Hello, I am starting this blog to document my journey to the top, to track my progress and to hold myself accountable.
About me
I am 23 years old, just finished university. Poker has always been my hobby and once dreamed of going pro. Now that I have a degree and an education to fall back on, it’s time to follow my passion. I understand that in an era where professional players are looking for a way out it’s probably not wise to try to find a way in, but it’s exactly the challenge and tough competition that makes me love this game. I’m prepared for a rough ride. After all, our biggest regrets are not for the things we did — but, for the things we didn’t do. An employment will always be there, poker might not.
The challenge
I will be starting at 10NL Zoom on PokerStars with a BR of 412.42 USD. I will utilize proper bank roll management and work my way up the zoom ladder. I will post graphs along the way and maybe some hands as well.
Goals
- 3-5 hours of playing per day
- 2 hours of studying per day
- Reading (currently reading The Outsider by Albert Camus, not poker related)
- Workout 3x/week
There will be no long term goals or profit targets as staying on track of my daily routine is what is essential and should ensure the best possible long term results. The biggest challenge would be staying motivated and keeping on track of my schedule during periods of downswing.
While this blog is mainly for myself, I appreciate any comments/advice/criticism. Thanks for reading.
Only managed to get one session in today. Went to the gym. Finished reading The Outsider, a poker book will be next: Applications of No Limit Holdem by Matt Janda. Will put in more study time after this post.
Pretty happy with how I played, don't think I made too many mistakes. Redline could be a concern but let's wait on more hand samples.
Preflop: Hero is SB with J K
UTG raises to $0.30, MP calls $0.30, 2 folds, Hero calls $0.25, BB folds
Flop: ($1) Q T A (3 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets $0.50, MP calls $0.50, Hero raises to $2.66, UTG raises to $9.44, MP folds, Hero raises to $24.61 and is all-in, UTG calls $3.83 and is all-in
Turn: ($28.04) T (2 players, 2 are all-in) River: ($28.04) 3 (2 players, 2 are all-in)
Spoiler:
Results: $28.04 pot ($1.26 rake)
Final Board: Q T A T 3
Hero showed J K and lost (-$13.57 net)
UTG showed T T and won $26.78 ($13.21 net)
MP mucked and lost (-$0.80 net)
River: ($8.56) T (3 players)
Hero bets $7.18 and is all-in, CO calls $7.18, BTN calls $7.18 and is all-in
Spoiler:
Results: $30.10 pot ($1.35 rake)
Final Board: 7 2 J 4 T
BTN showed 8 9 and won $28.75 ($18.75 net)
Hero showed J J and lost (-$10 net)
CO showed 2 2 and lost (-$10 net)
Played 2 sessions today and am very satisfied with my performance. First session got off to a rough start but I was able to remain focused and battle it out. It also helps that there's more fun players around on a Friday.
Played a lot today and it didn't really go well...
Chasing losses while tilted is the worst thing one can do. Definitely played horrible despite running bad range wise, set over set, villains flopping straights and flushes in 3bet, 4bet pots. Keep making good folds with good hands then get tilted and start paying off on even bigger pots. QQ< AA, KK < AA, doesn't feel good to suck out...Might take tomorrow off to work on my mental game and review bad hands.
I am not giving up, I shall embrace the swings, accept my mistakes, improve my game and battle on.
Hello, I'm back with an update! Played 2 sessions today and they didn't go too great either. Kept losing the big pots when I have a strong hand.
So I took yesterday off to review some hands. Aside from straight up coolers and tilt spew, these are the hands that I am not sure if it's just bad luck or bad play.
H1: Thought about folding flop, but decided that it's very unlikely to have a flush with the AK on board.
