2020 sucked.

However, it was also a big transition period for me and now I feel my ducks are in a row going into 2021.

At the start of 2020 I started a PGC thread with the following post:

And even though I did end up getting a 2.2 at Uni . I am now living in London and actually have a pretty good job.

I also now play 50nl

In terms of poker, my bankroll is now $4884.68 which means I earnt just over $4k playing poker in 2020. I not gonna set any monetary goal but I plan to smash this in 2021.

I hope to come up with some reasonable goals for 2021 that I can look back on at the end of the year - but right now I think I'm gonna just make the most of the last evening before I start dry January.

I would like to start coaching in 2021 (I really enjoyed coaching my friends in lockdown). So if anyone is playing 25nl or below and is interested some FREE coaching just let me know - I'm keen to help!

Hey man, good luck for 2021. Also in London but leaving my job soon. Playing 10nl online at the moment, maybe take you up on the coaching offer sometime! Looking to move up to 16/25nl soonish, 2/5/10nl have been ok but have a lot of room to grow.

GL in 2021 bossman! I hope you will keep the thread alive this year frequently

Sick turnaround from the start of 2020's PGC. GL in 21

Yes please do! Dm me and we can organise something, I hope I can help

Thanks, I will certainly try. Hopefully I will manage at least monthly updates . Will be following your PGC, good luck in 2021

Cheers man, you too

Subscribed, gl!

In, glgl!

Subscribed, glgl in 2021

Thanks for all the good luck messages, hopefully they'll bring some run good!

The UK has been in lockdown recently so I've been staying in London instead of travelling home on weekends. This means the majority of my grinding has been on a crappy laptop, laying in bed. I don't think this is the best setup to play my A game but the results seem to suggest otherwise.

I still need to get home to upload all the hand to PT4 (I'll do a proper update when I do) but for now I'll give a quick recap.

I have just started taking shots at 100nl (Rush & Cash on GG) and it has been going kind of okay

Note. This doesn't include probably ~ $250-300 of rake.

Also a lot of backdoor straights were involved and I'm not sure I've missed a flush draw all week (i.e I'm well aware this is a crazy sunrun)



I'll update the bankroll tally when I do a full update, but 2021 has been kind to me.

When you roll low on the river... (aggressive on my RNG)

GGPoker, Hold'em No Limit - $0.50/$1.00 - 6 players
Replay this hand on Upswing Poker

8ea778e1 (UTG): $196.50 (197 bb)
258902fe (MP): $182.12 (182 bb)
db3b579f (CO): $121.27 (121 bb)
e2403b07 (BU): $294.14 (294 bb)
Hero (SB): $182.69 (183 bb)
695d0970 (BB): $132.38 (132 bb)

Pre-Flop: ($1.50) Hero (Hero) is SB with 9♥ 8♠
4 players fold, Hero (SB) raises to $3, 695d0970 (BB) calls $2

Flop: ($6) 5♣ J♦ J♥ (2 players)
Hero (SB) bets $1.50, 695d0970 (BB) calls $1.50

Turn: ($9) 9♣ (2 players)
Hero (SB) bets $6.75, 695d0970 (BB) calls $6.75

River: ($22.50) 7♣ (2 players)
Hero (SB) checks, 695d0970 (BB) bets $13.50, Hero (SB) raises to $171.44 (all-in), 695d0970 (BB) folds

Total pot: $49.50 (Rake: $3.47)
Hero (SB) wins $46.03

Villain folded and showed Jc8c

w the FH AND straight flush blocker?!

Nice (sun)run @ 100, gz How are you finding the GG pool vs Stars, or too soon to say?

Yeah I'm very happy he showed me the huge hero fold - made a note and have every intention to go crazy with bluffs against him

The GG pool has a lot of rake back grinders that are just autopiloting every spot even when 200BB deep. It's very easy to exploit guys are not thinking about any of their decisions (and playing crazily loose to collect points). There are lots of fun players too!

That said I face a lot more aggression at 100nl than 50nl. (A lot more 3&4 bets preflop and overbets postflop)

I think the difficulty of 100 R&C probably somewhere between 50z and 100z. (fwiw I've not played many hands at 100z).

Nice to see you progress and gratz to NL100 shot! GL!

I will do a proper January update when I can upload all my hands to PT4 (hopefully ~14th of February) but it was by far the best month I have ever had playing poker. I feel very confident at 100nl R&C but also I am aware I have been running extremely well.

I have kicked February with a rough session. I feel I played really poorly and definitely a little bit tilted. Otherwise, I wouldn't have really cared about the $ loss.

Note. (Graph doesn't show ~$200 paid in rake, and the last 500 or so hands are at 50nl)



I want to have a bit more of a plan going forward. Having a losing session where you know you have played badly does sting a bit more now than it did when I was playing 2nl.

I am well rolled for 100nl and very confident I am a winner in the game, but for the next week at least I will be playing 50nl.

