Update 16/5

I guess the end of the AoF grind is near. GG offered me another screen name change, which probably says it all LOL.

Last night was probably my worst session ever. I usually do not post graphs, but to give you an idea:



Please note that the above graph does not include rake, so the actual result is even worse.

And still no jackpot after 36k hands. I do not want to moan too much about that, but jackpots are obviously a big part of that format.

At this pace, I am not gonna make it till next Wednesday, also the leaderboard looks kinda easy atm.


15/5-22/5 Progress
Hands: 17.9k
Leaderboard Points: 3,566 (1st)
Jackpots: 0 (Total: $0)


Big day today, for better or for worse.

Poker has a very unique way to humble someone.

About two weeks ago I felt pretty good, the AoF went OKish and I had two decent enough MTT cashes where I freerolled the buy-in.

Honestly, the only thing that keeps me going is the soft leaderboard where I currently have a pretty big lead. But I might drop out of the race if things tighten up too much.

Just writing this down to capture the moment and to reflect later on it.

I won five jackpots since the last Update, so it's nice to have some decent run in jackpot equity finally.

Therefore today (Sunday) sucked big time. The graph doesn't include the 15bb/100 rake.





The leaderboard got a lot tighter than I thought, but now I am pretty pot committed to go for 1st place. At least that's how it feels right now.


Anyways, on a much lighter note: I just watched Netflix's City Hunter and I must say it's a pretty damn good adaptation. It was way better than expected, definitely recommended when you are into that genre.

Tomorrow (Monday) is a Holiday here, but not sure how much I can play ... but as I noted above, would feel super stupid to miss out on the 1st place. Way to late to crunch through the numbers, so I will give a proper update with all the numbers tomorrow I guess.

Mate, that particular game mode is bleeding you dry. I know there are some specialists in it making money at higher levels but at your stakes it seems like a serious rake trap.

Every now and then I'll rail the degeneracy of the VIP games and there are definitely dedicated regs in the mode. But their rake is a way lower percentage of the pot than at the micros and their rakeback is much higher because of their fish buffet level being at Diamond or Black Shark.

Plus their preflop edge is higher against the punting whales that they play against than yours is against the leaderboard and jackpot grinders. As wild as it sounds it is more likely that the people casually playing the cheaper stakes are playing according to GTO preflop charts than the people casually playing at the $1000 level.

I truly do feel as though this mode at these stakes is unbeatable, no matter how good you run with jackpots. I also worry that the leaderboard is succeeding in its job of incentivising you to gamble beyond a point that you feel comfortable with because it is feeding a sunken cost fallacy where you seem to feel like you are in too deep to stop despite the losses.

I'm certainly the last person to be talking about having a problematic relationship with gambling so there is absolutely no judgement from me whatsoever. Just be careful hey, those leaderboards exist for exactly this reason and this particular game mode seems like it is a serious rake trap wrapped up in a quick little dopamine hit.

I would respectfully disagree with that part. Even some / most of the other regs have pretty bad ranges in certain spots and the average player is nowhere near GTO and is widely off when it comes to jackpot equity.

Besides, I totally agree with your overall point that the rake at $0.05 / $0.10 is just way too high. So AoF $1 definitely ran its course for me. Right now I am still contemplating if I give $0.10/$0.25 a shot but I am not sure.

Thanks a lot for input!

You should really try the PLO MTTs on GG.
They are No Limit post-flop, hence why you can comfortably overbet-jam top sets and nutstr8s on save turns. Likely also top2 vs some droolers, if there arent two flushdraws on a connected board.

I much prefer PokerStars cause i dont trust GG, but a rec friend of mine had some decent scores on GG in Omaha MTTs.

Thanks for your advice!

Unfortunately, I do not have the roll to grind MTTs atm but I will keep that in mind for sure. But I am really considering to (re)learn PLO because I need a cash format to play in.

I am aware of GG's image and will definitely move back to Stars or split my roll someday in the future, depending on what I am playing. But I liked the fresh start on a new site and I like their client tbh.

15/05 - 22/05 Recap

I led the leaderboard by about 2.2k points at one point but fell behind after not having too much time for poker on Sunday (7.5k hands) and Monday (5.2k hands). I tried to play catch up on Tuesday, but I should have thrown in the towel earlier tbh.





60.9k Hands played:

~ -$732 on the tables (including All In Fortune)
$471 in Jackpots (6)
$200 for 2nd place on the leaderboard

Total: -$61


So I am pretty much down with AoF now. My plan was never to grind up the stakes and play $160 AoF one day, but this is obv not a sustainable grind. I am still contemplating moving up to $2 because of the lower rake, but I am not sure.


