in these positions should be very tight, and I imagine, in practice, playing live they are even tighter)

(UTG+1) Call

(£83) Flop AJ2

(UTG) Hero check

(UTG+1) check

(HJ) Bet £50

(LJ) calls... again reminds everyone he hasn't looked at his cards

(UTG) Hero calls (similarly, I thought about raising here to isolate the guy playing blind but villain cbet very large multiway which looks very strong)

(UTG+1) calls

Turn (£283) 2

Checks through

River (£283) J

(UTG) Hero check

(UTG+1) check

(HJ) Bet £75

(LJ) Raises All-in for ~£325

(UTG) Hero folds (I thought about re-jamming, hoping to fold HJ off AK but I think that is fairly hopeful)

(UTG+1) folds, says he had a flush

(HJ) Calls and shows QJ (Why the hell he is 3betting that vs UTG idk)

(LJ) Reveals his cards T4

I was pretty tired but obviously stayed until this guy left His leaving remarks were "Cheers guys but I'm gonna go get w*anked off by some Chinese girl now"

I have a 4-day weekend (Bank holiday + took a day off) which I intend to use to catch up on a lot of study and do some social. I will try and do an August update with some giraffes

Weekly Goals

Poker Goals

Minimum 20 Hours per week = 19.2/20
At least 5 hours of study = 0/5
At least one session live per week = Yes
Do some sort of warm-up before every session
Review all my VPIPs after each session
Track all hours spent and results

Life goals

Meditate everyday = 7/7
Write a journal entry everyday = 2/7 (I might reduce this, some days there just isn't much of interest to write about)
Sit down to read at least once per week
Cook one new meal once per week (I tried to cook an omelette and ended up with scrambled eggs I was never taught these basic cooking skills so I have a lot of catching up to do)
Play sport at least once per week

Results

Live = +£457
Online = +$1.34

August Recap

Online Results = +$920 over 32 Hours (~$29/Hour)

Live Results = £2115 over 30 Hours (~£71/Hour, $97/Hour)

August was my biggest winning month ever This obviously feels great considering I started the month with $1000 on stars and a £400 live roll. Even though I could've re-deposited if busto, I began by playing mostly 50nl online. Very happy to have caught some heat as I want to get back to 200nl as soon as possible and maybe try out £2/5 live. Also, I am excited that my hourly playing poker was more than I earn at my job (as it makes the idea of play professionally less crazy) but I am well aware how well I have run and how tiny a sample of 62 hours is.

August has been good progress toward my goals in terms of $ but there is still lots I can improve in terms of work ethic and concentration. Firstly, I spent the weekend looking over all the hands I have played in August and I now have 116 tagged for review. I managed zero study this month so I know I have to do better in September.

I’m going to change my study goals to be a bit more specific:

Study goals:

• Warm-up before every online session: 15 Minutes of Jarretman, timestamping interesting hands to look at in depth with PIO later.
  
• At least one manual hand review per week: E.g Use equilab to construct call down ranges and compare to sim output. (I'm not quite sure how this will work but I want to give it a try as it was recommended by Makeboifin)
  
• Study & write up at least one “spot” per week: I have a list of situations that I don’t really know how to approach, I’m going to start this weekend by outlining my approach to delay cbetting BvB – maybe this is too broad but will adjust as I go along.

Graph





+$264 in rakeback (all from PS leaderboards, I still get no RB from chests or challenges )

Week #5

Bit of a rubbish week but I finally made a bit of progress toward studying. My volume wasn't great, tho I did feel pretty terrible after my 2nd Pfizer vaccine so that took me out for a day. Not much to update but hope to get the momentum back next week! I am going to start taking shots at 200nl again when I have 20BI (Currently only have ~13). Would be great if I could get 200nl being my main game by the end of the month. (I have been a nit for too long when I can comfortably redeposit and am very confident I'm winning in the games)

Poker Goals

20 Hours playing = 15.7/20 (+3 Hours Coaching)
Warm-up with 15minutes of content before every online session
Review all my VPIPs after each session
At least one manual hand review per week
Study & write up at least one “spot” per week (Didn't get into too much depth but did look at Delayed Cbetting BvB and made some notes)
Track all hours spent and results

Life goals

Meditate everyday = 2/7
Write a journal entry everyday = 0/7
Sit down to read at least once per week
Cook at least one new recipe per week
Play sport at least once per week

Results

Live = +£0
Online = +$756

Week #6

This week was a bit of a disaster mental game wise. I slipped into a lot of bad habits and played poorly in most of my sessions as a result.

I lost a chunk playing live early in the week. I noticed I was trying to force action because I was stuck and wanted to get even before I left. Justice was dealt when I when I lost an all-in as the favourite to end my night.

