Hi, I'm Evan, 21 y/o college student from CT and I started playing poker about 20 months ago with a $25 deposit on ACR playing 2NL trying to build a bankroll. I spent the first 10 months stuck in the micros until I hit the $1k milestone and started mainly playing 20nl and shot taking 50nl. 8 months later the bankroll hit the $10k milestone, which is when I moved up to 200nl, which is what I currently play. Right now the bankroll is at $14,561 and my goal is to turn that into $100k by the end of 2020. The two sites I play on currently are Global Poker (SN: Avatar Evan) and Bovada. Going to try to update this thread on a roughly weekly basis showing my progress and the challenges that I face along the way.

Long-term goal: $100k bankroll by the end of 2020.
Short-term goal: 10bb/100 winrate @ 200nl Bovada (Mostly zoom)

Here are some of my graphs:

Lifetime Graph

In $$$



In BB



Most of my volume has been on Global Poker which you can't track at all, but this is what I do have.

Bankroll Graph



I started manually tracking my bankroll in Excel after every session on 4/8/19 up until now.

200nl Graph/Winrate



This is my Bovada graph and winrate of 200nl so far. 5.36bb/100 so far with a small sample. My current goal is to bump that all the way up to 10bb/100 over a decent sample in the future.

I play some live 2/5 as well but have only recently started tracking those results so don't have anything worth posting here.

Very excited for the future and looking forward to updating this thread along the way, hope you all enjoy!

In, glgl

IN

GL GL

Dude this is impressive AF for someone who just started 20 months ago. It's so hard to build a roll in the micros these days. This is seriously so impressive. Keep this up man. We could be witnessing the birth of the next poker superstar right here

What do you use to study? Why do you think you were able to progress so fast?

+100000

+9999999

Very nice results after only 20 months OP

The dream is alive and well. At least for minds like yours. Cheers and glgl

I started with the Upswing Poker Lab, then I got PokerSnowie. Around February 2019 I joined a CFP stable and that is when my game really started going to the next level. Right now all my study comes from PIOSolver, Simple GTO Trainer, RIO Elite Membership, and reviewing hands with friends.

IMO Upswing Poker Lab is the #1 tool I'd recommend to new players in poker. CFP's vary depending on the terms and who it's with, and I dont really know much about it tbh. The stable I was in was occasional group coaching sessions, VODs, and consistent hand reviews in exchange for 50% of profits on whatever site you're staked for, asking for around 20hrs a week of play. Mine was no commitment/contract and I have since left the stable but I'm still good friends with the coach and everyone else in the stable currently.

First week was a pretty swingy one. Started with the bankroll at $14,037 went up to $16,058 then on Saturday and Sunday back down to $13,577. So -460 on the week, not bad at all tbh. Been shot taking/bumhunting 400nl a bit lately, think I'm going to try to stick to 200nl for now unless there is a mega whale at higher stakes. Also played the Global Poker $100 Sunday Teaser and $200 Sunday Scrimmage and busted both of those. Going to try to get into the habit of playing at least those two tourneys every week because they are pretty good value and I'm def going to be profitable in them even though I haven't really studied tournament play at all.

One thing I've been working on is trying to increase my study to play ratio. My goal is to eventually spend 1hr studying away from the table for every 1hr I spend playing. I've been using an app called Toggl since Thursday to start tracking the time I spend studying/playing and so far I've spent ~15.5hrs playing and ~10hrs studying which is definitely better than what I probably normally do so that is some progress for sure. One thing I've noticed is that whenever I put in some solid study hours before I get my first session of the day going I tend to be more focused, play better poker, and my mental game is way stronger which is great.

inb4 millionaire evan is the goat

Week 2:
Results: -$638 online / +$445 live = -$193

Despite the results, I think this was a very solid week of poker. Spent a good amount of time in the lab studying BBvsBTN SRP which I definitely learned some cool new stuff but more importantly I am starting to make improvements to the way I study poker in general. Still have a long ways to go but I definitely feel that some of the improvements I've made this week in my study routine is definitely on the right path.

