This is covered in his mechanics of poker interview on YouTube. Great interview. Definitely worth watching.

Dope I'll check that out, thanks.

I started taking poker seriously Sept. 2015, and went pro 1st Jan 2017. In hindsight, my decision to start taking poker seriously was very naive. However, after grinding hard for those initial 15 months, my eventual decision to go pro was perhaps a little ambitious, but ultimately reasonable. It was relatively simple for me; I absolutely knew I did not want to go back to salaried work, and with the past ~15 months exp., I knew I was good enough to at least make a modest living off Poker. I suppose it was a mixture of self belief, desperation, thus motivation, and a little bit of good fortune. Back then I was living with my Nan who made my life a lot easier, cooking meals for me, etc. Had I been living on my own back then, I certainly wouldn't have found success.

At the time there were no solid back-up plans, other than going back to work my old jobs. And there has never been a moment when I questioned my decision on going pro. In fact, I have always felt very blessed for what poker has given me.

---

Week 5: September 1st-8th

Unfortunately September has got off to a rough start on all fronts. After recovering from the bug I had in late August, I came down with a fever, into cold, cough and sore throat. Not the end of the world illness-wise, but still felt weak/cold/uneasy for the week. I still wanted to get some work in, so I took it light.

Saturday brought maximum pain after a nightmare -$25k session. This felt esp. bad as I was out of touch from my studies, and the hand distribution was extremely tricky, resulting in several lost stacks with questions still left unanswered. If I lose $xk, but play well and have been studying efficiently, which as I've mentioned in previous posts, brings confidence, it's water under the bridge. Chill. However, if I haven't been studying, thus confidence can become insecure, and didn't play well, it's real mental torture for me. On the plus side... I really feel like I'm doing well on the work front, I'm just having a rough go of it lately with illnesses and IRL things distracting me from being consistent at the tables and in the lab. My clear takeaway is to GET BACK THERE.

Lastly, I would like to touch on me better managing my work responsibilities. I have playing, studying, coaching, and two other projects I am working on. Being quite obsessively natured, I struggle to keep these all in check, as I invariably end up over obsessing on one thing, only to leave the others now out of whack. Better management will help me stay more on top, hopefully reducing stress and becoming more productive. The saying "slow and steady wins the race" comes to mind; I should try to take each race slowly, instead of rushing to finish one first, and sacrificing the others.

---

Hands:

1. Feels like my only bluff here

Winning Poker, Hold'em No Limit - $10/$20 - 3 players
Replay this hand on Pokeit

BU: $9,726.26 (486 bb)
SB: $2,085.00 (104 bb)
BB (Hero): $2,005.00 (100 bb)

Pre-Flop: ($30) Hero is BB with 5 Q
1 fold, SB raises to $60, Hero calls $40

Flop: ($120) 3 K J (2 players)
SB bets $39.60, Hero calls $39.60

Turn: ($199.20) 4 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero checks

River: ($199.20) A (2 players)
SB bets $274.89, Hero raises to $1,905.40 (all-in), SB folds

Total pot: $748.98 (Rake: $1.75)
BB (Hero) wins $747.23


2. Guessing he just didn't believe me with his call timing. Feels pretty wild to me with the infinite value I'll arrive with.

Winning Poker, Hold'em No Limit - $25/$50 - 2 players
Replay this hand on Pokeit

SB: $5,000.00 (100 bb)
BB (Hero): $5,308.75 (106 bb)

Pre-Flop: ($75) Hero is BB with Q Q
SB raises to $110, Hero 3-bets to $462, SB calls $352

Flop: ($924) J 8 A (2 players)
Hero checks, SB checks

Turn: ($924) K (2 players)
Hero checks, SB checks

River: ($924) 7 (2 players)
Hero checks, SB bets $462, Hero raises to $4,846.75 (all-in), SB calls $4,076 (all-in)

Total pot: $10,000 (Rake: $1.25)

Showdown:
BB (Hero) shows Q Q (a pair of Queens)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 68%, Flop: 45%, Turn: 32%, River: 0%)

SB shows A 2 (a pair of Aces)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 32%, Flop: 55%, Turn: 68%, River: 100%)

SB wins $9,998.75


3. Going thin

GGPoker, Hold'em No Limit - $25/$50 - 2 players
Replay this hand on Pokeit

SB: $10,000.00 (200 bb)
BB (Hero): $10,138.50 (203 bb)

