Hey man I appreciate that! My cut was pretty severe and likely too fast and I should have taken it a bit slower, but I think my maintenance has increased due to more muscle mass.

Yeah I'm checking mine occasionally (not as often as I used too, but I can't do once a month, I just can't lol).

The book isn't too theoretical, at least not the opening chapters. Anything theoretical I've encountered so far has been thoroughly explained and simplified so it's easier to digest. The 3betting chapter I'm up to might be a little more intense though. I'll keep you posted.

Just to touch on your shot taking strategy, i don't know if it has been mentioned yet as i am yet to catch up on the thread. Basically i don't like it, variance being what it is 4bi is absolutely nothing and can be lost very easily and quickly when making good decisions. It's especially a problem when multi tabling and when you factor in how it might affect your play (be a lot more conservative or tighter). 10BI minimum i say with half the the load as usual (normally play 4 tables = only play 2).

Edit: All caught up, concering your lifting bro stay away from PPL that is for intermediate/advanced lifters who can only progress at this point by increasing sessions volume. You are waisting so much potential. The smartest thing i ever did was swap to full body 3x a week then progress onto an upper lower split. As a natural and a relative noob lifting weight wise your number one priority is increasing weight as frequently as possible and hitting each muscle as frequently as possible (think the complete opposite of a pro bodybuilder who hits each muscle once a week but absolutely smashes it.

As a natural building muscle is all about lifting heavier weight and getting in the right ammount of frequency and volume. Full body 3x a week gets your numbers up on the big compound lifts rapidly and rapidly builds a base. An UL split slows down progression and CNS fatigue and adds in more volume at higher rep ranges (heavy upper heavy lower, hypertrophy upper hypertrophy lower, Mon Tue Thu Fri).

Basically i bench 95kg for 4 sets of 10 currently wheras if i went the PPL route right now i would be struggling at 60kg for sure, Lift heavier weights=have bigger muscles for the most part.

Hey mate welcome to the thread and thanks for the advice, I'll take it on board.

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Had a few days off enjoying my holidays and having a couple of engagement parties and what not to attend, so very little poker lately. Gunna try and get in one or two more sessions for June and see how we go. So far June hasn't been very kind overall, but I think I'm playing well and just copping some variance, will be interesting to analyse results at the start of July.

Some hands from my last sessions:

Poker Stars $0.02/$0.05 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 2928737
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

UTG: $9.84
MP: $5.80
Hero (CO): $5.07
BTN: $5.83
SB: $5.00
BB: $6.67

Pre Flop: ($0.07) Hero is CO with J J
2 folds, Hero raises to $0.12, 2 folds, BB raises to $0.38, Hero calls $0.26

Flop: ($0.78) 6 A J (2 players)
BB bets $0.80, Hero raises to $2.04, BB calls $1.24

Turn: ($4.86) 9 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $2.65 all in, BB calls $2.65

River: ($10.16) 6 (2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: $10.16
Hero shows J J (a full house, Jacks full of Sixes)
BB shows K A (two pair, Aces and Sixes)
Hero wins $9.74
(Rake: $0.42)


Poker Stars $0.02/$0.05 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 2928738
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

Hero (BTN): $6.90
SB: $5.12
BB: $6.63
UTG: $5.77
MP: $4.64
CO: $5.11

Pre Flop: ($0.07) Hero is BTN with A J
UTG raises to $0.15, 2 folds, Hero calls $0.15, SB calls $0.13, 1 fold

Flop: ($0.50) 2 8 J (3 players)
SB checks, UTG checks, Hero bets $0.31, SB calls $0.31, UTG folds

Turn: ($1.12) 8 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $0.69, SB calls $0.69

River: ($2.50) 9 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $1.56, SB calls $1.56

Final Pot: $5.62
Hero shows A J (two pair, Jacks and Eights)
SB shows A 8 (three of a kind, Eights)
SB wins $5.39
(Rake: $0.23)


Poker Stars $0.02/$0.05 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 2928739
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

BTN: $7.41
SB: $4.38
Hero (BB): $6.23
UTG: $6.23
MP: $5.00
CO: $4.98

Pre Flop: ($0.07) Hero is BB with A A
3 folds, BTN raises to $0.15, SB calls $0.13, Hero raises to $0.60, BTN calls $0.45, SB calls $0.45

