Background story
The 2023 story.... not much poker but when I did play I did document it here. Feel free to read what you would like etc...

My first blog on 2p2 is here: https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/1...ssion-1823635/
To summarise: Started out playing very aggressive at 10NL Blitz on ACR and was a losing player over a 56k hand sample (see graph below)


Changed my strategy completely and did some study alongside playing and played a further 31k hands at 10NL and became a winning player (see graph below)


Overall the graph at 10NL for 86k hands did a bit of U-turn (see below - quite funny really)


I played a bit at 50NL Blitz on ACR and even 200NL (but nothing serious at all in terms of volume - more just to see what it was like to play the limit there).

Decided to take a break from poker around the time of moving house and used a little bit of my roll to play at GG poker.
I started this thread here: https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/1...urney-1825124/
I played 25NL and reported 10k hands on the blog here with this graph....



Since then, I haven't played a huge amount poker but have played.... results have been somewhat break even but here is my graph after 44k hands on GG poker.


I have also played a tiny bit at 50NL and 200NL on GG poker but nothing really to report. Here are my results from the site (see below)


*I have also played a little at Pokerstars this year but have not got results on poker tracker 4 (I believe I am around breakeven but mainly due to punting it off ha)

The 2024 poker journey

I am looking to play a lot more. I am looking to be a lot more consistent with the time I play.
I want to set myself five goals for 2024 (in no particular order)
1) Play at least 1 million hands (ideally 1.5 million if I can be really committed) - anywhere from 30-50 hours per week 3 tabling zoom/blitz/rush n cash etc...
2) Be a winning player before rake back and bonuses
3) Maintain a sensibly bankroll management (shot take when above 22BI for the next stake (2BI shot take) *only if winning before rake back and bonuses at prior stake)
4) Study with a select few people *as much or as little as needed* (looking to connect with a couple of people - so please reach out - I do have discord)
5) Update blog once a week (52 blog posts for 2024)

Where should I play poker in 2024?
I will be depositing in the next few days and may play a few hands before the new year but the question I have (and I would like some input with this is...)
Where should I play poker?

I am wanting to put in a lot of volume, so the question is where will I best be served in terms of rake back and bonuses etc... as well as balancing the idea of soft/hard sites to play at.
I have accounts at GG Poker, Pokerstars and ACR, so deposit bonuses etc will not come in to effect there (but I could play at Ya Poker *ACR skin* and get a 200% $ deposit bonus).
I also think I could hit the $125 or $250 beast leaderboard payout each week and the Elite Program may be one to consider for a nice juicy bonus or set of bonuses throughout the year.
I haven't looked too much into GG poker or Pokerstars rake back and bonus program but I imagine both sites could be slightly softer to play at (esp GG poker but the rake is higher).
So any thoughts or advice, please comment below....

To end this first blog post: I would like to say that I will be playing poker alongside a full time job and having a family. But if I can be successful and complete all five of my goals for 2024, then perhaps 2025 could look a lot different in terms of work and poker etc.

*Wish me luck - the grind starts soon - Week 1 blog will be posted on Sunday 8th January and I aim to update each Sunday*

Good luck achieving your goals in 2024!

I remember playing a bit with you on ACR, I did NOT like seeing you show up in the zoom pool lol

Wondered where you went, WB and GL!

GL

Thanks for the good luck vibes.

Decided I will play at ACR again. Thought I would play a session before the New Year Grind starts.
Loaded up 3 and then 4 tables at 25 Blitz. I have never seen this stake run before, but it was a nice surprise.

Started off well, holding where I needed to and taking some aggressive lines for value and bluffing. Some bluffs got called and some didn't throughout the session.
I did run absolutely horrendous (see graph below from my 2k hand session).


