Yeh. Only for a short while though

iPoker.
There's probably bots on every network though. They would be hardest to detect on MPN.

I'm absolutely gutted when I even think about that month. Worst variance ever.
Yeah true. TV & WoW, the non-productive combo
It all has its place though. Need to relax at times.


Time for an update.
I've been getting over this depression thing. I think depression is both physical and mental.
You need to feel good and have that inner drive. If you don't, then it's easy to allow negative thoughts in.
Always try to look at the positive side of things. Easy to stay productive with positive outlook.
I went a long time without that inner drive and that's why it became scary. Once you get that, then it's easy to work your way up.
What made me depressed was the feeling that some things won't change, but now some things have changed and I'm confident that even this whole bot thing will be cleared up and hopefully online poker will have more positive outlook.

Been playing a lot of poker lately and absolutely enjoying it. It's the best job ever when you have profitable games on Tuesday morning lol.
Results are okay, but I don't really check them. I have had some bad runouts / top range on highest limits unfortunately.

If I get really good flow going, then I'm looking to play higher limits asap if I find a good game. I'm rolled for all games available (5/10) so it's just a matter of that flow

Strategy wise I have noticed that there's few mental mind-traps that I focus too much on. I would call these the "**** spots". (non-politically correct).
Stuff like playing limped pots over and over again vs fish. I have no desire to even fight for those pots. All I see is that fat fish sitting on his seat (in position) and never folding to a bet, and I cba even trying to bluff with less than oesd. Bet once, xf xf is quite common. For some reason fish just are really committed in those small limped pots, and maybe they feel like they deserve to win them. I always have like 52o and bluffing missed draw is total suicide.
I wonder if fish even know when you should call river strategically. I try to be very cautious at bluffing fish, since when I do it wrong I feel the instant regrets. And what I said above, there's no logic on the river for some guys. I of course end up "not bluffing" enough, but some fish don't care :|

Another mental mindtrap is to focus too much on very thin spots. There's spots where I can win 20bb's effortlessly, instead of trying to fight for +0.25 bb out of position. I just have to stay patient.

Another spot is thinking that all the fish are trying to exploit me. Need to understand that fish don't play systematically and require a strong reason to do anything. There's no "auto-stabbing" overcards in 3-bet pot trying to make me fold AK or anything like that. Random fish are different though and it's about spotting them.
There's been many annoying spots where I cbet flop and have to xf turns which I hate. Need to realize the thinness of those spots and that fish don't systematically float me to exploit me. Something like folding 77 OTT on K-high board is not the end of the world.

Also hating the amount of multiway spots which I need to look into. Trying to make 2-3 people fold while trying to rep strong hands, especially if rivers is Q+, that's though. Betting with just about anything is about thin and it's easy to do a mistake.

Need to review those types of spots and have more patience overall.
I need some type of mantra to tell myself when things are not going well (yet). Easy to get caught up in the motion.

And I guess another mental mindtrap is thinking that every check/raise in 3-bet pot is a bluff against my very specific hand.
Just a combination of staying accountable and not allowing (easy) (big) mistakes to happen.
Just a gutted feeling when you make some type of obvious wrong play. Patience.
And I haven't had a proper upswing in a long long time so there's more emphasis on smaller pots. That can make you easily depressed too!

Gym is going okay. I realized that all the World of Warcraft and masstabling poker has given me lower back pains in a very specific spot. Realizing this connection checked some boxes for me.
Been training this lower back area for a week now and I feel better already.
Starting to train abs as well and looking to make steady progress in weights.

Quit caffeine for 10 days, was a good decision. Felt tired today and drank some. I think I have had various forms of adrenal fatigue in the past. Without coffee I have more stable energy throughout the day. Coffee is like taking loan from your reserves.
That's bad in poker when your sessions polarize between high energy and very low energy sessions.

Just checked results for Formula 1 Austria GP. Kimi Räikkönen finally had a good race after those ****-ups in the early season. Hamilton, Bottas and Ricciardo all had to stop race. Finally it was bad luck for them.
As Finnish guy it will be interesting to watch the end of the season since Kimi is now #3 and both Finnish drivers are doing well.

