So as you can see, it was a slack month in terms of poker and not much went down. The way I personally see it, yes maybe I lost out on some profit, which I could have invested and it would be x amount down the road. Although, I believe that the EV of the effort I put into school this semester yields a higher ROI (if you will) long-term. Investing in myself so to speak. I have always said university was my priority over poker, but so I am glad I am able to see it through when the time comes. Even if I am not exactly enjoying the work I am putting in, the discipline to follow through is very important.

What now? Honestly, I do not know. The immediate plan is to keep grinding university and finish strong so that I can present myself with more options moving forward. I have one semester left after this one and then I graduate. My leg should be healed up now and my intra soccer season is starting up so that's good. On the poker front, I really do not know, I'll play it by ear.

Thanks,

Elliott

Man it has been a while since I last played online poker. Considering I have basically grinded online to some extent for the last few years, taking a month off has essentially been the longest gap in quite some time. I have mixed feelings about it, but honestly it needs to be done for now. With that said, I will likely not be playing online this month either.

Moving on, had my first soccer game this past Saturday and surprisingly, my hamstring has healed pretty nicely. It still felt stiff and tender, but it'll be alright! That is definitely uplifting. The next few weeks will be very busy for me as I have a ton of school work to do (2 medium sized papers and 1 massive one to write). So I will be on that grind, even though it is not what I'd ideally like to be doing. Gotta do what you gotta do!

Apart from that, I have been playing a bit of live poker here and there. This past weekend I grinded out several sessions. On Saturday night, I went to Montreal Casino to play 1/2 and watch UFC/habs. The energy was electric because GSP was fighting and he's a local hero so to speak. The games were decent, but as soon as the fight ended, the place cleared out a decent bit. My live seshs have been going well and I have been thinking clearly and taking good lines. As for Saturday night, the habs won, GSP convincingly won in his long awaited return, and poutines are continued to be made so all was right in La Belle Province!

This is going to be a different update than I have traditionally done in the past few years. For the first time in a while, I did not play online even once for the entire month. I really buckled down with school work and put all of my focus into doing the best that I could. Yesterday, I submitted the last of the three big essays that I had to do. In fact, I already received back my grade for the longest one that I did and am happy (more so relieved) with the result! Now, I basically have three finals left to conclude the semester. One will be next week, and then the last two are in 2-3 weeks. I did not work this hard in order to let up last minute, so I am going to finish off strong and ensure that my grades reflect that.

With that said, my life was rather unbalanced for all of November.

- nutrition/physical activity just horrible
- online poker was non-existent
- social life was quiet
- school work went well
- played 50-60 hours of live poker though
- crypto/market investments did well

I guess in most of my free time, I ended up playing live. Did decently well and mixed in a few 2/5 seshs as well. I'll even post most notable hand of the month that was probably my biggest live luckbox moment to date and just lolzy to think back on.


Luckbox 2/5 Hand

2/5 in for 500

Hero: been at the table 30-40 minutes, have played decently straightforward maybe a tad loose
V1: old timer who apparently gives no fks, he tried to buy in for 1200 at a 500 max bi and dropped a 100 chip at the cage and did not even realize until floor came and gave it back to him
V2: weak reg who literally just spilled a hot coffee that has a lid all over himself and the floor

So at this point I ran it up to 650-700 and V1 was on my direct left straddling all my BBs. I cover both V1 and V2 fwiw.

7 handed
Action goes: V1 Straddle, spazzy reg calls 10, middle age guy calls 10, V2 calls 10 on B, Hero looks down at KsQx in BB and bumps it to 60. V1 who straddled now calls, spazzy reg calls, middle age guy folds, V2 calls. Four ways to flop.

Flop (252) AsKx6s.