Pre-Flop: ($75) Hero is BB with 7 K
SB raises to $150, Hero 3-bets to $650, SB calls $500

Flop: ($1,300) 9 3 9 (2 players)
Hero bets $650, SB calls $650

Turn: ($2,600) 4 (2 players)
Hero checks, SB checks

River: ($2,600) 7 (2 players)
Hero bets $3,000, SB folds

Total pot: $2,600 (Rake: $7)
BB (Hero) wins $2,593


4. Sneak attack


GGPoker, Hold'em No Limit - $25/$50 - 2 players
Replay this hand on Pokeit

SB (Hero): $6,536.33 (131 bb)
BB: $6,306.46 (126 bb)

Pre-Flop: ($75) Hero is SB with 2 2
Hero raises to $125, BB 3-bets to $650, Hero calls $525

Flop: ($1,300) 2 K 8 (2 players)
BB bets $403, Hero calls $403

Turn: ($2,106) 7 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks

River: ($2,106) J (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $1,474.20, BB calls $1,474.20

Total pot: $5,054.40 (Rake: $7)

Showdown:
SB (Hero) shows 2 2 (three of a kind, Twos)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 49%, Flop: 95%, Turn: 100%, River: 100%)

BB shows 6 7 (a pair of Sevens)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 51%, Flop: 5%, Turn: 0%, River: 0%)

SB (Hero) wins $5,047.40


5. Evening out the super wild calls.

PokerStars, Hold'em No Limit - $10/$20 ($4 ante) - 2 players
Replay this hand on Pokeit

SB: $2,000.00 (100 bb)
BB (Hero): $2,101.76 (105 bb)

Pre-Flop: ($38) Hero is BB with 8 T
SB raises to $50, Hero 3-bets to $210, SB 4-bets to $480, Hero calls $270

Flop: ($968) Q 9 K (2 players)
Hero checks, SB checks

Turn: ($968) 6 (2 players)
Hero checks, SB bets $278.98, Hero raises to $557.96, SB calls $278.98

River: ($2,083.92) 4 (2 players)
Hero bets $1,059.80 (all-in), SB calls $958.04 (all-in)

Total pot: $4,000 (Rake: $6)

Showdown:
BB (Hero) shows 8 T (a flush, Queen high)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 38%, Flop: 43%, Turn: 100%, River: 100%)

SB shows Q J (a pair of Queens)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 62%, Flop: 57%, Turn: 0%, River: 0%)

BB (Hero) wins $3,994


---

Results:
$:

BB:

By Stake:

By Session:

Data:



Goals:
***... until I get back to 100% health, I'll lay off the volume goals
• Flow
• Ignore variance
• Responsibility management
• ○ consistent playing and studying

That's it for this week. Thanks for reading. Gooooood luck

What makes Q5 so attractive to you? Haven't looked at a sim, but I would lean towards rather blocking a pair than having a 5.

5x should help unblock his bluffs a little

Sure, we can perhaps use some JTo, however, we are trying to get him to fold some 2p here with the SHOVE vs his OB, so almost prefer unblocking those.

Week 6: September 9th-15th

Damn. Tough week. I won't lie, I've become quite effected mentally. Poker is not an easy job. Somehow, I cannot let go of the results as I play, probably because they haven't been great for the past 6 weeks. Ahh... I remember those good ol' days when I didn't care about $, just my performance. Now being an older and apparently much more short sighted man, that short term bottom line has fast become oh-so much more important.

Okay, so let's move on from this sorry act and put together what has been going on:

1). Bad run
• Sure. Sincerely, the cards are not going my way. Happens.
• ○ this can, and has, quickly lead to reduced confidence in my gameplay
... some downswings are easier to deal with than others. The ones where you lose fast -- set under set, flush under flush, JJ<QQ, QQ<KK -- are easier to deal with. The losses are a chain of unavoidable set ups. What are you going to do? This downswing, however, has been a little more of a slow bleed. The type that has you second guessing a little more.

