Yeah I guess at £1/2 you're gonna get more limpers, basically a super low % of 3betting and so I adjust to this playing a super tight vpip and basically just having really good multiway hands.

At £5/10 I play like 15-20% vpip and I think that's potentially a little loose but it's ok on the whole. You still get a lot of limpers in £5/10 but there is more actual poker happening, people 3b'ing for a reason and stuff.

Your average bad reg who won back in the day and breaks even nowadays probably plays 35% vpip, mainly through limping too many hands.

If you're willing to share it sounds like you have some experience playing nosebleeds in Macau/the London private games/Monte Carlo possibly?

Would love to hear some stories/would really love to hear how you psychologically get over playing 5k/10k hkd to 2/5 when nothing else runs today...

As someone who recently went to Vegas (just turned 21) set aside x amount of money with the intention of playing much bigger than I usually do (50/1, 100/200nl in Bobbys rm)---Despite more or less losing the amount I set aside for this experience, I haven't been able to go back to playing my 'regular' games since (both because poker isn't a profession and I've been busy with work, but also because there is just no way to get unstuck anytime soon without doing some incredibly stupid and playing seems so much less appealing the past month or so since this happened)

Hey Chunk, good question.

I think there are primarily a few factors that help. In the biggest games in Macau, the 500/1ks, the 1k/2ks and that 2/5/10k game, I was backed. So really the % I personally had of the action wasn't a great deal different to when I was playing 100/200 or the 200/500. I remember when I played a crazy 2/5/10k session and won 4million HKD, a few days later a 200/500 ran and was a really good line up. I ended up playing it and winning 300k HKD. I think the difference between what I netted between the 2 wins wasn't that much different. Also as a pro, I've always been good at just playing the stack, regardless of the stake. So I remember the strategy in the 2/5/10k game was just to take 2 100bb shots and see what happens. In the line up and in general in live poker it isn't particularly hard to play a 100bb stack. It was only after the session when we were racking up did in dawn on me that '****, there was like 25m HKD or so on the table at the end' and then it feels kinda surreal.

As for nowadays, it definitely doesn't feel good. I probably have a problem where I still have a little entitlement nowadays, due to some of the stakes I played in the past but at the same time I have less money now, I'm not backed anymore and so every win etc makes a big difference in the long run. Therefore I'm more grateful to win say £1k at £2/5, rather than think 'hey there were times where that was a big blind'.

I think it'll be tougher for non professionals who go to the bigger games and take the shots, like it sounds you did in Vegas this year. There is definitely an issue that the size of games in most places in the world, it'll take a long time to recover those losses and if you're doing that as a hobby that'll be psychologically tough. I kind of had the same Vegas feelings as you, at the start I just played big and treated in like a vacation, then towards the end of my trip I dropped to the Aria 10/20 and enjoyed playing there as it lowered the swings and was similar to the regular game we get in London.

Had a pretty good day yesterday. Casino games are really small at the moment, action kinda lacking because there are no superstars about. That said, the £2/5 game really is very soft, so it's nice.

I won £2965 in the game yesterday, no real interesting hands though, got it in on 974r in some spewy spot where I decided to 4b 9765ds in lieu of flatting of position and got flatted by AAxx hahaha. That was pretty fun.

I also ran super good yesterday when one of my favourite regs, this older guy who's a huge legend and plays all the games, has loads of good stories, sends me a bunch of Jazz music and stuff went to go and play the big £100/200 mix that was running. On a whim I asked him if I could buy a piece for morale. He said yes to 20% and he went on to win £8k+ in the game so that was a pretty sweet bonus.

Usually Wednesday is a decent grind day but won't be heading in today and instead got a big night ahead with a who's who of British poker legends, including Jake Cody, JP Kelly, Matt Perrins and many more. Should get quite messy!

£100k Challenge: -£12,130.