So what's next? I am not quite sure and will make a separate post about this I guess. I still have about half of my GG World Festival "bankroll", so I will single bullet as many $2-3 events as possible plus $5 events when they are bounties.

GG World Festival

Tournaments are fun. Sometimes.

I changed my screenname again (thanks GG lol) because the last one had obv very bad juju.


Initial Bankroll: $84 = T$14 + $20 Free Cash + T$50 (all from completing Honeymoon Missions)

Events played: 15
Total Buyins: $65,50
ITM: 3
Winnings incl. bounties: $219.60


187-L: $3 Baby Triple Dragon [3-Stack]
Nice start into the day:

GGPoker, Hold'em No Limit - 60/120 (15 ante) - 8 players
Hand delivered by Pokeit

UTG: 16,047 (134 bb)
UTG+1: 14,631 (122 bb)
MP: 13,206 (110 bb)
MP+1: 15,271 (127 bb)
CO: 13,236 (110 bb)
BU (Hero): 14,348 (120 bb)
SB: 14,865 (124 bb)
BB: 16,054 (134 bb)

Pre-Flop: (300) Hero is BTN with A A
5 players fold, Hero raises to 276, SB 3-bets to 792, 1 fold, Hero 4-bets to 1,824, SB calls 1,032

Flop: (3,888) J K 5 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets 1,284, SB raises to 2,568, Hero raises to 5,546, SB raises to 13,026 (all-in), Hero calls 6,963 (all-in)

Turn: (28,906) K (2 players, 2 all-in)

River: (28,906) 4 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: 28,906

Showdown:
SB shows 8 K (three of a kind, Kings)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 16%, Flop: 18%, Turn: 95%, River: 100%)

BU (Hero) shows A A (two pair, Aces and Kings)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 84%, Flop: 82%, Turn: 5%, River: 0%)

SB wins 28,906


188-L: $5.40 Bounty Hunters Mini Fifty Stack
That one was a pretty wild rollercoaster. I busted about 300 places before ITM but at least I got 6 bounties for ~$13.

About two hours in I had a pretty bad cooler in a massive pot. Preflop is a bit debatable but the rest of the hand was pretty much standard IMO. Afterward, I made a nice comeback with only 10bb left, then lost TT vs. AJ vs KJ (J river) in a big pot AI pre, followed by losing with 88 vs 66 and AK where I lost the big main pot and only won the small side pot.

Final hand UTG min opens, I shove AK in MP with 20bb, he snaps with KJo and hits his Jack.


189-L: $2.50 Saily Mini Warm-Up
About two orbits into the first level, UTG+1 min opens, CO 3 bets and I shove JJ in the BB for 85bb. UTG+1 folds and CO snaps with AQs. Not necessarily my standard line here, but the average players calls here with much worse IMO.


190-L: $5.40 Bounty Hunters Mini Main [6-Max]
I never got anything going and then I stacked off with QQ on J325 against A4 obv.


191-L: $5 Wednesday Mini Wonderbox [Mystery Bounty]
I broke my own buy-in rule because the event became only a KO tournament after ITM but I had already busted all the other events and wanted to keep going. Needless to say, I never got off the starting blocks. I was super card/spot dead for almost two hours before I picked up 88, AJo and AQo back-to-back-to-back and got no customers on a pretty active table. A few hands later, I picked AJ up again, this time suited. UTG min opens, I shove with about 20bb and he has KK. GG.


I think my tournament play is not too bad but far from being good. The rest of the "bankroll" should be good enough for about 4-5 more events, which I will probably play on Saturday. I am still not sure what to do concerning cash games, I will probably try to map out a plan tomorrow.

So what's next?

Sooo, after quitting AoF (at least for now) I am sitting on about C$900 from the leaderboard grind. For those of you who don't know, I can use C$ to buy into cash games, but not into MTTs and they are not withdrawable. So I need to "convert" them into real $ by playing cash games.

I am contemplating a few options atm and any input is def welcomed.

Option 1: NLHE
This seems like the natural choice to make. I would start really low and see how high in stakes I can get. Also playing Rush&Cash would probably help with converting the C$ due to the increased hands played per hour. However, I am not totally thrilled by the current state of NLHE cash games tbh. It's insane to me that NL50 or even NL25 regs are talking about GTO nowadays. But maybe I am super wrong and if you want to chime in please feel free to do so. I would love to have a longer conversation about it.

Option 2: PLO
This could be the better long-term choice. I played some PLO (and Omaha Hi/Lo) back in the day so I am not completely new to it. Not that I was ever very good at it but I think I could jump right into PLO2 and be better than breakeven while really learning the game from the ground up. However, the traffic on the reg tables seems kinda low? It's close to noon here and only 63 players are playing PLO5. So maybe Rush&Cash would be better?