2). Anxiety
• Linked to the effects from point 1
• Not enough studying, not enough confidence
• Playing 5kNL+
• ○ A-game for me at 2kNL- is 9.5/10. Whereas A-game at 5kNL+ is surely <9/10, due to the ever-present anxiety. Even worse, my A-game at 2kNL- is reduced when mixing in 5kNL+. Everything suffers. Even with this in mind, I still firmly believe I've been a winner in almost every game I've sat into. I even expect the inclusion of 5kNL nets me a ~30-40%% higher hourly. But at what cost? My stress/anxiety is at least doubled. Where is the fine line? This must be subjective. I am fortunate enough to realise two key details:
• ○ ◘ My finances are good enough to not have to worry about chasing every $; I can easily sacrifice 30-40-50% income for a happier mental place.
• ○ ◘ Others are effected by my stress, not just me. Furthermore, they are the most important thing to me in life right now.
... the solution clearly presents itself. I must prioritise mental sanity and move down.

3). Frustration
• Mainly at myself, for:
• ○ not studying enough
• ○ as per the above, caring about results

...

Summary:
• move down to NL500-NL3k, without even considering higher for the foreseeable
• prioritise daily studies
• string together b2b2b months of highly confident, high quality play
• battle anyone and everyone, to the point where I feel like I'm the top dog
• grind to $350k BR for a $50k shot at HS

---

Hands:

1. Right hand, wrong time.

Winning Poker, Hold'em No Limit - $25/$50 - 2 players
Replay this hand on Pokeit

SB: $5,125.00 (103 bb)
BB (Hero): $8,516.12 (170 bb)

Pre-Flop: ($75) Hero is BB with Q Q
SB raises to $110, Hero 3-bets to $495, SB calls $385

Flop: ($990) 7 6 6 (2 players)
Hero bets $326, SB calls $326

Turn: ($1,642) K (2 players)
Hero checks, SB bets $1,067.30, Hero calls $1,067.30

River: ($3,776.60) 5 (2 players)
Hero checks, SB bets $3,236.70 (all-in), Hero calls $3,236.70

Total pot: $10,250 (Rake: $1.25)

Showdown:
SB shows 9 6 (three of a kind, Sixes)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 19%, Flop: 91%, Turn: 95%, River: 100%)

BB (Hero) shows Q Q (two pair, Queens and Sixes)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 81%, Flop: 9%, Turn: 5%, River: 0%)

SB wins $10,248.75


2. Yeyeye

Winning Poker, Hold'em No Limit - $25/$50 - 5 players
Replay this hand on Pokeit

UTG: $5,000.00 (100 bb)
CO: $5,147.00 (103 bb)
BU: $5,000.00 (100 bb)
SB: $4,875.00 (98 bb)
BB (Hero): $5,135.25 (103 bb)

Pre-Flop: ($75) Hero is BB with A A
2 players fold, BTN raises to $125, 1 fold, Hero 3-bets to $606.25, BTN calls $481.25

Flop: ($1,237.50) 5 8 Q (2 players)
Hero bets $618.75, BTN raises to $1,237.50, Hero raises to $1,856.25, BTN calls $618.75

Turn: ($4,950) T (2 players)
Hero bets $2,672.75 (all-in), BTN calls $2,537.50 (all-in)

First River: ($10,025) 4 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Second River: ($10,025) 9 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: $10,025 (Rake: $3)

First Showdown: Board: 5 8 Q T 4

BB (Hero) shows A A
BU shows J 9
BU wins $5,011

Second Showdown: Board: 5 8 Q T 9

BB (Hero) shows A A
BU shows J 9
BU wins $5,011


3. PIO consider this a mistake. I consider it OK. Perhaps KT>KQ, though.

Winning Poker, Hold'em No Limit - $10/$20 - 6 players
Replay this hand on Pokeit

UTG: $2,328.15 (116 bb)
MP: $2,107.00 (105 bb)
CO: $2,030.00 (102 bb)
BU: $1,940.00 (97 bb)
SB (Hero): $2,000.00 (100 bb)
BB: $3,778.80 (189 bb)

Pre-Flop: ($30) Hero is SB with Q K
UTG raises to $50, 3 players fold, Hero 3-bets to $209.60, 1 fold, UTG calls $159.60

Flop: ($439.20) K 5 J (2 players)
Hero bets $144, UTG calls $144

Turn: ($727.20) 8 (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets $545.40, Hero raises to $1,646.40 (all-in), UTG calls $1,101

First River: ($4,020) 7 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Second River: ($4,020) 2 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $4,020 (Rake: $3)