I'm first to act and basically think that if I bet I'll likely have to rep strong and turn hand into a bluff multi-way, so decide to check considering I have okay-ish showdown value. V1 bets out 80, spazzy reg folds, B flats 80, action back on me. Normally, I am not a huge proponent and fan of capped ranges, but essentially here V1 I have capped at weak Ax or somehow bottom set. B I think either the same or a draw. So now I get kind of stubborn and decide to turn my hand into a bluff and check-raise to 250 because I should have the strongest range and this looks super strong. V1 now tanks for literally 3-4 minutes, counts out calling chips, goes to muck, then finally ends up shoving for 491 total. Obviously, I am now like fk lol. Gets back to B who now reshoves for less, about 450ish. At this point, I just put in 250 on the flop + 60 preflop and have to call 241 to win a pretty big pot. Of course I am behind all Ax (which one of them for sure has), and I am basically dead vs. a set. On top of that, having Ks pretty terrible because eliminates chances of villains having flush draw, of which I'd be ahead.

Anyways, I end up calling the 241.
Turn: boom Kx
River: 7s

So now at showdown, no one really wants to show (even though hit miracle turn, still not even sure if I'm good lol) and eventually V1 has AJo and V2 has A6o for badly played flopped two pair imo, and I scoop a big one. Hilarious rage ensues, V1 old timer starts berating me for 5 minutes before spazzing out and shoving 22 aipf in for his newly reloaded stack vs. spazzy reg's AKo and holding. V2 who spilled the coffee all over himself rages and bolts out. Table basically broke after all that haha. If anything, this solidifes that all you have to do is play straightforwardly and you'll stack people like V1 who will play badly. This instance I got super lucky and played my hand extremely questionably. Likely not even close to deep enough to pull off moves like that. Of course, I thought villains would fold weak Ax though...

Anyways, not too much point discussing hand more because it's essentially between ambitious and punty, even though I think if it was deeper it could be good. Strangely enough, sometimes the amount of berating you take while playing live, you feel like a hot girl walking in NYC getting catcalled non-stop. Grimy people just do not give af.

Moving on, have no clue what's in store from here until the end of the year besides grinding out school. Will update if anything interesting transpires, but that's all for now!

Cheers,

Elliott

Since my last update I have been grinding hard for finals to close out the semester. Additionally, I have been playing some live seshs here and there. I’ve mainly been playing 2/5 now since overall I’m definitely rolled, I just don’t technically have a live poker roll for 2/5 or even 1/2 really. It’s a non issue though.

I’ve played some interesting hands would like to hear some opinions.

First hand is at Montreal Casino 2/5 where the max bi is 1k.

V1: middle age donk, will play aggressively if he thinks you’re weak, overall he’s bad and if he’s in position and it’s checked to him he’ll usually bet. Had one hand previously vs him where I opened QQ utg, he flatted MP, SB flatted. Flop was A96 I bet small, he called, SB called. Turn was K I checked, he now bet, SB called, I folded. River was a 9 it went check check and SB had 78o and V1 had Q7o lol. He has been trying to play with me from what I can tell.

Hand starts out, he looks up sees me in BB and limps off a 750-800 stack and I cover, folds to me in BB I complete 85o, straddle checks also as expected.
Flop (32) 10c8c8x. I check, BB checks, V1 bets 25. I contemplate check raising but I know he’s capable of being very light so I just call, SB folds.
Turn (82) 10x. Worst card for me so I check. He bets 50 and I call.
River (182) 8x. Now I river quads and have the nuts because he’s not limping 1010 preflop from UTG. Hero?



Next two hands are from same sesh at Playground 2/5 500 max bi.


Tighter straightforward thinking Asian guy who takes 6 Chinese New Years to act each hand straddles to 10, folds to me I open KcQh to 30 on B, SB loose aggro calls, straddle calls.

Flop (95) Kh9h9x. Straddle leads 55, I think and flat. SB folds.
Turn (205) Qh. He checks, I bet 95 planning to check back rivers and folding to a turn raise. He thinks for a while then calls.
River (395) 6x. Asian now leads 185. I think for a while and decide that I’m not good here so unless he has 99 he’s not snapping off a raise and I can rep really strong. Also don’t think he has 99 given that he flatted the straddle, but it’s still possible. I wait 30 seconds then shove for 715 total and he tanks for like 3 minutes. Starts reasoning to himself saying that I bet big on turn and wouldn’t do that with a boat. I barely bet half pot lol.

Thoughts?

Few hands later, I pick up JJ with a stack of ~900 from CO and fish opens to 30 over a straddle from utg with a 143 stack, next fish calls, I bump it to 120 and now goes to Asian sitting on 2k from last hand and he thinks for another 6 years before flat calling my 120 from SB, small stack puts it in for 143, fish folds, I call and now Asian calls also.

