Hello everyone. It's 10p.m. here, I've lost a bunch of stacks in no more than 2000 hands today and I'm tasting some chocolate: is there a better time to start a PGC Thread?
Short background: 22 y/o CS Graduate working a 9-18 job from a random country in Europe. My English is not the best so expect a lot of bad grammar and phrasing, if you do find any mistake in the language used and you feel like pointing them out I would appreciate that as I'm open to any kind of reasonable criticism, maybe this blog will also enhance my pretty much absent writing skills.
I've discovered Poker playing during xmas times with family and friends, not a stereotype at all eh? I immediately fell in love with it because of it's competitive aspect, the idea of bluffing which leads the more skilled opponent to sometimes make the weaker opponent fold the best hand really struck me. Finding out that the game was way more strategic than I thought and maths was a really big part of it was even more astonishing for me. I guess u read something similar in the past, yet another stereotype, but thats just my story. I never believed that luck had major impact in this game, even when I get coolered etc I try to spot my mistakes... yet the very next day I repeat every single one of them.
One of the purpose of this blog is to be accountable, thinking "Hey imagine if I do this stupid play here then I would have to post it to the thread and imbarass my self" might help my game. On the other hand I don't want this thread to have too much impact on my decisions. I don't expect a lot from this game as I'm not really good at it and it's not my main activity in life. Still I'm investing a lot of time/social life in it.
This thread won't probably be about me writing about my midstakes adventures, moving alone to Malta to grind and eventually ending up playing nosebleeds and be the goat. Two years ago I deposited 10euros on PokerStars, played a **** ton of microstakes hands, decided to read some poker books and watched some random youtube video, I got a little bit better but I still think I'm missing some fundamentals. I got stuck at 10nl, regular and zoom tables, for way too many hands, probably like 700k and now I think history will repeat itself here at 25nl.
During this journey I found out that looking at results really had a negative impact on my game, sometimes it would even affect my mood during the day. I would wake up the next day thinking about how much I lost the previous day and really overthink it: "Man imagine I didn't spew that much yesterday now i would be X euros richer". I won't deny that this still happens today. So I got into the habit of never checking the results on PT4, having a report that doesn't show overall winnings but still shows hands summary in order to review them; my balance is always hidden and I've made so that its even hidden when registering to tables thanks to StarsCaption. I often tell myself that one day I will try to register to a table and I will tell me that balance isn't enough, well that will be the day that will sanction the end of my shitty poker career. Despite that I can definitely say when I'm having a winning or losing day. Having this said you won't get a lot of juicy graphs but I'll try to post as many interesting hh as possible.
That was a long preamble, let's get into the action. Today was a bad day, I wouldnt be surprised if I lost 10buyins today.

First hand: Villain was pretty nitty 29/16/3, very small sample tho: 180 hands. I might sound crazy but it took me the whole timebank to call, I rarely see 150bbs getting spewed by most of the villains, in the end I called because top of the range yadayadayda

Second hand: here, au contraire, villain was veeery aggro rocking 30/25/16 stats, I was very happy to GII on the flop vs maybe some AK/AA/Monsterdraws such as QJss. Thinking about it I guess when we're ripping with the K of spades we're not very happy, a wise man once said "Coolers don't exist in SRP". I should have just called the 4bet and evaluate turn and river, given the fact that he was pretty aggro mayb it would have allowed him to spew better on later streets. I would have still called on a lot of blank runouts tho.

Third hand: this was a sick one too, It probably could have been avoided by just folding preflop but here villain was the same one as before, maybe he was just sunrunning. I feel like most of regs dont rly find enough bluffs here, still I end up calling. We block KK and QQ that may play this way, we should have more sevens than he does, maybe not in this case because hes 3betting a lot and might have stuff like A7 whilst we only have 78 and 77. I just called hoping to beat AK or some strange bluff, at the time I didnt even think about AA beating me. Note for my future self: AA77 beats QQKK.

Fourth hand: I won't comment this, you can boys. Maybe I'm just a spewtard but I don't care, I just had a feeling.


Shieeeeeet, this is another one of those guys just posting bad beats/losing hands

Naaaah, it's just that I dont have a lot of winning hands today except for these.

Fifth hand: unlucky bro, you didn't hit your draw. If he didnt bet the turn I would be fuming.