Flop: ($1.80) 3 J Q (3 players)
SB bets $0.85, Hero raises to $1.70, BTN folds, SB calls $0.85

Turn: ($5.20) Q (2 players)
SB bets $2.08 all in, Hero folds

Final Pot: $5.20
SB wins $4.98
(Rake: $0.22)


Poker Stars $0.02/$0.05 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 2928740
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

UTG: $6.59
MP: $5.00
CO: $4.91
BTN: $5.94
SB: $9.35
Hero (BB): $5.46

Pre Flop: ($0.07) Hero is BB with J J
UTG calls $0.05, 1 fold, CO raises to $0.10, BTN raises to $0.45, 1 fold, Hero calls $0.40, 1 fold, CO raises to $0.80, BTN calls $0.35, Hero calls $0.35

Flop: ($2.47) 6 J 6 (3 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $0.55, BTN folds, Hero raises to $1.10, CO raises to $1.65, Hero raises to $4.66 all in, CO calls $2.46 all in

Turn: ($10.69) 2 (2 players - 2 are all in)

River: ($10.69) 2 (2 players - 2 are all in)

Final Pot: $10.69
CO shows A K (two pair, Sixes and Deuces)
Hero shows J J (a full house, Jacks full of Sixes)
Hero wins $10.25
(Rake: $0.44)


Poker Stars $0.02/$0.05 No Limit Hold'em - 5 players - View hand 2928741
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

BB: $9.04
Hero (UTG): $5.36
CO: $5.34
BTN: $5.10
SB: $5.18

Pre Flop: ($0.07) Hero is UTG with 8 8
Hero raises to $0.15, CO raises to $0.47, BTN calls $0.47, 2 folds, Hero calls $0.32

Flop: ($1.48) 6 7 4 (3 players)
Hero checks, CO checks, BTN checks

Turn: ($1.48) 5 (3 players)
Hero bets $0.75, CO calls $0.75, BTN raises to $1.50, Hero raises to $4.89 all in, CO calls $4.12 all in, BTN folds

River: ($12.72) 4 (2 players - 2 are all in)

Final Pot: $12.72
Hero shows 8 8 (a straight, Four to Eight)
CO shows A Q (a flush, Ace high)
CO wins $12.19
(Rake: $0.53)

Cashed in some stars coins to take a 5BI shot at 10nl. It has not started well so far with me dropping 3BI already. Hoping to run better tomorrow morning or it's back to 5nl we go! Pretty rough few hands tbh. The main culprits:

Poker Stars $0.05/$0.10 No Limit Hold'em - 5 players - View hand 2928978
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

Hero (BB): $10.00
UTG: $13.98
CO: $13.59
BTN: $12.24
SB: $6.41

Pre Flop: ($0.15) Hero is BB with 5 5
UTG raises to $0.30, 3 folds, Hero calls $0.20

Flop: ($0.65) 5 Q A (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets $0.62, Hero calls $0.62

Turn: ($1.89) J (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets $1.81, Hero calls $1.81

River: ($5.51) 9 (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets $11.25 all in, Hero calls $7.27 all in

Final Pot: $20.05
Hero shows 5 5 (three of a kind, Fives)
UTG shows A A (three of a kind, Aces)
UTG wins $19.15
(Rake: $0.90)


Poker Stars $0.05/$0.10 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 2928979
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

Hero (BB): $10.00
UTG: $10.15
MP: $23.55
CO: $13.41
BTN: $10.00
SB: $10.05

Pre Flop: ($0.15) Hero is BB with Q Q
4 folds, SB raises to $0.25, Hero raises to $0.80, SB calls $0.55

Flop: ($1.60) 9 2 8 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $1.17, SB raises to $3.25, Hero raises to $9.20 all in, SB calls $5.95

Turn: ($20.00) J (2 players - 1 is all in)

River: ($20.00) 9 (2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: $20.00
Hero shows Q Q (two pair, Queens and Nines)
SB shows 2 2 (a full house, Deuces full of Nines)
SB wins $19.10
(Rake: $0.90)


special shoutout to the poker gods for this one vs. whale haha

Poker Stars $0.05/$0.10 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 2928980
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

