Hello 2p2, I´m back. Well, I know my last post was a little harsh, and I overreacted a little bit, but I stand by what I said. I took the decision to leave after reading Pads thread, and even though I think he was wrong in a moral sense, the personal attacks were disgusting, and it blows my mind that poker players seem unable to show some restraint and be a little more respectful. That explains why people tilt so easily during bad runs, just human nature.

Anyway, having a blog/diary and being the only reader wasn´t as good as I thought it would be. Reading other threads, I was able to see we still have a lot of good posters also, just like the ones that came here, so I think there is value in keeping my thread open. I won´t do another one obviously, as I don´t want to hide anything that I said.

Resultswise, I won some money, but fell short of my 5 evbb/100 goal. After my session today, I will post the full graph of my rebuilding 5nl phase. The most important thing is, I regained my confidence, and tomorrow I´ll be back to 10nl.

I´ve been working a lot with PokerSnowie lately, and even though I agree that mimicking Snowie at the microstakes is like lighting money on fire, it can be a great educational tool when used the right way. I feel it helps my game, and I will keep using it with the approach I developed.

One last thing that I figured out the last few weeks (sorry if it is obvious for you guys, it wasn´t for me until now). I always thought that my game deteriorated a lot during downswings, and I thought the reason was psychological, like the runbad was creating tilt and that tilt was the reason for my downers being worse than they should be. While it´s true, it´s not the only explanation. What I finally found was, playing during those bad run of cards is waaaaaay tougher than playing when running hot, in a technical sense. The margin of error is very thin, and since many parts of my game aren´t developed like they should be, I was simply being exposed to spots where I didn´t know what to do, so the big swings. Hopefully, that will change with the way I´m working on my game from now on.

As I said, I will post the full graph as soon as my session ends.

Gl everyone!

Session ended, and here are the results from my rebuilding at 5nl.



Didn´t/couldn´t get the winrate I wanted, 5 evbb/100, but at least it was enough to regain full confidence, and I´m prepared to try 10nl again tomorrow.

Hopefully, being exposed to better regs + studying will help me improve more and more.

Forgot to talk about my gameplan for november. It will be similar to what I tried to accomplish during this rebuilding phase at 5nl. First, I won´t look at results until the end of this month. It adds unnecessary pressure, even with my mental game being the strongest of my entire life. It´s unproductive, as my BR is large for 10nl (more than 70 BIs) but not as large for 16nl, so I will not move up anyway. Finally, it´s irrelevant. I´m focused on winning and being the best reg of these stakes, and while being the best = $$$$$$ in the long run, the long run is really long.

My goals will be the same as last month. Winrate of 5 evbb/100 at the end of november, with at least a 50k hand sample. I won´t be doing any updates until the end, sorry ppl.

So, let the games begin. Will do a warm up/sparring session with Snowie, as I´m doing everyday, and then jump into the real tables.

Gl everyone!

So, since I decided to look at my results in the end of the second day, and then kept looking at it many times more, including viewing the graph while playing, time for an update:



So, not running very well again, and the worst, losing more in AIEV. Really, there has to be some kind of adjustment that I´m making subconsciously due to the monetary difference between 5nl and 10nl, because 5nl and 10nl are different, but the skill jump is many times less than what I got between 2nl and 5nl. That adjustment is holding me back.

Regs play almost the same, and the only difference is a few players here and there trying to play loose agressive. Fish are more aggro and it´s higher variance to play vs them than it was at 5nl. Running bad, not making strong hands, and even having my nut flush cracked twice by straight flushes doesn´t help either.

Anyway, enough complaining here, time to talk about improving.

One approach that I took while grining 5nl last month, that delivered promising results, was using a grade system based on points where variance doesn´t play a role, but are related to playing good poker. I will do it again.

I´m gonna use the same approach that was used when I was at school here in Brazil. Each item will be graded from 0 to 10, and the final grade will be the average. I need at least a 7 on average to be satisfied. The items are:

1 - Volume: I need at least 2000 hands/day to get a 7. Add/subtract 1 point for every +300/-300 hands.