Option 3: Short Deck
Could be fun and obv a lot closer to NLHE than PLO is so the learning curve might be not steep. Not sure if it would be really worth it but the long-term perspective is probably not too bad I guess.

Option 4: Back to AoF
Not sure if this really an option for me atm but I want to include it anyway. I could take a somewhat calculated shot at $2 and see how it goes. Wouldn't directly help with converting the C$ tho.


So yeah, that's pretty much where I am right now. Deposited 100€ five weeks ago, and now I am sitting on 930€ (~ $1k), thinking what to do next.

Hey mate, glad to read that you're putting some serious thought into the direction you want to be headed with poker. The C$ is a bit of a pain in the ass because only profits from a table are taken off of it as withdrawable money while the buy-in is returned in C$. It gets put in the pot last of course as well so If you're up and then lose a big pot you lose the withdrawable profits before it touches the C$.

Option 1: I'm still relatively new to cash but playing as a 50NL shitreg so this is what I am most familiar with. GTO play is a thing against the regs but really there is less of a need for balance than at higher levels so most spots are still better played exploitatively if you have a decent read or are familiar with the person's playstyle. Some regs are better than others but your money doesn't come from getting into hands with the regs anyways. Mostly you just stay out of each other's way and try to get in hands with the Chinese and Japanese whales punting it away.

It could take a while before you start climbing the stakes and seeing a healthy chunk of that C$ converted into withdrawable cash but at least you have a heap of buyins for 10NL and once you've found your footing you can give 25NL a go.

Option 2: PLO involves a lot of stacking off so if you keep ratholing once you are up you should be able to convert the C$ quicker while probably paying less rake in the process. Less small hands means that the rake cap is hit more often so that would be a huge benefit. GG raking preflop is an absolute killer at NLHE but with PLO everyone wants to see the flop anyways so it is less of a factor. That said the swings can be much higher even for experienced players and you might be surprised at how little edge you have even at PLO2 without some initial hard study. It's not at the level of holdem but the game is harder these days at all levels than it would have been back when you had experience with it.

Option 3: Short Deck has potential if you are willing to put serious time into understanding the equities. But it is a gamblier game where the swings can be enormous and stressful for even dedicated SD pros. I would stay away from it if I was you. There is a greater skill difference between SD regs and recs than holdem but until you're an absolute crusher that would be negated by the closer hand equities anyways. Some people specialise in it, love it and do really well with it but for most it is the rung on the degen ladder just above 6-card PLO.

Option 4: Doesn't solve any of the issues you have been having with the $1 stake and instead increases your risk of ruin... I dunno about that but hey you do you

For what it is worth GG has AoF express satellites to their MTTs. You would have an edge against most of the people using them to get into micro tourneys and so if you are serious about getting into MTTs your AoF knowledge could help you save money on the entry fees. Still have to turn that C$ into $ so you can do that though. Maybe if you ask extremely nicely in an email to support they would covert C$ to T$. Probably not but worth a shot asking, I mean it would still keep it within their ecosystem but nothing with GG is ever easy or customer friendly so it's a longshot.

Thanks a lot for your feedback!


I think I see myself still more of an MTT player long-term and I am way more optimistic about the overall health of the tournament landscape compared to cash games. However, playing MTTs only as a side gig is incredibly hard in my experience, so I need a bread-and-butter cash game format for at least the foreseeable future.

Whatever you do, dont play short deck...

Is Short Deck really that bad?

Just imagine it as Roulette where you are the Casino... But you have to give 90% of profits to the state, and be the groupier who has to roll 5 balls per minute on 4 different tables, 8 hours a day, all by himself...

Its a game for Slot addicts, imo.

You see the same flops all the time, same flips all the time, and if you are not +200bb deep with many others, you hardly ever play rivers in meaningfull pots.

I regularly managed to have more than 1000$ in my roll, but no money left to reload my 4th table...At 25$ tables.

Winning or losing 50 or 40 buy-ins was my max per session, but swings could have been bigger.

You really need 200 buy-ins, if you dont wanna move down limits regularly.

Its nice to win 10 stacks in an hour, tho.
Made 30 buy-ins in three 1 hours Sessions, one day.
At 2$ tables, i once had a +100buy-ins day playing long, and deepstacked, ofc.

No wonder its so popular in Asia ....

But yeah, will treat that as some side project sometime in the future. I guess SD tournaments could be pretty good but idk.

I'm an atheist but the existence of SD tourneys almost makes me believe in a God. For only God could create Satan and only Satan could create short deck tournaments.

Once you're more experienced with MTTs I don't think there will much of a desire for any additional variance.

I got into Day 2 of the microstakes Short Deck Mystery Bounty on GGpoker a few weeks ago. It was somehow even more degenerate than it sounds. At least if I had've bought a lottery ticket I could have chosen the numbers.

