What you can expect:
Updates on Poker, Crypto, Sport, Nutrition, Traveling, and everything else I can think of.

Goals:
- NL2k Regular without staking by the end of the year.
- increase Volume to at least 40h+ hours of playing poker/week
- playing 10k Live Tournaments on a regular basis
- living my dream

A brief history of me:
Started playing Poker a few years ago and about 1.5 years ago a high stakes Pro offered me a staking deal so I can go pro and focus on poker. Since then I mainly played nl100z-200z and nl200-nl1000 regular tables with very rare nl2000 appearances. At first, I got like 15€/hour but therefore no variance and in December we changed the deal to a 50/50 split. Made 16k on nl200-nl1000 and got kicked off the site because of bumhunting. (I played ALL tables that were running without selection and produced about 150$rake/hour. But okay call me a Bumhunter if you don't want me on your site...)
Since then I was motivated as **** to crush higher stakes but didn't put any volume in on my Zoom grind and mainly improved health, fitness and theory.
My Staker told me we would find a new site for me to play these stakes and until then I should go play some Zoom. I should have grinded more but learned 3-4x more theory than I played. Not sure if I regret that right now or not since I didn't make much money in the last two months.
Well, now it's time to crush again - I am still on good terms with my Staker and he will take a big piece of my Vegas action - but I will play some zoom on my own now since my bankroll allows it and getting staking from him doesn't make that much sense for these stakes.
So the goals are clear. I will write regularly about who I am, what I do and how I am progressing. If you're interested hit the follow button!
Not sure if I am allowed to post social media links if anyone knows that'd be great so I could add them so you also see some of my sweet Instagram pics
We are in on day 1 and hit a pretty good start:



The next updates will be more specific - for now I really hope this post makes you curious
Have a great day and stay frosty
- Marshmallow

First update:

The Week
It has been a week and i played quite swingy. I had a super bad run but overall I am confident in my play and feel like I am performing good. Currently sitting at around 5bb/100. I am grateful but there's a lot more room for improvement. I know that so much knowledge is missing and that I am not taking a ton of spots especially in small Pots and when it comes to bluff raises etc. apart from that the amount of fish is huge and most of the regulars screw up their ranges in so many spots it's easy to attack them can't wait until I have the money for higher limits and to play against better opponents
Improvement
I really want to start digging more with Pio but I feel like I need to know more about the program than just putting in preflop ranges and looking at the strats. Does anyone know a good successful player who would give 1-2 hours of Pio Coaching? Obviously willing to pay
Life
I worked out about 6 times a week. A mix between GYM and Rugby Training to keep me fit. I decided that I want to gain some weight so I put myself on a 3kcal/vegan day diet (I am not vegan and eat meat when I go out for dinner or sth) and after a week I am already on my all time high of 74kg - I know that's not a lot
I also played way too much video games but I really enjoy since I always play with my brother. It's a nice way to spend time with him, but since this is also very mentally exhausting it kinda cuts into the poker thing. I will cut this down a bit from now on.
the graph


Funniest Hand so far

shiy0217 (BTN): $145.66
mx210 (SB): $100
daymom (BB): $104.59
Igor DoUrden (UTG): $100.50
Alexpallo (UTG+1): $109.52
HERO (CO): $308.40

Pre-flop: Dealt to HERO T K
(2 folds), HERO raises to $2.50, shiy0217 calls $2.50, (2 folds)

Flop: ($6.50) 7 9 Q (2 Players)
HERO checks, shiy0217 bets $3.40, HERO raises to $11, shiy0217 calls $7.60

Turn: ($28.50) A (2 Players)
HERO bets $18, shiy0217 calls $18

River: ($64.50) Q (2 Players)
HERO checks, shiy0217 bets $38, HERO calls $38
shiy0217 Showed 6 8
HERO Showed T K
HERO wins $138 with a pair of Queens

If you have any questions feel free to ask!
Have a great day and stay frosty
- Marshmallow

Just get familiar with the node locking feature. That way, you can gauge how to adjust vrs different villain types to maximize your ev.