My main focus for the February will be:

1) Getting into a habit of meditation

2) Reading for at least 15 minutes per day

3) Memorising my preflop ranges (too often I am simply improvising in game)

Hand 1

Don't do this at home kids.. I tried to bluff a guy even though the note I had on him was "Massive station, do not bluff!"

GGPoker, Hold'em No Limit - $0.50/$1.00 - 6 players
Replay this hand on Upswing Poker

UTG: $157.95 (158 bb)
MP: $92.45 (92 bb)
CO: $118.14 (118 bb)
BU: $210.62 (211 bb)
SB: $333.91 (334 bb)
BB (Hero): $100.00 (100 bb)

Pre-Flop: ($1.50) Hero is BB with 6♥ 7♥
UTG raises to $3, 4 players fold, Hero calls $2

Flop: ($6.50) J♠ 5♥ 5♦ (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets $4.88, Hero raises to $13.01, UTG calls $8.13

Turn: ($32.52) 4♣ (2 players)
Hero bets $24.39, UTG calls $24.39

River: ($81.30) 9♥ (2 players)
Hero bets $59.60 (all-in), UTG calls $59.60

Total pot: $200.50 (Rake: $4)

Showdown:
BB (Hero) shows 6♥ 7♥ (a pair of Fives)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 23%, Flop: 9%, Turn: 18%, River: 0%)

UTG shows Q♣ Q♦ (two pair, Queens and Fives)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 77%, Flop: 91%, Turn: 82%, River: 100%)

UTG wins $196.50

Hand 2

And again... (vs same villain)

GGPoker, Hold'em No Limit - $0.50/$1.00 - 6 players
Replay this hand on Upswing Poker

UTG (Hero): $112.24 (112 bb)
MP: $100.00 (100 bb)
CO: $123.15 (123 bb)
BU: $129.87 (130 bb)
SB: $227.81 (228 bb)
BB: $189.48 (189 bb)

Pre-Flop: ($1.50) Hero is UTG with T♠ 9♠
Hero raises to $2.20, 1 fold, CO 3-bets to $7.50, 3 players fold, Hero calls $5.30

Flop: ($16.50) 7♦ 6♠ 5♦ (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $8.25, Hero raises to $23.10, CO calls $14.85

Turn: ($62.70) Q♣ (2 players)
Hero bets $20.18, CO calls $20.18

River: ($103.06) J♥ (2 players)
Hero bets $61.46 (all-in), CO calls $61.46

Total pot: $225.98 (Rake: $4)

Showdown:
UTG (Hero) shows T♠ 9♠ (high card, Queen)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 41%, Flop: 38%, Turn: 9%, River: 0%)

CO shows A♦ Q♥ (a pair of Queens)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 59%, Flop: 62%, Turn: 91%, River: 100%)

CO wins $221.98

Looking forward to the full January update - goals for February looks stellar! GL

Good luck bossman. Being willing to move down in stakes when you aren't playing your best shows a lot of character and I think being able to do that is key to being successful at poker. Also, I like that you offered free coaching to lower stakes players too, that's cool. If you ever need coaching from me on how to be a nit just ask. (Hint: fold a lot).

Thanks! Hopefully I will be able to update this weekend. I've not been home since Christmas so looking forward to seeing my family.

But even more excited to be able to run sims on my computer - taken a day off work to really catch up on study

Thanks, means a lot. I've still been getting chewed up since the last update but most of the volume has been at 50nl - its far easier to ride the swings when you are super comfortably rolled.

Hahah I definitely need to work out how to use fold button - not really part of my repertoire currently.

Best of luck mate

January Update

I have just got home and uploaded all the hands I have played YTD to PT4.

I was nervously anticipating what the results would look like - even though I know the overall numbers.

Here is January on GG Poker:



I started the month with 25 R&C to gain some confidence after a bit of a Christmas downswing. I quickly moved back to 50 R&C then (after my study partner told me to stop being such a nit) to 100 R&C!

Results by Stake:

By Stakes:



Obviously playing GG is all about the Rakeback so here is the results for that too:



Overall I won just shy of $4k in January - this is insane to me. I am extremely proud (even though this is a tiny sample and a crazy heater) - because really try and deploy a well-thought out strategy.

I take a long time over every decision and only 2-table (this might not maximise my hourly) but I am really happy it has shown in my WR. These I think are good habits to be able to move up.

I have been brought a bit back down to earth so far in February with a downswing but that update is in due course. I believe the bankroll at the end of the month was ~$9k

Smashing results mate - well worth the wait!

I'm a huge fan of this approach and I think it really sets you apart from the field! Volume is a key part of winning money in poker but it's probably the least scalable long-term. In the future, would you rather be playing 5x bigger stakes or 5x more volume? Seems like a no brainer to me.

After a great month like this, I think that a good exercise would be to reflect on what's going well and write some notes to yourself about the key things you are doing right. One of these might be the 2 tabling + taking time on decisions. Then in a month or two when you hit a downswing, you've got a checklist of good practices which might have fallen from your mind in the meantime.