Weather is mixed-up, so will be doing a lot of grinding. Finnish summers are great when the sun is shining.

So there's some updates. I like when things are finally going well and it's about having that positive outlook regardless of how things go. WWSF is 42% for the month so lol gotta wait for a good run.

Your wwsf will stay low if you don't battle for those 0.25bb spots OOP. Poker is all about the small margins, esp in ring games where you vpip such a low % of the time to begin with.

FWIW let me leave this here before any further ****storm. Euro sites gonna euro site. I'll reply full later.

49 wwsf is fine/good

wwsf is overrated.

****ing eh. Kimi had an awesome start at the Austrian gp. Stuck it in there right in the middle, was so good to see. Hope he wins a race this year, he deserves one!

this
small pots>big pots

in isolation wwsf is a pointless stat.

Quitting caffeine or drastically reducing it would probably be a good idea. I read a report a few weeks ago that pointed out when people who drink a lot of caffeine feel they're getting an energy rush from it this doesn't really explain what's happening. Basically they're going through caffeine withdrawal and the caffeine hit is just taking them back to normal energy levels.

Indeed!
That race where they screwed up the pitstop was a total disaster. So much bad luck for Kimi over the years. Really nice that the other guys finally have bad luck and things turn around significantly.
I'm not a fan of the current F1 "tires-meta", I liked the old 8 second pitstops where they refuel the car :P
Only thing commentators talk about these days is the damn tires.

I had headaches on/off for a week and a lot of cravings for coffee, and lower energy than normal. It's tough to quit. I only drink one cup a day though.
I think what ends up happening is that I begin to have anxiety over not having full energy. It took time to be okay with feeling weaker than usual, instead of always seeking for that high state :P
I think coffee has its place in the work environment but day to day use is not ideal.
Debatable. I would argue that making a mistake in 4-bet pot can easily wipe away your profits from the small pots.
and FWIW it's 100+ people don't overfold all the spots without second thought
Yeah, and most of that being 500z
Had a lot of bad luck there as well, flushes over flushes and making those gross folds in 4-bet pots on bad runouts.

yeah indeed. Aggro fish tend to have very high WWSF while they're losing players obviously.

There's reasons why my WWSF is so low on euro sites. Probably biggest one is that I look forward to playing multiway pots with the fish. If I were to 3-bet my entire range, for sure I would end up having high WWSF, but I would also end up isolating the fish out of the pot. Sometimes there's even 2 fish.
It just requires patience to wait for those nuts vs nuts spots, so in that regards 3-bet strat provides results more quickly.

My stress levels were through the roof today. Slept poorly so had coffee. Kept waking up every 1 hour, annoying.
I need to manage this stress and my overall energy. If games are bad one morning I just take time off and watch TV and relax. I don't try to be 110% every day since that won't work.
Also craving more junk food while stressed out. If I'm going to eat that stuff I need to make sure it's the end of the day and the grind is over.
I know poker is not meant to be a stress-free "go as you please" job. If the games are good I play those extra amount of tables that day.
More junk food and **** like that, the more poorly I tolerate stress. There is no justice in poker, need to keep that in mind. In other words you could say that the variance is not within our control.

Anyways finally had a good day and got loose calldowns with nuts etc. Refreshing to win!
I played small pots reasonably well regardless of the autopilot. Bluffed a few key spots successfully.
To make sure I'm not making errors with low WWSF, I reviewed ~200-300 hands. Was surprised how well I played those hands. I'm definitely not lazy when it comes to stabbing pots, even taking some creative lines here and there.
It's funny to get confirmation bias for the things that you say. The fish aren't exploiting me and for sure they are floaty as hell.


