No definitely not vs 3.5x. I actually really dislike call vs this sizing and think it's mostly 4b or fold (leaning towards fold). I'm pretty sure it does get called at some small clip though pre.

Fwiw though; this new trend of regs quoting monker preflop solves in absolute terms, despite having done zero work to reach said conclusions, or having ratified the results in any way is my least fav thing in poker right now.

Not directed at gtno, just a general observation.

Do you think that the next level for poker will be taken to is to "out think" the solvers? Rather than doing everything in a GTO method doing everything opposite to what solvers will expect you to do?

This kind of ties a little into exploitative theory but maybe it could evolve past that?

This + criticising regs lines, or even worse, sizings because 'PIO doesn't do it'.

EV differences are so small between sizings and strategies that it matters way more how you execute than what you actually do.

Example - the absolute king of MSNL FR, gabi_igna is an absolute whale in PIO land but just completely ****s everyone continuously. Executes his strat perfectly and everyone is too much of a nit to do anything about it.

Example 2 - King10. Imagine how many party hands we've seen posted vs him with 'lol terrible reg, terrible sizing' or similiar. Doubt he cares when he wins all the money.

I played quite a bit with king10 and I don't think I ever saw him use anything that's too far off from pio besides some of his pre flop shenanigans like cold calling 3bets and opening a bit too wide from btn in general, it's still pretty reasonable tbh

The main idea about monker ranges isn't about following it as a bible without thinking, but by being more conscious about what are our marginal opens and what incentives do we give for villain if we start overdefending/overfolding.

Also if it's a marginal call it can't be that bad to fold a lot if we're most likely going play worse than villain OOP than he will IP.

A lot of people still make a lot of mistakes preflop because they just defend hands that look good without thinking about how high they are in their range. As an example, if you defend all your Axs/SCs/pps and AJo, what are you folding? ATo, KQo and some 1 gappers. You will easily be overdefending vs that and give villain tbe opportunity to just 3-bet more higher cards like JTs+/88+ and not 3-bet his SCs/A6s.

And that range will extract too much value off the weaker parts of you range specially IP, his flushes will dominate yours, you will be outkicked often, his midpairs will beat your lower midpairs.

This, also it makes very little sense (in most spots, specially otf and ott) to say a "sizing is bad". Because if you know how to play the turn or the river, you can get away with almost any sizing between 25% and 150% otf on almost any texture, the key factor here is what hands you're doing it with, why and knowing what hands villain can continue at a certain street and how aggro/passive you should play the next one.

Just because pio likes one sizing it doesn't mean it's "the best" sizing. You can force some different sizes that pio doesn't like if the strat is simple for you to play and if you think villain will play that equilibrium worse than you will.

yup - in the most valuable piece of advice I will post on a public forum this year, if you can learn the exact PIO strat with just 25% betsizes on each street and no other options, you'd still absolutely crush midstakes.

Arguing over who’s sizing is “right” is the single biggest lol thing I read about in these pgc threads

The truth is obv that most ppl still play so bad you can crush using diff sizings in ea spot

The only problem of this approach is that you will get very proficient in the equilibriums you're forcing but will have less focus on the other ones you are facing. It works when you're IP vs bb, now if you are playing the bb and had put most of your effort with 25% sizings on each street, it's more likely that you will misplay vs different sizes if you haven't worked as much vs those.

That said it still looks like a very good strategy, because we can expect more mistakes by villains vs our unconventional strat than we will make vs his strat that we probably have studied some.

chose 25 mostly because it seems the most ridiculous really, not because I thought it was good

I'm not sure about the assessment that you would crush using 25% sizing at perfect frequencies on every street

Not what he meant. Think it’s more about if you understand how to think about poker while facing the 25% restriction on every street you would crush once you lift said restrictions because you learn how to think in a not so super close minded way which is what most regs tend to do these days

Might be off tho George is a funny guy

oh I thought he meant if you were restricted to betting exclusively 25% and not allowed to do anything else

Xeno had it right. Obviously I have no idea really, but EVs seem to not change much.

