Hallojs tjommie!

Nice PG&C! I used to live in Bergen a few years ago, worked at Coop Extra Fana Where in Bergen do you live? Nice to see that you're doing well, will follow your thread for sure. Looking to get back on track grinding HU this year aswell, PLO though, PLO400SEK and PLO500SEK

I'm 23. Some days I get decent action, some days are really dry and once in a while I get really good action.

GL to you too, sir.

Tjen kompis!

Cool! I live on the other side of the city centre. I think it's called Hellen, it's between the city centre and Åsane.

GL with your PLO venture. You must have good nerves to be it HU. Not sure if I could handle the swings.

This week I’ve had my worst start of a week so far in CFP. Stoploss on monday and tuesday, breakeven wednesday and losing yesterday. I think I played okay every day except yesterday. Before yesterday a lot of the losing pots was standard preflop all-ins on NL200. And this hand:

BB: $211.25 (VPIP: 33.33, PFR: 16.67, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 6)
CO: $238.00 (VPIP: 33.33, PFR: 33.33, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 3)
Hero (BTN): $194.00
SB: $0.00 (VPIP: 66.67, PFR: 66.67, 3Bet Preflop: 100.00, Hands: 3)

SB posts SB $1.00, BB posts BB $2.00

Pre Flop: (pot: $3.00) Hero has T A

fold, Hero raises to $4.00, fold, BB raises to $12.00, Hero calls $8.00

Flop: ($25.00, 2 players) A Q 7
BB bets $18.75, Hero calls $18.75

Turn: ($62.50, 2 players) T
BB checks, Hero bets $44.63, BB calls $44.63

River: ($151.76, 2 players) 5
BB checks, Hero bets $118.62, BB calls $118.62

As mentioned in previous posts last week started out as a big downswing for me, and it didn't improve much. It has motivated me to study more which is a good thing.

I was a night owl last week and mostly played during night time, I think for this week I’m going to be an early bird and either play during the morning and day or morning and evening. I’m also going to see Sean Lock live on thursday. That’ll be cool, he’s a pretty funny guy.

These are my daily goals:
[ ] Spend one hour posting hands, commenting hands and reading through notes from coaching before first session of the day
[ ] Read and take notes on at least 3 subchapters of “Expert Heads Up No Limit Hold’Em”
[ ] Play max three tables
[ ] Take notes that are concise and helpful, e.g. CaR 2ndP, vb any TP 3s
[ ] Walk/jog 30 mins+
[ ] Get up at latest 8 am and go to bed latest 12 pm
[ ] Have a bottle of water nearby for every session

I already ****ed up the get up at 8 am today..

I’m pretty happy with my goals for last week. Although I did find that the book is still a bit heavy for me so I decided to spend less time reading that and more time on coaching notes, videos and such to focus on what I get the most out of atm. Action on the tables was pretty low.

I became a coach last week which is very exciting. It will be nice to pass on what I have learned and to follow the progress of my student. I’ve never done anything quite like this, but I think it’s going to be a nice experience and that it also will improve my own game a lot.

do you play the reg HU tables on stars when you started or zoom HU?

for reg tables do you just open a HU lobby and wait for someone to sit and play?

Regular tables and yeah wait for someone to sit down.

Damn, this month I've hit more stoplosses than I did all of last year. It's time to take a break from NL200 and rebuild on NL100 and NL50 for another shot.

Here's a couple of funny hands I've played this week.


