Last year started with a huge downswing which saw me drop as low as 50nl before turning things around and moving back up to 400nl over the course of about eight months. I ran well in tournaments towards the end of the year, which has put me in a position to do something I've wanted to do for a long time - really focus on playing my best and game selecting without being under pressure to put in volume.

Volume is of course an important aspect of the game, but I've often struggled with concentration issues, and I suspect that the difference between my playing 4-6 tables and taking a break every hour, and playing 6-8 tables autopiloting is the difference between crushing the games and being breakeven/slightly losing.

For most of this year, my goal will be to find 4-6 good mid stakes cash games across different sites and really focus on them, playing short sessions and warming up and reviewing well.

But for the first part of the year I'm going to deposit on Stars.com and put in some volume in the 200 and 400 games, for a few reasons.

First of all, I just want the convenience of always having games running as I try to improve my sleep pattern.

Secondly, I haven't played on a site with a HUD/PT4 in a while, and I would like to have a database of hands to review. I also want to get a feel for where I stand in the pecking order - maybe I just ran well last year, or maybe my quite exploitative game will be found out on a more mainstream site. Stars usually has the toughest games so it will be a good training ground.

If I feel like I am beating the Stars games after a month or so, that will be a good confidence boost going back to game selecting on smaller sites, and if I'm not feeling confident in my ability to beat the 200nl games on Stars, that's a good sign that I need to work more on my game, so its a win win.

I am also planning on learning how to use PIO, which I bought recently but haven't properly used. If anyone can recommend a good introductory video that would be great, I've obviously watched a lot of training videos which use PIO but I still don't know the nuts and bolts of how to use it.

But for the moment, my priority is slowly getting back into the mindset which leads to my best play. I've been quite disorganised for the last few weeks what with Christmas and travelling, so the number one priority is getting back to meditating every day and warming up for every session.

When I play short, focused sessions which I prepare for well my results are good, I can feel myself improving, and I love this game.

When I just grind it out my results are bad, variance is high, and I don't enjoy myself in the slightest.

I've known this for a long time and I've got a lot better at remembering it over time, but the goal for 2019 is to prioritize playing lower volume but at a higher intensity.

I'll be starting off with a few short sessions at 200nl to get a feel for the games and get back into the swing of things.

DAY 1.




Not a great day, I'm still recovering from a cold and I was a little rusty so I just played two session.

Games seemed good but not amazing, but obviously it was a small sample. I had a few typical first day problems - trying a bit too hard basically. But its good to be back and I'm looking forward to seeing how things go on Stars, I feel like I should be able to beat the 200nl games at the very least, and if I can't it'll be good motivation to study more.

HANDS.

1.

PokerStars, Hold'em No Limit - €1/€2 - 5 players
Hand delivered by Upswing Poker

UTG: €200.00 (100 bb)
CO: €200.00 (100 bb)
BU: €200.00 (100 bb)
SB (Hero): €200.00 (100 bb)
BB: €200.00 (100 bb)

Pre-Flop: (€3) Hero is SB with A♠ K♣
3 players fold, Hero raises to €6, BB calls €4

Flop: (€12) A♣ 9♦ 2♦ (2 players)
Hero checks, BB checks

Turn: (€12) 9♣ (2 players)
Hero checks, BB bets €8.55, Hero calls €8.55

River: (€29.10) 9♠ (2 players)
Hero checks, BB bets €43, Hero calls €43

Total pot: €115.10 (Rake: €2.50)

Showdown:
BB shows 6♦ 9♥ (four of a kind, Nines)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 36%, Flop: 23%, Turn: 95%, River: 100%)

SB (Hero) mucks A♠ K♣ (a full house, Nines full of Aces)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 64%, Flop: 77%, Turn: 5%, River: 0%)

BB wins €112.60

This is the sort of mistake I make when I'm not at my sharpest. Yes, I "have to" call some Ax in theory, but in practice I feel like this spot gets underbluffed, and if I am going to call I definitely shouldn't have a club in my hand.

2.

PokerStars, Hold'em No Limit - $1/$2 - 6 players
Hand delivered by Upswing Poker

UTG: $194.59 (97 bb)
MP: $203.82 (102 bb)
CO: $200.00 (100 bb)
BU: $299.21 (150 bb)
SB: $208.95 (104 bb)
BB (Hero): $206.35 (103 bb)

Pre-Flop: ($3) Hero is BB with 6♣ A♦
3 players fold, BTN raises to $4, 1 fold, Hero calls $2

Flop: ($9) 4♥ 5♠ K♥ (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $2.82, Hero calls $2.82

Turn: ($14.64) 3♠ (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $26.43, [color=#666666]BB (Hero) folds[/color
Total pot: $14.64 (Rake: $0.73)
BU wins $13.91

Another hand which shows I wasn't fully tuned in. I don't block any of his flush draws, block his value, have lots of outs and some showdown value.

