Become a semidecent poker player not losing much money on the way
04-23-2020
, 01:42 PM
Background
Started playing poker at 16, around 2007, and online as soon as I turned 18. Played throughout college and party years to pay for expenses, made around 20k or so playing a mix of MTTs, SNG, Cash, live local MTTs, etc. All winnings busted in more alcohol, drugs, parties and a car. Stopped playing around 2012 due to regulatory laws in my home country and decided to focus on uni and a std engineering career. Played on and off a couple of periods more with some success, just MTTs, probably around 5k-10k extra. Never studied very seriously, was always a "feels" player if you know what I mean
Nowadays
fast forward to 2020, so basically I will have tons of free time at least for a year given the situation. I lead a quite busy life, stressing career always travelling for work and if not for pleasure, given the circumstances it seems I will be stuck at home until 2021 at least so I decided to try to do something useful instead of playing games all day long, as career wise Im well positioned and settled I turned to poker
Goals
- Update the blog weekly. Only chance to hold myself accountable
- Only poker goal is to become good enough to mix my hobbies together (poker and travelling) and at least be BE doing so
- Will be playing mostly CASH as something I noticed is that as an MTT player I never studied and won anyway, I was way worse playing that my cash colleagues yet was always kind of envious of their knowledge. So as Im not playing to make money, I want to focus on evolving my game.
- Will play some MTTs for the bust, maybe once or twice a week
- Avoid playing hyper ****. Honestly.
- Play 30k hands month at least
- Study Im surprised, probably this week was one of the first times I actually sat down to look at my poker stats
- Select some topics to work on weekly
Week 1-3
Not the best start unfortunately
I think I have been running extremely bad, on top of being a monkey, but we are working on that. I think poor results are mainly due to a bad run though, I would say I'm at least breakeven player. Being playing NL5 mostly, some NL10.
Cash
mtts
Stats
Study goals for the week
- I have a very high 3bet, 12. Need to lower down to reasonable levels, like 8 or 9.
- I also have a incredibly high fold to 3bet after PR, like 65%, more interestingly a 70% on the BU. Looking to lower down to 55-60% in general and be more position aware. Work on my call3bet and 4bet ranges in different positions.
- RFI looks OK, although I want to shift a bit, open less hands in UTG and MP and a bit more in LP.
- I have worked already on my BB game and noticed I wasnt defending well, perhaps decent frequencies but not the right hands. Like overdefending hands with poor equity realization and folding the opposite. Implemented some changes last 2 sessions
- Postflop pff no idea where to start really, will probably study 3bet pots, also try to cbet meaningfully. Need to sort out preflop first. Plan to go on stages preflop first.
Started playing poker at 16, around 2007, and online as soon as I turned 18. Played throughout college and party years to pay for expenses, made around 20k or so playing a mix of MTTs, SNG, Cash, live local MTTs, etc. All winnings busted in more alcohol, drugs, parties and a car. Stopped playing around 2012 due to regulatory laws in my home country and decided to focus on uni and a std engineering career. Played on and off a couple of periods more with some success, just MTTs, probably around 5k-10k extra. Never studied very seriously, was always a "feels" player if you know what I mean
Nowadays
fast forward to 2020, so basically I will have tons of free time at least for a year given the situation. I lead a quite busy life, stressing career always travelling for work and if not for pleasure, given the circumstances it seems I will be stuck at home until 2021 at least so I decided to try to do something useful instead of playing games all day long, as career wise Im well positioned and settled I turned to poker
Goals
- Update the blog weekly. Only chance to hold myself accountable
- Only poker goal is to become good enough to mix my hobbies together (poker and travelling) and at least be BE doing so
- Will be playing mostly CASH as something I noticed is that as an MTT player I never studied and won anyway, I was way worse playing that my cash colleagues yet was always kind of envious of their knowledge. So as Im not playing to make money, I want to focus on evolving my game.
- Will play some MTTs for the bust, maybe once or twice a week
- Avoid playing hyper ****. Honestly.
- Play 30k hands month at least
- Study Im surprised, probably this week was one of the first times I actually sat down to look at my poker stats
- Select some topics to work on weekly
Week 1-3
Not the best start unfortunately
I think I have been running extremely bad, on top of being a monkey, but we are working on that. I think poor results are mainly due to a bad run though, I would say I'm at least breakeven player. Being playing NL5 mostly, some NL10. Cash
mtts
Stats
Study goals for the week
- I have a very high 3bet, 12. Need to lower down to reasonable levels, like 8 or 9.