I'm sure some Chinese property developers out there are placing prop bets on their bomb pot double board short deck omaha J-6 bounty flops but for me I think that's the highest level of degen that I'm ever going to be intentionally involved in.

Hehehehehehe

BTW, yesterday (Friday) you sat on my left for a few hands in that $0.50 T$ Builder.

Oh yeah? I went into that to blow off some steam and punt after getting busted out of some bounty builder so you probably saw some **** haha. I gambled a little and busted quickly but feeling a lot better afterwards.

The cheap T$ builders are good for getting a bit of tilt out of your system. Some wild nonsense in one of those can be very cathartic.

I actually seem to remember being pretty heavy on the 3-bets so sorry about that ahaha

Yeah, the play is really pretty wild in those lol

No worries, we played only one hand against each other BvB (you hat 75s irrc) and then the table broke up.

GG World Festival

I played two $2.50 events yesterday (Friday) but bricked them both super hard so no need for a write-up. Obv they count towards the total numbers.

Today's (Saturday) events did not go any better and I am now done with the GG World Festival as I don't have the bankroll to play more events. But I cannot complain because I literally freerolled all the events I played in and had some obv super sustainable ROI. It could have been better, but that's how tournaments go.


Initial Bankroll: $84 = T$14 + $20 Free Cash + T$50 (all from completing Honeymoon Missions)

Events played: 21
Total Buyins: $86.30
ITM: 3
Cashes incl. bounties: $220.82


211-L: $2.50 Bounty Mini HOT POT [7-Max]
I late reged about 15min into the event, made a hero call on the turn that did not work out, tripled up with QQ vs AKo and 98s and than this beauty happened:

GGPoker, Hold'em No Limit - 100/200 (30 ante) - 7 players
Hand delivered by Pokeit

UTG: 10,560 (53 bb)
MP (Hero): 6,410 (32 bb)
MP+1: 10,744 (54 bb)
CO: 19,151 (96 bb)
BU: 19,770 (99 bb)
SB: 8,028 (40 bb)
BB: 11,260 (56 bb)

Pre-Flop: (510) Hero is MP with K K
1 fold, Hero raises to 400, 2 players fold, BTN calls 400, 1 fold, BB calls 200

Flop: (1,510) 6 Q 8 (3 players)
BB bets 755, Hero raises to 2,265, BTN calls 2,265, BB folds

Turn: (6,795) 6 (2 players)
Hero bets 3,715 (all-in), BTN calls 3,715

River: (14,225) T (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: 14,225




212-L: $5.40 Bounty Hunters Mini Fifty Stack
AI pre AQ vs 88 for 45BB, flopped the flush draw but missed.

213-L: $2.50 Daily Mini Warm-Up
TT<AKo AI pre for a massive 180BB pot (double the avg stack)

215-L: $5.40 Bounty Hunters Mini Main [Big Bounties]
One Bounty for $1.22

I got lucky in one big pot, then unlucky in another big pot. Dwindeled down to around 30BB. Everyone folds, SB completes, I raise with A8s and he jams. Unfortunately, I fell for it and he shows AKs.

Tournaments can have their ups and downs that is for sure. Hope you had some fun and learned a bunch even if there weren't any big scores.

Tournaments require a relatively hefty bankroll compared to your average buy-in and the variance can be rough. At a certain point you have to get your stack in and hope for the best. Not too sure about that 180bb TT<AKo hand. Seems like both of you should have been playing more cautiously at that stack depth.

Check out the preflop ranges on GTOWizard at different stack depths. Table dynamics, bounties etc. do complicate things but in general try to get a feel for them. A general rule is that speculative hands like suited connectors and small pocket pairs have a lot more value deep stacked while high card strength becomes more important as stacks get shallower.

The World Festival Events have been eating me alive too haha. The fields are so massive that a deep run in any of them is hard to do and requires a lot to go your way. I have entered an absolute heap and certainly haven't seen a profit overall. Without a recent deep run in a GGMasters my tournament graph would be looking pretty disastrous so don't be discouraged by the results.

Remember that GG does freerolls too. They are wild and it takes quite a few levels to get to the point where people aren't jamming nonsense but if you can get through those stages there is a lot of benefit to gaining some free experience with short stacks.

Damn just saw this thread, long time no see my friend! Hope you are well!

I had a lot of fun for the most part but my tournament play def needs some work hehe.

Yeah, that's the nature of MTT's. You are on a downswing until you bink the next one.


The legend himself! Thanks for stopping by in my little thread. What are you up to these days? If you ever want to catch pls lmk.

Finally, I cashed in a tournament today!





Final hand:



One day!