Great stream, I hope you do more. I can tell you’re an excellent coach; you did an exceptional job articulating your thought process. It was apparent that you’ve put a lot of work into your strategy and that you have confidence in it.

Nice job on finishing the grind. Just wanted to say I watched this interview and found it enjoyable. I kinda wish I took notes on a couple things because I think there are some good discussions to be had on certain subjects. A couple things I do remember/think are interesting:

You mentioned a time frame of 5-7 years as to the longevity of the online game existing in a viable form. I certainly hope you're right but I'm not nearly as confident, given what I've read/seen about RTA (and skill cap issues). Not sure if you have additional thoughts on this, but was just curious about the source of your optimism.

You also said you didn't even feel like you were scratching the surface of your overall potential (or something akin to that). With all the success you've had, are you really sure that's the case? That is, I guess I think the skill cap in 6m NLHE isn't so incredibly high that someone as competent a player as yourself would have *that* much to improve, or a great deal to gain in EV by doing such. Obviously you're human, you make mistakes, you play your 'C game' sometimes, etc...It was just striking to me that someone who sits 5knl games feels like they've still got a vast amount to learn (about 6m NLHE, which is what I assumed you were talking about specifically the entire time. If you meant poker in general and that your razz game isn't GTO, then ignore this).

Whether this was in the interview or in chat of some HS game you were playing/I was railing, I recall you saying that sometimes you felt very confident sitting in any game, no matter the lineup, and other times you were felt much less self-assured (correct me if I'm wrong on this). I struggle with this kind of vacillating positivity as well and have tried to identify why it occurs, but at times it seems almost random. Any advice on how to cope with this/are you able to always identify why it occurs in the first place?

Anyway, hope all is well and best of luck.

Thanks, I appreciate it I do think that's one of my strengths as a coach as well! I won't be streaming at any regular occurrence but I will certainly drop in from time to time either as a guest with MMA or with other upcoming things coming up with BTS.

Hey thanks for watching and you really put up a lot of interesting points.

As far as longevity of online poker, we can only make educated guesses. I have 0% worry as far as skill gap tbh, but RTA obviously is something very real, a lot of it depends on site's security response etc headed towards the future.

As far as not 'being close' to reach my potential. Yes, I 100% believe that. I still think while the overall skill gap is decreasing (ofc) there are still some v large edges between regs. You'd be surprised at the gap between the top regs and the mediocre slightly winning ones.

This is for reference as far as improvement, at the end of the year I always do a kind of end of the year DB analysis for my game. I had about 40 instances where I had some kind of leak or something that could be improved. That's not including some leaks that I might not even be cognizant about (although I do have some friends help me w this for a fresh set of eyes).

So yeah compared to PLO, NLH skill gap isn't as great but it's not really a game where the edges are as small as one might think. So yeah I mean if in two years from now I don't think I suck (a relative term) I probably didn't improve as much as I should.

As far, as being confident in any game. I think I said, if I'm playing my best in a 6 max game I definitely follow up and agree with that and say there's not really a game I won't sit in the current climate. That's not as true in a shorthanded or HU game, where I'm still behind the best by a decent amount.

Yeah, I mean I think it's normal to not feel A game or have prime confidence every session, and I would just recommend not forcing a reg game battle if my mentals seem off and I don't think I'm playing great, as far as identifying why it occurs I don't think I could give you a good answer although it is probably affected by a ton of variables.


-----------

So, I've taken a ton of time off from poker (playing) this month. I think I've played around 4-5k hands, but I did a ton of coaching included a stretch of 3 days where I did 21 hours (my voice was done).

I am definitely going to put more study hours going forward as I'm not really in a DS BI wise (15 or so) but the money is a decent amount, so always seems like a good time to improve a bit more

Will do my weekly update tonight/tomorrow catching up on last 2 weeks

21 hours coaching in 3 days is completely insane, my head would explode!

Surely short handed and 6max are exactly the same? I guess way lower edge spots when you got MP and EP involved, or unless you just mean 6max games are always running with a rec.

GL to you as well! Subbed.

I wasn’t aware of this thread until now; congrats on all the success man

Always happy to answer any questions wrt chess so feel free to ask anytime, but to keep it simple and avoid a holy wall of text I’ll just give you an actionable plan, that mirrors what I recommend to students. Hopefully someone else can benefit from this as well.

