Hey guys,

my name is Joris, I'm 33 years old and am from Belgium. I played poker in college (2002-2007), read the Harrington books at the time but didn't really study the game and just clicked away in S&G's.

I'm still working in the same company where I started 10 years ago and my carreer is going very well there. I'm playing poker again since about 3 years, with some more studying but still at the micros and still breakeven. I had a coach about a year ago (for about 15 sessions), but never made real progress there. I found the d7sarmy CFP program via this forum and coincidentally one of the players in my former coaching group also worked with them. I've been in contact with those guys and they require students to be beating 25NL at least to be allowed into their CFP program.

So for now, that's my goal. I really want to be in a serious coaching program and that means at this moment beating 25NL.

Will post here regularly to keep myself motivated and to force myself to dedicate time to studying, reviewing and posting instead of just playing.

I'm not sure how ambitious it is to set a target of 31.06.2018 for reaching my goal, but let's put that one up there for now !

Any advice is appreciated !

Oh yeah, I'm playing NL5 zoom on Stars.

gl op!

Whats your grinding schedule look like seeing as you have a full time job? What amount of volume are you expecting to put in?

I can do 6am to 7.30am before going to work, and then probably 6.30pm to 8pm in the evening. On weekends it depends, but definitely 9.30am to 11.30am.

Playing 2tables of zoom is about 500 hands per hour. I think 30k hands per month is realistic. Sometimes it will be more when I can play some full saturdays or sundays.

From about april to october I have another time-consuming hobby, so then I can't play a single hand in the weekends. Hence the current target of 31.06.2018 to have somewhat of a basic skill level.

I overplay these hands, not noticing the obvious aggression:

PokerStars Zoom Hand #177879891670: Hold'em No Limit ($0.02/$0.05) - 2017/11/06 18:38:59 CET [2017/11/06 12:38:59 ET]
Table 'Donati' 6-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: jorisdriesen ($5 in chips)
Seat 2: voodootom ($8.45 in chips)
Seat 3: A1ex.END ($5.27 in chips)
Seat 4: -=l Grek l=- ($7.62 in chips)
Seat 5: pay everythi ($7.58 in chips)
Seat 6: bluetowerHS ($5 in chips)
voodootom: posts small blind $0.02
A1ex.END: posts big blind $0.05
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to jorisdriesen [3h 6h]
-=l Grek l=-: folds
pay everythi: folds
bluetowerHS: folds
jorisdriesen: raises $0.10 to $0.15
voodootom: folds
A1ex.END: calls $0.10
*** FLOP *** [6d 6s 8d]
A1ex.END: checks
jorisdriesen: bets $0.10
A1ex.END: raises $0.28 to $0.38
jorisdriesen: calls $0.28
*** TURN *** [6d 6s 8d] [5s]
A1ex.END: bets $0.82
jorisdriesen: calls $0.82
*** RIVER *** [6d 6s 8d 5s] [Jh]
A1ex.END: bets $2.50
jorisdriesen: calls $2.50

today' short session:



https://imgur.com/a/1OsHI

PokerStars Zoom No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (6 handed) - Converted at http://www.handhistoryconverter.com/

Button ($8.06)
SB ($5.02)
Hero (BB) ($8.32)
UTG ($4.51)
MP ($6.65)
CO ($5.22)

Preflop: Hero is BB with A, 10
2 folds, CO raises to $0.12, 2 folds, Hero calls $0.07

Flop: ($0.26) 3, 4, K (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $0.13, Hero calls $0.13

Turn: ($0.52) 10 (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $0.36, Hero calls $0.36

River: ($1.24) A (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $1.81, Hero calls $1.81

Total pot: $4.86 | Rake: $0.20

Preflop: OK defend.
Flop: Check call bc of dry flop, backdoor draws and overcard
Turn: Check call bc of pair, which I'm not sure of
Rvr: Villain overbets which I interpret as he hit his Ax, or he's still betting his Kx. He can ofcourse have all the sets or the backdoor straight.

PokerStars Zoom No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (6 handed) - Converted at http://www.handhistoryconverter.com/

Hero (Button) ($6.47)
SB ($4.73)
BB ($6.37)
UTG ($9.62)
MP ($5.21)
CO ($5.28)

Preflop: Hero is Button with Q, Q
3 folds, Hero raises to $0.15, SB calls $0.13, BB calls $0.10

Flop: ($0.45) 8, 5, 6 (3 players)
SB checks, BB checks, Hero bets $0.43, SB calls $0.43, 1 fold

Turn: ($1.31) 3 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $0.88, SB calls $0.88

River: ($3.07) 4 (2 players)
SB bets $2.95, Hero folds

Total pot: $3.07 | Rake: $0.13

Flop: big cbet bc of 2 fish on drawy board
Turn: doesnt make the board a lot worse, can still get called by worse hands and or draws, so big cbet again against the fish
Rvr: 4-straight rvr and fish more or less donk shoves, I fold bc I'm not really beating a lot on this board anymore.