- I also have a incredibly high fold to 3bet after PR, like 65%, more interestingly a 70% on the BU. Looking to lower down to 55-60% in general and be more position aware. Work on my call3bet and 4bet ranges in different positions.
- RFI looks OK, although I want to shift a bit, open less hands in UTG and MP and a bit more in LP.
- I have worked already on my BB game and noticed I wasnt defending well, perhaps decent frequencies but not the right hands. Like overdefending hands with poor equity realization and folding the opposite. Implemented some changes last 2 sessions
- Postflop pff no idea where to start really, will probably study 3bet pots, also try to cbet meaningfully. Need to sort out preflop first. Plan to go on stages preflop first.
04-27-2020
, 07:35 AM
Update 1
I have been feeling way more comfortable playing, I have successfully implemented everything I set for last week, lowered my 3bet down to 9.5 down from 12.5 which makes me feel more comfortable and stronger postflop. Lowered fold to 3bet to 57% down from almost 70%, calling with hands I would have folded before, and surprisingly I have found myself playing better having a polarised range PF rather than just my top range
I have been running way better, first 25k hands I had the feeling I couldn't win a single pot, and was always bottom range vs top range and facing every cooler possible. Now it looks over. I have also been able to manage my tilt, for example yesterday was like 3 BIs down in like 200 hands. Kept my cool and continue playing my A game, ended the session +4BIs. Mindset way stronger now
Also, I have been playing NL10 exclusively, plan to continue to do so at least until the aces promo finishes, if results continue to be good will not go back to NL5
On the other hand I have been a bit lazy and spent a lot of time playing LoL instead. Want to do at least twice the volume. Haven't played MTTs either.
Goals for the week
- Play 15k cash hands by next monday
- 1 day MTT session
- Work on my call4bet and 5bet ranges
- Look at what my squeeze and ROL ranges should look like. Not in depth, specially ROL, just a general idea.
- Start some postflop study. Blockers and impact on bluffs, CBET frequencies and patterns in certain boards
I have been feeling way more comfortable playing, I have successfully implemented everything I set for last week, lowered my 3bet down to 9.5 down from 12.5 which makes me feel more comfortable and stronger postflop. Lowered fold to 3bet to 57% down from almost 70%, calling with hands I would have folded before, and surprisingly I have found myself playing better having a polarised range PF rather than just my top range
I have been running way better, first 25k hands I had the feeling I couldn't win a single pot, and was always bottom range vs top range and facing every cooler possible. Now it looks over. I have also been able to manage my tilt, for example yesterday was like 3 BIs down in like 200 hands. Kept my cool and continue playing my A game, ended the session +4BIs. Mindset way stronger now
Also, I have been playing NL10 exclusively, plan to continue to do so at least until the aces promo finishes, if results continue to be good will not go back to NL5
On the other hand I have been a bit lazy and spent a lot of time playing LoL instead. Want to do at least twice the volume. Haven't played MTTs either.
Goals for the week
- Play 15k cash hands by next monday
- 1 day MTT session
- Work on my call4bet and 5bet ranges
- Look at what my squeeze and ROL ranges should look like. Not in depth, specially ROL, just a general idea.
- Start some postflop study. Blockers and impact on bluffs, CBET frequencies and patterns in certain boards
05-04-2020
, 07:33 AM
Update week #2
- Play 15k cash hands by next monday [X]
- 1 day MTT session [X]
- Work on my call4bet and 5bet ranges[X]
- Look at what my squeeze and ROL ranges should look like. Not in depth, specially ROL, just a general idea.[X]
- Start some postflop study. Blockers and impact on bluffs, CBET frequencies and patterns in certain boards[X]
Right so a bit disappointing week in terms of volume/study
Last week at work was crazy, spent 12-14h a day working as it was the end of company's FY. I guess I'm lucky enough to still have tons of work despite the situation
This unfortunately affected poker time, after being 7am to 7pm in front of a computer nonstop or on the phone the last thing I felt like doing was studying or playing.
Nonetheless, I managed to put 26hs to play, and probably 2-4h to study, haven't progressed much unfortunately. Not ideal but at moment I want to have a decent DB sample to work with. Played a total of 11k hands, no mtts.
On the tables, not amazing results unfortunately. However there are some positives.
- Didn't check results during the week. Will plan to continue doing so
- Got lucky with some chests, button challenge, etc. Probably made the same $ just in this. Not that I care as it is just peanuts but will help when I start shooting NL25
- Crazy session yesterday 6 BIs under EV and probably lost 4 more in coolers, and a couple of dubious plays. Still managed to finish the day BE, this is due to not checking results for sure. I would have tilted massively after seeing that -6 BIs in 500 hands, yet managed to survive the day.