So I went in late last night to play, I had been hurting all day because of going so big on Wednesday night with all the guys, I had ended up finishing the night at 10am lol.

There was a decent £5/10 running so I got in after having to wait a little while and was able to win £1400 before the game broke fairly sharply. I had one pretty hilarious/spewy spot where CO opens, and old reg (guy who I took action of in the mix) 3bets to £225, I decide to flat KJT7ds in the SB as we're all pretty deep, basically I know CO can open wide here and he's never 4betting light because of the reg who 3b. Peel is probably a little loose to be fair but KJT7ds and lol live poker, in wasn't going in the bin. The CO peels and we got 3way to the flop. Flop comes Q62r and I decide to lead 60% pot. Basically I think CO folds everything but sets with reg to act behind him and I think old reg basically only gets to this flop with one pair hands, I think old reg will definitely peel one usually here so I thin k leading his with plans to double barrel will work a ton. CO folds and old reg peels. Turn comes an 8 and I bet 80% pot and old reg folds pretty quickly saying he had AQ and backdoor fd.

I was tilted that the PLO broke because i'd come in late wanting the grind into the night. I was about to head home and noticed that the £75/150 mix had some random whales in it for once and the mix was pretty PLO heavy with 2-7 and A-5. I decided to shot it with a plan to basically just play mega tight in the two draws games and to dominate the CAP PLO and the PLO hi/low. I ended up really enjoying the draw games, particularly A-5. It's a fun game where you can do a lot of funky stuff to try and own people. When the dust had settled after 7 hours play i won £8k in the mix, was a really good result obviously.

Will probably try and head in later tonight and then have a day off tomorrow.

Peace y'all.

£100k Challenge: -£2730

BLOW UP REPORT:

So I was heading into the Vic last night. I kind of knew in the taxi on the way there that it was already a bad mistake. Every part of me kind just wanted to at home chilling, I'd been on a super bad sleep schedule, kind of like getting to sleep @ 10am for the past few days and stuff. Waking up and eating takeaways like Chinese, Indian and doing no exercise etc.

I arrived and had to sit around for a while, getting more agitated. I probably should have taken this as sign two. At this point I had more options open to me, I was now in central London, my friend was at a street party in Soho, it looked good. I was kind of trying to avoid drinking because I'd gone huge on Wednesday night. However going for a beer at a street party > gambling for thousands of £s when you're not feeling it.

Anyway we start a feeder, an old friend of mine who I'd met in Macau a few years earlier was in the game. I thought, 'ok, this is nice, I'll chat to Johannes and I'll just just chill out and play tight and whatnot'. I get moved to the main game and it's really a boring game, for some reason I sit really deep and classically start spewing off. This leads me to adding more and more chips and then I get into this hand.

Some reg, who also is sat LOL deep and on my right opens MP, I 3bet with with QJT6ss and some terri bad reg overcalls SB, folds to MP and he flats too. SB bets £10 in the dark , LOL live poker, and flop comes JJ3ccx. MP flats and I make it £210, SB folds and now MP makes it £610 (WTF, we're like £9k deep hahahaha). I flat. Turn comes 4x. Board reads JJ34ccc. MP now flats. I bet £1.4k, and MP check calls. River comes 7x. MP checks and I pot for like £4k. He jams. Wp sir, *Hero hangs head in shame*.

So at the end of that blood bath I ended up managing to lose £11,350 in some nitty non too special £5/10 game at the good old Vic. This is why I have friends, 2p2'ers and enemies inviting me to this game and that game and whatever game all around the world. I think nearly everyone agrees that when I'm on song I'm a menace and can be hell-ish to have in the game. However, everyone knows I'm a sick degenerate and I can just go off to the point that even the most legit whale would be less welcome in the game than me.