Personally I would swap my rot strategy for the 25% only GTO megamaster one

Really appreciate all the responses guys. Wish I could have gotten round to responding to everyone at the time, but big fan of having some actual discussion in this thread!

Have been suffering hugely from tension headaches and migraines this week, so apologies for not keeping up with this. I just haven’t had it in me to spend anymore time looking at screens than was absolutely required. Will be back at it next week!

April

So this month was a total fkn right off. I think I mentioned earlier in the thread that I'd been suffering migraines for about a week. Well it kinda culminated a couple of weeks back. Where one weekend I was basically just floored for like two solid days - couldn't concentrate on anything/had to sit in basically total darkness, etc. Then on the Sunday, I got up to try and have some dinner with the other half, and when I sat down at the table my hands went into really violent tremors like - I had extreme Parkinsons or something - and I just about fainted. The tremors lasted for about 30 minutes, and then when they subsided my headache was gone too. I don't know if it was a pressure release or something that caused it, but needless to say it absolute scared the **** out of me. I called my mate who is a consultant doctor and he calmed me down a bit, but recommended I go see my GP.

So the next day I phone up and get an emergency GP appointment. By this point I basically have zero symptoms whatsoever, so feel a bit silly. But they run all the usual checks for brain injuries (check behind my eyes, blood pressure, take some blood for testing) and then send me on my way saying that all looks normal and the root cause is likely just stress and eye strain.

The next day I get a call from the doctor's basically telling me to come in IMMEDIATELY as they found some adverse results in my blood test and need to re-test. At this point I'm basically on the verge of breaking down. Just so so so convinced that I'm dying and the lady on the phone didn't exactly help with the anxiety. So I run round to the doctor's - where I'm seen by the most junior of junior doctors who seemed to be about a week out of uni. She needs to take a new blood sample, but misses my vein about 8 times before drawing blood - and then drops the sample on the floor, so I get stabbed a few more times for good measure... Eventually we struggle through it, and I ask her what's going on? What the issue was? And she tells me that my Potassium levels are like 5 times as high as they should be, but that it's a really common false positive in blood tests due to blood cells rupturing when the sample sits around or something, so not to worry. Oh but also if the reading is correct then it can cause sudden heart failure, so we shouldn't rule that out. Great, cheers. Not worried at all...

I get an ECG and heart trace taken, and she checks over the results of that and again says that everything looks fine. I ask if she can double check the results with a colleague, as I don't particularly want to die in my sleep at 29, so she does and they agree that everything looks fine. I ask about the blood test and get told that because it's a bank holiday weekend I won't hear back for at least a week.

So one of the slowest weeks of my life proceeds to unfold, where I'm just dodging bananas and fish like the plague (both high in potassium...). I tried to fire up the tables now and again, but my head was just absolutely fried. I did actually run pretty good in the small amount of hands I managed, but yeah, just wasn't there mentally at all.

Finally got my results back last week to say that all looks normal, and have been feeling great since. I went and picked up reading glasses for the eye strain, so hopefully that'll help with the migraines going forward. But it kinda feels like I just faded the biggest flip of my life.

TLDR: Health scares. Thought I was dying. It now seems like I am not dying.

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I had a long weekend planned for me and some of my mates 30ths down in Loch Lomond last weekend, which fell at the absolute perfect time. Literally the day after I got my results back. So have spend the past 4 days with some of my favourite people in the Trossachs bagging munros, visiting Whisky distilleries and cruising about Loch Lomond on a yacht. The weather was pretty miserable throughout, but I didn't care in the slightest. Had such a good and relaxing weekend.







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Here is the small amount of hands that I managed in April. Like I've said, I ran pretty good when I was able to play. Hopefully May will be a more regular month in all sense of the word.



Had this small bink yesterday also. Fun fact: I have played this tournament ($162 Pacific Rim) exactly twice this year and have won/chopped it on both occasions.

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Thanks for reading, PZ

Nice update man! Nice to run well when you’ve got bigger fish to fry

Those kinds of health scares that require waiting are the emotional nut low

Do you drink enough water/day by chance?

Glad the health issue was a bluff, hopefully you kick on strong in May.