I think if he bet 12 here I would have just called without much thought, a bit embarrassing to be making silly mistakes because of an overbet turn in 2019 but the year is young, plenty of time to sharpen up!

3.

PokerStars, Hold'em No Limit - $1/$2 - 4 players
Hand delivered by Upswing Poker

UTG (Hero): $268.61 (134 bb)
BU: $200.00 (100 bb)
SB: $199.00 (100 bb)
BB: $200.00 (100 bb)

Pre-Flop: ($3) Hero is UTG with 7♥ K♥
Hero raises to $6, 2 players fold, BB 3-bets to $23.60, Hero 4-bets to $62, 1 fold

Total pot: $48.20 (Rake: $0)
UTG (Hero) wins $48.20

Sloppy hand selection. From the BTN I think this works fine as a 4bet sometimes, but from the CO I would much prefer to block an A, and unblock a 7, especially vs the BB. Shows a little bit of impatience too I suspect, which is always a bad sign.

gl man, subbed!

Thanks!

Graph so far.


Brutal first two days, obviously low volume but frustrating nonetheless. I'll be playing live poker for the next three days but next week I want to get in at least 10k volume, the games seem decent so its just a question of getting back into the swing of things.

HANDS.

1.

PokerStars, Hold'em No Limit - $1/$2 - 3 players
Hand delivered by Upswing Poker

BU (Hero): $209.50 (105 bb)
SB: $212.64 (106 bb)
BB: $200.00 (100 bb)

Pre-Flop: ($3) Hero is BTN with K♦ Q♥
Hero raises to $6, SB 3-bets to $20, 1 fold, Hero calls $14

Flop: ($42) T♣ K♠ 6♦ (2 players)
SB bets $16.30, Hero calls $16.30

Turn: ($74.60) 5♠ (2 players)
SB bets $53, Hero raises to $173.20 (all-in), SB folds

Total pot: $180.60 (Rake: $1.25)
BU (Hero) wins $179.35


Wasn't sure about this one, until recently I'd always just call and call down bricks, but I've become more aware of the value of protection - he's put so much money in already, if I call and call bricks, which would be the plan, I lose the same amount vs his nutted hands, and this way I get to deny equity from his weaker bluffs, and get the money in good vs his stronger draws. Interested to hear what people think about it though, it did feel like a bit of a gross shove.


2.

PokerStars, Hold'em No Limit - $1/$2 - 5 players
Hand delivered by Upswing Poker

UTG: $97.76 (49 bb)
CO (Hero): $208.02 (104 bb)
BU: $200.00 (100 bb)
SB: $208.16 (104 bb)
BB: $206.40 (103 bb)

Pre-Flop: ($3) Hero is CO with T♣ T♥
1 fold, Hero raises to $6, 2 players fold, BB 3-bets to $22, Hero calls $16

Flop: ($45) 5♣ 8♦ T♠ (2 players)
BB bets $27.36, Hero calls $27.36

Turn: ($99.72) J♠ (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $50.42, BB raises to $157.04 (all-in), Hero calls $106.62

River: ($413.80) 4♥ (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $413.80 (Rake: $2.75)

Showdown:
BB shows J♣ J♥ (three of a kind, Jacks)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 83%, Flop: 12%, Turn: 98%, River: 100%)

CO (Hero) shows T♣ T♥ (three of a kind, Tens)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 17%, Flop: 88%, Turn: 2%, River: 0%)

BB wins $411.05

Not sure about my sizing here, my thinking was that I'm fairly polar since I think I just check back Tx and Qx trying to get to showdown, so I should bet quite big, but that makes stacks awkward for the river. But I don't really like betting smaller either, so I ended up falling between two stools.

3.


PokerStars, Hold'em No Limit - $1/$2 - 5 players
Hand delivered by Upswing Poker

UTG: $239.30 (120 bb)
CO (Hero): $278.15 (139 bb)
BU: $200.00 (100 bb)
SB: $223.45 (112 bb)
BB: $200.00 (100 bb)

Pre-Flop: ($3) Hero is CO with J♥ T♣
1 fold, Hero raises to $6, 2 players fold, BB calls $4

Flop: ($13) A♣ 7♠ K♥ (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $10.13, BB calls $10.13

Turn: ($33.26) 6♣ (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $37.29, BB calls $37.29

River: ($107.84) K♦ (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $224.73 (all-in), BB calls $146.58 (all-in)

Total pot: $401 (Rake: $2.75)

Showdown:
CO (Hero) shows J♥ T♣ (a pair of Kings)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 49%, Flop: 15%, Turn: 9%, River: 0%)

BB shows 7♣ 7♥ (a full house, Sevens full of Kings)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 51%, Flop: 85%, Turn: 91%, River: 100%)

BB wins $398.25

Think this was a bit much - if I do it with every JT I'm overdoing it, so I should stick to the combos which don't contain a club.

Subbed. GL!