This helps. New reg/regfish thingy


- €2 NL - Holdem - 3 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

SB: €168.55 (VPIP: 23.97, PFR: 15.70, 3Bet Preflop: 10.71, Hands: 248)
Hero (BB): €164.93
BTN: €152.00 (VPIP: 38.89, PFR: 31.11, 3Bet Preflop: 21.62, Hands: 97)

SB posts SB €1.00, Hero posts BB €2.00

Pre Flop: (pot: €3.00) Hero has A 4

fold, SB calls €1.00, Hero raises to €6.00, SB calls €4.00

Flop: (€12.00, 2 players) 3 9 3
SB checks, Hero bets €6.00, SB calls €6.00

Turn: (€24.00, 2 players) K
SB checks, Hero bets €14.00, SB raises to €44.00, Hero calls €30.00

River: (€112.00, 2 players) Q
SB bets €112.00, Hero calls €108.93



lmao

- £2 NL - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BB: £271.38 (VPIP: 26.53, PFR: 20.19, 3Bet Preflop: 6.12, Hands: 771)
UTG: £125.35 (VPIP: 21.38, PFR: 15.79, 3Bet Preflop: 6.98, Hands: 309)
MP: £206.86 (VPIP: 34.22, PFR: 24.92, 3Bet Preflop: 9.36, Hands: 1,244)
CO: £110.37 (VPIP: 29.24, PFR: 20.43, 3Bet Preflop: 9.17, Hands: 2,249)
Hero (BTN): £102.00
SB: £131.40 (VPIP: 46.84, PFR: 20.25, 3Bet Preflop: 7.50, Hands: 81)

SB posts SB £1.00, BB posts BB £2.00

Pre Flop: (pot: £3.00) Hero has A A

fold, fold, CO raises to £6.00, Hero raises to £16.00, fold, fold, CO raises to £108.00, Hero calls £86.00

Flop: (£207.00, 2 players) 5 6 6

Turn: (£207.00, 2 players) 9

River: (£207.00, 2 players) A

CO shows 7 K (One Pair, Sixes)
(Pre 16%, Flop 9%, Turn 25%)
Hero shows A A (Full House, Aces full of Sixes)
(Pre 84%, Flop 91%, Turn 75%)
Hero wins £203.00

I made a couple of questionable folds with AK today. Theoretically I'm exploitable for folding this many combos. My only fear is that they are trapping with overpairs pre.
Villain is balanced reg. I could shove the flop myself or something...
I just haven't played that many 4-bet pots recently so a bit rusty when it comes to loose calldowns.

- €1 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 4 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: €178.46 (VPIP: 28.10, PFR: 20.96, 3Bet Preflop: 9.62, Hands: 11,674)
SB: €126.47 (VPIP: 31.78, PFR: 22.46, 3Bet Preflop: 6.45, Hands: 244)
BB: €40.00 (VPIP: 25.00, PFR: 12.03, 3Bet Preflop: 1.92, Hands: 296)
Hero (CO): €101.50

SB posts SB €0.50, BB posts BB €1.00

Pre Flop: (pot: €1.50) Hero has A K

Hero raises to €3.00, BTN raises to €10.00, fold, fold, Hero raises to €27.00, BTN calls €17.00

Flop: (€55.50, 2 players) 5 T 6
Hero checks, BTN bets €24.00, fold

BTN wins €52.73

I don't know this villain well. but this one is more fine obv.

- €1 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

UTG: €122.57 (VPIP: 32.56, PFR: 21.21, 3Bet Preflop: 8.53, Hands: 6,952)
Hero (MP): €161.68
CO: €100.00 (VPIP: 31.60, PFR: 23.90, 3Bet Preflop: 9.24, Hands: 1,244)
BTN: €137.20 (VPIP: 54.76, PFR: 4.76, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 43)
SB: €78.24 (VPIP: 36.02, PFR: 20.97, 3Bet Preflop: 11.39, Hands: 190)
BB: €100.00 (VPIP: 27.64, PFR: 21.29, 3Bet Preflop: 7.98, Hands: 22,014)

SB posts SB €0.50, BB posts BB €1.00

Pre Flop: (pot: €1.50) Hero has K A

fold, Hero raises to €2.00, CO raises to €8.00, fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to €24.00, CO calls €16.00

Flop: (€49.50, 2 players) 6 8 9
Hero checks, CO bets €15.85, fold

CO wins €47.03

This is kinda wrong imo, like sure if you're thinking about $ per session mb it makes sense to you since 4bp are large, but overall EV wise i dont think so. in 4bp it's hard to make massivE mistakes unless you just completely punt. While smaller mistakes in v common spots can become expensive v quickly and not as obviously
SRP>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>4bp

what's happened? more problems with bots?