Flop (466) 943sd. Asian checks and I think about checking but decide to bet 135, he tank calls again.
Turn (736) 5s. He now leads for 185. I think about what to do and consider jamming but don’t really see what that accomplishes besides forcing out a possible draw or draw+overcards and even then those might still call so I decide to call.
River (1106) 6x. He takes maybe 15-20 seconds then slides out a stack of 100s putting me all in for ~450. Hero?

H1: fold pre, but as played I am jamming if I think he can have a T.
H2: i don't love this, as played I would call, but I would be xing back this turn most of the time.
H3: wp now fold.

Thanks for the response man, will post results soon!

H1: I went for max value and villain showed a 10 then tanked and folded saying he didn't want to call for a chop. Was very surprised he folded.

H2: He tanked maybe 3.5-4 minutes before counting up his profit and deciding that if he was wrong he was going to leave and called with J10o for the straight.

H3: Was vs same villain as H2 and I folded river he had 44 for a flopped set and very questionable preflop flat. Did not even really consider him having that exact hand.

H1: wow, ul
H2: He just has so many strong hands when he bets out on that texture as played. We shouldn't be in the business of making recs fold made hands even though it almost worked :'(
H3: just cant beat this guy

H1: I'd bet or x-raise flop depending on a lot of factors in these MW pots, leaning towards a bet if very passive fish T88r is tough hits a lot of limping ranges, otherwise you want to be checking range OOP in sb playing limped pots MW pots OOP is quite tricky.

H2: Flop is good, turn is questionable, Was just spew OTR, what was the board and your card how can there be 2 Qh?

H3: I'd raise the turn it is going to be +EV vs his range unless you had a read villain will use small sizings with nutted hands/lead turns small with nuts as well as "fun hands" like 65s to bloat the pot cause he is a degen or w/e. Visualize his xing range as well as his small sizing range here. River is an easy fold.

Btw i'm catching up to you bankroll wise 3 figures behind you atm even tho most of my roll is usd now

Second hand I had Qh so my mistake. I guess it’s ambitious to try and make villain fold given lives nature, but I just don’t know what he thinks he beats when he calls. Especially since I had been playing tight straightforward.

Nice work man, my bankrolls are basically minimal compared to what I’ve made. Most of it I invested away.

Hope you ll continue this nice thread in 2018. GL with uni, live and sng !


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Well I do not really have an update for the month as I did not play online whatsoever. Instead, I had to focus a lot on school (finals) and then it was the holidays so just spent time with family, friends, having fun (lot of drinking). I did play live occasionally, but it was not that often. I have been trying to reflect on the year and figure out goals for the upcoming year, but I am not coming up with very much.

For the most part, I did well in school this year. Obviously, I will always be of the opinion that things could have gone better, but I realize they could have been a lot worse as well! There is reason to be thankful in that alone. That means that this upcoming semester, I will be taking five classes and graduating. I am definitely looking forward to finally finishing this up. Therefore, I would say that this remains to be my main priority/objective.

Interestingly, I only just recently realized that in a sense, I have already accomplished what I set out to achieve in this thread. Based on current prices of crypto/market, my net worth has surpassed six figures. Honestly, I do not like to think about that or bring it up, because the markets are so volatile and these gains are technically unrealized. Therefore, the swings are immense and nothing is for certain. This is why becoming attached to a number can be rather detrimental. With that said, I am still not satisfied for some reason. I think it is because deep down I actually want to achieve 100k profit via poker alone. That's my motivation for continuing.

In all likelihood, I will make a separate post dedicated to this idea that has been haunting me recently. Basically, I feel as though I have become a slave to the numbers so to speak. So much about life is quantified and quite frankly, that is not what life is all about. Life is about emotion and living in the moment - I feel as though I have lost my way a bit in that regard. I have found myself chasing the thrill a bit and I am unsure as to how I feel about that. In the same vein, I cannot help it, I am just an extremely driven individual. Although, this results in me being hesitant to set monetary or number based goals for 2018. An example that applies is the following. In school, it is very common to hear people talk about how they only need to achieve a certain grade to pass their course. Historically, my approach has been to do the very best I can. Therefore, just passing has never been a concern. In a sense, this can apply to other aspects of life - just give it your all and you'll be more than impressed with your results.