I could feel those degenerate feelings last night. -£2k, i'm agitated, i'm in a game I wasn't mentally up for. I should be booking a modest loss. Putting it in the book as a good quit, reflecting on what had been a solid week work wise. I'm not though, I'm just reaching in my pocket, adding on another chip, our equivalent of a flag and so on. I'm back and forth between being kind of good banter and being super tilted. I can sense it's never going to end well. I'm down to -£5k, just quit, the game is terrible now, any spew has left and it's just a bunch of nitty regs, flatting and limping, praying, waiting, ready to snap of how after many thousands I'm willing to drop. And then, that hand, gg, you're an idiot. Book the loss. Spend all day in bed and eat another takeaway because tomorrow is just another day.

Peace y'all.

£100k Challenge: -£14,080.

Does anyone know how to change the title of a PG&C once you've started it?

Anyway, it's 3am here in London and I can't sleep given my current fcked up pattern. So I thought I'd just ramble on about 1 of the things that tilts me most in live poker, perhaps it'll generate some discussion.

iPad: people using iPads at the table is something that should be banned by casinos in my opinion. They kill games. People just sit there watching a movie etc and a) it makes it super easy for them to play 1 hand an hour and b) it's horrific if there is a fish in the game. 3 times in the past 2 weeks I've heard either recreational fish or bad reg fish complain about people either being on iPad's or, possibly even worse, people playing online on their laptops. It just sets a really bad precedent. It's not uncommon knowledge now that a ton of people play poker for a living. Loads of fish I know, they know I play for a living etc and they don't care. They're happy because I interact with them during games, we have good conversations etc. Its a fun social time. I genuinely find it pretty insulting that people just rock up, to something they know is meant to be a social activity, a game, and they just wanna sit there like they're at home in their living room etc. It's the same with playing online poker at the table too. If you want to play online, sit and home and play online. *** me, that's one of the ADVANTAGES of playing online. Most people like to come to play a live session to get a break from playing online. I remember my friend Beau (BoDiddly on 2p2, shout out to him) banned this stuff when he was card room manager in Macau. Wynn Macau is hands down the best run card room on the planet.

I'll leave it at the iPad thing because there is a ton of things that tilt me in live poker and I don't want it to come off as I'm giving live poker a bad rep because in many ways it's ok.

Does anyone hear use an iPad at the table when they play live? Happy to hear a counter argument always.

I agree that tablets should be banned, they def promote nitting.

<3

Message a mod to change the title.

Good luck on your journey and STAY OUT OF THE ****ING PIT!!!!!!!

interested in reading more

Just saw this mate. Keep at it, gonna read reguarly.

Going to Barca? Should get a beer!

Yo Pads, was planning on Barca but been all over the place lately so might hold off till Berlin. Smalls chance I'll rifle over there though last minute.

Def up for beer if so!!

Gl and crush out there buddy!

So since that blow up report I've been putting in some big hours last few sessions and it's reaped some recovery.

Yesterday I grinded a £2/5 for 9 hours and banked a win, game was super dry in patches though and I maybe should have found an earlier quit.

I've just come off the back of a marathon 12 hour £5/10/25 session where I was able to book a pretty solid win. It was one of my favourite type of games tonight with plenty of action and no one locking up.

I played kind of a funky pot against a friend of mine who's a reg. I think it was a spot where he's really messed up his range awareness and got himself into a spot where he's tried to rep something that doesn't fit the story well...

It's been opened to £75 and called in a few spots, I've flatted 98ss86dd in the CO, btn (fish) has flat and now reg has made it £400 out of straddle. Everyone has called and were 5way to a flop with like £2.1k in there.

Flop: Ts5s4x. The reg who made it £400 now tanks for a long time on flop and checks, checks round to btn who bets £300/£2.1k. Straddle now calls £300 (strange), Chufty calls and I decide to call. My call is probably questionable but I think given immediate price it's fine.

Turn comes Ks. So it's Ts5s4xKs. Turn gets checked around.

