Sick post! I love seeing your insta stories! Best of luck in 2021!

Huge results, wp! Gl in 2021!

EZ 200k!

Sick how you can balance all the extra work with playing 500k hands, and not lose your mind in this year of years.

old man ben showing the kids how its done gg bud love to ****ing see a classic bena post again, didnt think i d see the day

I wonder what the equivalent is for me if it's like that for you. That part is not the most motivating thing you've written

Jokes aside. What an amazing thread and results are just as amazing. People who can go through hell and back in this game and still stay on top of the pool are the ones I respect the most. Doesn't matter if it's 100nl or 5000nl. You have shown this incredible "intangible" skill that most people don't have, and I can't even imagine how much hard work it takes to get to that sort of mental stability towards variance. People like you probably have long careers in poker and always stay a few steps ahead of the field. If you somehow stop playing poker, you will definitely succeed in other fields that require the same category of skills.

Oladipo's post indeed is very powerful and motivating. Really glad he posted that. Definitely nudged me towards trying to be a lot more professional in the way I approach poker going forward.

If you don't mind sharing.. What are, in your opinion, the best ways to become more detached from variance and shifting attention towards something you have more control over?

GL Bena, and wish you all the best for 2021!

EDIT: that set-up is SICK! If you don't already use software to divide your screen into desired "invisible" boxes to maximize windows into: DisplayFusion (non-free) and PowerToys (free) are pretty decent. Makes things much easier. I use a template where I can tile tables into the exact same places every time I play, and also have a template for everyday use that divides the screen into 3 sections just like a triple monitor setup.

Excellent results for the year. Good stuff.

thanks bro <3

<3<3<3

cheers jake! not sure i would wanna put anyone through reading every post of this thread

yo thanks mate! hope you're still crushing and repping the old squad

boom, thank you my man

cheers mate! see you at the tables throughout the year no doubt

you're absolutely right regarding the deeper layers perhaps not being uncovered. That said, the workshops won't be psychotherapeutically led, rather mental game coaching led. Whilst mental game coaching is still explorative and personal topics often arise, it is also more results/homework/cognitively driven and therefore better suited for group work. As mentioned I'm unsure how or if it'll work!

yo cheers frank. good to catch up the other day and hopefully more bouldering is allowed before you leave again <3

thank you! i think someone linked it.

tytyty!

cheers!

<3 thanks

need a catch up man, been far too long. we still sometimes chat in the grey UK group on skype - you ever about!?

very kind of you and appreciate the well wishes. take care

ty boss

Thanks slug! afraid no stake breakdown this year

it really means a great deal to me that this can be acknowledged by some of my poker colleagues. It really has been an arduous journey. <3

thanks a lot ben! i have just remembered that i have a piece of yours to read. I'm going to message you on skype now.

This is pretty fkn beautiful man, thank you. Really looking forward to a time when i can travel and take full advantage of your epic living situation

pingu

yes this

haha no need to feel guilty, glad you were able to lurk and find some interest! hahaha I'll most definitely take the ev and not feel too bad about it awesome, I'll be sure to post if and when the classes take place.

thanks harvey!

plenty more on the way

thank you brother!

haha yeah this is something I've been trying to take stock of. I think because i had no choice but to do all the academic stuff, deal with lockdown and generally get on with it, i somehow got through it. I absolutely need that break tho!

cheers for the kind words brother

haha yaassssss. loved your update too. all the old boys need to make a pgc together

Awesome post, thank you!

And in answer to your question, I could write reams and reams on this but I'll keep it as brief as possible. Paradoxically, i think you need to become more attached to variance but not in the way you may assume. I would change the words 'more attached' to 'more curious' as a starting point. Only by wallowing in the felt sense and taking the time to reflect on what is truly being activated within our emotional experience, can we begin to unpick and 'detach' ourselves from that way of being. Now you may well say that whenever you feel tilt you are wallowing in it. This is true, but seldom does one use that feeling as an object for reflection. They're far more likely to react to it or do something to dissipate the feeling as quickly as possible.