Anyways, I will wrap this up by saying that I have not really set any goals or resolutions for the new year yet, and still have to reflect. I do not even know how much I made this year (even though I could easily check). I do have some ideas and I will make another post once I have figured them out.

May 2018 be prosperous to all!

Elliott

Hope to see another thread/continuing this thread soon

GG's 2017 and gl in 2018

Congratz dude!

Insane accomplishment jealous and happy for you haha

thanks jdawg, will be following yours as well!

thanks man, honestly it's not that crazy of an accomplishment - nothing to be jealous of you can do it too!



__________



Anyways, played my first sesh of the new year yesterday. Ended up going to play live at playground. I was on the list for 2/5 so sat at 1/2 while waiting. Before I knew it, was in for 200 and ~30 minutes later got called for 2/5 and was sitting on 530. Went to 2/5 and initially, the game did not look too great. There is one particular Asian villain who I have been battling with quite a bit since playing 2/5. He's pretty solid and we've gone head to head quite a bit, but he's gotten the best of me in the bigger ones. Will have to make some adjustments. I'll post one hand as an example of our dynamic...

7 handed

One limper, asian villain makes it 25 on the B, folds to me in BB I make it 75 with AQss, folds back to asian villain who calls. 1300 effective.

Flop (157) 1086c. I decided to bet small and bet 50, planning to bomb turns that give me equity or give up if unimproved. He calls.
Turn (257) Kc. Now I actually make a bit of a mistake and only bet about 120. I definitely think I should size up in order to apply more pressure and can rep stronger. He thinks for a while and calls.
River (497) 3x. Complete brick river. Obviously not a good river to bluff, but in the same vein it's polarizing. I end up betting 220 which is small but looks super value heavy. He tanks maybe 3 minutes then kind of sigh calls Q8dd.

So obviously hand is what it is, but moving forward I will adjust vs this particular villain since he will be calling me light.

Apart from that, it was a bit of swingy grind in which I played another super questionable hand that I won't get into cause it was like 6 ways and would take long to recap. To be fair, I did get lucky in the hand, but I'm surprised my play did not work.

Ended up being in for 200 on the night and cashing out 2040, which is a fantastic start to the new year!

Last night I played my second sesh of the year and it ended up being my best live sesh to date. I bought in to 2/5 for 500 and the game looked pretty decent. After a while it was pretty reg heavy, but still worth playing. I have been meaning to jump in the 2/2 PLO streets, but have not yet done so.

I am aware of my image in these games and have been trying to adapt better. For example, the asian villain who I have been playing with joined my table a few hours in and was asking me why I was being so quiet tonight. It is clear that they just sit and wait hoping that I spew off, so I am aware of this and will take advantage. I already have some adjustments and plans in place. There were a lot of interesting hands, too many to note. I definitely got lucky in a few spots, there are specific spots that I have trouble with and am thinking them through. I will post a few hands from the best that I can remember.

I open 108ss from MP 7 handed to 20, get three callers (partly because I have a LAG image).
Flop (87) K88c. Checks through.
Turn (87) 5c. One check, I bet small, 35 and folds to B who is a competent poker dealer who I have covered ~700-800 effective and he now raises to 115. I expect this line to be picked up turn draws/bluffs/8s/turned sets. So I decide I am going to flat the raise and check to him on river as my hand looks very much like Kx. We see the river hu.
River (317) 9c. This is probably one of the nut worst rivers for me. All the bluff draws essentially got there and now even other 8s can have more boats now. Anyways, I check, he bets 180 and I actually tank and think for a while. I end up calling and he has 87hh and I scoop.

Would like thoughts on this hand, I'm sure people are going to say to just go bet bet bet, but I think it's very important for me especially given my image to have check back strength as well.

Another hand.

I open 1010 to 20 utg and folds all the way to BB who I'm like 1.8k deep with and has me covered. Our dynamic is very loose and bluff heavy. We were really going at it in a joking way, he's an older middle aged guy. For example, he'd win a pot and be like back to kraft dinner for you! Was actually pretty funny making all these broke student jokes to me.