Ended up losing nearly 5 buyins in 2k hands - ouch. I could have easily been 3+ Buyins up. Not had a session like that all year ha! Got kicked in the teeth a lot ha.
Decided to put 1 table of 200 Blitz up alongside 3 25 Blitz tables, to play against some better players. I didn't play too many hands but held my own and hit some cards.
Managed to claw a win for the session but one of things I won't be able to do from next week is move up in stakes. I have told myself I want to be consistent and follow a bankroll strategy.
As such, I will have to learn to roll with the good and the bad. I am hopeful I can ride the storm. I know I can be profitable at 25 Blitz, even after just one session. Maybe it's hunch....

Anyways, Here is the 200 graph (see below)


I will leave this post with two hands that I played. Feel free to comment with the good or the bad etc.
Hand 1 - Tanked for quite a while on river and with the A and K of hearts out there I couldn't think of too many combos BB would call pre with, so made the call.
I do think it is under bluffed spot and maybe I was just lucky this once to make the correct call. No idea why he didn't 3 bet pre.


Hand 2 - this is just LOL. Never have I ever seen someone just do this and fold. I thought he was full of **** by his sizing and play and was happy with the decision to run it.
But we didn't run it... he folded. This probably explains my red line a little in the session, as I took down a $44 pot without showing my hand (biggest pot of the session by far....)


I will be sure to make a note of his play in case he/she comes back to the tables ha!

Anyways, thanks for following so far. The grind will start soon enough.
Hit me up if there is anything you want to know!

Ok... I have been a little quiet. I haven't made a start on this challenge for 2024. I haven't been able to play.... Life was getting in the way.

I will be starting the 2024 poker journey this week. So next Sunday I will write my first weekly blog.
I have £1000 to start with. Still need to decide where I am going to play.
I will be depositing over the weekend. Full transparency. Will I go broke or will I be able to build the roll up and make a success of poker in 2024?

Thoughts of where to play are: GG Poker, YaPoker (ACR) or Pokerstars

Let me know what you think might be the best option for fast play tables (ie Rush n Cash, Zoom etc).
I am still undecided....


Thanks!

So I haven’t managed to get anything solid going in 2024, thus far. It’s been poor and the last thing if I have wanted to do is post my short term results.

I mean I can… but really want to work on improving my game before hitting the tables.

Maybe I just haven’t played enough hands or have been playing reckless at points (which I know I have).

But I would really like someone who knows what they are doing to give my poker tracker 4 database a once over before I think about putting a large enough amount back into my account to start grinding again.

Confidence has taken a hit tbh. Recently I have been playing MTTs on stars, which have gone okay. Screen name RobertJShaw. But again… just getting sucked out on a lot I feel. Maybe that is normal…

I love the game. Just really want to get back to playing daily and playing my A game with the idea to be always improving.

So I am here asking for help. I would like coaching…but I can’t afford that. So I’ll take a a data base review and go from there. Hit me up!

Thanks
Rob

For the sake of transparency here is my GG Poker data (All time)



And here is the overall graph (All time)



And here is everything I have played this year (not much just 25NL)



And here is the graph for the year (you can see I have barely played but have been losing)



Now you have seen all this. I have had some okay results from GG poker. This year on GG has not been great at 25NL as I have lost about half my profits over the sample.
But I am still winning over the sample I guess.

Strap in. My Pokerstars data makes me cringe. A lot of stupid punting and tilt play.
But I am being transparent, so here goes nothing.

First up we have poker stars data (all time) *Since I have poker tracker 4... just over a year I think.



And here is this year



Here is my 25NL graph (All time)



And here is my 25NL graph (main stake) for this year



So obviously if we take away the stupid punting my bankroll off at 200 zoom or 5/10 reg tables... I am slightly losing this year and I am running quite a bit below EV.
I really should have worked on my game a lot more this year. I have taken quite a bit of time off between playing throughout the year. Deposit. Lose it. Wait. Deposit. Lose it. Repeat.