Chess study plan for max efficiency:
1. Buy Chess.com diamond, amazing value. No other tools/resources, apart from coaching of course, are necessary or even important really in 2020. It’s <$10/month.
2. Split your routine into something like 40% tactics, 40% playing games and the analysis of those games and, 20% misc.
3. For tactics- books, tactics trainer, and puzzle rush are all good- the latter two which you can do exclusively on chess.com. This should be more of a day to day thing- not something that’s crammable. Main focus is pattern recognition.
4. For playing games, I’d recommend at least 5 mins per person, with 10 or 15 being preferred. The game report on chess.com is a goldmine. Check it out after every game. It’s kind of like HH Review’s... that are done for you by a computer. This is new and I wish I had this resource 5 years ago. LiChess and Chess.com are the two best places to play online.
5. Watching videos on YouTube nowadays is another great way to improve. Here are some recommended channels: Saint Louis Chess Club, agadmator, PowerPlayChess, Kingscrusher, GMHikaru, John Bartholomew, and BotezLive. Sort by Popular to see the best stuff. There isn’t much clickbait in chess so the title is a good representation of the contents of the vid.

Best of luck!

Impromptu 6max bracelet event stream on BTS channel at 7 PM EST. The absolute legend Gazzy B will be coming along to start


https://www.twitch.tv/bluffthespot

Caught some of your stream, really enjoyed it hope things continued to go well!

Hey man,

Enjoyed your stream from the other night, pls do it again!

You mentioned that you battled with Berkey a lot and I must ask - were you involved in this game?

https://twitter.com/berkey11/status/1286717301140594690

Seems like he took down someone for a lot of cash last night.

lol

Hi, thanks I should be on with MMA next week for a joint stream. Hey, yes I saw that tweet this morning. I played til 12:30AM battled a reg for a little bit before he quit me and then decided to call it an early night, obviously regretting that now, but at least I didn't lose 35kish

I've played him probably 200 hands HU at 2k but he will sit in the 5k games when they sporadically run as far as battling so we'll see how it goes.

Think I've made it clear overall my thoughts on his game through podcasts and streams so we'll leave it at that.

hey i just found this thread, weve played a bit on wsop im prideegobalz. looks like uve been crushing! keep up the good work

I ended up doing about 65 hours of coaching this month which is an absolute insane amount, unsurprisingly I didn't play too much

Yeah, I think when I see improve shorthanded it's probably a bit shortsighted since when it is 3 handed I am usually playing 2 other strong pro's etc. Where as if it's a 6h game we have a rec and weaker regulars.

This was absolutely fantastic advice, so thank you I really appreciate it, don't mind at all if you want to ask me any poker Q's. Getting close to breaking the 1000 pt barrier

Thanks man, was a lot of fun. Tourney didn't go so well, but was cool to stream a 3h 25/50 game and have a few interesting spots against a great player like Imisrovic as well. Also makes you look good when you sun and make 18k one tabling on stream vs regs


Hey man, thanks a lot and welcome aboard and yeah it's been going well so far, I'll be seeing you at the tables.

Ok, ok finally have an update coming....

Week 27-Week 30: June 29th-July 26th

1.) 151.94 hours of Poker Yearly Goal:1008.52

2.) 0 hours of Mental Health Yearly Goal: 12.11/75

3.) 5.5 hours of Fitness Yearly Goal: 62.38/200


Poker

151 hours of Poker? I thought you were taking it easy this month? Well, yes and numbers can be deceiving. I did a whopping 66 hours of work dedicated to coaching. Was coaching quite often and sometimes had even up to 5 coachings a day. A good amount of these were DB Analysis so while they can take a bit, coaching for me is much less draining than playing.

Additionally, I did have a few sessions where I was only 2-4 tabling higher stakes, much easier to put in a 6 hour session when you only have to focus on a few tables.

As far as results, it's been swingy. I've gotten about 21-22k hands this month and it's been the highest avg stake for a month for me. Quite a bit of reg battling. This has jacked up the variance but I'm pretty sure I'm winning at a decent enough clip to make the variance worth it.

So yeah results have been swingy but solid despite getting smacked this weekend. BTS has kept me pretty busy, but I'm looking forward to putting a bit more volume come August (and no more WSOP events to punt)


Surrogacy

This has been continuing on, lots of behind the scenes stuff, doctors visited to be accounted for, had to get cleared by a therapist etc. But all things are going great, Jazz got cleared so we're looking at a September transfer date and if everything goes well a June baby. Absolutely exciting, crazy stuff going on.

Other stuff

-Reached out to one of my brothers from my fraternity from the college days; he's a trainer/ competitior and he's been helping me get my fat ass back into shape. Doing squats with a suitcase isnt what I imagined but working out w whatever I can get my hands on.

-Need to cut down a bit on impulse buying. Ordered a bit too much food and other small stuff. Ie; for example I saw an ad for that manscaped lawnmower 3.0 and just said "why not" and now I feel like kind of a jackass for spending $100 for a tool to shave my balls (works great tho).

-Have been reading a bunch of Stephen King (I'm a big horror fan). I just got through Carrie, worked through the Mr. Mercedes trilogy, the Stand, and am starting the Outsider if anyone has a suggestion for another one of his books im all ears.

-Lasik. Getting a consultation done in Manhattan on Wednesday, pretty excited about that one.