So we go heads up.

Flop (42) JJ4dd. He checks, I check back.
Turn (42) 10x. He now leads 20, and I decide to raise to 50. All his Jx and draws are still calling and I am getting a little more value. Could probably go larger. He calls.
River (142) 8x. Now he pretty much snap leads 200. I think this through and decide on a raise-fold. Obviously have to raise for value here, the question is how much and what can he call with. Naturally, I am targeting Jx and straights and possible lower boats. I end up making it 475 and he basically takes 20 seconds and calls with Q9o.


There were a lot of other hands as well as it was an ~8 hour sesh. Played well for the most part, but got lucky one time where I had the wrong read and sucked out. It happens though, need to continue working on my game.

In for 500, out for 3047.

Last night I went and played at Montreal Casino because it has been a while since I last played there and I thought that the action would be good. Feeling good, fresh off my biggest sesh to date, I called in and said to put my name on list for 1/2 and 2/5, the poker room employee also informed me there was 1/3 now so I got on that list too.

As I have previously mentioned, the logistics of the casino/poker room are not very ideal, but they could be a lot worse. Maybe I'm just spoiled from being used to Playground's standards. Anyways, eventually I get there and get put in a 1/3 game while on the list for 2/5. What I do like about the casino is that the games play deeper for the most part and honestly there should be more clueless fish in comparison to a poker club.

I buy into the 1/3 game and it does not look too great, but either way I do not expect to be in it for that long. I bought in for the max 350 and was in the game for under an hour before a 2/5 spot opened up.


3rd hand guy straddles and weirdly it’s only 5 in a 1/3. UTG limps, another guy limps who just reloaded cool looking Italian older guy, next guy limps, I make it 30 on B with AKcc, straddle calls, now first limper folds, Italian makes it 110 with 300 total, folds to me I shove. He calls.
Board comes Q high we chop AK AK

Few hands later one limp, guy to my right makes it 15 I make it 45 with AKcc, the Italian guy limper, and guy who made it 15 both call. Three ways.
Flop (138) J65cc. Checks to me I bet 80. Only guy who made it 15 calls.
Turn (298) Kx. Checks to me I have 238 behind and just shove and he folds saying nice bluff. Do I ever just bet not all in or check back here?


At this point I move to the 2/5 game with my 1/3 stack and dwindle down a bit before reloading for another 300. There are honestly tons of hands I could post because I was very active and running super well. I definitely made some costly mistakes and need to use them as an opportunity to learn.


Reg opens 25 utg gets called two spots I overcall from BB with 44.
Flop (102) 874dd. I check. Reg bets 65, folds back to me I check raise to 180. He thinks for a while then makes it 400 and I get it in for another 220.
Board runs out 5x9d I’m good

Open A9o to 20 from CO, fish on B flats, SB reg flats.
Flop (65) 1076r. SB checks, I bet 35, fish calls, reg folds.
Turn (135) Jx. I bet 80, B calls.
River (295) Ax. I bet 55 and B fish angrily calls with KK haha


QQ hand vs spewy Asian who is sitting on a solid stack

2 limps, I make it 30 with QQhc, they both call

Flop (95) 98dd4x. They both check I bet 55, only the Asian who initially limped calls.
Turn (205) 9x. Asian checks I decide to bet 110 and he check raises to 300. So this is a tough spot but I end up peeling.
River (805) Qd. Bink. He snap bets 500 throws 5 black chips and has another 7-800 behind i tank maybe 45 seconds then shove and he ends up calling with K9o lol

Proceeds to go on monkey tilt

Couple hands later while I’m still stacking I open AdKs from EP and get 4 callers.
Flop (107) Kc5c4d. I bet 60, loose reg from 44 hand and tilted Asian call.
Turn (287) 7d. I check, reg checks. Asian now spaz ships 308. I don’t think long and call but this possibly a mistake as now reg starts going into calculation mode and I see him think and now I know he has a pair and a draw or a combo draw because he calls with 350ish behind.
River 3c I check he snap ships I fold and he shows 76o and Asian mucks

Definitely think turn I'm good because once I check, I'm under repped, but once the reg checks I defintely have him beat and asian shipping he can have any draw or Kx he's just spazzing. I should have thought longer and repopped it to 650-700 but instead I called thinking that the reg would just fold, but clearly that was not the case so this ended up costing me 1k+


Ultimately I was in for 650ish and cashed out just under 4500 for a new high score. Would have to check my app to verify exact amounts, but that's pretty accurate. Huge sesh and unbelievable start to the new year!