As you can see, I am not a 25NL nit. I have thought about being passive pre flop. Not over playing or barrelling and NOT bluffing. My red line would dramatically plummet I am sure. But I do know my green and blue line would probably be a lot better. I think the majority of the regs at 25NL on stars play like this....

So what am I going to do next.... well I would like some help as I said above. I would like someone to review my database... not just look at the graphs I have posted above.
I want to be better at the game. I want to learn. I want to stop tilting and punting things off. I want to win at the game. Not for the money but more because I like to be competitive.
I would love to build a roll. I would love to move up stakes.

This year has not gone well so far for poker.... I am probs 1-2k down across sites playing cash tables is my guess.
I have played some MTTS in recent weeks on poker stars because cash has been killing my soul.

I do not play with HUD when I play MTTs. I think my tracker has got some of my recent results.... see graph



Sharkscope has this on me for MTTs.... (all time) and you can see I have had two half decent results recently.... WPN MTTs are few and far between and not played there this year.



I think that wraps it all up. Am I stuck at 25NL? Am I a cash player or MTT player? Should I just quit poker full stop? OR Is there a way for me to turn the year around?
Can I actually be a longstanding winning player? Let me know your thoughts and be happy to chat on here... by message or add me on discord RobertJShaw.

See you at the tables.

Maybe I just become a nit like I did here when I played 10NL on ACR. Maybe that is the strategy to beat zoom / blitz / rush and cash games at 25NL and maybe even 50NL.

Play passive pre flop and raise only premiums (ie 5% 3 bet percentage or less). Don’t call many 3 bets out of position. Do not over play hands. Only get KK and AA all in pre flop. No bluffing. Don’t bluff catch that often. Only be aggressive when you have it.

Poker can’t just be this… sigh.

I started playing at ACR again.
It seems to be that 25NL blitz runs.

I started on the 12th July, so have played the past three days.

I am going to try really hard to not bust my roll by playing outside of my bankroll and if I am having a loosing session, I will employ a stop loss.

On reflection, I have busted my roll a couple of times because I have been short sighted about my results. I may have 4-5 winning 25NL sessions and then lose half or more of my profits in a single sessionÂ…. Then decide itÂ’s the right time to increase the stakes and again, it isnÂ’t my day, my hands donÂ’t hold or they lose.

So this leak, mainly the mental game leak needs is going to be addressed. I think I am a winning player at 25NL. I have a 50k hand sample (I know small) at GG poker. I also have a pretty much break even hand sample at PokerStars.

SoÂ… letÂ’s get back to it.


A weekly blog. That is the aim.
LetÂ’s set out to actually document the journey. I will learn lots, like I already have, and perhaps someone who is new or moving up the stakes will be able to do the same.

I will report back over the weekend.
I will try to keep my posts in time with the BEAST leaderboard that runs/finishes at Saturday at 5am my time.

I have a leaderboard goal for this week. I am hopeful to secure $125 and Tournament ticket. There is also a chance I may be able to reach the $250 position but I think it will require 35k hands. This is a lot for a week but I am already 10k hands in I think for the week.

I am winning this week before rakeback and bonuses. So I have made a good start. I am about 10/11 BI up currently but I donÂ’t want to focus on results. Plus,
I know one bad session in the past has derailed me. LetÂ’s keep playing good poker.

I will post a graph at the end of the week.
I will show my week results. My rakeback. My bonuses.

I am also talking poker with a player I met at PokerStars 25NL, who reached out to me mid game (pretty cool). I think because I read his handÂ… ha.

IÂ’ve also joined CraneÂ’s discord which is good and IÂ’m talking poker with coach at present (may hopefully get some coaching off him at some point too).

See you at the tables!

Ok, let's write a post to give an update. Mainly so I can reflect going forward I guess. I mean no one seems to be engaging with this thread, and I don't blame you tbh.

But without further a do, WEEK 1 of playing poker. I only played a few hands....

