Lack of updates is cause of a lack of much playing lol. I did enjoy doing that aggro BRM for a few days. Farthest I got was nl16z, but ultimately, dropped back down to nl2z and didn't make any profit. Didn't grind a lot since the last update. Feeling a bit more motivated now to put in more hours, after watching a little bit of nl500z action.

Currently playing nl5z, as well as some MicroMillions tourneys (none of which I've cashed in). Roll took a bit of a hit from the tourneys, but I'm ok with that. I don't normally play them, but just thought I'd take a shot this time. So the roll is around $90. Current plan is to just grind at nl5z for awhile.

Been trying out a different bet-sizing plan postflop to try and be even more exploitative. Actually seems to be showing a lot of potential, at nl5z at least. I've been running bad, and making big mistakes in spots, but still winning slightly. If I can eliminate the mistakes, would be crushing in this small sample lol. So gonna keep going with it and see how it does over a larger sample.

Not many hands over the last few weeks, so I'll be lazy about posting any graphs right now. Maybe at the end of the month.

After just posting about getting some motivation back, ran 7 BIs under AIEV over 1300 hands. BR just under $60 now. Will probably just keep playing nl5z. If I dip below $20 (or where it starts being a problem playing 3 tables), I'll probably reload another $70-80 and keep going with nl5z. nl5z has been my problem spot before, but I feel a lot more comfortable there now, and think I can crush that level. If I don't run bad lol.

6-max in general, and especially zoom, is a high variance game. If you’re prepared to reload, no problem, but pretty sure 10-15 bis swings should be very common. Besides being the game I studied the most, what attracts me to fullring is the low variance nature. Low wr obv, but with the style I’m playing avg ds has been 6 bis.

Or maybe I’m just too bad at zoom

GLGL

Zoom is by default 6 max I presume, do not play on Stars, forbidden country.

It is the best way to get out of your slump. If you want to climb the limits, FR dies even more at higher limits, unless dealing with bots. Best to get used to it now, and also solidify a strategy that climbs to almost 50nl, or keep on the same pattern at now. just my opinion.

Stars seems to have fr traffic until smallstakes I think. You’re right, and I read it before in another thread that if I’ll be forced to jump into 6max at higher stakes due to lack of fr action, then better to do it now and learn the game cheaper.

Just pointing that part of the increased swings are most probably due to the fact that my game sucks right now but 6-max is still high variance and requires better BRM than full ring anyway.

That is why we tighten up our ranges, bluffing in good spots, pay attention to stack sizes on our left (cut down Bu, Co bluffs vs deeper stacks in blinds, they tend to call more wide), etc.

Also, try to play a little live. Some of my more fancier plays come from old and new school live, and from my poker study. Watch some you tube videos of pre black friday poker (high stakes poker for example). Live play is the variant that online players are not expecting.

I love playing live; played quite a bit for awhile. Too bad I don't have the BR for it anymore, otherwise I'd be mixing in live poker as well. At some point, when I can afford to play live again, I'll be mixing that back in.

Time for another update, before I start putting in more hours again. Haven't played a ton over the last month or so. Just played here and there when I felt like it. Now that September is coming close, I want to close out the year strong (or at least stronger lol). At least I think this is the most successful any of my PG&C threads have been so far lol. But of course, that's not good enough.

One thing I should mention.. I am no longer looking at any luck-related stats. No all-in EV line, no luck bell curve. No good can come from looking at those; the reason I look at them is to try and see what my winrate should really be. But, they don't actually tell me that. I could be running badly in terms of all-in EV, but be running great with respect to card distribution. So I may think my winrate should be higher than it shows, but in reality, it should be lower. Plus, if I "know" I've been running well, then I feel bad cause I "know" I should expect to run bad at some point. And of course, if I'm running bad, then I also feel bad cause things aren't going well. So the solution for me is to just not look at that stuff, and focus solely on the green line.

Here are my results thus far (ignore the nl2 reg tables where I was just fooling around lol):



Also, been working on widening my preflop ranges. VPIP/PFR is around 22/21, which although is higher than what I've been playing lately, isn't terribly high. But I've been 3betting around 15%. I was making quite a bit when 3betting before, so thought I'd try expanding that and see how it goes. I think maybe somewhere around 10% might be better, but gonna keep going with this until I have more data to see how successful it is. The biggest improvement right now so far is when I RFI. Even with the wider ranges, my WR when I RFI has improved quite a bit, and is slightly over 1 bb/hand right now. Again, this is at nl2z over a small sample. But here is my graph since I've made these changes:



Will post a new BRM strategy soon. I'm going to add withdrawals to my BRM strategy, because one thing I noticed is that having my BR stay stagnant while taking shots at the next level is a little discouraging. You spend hours building up a shot, and then when you lose it all with a failed shot, it's a more negative feeling. So, by withdrawing before taking the shot, at least I still have something to show for it, and won't be as disheartening lol. So the plan is, if I'm taking a 5BI shot (for example), I'd grind up 10 BIs and then use 5 BIs for the shot, and withdraw the other 5 BIs. Still deciding how aggressive I want to be to try and get somewhere decent before the year is over!

EDIT:

Oh, I should mention, before going back to nl2z, I had a horrible bad stretch at nl5z where it seemed not much went right. BR had dipped to below $20, which is ok, cause I was planning to reload if things went south at nl5z. But just switched back to nl2z at that point instead to try and grind it back up. Getting $5 from Fazendeiro's freeroll helped a bit lol, and now, the BR is back up to about $50.

Glad it helped

Interesting, my current thread is also my most successful lol. Keep posting, even though you´re playing low volume, and if possible and you have no problems with a few trolls coming back post HHs, esp 5nlz when you´re back there. I might try to add 1 or 2 things from the perspective of a snowie student

Did you notice any changes in zoom conditions after the 4 tables cap? Like, is it more reg infested?