Week #2 graph
z10 YTD
It hurts my eyes to see that redline but it makes sense as I haven't done anything postflop yet. I think I'm a winner on z10 but would like to be stronger postflop before moving up.
Current bankroll US509.08$
Will use this as a template of bankroll update moving forward.
Goals for the week
Basically everything I failed to do last. Will lower cash goal to 12k hands. This week should be more relaxed and I hope I will be able to pull through. Will add reading Janda's book currently at 20%
- Play 12k cash hands by next monday []
- 1 day MTT session []
- Work on my call4bet and 5bet ranges[]
- Look at what my squeeze and ROL ranges should look like. Not in depth, specially ROL, just a general idea.[]
- Start some postflop study. Blockers and impact on bluffs, CBET frequencies and patterns in certain boards[]
- Finish Janda's book[]
- Play 15k cash hands by next monday [X]
- 1 day MTT session [X]
- Work on my call4bet and 5bet ranges[X]
- Look at what my squeeze and ROL ranges should look like. Not in depth, specially ROL, just a general idea.[X]
- Start some postflop study. Blockers and impact on bluffs, CBET frequencies and patterns in certain boards[X]
Right so a bit disappointing week in terms of volume/study
Last week at work was crazy, spent 12-14h a day working as it was the end of company's FY. I guess I'm lucky enough to still have tons of work despite the situation
This unfortunately affected poker time, after being 7am to 7pm in front of a computer nonstop or on the phone the last thing I felt like doing was studying or playing.
Nonetheless, I managed to put 26hs to play, and probably 2-4h to study, haven't progressed much unfortunately. Not ideal but at moment I want to have a decent DB sample to work with. Played a total of 11k hands, no mtts.
On the tables, not amazing results unfortunately. However there are some positives.
- Didn't check results during the week. Will plan to continue doing so
- Got lucky with some chests, button challenge, etc. Probably made the same $ just in this. Not that I care as it is just peanuts but will help when I start shooting NL25
- Crazy session yesterday 6 BIs under EV and probably lost 4 more in coolers, and a couple of dubious plays. Still managed to finish the day BE, this is due to not checking results for sure. I would have tilted massively after seeing that -6 BIs in 500 hands, yet managed to survive the day.
Week #2 graph
z10 YTD
It hurts my eyes to see that redline but it makes sense as I haven't done anything postflop yet. I think I'm a winner on z10 but would like to be stronger postflop before moving up.
Current bankroll US509.08$
Will use this as a template of bankroll update moving forward.
Goals for the week
Basically everything I failed to do last. Will lower cash goal to 12k hands. This week should be more relaxed and I hope I will be able to pull through. Will add reading Janda's book currently at 20%
- Play 12k cash hands by next monday []
- 1 day MTT session []
- Work on my call4bet and 5bet ranges[]
- Look at what my squeeze and ROL ranges should look like. Not in depth, specially ROL, just a general idea.[]
- Start some postflop study. Blockers and impact on bluffs, CBET frequencies and patterns in certain boards[]
- Finish Janda's book[]
05-11-2020
, 07:18 AM
Update week #3
- Play 12k cash hands by next monday []
- 1 day MTT session []
- Work on my call4bet and 5bet ranges[]
- Look at what my squeeze and ROL ranges should look like. Not in depth, specially ROL, just a general idea.[]
- Start some postflop study. Blockers and impact on bluffs, CBET frequencies and patterns in certain boards[]
- Finish Janda's book[]
a bit of a lackluster week, but would like to start with the positives. Managed to put the volume in with 16k hands. Friday being a bank holiday helped. I'm proud of my commitment to this and I have to say I'm impressed that I managed to cross the 21 days goal sticking to something. Invested 35hours in poker + study over the last 7 days while having a fulltime job.
But I think I can do even better. I can maintain the same commitment to poker but at the same time I would like to have a more healthy and balanced life, that is why starting this week I will try to set some offtopic goals as well
On the tables I have just finished the hardest week playing poker in my life I think, even though back in the days I had days losing perhaps 1k USD playing MTTs, but I honestly never felt as frustrated as last wednesday/thursday. Lost 16 buy ins in like 2k hands, literally probably lost every single 3bet pot I played plus encountered myself in the losing side of several coolers plus some badbeats. However, I'm increasingly confident now as I managed to pull through without tilting and maintained my cool more or less, probably didn't play my best, but well enough nonetheless.