Then on Friday evening, having had a few beers but feeling fine, I played a session even though I knew it was a bad idea. I proceeded to lose 4 BI at 100nl. Although I ran terribly there were many spots I butchered, including, just calling a straight flush on a four flush board on the river because I didn't realise I had the nuts (obviously my opponent had the Ahigh flush - so a lot of value missed).

Saturday, I tried to get back on track and meditated and warmed-up before my session. I played okay but ended up playing 200z (which is likely residual tilt from the evening prior and trying to get unstuck). I was extremely lucky to run very well and way over EV but this week could've been a bit of a bloodbath if I hadn't.

Overall, I genuinely believe mental game leaks are the difference between me being a 2bb winner and a 8bb winner. While I clearly have a lot of work to do on this aspect, just being aware of these leaks I think is huge progress from earlier in the year.

Poker Goals

20 Hours playing = 19.6/20
Warm-up with 15minutes of content before every online session
Review all my VPIPs after each session
At least one manual hand review per week
Study & write up at least one “spot” per week
Track all hours spent and results

Life goals

Meditate everyday = 1/7
Write in journal at least once per week
Sit down to read at least once per week
Cook at least one new recipe per week
Play sport at least once per week

Results

Live = -£500
Online = +$565

Subbed. Nice goals and consistency.

What places do you play live, and which games do you think are best?

I've only played at the Hippodrome, so not the best person to ask. From what I've heard the action is pretty good at Asper's but I think if you want to play anything >£2/5 then have to get into some private games.

I doubt I'm improving at all while playing live but I think the hourly is pretty good, and its easy to put in volume as you can spend most of the time on your phone lol. Online I get tired pretty easily after a few hours as you constantly have to pay attention.

Week #7

After a bad week last week I was a lot more disciplined with only playing quality volume this week. However, this most just meant I didn't really play during most of the week and was still lazy with my non-poker goals. When I did play, I ran pretty hot so I won't complain but still not sticking to good habits consistently.

I am moving into a new flat Oct 1st so I will be a bit less hard on myself for not achieving my short term goals. Once I am settled I will make a more conscious effort to get into a good routine - especially with regard to meditation & study.

I went to play live with my friend and a couple of his mates. It's really great being able to play and talk poker with others - as other than interactions on 2+2 and discord I have been pretty isolated in my poker journey (perhaps networking is something I can work on). I think they all had a very good time, but lost ~£1k between them, which is quite a lot for a few students.

With respect to playing online, I think it has really helped that I am comfortable playing a wide range of stakes depending on how I feel. I have been playing 300 hands at 25z and 50nl to try and cash the leaderboard. I do this either to warm up or just if I am not feeling like I'm playing my A-game. This means I usually only play 100nl/200nl when I'm feeling and playing well - which I think is a really good habit. That said, I would slowly like to play more and more at 100nl/200nl and less at 25nl/50nl.

Poker Goals

20 Hours playing = 13.1/20

Warm-up with 15minutes of content before every online session
Review all my VPIPs after each session
At least one manual hand review per week
Study & write up at least one “spot” per week
Track all hours spent and results

Life goals

Meditate everyday = 1/7
Write in journal at least once per week
Sit down to read at least once per week
Cook at least one new recipe per week
Play sport at least once per week


Results

Live = +£248
Online = +$721

Week #7

"Disaster Week" - episode 2. Managed to have a mini blowup today to ruin an otherwise decent week. I was moving out of my flat this week so I gave myself a pass on most lifestyle goals and still managed to play a bit with lots of good tables. Although I ran pretty bad, I was winning small and playing good. Then today, having already lost a bunch at 100nl, I punted off 150bb - clearly I was already kinda tilted and this just compounded that.

I then started playing 200nl, even though there weren't even 4 tables running. I played pretty terribly and lost a bunch more. I even played some hands heads-up vs a reg which is clearly -EV because I've no clue about HU strategy and was just wanting to play.

Punished

PokerStars, Hold'em No Limit - $1/$2 - 2 players
Replay this hand on Upswing Poker

SB (Hero): $233.02 (117 bb)
BB: $206.85 (103 bb)

Pre-Flop: ($3) Hero is SB with 6♥ T♥
Hero raises to $5, BB 3-bets to $20, Hero calls $15

Flop: ($40) 9♦ 8♣ 3♣ (2 players)
BB bets $12.80, Hero calls $12.80

Turn: ($65.60) J♦ (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $32.18, BB calls $32.18

River: ($129.96) 8♥ (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $168.04 (all-in), BB calls $141.87 (all-in)

Total pot: $413.70 (Rake: $1.25)

Showdown:
SB (Hero) shows 6♥ T♥ (a pair of Eights)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 40%, Flop: 28%, Turn: 18%, River: 0%)

BB shows 8♦ A♦ (three of a kind, Eights)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 60%, Flop: 72%, Turn: 82%, River: 100%)

BB wins $412.45

Here is my graph since the start of the thread - with the two tilted days aggressively highlighted. If I can cut these sorts of days out, or at least making them less painful, I will be doing really well. The graph looks a lot cleaner in BB lol



I think I've come a long way improving the quality of my poker sessions but clearly still have a lot of work to do on my mental game.