River comes 7x. So Ts5s4xKs7x. Checks to Chufty who bets £800, I call, kinda hating it but Chufty is a goofball and I'm getting a pretty sick price. Fish folds and now straddler makes it £5k. Chufty tank folds what was a better flush than mine (super bad fold imo). Given flop stack sizes I think but flush was just super non believable and I call pretty quickly and the straddler announces Aces, with what is obviously As blocker also and I scoop a good sized pot.

Some heavy grinding and reasonable discipline in light of Friday's blow up has left me in a decent mood and has helped us get back towards the black in this challenge.

Peace y'all.

£100k Challenge: -£4,150.

Nice call!

Chufty probably fold bec you called his river bet and worried you had him beat and may call £5k behind him for the same logic you described above.

Does this 10/25 PLO game typically build around at least a live one when it lasts for 10hr+?

Thanks!

I don't fully understand what you're asking. The £10/25s tend to run a little longer because they run less often etc, people get stuck more and so on. There is usually some sort of fish in there too yeh.

subbed, haven't read trough yet but seems like an interesting thread.

glgl, mostly staying away from non-poker games. most of us know the feelings but it's super rewarding if you manage to stay away from it.

Really enjoying this thread, your posts and honesty! Keep it going.

Are you willing to talk more about the regulars playing these games? Obviously don't expect you to post reads and game specifics but some more info on who's playing would be interesting.

Have heard from friends that £5/10+ NL games have dried up completely in London and all the action is pretty much exclusively PLO, do you find this? Are most of the live regs in and around London now making the transition to PLO?

Do you have a backup plan if the London games dry up? Potentially back to Macau or somewhere else?

Sorry for all the questions! Very curious on the state of the live games in London!

GL

Subbed! GL

Sorry for lack of replies, been in a bunch of crazy action lately and been swinging like a maniac.

will write a proper report tomorrow. Teaser: was in a game tonight £10k deep and had 12bbs a lot of the time 😂

Interesting thread, gl!

Hey y'all!

I'd like to say i've been having a couple of standard day shooting to grind out the £120/ph or so but alas, as usual, it's been the same old rollercoaster.

I've been playing super bad at the Vic lately, definitely a mindset leak of mine is not maintaining my A game when I'm mixing stakes and games a bunch and that's been affecting me as badly as ever lately. Yesterday I went in and was in full punt mode, rifled off just over £9k before heading to another game. The issue with sessions and performances like this isn't really the financial hit but just that feeling of emptiness in not making the most of my time. Going in to play poor poker is really just eating up precious time.

Anyway as I say I've been mixing it up between playing Vic and another well known London casino lately, as there have been some very big games running at the the casino. I've been on a weird kinda 5pm - 10pm Vic schedule before moving to the other casino and playing until the early ours of the morning. Wednesday night we played £10/25/50 and waited patiently for a particularly fun player to turn up (who unfortunately didn't in the end). Game ended up being primarily just regs, 7 handed most of the time. Was a really aggro game, I ended up winning just over £27k, was a sweet night. Will throw in one interesting hand history from the night, I should add we were playing a 'button game' where whoever is on the button adds on a completely dead £50 that can ONLY be won by the BUTTON, if the button doesn't win the hand the next guy adds £50 and so, that just keeps going until a button wins and then it gets reset. Again it's totally dead and doesn't effect pot size but obviously once it's built up to 'x' amount it can have a strong affect on dynamics...

Anyway to hand in question. I think we were 6 handed at the time and folds round to aggressive reg and good friend of mine of btn, there is £250 dead on btn, and he makes it £175. I raise out of SB to £575 and it folds to him, he flats, and we're about £9k effec. I have K4ss76hh. Flop comes down KJ3sdd. I check and villain bets £600 and I call. Turn comes 2s, so board is KJ32ddss. I check again and villain bets £1.4k and I pot to £6775 and villain calls, with little back. River is a 3x and goes check check and I win with the K. Kinda the only interesting hand of the night, guessing my buddy had sick draw and I make good fade .

