Hi All,

Just starting a PGC thread on my journey in the micros and hopefully I'll keep updating it to keep a record, talk to some people and maybe get some help on my poker game.

A bit of background on me: I'm from Australia, first started playing poker around 2014/15, played micros on Stars, mainly 2NL/5NL which I did okay at, but never really got beyond that, played a bit of 10NL but probably lost a bit at it. Also played tournaments every now and then. But then life got busy and then obviously couldn't play on most sites in Australia anymore. Tried to play on Ignition and BCP for a bit but then life got even busier and just stopped for probably around 3 years. Recently started playing again, saw I had some money left on BCP. But yeah, I have enjoyed playing again and actually want to get better and move up from 5NL. I work full time so don't have the most time to play/study but I'll try my best.

Been mostly playing 5NL since I came back, mostly on Ignition, some on BCP/ACR. Been doing okay but don't feel like I'm progressing (definitely just my fault) so I thought maybe making this could help. Here's my Ignition graph since I came back:





So started pretty well (and obviously ran pretty well), but then last ~40,000 hands have really just been breakeven. Got a bit of volume on ACR as well but similar, winning a bit on there around the same rate.

I lost 12 buy-ins today so that was great, a combination of running bad and tilt. Tilt and my mental game is definitely one of my biggest problems, tend to play longer when I'm losing and as a result have had 3 big losing days which have affected my results a fair bit, todays and then 2 other days where I lost 8 buy-ins and 14 buy-ins. I also just have issues when I lose anything which I need to get over, it makes me feel bad even if I have like a 2 buy-in loss which is obviously completely normal and will happen a lot. I don't know why that is, I think I have more than enough buy-ins (Bankroll is around $450) for what I'm playing and besides this is just a hobby and even if I lost all my bankroll, it wouldn't really affect my life at all.

Anyway, so I really need to work on that and obviously my game in general. Any suggestions welcome, just want to get better and basically get as good as I can. I really need to actually study and review my sessions which I really don't do (or at least not consistently or properly), part of that is just because I'm usually tired from work but I know if I want to get better, I actually do have to do it. And besides, I just find the intricacy/complexity/depth of poker really interesting, that's one of the things that got me into it so want to learn more.

Anyway, I'll leave it at that for now and hopefully update this somewhat regularly.

Good luck mate will keep an eye on your journey! I’m in Australia also and started a PGC today. I haven’t been playing long but also lost about 21 BI this weekend, sometimes you just have those periods where you can’t find a winning hand and everyone else is always at the top of their range, such is poker I suppose!

Oh wow, just checked out your thread as well, good luck to you as well! Looks like we're playing the same stakes, let me know if you ever just want to chat about poker via Discord or anything.

Update on last week

It was a pretty good week, focused on playing shorter sessions especially when playing zone. Still need to really work on my mental game and just actually study more in general. But at least I felt like I didn't tilt too much. Here's the graph for the week on Ignition:




Obviously ran pretty well generally there.

Also played some 10NLz/10NL reg on ACR, didn't run so well in all-ins there and also some other coolers but also a few big pots where I think I tilted. Ended up around 2 buyins there. Overall, a pretty good week results wise and better in terms of other aspects but still need to improve a lot of things including:

• Studying more
• Playing shorter sessions/less in general (did okay at this for the most part except the weekend)

I think I really need to set more specific goals in regards to those areas and also track those aspects in some way so I can see my progress/where I am failing.

Going to probably continue playing more 10NL, I think on Ignition (regular tables), it seems to play quite similar to 5NL. Whereas on ACR, I think 10NL seems more aggressive especially preflop, lot more squeezing, 3bets and light 4betting. But in terms of play, I felt quite comfortable, still feel a bit iffy losing money and I think I can definitely start playing scared there after losing a couple of big pots.

Played a couple more sessions of 10NL/10NLz on ACR and I'm down 5 BIs. Feels pretty bad, maybe I just can't beat it. I don't know if I just got coolered a lot or just played hands badly like these:

Hand 1

Yatahay Network - $0.10 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

CO: 100 BB
Hero (BTN): 100 BB
SB: 180.1 BB
BB: 100 BB
UTG: 72.6 BB
MP: 109.3 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has T T

fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to 3 BB, fold, BB raises to 9 BB, Hero calls 6 BB

Flop: (18.5 BB, 2 players) T 6 J
BB bets 6.5 BB, Hero calls 6.5 BB

Turn: (31.5 BB, 2 players) A
BB bets 18 BB, Hero calls 18 BB

River: (67.5 BB, 2 players) 8
BB bets 66.5 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 66.5 BB and is all-in



Hand 2

Yatahay Network - $0.10 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 112.3 BB
Hero (SB): 100 BB
BB: 88.3 BB
UTG: 118.7 BB
MP: 108.6 BB
CO: 120 BB

Hero posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has A A

fold, MP raises to 2 BB, fold, BTN calls 2 BB, Hero raises to 12 BB, fold, fold, BTN calls 10 BB

Flop: (27 BB, 2 players) 3 7 K
Hero bets 6.7 BB, BTN calls 6.7 BB

Turn: (40.4 BB, 2 players) A
Hero bets 16.1 BB, BTN calls 16.1 BB

River: (72.6 BB, 2 players) 6
Hero bets 65.2 BB and is all-in, BTN calls 65.2 BB




Hand 3

Yatahay Network - $0.10 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 171.6 BB
SB: 189.1 BB
BB: 49.8 BB
UTG: 178.4 BB
MP: 100 BB
Hero (CO): 100 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has K Q

fold, fold, Hero raises to 3 BB, BTN raises to 10.5 BB, fold, fold, Hero calls 7.5 BB

Flop: (22.5 BB, 2 players) 4 4 K
Hero checks, BTN bets 5.6 BB, Hero calls 5.6 BB

Turn: (33.7 BB, 2 players) Q
Hero checks, BTN checks

River: (33.7 BB, 2 players) 5
Hero bets 20.3 BB, BTN raises to 94.6 BB, Hero calls 63.6 BB and is all-in



That one, maybe I should just fold river.


Hand 4

Yatahay Network - $0.10 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 142.6 BB
SB: 81.5 BB
BB: 111.7 BB
Hero (UTG): 100 BB
MP: 98.5 BB
CO: 136 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has Q Q

Hero raises to 3 BB, MP raises to 10.5 BB, fold, fold, fold, fold, Hero calls 7.5 BB

Flop: (22.5 BB, 2 players) 8 J T
Hero checks, MP bets 88 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 88 BB

Turn: (198.5 BB, 2 players) K

River: (198.5 BB, 2 players) 7



And then there was a few hands where I got JJ and AQ all-in pre which I normally wouldn't do but it was against some fish with 50%+ VPIP and they just had better. Definitely also played some hands badly. Might just take a break and then play some more 5NL again I guess.

When we lose we try to blame the cooler situations but the issue should be found in other situations. Try to review every lost hand and mark them. This one is a cooler, this one is a bad play etc. If you are not sure about the hand just post here. Post some stats like vpip/pfr, cbets, check/raise , wtsd wwsf etc.
Do you study enough, do you review your hands regularly?
Checking your result is a bad habit and it can trigger the tilt.