Sixth hand: A high is a really good hand right?

Seventh hand: How does he not barrel the river? PepeHands

Eighth hand: vs one of the best reg in the pool, probably very bad hand selection but we had 7 high, I'd be ashamed to show that ad SD. These type of smallish pots are one of my favourite part of the game, lots of interesting strategy behind imo.


It's been really relaxing writing this, hope some of you guys will follow this adventure, I'll just write whenever I feel like. If you do have any criticism/insults about my plays feel free to share them, I'll be grateful for your free coaching .

Hope you run good boys!

Hello again guys, unfortunately weekend is over and tomorrow we're back to work but latest days were enjoyable.
Real Life:
I run around 10km on saturday, really enjoyed it even tho it was very cold outside and then spent my evening with friends eating some great food. One of the things I would like to improve in real life is meeting new ppl, expecially girls. I have no clue on how to do that tho and not having a personal vehicle in order to move around my shitty city doesn't help either.
I didnt want to run again today because I didnt want to force my legs to do too much work, they were kinda sore. I decided then to just walk around a bit and read some pages of Thinking, Fast and Slow. It's a really good book, it talks about how our mind works and how there are two main systems in our brain: one is responsible of our impulsive decisions whilst the other is the real thinker, the author admits that the latest one, though, is very lazy. Today I read about how feelings affect your thinking. If you're generally happy and in a good mood your brain will flow better and you're gonna take faster decisions whilst if you're angry or having a bad day then the second system of your brain is gonna kick in and because it will be paranoic cause of a bad day then your decisions will take longer. I feel like this process also happens while playing poker, like if you make a bad play then for the next decisions you're always gonna think oh noes I'm gonna lose this hand again and you're not gonna play the famous A game.
Poker:
I think I played around 5k hands between saturday and sunday. I don't think I lost but at the same time I don't think I won a lot either, breakevenish life.
I watched couple of hours of theory content, but the argument probably wasn't really useful: it talked about donking turns when we're bb vs utg. In the end it's a spot where playing perfectly is not rly gonna change our overall ev winnings by a lot. But still I studied a bit. It's been a while since I had a session with gto+ but I feel like one of my biggest leaks in this game is not recognizing what my leaks are. If you guys do have some suggestions for spots that could rly impact a 25nl player playstyle I'd be really grateful.
It's shoooooow time.

Hand One: Its punt time. On this very wet board I felt like overshoving was an option, if he has a set w/e but with the other weaker part of his range hes really gonna have an hard time calling/folding some hands. E.g. I would be puking here with my pocket jacks. I didn't really expect him to have that particular hand...

Hand Two: This was a really strange hand, I coudnt really assign a range to my opponent and when that happens my brain goes mental. His donk on the river is very polarized and I went deeeeep into the tank thinking that no one ever bluffs this spot but at the same time I've got the second nuts and shitton of blockers, guess what... Also action should have told me something already. When hes x/r flop I guess hes not gonna have a really weak hand OTR.

Hand Three: Nothing to say really, I cant even remember why I checked the flop. Probably the reasons were that I sometimes want to have some fd that dont check flop and also with my particular hand I'm blocking their calling range so as Doug Polk would say... lets take a turn. On the turn, given the action I just decided to GII with all the dead money already in. Do you guys think this is bad played?

Hand Four: GAMBOOOOOOL

Hand Five: Bluffcatching a weaker reg is always fun. When he cold cals the 3b his range is mainly gonna be some weak A or some smallish pocket pair. Think my flop check is fairly standard given that we're 3way and we dont have a club. His turn raise is kinda interesting, I guess he perceived the fish that just bet 4bb as really weak and he was right, but there is still me, your endboss, mate. OTR hes basically saying hes got a str8, which we block, or some random Ten. Given the fact that there was a missed fd and his line didnt make any kind of sense I gave him a look. Hit the showers.


Run good on the table boys!