Wow! That seem a good couple of sessions. No more online update ? GL


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Hey man, nice updates and sessions!

Definitely check back AKcc on 56JKcc with spr <1, you want to cooler his lower flushdraws, have the board totally crushed, don't need to bet turn to get the money in, he doesn't have naked Kx with you having Kc, Jx might end up folding and he can bluff rivers with 78s or with his flushdraws if river bricks.

GL!

Definitely need to take a little bit more time to consider all my options while playing live.

Anyways, played 2/5 on a Sunday at pg and had a decent sesh.


Here are a few hands.

One of biggest winning regs in the room sits on my direct left. Plays very aggressive and money is sort of irrelevant to him at this stake.

Folds to me I open B to 15 with 108dd, he 3bets to 50 from SB, folds to me I call.
Flop (105) 567d. He checks I bet 60 and he calls.
Turn (225) Jx. He checks I bet 110 he takes a bit and calls.
River (445) 9x. He checks I shove 228 he takes a while and calls I’m good.

New table

One limp folds to me I bump it 25 with AxKd, fish on my left calls, reg sees me raising says no come on limp as a joke and then calls from BB says he’s gonna crack me then original limper calls too. Four ways to the flop. Reg and I have thinking dynamic and are close in age.

Flop (102) 886dd. Checks to me I check and fish checks back.
Turn (102) 3x. Checks to me I bet 35, fish calls and now reg from BB makes it 125. I think for a while and call. Fish folds.
River (387) 5x. He checks with maybe 300 behind and I check back still thinking I’m good. He has 95dd and wins. Maybe shove here? Maybe better hands to bluff with here.

Tough to figure out best plays on these type of flops, I don’t mind checking multiway where as heads up I’ll likely bet. Turn I’m betting for value and to deny some equity so once reg check raises its extremely hard to rep anything good because players are not often checking twice with value. I essentially put him on a draw/combo draw and decided that if river came a non connecting straight or flush card I was calling a shove. So if river comes Jx or something I call. The river came 5x so it’s kind of awkward cause that’s a bad card for me but when he checks it doesn’t make too much sense.

All and all a decent sesh but weirdly enough I could feel myself getting sick near the tail end so I decided to leave. While driving home I could feel it in my throat that I was about to get sick and low and behold I’m in bed for the next three days with the flu...Honestly pretty terrible timing because school has started back up and my schedule is not even finalized yet :/. Have work to do!

good luck fellow Canadian!

Coming out to Niagara for the WPT in February?

I dont know how i missed this...I guess too many PGC's out there

Better late than never i guess

Just subbed, best of luck in 2018!

Seriously doubt this will happen as I am not much of a live tournament player and will likely be very busy in February. Gl to you if you play though!

Thanks!

The past week I had the flu and was essentially bedridden the entire time. It was pretty brutal and nothing got done. I don't get sick very often, but when I do it's usually pretty bad. Anyways, by the weekend I was feeling decently better and decided to put in some live seshs.

Saturday
The first one I played 2/5 and there was not much going on I ended up booking a small win before deciding to go play 2/2 PLO, where I proceeded to play like a donk haha. Eventually, I was playing decently (as far as I can tell lol) for most part even though I looked like I was playing go-fish the way I was holding my cards. Eventually I ended up losing my profits from 2/5 and called it a night. It was definitely fun to switch things up and it really makes you think spots through.

Sunday
I ended up going to play 2/5 again and things did not go too well to begin. In what was maybe my second orbit, I played this hand.

Squeeze QQ to 90 from BB over utg limp, reg 20 from MP, and another reg over-call from B. Only the first reg in MP called.