That couple of sessions basically mean that I finish the week breakeven at an unimpressive -24bb, EV +174bbs
On the study side I think I can do more, will try to focus more in this area this week and will be happy with 12k hands. Didn't play MTTs as yesterday I wasn't really in the mood to commit to a 10hours session so played quite light (just 1.5k hands cash)
Week #3 graph
z10 YTD graph
Conditions to shoot z25
Current bankroll US525.39$ +16 US$ in a week I'm glad money is not my motivation!!
Goals for week #4
- Play 12k cash hands by next monday []
- 1 day MTT session []
- Start some postflop study. Blockers and impact on bluffs, CBET frequencies and patterns in certain boards
- Finish Janda's book[]
offpoker goals:
- Stretch every day
- Workout at least 4 days
- Drink a maximum of 1 beer on weekdays.
- Go out at least a couple of days to catch some sun if possible now that UK will be easing the lockdown a bit
good luck all at the tables let week 4 begin!!!
- Play 12k cash hands by next monday []
- 1 day MTT session []
- Work on my call4bet and 5bet ranges[]
- Look at what my squeeze and ROL ranges should look like. Not in depth, specially ROL, just a general idea.[]
- Start some postflop study. Blockers and impact on bluffs, CBET frequencies and patterns in certain boards[]
- Finish Janda's book[]
a bit of a lackluster week, but would like to start with the positives. Managed to put the volume in with 16k hands. Friday being a bank holiday helped. I'm proud of my commitment to this and I have to say I'm impressed that I managed to cross the 21 days goal sticking to something. Invested 35hours in poker + study over the last 7 days while having a fulltime job.
But I think I can do even better. I can maintain the same commitment to poker but at the same time I would like to have a more healthy and balanced life, that is why starting this week I will try to set some offtopic goals as well
On the tables I have just finished the hardest week playing poker in my life I think, even though back in the days I had days losing perhaps 1k USD playing MTTs, but I honestly never felt as frustrated as last wednesday/thursday. Lost 16 buy ins in like 2k hands, literally probably lost every single 3bet pot I played plus encountered myself in the losing side of several coolers plus some badbeats. However, I'm increasingly confident now as I managed to pull through without tilting and maintained my cool more or less, probably didn't play my best, but well enough nonetheless.
That couple of sessions basically mean that I finish the week breakeven at an unimpressive -24bb, EV +174bbs
On the study side I think I can do more, will try to focus more in this area this week and will be happy with 12k hands. Didn't play MTTs as yesterday I wasn't really in the mood to commit to a 10hours session so played quite light (just 1.5k hands cash)
Week #3 graph
z10 YTD graph
Conditions to shoot z25
- Play 50k hands in NL10 (35k so far)
- Have at least an 5evbb/100 WR (4.46)
- Have won at least 25 z10 buy-ins (shoot z25 with 10 won on the tables buy-ins, currently +13 BIs)
Current bankroll US525.39$ +16 US$ in a week I'm glad money is not my motivation!!
Goals for week #4
- Play 12k cash hands by next monday []
- 1 day MTT session []
- Start some postflop study. Blockers and impact on bluffs, CBET frequencies and patterns in certain boards
- Finish Janda's book[]
offpoker goals:
- Stretch every day
- Workout at least 4 days
- Drink a maximum of 1 beer on weekdays.
- Go out at least a couple of days to catch some sun if possible now that UK will be easing the lockdown a bit
good luck all at the tables let week 4 begin!!!
05-25-2020
, 04:43 PM
Update week #4-5
17k hands basically BE. Got off to a good start unfortunately had a very bad session where nobody folds and you are always against top of range, so decided to take a break and will resume playing tomorrow again.
Will focus on doing 10k by next monday
I have delayed plans to shoot NL25 until I can get my WR to 5bb/100 in NL10 to boost my confidence, as although I think I am improving unfortunately results are not going the way I would like and I am sitting at a measly 2.5bb/100 at 50k hands
On the good side, played tourneys yesterday and last sunday and managed to make some $$$, not final tables though just deep runs, but enough to make the bankroll go up
z10 last 2 weeks
z10 YTD
I have been feeling a bit down as it seems that although I am seeing improvements in my game as it is not yet solid enough I start to think if Im doing things right or I just simply suck, but will try to put some more volume and make 100k hands at least, see how it goes, and if not perhaps try to analyze my game in more detail to see costly mistakes that are burning me money
I may play MTTs next weekend
Current bankroll US790.43$ up from 525.39$, meaning +US265$
On a separate note I have been feeling a bit down lately, long working hours, lot of pressure at work, etc. Will try to go back on track with my routine starting tomorrow and get on with exercise. I made the first step shopping healthy food for the week
Goals for the week #6
- 10k hands
- 1 MTT session
- Stretch daily & exercise 3-4 days
- Try to commit to study at least 5h this week
good luck at the tables everyone
17k hands basically BE. Got off to a good start unfortunately had a very bad session where nobody folds and you are always against top of range, so decided to take a break and will resume playing tomorrow again.