Kimi has been a waste of a seat for years, should have been sacked in 2016, I hope it finally happens. Good riddance to the miserable sod. You finns can do better than him. Bottas is actually decent.

Yes, you can definitely crush with low wwsf on fishy sites by playing more multi way pots with fish, which you will obviously win far less but more profitably. All about knowing how to exploit and not getting caught up with whats 'standard''

very true

I think people think about zoom on stars more than anything, if your wwsf there is low then you probably are leaving a lot of money on the table

obviously if you play with fishes and are always in multiway pot you shouldn't have 50 wwsf

if youre a fish that is playing randomly, sure, but if youre already a winning reg, its very important.

wwsf should have a strong correlation with how tight you are preflop, the tighter you are, higher your wwsf should be, because you get so strong OTF that you can overwhelm your opponents with aggression - and theres nothing that they can do vs that but folding their marginal hands.

but in reality its very common to see tight people with low wwsf, its a huge leak. it means youre not winning enough pots preflop, but also not postflop, where you should be winning a lot. sure, if youre playing games infested with whales its agood strat, because nobody can have a bigger wwsf than a whale that is getting in with any pair and never folding.

now when you play looser, your wwsf should go down a lot. in reality, we see some loose regs with high wwsf(and not losing a lot on showdown too). it shouldnt be like that, but it is because its possible to make it happen when people end up overfolding where they shouldnt(or not applying the right amount of pressure and letting people realize a lot of equity for free)

Am sure you didn't mean it to sound so patronising but I do know how WWSF works.

Xenoblade basically nails it. Also There are plenty of breakeven/losing regs because they misapply strategies to try and get a high wwsf but if you're not pushing edges in small pots (particularly in tough lineups) then you will probably reach your ceiling fairly quickly in poker.

Yeah good points. But for example if you are trying to move up, it's crucial to play those big pots as close to correct as possible, for your own sake.
In small pots, you can think about how big of an error can you make? It's not 2015 any more :P
Usually people have very heavily weighted decision making. For an observing person it should become clear not to miss anything obvious.

Took break. Now back at it. Those were Stars hands from February this year.

Yeah. Bumhunting ftw. Screw "standard" plays xD

Yep especially in zoom environment you have to push yourself to win pots as often as possible, by any means.
It's a different game reg vs reg thingy all over again.

Yeah I remember one masstabler on MPN who had really tight preflop stats but really high WWSF instead. He was decent.

Yeah something like 100z can be a weird place when regs try to push aggression to the max by overbluffing (because there's still nits in the pool)


Ok grind today. Won a lot of pots and don't think I made any big mistakes. Feeling a little stressed out from losing PF coolers on highest limits. It eats away the effort from lower limits.

Working on and thinking about mental game (and life) strategies.
The stress is obviously there and I can't let it grow too big. I may need some stress reducing tool like junk food. Ideal would be to stay strong and not do it, but it's tough in the moment.

Was feeling hyperactive and couldn't really relax yesterday, so today I felt great not drinking coffee. Will continue the defaf-route since coffee is terrible for handling stress.
Stress can also bring up old emotions. Trying to stay mindful and focus on the correct breathing etc.

If I'm going to give mid stakes another try then these things need to be in check. Staying mindful and conscious of your thoughts and not letting the pendulum swing too much in either direction.
Just trying to de-program old anxieties. Need strong mind to do that. I think in the past I created my own negative feedback loop and when things got bad in poker the hamster wheel started rolling.

Strategy wise: Started to rethink the way I play against fish and whether I should explo fold a ton more. The few outstanding ones outstand really quickly, the rest of the boring euro site fish just seem fit and fold and always have strong reason to do anything and it's not often what I think, like them trying to exploit me or overbluff. The random spazz is there, but maybe more often you just gotta go with benefit of the doubt. Just need to understand that someone with limited poker experience doesn't have a well-set strategy for any given spot, especially the bigger the pot is.