Enjoy blogs like this. Gl

Poker
Started to put in more volume especially over the weekend and we still run decent. I am always 4 tabling Zoom right now which is good for the hourly but kinda meh for the winrate. But still always between 4-5bb ev bb/100 so can't complain too much
I will probably play another 50k hand and if we continue to have this winrate I will advance to 200z. I've played 200z before with staking and decent results so I am not too worried but I don't know if I can handle the possible 2k daily swings with my own money yet

The Graph



Life
Life has been kinda weird. I met a girl at a party and we got along great - we had the same way home and so we walked for over an hour and talking to her was awesome. She's cute AF and very ambitious. Marshmallow likes her.
We went out a few times and we basically never touched and everytime I made her a compliment she wasn't flirty at all. However, we still went out multiple times. I am def. not very good with girls - this is basically the first one I'm actually interested in since I am out of my 5 year relationship and I could probably do this a lot better, but I really want to like her for who I am and not manipulate her into liking me.
On the 4th date I still ended up "sleeping" at her place. We made out and I really enjoyed it - however it felt like she wanted me to leave before her roomates came back from their holiday. Since then we met 1 time - talked a little and didn't hear anything from her since. TBH I didn't try to reach her because I don't wanna be too clingy. Whatever - so here you had some teenager drama and this made me feel really lonely. I will go to the mountains for a few days at the end of the month with some friends. Poker can get quite lonesome when you have nobody at home... Will definately post some photos and keep you updated on the girl what are your opinions? How should I approach this?

future
Thank you for the nodelocking tip, that's what I already do but I am told there are more things to explore?
However, brain afk grinding 6000-7000 hands/day with 4-5bb/100 is totally fine with me I am on schedule for NL2k until the end of the year and found a ton of other stuff I can improve on. Will probably focus on that content first.
I thought about applying for live staking stables since I really want to play more of 2k+ Tournaments
Vegas is finally booked and nearly all of my action is already sold - I am looking forward to that experience and my first shot at winning the main event!

If you have any questions feel free to ask!
Have a great day and stay frosty
- Marshmallow

Can you give us a quick rundown of thoughts behing c/r KTcc, vs. cbet and whole hand in general?

Looking forward to thread.

Sure that's what I am here for! Hands like these only happen when I fully concentrate and I can't bang them out everyday.
The villain was obviously a little bit fishy (preflop 68s call) so keep that in mind.
Check calling is perfectly fine but that allows villain to realise all of his equity while his range is too weak for this spot - so I decided to put some pressure on. So x/r flop is decent, especially for his rather weak sizing. Also, don't forget that EVERYONE on this stakes is not x/r enough as PFR and therefore the spot is rare and people are worse at playing it and I should gain substantial EV by putting them in territory they don't know. Against his too loose preflop range but postflop equilibrium I should actually have a flop betting range but x/r KTs nearly all the time.
On the turn, we pick up equity and can put a ton of pressure on KQ, QJ, ... The card is also better for our range since we should hold more AQ and AA combos.
The river is basically a blank. there are less AQ combos by now (he might also 3bet a bunch pre) and I believe that he will shove some of his sets on earlier streets.
So even if he has all of this value combos we still have a pretty easy river call against a range that might look like this: 99,77,AQs,A9s,Q9s,JTs,T8s,86s,AQo
Every set he might shove earlier or every AQ he 3bets etc. makes this call even better
I hope this helps
Have a great day and stay frosty
- Marshmallow

Thanks for your thought process. Always awesome to see perspectives different than your (my) own.

I am curious what your betting range would then look like? Or are you checking a very high % of hands?

Are you betting draws with worse showdown? 68s 8Ts etc???

I check a ton OOP - but I don't have a very well thought out betting range in that Spot against fish. More like: Value=Big or x/r, attack his ranges with our weak hands if we see any sign of weakness. I obviously don't protect against fun players
Today we went to 6+ev bb/100 over the last 60k hands! Hopefully we can keep it that way!