Always enjoy reading your thread. Sad to see you had to go through all that mental turmoil but you’re on the other side now. Best of luck for the months ahead boss!

Glad to hear you're okay my friend <3

Thanks mate, definitely a good spot to find some run good!

I do drink loads of water yeah, and actually keep really good health generally, despite the way it looks in this thread recently... I honestly think before this year, the last time I visited a doctor was probably close to a decade ago. Touch wood that we can go another decade from now.

Thanks a lot, May has started out strong so far.

Cheers boss, same goes for your thread. Appreciate the well wishes and hopefully it's a strong 2019 for both of us!

Thanks Josh, hope you're doing good too!

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Had a really good day at the tables yesterday and then found another small bink this morning in one of the few MTTs that I bother to fire. Hopefully more of the same to come.



1) Reg

PokerStars Zoom, Hold'em No Limit - $2.50/$5.00 - 4 players
Hand delivered by Upswing Poker

UTG: $500.00 (100 bb)
BU: $519.50 (104 bb)
SB: $513.78 (103 bb)
BB (Hero): $516.12 (103 bb)

Pre-Flop: ($7.50) Hero is BB with K♠ K♣
2 players fold, SB raises to $15, Hero 3-bets to $45, SB calls $30

Flop: ($90) Q♠ 8♣ 6♦ (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $45.14, SB calls $45.14

Turn: ($180.28) 9♠ (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $91.18, SB raises to $423.64 (all-in), Hero calls $332.46

River: ($1,027.56) 3♥ (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $1,027.56 (Rake: $1.50)

Showdown:
SB shows 9♥ 7♥ (a pair of Nines)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 21%, Flop: 34%, Turn: 30%, River: 0%)

BB (Hero) shows K♠ K♣ (a pair of Kings)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 79%, Flop: 66%, Turn: 70%, River: 100%)

BB (Hero) wins $1,026.06

2) Reggish

PokerStars Zoom, Hold'em No Limit - $2.50/$5.00 - 4 players
Hand delivered by Upswing Poker

UTG: $515.50 (103 bb)
BU: $500.00 (100 bb)
SB (Hero): $600.81 (120 bb)
BB: $507.00 (101 bb)

Pre-Flop: ($7.50) Hero is SB with Q♥ A♥
1 fold, BTN raises to $10, Hero 3-bets to $45, 1 fold, BTN 4-bets to $125, Hero calls $80

Flop: ($255) T♠ 5♥ A♣ (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $81.12, Hero calls $81.12

Turn: ($417.24) 6♠ (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN checks

River: ($417.24) J♣ (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $293.88 (all-in), Hero calls $293.88

Total pot: $1,005 (Rake: $1.50)

Showdown:
BU shows 9♣ K♣ (high card, Ace)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 38%, Flop: 7%, Turn: 0%, River: 0%)

SB (Hero) shows Q♥ A♥ (a pair of Aces)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 62%, Flop: 93%, Turn: 100%, River: 100%)

SB (Hero) wins $1,003.50

3) Reg - think river is very close here

PokerStars Zoom, Hold'em No Limit - $2.50/$5.00 - 4 players
Hand delivered by Upswing Poker

UTG: $846.84 (169 bb)
BU: $493.08 (99 bb)
SB: $1,118.98 (224 bb)
BB (Hero): $507.50 (102 bb)

Pre-Flop: ($7.50) Hero is BB with 2♠ Q♠
2 players fold, SB raises to $15, Hero calls $10

Flop: ($30) 3♠ 5♦ Q♥ (2 players)
SB bets $9.12, Hero raises to $32.96, SB raises to $83, Hero calls $50.04

Turn: ($196) T♣ (2 players)
SB bets $103.09, Hero calls $103.09

River: ($402.18) 6♣ (2 players)
SB bets $324.55, BB (Hero) folds

Total pot: $402.18 (Rake: $1.50)
SB wins $400.68

4) Spicy from reg - I get to river with all my 67/78s combos because of the rec overcalling the 3bet, so it's probably fine.