2 - Game quality: How I played during the day, in my own judgment. How many mistakes/bad judgment, especially when they are obvious, did I make? 7 if it was ok. 8 or more if I was presented any difficult spots where I was very happy with the play I made afterwards. Less than 7 if my game quality was poor.

3 - Mental game: Emotional control when getting beaten, card dead, did I tilt during session, did I look at results, did My game deteriorated from obvious mental issues etc. Same thing as item #2, being cool during a normal day is 7, having a tough day and handling it well and I get more, looking at my results during the day or tilting is an automatic 0.

4 - Working on my game: I was doing warm up sessions with snowie everyday, and even if it is unrealistic compared to the real game at stars, it helps my concentration and keeps my mind sharp. Not doing it and my game quickly deteriorates. Warm up sparring session where I´m graded World Class is 7. Extra-terrestrial is 10. Worse than World Class and subtract 3 for each level until 0. At least 200 hands.

My daily update will be based on these 4 items. Results at the end of this month. To move up, not only I need the bankroll, but my overall average must be at or above 7.

Gl everyone!

Hello guys, long time without an update here, so I think it´s time to do a proper one. First, here are the overall results since I created this thread:



And lifetime. Will I end this fkn long be stretch? Only if I start winning at 10nl ofc.



Despite being the worst blogger ever, I´m working a lot on my game, and I´m doing most of the steps listed on the previous post, even if I´m not tracking them properly. And obv I saw my results lol.

I´m seeing slow progress (rapid progress punctuated by smaller setbacks, so an upward learning path), and I´m also proud of not losing motivation and not tilting anymore, possibly my two biggest leaks that are not related to strategic gameplay.

Anyway, I think I´ll do a proper thread, possibly at the beginning of next year, just because my OCD can´t handle the mess that I did in this one.

Gl everyone!

Decided to mix 10NL (2 tables) and 5NL (4 tables) today, and ended up satisfied with the results. Due to the mixing, played the same style at all tables (no fps while playing 10NL, which I´m sure is one factor in my lack of success there).

Also I think I´m understanding how to play 3b pots vs aggros. At 10NL there seems to be a few people playing looser than optimal (despite the high rake), and winning. I think I can win slightly before rake following Snowie´s approach without any adjustment, so I´ll do just that and try to figure over time how to exploit those lags.

Today:



Tomorrow I´ll add one more 10NL table and remove one 5NL, during the softest hours at least. If my playing skills (and variance) help, I´ll move up fully next week. Will keep the shots as controlled as possible to avoid having to keep grinding those 5NL braindead games for weeks ever again.

Sorry for the lack of HHs. Will sort this out asap.

Gl everyone!

Last two days results, running good on both stakes (playing 5nl and 10nl, 50% each). Don´t want to face the increased weekend variance just yet, so in order to keep the shot still somewhat controlled, will play only 5nl this weekend. Since the EV is usually higher, I think I can compensate it with more $$ if I keep running good.

Guilty of not putting too much volume during this run right now, but this friday is the annual meeting with my former college mates, so impossible to grind during the soft friday night. Unless hangover is an issue tomorrow, I´ll be playing at least another 1k hands or so.

Last two days graph:



Gl everyone!

Planned a very light and chill day at the tables, ended up playing almost 3k hands. Guilty of playing while stuck (ended one of my longest winnning streaks), but tables were juicy. Rainy day in my city also, so didn´t miss anything outside. Unfortunately I run bad vs fish, at least for the last 200k hands or so. Fortunately, decided to follow the gameplan and play only 5nl today. Tomorrow will be the same.

Anyway, today´s graph:



On the mental game front, didn´t exactly tilt, but frustration grew a little bit above what I was experiencing during similar runs the last few weeks. The problem was that I got lazy and didn´t follow my own tilt control rules: minimise or cover the table after a big decision, and wait at least 30 seconds before opening the replayer. I´m not saying this to be mad with myself, as doing so is one mental leak that I also have and want to get rid of, but to remind myself of the importance of following the gameplan without unjustified deviations.

Gl everyone!