First Showdown: Board: K 5 J 8 7

SB (Hero) shows Q K
UTG shows Q A
SB (Hero) wins $2,008.50

Second Showdown: Board: K 5 J 8 2

SB (Hero) shows Q K
UTG shows Q A
SB (Hero) wins $2,008.50


4. Theory or GTO? In any case, I think it makes $

Winning Poker, Hold'em No Limit - $10/$20 - 3 players
Replay this hand on Pokeit

BU (Hero): $3,178.80 (159 bb)
SB: $3,171.35 (159 bb)
BB: $2,377.75 (119 bb)

Pre-Flop: ($30) Hero is BTN with 4 6
Hero raises to $45, 1 fold, BB calls $25

Flop: ($100) 2 2 K (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $27, BB calls $27

Turn: ($154) T (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks

River: ($154) Q (2 players)
BB bets $46.20, Hero raises to $218.68, BB calls $172.48

Total pot: $591.36 (Rake: $1.75)

Showdown:
BU (Hero) shows 4 6 (a pair of Twos)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 38%, Flop: 2%, Turn: 0%, River: 0%)

BB shows K J (two pair, Kings and Twos)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 62%, Flop: 98%, Turn: 100%, River: 100%)

BB wins $589.61


5. **** me. What's worse, I feel like I'm massively underbluffing this spot, too.

GGPoker, Hold'em No Limit - $25/$50 - 5 players
Replay this hand on Pokeit

UTG: $4,720.50 (94 bb)
CO (Hero): $8,369.15 (167 bb)
BU: $5,813.75 (116 bb)
SB: $5,275.92 (106 bb)
BB: $18,350.64 (367 bb)

Pre-Flop: ($75) Hero is CO with 4 5
UTG raises to $100, Hero 3-bets to $237.50, 3 players fold, UTG calls $137.50

Flop: ($550) K 3 K (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $148.50, UTG calls $148.50

Turn: ($847) 8 (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero checks

River: ($847) 5 (2 players)
UTG bets $592.90, Hero raises to $7,983.15 (all-in), UTG calls $3,741.60 (all-in)

Total pot: $9,516 (Rake: $27.50)

Showdown:
CO (Hero) shows 4 5 (two pair, Kings and Fives)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 22%, Flop: 6%, Turn: 0%, River: 0%)

UTG shows Q Q (two pair, Kings and Queens)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 78%, Flop: 94%, Turn: 100%, River: 100%)

UTG wins $9,488.50


6. I wanted to fold turn, but figured that was an exploit too far. Turns out it's BE OTT in theory, so likely would have been a good fold...

GGPoker, Hold'em No Limit - $25/$50 - 6 players
Replay this hand on Pokeit

UTG: $5,237.50 (105 bb)
MP: $5,461.73 (109 bb)
CO: $7,571.43 (151 bb)
BU: $10,457.85 (209 bb)
SB: $4,875.00 (98 bb)
BB (Hero): $6,741.93 (135 bb)

Pre-Flop: ($75) Hero is BB with Q A
3 players fold, BTN raises to $110, 1 fold, Hero 3-bets to $575, BTN 4-bets to $1,340, Hero calls $765

Flop: ($2,705) Q 9 J (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $676.25, Hero calls $676.25

Turn: ($4,057.50) 7 (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $1,723, Hero calls $1,723

River: ($7,503.50) A (2 players)
Hero bets $3,002.68 (all-in), BTN calls $3,002.68

Total pot: $13,508.86 (Rake: $27.50)

Showdown:
BB (Hero) shows Q A (two pair, Aces and Queens)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 31%, Flop: 3%, Turn: 0%, River: 0%)

BU shows Q Q (three of a kind, Queens)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 69%, Flop: 97%, Turn: 100%, River: 100%)

BU wins $13,481.36


7. Standard, but still felt a little hopeless in-game. The problem is, I think it makes money, yet, I still don't want to do it. Anxiety in a nutshell.