Yesterday went well, felt like I was thinking more/better about ranges and pushing people off weak hands on good boards.



PokerStars Zoom No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (6 handed) - Converted at http://handhistoryconverter.com/

Button ($5)
Hero (SB) ($11.37)
BB ($2.50)
UTG ($8.05)
MP ($4.89)
CO ($12.74)

Preflop: Hero is SB with Q, A
1 fold, MP raises to $0.10, 1 fold, Button calls $0.10, Hero raises to $0.45, BB calls $0.40, 1 fold, Button calls $0.35

Flop: ($1.45) 10, 4, Q (3 players)
Hero bets $0.70, 1 fold, Button calls $0.70

Turn: ($2.85) 7 (2 players)
Hero bets $1.91, Button raises to $3.85 (All-In), Hero calls $1.94

River: ($10.55) 9 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $10.55 | Rake: $0.44

I should be ahead on the flop most of the time. Turn doesn't really change anything, if he shoves here with TT, 77, QT, KJ and J9 then I have 40% equity and I need about 20% to make the call. Thoughts ?

Good session today.



Trying to work on spots to check-raise the flop when the board is good for our range.

okerStars Zoom No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (6 handed) - Converted at http://handhistoryconverter.com/

Button ($7.18)
SB ($5.22)
Hero (BB) ($8.63)
UTG ($5.12)
MP ($7.92)
CO ($9.97)

Preflop: Hero is BB with K, 8
3 folds, Button raises to $0.10, 1 fold, Hero calls $0.05

Flop: ($0.22) 5, 7, 8 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $0.12, Hero raises to $0.50, Button calls $0.38

Turn: ($1.22) J (2 players)
Hero bets $0.85, Button calls $0.85

River: ($2.92) 6 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button checks

Total pot: $2.92 | Rake: $0.12

Our range should be more pocketpair heavy I think, so OK spot to checkraise as bluff. When he calls I'm not really sure what range he has, set is possible also 1pair+draw. J is not a good card, 9T gets there or he can improve to a flush draw. I bet again, he calls. Don't think there's any fold equity on the river.

K8 hand i would just xc xc xf. you have better draws that can xr especially those with bdfd IMO

AQ hand i would bet smaller on flop like 1/3 then 50-60% ish on turn jam river. When we get raised ott we hate life, he could turn some dd combos into a bluff howeever at these stakes a rai generally means nuts

QQ hand vs 2 fish yeah sizing up is ok i guess. it it were 2 normal players im not sure what size i would use because regs wouldnt really flat sb here so you would just be HU with BB then i would use a larger size then hate life if i was xr. AP i would easy fold river.

Thanks for the feedback Max !

Didn't play well yesterday, overplayed some hands.



PokerStars Zoom No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (6 handed) - Converted at http://www.handhistoryconverter.com

Button ($5.17)
SB ($12.33)
Hero (BB) ($5)
UTG ($2.37)
MP ($15.34)
CO ($5.89)

Preflop: Hero is BB with K, K
1 fold, MP raises to $0.15, 3 folds, Hero raises to $0.55, MP calls $0.40

Flop: ($1.12) Q, 7, 5 (2 players)
Hero bets $0.35, MP calls $0.35

Turn: ($1.82) 6 (2 players)
Hero bets $1.22, MP calls $1.22

River: ($4.26) 9 (2 players)
Hero bets $2.88 (All-In), MP calls $2.88

Total pot: $10.02 | Rake: $0.42

PokerStars Zoom No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (6 handed) - Converted at http://handhistoryconverter.com/

Button ($1.42)
SB ($7.02)
Hero (BB) ($9)
UTG ($6.67)
MP ($6.26)
CO ($3.53)

Preflop: Hero is BB with Q, Q
2 folds, CO raises to $0.15, Button calls $0.15, 1 fold, Hero raises to $0.60, CO calls $0.45, Button calls $0.45

Flop: ($1.82) 9, 9, 2 (3 players)
Hero bets $0.57, CO calls $0.57, Button calls $0.57

Turn: ($3.53) 8 (3 players)
Hero bets $7.83 (All-In), CO calls $2.36 (All-In), Button calls $0.25 (All-In)

River: ($8.50) 2 (3 players, 3 all-in)

Total pot: $8.50 | Rake: $0.35

Is this check-raise OK ?

PokerStars Zoom No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (6 handed) - Converted at http://www.handhistoryconverter.com

Button ($6.43)
SB ($4.95)
Hero (BB) ($7.83)
UTG ($4.28)
MP ($7.33)
CO ($7.14)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 5, 5
2 folds, CO raises to $0.15, 2 folds, Hero calls $0.10

Flop: ($0.32) A, 2, 3 (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $0.25, Hero raises to $0.85, 1 fold

Total pot: $0.82 | Rake: $0.03

A lot of bad play yesterday.