Last night I turn up at this other casino and apparently there was a very big PLO running. As I arrive it appears to only be £10/25 with the occasional £50 on, so nothing massive. Fortunately a bunch of my buddies in the game were hold'em pros so when the game was turned from ROE to straight PLO they get up and I got a seat pretty fast. There were a couple of very special fun players in the line up so it was strap the seatbelts on time. My friend messages me saying game will play much bigger than it seems so I buy in for £10k. Within about 30 minutes the game turns to £25/50/100/200 mandatory. So I've gone from buying in 'deep' to having a cool 50bb, which was kind of annoying. I made an error and should have reloaded to £20k at this point as I'm much more proficient off 100bbs but I hadn't sold as much as myself as I would at this point and decided that i'd rather fire off £10k shells etc. Anyway after a while the madness ensued and it went to £25/50/100/200 with a bunch of the players at the table putting on the £400 and £800 straddles. Occasionally I'd be sat with literally just over 12bbs with £10k in front of me. Sigh, lol. 888 push and fold tables eat ya heart out! Anyway, I never really got much going and probably made one really bad short stack mistake at one point. When the dust had settled I lost £7k, which obviously wasn't much for the game at all and thusly wasn't too bad. It's a shame as it was one of those games that if you find the heat you can just win a house or two but similarly it was tilting for it to be so shallow. Literally no interesting hands from that game as it was simply too shallow most of the time.

Other than that, I've been failing hard continually on the drinking front. As the game broke kinda early last night we all tried to fire off to a club but we thought the floor staff (turned out to be our friend's fault) had ****ed up our table booking and we decided to sack the club off, which in hindsight i'm loving today.

Will probably try and grind hard over the weekend and then next week one of my best friends is returning for a few weeks from where he works in Beijing, so will likely take a bunch of time off around then.

Peace y'all.

£100k Challenge: +£3,485

Hey.

Thanks for the questions.

Er I think there's a balance between the NLH and PLO in London. There is usually a £5/10NL every night in the Vic and there is certainly one every night in the Palm.

I think there's maybe a small transition to the PLO from the legendary London NL regs though. In general it plays a little bigger, for instance I'd say 50% of the £5/10 we play daily has a mandatory £25 straddle on, so it's definitely a much bigger game than the £5/10nl. I think that's the big difference. I dunno about Palm winrates but I'd guess very few (if any) are making £100/ph in the vic £5/10nls. Whereas myself and a bunch of other guys I know are making £150/ph in the PLO.

As for a back up plan, well, it's live poker. There's always options. Last year I was kinda down and out for a while after my nightmare end to Macau. Within a few months of that spell though I was playing $200/400 in Sydney and stuff. I guess you just gotta keep at it and make the decision to go and seek out further action every now and then. For now I'm settled in London though and would like it of we could continue to get daily high and mid stakes.

I'm old man now, I've also always been in the lower half of the skill when it comes to regs in these games. Deep down I'm probably just a survivor.

Anyone wanna teach me how to make absolutely ridiculous folds in the craziest spots ever when I know it's just one of those live times where it's gotta be done.....?

The hand in question. We all been straddling all night (£25). Some douche decides not to and a super nit bad reg opens to £25 UTG off like £8.5k, few callers and I make it £150 on btn with A998ss. Called in two spots inc villain UTG.

Flop comes T92ccx. Villain leads £400, folds to me I flat. Turn comes 4x, totally brick. Villain leads £1.3k, close to pot. I flat again. River comes 4c. Hilar card. So it's T9244ccc. Villain leads £3.3k. I mean it's just such a fold, this nit has literally no bluff or value range here except the stone colds. I call like a donkey, and he's got ATT2cc 😂😂😂. FU live poker.

That call aside was a pretty epic game tonight. Multiple £20k+ stacks on the table. Banked £12.7k win so was happy🎉

Peace y'all.

£100k challenge: £16,275