PokerStars Zoom, Hold'em No Limit - $2.50/$5.00 - 6 players
Hand delivered by Upswing Poker

UTG (Hero): $512.50 (103 bb)
MP: $668.38 (134 bb)
CO: $500.00 (100 bb)
BU: $740.33 (148 bb)
SB: $533.19 (107 bb)
BB: $142.82 (29 bb)

Pre-Flop: ($7.50) Hero is UTG with A♠ 5♠
Hero raises to $12.50, 2 players fold, BTN 3-bets to $37.50, 1 fold, BB calls $32.50, Hero calls $25

Flop: ($115) 6♣ 8♦ A♥ (3 players)
BB checks, Hero checks, BTN bets $37.50, BB folds, Hero calls $37.50

Turn: ($190) 5♥ (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $125, Hero calls $125

River: ($440) 3♦ (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $540.33 (all-in), Hero calls $312.50 (all-in)

Total pot: $1,065 (Rake: $3)

Showdown:
BU shows 2♥ 2♦ (a pair of Twos)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 50%, Flop: 9%, Turn: 5%, River: 0%)

UTG (Hero) shows A♠ 5♠ (two pair, Aces and Fives)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 50%, Flop: 91%, Turn: 95%, River: 100%)

UTG (Hero) wins $1,062

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Poker



First week or so of May. Played a mixture of A and F game, with very little in between. Pleased to say that most of it was the former, but there were some moments where I was literally like 'wtf am I doing in this hand...'. Need to try and up the focus going forward.

1) Wreck

PokerStars Zoom, Hold'em No Limit - $2.50/$5.00 - 6 players
Hand delivered by Upswing Poker

UTG: $502.50 (101 bb)
MP: $511.49 (102 bb)
CO (Hero): $1,120.24 (224 bb)
BU: $461.58 (92 bb)
SB: $384.90 (77 bb)
BB: $500.00 (100 bb)

Pre-Flop: ($7.50) Hero is CO with Q♠ Q♣
1 fold, MP raises to $10.40, Hero 3-bets to $37.50, 3 players fold, MP calls $27.10

Flop: ($82.50) J♣ 2♥ 7♦ (2 players)
MP checks, Hero bets $26.24, MP calls $26.24

Turn: ($134.98) T♥ (2 players)
MP checks, Hero checks

River: ($134.98) 3♠ (2 players)
MP bets $42.23, Hero raises to $142.61, MP raises to $447.75 (all-in), Hero calls $305.14

Total pot: $1,030.48 (Rake: $3)

Showdown:
MP shows J♦ Q♦ (a pair of Jacks)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 16%, Flop: 13%, Turn: 5%, River: 0%)

CO (Hero) shows Q♠ Q♣ (a pair of Queens)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 84%, Flop: 87%, Turn: 95%, River: 100%)

CO (Hero) wins $1,027.48

2) Reg self wrecking pre

PokerStars Zoom, Hold'em No Limit - $2.50/$5.00 - 4 players
Hand delivered by Upswing Poker

UTG: $721.54 (144 bb)
BU (Hero): $712.49 (142 bb)
SB: $502.50 (101 bb)
BB: $500.00 (100 bb)

Pre-Flop: ($7.50) Hero is BTN with 8♣ 8♠
UTG raises to $12.50, Hero calls $12.50, 1 fold, BB 3-bets to $67.50, UTG calls $55, Hero calls $55

Flop: ($205) 5♥ 8♦ A♣ (3 players)
BB bets $30.52, UTG calls $30.52, Hero calls $30.52

Turn: ($296.56) 4♦ (3 players)
BB checks, UTG bets $147.53, Hero calls $147.53, BB folds

River: ($591.62) 5♣ (2 players)
UTG bets $475.99 (all-in), Hero calls $466.94 (all-in)

Total pot: $1,525.50 (Rake: $1.50)

Showdown:
UTG shows A♦ 5♦ (a full house, Fives full of Aces)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 34%, Flop: 13%, Turn: 25%, River: 0%)

BU (Hero) shows 8♣ 8♠ (a full house, Eights full of Fives)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 66%, Flop: 87%, Turn: 75%, River: 100%)