PokerStars, Hold'em No Limit - $25/$50 ($10 ante) - 2 players
Replay this hand on Pokeit

SB (Hero): $5,000.00 (100 bb)
BB: $11,146.25 (223 bb)

Pre-Flop: ($95) Hero is SB with T 8
Hero raises to $125, BB calls $75

Flop: ($270) A 9 Q (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $250, BB calls $250

Turn: ($770) 7 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $1,013.46, BB calls $1,013.46

River: ($2,796.92) K (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $3,601.54 (all-in), BB folds

Total pot: $2,796.92 (Rake: $8)
SB (Hero) wins $2,788.92


8. $$$

PokerStars, Hold'em No Limit - $25/$50 ($10 ante) - 2 players
Replay this hand on Pokeit

SB: $10,186.79 (204 bb)
BB (Hero): $5,927.46 (119 bb)

Pre-Flop: ($95) Hero is BB with T K
SB raises to $120, Hero 3-bets to $525, SB calls $405

Flop: ($1,070) J A Q (2 players)
Hero bets $743.40, SB calls $743.40

Turn: ($2,556.80) A (2 players)
Hero bets $1,274.40, SB calls $1,274.40

River: ($5,105.60) 9 (2 players)
Hero bets $3,374.66 (all-in), SB calls $3,374.66

Total pot: $11,854.92 (Rake: $8)

Showdown:
BB (Hero) shows T K (a straight, Ten to Ace)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 35%, Flop: 82%, Turn: 0%, River: 0%)

SB shows A J (a full house, Aces full of Jacks)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 65%, Flop: 18%, Turn: 100%, River: 100%)

SB wins $11,846.92

---

Results:

BB:

$:

By Stake:

By Session:

Data:



Goals:
1). Consistent play & study
2). Manage different works & work/life balance
3). Ignore variance

Thanks for reading. Goooooood luck!

First of all awesome blog!

My nlhe is super rusty so take this with a grain of salt. But I'm not a fan of this play in particular. I get that you underbluff the spot and so mixing in a 45cc just for low frequency bluff is a strategy that makes sense.

However I think this is a spot where it might be better to just be unbalanced and way under/never bluff. If we look at opponents line, I think his range is obv going to be overpairs and some Kx and likely lacking in bluffs himself.

For one just him lacking bluffs in his own line is hurting your FE.

I think our opponent is going to sit there with Kx or overpairs + a heart blocker and two things will happen:
1) theyre still a human and going to have some attachment to that beautiful hand
2) they are going to see a heart blocker and overvalue it disproportionally to the pot odds. I think at these stakes a lot of regs will not deduce the math correctly as to how much of their range they should be folding to your massive size and be way overcalling these kinds of hands.

Perhaps you are right. In this case, QQhx should be better than a naked K, as I'm primarily repping a flush when I shove. Whether or not they manage to fold a K is unclear and will vary from reg to reg.

When I'm bluffing, I typically try to consider my 'story' and theirs. In this hand I think it's VERY easy for me to have Axhh given it's a paired board, I 3bet small and cbet small, all giving Ahi a decent pot share at SD. Hence I felt 54cc was a decent hand to bluff with. Not necessarily for balance, but because I felt it'd make money.

Villain taaaaank called, I'm hoping because he considered his QQhx>Kx, but it also may be for other reasons. Who knows. In hindsight, I'm still OK(ish) with my bluff. Definitely better spots to take, but also still feel like this makes money in a vacuum.

Question from another plo player. What kind of hands are in his bluffing range here? I'm guessing a lot of 9x?

Its a good point that your story is legit.

Mentally I break it down roughly like this. Btw i might be totally off here again I havent played nlhe in ages and never played 6m at HS so sorry if this is BS and totally off

KQs: probably plays exactly like this, so he has all 2 combos
AKo: probably 4bets some pre, plays it more aggro on flop sometimes, so lets give him 2 combos?
AKs: same story. 0.5 combo
QQ: plays exactly like this, probably checks the river sometimes. 2.5 combos
AJhh,AQhh,AThh, KK, are somewhat possible (does KK always 4b?). I guess you are heavily discounting flushes from his range because of the medium size? They would be very tempted to bet larger to get value from Kx. But we cant disregardsome nutted hands here entirely. 0.75 combo?
55,88,33 very unlikely considering betsize.
AJ/AQ blufss certainly with some freq. 1.5 combos, lets round up to 2?

total 9.75 combos

AK:ah,rare nuts KK/flushes instacall obv. 1.25 combos
QQ with Qh calls mostly: 0.75 combos

Your bluff needs to work 75% of the time which means he has to fold his other Kx extremely often for this to be profitable.