Hero (BB): $117.75
SB: $121.41 (VPIP: 70.00, PFR: 30.00, 3Bet Preflop: 15.38, Hands: 60)

SB posts SB $0.50, Hero posts BB $1.00

Pre Flop: (pot: $1.50) Hero has Q J

SB raises to $3.00, Hero calls $2.00

Flop: ($6.00, 2 players) A 2 3
Hero checks, SB bets $5.73, Hero calls $5.73

Turn: ($17.46, 2 players) 9
Hero checks, SB bets $19.00, Hero raises to $50.00, SB raises to $112.68 and is all-in, Hero calls $59.02 and is all-in

River: ($235.50, 2 players) Q



Hero (SB): €100.00
BB: €114.33 (VPIP: 76.47, PFR: 11.76, 3Bet Preflop: 18.18, Hands: 17)

Hero posts SB €0.50, BB posts BB €1.00

Pre Flop: (pot: €1.50) Hero has J 6

Hero raises to €2.00, BB calls €1.00

Flop: (€4.00, 2 players) 2 T A
BB checks, Hero bets €3.00, BB calls €3.00

Turn: (€10.00, 2 players) 4
BB bets €1.00, Hero raises to €9.50, BB calls €8.50

River: (€29.00, 2 players) A
BB bets €1.00, Hero raises to €32.00, BB calls €31.00

Had a really good session the day after I dropped down from NL200. If it continues like this it should not be too long before another shot

Time for another go at NL200. This time max two tables and game select like really hard.

Second shot at NL200 not going too well so far. Yesterday I was close to a second stoploss in a row, but managed to ran it back up close to breakeven for the day so that was a relief. These bad results are becoming pretty frustrating, it has been my longest losing stretch since the start of this project (although in BBs it’s not that bad, running good on NL50 and bad on NL200). Today I won a bit, hopefully I can get in some more winning days now.

Two crazy calls (different villains).

Hero (BB): $50.00
SB: $40.00

SB posts SB $0.25, Hero posts BB $0.50

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.75) Hero has T J

SB raises to $1.00, Hero calls $0.50

Flop: ($2.00, 2 players) J T 7
Hero checks, SB bets $1.00, Hero raises to $4.00, SB calls $3.00

Turn: ($10.00, 2 players) 5
Hero bets $8.00, SB calls $8.00

River: ($26.00, 2 players) 6
Hero bets $28.50, SB calls $27.00 and is all-in




Hero (SB): €136.72
BB: €73.61 (VPIP: 98.73, PFR: 44.30, 3Bet Preflop: 18.42, Hands: 85)

Hero posts SB €0.50, BB posts BB €1.00

Pre Flop: (pot: €1.50) Hero has 3 Q

Hero raises to €2.00, BB raises to €3.00, Hero calls €1.00

Flop: (€6.00, 2 players) Q Q 8
BB bets €4.00, Hero calls €4.00

Turn: (€14.00, 2 players) A
BB bets €8.00, Hero calls €8.00

River: (€30.00, 2 players) 3
BB bets €10.00, Hero raises to €35.00, BB calls €25.00

I'm happy to say this, the tides have turned! The past seven days I've had a big upswing, and I'm now back to breakeven for the year. It's pretty relieving after having lost for about a month straight.

Graph for this year so far:



Hopefully it doesn't turn straight back around again like after the previous short upswings.

So yesterday I played a guy who after a while started to 3-bet a lot and stack off quite light. We got it in pre four times and he won them all. I was actually a favorite to win in all four, from huge favorite to slight favorite in a coinflip.



SB: €20.26 (VPIP: 69.30, PFR: 34.21, 3Bet Preflop: 15.00, Hands: 117)
Hero (BB): €146.40

SB posts SB €0.50, Hero posts BB €1.00

Pre Flop: (pot: €1.50) Hero has A A

SB raises to €5.00, Hero raises to €10.00, SB raises to €20.26 and is all-in, Hero calls €10.26

Flop: (€40.52, 2 players) T 7 8

Turn: (€40.52, 2 players) 4

River: (€40.52, 2 players) J

SB shows A 9 (Straight, Jack High)
(Pre 7%, Flop 30%, Turn 14%)
Hero mucks A A (One Pair, Aces)
(Pre 93%, Flop 70%, Turn 86%)
SB wins €39.52



BB: €40.70 (VPIP: 71.58, PFR: 41.53, 3Bet Preflop: 23.08, Hands: 189)
Hero (SB): €125.62