Hey everyone, we're back! I'm writing this while simming a srp UTG vs BB so we have plenty of time.
Sorry, havent posted anything in a while, guess I will be mainly posting during the weekend. Life-wise I don't have a lot of updates, I managed to get an interview with a company from the UK having multiple places in all Europe but salary was kinda meh compared to the one I have know and considering the fact that I basically have no living expenses. On the other hand I would like to live in other countries and experience new lifestyles, also I think that if I search more I can find something with an higher salary.
Poker-wise I played a bunch this week and I'm probably gonna play even more during the weekend, who cares about real life anyways haHAA. I also managed to study a bit, watched some videos and done some sims with GTO+. I simmed around 50flops for both 3Bet BB vs BTN and 3B BB vs SB and I found out that I'm playing way too nitty in these spots even if I think I'm still one of the spewier one in the pool in these situations so I get called very lightly. One of the thing that I noticed is that on FD boards with high cards we're more inclined to GII in two streets, like betting 3/4 on the flop and then just shove it in on blank non closing flushes turns. Maybe this is a bad assumption, I would love to hear your opinions on this. For the next spot that I will analyze I guess I'll have to do some SRP and maybe try to make it in Database mode for various flops, my computer is gonna suffer a lot from this, pray for him. Handosss:

Shiiiiiiiip it. This is probably a fold pre given that villain was very nitty and at this stack depth I feel like we can just have a wide and enormous range composed of AA and AA, maybe sometimes we can have AA. I called anyways cause of my 2p2 username and I felt like the queen was coming.

PokerStars - €0.25 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 189.16 BB
SB: 242.08 BB
BB: 86.72 BB
Hero (UTG): 267.92 BB
MP: 310 BB
CO: 91.2 BB

SB posts SB 0.4 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has Q Q

Hero raises to 2.24 BB, MP calls 2.24 BB, fold, fold, SB raises to 3.48 BB, fold, Hero raises to 14 BB, fold, SB raises to 38.52 BB, Hero calls 24.52 BB

Flop: (80.28 BB, 2 players) 3 4 Q
SB bets 37 BB, Hero calls 37 BB

Turn: (154.28 BB, 2 players) 4
SB bets 166.56 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 166.56 BB

River: (487.4 BB, 2 players) 8

SB shows A A (Two Pair, Aces and Fours)
(Pre 82%, Flop 10%, Turn 5%)
Hero shows Q Q (Full House, Queens full of Fours)
(Pre 18%, Flop 90%, Turn 95%)
Hero wins 479.4 BB
Rake paid 8 BB

Really? Again? Villain is the nittiest player in the pool, I wish we would have just run it pre because I even refused his offer to try and let me fold OTF postflop. Guess these are the folds that only crushers will be able to make.
PokerStars - €0.25 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 113.12 BB
SB: 99.84 BB
BB: 161.08 BB
UTG: 129.64 BB
Hero (MP): 301.36 BB
CO: 141.48 BB

SB posts SB 0.4 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has K K

fold, Hero raises to 2.24 BB, fold, fold, SB calls 1.84 BB, BB raises to 12 BB, Hero raises to 32.4 BB, fold, BB calls 20.4 BB

Flop: (67.04 BB, 2 players) 2 3 7
BB checks, Hero bets 31.04 BB, BB raises to 68 BB, Hero raises to 267.36 BB, BB calls 60.68 BB and is all-in

Turn: (324.4 BB, 2 players) 6

River: (324.4 BB, 2 players) J

BB shows A A (One Pair, Aces)
(Pre 82%, Flop 87%, Turn 95%)
Hero shows K K (One Pair, Kings)
(Pre 18%, Flop 13%, Turn 5%)
BB wins 316.4 BB
Rake paid 8 BB

Just a pair, please don't call.Very interesting spot against one of the top regs in the pool, I recently found out that I can use that sizing OTF. Turn OB feels okaish considering we bock some two pair/set combination having a 9 in it. River I was kinda lost but I felt like this was one of the worst hands I could have on the river and I didnt block any FD. I simmed it and it was GTO+ approved PogChamp.