Hero (BB): $21.10
UTG: $24.50
MP: $11.89
CO: $10.00
BTN: $11.41
SB: $10.57

Pre Flop: ($0.15) Hero is BB with A A
UTG calls $0.10, 4 folds, Hero raises to $0.50, UTG raises to $0.90, Hero raises to $2.80, UTG calls $1.90

Flop: ($5.65) 3 6 K (2 players)
Hero bets $3.51, UTG calls $3.51

Turn: ($12.67) 6 (2 players)
Hero bets $4.50, UTG calls $4.50

River: ($21.67) 9 (2 players)
Hero bets $10.29 all in, UTG calls $10.29

Final Pot: $42.25
Hero shows A A (two pair, Aces and Sixes)
UTG shows 9 9 (a full house, Nines full of Sixes)
UTG wins $40.75
(Rake: $1.50)

That third hand

Lol ikr I've had that type of stuff to last few days. My red line is +3bi but my winnings are 8bi down in 10k hands of 25nl zoom. Really can't decide if I am playing great or just not folding enough.

Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

I can only assume that he was calling river if it was, say, an 8. Whales gunna whale ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Love it, you take a shot then lose set v set and two outer otr for a huge pot.

Curious, if we had v from hand 1 (55) marked as the nittiest player ever and we face two potsized bets and an overbet otr with a bottom set and a number of straights possible, can we ever find a fold otr?

Yeah actually against most regs I'd find a fold OTR here, but I unfortunately have this guy tagged as a very LAG player, with really high cbetting frequencies.

June was mediocre to say the least. I tried so hard, studied so much, and focused really hard at the tables, and it really didn't pay off at all. It's really demotivating to see these results after putting in so much effort, but I guess I can't do much more than trying my best. Maybe I'm just bad at poker, maybe I just lifetime runbad, I don't know. One thing I do know, however, is that my 10nl shot didn't go very well. Oh well hopefully July brings some light on the horizon... At least my volume was good I guess.

Ouch! That downswing at the end must have hurt. Better luck in July!

It did sting a little, mostly a shot to the ego tbh, gotta stay humble and embrace variance for what it is, not what I want it to be! Thanks for the luck, it seems to have worked for my first 5nl session of the month!

Ran really well today, probably the best I've run in a session since starting this thread! Hard to tell whether I played well when I ran so pure, however I can identify that I didn't tilt (in the positive way) and I stuck to my ranges, and didn't overplay draws and weak SDV just because I was running well.

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Poker Stars $0.02/$0.05 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 2932023
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

SB: $4.12
BB: $6.56
UTG: $5.43
MP: $5.20
CO: $5.56
Hero (BTN): $5.07

Pre Flop: ($0.07) Hero is BTN with 8 9
UTG raises to $0.17, MP calls $0.17, 1 fold, Hero calls $0.17, 2 folds

Flop: ($0.58) 8 9 9 (3 players)
UTG bets $0.37, MP calls $0.37, Hero calls $0.37

Turn: ($1.69) Q (3 players)
UTG bets $1.08, MP raises to $4.66 all in, Hero calls $4.53 all in, UTG calls $3.58

River: ($15.54) 5 (3 players - 2 are all in)

Final Pot: $15.54
UTG shows Q A (two pair, Queens and Nines)
MP shows T J (a straight, Eight to Queen)
Hero shows 8 9 (a full house, Nines full of Eights)
MP wins $0.25
Hero wins $14.65
(Rake: $0.64)

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Poker Stars $0.02/$0.05 No Limit Hold'em - 5 players - View hand 2932024
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

Hero (CO): $6.02
BTN: $2.46
SB: $5.47
BB: $5.00
UTG: $7.61

Pre Flop: ($0.07) Hero is CO with K J
1 fold, Hero raises to $0.12, 1 fold, SB calls $0.10, 1 fold

Flop: ($0.29) J 4 K (2 players)
SB bets $0.25, Hero raises to $0.85, SB calls $0.60

Turn: ($1.99) K (2 players)
SB bets $0.35, Hero raises to $1.50, SB raises to $4.50 all in, Hero calls $3

River: ($10.99) 3 (2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: $10.99
Hero shows K J (a full house, Kings full of Jacks)
SB shows K T (three of a kind, Kings)
Hero wins $10.53
(Rake: $0.46)


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Poker Stars $0.02/$0.05 No Limit Hold'em - 3 players - View hand 2932025
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