Will focus on doing 10k by next monday
I have delayed plans to shoot NL25 until I can get my WR to 5bb/100 in NL10 to boost my confidence, as although I think I am improving unfortunately results are not going the way I would like and I am sitting at a measly 2.5bb/100 at 50k hands
On the good side, played tourneys yesterday and last sunday and managed to make some $$$, not final tables though just deep runs, but enough to make the bankroll go up
z10 last 2 weeks
z10 YTD
I have been feeling a bit down as it seems that although I am seeing improvements in my game as it is not yet solid enough I start to think if Im doing things right or I just simply suck, but will try to put some more volume and make 100k hands at least, see how it goes, and if not perhaps try to analyze my game in more detail to see costly mistakes that are burning me money
I may play MTTs next weekend
Current bankroll US790.43$ up from 525.39$, meaning +US265$
On a separate note I have been feeling a bit down lately, long working hours, lot of pressure at work, etc. Will try to go back on track with my routine starting tomorrow and get on with exercise. I made the first step shopping healthy food for the week
Goals for the week #6
- 10k hands
- 1 MTT session
- Stretch daily & exercise 3-4 days
- Try to commit to study at least 5h this week
good luck at the tables everyone
06-01-2020
, 11:05 AM
Week 6 update
I have been a bit lazily, under a lot of pressure at work as business is declining which is not ideal, putting the hours in then not being in the mood to grind, also paired with the nice weather we have been getting in the UK so spent most of my free time outdoors, only managed to play 6k hands for the week which is around half of what I would like to achieve regularly, but don't want to over-stress myself either as poker is supposed to be just a hobby
Good thing is my passion remains intact and I still enjoy playing and learning, I have also being in a small heater this week which eased things.
As I feel comfortable in NL10, I now think I am a winner and I believe I'm playing decently for the level (obv tons of leaks to fix), I have decided to shoot NL25 with 10 buyins I have made in z10 tables, see how it goes, hopefully this will help me stay motivated playing against better players and put in the hours (also to study as I have been a bit lazy lately)
Will see how it goes, if I bust then Ill go back to z10 still having a decent 70BIs roll, and if it goes OK then I can continue playing z25 pool.
I don't think I will move up to NL50 anytime soon though, it looks like a major jump in level and thought process, worse reg/fish ratio as well, so I'm looking to play at least 100k hands at NL25 even if it goes well. Will need at least 10 BIs to shoot NL50 but would like to save for a Piosolver license as well to really deep into studying. So probably even in the best case scenario will need to grind 100k hands and make around 1k$ on the table before adventuring further. Will lower to 8k hands a week which seems more reasonable to still have a nice work, life, poker balance
z10 week 6 graph
z10 YTD (6 weeks)
Current bankroll US910$
Goals for the week
- Play 8k hands
- 1 mtt session (optional)
- 5hours study
I have been a bit lazily, under a lot of pressure at work as business is declining which is not ideal, putting the hours in then not being in the mood to grind, also paired with the nice weather we have been getting in the UK so spent most of my free time outdoors, only managed to play 6k hands for the week which is around half of what I would like to achieve regularly, but don't want to over-stress myself either as poker is supposed to be just a hobby
Good thing is my passion remains intact and I still enjoy playing and learning, I have also being in a small heater this week which eased things.
As I feel comfortable in NL10, I now think I am a winner and I believe I'm playing decently for the level (obv tons of leaks to fix), I have decided to shoot NL25 with 10 buyins I have made in z10 tables, see how it goes, hopefully this will help me stay motivated playing against better players and put in the hours (also to study as I have been a bit lazy lately)
Will see how it goes, if I bust then Ill go back to z10 still having a decent 70BIs roll, and if it goes OK then I can continue playing z25 pool.
I don't think I will move up to NL50 anytime soon though, it looks like a major jump in level and thought process, worse reg/fish ratio as well, so I'm looking to play at least 100k hands at NL25 even if it goes well. Will need at least 10 BIs to shoot NL50 but would like to save for a Piosolver license as well to really deep into studying. So probably even in the best case scenario will need to grind 100k hands and make around 1k$ on the table before adventuring further. Will lower to 8k hands a week which seems more reasonable to still have a nice work, life, poker balance
z10 week 6 graph
z10 YTD (6 weeks)
Current bankroll US910$
Goals for the week
- Play 8k hands
- 1 mtt session (optional)
- 5hours study