PokerStars - €0.25 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 117.92 BB
SB: 147.84 BB
BB: 100 BB
Hero (UTG): 102.4 BB
MP: 78 BB
CO: 66.52 BB

SB posts SB 0.4 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has 9 8

Hero raises to 2.24 BB, fold, fold, fold, fold, BB calls 1.24 BB

Flop: (4.88 BB, 2 players) K A 7
BB checks, Hero bets 4.64 BB, BB calls 4.64 BB

Turn: (14.16 BB, 2 players) 9
BB checks, Hero bets 17.44 BB, BB calls 17.44 BB

River: (49.04 BB, 2 players) J
BB checks, Hero bets 78.08 BB and is all-in, BB calls 75.68 BB and is all-in

Hero shows 9 8 (One Pair, Nines)
(Pre 41%, Flop 10%, Turn 11%)
BB shows J A (Two Pair, Aces and Jacks)
(Pre 59%, Flop 90%, Turn 89%)
BB wins 192.4 BB
Rake paid 8 BB

Wait what? Bad reg going mental preflop and gets rewarded. Not even mad.

PokerStars - €0.25 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 105.4 BB
SB: 100.4 BB
BB: 146.28 BB
UTG: 124.08 BB
Hero (MP): 128.32 BB
CO: 162.48 BB

SB posts SB 0.4 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has K K

UTG raises to 3 BB, Hero raises to 9 BB, fold, fold, fold, fold, UTG raises to 28.4 BB, Hero raises to 128.32 BB and is all-in, UTG calls 95.68 BB and is all-in

Flop: (249.56 BB, 2 players) 3 7 4

Turn: (249.56 BB, 2 players) Q

River: (249.56 BB, 2 players) 2
Players agreed to run it twice.

Flop #2: (249.56 BB, 2 players) J 9 T

Turn #2: (249.56 BB, 2 players) J

River #2: (249.56 BB, 2 players) 8

UTG shows J A (High Card, Ace)
Board #1 (Pre 32%, Flop 8%, Turn 0%)
(Three of a Kind, Jacks)
Board #2 (Pre 34%, Flop 21%, Turn 87%)

Hero shows K K (Flush, King High)
Board #1 (Pre 68%, Flop 92%, Turn 100%)
(Two Pair, Kings and Jacks)
Board #2 (Pre 66%, Flop 79%, Turn 13%)

UTG wins 120.76 BB
Rake paid 8 BB
Hero wins 120.8 BB

I didnt come all the way here to fold A high. Can't really remember the action or villain, I can ony recall that I'm a station.

PokerStars - €0.25 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 97.28 BB
SB: 116.16 BB
BB: 227.36 BB
Hero (UTG): 268.4 BB
MP: 151.44 BB
CO: 130.16 BB

SB posts SB 0.4 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has J A

Hero raises to 2.24 BB, MP raises to 6 BB, fold, BTN calls 6 BB, fold, fold, Hero calls 3.76 BB

Flop: (19.4 BB, 3 players) 2 9 3
Hero checks, MP bets 9.2 BB, fold, Hero calls 9.2 BB

Turn: (37.8 BB, 2 players) A
Hero checks, MP bets 17.88 BB, Hero calls 17.88 BB

River: (73.56 BB, 2 players) 9
Hero checks, MP bets 52.16 BB, Hero calls 52.16 BB

MP shows J Q (One Pair, Nines)
(Pre 30%, Flop 14%, Turn 0%)
Hero shows J A (Two Pair, Aces and Nines)
(Pre 70%, Flop 86%, Turn 100%)
Hero wins 169.88 BB
Rake paid 8 BB

Thats it, I dont have more interesting hands, guess I'll post some srp pots for the next time.
Cheeeeeers!

PREFACE
Hey everyone, long time no see, uh? Yet another inconsistent 2p2 writer, who would have guessed Reading my previous posts I noticed that they were pretty long, I'll try to keep the next ones as short as possible so maybe some of you will enjoy them more. After the last update there hasnt been a lot of big changes: I still suck at poker, I tried to play on another site but sw and pool was horrible and even the rakeback doesnt justify it, I tried moving up in stakes but it isn't going too well... oh and yeah, I almost forgot, my country is on full lockdown so I'm going mental , even though I'm grateful that I can work from home and I'm healthy. The pool is getting fishier, that's why I've been trying to shoot higher stakes.
Interesting haaaands:

Villain was quite fishy outcome wasnt the best but overall I'm happy with my play, squeeze that value, after talking to the homies the err was prob that turn size should have been bigger in order to have lower srp by the river:

PokerStars - €0.50 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 5 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 216.08 BB
SB: 315.02 BB
Hero (BB): 158.94 BB
UTG: 109.86 BB
CO: 341.92 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has T A

fold, CO calls 1 BB, fold, SB calls 0.5 BB, Hero raises to 5 BB, CO calls 4 BB, SB calls 4 BB

Flop: (15 BB, 3 players) J Q 3
SB checks, Hero bets 10.64 BB, CO calls 10.64 BB, fold

Turn: (36.28 BB, 2 players) K
Hero bets 25.72 BB, CO calls 25.72 BB

River: (87.72 BB, 2 players) K
Hero bets 117.58 BB and is all-in, CO calls 117.58 BB



Another interesting spot vs what I think is a uber nit, I feel like we dont have enough sdv to just call and I kinda like bluffing not having any fd blockers and str8 blockers but AA is very hard to fold. I think one of the leaks I have is to think that villains thinks the same way I do, but they dont. They has pair they click ze call button.

PokerStars - €0.50 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 130.58 BB
SB: 180.4 BB
Hero (BB): 139.62 BB
UTG: 134.26 BB
MP: 76.88 BB
CO: 214.26 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has Q J

fold, fold, fold, BTN raises to 3.5 BB, fold, Hero calls 2.5 BB

Flop: (7.5 BB, 2 players) 5 Q T
Hero checks, BTN bets 4 BB, Hero calls 4 BB

Turn: (15.5 BB, 2 players) 8
Hero checks, BTN bets 9 BB, Hero calls 9 BB

River: (33.5 BB, 2 players) 5
Hero checks, BTN bets 17 BB, Hero raises to 123.12 BB and is all-in, BTN calls 97.08 BB and is all-in



I should never ever bluff rivers:
PokerStars - €0.50 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 114.62 BB
SB: 160.18 BB
Hero (BB): 147.6 BB
UTG: 57.36 BB
MP: 298.42 BB
CO: 137.34 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has T T

fold, fold, fold, BTN raises to 2.56 BB, fold, Hero raises to 10 BB, BTN calls 7.44 BB

Flop: (20.5 BB, 2 players) 3 K J
Hero bets 14.54 BB, BTN calls 14.54 BB

Turn: (49.58 BB, 2 players) T
Hero bets 35 BB, BTN calls 35 BB

River: (119.58 BB, 2 players) J
Hero bets 88.06 BB and is all-in, BTN calls 55.08 BB and is all-in



I should never ever bluff river pt2, even though I rly like this bluff, I'm pretty sure solvers would choose this combo, wouldnt they bois?
PokerStars - €0.50 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 148.2 BB
Hero (SB): 129.54 BB
BB: 104.78 BB
UTG: 74.26 BB
MP: 106.72 BB
CO: 103.9 BB

Hero posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has A K

fold, MP raises to 3 BB, fold, fold, Hero raises to 12 BB, fold, MP calls 9 BB

Flop: (25 BB, 2 players) J 6 4
Hero bets 11.58 BB, MP calls 11.58 BB

Turn: (48.16 BB, 2 players) Q
Hero bets 34.14 BB, MP calls 34.14 BB

River: (116.44 BB, 2 players) J
Hero bets 71.82 BB and is all-in, MP calls 49 BB and is all-in



I even solved this hand and ofc the solver said its a call but vs the usual reg that I face I guess its just a fold, shouldnt give them too much respect for having bluffs:

PokerStars - €0.50 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 134.64 BB
Hero (SB): 105.16 BB
BB: 102.5 BB
UTG: 123.1 BB
MP: 276.34 BB
CO: 137.42 BB

Hero posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has J Q

fold, fold, CO raises to 2.5 BB, fold, Hero raises to 10 BB, fold, CO calls 7.5 BB

Flop: (21 BB, 2 players) T Q 6
Hero bets 9.74 BB, CO calls 9.74 BB

Turn: (40.48 BB, 2 players) 9
Hero checks, CO bets 21 BB, Hero calls 21 BB

River: (82.48 BB, 2 players) T
Hero checks, CO bets 96.5 BB, Hero calls 64.42 BB and is all-in



I have a lot more hands where I call the river and lose but not gonna bother you with those.