Additionally there is a cost to this bluff: you cant discount the possibility that opponents at this stake pick up on these tendencies over time and make a surprsingly light hero call massive costing you. You also cant discount a random hero call without history: you are repping an extremely narrow value range here and im sure opponents are familiar with your being capable, we should also not underestimate our opponents completely at these stakes. Accidentally being way out of line here and getting punished is very expensive.

If you bluff just AhQ/ some AxQh here that is already enough bluffs im guessing considering your value range is very narrow here. Having that Ah also massively helps your FE. Adding 45s is barely profitable at best at the cost of opening yourself up to a massive counter exploit. These kinds of bluffs seem to work most effectively when timed very precily and in moderation, overdoing it can kill them across the board all together.

You can argue a lot about the combo's in that construction but no matter how u break it down u rely on making Kx fold a very large % here to make this work.

Week 7-8: September 16th-30th + September wrap-up

Hey, quick post/update as I rush to get things ready for my vacation tomorrow. Typical guy saving everything for the last minute, ofc.

Busy month outside of poker, with lots of birthday's and celebrations. I believe September is by far the busiest time of year for me outside of Poker with the way the calendar falls. Plus, I was ill for the earlier part of the month. Looking forward to a much less busy Oct., although I will be starting late as my vacation is from the 1st-6th. That sounds like a lot of excuses as I type it out , but promise all's sincere

Maanya and Reyaan shared their first birthday together on the 24th which was awesome. They also shared a big birthday function on the 29th. Will post the pics when we receive them, here's a few from my phone.



Poker-wise things were pretty dreadful. Results-wise, but mainly performance-wise. I believe I touched on this last update. In case I didn't, I suspect the mixture of illnesses (two different ones almost b2b), vacation, festivals and celebrations + general bad run at the tables all summed up to a really toxic mindset for me. I was pushing myself to find time to work as much as I could, however, being unwell, having lots of (let's call them) 'distractions', and then getting rinsed whenever I did find time, was enough to make me lose my mind a little. Not lose-lose, but generally speaking, I was more tilted/effected than I've been in a long time. Perhaps having this blog accountability was extra pressure, too. Anyway, what happened, happened. A positive note from this is that I don't think I did much wrong... in hindsight, I had a lot on my plate that I did well to manage, and I couldn't have foreseen the negative mental response to it all. The mind is interesting. A takeaway is to not push myself too much; sometimes less is more. And also, I'm down a ton of $, but not many BI's, not too much I can do about losing at my higher stakes.

Very much looking forward to this vacation away. It is going to be a chilled one without much/anything on the agenda. Just time away with the wife & kid.

Hoping for a much more consistent October at the tables.


Hands:
1. Dreamy blockers.

PokerStars, Hold'em No Limit - $2.50/$5.00 ($0.80 ante) - 2 players
Replay this hand on Pokeit

SB: $903.86 (181 bb)
BB (Hero): $1,836.56 (367 bb)

Pre-Flop: ($9.10) Hero is BB with 7 9
SB raises to $13.75, Hero 3-bets to $65, SB calls $51.25

Flop: ($131.60) A 6 8 (2 players)
Hero bets $24.73, SB calls $24.73

Turn: ($181.06) 7 (2 players)
Hero checks, SB bets $118.71, Hero raises to $1,746.03 (all-in), SB folds

Total pot: $418.48 (Rake: $3)
BB (Hero) wins $415.48


2. Non-believer

PokerStars, Hold'em No Limit - $2.50/$5.00 ($0.80 ante) - 2 players
Replay this hand on Pokeit

SB: $527.48 (105 bb)
BB (Hero): $1,742.15 (348 bb)

Pre-Flop: ($9.10) Hero is BB with Q Q
SB raises to $13.75, Hero 3-bets to $60, SB calls $46.25

Flop: ($121.60) 9 9 5 (2 players)
Hero bets $74.30, SB calls $74.30

Turn: ($270.20) Q (2 players)
Hero bets $112.15, SB calls $112.15

River: ($494.50) Q (2 players)
Hero bets $344.05, SB calls $280.23 (all-in)

Total pot: $1,054.96 (Rake: $3)

Showdown:
BB (Hero) shows Q Q (four of a kind, Queens)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 72%, Flop: 84%, Turn: 100%, River: 100%)