Hero (BTN): $6.75
SB: $4.19
BB: $8.39

Pre Flop: ($0.07) Hero is BTN with 7 Q
Hero raises to $0.10, SB calls $0.08, BB calls $0.05

Flop: ($0.30) 9 Q Q (3 players)
SB checks, BB checks, Hero bets $0.15, SB calls $0.15, BB folds

Turn: ($0.60) 9 (2 players)
SB bets $0.29, Hero raises to $1.20, SB calls $0.91

River: ($3.00) T (2 players)
SB bets $2.74 all in, Hero calls $2.74

Final Pot: $8.48
Hero shows 7 Q (a full house, Queens full of Nines)
SB shows A T (two pair, Queens and Tens)
Hero wins $8.13
(Rake: $0.35)


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Poker Stars $0.02/$0.05 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 2932026
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

UTG: $5.12
MP: $5.00
Hero (CO): $5.10
BTN: $4.66
SB: $4.14
BB: $5.15

Pre Flop: ($0.07) Hero is CO with 8 8
2 folds, Hero raises to $0.12, 1 fold, SB calls $0.10, 1 fold

Flop: ($0.29) 7 A A (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $0.14, SB calls $0.14

Turn: ($0.57) 8 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $0.45, SB raises to $0.90, Hero raises to $4.84 all in, SB calls $2.98 all in

River: ($8.33) 4 (2 players - 2 are all in)

Final Pot: $8.33
Hero shows 8 8 (a full house, Eights full of Aces)
SB shows J A (three of a kind, Aces)
Hero wins $7.98
(Rake: $0.35)

unlucky at the end of the month mate unfortunately it happens sometimes. lol at those 4 dream hands. hopefully july continues that way for us all!

GL op. inb4 a juiiiicy july graph

I hope you're right! Welcome and thanks!

Had a session yesterday (about to start one now) where I actually lost overall, but felt incredibly positive coming out of it. The first reason was because I was down ~3.5BI quite early on in the session, but ended the session down only 0.5BI, so I was really happy with my determination where a past version of myself would have given up after a few hundred hands. The second reason is that I ended up playing for almost 3 hours, and 1600+ hands, which is my longest cash game session in a long time. Especially considering I was losing the whole session, I'm really happy with my mental game and my physical stamina being able to play that long (and at least my B game the whole time IIRC). Now some hands:

Standard cooler.



-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Think pre is fine due to position, probably folding unsuited KQ though. Think the rest of the hand is standard. Need 30% to call turn, given even just a couple of bluff combos and TT, QQ+ I have the equity to call (analysed after the session for confirmation of my decision) so I'm happy with that. Really not sure what I do if MP calls though. I'd be getting pretty sweet pot odds, so even with another value hand involved, I can probably call.



Villain had AJ

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Not sure if I played this too fast. Villain had 17% FvCbet and 0% FvTurnCbet, i.e. a calling station. Thought I was getting called down by AQ, AT, A9 etc. Obviously also getting called down by the effective nuts. Ouch, value owned myself.



Villain had 66

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Oops! Gave villain a lot more combos of QJ/QK/QT etc in his range than overpairs. Passive fish so it's not surprising he turned up with this, but I think my move is still +EV.



Villain had KK

Pretty nasty downswing on the end of the graph. Where you getting coolered a lot or did u tilt off a few BIs?

Its not un common to have a +10 BI session now and again so you will make it back at some point, dont let the graph get u down too much.

I can relate to the work hard, study hard, concentrate hard, get nowhere statement. Feels like every month goes like that in Poker

Gl

Thanks mate, appreciate the words! Nah I didn't tilt off any stacks, I mostly got coolered. Set over set, overpair v set that sorta thing. I probably played suboptimum, not gunna lie, but no monkey spew!

Yep I guess we gotta just keep grindin, the progress should be there, even if it's hard to spot at times!

Some hands from my last few sessions:

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vs 21/17/38% call 3bet reg. What do we do here? Figure the cbet is standard, think villain is ever shoving here with something like ThTo or KhQo?



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vs. same reg as above. Fold fine?



---------------------------------------------------

Dang it.



---------------------------------------------------

Nice turn card



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vs. 17/14 reg who had been 3betting me a lot from CO/MP. Well, gross runout, but I like the way I played it postflop. Anything (aside from folding pre) I could/should do differently here?