Things I should improve on:

• Calling less rivers...way less.
• Dont bluff the fishes or the uber nits as their software doesnt have a fold button.
• Dont level yourself against regs, they just bet value combos.
• Try to find more ineresting spots to 3barrell air, maybe A high boards are not that good, expecially in 3bet pots, any suggestions of interesting spot to study?
• Isolate less wider vs fishes.
• Buy PIO instead of using shitty GTO+ but I'm just too poor.

Bonus hand for who stayed til here vs mega recreational "I think Q high is a good hand, who cares about 200bbs anyways":
PokerStars - €0.50 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

Hero (BTN): 207.42 BB
SB: 222.4 BB
BB: 60 BB
UTG: 131.78 BB
MP: 245.58 BB
CO: 179.32 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has J Q

fold, MP raises to 3.5 BB, fold, Hero raises to 11 BB, fold, fold, MP calls 7.5 BB

Flop: (23.5 BB, 2 players) 9 5 5
MP checks, Hero bets 7.34 BB, MP raises to 44 BB, Hero calls 36.66 BB

Turn: (111.5 BB, 2 players) 2
MP bets 53 BB, Hero raises to 152.42 BB and is all-in, MP calls 99.42 BB

River: (416.34 BB, 2 players) A

Gl buddy, I'm here rooting for u. Will be following

Thanks mate! Youre my first non-gif reply to this blog . I think you also earned your blog a new follower

Yw buddy, your posts look like a real fighter and ur always trying to find ur own mistakes, that's most important in poker Keep it up!

Preface
Hey guys, remember my latest post when I mentioned I would have written shorter posts? Well today we're not following that rule: I had one of my worst session yesterday, not necessarily because I lost ze money but because I felt rly bad during the whole session, it was very close to a depression state and I said to myself "Well it might get better at one point" but it really didn't, fortunately I didnt go full degen mode and after 30mins or so I stopped and went watching BCS. The goal of this update is to understand why I felt bad during this session, I think the main point is that I cant digest the fact that during bad sessions I'll have to lose more hands that I win and I need to make some tough folds. Another reason is that the tables are really ****ing good and I can't accept the fact that I'm losing to recreational players. I'll try to recreate the timeline with the hands, I'm still trying to understand whats the prettiest way to show hands on 2p2, sometimes they appear very "verbosely".
Let me know what you guys think is the best way. Every comment on any HH is very appreciated for my mental state Let's get into it.

Introduction
I moved down to 25nl because I was losing at 50nl, cant tell if variance or I just suck too much, I respect variance and the poker gods and moving down isn't really an issue, but sometimes I feel like I'm losing money to rake.
Chapter 1: Running pure
Session started in a great way, I've developed quite an image in my pool so I'm able to get some thin value even when i shouldnt be able to, amazing that I could go as far as shoving AK here and still get the maximum:

PokerStars - €0.25 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

SB: 64.72 BB
BB: 135.44 BB
Hero (UTG): 125.56 BB
MP: 72.4 BB
CO: 26.68 BB
BTN: 95.4 BB

SB posts SB 0.4 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has T A

Hero raises to 2.24 BB, fold, CO calls 2.24 BB, fold, SB calls 1.84 BB, BB calls 1.24 BB

Flop: (8.96 BB, 4 players) Q 7 T
SB checks, BB checks, Hero bets 4.16 BB, fold, fold, BB calls 4.16 BB

Turn: (17.28 BB, 2 players) A
BB checks, Hero bets 21.28 BB, BB calls 21.28 BB

River: (59.84 BB, 2 players) 3
BB checks, Hero bets 97.88 BB and is all-in, BB calls 97.88 BB



Hey, look, another cooler in my favour taratata I'm loving it:
PokerStars - €0.25 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BB: 100 BB
Hero (UTG): 104.12 BB
MP: 100 BB
CO: 142.28 BB
BTN: 59.32 BB
SB: 95.44 BB

SB posts SB 0.4 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has A A

Hero raises to 2.24 BB, fold, CO calls 2.24 BB, fold, fold, BB calls 1.24 BB

Flop: (7.12 BB, 3 players) 5 5 J
BB checks, Hero bets 3.32 BB, fold, BB raises to 10 BB, Hero calls 6.68 BB

Turn: (27.12 BB, 2 players) 3
BB checks, Hero checks

River: (27.12 BB, 2 players) A
BB bets 23 BB, Hero raises to 91.88 BB and is all-in, BB calls 64.76 BB and is all-in