SB shows J A (two pair, Queens and Nines)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 28%, Flop: 16%, Turn: 0%, River: 0%)

BB (Hero) wins $1,051.96


3. Kicker

Winning Poker, Hold'em No Limit - $2/$4 - 5 players
Replay this hand on Pokeit

UTG: $538.75 (135 bb)
CO: $557.35 (139 bb)
BU: $164.00 (41 bb)
SB: $416.80 (104 bb)
BB (Hero): $458.68 (115 bb)

Pre-Flop: ($6) Hero is BB with A 4
2 players fold, BTN raises to $8.40, 1 fold, Hero calls $4.40

Flop: ($18.80) A K 3 (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $8.96, Hero calls $8.96

Turn: ($36.72) 2 (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $26.20, Hero calls $26.20

River: ($89.12) K (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN checks

Total pot: $89.12 (Rake: $3)

Showdown:
BU shows 3 A (two pair, Aces and Kings)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 50%, Flop: 78%, Turn: 77%, River: 0%)

BB (Hero) shows A 4 (two pair, Aces and Kings - higher kicker)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 50%, Flop: 22%, Turn: 23%, River: 100%)

BB (Hero) wins $86.12


September Results:

$:

BB:

By Session:

By Stake:

Data:



Profits:
Playing: -$63,866.61 + -$10,000 (WSOP HU Event on GG)
Action Sold: +$21,482
Rakeback: +$2536
Total: $-49,848.61

Progress: $-35,900.53/$1,000,000

Cheers, gooooood luck

I'll be honest I'm a little confused about the part where you say less is more when you only played... 9 hours a week?

anyway rough stretch, standard poker variance but I feel like it must be even harder emotionally when you play this little volume to downswing like that

do you have another job btw?

Lovely pics. Just noticed that your wife and your kid both have "AA" in their names. Seems like you won in life with quads. So no worries about poker, it will follow, I'm sure.

GL in October and see you at the tables mate.

Great blog. Your volume is massive leak.

Gl gl!

if you make $300/hr playing and play an average of an hour a day, it'll only take you 9 years to complete this goal =/

skeletonman.gif

if have big edge at like nl1k then you could play like 6hrs / day or 7 hrs quite comfortably put big volume at GG make like 250k / year variance free money (as you play nosebleeds and goal is like 1M) you wouldn't need else than some serious nl1k volume.

Those bluffs look amazing!

GL
When you are not in A game , lower stakes maybe the better choice.

So true for me as well.
I recently started grinding again after like 10 years off and I struggle so much now to not be affected by results.

It's weird as my mindset in life and my inner balance is actually a lot better than when I was younger.

What helps me quite a bit is trying to mentally reset. Letting go of the mistakes that I made and seeing them as part of the journey of transformation.
Life brings up our struggles and gives us a chance of letting them go.

If you can switch your mindset from "resistance" to "opening up towards your struggle and accepting the challenge of it in an open embrace" it will shift everything completely.

Anyway you have a really sharp mind for poker and watching your videos on RIO you know exactly what you are doing. Trust yourself, Accept the challenges of life and you will crush for sure.

agreed
finding a way to grind reasonable volume on A game is a key skill

I love that you are sharing all this to all of us. My 2 cents, may be absolutely wrong: you sound a bit like someone who's lost the passion for this game and who's ready to move on to something else. Struggling to put in hours and always having "good excuses" to not be in front of the computer is often a telling sign (I've had 2 children back-to-back while still playing full-time, I know the pain, but your case sounds a bit different imo).

I disagree
Luke sounds suuuuper passionate when he talks about poker.

Struggling to put hours in and having "good excuses" is more due to the fear of losing when struggling with result orientedness. It creates an anxciety.
A similiar effect is even fairly common in the surf community. I know a lot of surfers who won't have a second session(if their first one was good for example) because they are anxious that a bad session will ruin their mood.

I have it in the exact same way.
When being dialed in on just playing well I can grind all day, if I'm slipping into result-orientedness I will find excuses to stop and not have another session.
Finding your own "reset button" and getting yourself just dialed into enjoying competition is so key.