The grind continues...

Hey guys. I'll post here to create an intent to start playing again.

July was the last month I played at. I had good expectations, but ended up losing 10 BI's. I morally gave up at that point.

The idea has crossed my mind now to drop down in stakes and even get into the zoom games. I didn't consider these as an option prior. The path of CFP seems lucrative, but in this life situation I can't do it. One of the things I don't want to regret later in life is how I didn't prove myself as a skilled poker pro. Lucky fish who ran over EV, bumhunted and then went through hell at higher limits. Never seemed to have consistently +EV results even though I worked hard on my game. That said, it's hard to add rakeback into graphs across multiple sites.

So after morally giving up, it was time to try to finish my degree by getting an internship. I went through like 7 live interviews, few skype & phone interviews as well. The experience was universal. Good technical portfolio but no prior work experience and most of the jobs were customer service oriented.
I do believe in such thing as destiny, and in that way I'm happy that I didn't get accepted into some of those jobs. When you sign a job contract, you sign a year away of your life. And at that point you can't tell whether there are better opportunities on the horizon.

So right now I'm still waiting to hear from 3 companies. It's likely gonna be a year long contract although I only need 5 months to finish the internship required for degree.
I read like 3 tech books during this autumn so I wasn't lazy in that regards. It does bring you down when you get rejected time after time again. I began losing confidence in my technical abilities and knowledge as well.

I was sure I was going to do the job route, until someone suggested that I should really travel at this age. I should have travelled during my gap year(s), but I didn't consider myself prepared at the time nor was it a big interest to me.
Traveling has also brought up the topic of playing poker again. There's gotta be places like Thailand, Vietnam, Malta where you'd be good earning 1k/month depending on your lifestyle. The idea of breakevening on a trip sounds very lucrative. Most people go to holiday to spend their savings away :P

I have slacked off enormously during this year. I could have utilized time so much more.
I was really lacking intent to do stuff. I have financial freedom which is so rare. It puts me in a unique position where I can greatly influence my future and don't have to compromise my morals or work against myself. In that way I'm glad I didn't sign myself to spend next 10 years working on and for a corporation. I wish to not make impulsive decisions, so I'm getting this degree out of the way and maybe that 1 year of work experience, so that I can be recruitable person in the future.
After that I do seek to travel. I'm interested in tropical places like Thailand and Indonesia. Quiet and close to nature, where it would be good to meditate and relax.

I picked up meditation practice and read the book "The Mind Illuminated". It's a really great book on meditation and gives you red pill on how the mind and consciousness works :P
I got into stage 7 at best and could sit for 60-70 minutes. Now I'm rebuilding my practice and regaining focus. I saw really amazing benefits from the meditation.
But it also had downsides. With very focused mind, I also became less responsive to both positive/negative stimuli. Weird stuff.
I studied buddhism as well and that changed my outlook on life. I got my own view into what the purpose of life is. Live fast, experience and take every opportunity to raise your consciousness. In that way planning next 20 years of your life is greatly limiting you.
I spoke with this brain science guy and he said that your brain begins its cognitive decline at 30 years old. That is again good evidence that you should work your limiting beliefs and fears away, since it gets harder later on in life. Also study as much as possible and create a foundation.

I don't regret slacking off. I have still had the opportunity to still live in this 390€/month for everything student apartment. It's nice to take time off to work on your personal issues without compounding stress. The summer weather was the hottest ever and I got to take time off and enjoy it.
So overall I'm looking to increase my productivity again. Watching Jordan Peterson's videos greatly helped. He says that for young guys taking responsibility is the big thing. Also that working extremely hard and challenging yourself gives pleasure to men. That made sense. I had memories of good times where I pushed myself to the limit

Jumping into lower limits may seem debilitating after you have experienced the high's of playing NL 1k. It's that rush of excitement that's hard to recreate!
If I get on the payroll, my paychecks are going for poker.
On the other hand I have also thought that the dream is dieing. GTO, solvers, bots, cuts in rakeback. What I seek from poker is more the experience. I don't even need the money aside from buying a house in the future. I can live as a minimalist, so money doesn't motivate me much any more. I think your state of consciousness is all there is and all that you take away with you when its over. I seek to recreate my future life goals based around this sentence.