After such a good run of results, it's difficult not to hedonistically adapt to the situation and regard +10bb/100 + rakeback as the new standard. I think that it's really important to look at the big picture here - imagine you could offer your current circumstances to yourself at the start of 2021. Don't let the smaller swings overwhelm the signal and enjoy the heater and the downswings as a part of playing poker.

Gl for the rest of February

Thanks for the kind words!

That is a really good suggestion, I will try that this evening. I think it is extremely easy to lose track of our good habits when we hit a breakeven stretch. Often in downswings I increase table to try and "grind my way out" even faster. This is obviously the complete opposite of what I should be doing.

I also completely agree with your second point, it is very difficult stay grounded and realise I'm not going to keep running this hot. I don't think 10bb/100 is anywhere near sustainable given the GG rake structure.

I'm pleased I've got this weekend and Monday to digest this stretch. I didn't do too much studying or reviewing of how I played while I was on my laptop in London. So now take a bit of a break from playing, and review and sharpen up.

HMU if you wanna do a study session on a given spot. I find it really helpful to talk through the outputs of sims and ask question ect.

Mid-February Update (Kind-of)

The sluggish month has continued - a product of mediocre cards and less than mediocre play. I am basically completely even for the month with rakeback over ~30k hands (Bankroll still ~$9k) . The breakeven stretch is completely normal but I have definitely not being playing my best

I kind of wanted a fresh slate to re-motivate myself, so I decided to put in a sample at 100FF on Partypoker. (Lower rake and more rakeback was tempting)

Recreational players must be eaten alive in this pool! 70% of hands I played were 4-handed with only Regs. I only played ~2k hands and was breakeven but it was super interesting playing most hands against aggressive/competent regulars. These guys still have a lot of leaks and generally are playing many tables at once but there were many spots I feel I was getting exploited.

Usually, I am used to a passive player pool where you can get away with tight folds vs aggression, over-cbetting and not protecting your checking ranges. Whereas it felt like this pool was check raising me everywhere (especially on paired boards) - both with thin value and with bluffs.

The hand below is a good example of where I know I show be playing be a mixed strategy, but I was either autopiloting or believed I wouldn't be exploited when I cbet too frequently.



I ran the hand in PIO and villain played it well, hero did not.. This is a very high frequency check on the flop, and as played a pure check on the river. Oddly, I am quite excited that range bets are getting attacked - because I enjoy being more ambitious with my strategy in spots (trying to mix appropriately). This sample generally highlighted to me an huge area that I play terribly! IP, I am using a range cbet too often, and OOP, I don’t xr anywhere near enough - both in SRP and in 3bet pots.

I’m going to play on GG this week but I am planning a big weekend of study focussed on check raising flops. After some serious lab work, I will play some more on party - I feel it will help my game a lot playing against tougher opponents, and I do think the game is beatable.

Below I have attached snips of 2 different sims I ran on a paired board BTNvBB:

BB Strategy facing a 1/4 Cbet (BTN playing a mixed strategy, Cbet ~40% of time iirc)



BB Strategy facing a 1/3 Range Cbet



I've likely been check raising <10%, let alone 40%. As bencb would say we should go "absolutely bananas" against villains who will cbet too frequently (I love the way he says bananas in his accent). Additionally, this is assuming they will defend like Pio - I would argue they probably overfold, which will increase your xr frequency even more.

The hand selection is usually fairly obviously - FDs and double backdoor draws but the frequencies are far more aggressive than I have been assuming. I will have to dig a lot deeper into these spots (especially as you will be playing turns with a far more merged range after xr) but for this week I will really try to take these spots if the right opportunity arises.

I have a question about running these sims. You say BB strategy facing a 1/4 c-bet using a mixed strategy and BB strategy facing a 1/3 range c-bet. How does the sim know whether the flop c-bet is a range bet or a mixed strategy? You can plug that into PIO whether the BTN is betting 100% range or mixing in checks?

I've never used a solver before but I'm considering purchasing one soon.

Yeah you can learn a lot by manipulating the constraints in the trees you build. In this example you can set the flop strategy to be locked as "OOP check, IP bet" - and the situation will be solved with this precondition. Really useful for investigating how range cbets effect strategies and EV. The inputs are very important and obviously can dramatically change the outputs of the sim. A lot of the study I do revolves around finding the simplest strategy/fewest inputs that can still capture most of the EV for a given situation.

You can also node lock ranges in the tree, which is really cool both for understanding why a situation functions as it does and for developing exploitative strategies. For example you could force the IP range to never check a flush draw on the flop and investigate how this will affect turn play on flush runouts if the flop checks through.

I find this sort of experimenting really interesting - and far more useful than just trying to remember frequencies or "check if I played my hand correctly". Working with the solver has really helped me improve, but I had never really discussed hands with people or watched training content before I bought PIO, so I cannot say whether it is the most efficient way to learn. That said, I fully recommend buying one, GTO+ seems super great value for money esp.

Thanks. I got plenty of money and I play poker every day so what would you say is the best solver regardless of price? PIO? Monker? GTO+?