I move into my new flat October 1st so this next week is another pass on my lifestyle goals. But when I move in I am going to hit the ground running and try and get into a really good routine, in poker and life. I will make some new goals and maybe rules to stop this tilt happening again.

Poker Goals

20 Hours playing = 21.7/20
Warm-up with 15minutes of content before every online session
Review all my VPIPs after each session
At least one manual hand review per week
Study & write up at least one “spot” per week
Track all hours spent and results

Life goals

Meditate everyday = 1/7
Write in journal at least once per week
Sit down to read at least once per week
Cook at least one new recipe per week
Play sport at least once per week


Results

Live = -£282
Online = -$355

Sucks that it didn't go well on the tables but still very impressive winrate tho!

I really like your weekly goals. For example "Cook at least one new recipe per week", nice to hold yourself accountable for going out of the comfort zone every once in a while in the kitchen instead of cooking the same meals over and over again like I'm doing rn haha. I'm about to start with writing down weekly goals again for myself and I might have to steal some of them from here

GL next week

Week 8 Recap

I have been commuting all week so barely had time for poker. However, in the five hours I did play I still managed to torch around $700 - most of that being last night playing 100/200z. I gave myself a pass on all other goals as I've had no free time.

September Recap

Online Results = +$722.9 over 52 Hours

Live Results = -£534 over 16 Hours

Graph





I am very disappointed with this month - not just because it was breakeven but mainly with my quality of play and mental game slips. I did run pretty terribly in the second half, so while I'm sure losing was unavoidable, I certainly wasn't playing well. That said I am very optimistic for October.

Today Pokerstars rolled out their new rakeback system for all players and I finally received a rakeback challenge - it is only 10% RB but its a lot better than nothing I guess.

I really feel like my approach to poker is clicking and I am super confident in my A game. I just now have to focus on playing my A game more often!

For October there are several things I've realised/want to change:

• Zoom is a waste of time - The pools are full of regs and win rates are generally very low => No zoom in October
• I should be shot-taking aggressively - poker is not my main source of income and I save a significant amount of my salary each month so can easily redeposit => More shot taking 200nl in October
• Playing lower than 100nl is a waste of time. - It felt useful to mix in lower when I was sunrunning and rebuilding my roll but in reality I am just sacrificing hourly to be more relaxed/confident. Games are running 247 at 100nl so no excuse to play lower => 100nl+ only in October
• There are softer games on other sites - I am sacrificing hourly for the convenience of Pokerstars when I should keep an eye on other lobbies for better games => Mixing in untracked sites in October
• Looking at my results mid session effects my play and concentration - I always want to get unstuck or preserve my winnings. Sometimes I even move stakes just because I'm winning or losing => Only check results once a week in October

GL mate, will be following

Glgl boss, great points, agree with all of them

Results will come you got skills. You just need to be patient, and use those soft skills you listed to max out your EV. Do you have any habits which improve your focus?

Thanks guys! Just hope I can listen to my own advice lol

I don't at all. I'm very new to all of these soft skills, I only recently realised that if you are playing distracted and unfocused it can completely decimate your winrate. I used to play half my sessions while having a beer.

Do you have any suggestions? I definitely need to incorporate more breaks, when playing regular tables you can't sit out so easily so sometimes I play for 3-4 hours straight and by the end can really feel I am playing worse.

I feel this same realisation happened in a lot of professional sports. I've heard stories of old school NFL players who used to have a pint and a ciagrette at half time. Whereas, now to succeed modern athletes must be so optimised, mind and body. I just starting to work on that part of my game, which I think is essential to be a strong winner.

I'm not an expert but I do set 1hr timers, and just sit out for 3mins on reg tables, long enough to not get kicked off do some deep breathing and to move about a bit.

Some kind of meditation practice helps with the awareness ingame of the quality of your decisions. I am quite experienced now so don't really have a set sitting practice now though tbh; but rather can just be more mindful with whatever I'm doing during the day.

Regular exercise I'm sure you know of, but can be good to energise with some kind of quick burst exercise before a sess; I find helps me in the evening when I'm feeling sluggish.

Some kind of warm up helps to warm up your brain. I usually read a template on things I'm working on right now; and write out things in my head/I gotta do later just to get them out; maybe do some quick revision on some ranges I'm working on.

I saw on youtube that Adam Carmichael has a recent series called the poker athlete which might help you. I haven't watched them.