Ok let's show a few hands.

1.) Oof

PartyGaming - $50 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 3 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

SB: 119.29 BB
Hero (BB): 100 BB
BTN: 100.48 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has A Q

BTN raises to 2.5 BB, SB raises to 10 BB, Hero raises to 24 BB, fold, SB calls 14 BB

Flop: (50.5 BB, 2 players) J 3 A
SB checks, Hero bets 13.24 BB, SB calls 13.24 BB

Turn: (76.98 BB, 2 players) 6
SB checks, Hero checks

River: (76.98 BB, 2 players) 2
SB bets 82.05 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 62.76 BB and is all-in

SB shows 5 4 (Straight, Six High)
(Pre 41%, Flop 20%, Turn 18%)
Hero mucks A Q (One Pair, Aces)
(Pre 59%, Flop 80%, Turn 82%)
SB wins 19.29 BB
SB wins 202.46 BB


2.) 0/100 on my bluffs vs my friend over here

PartyGaming - $50 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 2 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

SB: 172.2 BB
Hero (BB): 165.64 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has 6 5

SB raises to 2.5 BB, Hero calls 1.5 BB

Flop: (5 BB, 2 players) 4 J 5
Hero checks, SB bets 1.66 BB, Hero raises to 7.9 BB, SB calls 6.23 BB

Turn: (20.79 BB, 2 players) A
Hero checks, SB checks

River: (20.79 BB, 2 players) T
Hero checks, SB bets 13.38 BB, Hero raises to 62.7 BB, SB calls 49.32 BB

Hero shows 6 5 (One Pair, Fives)
(Pre 35%, Flop 23%, Turn 11%)
SB shows T J (Two Pair, Jacks and Tens)
(Pre 66%, Flop 77%, Turn 89%)
SB wins 146.18 BB


3.) When you find the .01% pre and get rewarded

PartyGaming - $50 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 2 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

SB: 310.2 BB
Hero (BB): 101.99 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has 4 A

SB raises to 2.5 BB, Hero raises to 10 BB, SB calls 7.5 BB

Flop: (20 BB, 2 players) 3 4 4
Hero bets 10 BB, SB calls 10 BB

Turn: (40 BB, 2 players) A
Hero bets 13.2 BB, SB calls 13.2 BB

River: (66.39 BB, 2 players) 3
Hero bets 21.91 BB, SB raises to 277 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 46.89 BB and is all-in

Hero shows 4 A (Full House, Fours full of Aces)
(Pre 27%, Flop 99%, Turn 99%)
SB shows Q A (Two Pair, Aces and Fours)
(Pre 73%, Flop 1%, Turn 1%)
SB wins 208.21 BB
Hero wins 203.97 BB


4.) vs reg

PartyGaming - $10 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BB: 30.91 BB
UTG: 107.74 BB
MP: 100 BB
CO: 124.9 BB
Hero (BTN): 128.1 BB
SB: 101.5 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has T T

fold, fold, CO raises to 2.5 BB, Hero raises to 7.5 BB, fold, fold, CO raises to 18.5 BB, Hero calls 11 BB

Flop: (38.5 BB, 2 players) 2 7 4
CO bets 12.5 BB, Hero raises to 28 BB, CO calls 15.5 BB

Turn: (94.5 BB, 2 players) T
CO checks, Hero checks

River: (94.5 BB, 2 players) 2
CO bets 78.4 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 78.4 BB

CO shows K A (One Pair, Twos)
(Pre 44%, Flop 26%, Turn 0%)
Hero shows T T (Full House, Tens full of Twos)
(Pre 56%, Flop 74%, Turn 100%)
Hero wins 250.9 BB

I would suggest the long walk from mr King. Kind of unrealistic/how did he come up with it, amazing novel.

Hey, I forgot to mention I actually did read this about 2 months ago. Completely agree and it's def a top 5 King book for me. The psychological horror is great, I actually wonder how I would do in that situation.

Right now flying through the Outsider, really enjoying it so far...


---------------------------

So I'm stewing right now. Just locked up a career worst day, which now means unless i pop off next two days will have not only first losing month of the year but worst month of my career. Will lay off the battling for now and hopefully get the bad taste out of my mouth.

Favorite King book is Different Seasons- its four short stories, if you've seen Shawshank Redemption, Stand By Me and Apt Pupil they are based on stories in this book.

I also enjoyed Under the Dome a lot- ending is kind of weak but still a great story overall.

Nice thread man and glad to see you are doing well.

Was fun to meet you and MMA at WSOP back in 2018.

Keep crushing mate, are you a Dean Koontz fan at all? Big fan of his books but haven't read anything new if hes published anything....not picked up a book in like 10 years bc I'm a ****ing degen lulz

Yeah, his endings for some of his books are flat but really not a story teller like him; ok will put under the dome on the next list

I know man really missing that part of the live poker scene thanks for dropping by hope you're doing well over there

Hey man I probably should give Koontz more love, Watchers is one of my favorite books of all time, but outside that I've only read one other novel of his "The Bad Place" which was solid if unspectacular.