Chapter Two: Am I punting?
Things are getting dicey, I remember that I can have a shoving range given positions but I think I completely ****ed up the board texture so I think this is a punt but I'm not sure, what do you guys think?
PokerStars - €0.25 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 5 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

Hero (BB): 200.16 BB
UTG: 136.64 BB
CO: 112.68 BB
BTN: 69.44 BB
SB: 67.32 BB

SB posts SB 0.4 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has K K

fold, CO raises to 3 BB, fold, fold, Hero raises to 12 BB, CO calls 9 BB

Flop: (24.4 BB, 2 players) T 9 8
Hero bets 188.16 BB and is all-in, CO calls 100.68 BB and is all-in

Turn: (225.76 BB, 2 players) 8

River: (225.76 BB, 2 players) 3



Absolute punt, I thought I've studied a similar spot in the past where the A should be a really good card for us as villain shouldnt have many aces that flaot the flop but my flop sizing was very shitty and I'm literally blocking his folding range that should be mainly composed of pocket pairs, let me know if my logic has some flaws:
PokerStars - €0.25 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 5 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 252.8 BB
Hero (SB): 126.68 BB
BB: 84.92 BB
UTG: 169.32 BB
CO: 100 BB

Hero posts SB 0.4 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has 9 9

fold, CO raises to 3 BB, fold, Hero raises to 12 BB, fold, CO calls 9 BB

Flop: (25 BB, 2 players) 2 8 7
Hero bets 11.6 BB, CO calls 11.6 BB

Turn: (48.2 BB, 2 players) A
Hero bets 103.08 BB and is all-in, CO calls 76.4 BB and is all-in

River: (201 BB, 2 players) 3
Players agreed to run it twice.

River #2: (201 BB, 2 players) K


Chapter Three: Breakpoint.
This is the breakpoint, u can notice my mood getting worse and my plays after this will be ****, thing is I experienced a similar hand at 50nl where it was 3 way and I lost AA to KK with two kings of the ****ing flop, so this really hurts.
PokerStars - €0.25 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BB: 96.24 BB
UTG: 62.64 BB
Hero (MP): 100 BB
CO: 107.96 BB
BTN: 165.92 BB
SB: 94.88 BB

SB posts SB 0.4 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has A A

UTG calls 1 BB, Hero raises to 3.24 BB, CO raises to 12.12 BB, fold, fold, fold, UTG calls 11.12 BB, Hero raises to 30.32 BB, CO raises to 107.96 BB and is all-in, UTG calls 50.52 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 69.68 BB and is all-in

Flop: (264.04 BB, 3 players) T 8 K

Turn: (264.04 BB, 3 players) K

River: (264.04 BB, 3 players) 5



Imagine having 45% eq. on the flop with my hand:
PokerStars - €0.25 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

CO: 58.88 BB
BTN: 28.24 BB
Hero (SB): 111.12 BB
BB: 122.4 BB
UTG: 48.6 BB
MP: 121.2 BB

Hero posts SB 0.4 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has K K

UTG calls 1 BB, fold, CO calls 1 BB, BTN calls 1 BB, Hero raises to 6 BB, fold, UTG calls 5 BB, fold, BTN calls 5 BB

Flop: (20 BB, 3 players) 8 Q 9
Hero bets 14.2 BB, UTG raises to 42.6 BB and is all-in, fold, Hero calls 28.4 BB

Turn: (105.2 BB, 2 players) 7

River: (105.2 BB, 2 players) T




Why not call the most underbluffed spot in the history with no real blockers to overpairs?
PokerStars - €0.25 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

CO: 212.68 BB
BTN: 81.08 BB
Hero (SB): 100 BB
BB: 109.2 BB
UTG: 28 BB
MP: 189.32 BB

Hero posts SB 0.4 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has T 9

fold, fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to 3 BB, BB raises to 7 BB, Hero calls 4 BB

Flop: (14 BB, 2 players) J T J
Hero checks, BB bets 6.64 BB, Hero calls 6.64 BB

Turn: (27.28 BB, 2 players) J
Hero checks, BB bets 12.92 BB, Hero calls 12.92 BB

River: (53.12 BB, 2 players) 5
Hero checks, BB bets 25.12 BB, Hero calls 25.12 BB