Why I sleep on the floor again
I am sorry for what I am about to write. I will try to turn this around and try to make this blog more positive - because that's what I'd like it to be - but on the other hand, I really want to give you guys an insight in my life. Maybe even more than I should. So this post will be very personal.
The last few days have been horrible for me. Before I can explain why I'd like to explain the kind of person I am.
If you ask me who I am I will answer you that I am the most over-ambitious person you can imagine. This is basically how I define myself. I work out 5-9 times a week, I learn a ton of poker, play poker, eat healthy, read, don't spend a lot and reinvest. On a casual games night with friends, I will give always 100%. Not because I think it's necessary but because I enjoy it.
Before I turned pro I was sleeping on the floor - even though I had a bed. I didn't feel like I deserve it. My mom paid for it. She paid my rent and everything else while I was going to university. I didn't deserve ****. So I slept on the floor. I don't want to be anyone's burden. I want to be the one who's helping people. I started working really hard and the first month of making actual money with poker I built my own bed. It's awesome and the way I like it. Oak, Japanese-Style, 180*200, very minimalistic. I started sleeping in it and so did the girl I shared my time with. I improved a ton over the past year and recently somebody asked me: out of a million people, how happy are you?
I answered in the top 200.
I was fresh out of my relationship, but we ended on good terms and life was going well. I was making good money playing poker, had great friends, everything was awesome.
Everything is still going well, except that I never noticed who I did all of this for.
Don't get me wrong, I love playing poker and don't want to do anything else right now - but I don't care about my apartment, a TV, a couch, a nice dining table, pictures on the walls, ...
I don't live here for me. A room with a computer, my instruments, a mattress on the floor and a place to do some sports are enough for me. I basically built (still improving) this apartment to share it with somebody. Somebody I can go to bed with and kiss goodbye when she goes to work. I recently saw "Southpaw" and even though I am not even close to being as successful as Billy Hope it really got me how he is doing this for his family. I want to do all of this for somebody. I don't need this. Sure I enjoy the aspect of everything I do and my life is great, but I really want to share this with somebody. So if she'd ask again today: Out of a million people, how happy are you?
I don't know if I'd be able to answer. Half of what is necessary for my happiness is missing.
All my friends are in relationships, so it's hard to spend a lot of time with them and most of the time I am on my own right now.
I need to get back in the dating game, but I don't want to force it. She needs to be the best I can find. Until then all I can do is work harder, work smarter and improve my self more and more so I can be more for her.
It fuels me and drives me, but damn it. I am not okay. I didn't feel like this in years.
I will come back better and stronger and I know that this is just a phase. I will have nothing but the best to offer for her, whoever she is.
So I don't sleep in my bed anymore. Because it wasn't built for one. I will climb back in when I deserve it.
Until then: Have a great day and stay frosty
- Marshmallow
ps: we cracked the 6.5 ev bb/100 on stars over the last 60k hands. I don't think more is possible for me right now while playing 4+ Zoom tables and implementing new strategy. I will continue to grind for another 4k in winnings and will then move up with super aggressive bankroll management.

Hey man,

Seems like youre doing pretty well poker-wise, keep that up. The emotional part youre talking about is good for self-therapy, to share with some people as that's an aspect of your life which you feel is currently missing.

However, I would argue tho that spending some time alone is actually very valuable, in a sense that you really get to know yourself. Defining a strong personality, discovering who you are, finding happiness on your own. Relationships tend to get toxic whenever partners set eachother accountable for their own happiness. Don't hate yourself for being alone and not providing to anyone at the moment. Try to gradually love yourself more and find fullfillment in the progress youre making, rather than being unhappy with how life currently is.