In terms of the actual gameplay, I think I ran pretty bad this week and was actually shocked to see I was only down $638 online lol. Despite what I said in last weeks post I decided to play a tiny bit of 500z because it was actually running with like 30+ ppl which seems to be rare, and this happened https://i.imgur.com/vKoZNpr.png Was all super standard coolers, losing KK vs A7s aip, AK TPTK vs flopped set vs a guy that limp-called pre, TT vs QQ 3bp on a low board, ect ect. The pool was superrrrr soft with multiple ppl limping/short stacked at every table which is why I decided to play it but after losing all those big pots I stepped down after 138 hands simply because my bankroll can't handle those swings. Also Friday was brutal as I got coolered like 5 times by AA either pre or postflop. Handled it all really well mentally, even losing the $1600 in like 20mins didn't really bother me at all because I knew I played my best and all the spots were pretty standard. That's something I've been trying to use for self reflection when running bad, regardless of whether I made a mistake, or just got coolered, my reaction to whatever happens is pretty important because there is no excuse for letting stuff get to me and letting it affect my future play.

gl

Week 3:
Results: -$357 Online / +$951 Live = +$594

Ran pretty poor early on in the week and ended up playing a decent bit of live poker as a result. Later on in the week I started turning things around online and then I had probably the worst session I've ever had last night. Lost ~$2k in 1hr playing mainly 200nl and some 400nl... Most I've ever lost in such a short period of time. Reminds me of the ~$1600 I lost last week playing 138 hands of 500z lol. Again, most of the hands pretty standard coolers but had two close spots that I reviewed after.

H1 - https://play.globalpoker.com/gp/10/h...3948000118da19
H2 - https://play.globalpoker.com/gp/10/h...3948000118d9af

H1 - Think it's just a standard cooler, I like playing a little nittier than optimal in these spots especially blocking KQ bluffs with QQ but QQ is near top of range and I don't have a club so I called. He could even be value betting AJs here so I think I have to call.

H2 - This one was definitely a close spot vs a fish. Flop and turn seem good and river completing the 4 to straight makes this one close. My logic was he shouldn't have a ton of combos of 7's; 76s, 77, 87cc, A7cc, maybe a little wider considering he is a fish but that's only 11 combos of 7x and he could have a ton of combos missed flush draws, ~20 combos depending on how wide he flats. So in terms of bluff catching for me I will have some 7x that x's river, but in general I don't have much 7x at all so bluff catching some of these overpairs without a club makes total sense to me. I'll have a lot of overpair combos here so I decided I would call with 50% of them that don't have a club and randomized a call and he had a 7. :shrug:

This week I really slacked in terms of studying, only put in like 8hrs :S Play live for about 25hrs and played online for about 23hrs. Played live 5/10 for the first time ever on Saturday and that was a lot of fun, sold 33% of my action just because my bankroll isn't entirely big enough for the swings yet. 5/10 might start to run every Friday/Saturday since everyone is back from Vegas, which if that is the case, I think it's gonna have to be mandatory that I play that because the games seemed incredible. Ended that sesh -353, played solid the entire time, made one small sizing mistake in one hand though.

1 limper, CO (reg) opens $50, I 3bet KJss in BB to $200, he calls. Flop K74r, I bet $130 into $400, he calls, turn 6h x/x, river 3x I bet $440 into $660 he jams for like $1500 ttl and I fold. Should've gone 1/3 on river because of the 4 to straight, my logic was I could go bigger since he shouldn't have a ton of 5x in his range but looking back I definitely prefer going $220 on river instead, but not a huge mistake.

Will be playing mainly live poker over the next two weeks because I'm heading to Florida for a tournament series that is going on there. Will be meeting up with a bunch of poker friends and staying in an Air BnB with them, which should be a lot of fun for sure. Probably gonna play a mix of 2/5, 5/10 while I'm there. I've never grinded straight live poker ever before so I'm really interested what my results will be grinding live for an insane amount of hours over two weeks. It's definitely going to be a challenge for me though because I typically find live poker very boring and hard to stick with tbh. But, if I can play in some short handed 5/10 games that would be the absolute NUTS because short handed live is so much fun, would play it everyday if I could lol.

Anyways, I leave for Florida on the 1st of August so wish me luck, will keep you updated throughout the trip!

Gl live is a great break from online. Safe travels!

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

Subbed! I also have a thread where I have a 70k goal playing live and online. Good luck!