Hero posts SB €0.50, BB posts BB €1.00

Pre Flop: (pot: €1.50) Hero has A J

Hero raises to €2.00, BB raises to €7.00, Hero raises to €50.00, BB calls €33.70

Flop: (€81.40, 2 players) 9 6 2

Turn: (€81.40, 2 players) K

River: (€81.40, 2 players) 7

BB shows 6 Q (One Pair, Sixes)
(Pre 40%, Flop 80%, Turn 91%)
Hero shows A J (High Card, Ace)
(Pre 60%, Flop 20%, Turn 9%)
BB wins €80.40
Hero wins €9.30



BB: €103.75 (VPIP: 72.29, PFR: 48.59, 3Bet Preflop: 30.19, Hands: 263)
Hero (SB): €157.50

Hero posts SB €0.50, BB posts BB €1.00

Pre Flop: (pot: €1.50) Hero has 8 8

Hero raises to €2.00, BB raises to €7.00, Hero raises to €157.50 and is all-in, BB calls €96.75

Flop: (€207.50, 2 players) A 2 4

Turn: (€207.50, 2 players) J

River: (€207.50, 2 players) 5

BB shows Q J (One Pair, Jacks)
(Pre 47%, Flop 26%, Turn 95%)
Hero shows 8 8 (One Pair, Eights)
(Pre 54%, Flop 74%, Turn 5%)
BB wins €206.50
Hero wins €53.75



SB: €152.20 (VPIP: 73.05, PFR: 49.61, 3Bet Preflop: 30.56, Hands: 271)
Hero (BB): €153.80

SB posts SB €0.50, Hero posts BB €1.00

Pre Flop: (pot: €1.50) Hero has J J

SB raises to €7.00, Hero raises to €25.00, SB raises to €152.20 and is all-in, Hero calls €127.20

Flop: (€304.40, 2 players) 4 3 8

Turn: (€304.40, 2 players) A

River: (€304.40, 2 players) Q

SB shows A T (One Pair, Aces)
(Pre 29%, Flop 13%, Turn 95%)
Hero mucks J J (One Pair, Jacks)
(Pre 71%, Flop 87%, Turn 5%)
SB wins €303.40


He ran the €20 from the first all-in to the €300 in the last all-in and left as quite a happy man I imagine.

After losing in January and a rocky start of February, things turned around (ran good at NL200) and February ended up being my best month so far.

February graph:



On saturday night I played a long session during the night and stayed up to skew my sleeping schedule so I could play during the night till today and then go to work after. I got up at 11 pm yesterday. This is the most ****ed up sleeping schedule I've ever had, but it was actually pretty nice. Could view people hurrying to work at 5 am on monday morning which made me enjoy the session a lot more. I like to not have to travel to work.

Last days have been so crazy, running really good. Today I’ve also ran good in a way so far. In the beginning I lost quite a bit. I think I played too many aggressive opponents at once so it was hard to pay attention to everything. I contemplated quit playing for the day because I was so close to the stop-loss, but took a short break and sat down again. Then this even more crazy guy than all the others I played before sits down and after he won 60bb (pushing me closer to stop-loss) this hand happened:


BB: €206.80 (VPIP: 85.11, PFR: 70.21, 3Bet Preflop: 66.67, Hands: 51)
Hero (SB): €266.49

Hero posts SB €1.00, BB posts BB €2.00

Pre Flop: (pot: €3.00) Hero has 8 8

Hero raises to €6.00, BB raises to €10.00, Hero calls €4.00

Flop: (€20.00, 2 players) 2 7 2
BB checks, Hero bets €14.21, BB calls €14.21

Turn: (€48.42, 2 players) Q
BB bets €46.67, Hero calls €46.67

River: (€141.76, 2 players) 3
BB bets €135.92, Hero calls €135.92

BB shows T K (One Pair, Twos)
(Pre 46%, Flop 24%, Turn 14%)
Hero shows 8 8 (Two Pair, Eights and Twos)
(Pre 54%, Flop 76%, Turn 86%)
Hero wins €411.85

After this I won a bit more from him and got back to breakeven for the day before he left. The match was quite intense because I was so close to the stop-loss, so after it I went out for a walk to cool down before starting a new session.