So the goals for 2019:

[ ] Get motivated again
[ ] Make a travel plan
[ ] Begin socializing and get rid off antisocial behavior.
[ ] Get that ripped look from the gym! I got the foundation built.
[ ] Work up to 2 hours of meditation in one sit.
[ ] Read technical books!

tl;dr depression, inertia, bad year in poker, slacking off and relaxing (nothing wrong with that)

Good luck guys!

GL, it seems that you have grown/matured a ton during this inertia On the meditation front, I do recommend looking into vipassana 10 day retreats, that greatly instills a discipline and establishes you into a solid technique (and it is also the best thing ever/mind-opening af ) :

https://www.dhamma.org/en/index

I wouldn't say matured really. Just re-calibrating my goals and intent. Dropping my poker ego down a little bit.
Culadasa (TMI book writer) argues that everything we do is driven by a conscious intent.
Vipassana sounds great. I'm interested at looking into the nature of existence, and hard to get there with 15min meditations.
With meditation I gained this focus that I had never had before. With that focus it's easier to be mindful and start working on deeper personal issues.

I listened to Jordan Peterson today and his videos were very eye-opening. I think it's unique stuff that is presented well. Haven't seen that kind of psychology/self-help content before.

I've been playing 50z. Just 2 tables. I don't see any crazy stuff you see at higher limits. Seems solid play is good.

Couple of hands from today:

h1: Perhaps too thin. Eastern european reg.

PokerStars - $0.50 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: $137.65 (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 7)
SB: $50.75 (VPIP: 12.50, PFR: 10.71, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 56)
BB: $54.43 (VPIP: 21.43, PFR: 14.29, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 14)
UTG: $35.83 (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 1)
Hero (MP): $83.56
CO: $56.80 (VPIP: 25.00, PFR: 25.00, 3Bet Preflop: 33.33, Hands: 4)

SB posts SB $0.25, BB posts BB $0.50

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.75) Hero has Q Q

fold, Hero raises to $1.50, fold, BTN calls $1.50, fold, fold

Flop: ($3.75, 2 players) T J 6
Hero checks, BTN checks

Turn: ($3.75, 2 players) 3
Hero bets $2.37, BTN calls $2.37

River: ($8.49, 2 players) J
Hero bets $6.00, BTN calls $6.00



h2: Felt bad about folding this one. Turn could go any way really. Thought that if he ever has AK then I might be screwed. I don't know these guys so that turn sizing even looks fishy to me.
On the river if you had the nuts I dunno why you wouldn't jam. I'm not expected to fold Kx really. Later realized this would be a great bluff catcher. but my inner nit got me :P

PokerStars - $0.50 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

Hero (BTN): $67.90
SB: $50.00 (VPIP: 23.88, PFR: 19.40, 3Bet Preflop: 4.55, Hands: 68)
BB: $74.85 (VPIP: 25.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 6)
UTG: $25.39
MP: $204.82 (VPIP: 24.32, PFR: 13.51, 3Bet Preflop: 9.52, Hands: 37)
CO: $147.52 (VPIP: 24.56, PFR: 19.30, 3Bet Preflop: 4.76, Hands: 57)

SB posts SB $0.25, BB posts BB $0.50

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.75) Hero has A 9

fold, MP raises to $1.25, fold, Hero raises to $4.00, fold, fold, MP calls $2.75

Flop: ($8.75, 2 players) 4 K 3
MP checks, Hero bets $2.83, MP calls $2.83

Turn: ($14.41, 2 players) 9
MP checks, Hero bets $5.00, MP raises to $13.00, Hero calls $8.00

River: ($40.41, 2 players) 6
MP bets $18.00, fold

MP wins $38.41

h3: vs Japanese reg. Floating the flop hoping to be against AK/bluff. If he keeps betting AK OTT maybe I could call again, folding certainly not a big mistake. Interestingly he snap bet as well.