Good luck, I'll be watchin

Hey guys, just got back from Florida! Trip was a lot of fun, got to meet up with some online poker friends and stay at an air bnb with them and hang out and grind poker for 12 days. Here were the final results for the trip:



Happy with the final results because the beginning of the trip was horrible tbh, started off with the first two days being -$3300 and not having much faith of being able to end the trip in the green... A lot of massive coolers in big pots that were unavoidable such as 44 vs KT on KK4Tx 200+bb deep JT vs AJcc on KQ9cc all in on flop 200bb and losing, AA getting cracked by a fish limp calling 32o and flopping trips, ect ect, you get the deal lol.

Got to play a decent bit of 5/10 which was fun, have only ever played 5/10 twice before this trip I believe. Didn't play a ton of 5/10 because honestly the 2/5 games were soooo good and the 5/10 games were pretty reggy most the time so it didn't make a ton of sense to play a lot of them tbh. 5/10 definitely hurt my overall results a lot because I ran especially bad in those games, I had one funny hand early on that I still remember.

1 or 2 limps, EP opens $40, 2 ppl call, I call 66 on BTN, 5 ways to flop Q64ccd x to me I bet $75 into $200 2 ppl call, turn 2d HJ donks $250 into $425 I raise to $675 other guy folds, he calls, river Kd he donks $800 into $1800 I call and he had JTdd lol.

Might not of been the exact board but that was generally what happened, he floated flop with nothing but a bdfd and runner runners into it vs my set, pretty brutal lol.

One thing that really surprised me at 5/10 was how bad the regs were. Ofc not all of them were bad, but the more hands I observed/played vs them the worse and worse I thought they were at poker lol. Thing that sucks the most about live poker is that you can see stuff like that happen but there isn't much you can really do about it since you are only playing like 25 hands/hr, so winning at a WR of 20bb/100 vs the regs lets say, is really gonna be nothing in terms of an hourly.

I also had one crazy dude at 2/5 that I walked into that apparently dumped off like 14k in a few hrs. I was there for the final 30mins of it and was lucky enough to get a piece. He was opening to $100-200 literally every hand so I had ATs UTG, threw in a little limp because I knew he was gonna raise to something insane, he makes it $200, everyone folds I jam for $1100 eff he calls A9o and we hold . 2 hands later I get QQ in the SB, bunch of ppl limp, I make it $45, he jams $900 eff in BB I call, he has 95o, flop comes 952, but we river the Q luckily lol and he left after that.

I played a little bit of online during my time there but not a whole lot. Took one day off from live poker specifically to play online because it was driving me crazy lol and that helped a lot. Overall was -$1107 at 200z during the two weeks which sucks. Online bankroll peaked at $16k on 7/12 and is currently down to $12.2k . But since I am back home now I'm gonna be back on the study grind once again and will be working on bringing that bankroll back up! Lots to do, going to take today off (woke up at 7:30pm lol) and probably be back on the grind tomorrow and should be back with the weekly updates on this thread every Sunday/Monday as usual from here on out. Peace!

Week 6:
Results: +$496 Online / +$122 Live = +$618

Still on my downswing online, was down a few bi this week up until the sesh I just rapped up where I was +5.5bi, first winning sesh since I've been back from Florida. Possibly on one of the biggest online downswings I've experienced, being roughly 25bi, but nothing to worry about just going to continue improving and playing my best and I will battle my way back!

It seems that 5/10 is going to be running at my casino every Friday/Saturday night so I'm going to make it mandatory I play that every week if I'm free. The games are just too good to turn down, also seems that a lot of the 2/5 regs don't have the bankroll for 5/10 so it seems like it's me, a couple 5/10 only regs and a bunch of whales. This Saturday there was a tournament going on at another casino and all the regs were there and my 5/10 game was literally me, 3 whales, 2 recs, and 2 unknowns. My hourly has got to be insane in that game but unfortunately basically broke even on the sesh but had a lot of interesting hands that I sent to a friend of mine and he said they were all wp so I'm very happy with that.