I’ve realized that I soon need to decide what I’m going to do after the summer. I got two alternatives where one is to continue studying and play poker on the side, and the other one is to drop out/take a break from the studies and play poker full time. I’m a pretty indecisive person in general, so I will have a hard time to decide. On one hand, if I start making good money in poker it would be very exciting to move abroad and play poker full time. On the other hand, I just have two years left to finish the studies where I will be ensured quite a good job with decent pay. Even if I ended up playing poker for 10 years after I’m finished with the studies, it would be nice to have something to fall back on. I’ve also spent so long time in school so it feels a little stupid to just drop out now that I’m so close to being done.

I will probably think a lot about this before I decide.

Okay, so I have given it some thought and it would be way too chicken to not do poker full time. Hell, I applied for CFP because I was bored of my summer job and didn’t want to do regular 8-4 in the future, then why should I continue to spend so much time on this? It would only be because of having a safety net. I think I let my parents influence me too much and I also think they are way too negative about me playing poker. Sure, I can understand that they don’t appreciate me “gambling” for a living and would be more proud of me if I get a nice degree and a nice, honest job. But in the end I can’t put their interests in front of mine when it comes to decisions regarding my own life.

Thinking about this really gave me a big motivation boost, which is always good, but definitely now because I’ve been a bit too complacent with my results lately. It’s time to step it up a notch.

Being from Norway, it is imho stupid not getting your education finished... Had you been living in Vietnam, obv snap poker.
Unless it is inbetween your bachelor and master.

Yeah, that's my plan. Heard a lot of stories about people struggling to get back into the studies after taking a break, but we'll see. I plan to make a contract with my parents where I'd have to pay them €10k or something like that if I don't go back and finish the master. I think this is good both to reassure them that that's my plan, and for my motivation.

--

Since my initial downswing of the year I’ve been running really good. In fact so good that I’m now going to take a shot at NL400

Lately I’ve pushed my sleeping schedule around a bit for different reasons, and I’ve noticed something neat: I can go back to sleep again not that long after waking up to push my sleeping schedule back the other way. Not the most amazing skill, but it could be useful sometimes.

Last days have not been so good. I’ve been in a lot of close spots which has usually gone wrong and there has been more coolers than usual. I also think I’ve made some mistakes in big pots on the higher limits which hurts the result quite a bit.

Okay, so last week ended up being a total disaster results wise and I’ve stepped down again from NL400. I didn’t have a winning day before the last one, which was just a minor win. After a month and week of upswing I feared that a downswing would come, but I didn’t think it would hit as hard and fast as it did.

These are my results for March except today (will probably end up around breakeven today):



I think I’ve found my biggest tilt issue, at least the one which annoys me the most: when an opponent gets super short, proceeds to win an all-in as an underdog and then takes ages to bust/leaves as a winner. I find this so frustrating. I just have this thought in the back of my head “what if he had just lost that all-in”. This is obviously not good and something I need to work on.

Tomorrow I’m going away for a vacation which will be nice. I guess if I look on the bright side the downswing did come at a good timing because now I’m looking forward to take some time off and do something else than poker for a week.

Now I’m back from vacation and ready to begin the April poker grind. During my vacation I realized that it’s probably best for me that I try to finish my studies asap even if I do become a good winning poker player. I’ve been a bit back and forth, but I think this route has more life EV in case I some day become tired of poker or for some other reason want to do something else. It’s also pretty cheap to take the degree (other than time spent of course).

With the football season starting up again in Norway I’ve been a bit tempted to start sportsbetting again. I did this a lot in 2012 and 2013 and won a tiny bit on it. It was far away from what I’ve achieved so far with poker, though. When I do my masters degree I’m going to look for as many courses as possible that I think in some way could be useful for sportsbetting, like statistical modelling and that kind of stuff. It would be really cool if I could learn more about that so when I’m finished with my degree I could make decent money both from poker and sportsbetting.