BU (Hero) wins $1,524

3) Reg

PokerStars Zoom, Hold'em No Limit - $2.50/$5.00 - 6 players
Hand delivered by Upswing Poker

UTG: $528.06 (106 bb)
MP: $500.00 (100 bb)
CO: $830.50 (166 bb)
BU: $819.15 (164 bb)
SB (Hero): $527.50 (106 bb)
BB: $977.39 (195 bb)

Pre-Flop: ($7.50) Hero is SB with 8♣ 8♥
4 players fold, Hero raises to $12.50, BB calls $7.50

Flop: ($25) T♠ 2♥ 7♦ (2 players)
Hero bets $7.84, BB calls $7.84

Turn: ($40.68) J♣ (2 players)
Hero checks, BB bets $28.99, Hero raises to $116.63, BB calls $87.64

River: ($273.94) 6♠ (2 players)
Hero bets $379.32, BB calls $379.32

Total pot: $1,032.58 (Rake: $3)

Showdown:
SB (Hero) shows 8♣ 8♥ (a pair of Eights)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 53%, Flop: 11%, Turn: 14%, River: 0%)

BB shows J♠ T♣ (two pair, Jacks and Tens)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 47%, Flop: 89%, Turn: 86%, River: 100%)

BB wins $1,029.58

4) Rec

PokerStars Zoom, Hold'em No Limit - $2.50/$5.00 - 6 players
Hand delivered by Upswing Poker

UTG: $2,144.43 (429 bb)
MP: $626.47 (125 bb)
CO: $535.68 (107 bb)
BU (Hero): $500.00 (100 bb)
SB: $350.43 (70 bb)
BB: $529.40 (106 bb)

Pre-Flop: ($7.50) Hero is BTN with A♥ Q♠
2 players fold, CO raises to $11.60, Hero 3-bets to $37.50, 2 players fold, CO 4-bets to $115, Hero calls $77.50

Flop: ($237.50) J♣ J♠ 9♥ (2 players)
CO checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($237.50) Q♥ (2 players)
CO checks, Hero bets $92.39, CO raises to $420.68 (all-in), Hero calls $292.61 (all-in)

River: ($1,007.50) 9♣ (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: $1,007.50 (Rake: $3)

Showdown:
CO shows Q♣ K♥ (two pair, Queens and Jacks)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 25%, Flop: 28%, Turn: 19%, River: 0%)

BU (Hero) shows A♥ Q♠ (two pair, Queens and Jacks - higher kicker)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 75%, Flop: 72%, Turn: 81%, River: 100%)

BU (Hero) wins $1,004.50

Life

Turned the big 30 this week, so went Munro bagging with my old flatmate and his Spaniel. It was a beaut of a day, so we took a wee picnic and climbed Driesh and Mayar in the same afternoon. Great fun and some stunning scenery delivered, as is the norm with the Scottish Highlands. Aimee also treated me to steaks at a brilliant new restaurant in the city. Seeing as it was a special occasion, I went for the 60 day aged Wagyu Rib-eye, which was a thing of absolute beauty. She got some good photos of the steak fridges there, so I'll see if I can nab them.

In other news, I seem to have become all round good guy LuxPoker's latest obsession at the tables. He's genuinely been joining zoom pools that I'm in purely to hurl abuse at me and then leave. Apparently it's my well documented obesity that was causing any health issues I've had over the past year. At 6'1" and <85kg I don't really see it, but whatever. Strange strange dude.

I really hope I get to meet him at a live event one day, so that I can try and grasp what kind of person gets enjoyment out of being such a **** to people you don't know. But also so that I can punch him in his ****ing throat. I'm definitely not above that.

Last point of note: BITCOOOOOOOOOOIN FOOOOOOOOOMOOOOOOOOOOO IS REAL



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Cheers for reading. Pz

Nice month so far, we should definitely get some munros at some point (6/274 here )

Also lmao at Lux

Sounds good. I think I’m at 32 total and will be doing the West Highland Way later this summer, so hope to get a few more in there. Which ones have you hit so far? I’ll be through in Edinburgh next month, so will give you a shout if you’re about.