PokerStars - $0.50 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: $45.75
SB: $50.00 (VPIP: 10.59, PFR: 10.59, 3Bet Preflop: 5.13, Hands: 85)
BB: $50.00
UTG: $64.26 (VPIP: 25.00, PFR: 21.88, 3Bet Preflop: 10.00, Hands: 32)
Hero (MP): $122.41
CO: $42.50 (VPIP: 36.36, PFR: 27.27, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 11)

SB posts SB $0.25, BB posts BB $0.50

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.75) Hero has 9 9

UTG raises to $1.50, Hero calls $1.50, fold, fold, SB raises to $6.50, fold, fold, Hero calls $5.00

Flop: ($15.00, 2 players) 3 3 6
SB bets $4.70, Hero calls $4.70

Turn: ($24.40, 2 players) Q
SB bets $12.75, fold

SB wins $23.18


Off to enjoy the holidays now to my parents place. I'll be playing zoom there. Playing that format is a nice relief from 9+ tabling and dealing with that hassle.

Haha Dub already beat me in vere, was going to suggest speaking to him wrt meditation retreats in Asia. I just got back from 4 months in South East Asia and it was the best thing I've ever done, I can't recommend it enough.

Great to hear you found meditation beneficial!
How long was your retreat and how much time did you spend traveling on your own?

Small gift from Stars. Still can't open chests due to an error (Error code -107. Embedded browser error). Running out of time for the Santa's chosen promo!

Grind is going meh. Need to keep it up and play more volume!

glgl mate

Cheers Bena!

Ran up decent stacks yesterday.

Few hands:

h1: going all the way vs RUS since I expect people to bluff a lot more in zoom tables.

PokerStars - $0.50 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

Hero (BTN): $53.93
SB: $43.22
BB: $50.09 (VPIP: 6.25, PFR: 6.25, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 18)
UTG: $100.26 (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: -, Hands: 1)
MP: $55.52 (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: -, Hands: 1)
CO: $40.48

SB posts SB $0.25, BB posts BB $0.50

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.75) Hero has K 8

fold, fold, CO calls $0.50, Hero raises to $2.00, SB calls $1.75, fold, CO calls $1.50

Flop: ($6.50, 3 players) 8 T 2
SB checks, CO checks, Hero bets $3.50, SB raises to $10.00, fold, Hero calls $6.50

Turn: ($26.50, 2 players) T
SB bets $15.00, Hero calls $15.00

River: ($56.50, 2 players) 5
SB bets $16.22 and is all-in, Hero calls $16.22



h2: somehow managed to squeeze out a value bet. Would be strange river spot on higher limits. Maybe a spot to study with PIO as well.

PokerStars - $0.50 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: $57.98 (VPIP: 21.74, PFR: 17.39, 3Bet Preflop: 4.55, Hands: 74)
SB: $73.55 (VPIP: 16.67, PFR: 11.11, 3Bet Preflop: 16.67, Hands: 18)
Hero (BB): $112.29
UTG: $89.82 (VPIP: 32.00, PFR: 28.00, 3Bet Preflop: 11.11, Hands: 25)
MP: $24.84 (VPIP: 50.00, PFR: 16.67, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 6)
CO: $46.81 (VPIP: 5.56, PFR: 5.56, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 18)

SB posts SB $0.25, Hero posts BB $0.50

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.75) Hero has A A

fold, fold, fold, BTN raises to $1.12, fold, Hero raises to $4.00, BTN calls $2.88

Flop: ($8.25, 2 players) K 8 Q
Hero bets $4.50, BTN calls $4.50

Turn: ($17.25, 2 players) 4
Hero bets $10.00, BTN calls $10.00

River: ($37.25, 2 players) T
Hero bets $25.00, BTN calls $25.00

Hero shows A A (One Pair, Aces)
(Pre 93%, Flop 91%, Turn 95%)
BTN mucks K A (One Pair, Kings)
(Pre 7%, Flop 9%, Turn 5%)
Hero wins $85.25

h3: think I can get fish or reg to fold on this runout, but not loving bluffing w just gut-shot