PokerStars Zoom No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (6 handed) - Converted at http://www.handhistoryconverter.com

Button ($19.46)
Hero (SB) ($9.42)
BB ($5.10)
UTG ($4.44)
MP ($14.08)
CO ($5.29)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 10, 9
1 fold, MP raises to $0.15, 2 folds, Hero raises to $0.50, 1 fold, MP calls $0.35

Flop: ($1.05) Q, A, 2 (2 players)
Hero bets $0.33, MP raises to $1, Hero calls $0.67

Turn: ($3.05) 2 (2 players)
Hero checks, MP bets $1.60, Hero calls $1.60

River: ($6.25) 3 (2 players)
Hero checks, MP checks

Total pot: $6.25 | Rake: $0.26

- 3b and cbet/call are probably just OK. Turn should be a check fold I think.

PokerStars Zoom No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (6 handed) - Converted at http://www.handhistoryconverter.com

Button ($5.14)
SB ($5.90)
BB ($7.37)
Hero (UTG) ($6.97)
MP ($4.76)
CO ($2.31)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with 10, A
Hero raises to $0.15, MP calls $0.15, 4 folds

Flop: ($0.37) 2, A, 9 (2 players)
Hero checks, MP bets $0.15, Hero calls $0.15

Turn: ($0.67) Q (2 players)
Hero checks, MP bets $0.15, Hero raises to $0.65, MP calls $0.50

River: ($1.97) A (2 players)
Hero bets $1.26, MP calls $1.26

Total pot: $4.49 | Rake: $0.19

- Open and flop check/call is OK. He seemed weak on the turn with the small bet, so I wanted to raise for value, and charg a flush draw. Bit in the dark on the rvr, the flush and straight missed, V can have a weaker ace. I also didn't feel comfortable check/calling this rvr.

Solid session today.



Looking for capped ranges and trying to be aggressive in those spots. But still overplaying QQ/KK/AA.

PokerStars Zoom No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (6 handed) - Converted at http://handhistoryconverter.com

Button ($4.52)
SB ($5.18)
BB ($5.99)
UTG ($6.51)
MP ($4.54)
Hero (CO) ($7.87)

Preflop: Hero is CO with K, K
UTG raises to $0.10, 1 fold, Hero raises to $0.35, 3 folds, UTG calls $0.25

Flop: ($0.77) 8, 3, 7 (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $0.24, UTG raises to $0.85, Hero calls $0.61

Turn: ($2.47) 2 (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero checks

River: ($2.47) J (2 players)
UTG bets $1.05, Hero calls $1.05

Total pot: $4.57 | Rake: $0.19

No poker today. Will be a long day at work, and on Wednesday evenings I'm doing a bachelor's in stock market and trading. Stay educated !

gl getting into the army pal I heard good things, 5nl can be tough at times but just keep your head high you'll make it!!!

your K8 play is a lil spicy im not sure d7 and the boys will approve

Thanks for the support ! I know it's a (very) long road for me, but I don't think it's completely unrealistic. Biggest challenge for me is to keep studying and not use all the available time for playing, even when it's going well.

gl bro maybe see you in the army one day

Thanks, are you a coach there ?

Short session between work and going to dinner (sushi!) with friends.



One hand that looks awful:

PokerStars Zoom No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (6 handed) - Converted at http://handhistoryconverter.com

Hero (Button) ($16.35)
SB ($9.78)
BB ($7.14)
UTG ($13.47)
MP ($7.02)
CO ($6.83)

Preflop: Hero is Button with 4, A
1 fold, MP raises to $0.15, 1 fold, Hero raises to $0.45, 2 folds, MP calls $0.30

Flop: ($0.97) 9, 4, K (2 players)
MP checks, Hero bets $0.31, MP calls $0.31

Turn: ($1.59) 3 (2 players)
MP checks, Hero bets $1.06, MP calls $1.06

River: ($3.71) Q (2 players)
MP checks, Hero checks

Total pot: $3.71 | Rake: $0.15

Morning session:



PokerStars Zoom No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (6 handed) - Converted at http://handhistoryconverter.com

Button ($11.91)
SB ($2.52)
BB ($5)
UTG ($3.60)
Hero (MP) ($13.74)
CO ($5.09)

Preflop: Hero is MP with A, K
UTG raises to $0.17, Hero raises to $0.51, 4 folds, UTG calls $0.34

Flop: ($1.09) 4, 6, 5 (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($1.09) 4 (2 players)
UTG bets $0.40, Hero calls $0.40

River: ($1.89) 9 (2 players)
UTG bets $0.91, Hero folds

Total pot: $1.89 | Rake: $0.08

FLOP: think V has a lot of pp's that don't fold this flop, so a check.
TURN: still have some equity against pp's and V can be stabbing w AK, AQ, AJ, KQ etc.
RVR: don't think V is bluffing here a lot, so a fold.