I would argue that sleeping on the floor is a form of self-harm, as a consequence of things that happened in the past. I know the feeling of not being entitled to something and the unwillingness to accept help and gifts of others, while trying to only be the helper yourself. However, if you break this behaviour down it is actually pretty selfish and entitling for this reason:

Why should you be entitled to give, if you're not allowing others enjoy the process of giving? If you really care about your mother, let her too have the fullfillment of giving. Start enjoying these things and you will gradually see improvements in your personality and life as whole, becoming a more rounded person.

The girl will come into your life, no doubt, as long as you keep improving yourself and are able to enjoy your own life.

In, GL.

Update:
I thought I might make some subjects regular - the main ones I can think of so far are these:
- Poker
- Life
- Fitness
I will add as I see fit - if there is anything you are interested in let me know!

Poker:
A lot has changed since my last post. I got a staking deal which I will "try out" until Vegas. I started getting comfortable with the software and I am now playing between 200-600NL. The game is a bit weird because it's ante+straddle so it's very exciting to explore this since there is not a ton of content about it, but I really hope I can figure out some stuff myself and get a decent winrate so I can move up as soon as possible and play some NL1k+.
The structure is very weird especially preflop and I am not 100% certain on how to approach this but I feel like I am already ahead of most people in my game. However, since everyone plays so wobbly preflop the postflop ranging gets super awkward and I try to play my hands very simple because SPR is so low anyway. Hopefully, I'll have a samplesize and a sweet graph for you soon I'm in for like 5 days and breakeven - but I can only play 6 normal tables at a time for now so nowhere near a reasonable sample size and I feel like variance wanted to **** me up. So GL to me and hopefully we get that crusher graph soon!

Fitness:
Worked out 6 times this week. 5x gym and 1x touch rugby. Touch rugby is super fun. If you guys are interested I might make a longer post about how I train and maybe add some cringy photos?
Nutrition was terrible this weak. I ate healthy but sometimes I have my first meal 6 hours after I woke up which is probably bad for my concentration in the first few hours of playing. I should really eat breakfast. This will be a BIG goal for the week, because playing without energy is just a joke and unprofessional. I really wish I could afford a cook
I currently eat a vegan diet (except for when I go out for dinner etc.) and have to say it's pretty simple and I feel very good. I am basically never tired and don't see a single downside to it. Meat+Fish just tastes too ****ing good

Life:
I still don't feel very good. I had a couple of dates with a gievery time and everytime I meet her it's awesome but she clearly doesn't want to spend as much time with me as I want with her. I won't go into detail for now but I didn't feel this bad in years. I know it's just a phase and I will get through it and will become the ****ing beast I used to be, but these past few weeks were super hard. It's the first time in my life that I am actually alone and I guess I just have to get used to it. When I was still in a relationship I always thought that being single, tinder and nightclubs would be fun. I didn't approach a single tinder match yet. This is just not what I am looking for.
I eat out alone a lot and went for some walks on my own. There's beauty in it but I can't really enjoy it for now. The worst ****ing part is that all my friends are asking me how I am and I always smile and say that everything is fine while I want to tell them how numb I currently feel. I don't want to be anyone's burden and I know that I should talk to someone but can't find the strength to do so. One part of my mind is telling me that this is some weak **** and the other half is telling me that this is normal and I should try to resolve it. Whatever, enough of this.
Thank you crown for your kind words. The logical Marshmallow knows that you are right and I should approach it this way. I used to live like that and you are 100% right. I currently just can't do it and I don't know why. I always praised myself for being logical, and I know that you are right. Give me a few weeks and I will be back to the giving, loving me. I always enjoyed that cringy Tony Robbins story where he says he always invited people for dinner until someone stopped him with the sentence: "Who are you to deny me the joy of paying for your dinner?". I like that and you are right. Thank you for the reminder.
2nd Life:
I worked at an Event this week - will probably write an update next time about my time there - it was pretty big for Vienna and the 2nd biggest event I ever did for eSports. Sadly the wrong team won
Enjoy this picture for now


Until then: Have a great day and stay frosty
- Marshmallow

Edit:
I obviously forgot about:
Crypto
It's finally going up boyyyyyyyyyyz!