Poker and Sports a like.

luke focused in coaching gto after hardly beating nl100 which obviously shows with everything to seasoned grinders (silly bluffs in spots u never wanna bluff, very low volume throughout career etc.) carrot corners already puts up a good parody on how coach is gonna crush the stakes but this is just similar delusions on steroids ... u need to play lot of hands to get good at playing this game cant just study gto and jump to nosebleeds, lol

I played 400,000 hands this year at low stake.
The winning rate is 12BB per 100 hands, but the biggest downswing is 80 buyins.
I entered the winning rate in the simulation website.
With such a winning rate, it is possible to lose 150 buyins, and it is possible to lose after 150,000 hands.

Great point! I think many poker players have this anxiety. and we all deal with this differently. But playing 9hours/week is definitely a common one. I don't want to start drawing random conclusions for op but I think this correlates with the "1-1 pseudo gto" playstyle. The discomfort of not being able to get "real feedback" on plays based on assumption/intuition some want to avoid at all cost. So they strive for perfection which heavily decreases there volume hours and creates even more anxiety when facing uncommon spots>cycle continues.

and about variance, it's obvious that in a 20k sample or whatever anything can happen. And it's easy to be the chatpro when the cards are against someone. It will probably be alright when op puts in the hours, but that's sort of the problem here

Those bluffs are just spews this is really free value gift (which guru doesn't want to obviously take) but if you have a habit of blasting bluffs on spots ur value range is narrow like 3 combos i think the guys are kinda curious to be calling at high-stakes like my intuition was screaming call in each of those spots posted and after that i would put like the purple tag i give to agre nl50/nl100 reg/fishes who try make impressive plays at higher stakes.

Haha! Thank you man.

Sincerely, there is always a moment every day where I can take a second to appreciate how lucky and fortunate I am. I do not take this for granted. No matter what happens at the tables, I always know that overall, I am running hot in life

Best of luck 2u2, always fun battling with you

Recently I have been doing just this. So far, despite the poor results on paper (or PT4), I am v happy with my mindset, approach & execution. Looking forward to seeing how things develop. Of course, the goal would be to eventually translate this to higher stakes. I know this won't be an easy feat for me, though.

If you are in a better place mentally and in life (congratulations, btw), yet struggle MORE when dealing with poker results, that may simply mean your desires from poker have changed. At least, that is what has happened with me. What do you want from Poker now vs what did you want from Poker 10 years ago?

... Half a decade ago I cared a lot less about money -- competition was by far the main driving force. Fast forward to today and I simply care more about the money. That past (mental) chapter is gone, and that's okay. Ultimately, I've now learned it is okay to care about the money I make or lose, and as expected with the territory, losses may now be a little more of a dagger to the heart. Instead of supressing the caring for money, I've learned to embrace and accept it as part of my journey.

Poker variance is, and will always be a hard pill to swallow.


(Apologies for grouping you all together)

Regarding the low volume

Low volume, or to put it more accurately, not working enough, was something I struggled with from 2017-2021/2022. I say "struggled", but realistically, I was just lazy and played video games/watched YouTube/Twitch/XYZ. Procrastination city.

Nowadays, this couldn't be further from the truth, but that doesn't translate to me grinding a full-time poker schedule. Outside of playing & studying, I have many other work projects/responsibilities:
• coaching
• making RIO content
• setting up a business
• another significant work project
• health & fitness
• making time to be a father & a husband

Deliberately or not, I have made myself not only a poker player, playing is just ~25-30% of my total workload. Tbh, I wouldn't like to be only playing & studying poker, perhaps that is why I wasted so much time in the past (??). Now with a much more varied set of projects, I work like a truck and end up more productive. However, this is only a poker blog; I may not post updates on how well (or poorly) my other works are going.

Anyway, I am not here to justify why what I'm doing is right or wrong; to each their own. I have got nothing to hide, as proven by the results part of this post . So long as we are all happy, respectively. It's important to appreciate that what might work for someone may not work for the next. Ultimately we each owe a service to ourselves to find what works for US.

Firstly, thank you for the compassion and gentle approach in your message.

I believe you are not too far from the truth. However, and significantly:
• I definitely have not lost passion for the game, it is still there. But..... that passion to become the top dog (Poker's LLinus) has definitely burned out. I know that I don't have what it takes to get there. To get there requires a brilliant mind, dedication, and an extremely high risk tolerance. I am likely 0/3.

• I do not want to move on from poker as you mention, however, I have learned that I would like to allow time & space for other projects to come in

I appreciate your message and the thoughts it provoked from me.