PokerStars - $0.50 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: $43.62 (VPIP: 20.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 5)
SB: $85.36 (VPIP: 28.97, PFR: 19.63, 3Bet Preflop: 14.58, Hands: 111)
Hero (BB): $159.53
UTG: $52.35 (VPIP: 14.29, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 7)
MP: $53.90 (VPIP: 24.59, PFR: 18.03, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 64)
CO: $60.40 (VPIP: 16.67, PFR: 14.58, 3Bet Preflop: 4.55, Hands: 52)

SB posts SB $0.25, Hero posts BB $0.50

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.75) Hero has 9 8

fold, fold, CO raises to $1.00, fold, fold, Hero raises to $4.50, CO calls $3.50

Flop: ($9.25, 2 players) J 5 6
Hero bets $5.00, CO calls $5.00

Turn: ($19.25, 2 players) A
Hero bets $8.00, CO calls $8.00

River: ($35.25, 2 players) T
Hero bets $19.00, CO calls $19.00



h4: Eastern European reg. Instant bet

PokerStars - $0.50 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: $53.22 (VPIP: 17.39, PFR: 10.87, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 49)
SB: $54.84 (VPIP: 50.00, PFR: 50.00, 3Bet Preflop: 75.00, Hands: 9)
Hero (BB): $152.44
UTG: $67.27 (VPIP: 17.86, PFR: 7.14, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 29)
MP: $52.02 (VPIP: 25.00, PFR: 16.38, 3Bet Preflop: 6.82, Hands: 121)
CO: $33.91 (VPIP: 50.00, PFR: 25.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 12)

SB posts SB $0.25, Hero posts BB $0.50

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.75) Hero has K A

UTG raises to $1.50, fold, fold, BTN calls $1.50, fold, Hero raises to $6.00, UTG calls $4.50, BTN calls $4.50

Flop: ($18.25, 3 players) A T 4
Hero bets $6.07, fold, BTN calls $6.07

Turn: ($30.39, 2 players) J
Hero bets $8.50, BTN calls $8.50

River: ($47.39, 2 players) K
Hero checks, BTN bets $22.50, fold

BTN wins $45.39

h5: biggest win. slight gamble OTT.

PokerStars - $0.50 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: $78.81 (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 11)
SB: $50.28 (VPIP: 25.00, PFR: 16.67, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 51)
BB: $184.83 (VPIP: 37.50, PFR: 29.17, 3Bet Preflop: 28.57, Hands: 25)
UTG: $13.14 (VPIP: 7.69, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 39)
MP: $71.76 (VPIP: 32.00, PFR: 14.00, 3Bet Preflop: 9.52, Hands: 52)
Hero (CO): $77.12

SB posts SB $0.25, BB posts BB $0.50

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.75) Hero has K A

fold, MP raises to $1.50, Hero raises to $5.00, fold, fold, BB calls $4.50, MP calls $3.50

Flop: ($15.25, 3 players) T 7 A
BB checks, MP bets $8.75, Hero calls $8.75, BB calls $8.75

Turn: ($41.50, 3 players) Q
BB checks, MP bets $39.50, Hero calls $39.50, fold

River: ($120.50, 2 players) 6
MP bets $18.51 and is all-in, Hero calls $18.51

MP shows Q A (Flush, Ace High)
(Pre 25%, Flop 10%, Turn 68%)
Hero shows K A (Flush, Ace High)
(Pre 75%, Flop 90%, Turn 32%)
Hero wins $155.52


Overall I like being back in the poker scene. Goal for January will be to put in lots of volume at 50z or 100z. My self-confidence just got crushed this year after the downswings. I did a lot of work with solvers and such, writing notes into notebooks, but yeah need to have that inner confidence or things seem meaningless to you!
Would love to do CFP right now, but not sure how will it go with the real jobs. This is my last year to finish the degree. Only internship is left. I could YOLO and revise my studentship later on, but maybe playing poker part time is better option. The salary is good in these jobs that I've applied to.
I've been observing my family members and how they are doing the 9-5 thing. It doesn't feel right to me. Feels like it would just give me false sense of happiness. I think I'm destined for something more, just gotta get my confidence up again.