Preflop: Hero is UTG with Q Q
Hero raises to $0.25, MP raises to $0.90, CO folds, BTN raises to $5.79 and is all-in, 2 folds, Hero calls $5.54, MP calls $4.89
Flop: ($17.52) 7 4 A (3 players, 1 is all-in)
Hero checks, MP bets $8.95, Hero folds
Turn: ($17.52) 6 (2 players, 1 is all-in) River: ($17.52) 2 (2 players, 1 is all-in)
Spoiler:
Results: $17.52 pot ($0.79 rake)
Final Board: 7 4 A 6 2
BTN showed 9 9 and lost (-$5.79 net)
Hero mucked Q Q and lost (-$5.79 net)
MP showed 5 A and won $16.73 ($10.94 net)
H6: pretty clear river fold right? I was very tilted when I played this hand, after having to fold the previous 2 hands... Also not sure what I tried to accomplish with the turn 2bet lol
Also does anyone know if LeakBuster is a good program to identify leaks? I have the free version that comes with HM2 and apparently it gave me a rating of A+ but since I am not doing so well I don't know if it's accurate.
I am taking the slow and steady approach. I will grind out each limit for at least 1 month and if I have the BR and a decent WR I will move up then. Also I'm probably skipping 16nl and jumping straight to 25nl because I feel it's an awkward stake. The most important thing is to me is improving as a player, as long as I am getting better moving up will just be a matter of time.
Thanks for all the good luck wishes. I only played 2 sessions yesterday and today, but I've been doing some readings and keeping up with my studying schedule. I also take some time off poker to relax and enjoy life.
Think turn call is probably a mistake, shove looked like turned 2 pair, 78h, 89h was just hoping there's enough random spaz in there as well. Given it's multi-way I think it's fine to overfold when there doesn't seem to be enough bluffs and hard to see worse value hands even against fish. When the last guy raises I know I'm dead lol.
Preflop: Hero is BTN with J A
2 folds, CO raises to $0.30, Hero raises to $0.80, SB folds, BB calls $0.70, CO calls $0.50
Flop: ($2.45) T 6 A (3 players)
BB checks, CO checks, Hero bets $0.88, BB calls $0.88, CO calls $0.88
Turn: ($5.09) 5 (3 players)
BB checks, CO bets $4.24 and is all-in, Hero calls $4.24, BB raises to $8.48, Hero folds
River: ($17.81) 8 (2 players, 1 is all-in)
Spoiler:
Results: $17.81 pot ($0.80 rake)
Final Board: T 6 A 5 8
Hero mucked J A and lost (-$5.92 net)
BB showed 6 6 and won $17.01 ($11.09 net)
CO showed A 5 and lost (-$5.92 net)
Think this is pretty spewy, although I do play 33 44 and slowplayed flushes exactly the same way and given his flop sizing I don't think he ever has a boat or flush too often.
Preflop: Hero is UTG with K K
Hero raises to $0.30, MP folds, CO raises to $0.90, BTN calls $0.90, 2 folds, Hero raises to $3, CO folds, BTN calls $2.10
Flop: ($7.05) A Q 5 (2 players)
Hero bets $0.10, BTN raises to $6.62, Hero folds
Spoiler:
Results: $7.25 pot ($0.33 rake)
Final Board: A Q 5
BTN mucked and won $6.92 ($3.82 net)
Hero mucked K K and lost (-$3.10 net)
vs fish who don't fold pairs. This is definitely terrible play by me as well because it should have been an easy bet/call since raising keeps his bluffs out and range narrow. I was very tilted at the time and didn't want to see an A on the river vs his random garbage or A9.
Turn: ($1) 4 (3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $0.67, BTN raises to $1.34, SB folds, Hero raises to $3.88, BTN raises to $6.42, Hero raises to $8.96, BTN raises to $10.69 and is all-in, Hero calls $1.17
River: ($21.26) T (2 players, 1 is all-in)
Spoiler:
Results: $21.26 pot ($0.96 rake)
Final Board: 9 4 4 4 T
BTN showed 4 J and won $20.30 ($9.87 net)
SB mucked and lost (-$0.30 net)
Hero showed K K and lost (-$10.43 net)
I'm probably not playing any more sessions tonight. I do believe that having these rough sessions at the start of a challenging is actually a blessing in disguise as it teaches me about perseverance and trains my mental game. Hopefully I can book some solid winning sessions next time.