Cheers

Sure, will post some HHs once back there.

I haven't noticed more regs, but the nl2 zoom pool is so big, it'd be hard to notice (especially with limited volume lol).

Haven't decided what kind of BRM I want to use yet past nl5z. But, once I hit $80, I will withdraw $25 and then take a 5 BI shot at nl5z. I think $30 at nl2z is enough to give me a reasonable chance of not going broke should I drop back down. And if I do go broke, I can take some of that cashed out money and redeposit. So I'm not too afraid to be a bit more aggressive at the start.

Recap:

A week into September, and ready to start getting more serious again. Below is my nl2z results over the last few weeks, which includes the 8k or so hands from the last update. This is the point where I started playing a bit looser preflop in a lot of areas.

At around the 17-18k hand mark, I did a bit of database analysis to see how the looser ranges were doing. There were some areas where I loosened up which were continuing to show profit, and there other areas where I was losing money. So I adjusted accordingly, and am now somewhere in-between those looser ranges, and the nittier ranges of before.



Goals:

My goal for September is to extend this graph to 100k hands (at nl2z). The main reason?

To improve my discipline. I've been clicking the call button too much when facing raises (or bigger bets) with my more marginally "strong" hands, especially against the more reg-gier/nittier opponents. It hasn't been too big of an issue at nl2z, but has been much more of an issue at nl5z and above. I want to nip this issue in the bud at nl2z, and stop doing this over a larger volume of hands. If I can get in this habit now, then I'll have much more of a chance when moving up.

I think if I can manage this, then a double-digit winrate at nl2z should be easily possible, and this is what I'm striving to achieve this month.

That means I'm not gonna worry about aggressively moving up the stakes this month. I'm gonna set a more realistic goal for the last few months of 2019. I'll consider the year a success if I can achieve at least a 3.5-4 bb/100 winrate at nl10z over a sample of at least 100k-200k hands. That is what I'm striving to achieve before 2020.

I'm gonna try not to rush myself, which has resulted in me failing a lot up to this point. I'm gonna try not to move up and take shots if I don't have a substantial enough winrate at the current stakes. Slow and steady wins the race, right?

Freeroll:

So, I'm gonna take a page from Fazendeiro's book and introduce freerolls here, in an attempt to help get me back on the right track. My work ethic has dropped somewhat (what an understatement lol), so I think this will help.

Freeroll #1:

(Part 1) Get the (nl2z) graph up to 100k hands by the end of this month. Which means, play another 78k or so hands. If I fail to achieve this, then I will send $10 USD to someone. Anyone who wants in, just reply here and state you're in for freeroll #1. I'll use a RNG to pick one person to send it to. I can either transfer through Pokerstars, or maybe through Paypal.

(Part 2) Do not play anything above nl2z until the 100k hands are over. I may decide at that point to just continue nl2z until the month is over, or move up to nl5z, or a combination of both. But just nl2z until the target is met. Another $10 USD if I fail this one (I'll draw a second name). Replying and stating you're in for freeroll #1 will also put you in for this draw. I'll allow it so the same person could potentially win the entire $20, if I fail both and the same person is drawn both times.

Ok, so the prizes are not that exciting lol, but if I continue the freerolls as my BR grows, I'll increase them more and more to keep them meaningful. I may also introduce more freerolls before this one is done if I feel the need to.

I’m in for freeroll #1 . Hope you accomplish your goals, but have to say winning this will definitely help my br after these fast few days lol

GL

Your'e redline is a bit below mine. I know they are loose at nl2, but see if you can improve the redline.

I remember that sick redline guy, kiranov, saying the “secret” for his redline at 2nl and 5nl was just thin value bets (if you don’t do it already frequently enough).

In for freeroll #1. Good luck

In for freeroll number 1...good lord 100k is a lot. GL!

Thanks, not sure if trying to improve the redline more just to have a better redline is the wisest move. But I think I have some ideas where I could experiment a bit more.

(in for freeroll)

15% 3bet is deffo a bit too high in pools where people call too much. i would tighten it up a little bit. In reg tables you can get away with this because you can see what people are doing wrong in 3 bet pots as you get to see showdowns but in zoom tight is right at the micros.

I would 4 bet quite a lot though. my 4bet is 14% and seems to be going fine.

seems crazy high 4b

That is where stats are over estimated.

On Zone, if I am card dead, just shut table down. 5 mins later, open up, and I get great cards (strange, but if I am card dead for one session, it can go on until I lose 2 buy ins, However, just that fact of opening another session changes things for the most part, a lesson I need to remember, was down 4 buy ins with 2 windows open just topping off).

Folks can change seats, position, time, and all of a sudden, not card dead. So super nit goes to super aggro. Even a 1k+ sample is not accurate for these results, a 17k sample can be skewed with one losing month vs a change to balanced range.

200k hands sample - 4 bet 14%

I usually like to track, both for villains and for myself, 4b range instead of 4b frequency. A super nit, a normal tag and a super loose might have different frequencies, while their ranges are actually the same. Maybe 291 plays with a tighter rfi range? Not on my computer right now, but def curious to check my total 4b % playing 13/11 at fr.

Yep, it's a mixture of tighter rfi (17%), decreasing frequency of calling 3bets, 4betting much more out of position, 4betting wider for value versus fish, 4betting atc versus the regs in some spots and also 4 bet shoving versus squeezes with some middling pairs in spots I think I can get away with it. Oh and the rake, helps winrate to really reduce this wherever possible.

Rake is reduced the higher you play, But, the higher you play, the tighter the players for the most part.

Regardless of the stake, 0 rake paid if you win the pot preflop