Week 1 starting bankroll $250
End of week 1 bankroll $3122 (waiting on $50 or so of rake back to be paid) - account shows $3066.
Breakdown of results: 25NL -$335 from 38.4k hands (on a 15-20 BI downswing) *Does not help that I have been punting it off and turned into a aggro monster in one/two of my sessions. I self-sabotaged my graph... I have turned into the monster at times that does beat other monsters but instead lies down and wants to be beaten up.HA
200NL +$2731 from 1.8k hands (variance has been kind to me, when I should not have been playing this stake/game). I have a won a few flips but mostly a lot of hands have either gone to showdown or I have picked the pot up. Blessed is an understatement. I now have a legitimate bankroll to give this poker thing a go. Let's hope I do not squander it.

ACR beast leaderboard - somehow managed to come in at number 72 to secure $250. 40k hands at 25NL is required.... geez.
Rakeback - I have raked $694 at 25NL and $143 at 200NL for a total of $837. With 27% being returned to be I have got back $226 (waiting on $50 or so to be paid).
Total rewards for the week are $476.

Here are some graphs because I know people respond well to them (well they are suppose to I guess). Full transparency.

Let's start with the 25NL Blitz graph - Have you ever played 40K hands at 25NL in a week?



As you can see after 15k hands we were about $350 in profit. After 25k hands we were $270 in profit. After 31k hands or so we were $136 in profit. The last 7-8k hands have not been good for me. I am currently on a 15-20 BI downswing. Some of it, okay a lot of it is my thought, as I am bluffing hard or raising too much pre flop. Also over playing certain spots by shoving etc. Next week, I need to just keep playing my game and not crumble at points like I did this week. It is the only reason I am in red here for this week. I will share some hands at some point but I cannot telll you how much I have been destroyed when getting it in good, like really good. I have also lost more 50/.50 pots than I should have....JJ and QQ this week have not been kind to me in later positions when the money has gone in pre-flop. I was running quite a bit above EV but that is now not the case. Ouch. It has been a rollercoaster.

Here are a few session breakdowns.... (I do take breaks but sometimes poker tracker does not reset the stats for a new session, so session lengths may be slightly off).
End of the week sessions here...



Start of the week session here...



Ok, let's look at the 200NL graph. I am a lucky boy to be on the right end of variance here. My goal for next week is not to play any 200NL Blitz!



Session breakdowns here...



I will do another post over the weekend sharing some bad beats and my biggest pots of the week.
I am going on Holiday on Wednesday, so my aim is to play poker from Saturday - Tuesday evening (four days) and secure approx 4.8k points to secure $125 on the breast leaderboard. I have worked out I need to play 22k hands in 4 days. I may not do this.... now that I am writing and thinking about how much that is.... maybe I will just settle for $50 on the leaderboard.... ha. We will see how the weekend goes I guess, when I play later.

Aim for this week... Keep playing and do not bust my roll. Try to only play 25NL. Don't crumble to tilt and bluff off stacks continuously. Here is an example....I was in SB with AK with 170bb and BB had 175BB too... He jammed over my four bet and I called. He turned up with A10. I lost because a 10 came on the flop. Same guy 5 mins later, now sitting on 340BB or so... and I play a 600BB pot pre flop.... I was a douche. I four bet 99, which is meh anyways and he jams. In my head I was like **** it... it's $75 and he probs has A10 or Ak or something again (well most of the time...) then he flipped over AA. FML. So there is how I self-sabotaged 5 buy ins (example).... and donated to a fish.
But I guess I was the real fish here doh....

Let's get back to 25NL later tonight! See you at the tables.

Back from Holiday so will be hitting the tables later today I hope.

I didn’t play too much over those 4 days. I played enough to get $50 on the leaderboard. I imagine for the next few days this will be aim again re Beast Leaderbord.

I’ll post results of both 3 to 4 day weeks at the weekend. But yes, still alive and kicking.

Let’s go!