Sup guys! Gotta be honest and say haven't really felt like writing in here haha, but feeling it right now, so lets go....
The past couple of weeks have been dope. Have made a lot of friends here, which has led to a lot of going out and not being so gto lifewise. I got the party bug out and basically not going out anymore. I should make a blog for "drunk on rakija" lol. Man can the locals drink lol.. Now I am feeling very motivated to grind and to study a ton. One of my best friends, came over now from the states and we have been talking a ton of poker and doing a lot of work,
I'm motivated by some of my friends that are advancing and playing higher/understanding the game at very interesting levels. I no longer feel jealous of them, but happy for them, because I now understand that we receive what we give. I find myself playing catch up with them now, and that's alright
I have learned to respect my opponents. I am not the only one putting in work, there are a lot of grinders out there putting in solid work, and nothing will be handed out easily. I also learned to respect the rakeback grinders, even though their game might be weak, they still show up every day and put in super long hours and just push through whatever run they have. And they are special for that, I don't think I'd be able to do a leaderboard grind seriously. I am motivated by all the guys at the top with young children and other obligations, a couple come to mind but some shout outs to zas91 and teunuss, also never really mentioned it but teunuss made some solid mental game content on rio if anyone is interested in the topic. Lastly motivated by all the guys skating 3 and 2 handed. It is really amazing to see these guys battle because you just see how much work they've put in. Watching these battles has motivated me to start more tables and play more reg battles, yolo.
I have made my peace that poker will be something that I will love and hate, and there's nothing wrong with that. Some days it will bring the best out of me, and some days it will bring the worst out. Also convinced that I'm going to be the ****er that doesn't give up, no matter what. Just going to keep pushing until I can't anymore. I know that the harder I work the more things will start to work out, anything else is just an excuse. It's very easy to blame variance for bad results but very easy to ignore huge EV punts in a bunch of hidden spots. Let's just say that going through my database was a humbling experience. However I think I am at the point where I can execute pretty well and correct errors in lines/ranges pretty fast. I think this helps to be way more open about errors in general, because instead of hiding mistakes I'm just really interested in the truth. An example of that is in the following hands.
#1 vs Teunuss just straight up not meant to be raising his cbet. and my whole range construction in this hand was just wrong. Basically getting owned here. To not get too detailed here, I learned a ton from this spot, so namaste brotha.
https://i.gyazo.com/1435bd785f77e72f...0b394a4281.png
#2 dunno this guy but he seems to be playing a lot. I think the whole hand is pretty interesting, but the river is what gets me, you could argue that the river is a check back at equilibrium, however the equilibrium is always shifting, so to just make a play cause "its gto" is just far off, and we should always be thinking deeper into the spots, I don't feel terrible because at least I max timebanked each street and played it the best of my ability instead of insta acting. But also learned a lot in this spot, especially otr. but I did miss a river bet here which is what I meant with "there are ev punts everywhere". Motivated to catch more and more of these.
#3 a little welcome party at 500z xD
The gym has been going well, still putting in work, feeling pretty good.
Anyways to wrap it up.. results so far this month..
Its been nice catching some heat, but tbh its kinda w.e, something hit me recently where I kinda get its all about the journey and not the destination. Enjoy the grind, the people around and the places you go to.
Some pics of Durmitor.