This is possible to do on your own through journaling and other meditative exercises but i would say that the best way of unearthing/processing these feelings is with a trained professional (this isn't a plug btw haha) who has the skill to see your blindspots and collaborate with you.

Please do feel free to PM me or whatever - i love this stuff more than anything.

yo cheers husk! good to see you still knocking about.

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Happy new year guys. back in lockdown in the UK. the year has started very well poker wise. Not sure when I'll post again but hope you're all keeping safe! oh any ty whoever bumped the thread back to 5*! <3

A post like this would have went over my head a few months ago, this advice is actually gold to someone wanting to improve their mental game.

Congrats on your previous year. Keep up the good work ethic. See you at the tables

Just caught up on last years results! Insane and good luck in 2021 bro!


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Glad to see you're killing it man keep up the good work! I'm coming back to the game myself and remember you giving me some pointers a few years ago which were really helpful.

Since this thread has mental health in mind, what are your thoughts on microdosing if you have any? It's changed my life completely and fixed a lot of my emotional issues I had in the past to the point where I can shrug off bad beats and continue with my A game.

Do you coach? I know you do mental but i prefer the poker part and i dont have instagram to check yours

absolutely thrilled to read posts like this. closely following your PGC! take care and gl on your continued journey!

thanks bro <3 good to see you back in the mixer

yo, ty morris. gl in vegas

hey! it's so awesome seeing so many old timers get back into the game. you may remember coinflip_si, he quit poker and worked for a couple years and now coming back to the game.

Wrt microdosing, i feel i have to be really careful what i say. Yes there can be benefits to microdosing for some people, but also, there can be grave detriment to those who are predisposed to being negatively effected by any sort of mind altering drugs.

Good and general therapy is definitely a safer (but slower) road into a top notch mental game in my opinion, though.

I'm really glad to hear you've have a super positive experience!

hey, afraid i don't offer poker coaching, but if you send me a PM with a few details (what limits you play/what you're looking for) i can refer you to a couple coaches who i would hard vouch. cheers!

Amazing 2020 results! Congrats!
GL for 2021

Yo guys, just a quick one to say i'm doing two twitch streams this week for Mental Health Awareness Week. It'll be Wed/Sat from 6pm GMT with all donations going to charity.

Will be playing 2x500z so come check in if you're about!

glgl

Hey man! Saw you in a couple of Nick's videos, definately helped me a lot while moving up in the micros! Will try to drop by the stream on wed

thanks bro!

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Thought i'd drop in and share my first ever proper highstakes shot

I'm sure you don't need to hear it given everything I know about you but keep at it, you'll break into these games and find your groove soon.

Do you have 100% of the action? That’s brutal

Variance can be cruel

brutal, sorry to hear brother

2+2 needs more OPs like you, bena, always so transparent and honest

reg tables I’m assuming, how’s the competition like compared to 500z?

In for the regrind, GL!!

I imagine if you are bumhunting and not reg battling, it's pretty similar if not softer than 500z. Just harder to put volume in

I've seen a couple of people say this recently - there are some HS games that run that are softer than 500z when big fish are around but on average the regs playing are way better than the 500z guys.

500z/midstakes in general is full of regs with strategies that are bad/ inflexible enough you can kind of go for max exploit lines in a lot of spots, vs most at HS you just can't get away with such lines and the midstakes tricks quite often just result in you wrecking yourself.

Glgl though Ben, obviously you're easily good enough for these games and just the classic baptism of fire.

how are you guys defining hs

5k+?

Yeah I was just talking about like 1knl-5knl, since that's probably most relevant to what Bena is playing. A 40k game will still be much harder than 500z even with a big whale, but don't think that a 2k game with a good fish is going to be tougher than the average 500z pool.