Mental game has kind've been struggling lately but I spent like 3hrs today studying and honestly that helped out a ton. Knowledge is always going to be my #1 tool to help my mental game because if you're confident you're playing well then you have nothing to stress/get angry about. Past two weeks I haven't been studying much at all since I've been in Florida so getting back into the study routine feels good.

Cashed in the Global Poker Main last night as well, it was a $200+18 $100k GTD tourney, finished in 37th I believe for $579. Obviously just a small score but always nice to cash and at least freeroll the chance of some big money. I haven't studied much tournament poker at all because I don't enjoy tournaments/don't play them enough to justify spending time studying them so I'm kinda clueless with some concepts but I definitely think just from my experience in cash my ROI has to be pretty good in the bigger tourney's that are hosted every week because the field is just incredibly bad.

School is starting up in about a week so that will take some time away from poker unfortunately for the next 16 weeks but still plan on putting in a lot of volume and do a lot of poker study. I still have to sign up for classes but I believe I'm only taking 3 classes this semester so shouldn't be too bad.

Sub’d

What you say about confidence in regard to mental game is especially true, gl

Pretty remarkable you've been able to accomplish what you have in such a short period of time with the quality of games where they are now compared to many years ago.

I'm in CT too and never really played live much but I take the trip to Resorts World for their games because they seem a lot softer than elsewhere.

I'm guessing you are closer to Foxwoods/Mohegan and you mentioned tournament series which must be the WSOP Circuit which has been going on.

I live like 15min away from MGM Springfield, so I usually play there, Foxwoods/Mohegan is like 1hr+ away so I haven't been to either of those casinos yet.

Hey guys, sorry I haven't updated the thread in a bit, poker has been rough.



This has been my online bankroll graph since 8/12, biggest downswing I've ever been on by far, in both bi and $$$. Most of it has been 200nl but I've been playing some 400/500nl as well and that has gone horrible, basically losing every time no matter how good the game is. Punted off a stack at 400nl the other day and after that I said I'm done with 400/500nl until my br gets back to at least $15k to start bumhunting again.

Live poker has also been going really bad lately, here are my results since getting back from the Florida trip.



That's also factoring in the 33% I have sold, so add 33% to that for actual results. 5/10 has been a joke, I actually think I've only stacked one person in the entirety of 5/10 which was just a punt from some fish with nothing. Basically just lose virtually every pot I get into and occasionally get stacked by some fish to keep things lively. Here are my 5/10 results so far.



Again, add 33% to that for actual results.

According to my lifetime PT4 database I am currently $6,370 under EV atm (32.14 bi) and even more under EV on global. The other week I lost a $1600 pot at 2/4 KK vs QQ aipf which is $1300 under EV in one hand just to give you an idea. I kind've keep track of my all-in EV live as well and I'm about $1k under EV there as well.

Sorry that all I'm doing is complain in this post but there really isn't much positive to talk about...Been studying my ass off the past couple weeks, putting in ~50hrs a week into playing/studying every week for a decent while now. Working on developing some new, more effective ways of studying to better understand the theory side of things that has been very helpful so far. Also been expanding the study group I'm in, new people with different views/perspectives on the game and that has been helpful and exciting.

Lately I've been doing a lot of brainstorming for solutions to my sub-par results. Considered stopping playing for a week or so and just sit in the lab 8hrs a day, also considered the opposite grinding the felt 8hrs a day and stop studying for a little bit, even considered completely reworking my income stream to become a rakeback grinder on ACR or something lol. Idk man, lately I've had such a nice balance of study and play and I really feel like that's probably gonna be the best way to go long-term, just gotta tough it out through the hard times.

Was gonna put in a ton of volume this weekend but I honestly think that I might just take the whole weekend off. Mental game has been sh*t lately and I could use a reset. Could spend the time watching through the Elliot Roe Mental Game Course again (never finished it the first go). I hate taking days off, especially when in a downswing, because I just feel guilty that I'm not working hard enough. I always try to work even harder at every aspect of my game when things aren't going well and always come out a better player but lately it just feels like it's never gonna end.

Anyways, thanks for listening to me b*tch and wine a bit, feels nice to vent lol. Hopefully I'll be back next Sunday or Monday with another update! Peace.

- EvanaBadBeat

Damn zero tip evan, no wonder youre running bad live
Lol jkjk

obv i tip just dont track it lol