Flop (207) AK3r. Check, check.
Turn (207) Jx. I think about betting, but decide to check. Reg checks back.
River (207) Qx. Interesting spot, can either bet-fold or check decide. I decided bet-fold was my best option and bet 60. Reg pretty much takes 20 seconds then shoves 250 lol. Sticking to my plan I should just fold, but essentially leveled myself even though he can easily have 1010 here. Anyways, I called he had 108s lol. Pretty easy fold tbh just bad on my part.

Anyways, that was pretty much the only real mistake I made all night. I played a ton of super interesting hands, but cannot remember them all. Also, the thing about about posting hands here is that people do not know the dynamics in the game and it's difficult to explain. I will actually explain another hand that may seem crazy and incorrect, but it's a matter of knowing who you're playing with.

This older man I've played with before who does super wacky things and has a propensity to bluff opens to 20 from B once it folds to him and I defend BB with 62ss. We go heads up to the flop.

Flop (42) KK5ss. I check, he bets 20 and I check-raise to 50. He calls.
Turn (142) 6x. I check. He now bets 150 and essentially does something that gives off a tell. I have never really been a big believer in tells, but the more experience I have been getting, the more things I have picked up on and I just trust my reads. Basically, he did something that I saw him do last time he was bluffing. I end up calling the 150.
River (442) 5x. I check. He now bets 100 lol and we only have like 150-200 more behind so I basically snapped him off and he did not want to show, I was good. As crazy as it sounds, even if he shoved river, I was still calling.

You really have to trust your reads in live and just go with it and I have been doing that very well. Granted, sometimes you are going to be wrong, but more often than not, you are going to be right.

I grinded away and made good adjustments vs particular villains in what was one of the tougher games in the room. Regs did not want to sit in it and were table changing frequently. I am starting to believe that I am just not someone regs want in their games haha. More and more comments are being made that reinforce this. As long as the fish do not see it the same way, that is all that really matters. Was in the game for 1100 and eventually cashed out just over 2k, for a solid win.

Ended up going to see Molly's Game with my buddies last night and it was definitely a good watch, I enjoyed it. The actress is a smokeshow!

Looks like my heater came to an end last night. Ended up going to PG to grind a sesh because there's a winter festival going on and I thought the action would be good. My table was pretty reggy and I could not get much going. I put in for a table change and literally as I am playing this hand, the table change was ready for me.

Open two red kings utg to 20, fish calls, asian reg on B calls, BB calls. Four ways to flop.

Flop (82) 655cc. BB checks, I bet 45, fish folds, asian calls, BB folds. Heads up to turn.
Turn (172) 2x. I bet 95, asian calls.
River (362) 4x. I check, asian thinks 45 seconds and bets 260. Hero?

I get my table change and it looks better at first glance, but appears to be some out of town regs in for the series. End up getting stacked to a smug looking outta town looking reg.

Here's the dynamic.

I open 63hh from utg to 30 over a straddle, MP black guy playing decent flats, outta town reg next to act squeezes to 115, folds back to me and I know he's super light here and ship 500. Black guy folds, reg snap folds. I show the bluff.

Many people are going to say that it is pure spew and I should not even be opening this hand, and in general that is definitely the case. Although, every game is different.

Anyways, next orbit, reg opens, fish calls, I 3bet on the B and reg ships 700 in my face pretty quick, fish calls, I get outta the way and reg ends up having AKo.

So now I know what range he is 4bet shoving on me because he thinks I am very loose.

Next orbit, it goes limp, same reg next to act makes it 20, gets three callers, and I look down at QQ on B and pop it to 150. Folds to reg who basically does the same thing as last time and ships it in my face for 600 effective. Normally, I would think a lot more about this spot, but basically given that he is shipping AK in his range also, I end up calling. This time he has AA and there's an ace on the flop gg me.

Now I'm sitting with about 85$ left and debating if I should pick up and leave or reload. Usually, I would snap reload but I was pretty sure I was going to leave. Anyways, gets to me in BB, reg opens 20 utg, fish calls, I have JJ in BB lol snap it in, same reg calls. Looks astonished that he's actually behind for once for some reason as if it's his god given right to cooler me and get it in good 100% of the time. He says you're good sheepishly, flop comes out 9 high, he says you're not good anymore tables 99, gg me. I decide to leave down 1100 on the sesh.

Seshs like these are bound to happen, that's part of the game.