Yeah I used to read quite a lot in my school days, with being home now and my library (right down the block) having pick up service it works really well as far as reading

Week 31:July 27th-August 2nd

1.) 26.86 hours of Poker Yearly Goal:1035.38/1800

2.) 1.5 hours of Mental Game Yearly Goal: 13.61/75

3.) 3 hours of Fitness Yearly Goal: 65.38/200


Poker


Took a few days break after a career worst day last Sunday, and slowly built upto a pretty productive weekend, I'm really ready to embrace the grind this month. Should have another heavy coaching schedule (40 hours); but I still want to get in adequate volume and improve myself.

I'm getting PRK surgery on my eyes in September so I will probably be out for a bit poker wise as the recovery time is a bit longer than LASIK. I also have a trip to Maine (almost no Covid cases) later this month so the plan is to grind like a madman and enjoy that. I will have to take a Covid test, which doesn't look to fun, but will be well worth the R@R.

I also made 2 prop bets for this month. I have an EV bet with a strong long time professional for this month and a bet with PGC legend Randal Graves on not being on our phones as much this month. Self-improvement bets are the nuts.

For those who also want to hear me blabber, I will be on stream tomorrow with MMAsherdog and Gazzy B on twitch 12PM EST.

Hands of the week:

1.) Interesting hand all around, not convinced I played it great despite winning

PartyGaming - $10 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 5 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

CO: 87.29 BB
BTN: 186.96 BB
Hero (SB): 103.7 BB
BB: 103.77 BB
UTG: 100 BB

Hero posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has Q Q

fold, fold, BTN raises to 2.5 BB, Hero raises to 10 BB, fold, BTN raises to 24.5 BB, Hero calls 14.5 BB

Flop: (50 BB, 2 players) A 2 4
Hero checks, BTN bets 15.5 BB, Hero calls 15.5 BB

Turn: (81 BB, 2 players) A
Hero checks, BTN checks

River: (81 BB, 2 players) 4
Hero checks, BTN bets 64 BB, Hero calls 63.7 BB and is all-in

BTN shows Q K (Two Pair, Aces and Fours)
(Pre 31%, Flop 15%, Turn 7%)
Hero shows Q Q (Two Pair, Aces and Queens)
(Pre 69%, Flop 85%, Turn 93%)
BTN wins 0.3 BB
Hero wins 208 BB


2.) Juicy turn

PartyGaming - $10 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 5 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 99.95 BB
Hero (SB): 128.09 BB
BB: 100 BB
UTG: 100.47 BB
CO: 118.98 BB

Hero posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has Q 8

fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to 3 BB, BB raises to 9 BB, Hero calls 6 BB

Flop: (18 BB, 2 players) 8 T 4
Hero checks, BB bets 13.2 BB, Hero calls 13.2 BB

Turn: (44.4 BB, 2 players) Q
Hero checks, BB bets 28.5 BB, Hero raises to 105.89 BB and is all-in, fold

Hero wins 178.39 BB


3.) Pretty clear/big turn size mistake, still like betting tho

PokerStars - $5 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 3 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

SB: 109.54 BB
Hero (BB): 101.5 BB
BTN: 180.42 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has K 6

fold, SB raises to 3.5 BB, Hero raises to 11 BB, SB calls 7.5 BB

Flop: (22 BB, 2 players) Q 8 J
SB checks, Hero bets 10.8 BB, SB calls 10.8 BB

Turn: (43.6 BB, 2 players) 6
SB checks, Hero bets 79.7 BB and is all-in, SB calls 79.7 BB

River: (203 BB, 2 players) 9

SB shows J A (One Pair, Jacks)
(Pre 63%, Flop 55%, Turn 70%)
Hero shows K 6 (One Pair, Sixes)
(Pre 37%, Flop 45%, Turn 30%)
SB wins 202.6 BB



GL at the tables all!

- I got a covid test a couple weeks ago while visiting my parents, don’t believe the hype. It’s completely painless

- Maine is one of the nuttiest states and flies under the radar, u heading to the coast?

- Phone addiction is tough, I’m working on mine too and failing

- Will tune into the stream

GL in Aug

deri maine....stephen king central...

So GTO strat is don't get eaten by a clown while in Maine?

Cool thanks for info, yes the coast, I'm only a few hours away but I've never been. Peers have told me it's absolutely beautiful so it's nice.

Yeah the phone habbit is a full blow subconscious habit, so it's a ***** to break, but I'm trying some stuff to get less and less dependent on it.

Might have to transition this blog from poker to Steven King books

11.22.63 is probably my favourite