About 1 week and 10k hands into this thread:

Sunday morning session, crap hands all around.



PokerStars Zoom No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (6 handed) - Converted at http://handhistoryconverter.com

Button ($3.45)
SB ($4.80)
Hero (BB) ($5)
UTG ($2.55)
MP ($4.83)
CO ($3.68)

Preflop: Hero is BB with A, J
UTG raises to $0.10, 4 folds, Hero calls $0.05

Flop: ($0.22) 8, J, A (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG checks

Turn: ($0.22) 10 (2 players)
Hero bets $0.21, UTG raises to $0.84, Hero calls $0.63

River: ($1.90) 9 (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets $0.70, Hero calls $0.70

Total pot: $3.30 | Rake: $0.14

PRE: probably a 3bet vs a fish.
FLOP: want to let him bet, so a X.
TURN: want to get some value from draws or weaker pairs/Ax. V raises which can be a lot really, flush draws, straight draws, 2P etc.
RVR: even though the betsize is small, think this should be a fold.

Absolutely terrible Monday session:



PokerStars Zoom No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (6 handed) - Converted at http://handhistoryconverter.com/

Button ($17.29)
SB ($5.81)
BB ($5)
Hero (UTG) ($6.85)
MP ($6.06)
CO ($5)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with K, K
Hero raises to $0.15, 2 folds, Button raises to $0.50, 2 folds, Hero raises to $1.35, Button calls $0.85

Flop: ($2.77) J, 3, A (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $2.07, Hero calls $2.07

Turn: ($6.91) 8 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $10.53, Hero folds

Total pot: $6.91 | Rake: $0.29



PokerStars Zoom No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (6 handed) - Converted at http://www.handhistoryconverter.com/

Button ($9.89)
SB ($9.37)
Hero (BB) ($9.53)
UTG ($7.51)
MP ($5.38)
CO ($6.62)

Preflop: Hero is BB with K, 7
4 folds, SB raises to $0.12, Hero calls $0.07

Flop: ($0.24) K, 7, 6 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $0.15, SB raises to $0.54, Hero calls $0.39

Turn: ($1.32) 8 (2 players)
SB bets $0.93, Hero calls $0.93

River: ($3.18) 10 (2 players)
SB bets $7.78 (All-In), Hero calls $7.78

Total pot: $18.74 | Rake: $0.78



PokerStars Zoom No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (6 handed) - Converted at http://www.handhistoryconverter.com

Button ($8.82)
SB ($3.87)
BB ($7.05)
UTG ($10.56)
MP ($6.83)
Hero (CO) ($5.29)

Preflop: Hero is CO with Q, A
2 folds, Hero raises to $0.15, Button raises to $0.50, 2 folds, Hero calls $0.35

Flop: ($1.07) 10, J, 9 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $0.60, Hero calls $0.60

Turn: ($2.27) 4 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $1, Hero calls $1

River: ($4.27) A (2 players)
Hero bets $3.19 (All-In), Button calls $3.19

Total pot: $10.65 | Rake: $0.44



PokerStars Zoom No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (6 handed) - Converted at http://www.handhistoryconverter.com

Button ($5.47)
SB ($2.51)
Hero (BB) ($10.51)
UTG ($8.25)
MP ($7.46)
CO ($5.28)

Preflop: Hero is BB with Q, A
2 folds, CO raises to $0.10, 1 fold, SB raises to $0.30, Hero calls $0.25, CO calls $0.20

Flop: ($0.90) K, 5, K (3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $0.57, 1 fold, SB calls $0.57

Turn: ($2.04) Q (2 players)
SB checks, Hero checks

River: ($2.04) 4 (2 players)
SB bets $1.64 (All-In), Hero calls $1.64

Total pot: $5.32 | Rake: $0.22

Got my act together today:



PokerStars Zoom No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (6 handed) - Converted at http://www.handhistoryconverter.com/

Button ($2.89)
SB ($5.34)
Hero (BB) ($5.42)
UTG ($5.20)
MP ($5.23)
CO ($11.74)

Preflop: Hero is BB with J, 9
2 folds, CO raises to $0.14, 1 fold, SB calls $0.12, Hero calls $0.09

Flop: ($0.42) 6, 8, 10 (3 players)
SB checks, Hero checks, CO checks

Turn: ($0.42) 3 (3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $0.27, 1 fold, SB calls $0.27

River: ($0.96) 7 (2 players)
SB bets $0.46, Hero calls $0.46

Total pot: $1.88 | Rake: $0.08

I never have the gutts to raise this river as it feels like I'm seeing a better flush so much. Please talk me out of this.