Hey look, a terrible call preflop led me to win a pot yuhuu:
PokerStars - €0.25 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

MP: 93.4 BB
CO: 216.76 BB
Hero (BTN): 213.6 BB
SB: 81.56 BB
BB: 113.24 BB
UTG: 100 BB

SB posts SB 0.4 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has 6 6

UTG raises to 3.4 BB, fold, CO calls 3.4 BB, Hero calls 3.4 BB, fold, fold

Flop: (11.6 BB, 3 players) K 7 6
UTG bets 8 BB, fold, Hero raises to 24 BB, UTG raises to 96.6 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 72.6 BB

Turn: (204.8 BB, 2 players) 9

River: (204.8 BB, 2 players) A
Players agreed to run it twice.

Turn #2: (204.8 BB, 2 players) 6

River #2: (204.8 BB, 2 players) J


Sir, you can have the stack you just lost back. Even here, I'm ****ing weak, he clearly has a full with that line but yet, I'm calling because "Top of the range, I block 99 yayadaydyady"
PokerStars - €0.25 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

UTG: 95.08 BB
MP: 220.08 BB
Hero (CO): 309 BB
BTN: 72.04 BB
SB: 112.24 BB
BB: 100 BB

SB posts SB 0.4 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has 9 A

fold, fold, Hero raises to 2.24 BB, fold, fold, BB calls 1.24 BB

Flop: (4.88 BB, 2 players) 3 9 2
BB bets 4 BB, Hero raises to 12 BB, BB calls 8 BB

Turn: (28.88 BB, 2 players) 5
BB checks, Hero bets 9 BB, BB calls 9 BB

River: (46.88 BB, 2 players) 5
BB bets 76.76 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 76.76 BB


Punt.
PokerStars - €0.25 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

CO: 62.08 BB
Hero (BTN): 131.16 BB
SB: 146.04 BB
BB: 158.64 BB
UTG: 79 BB
MP: 78.68 BB

SB posts SB 0.4 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has K A

UTG calls 1 BB, fold, fold, Hero raises to 4 BB, SB calls 3.6 BB, fold, UTG calls 3 BB

Flop: (13 BB, 3 players) 2 7 4
SB checks, UTG checks, Hero bets 9.24 BB, fold, UTG calls 9.24 BB

Turn: (31.48 BB, 2 players) 2
UTG checks, Hero bets 16.36 BB, UTG raises to 43.72 BB, Hero raises to 117.92 BB and is all-in, UTG calls 22.04 BB and is all-in

River: (163 BB, 2 players) Q


Dunno if I can fold anywhere in this hand:
PokerStars - €0.25 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

UTG: 26 BB
MP: 76 BB
Hero (CO): 209.8 BB
BTN: 86.68 BB
SB: 108.24 BB
BB: 175.6 BB

SB posts SB 0.4 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has A J

fold, MP raises to 3 BB, Hero raises to 5 BB, fold, fold, fold, MP calls 2 BB

Flop: (11.4 BB, 2 players) 9 4 J
MP bets 5.4 BB, Hero raises to 16.2 BB, MP calls 10.8 BB

Turn: (43.8 BB, 2 players) 2
MP bets 24 BB, Hero raises to 188.6 BB and is all-in, MP calls 30.8 BB and is all-in

River: (153.4 BB, 2 players) Q


Final Chapter: Resignation
Aaaand we're coming to a end. This is the hand that set an ending point to my session, if I was playing my A game I would have just called the flop raise and I would have prob folded somewhere between turn and river, but I was so annoyed at the fact that I was losing every monster pot that I just punted vs a range that CLEARLY beats mine, during the hand I justified it saying "Yeah well, I have a club, maybe runner runner flush"... sure, u dickhead.
PokerStars - €0.25 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BB: 100 BB
Hero (UTG): 105.88 BB
MP: 101 BB
CO: 216.08 BB
BTN: 218.28 BB
SB: 87.16 BB

SB posts SB 0.4 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has A A

Hero raises to 2.24 BB, fold, fold, fold, SB calls 1.84 BB, BB calls 1.24 BB

Flop: (6.72 BB, 3 players) 9 T 3
SB checks, BB checks, Hero bets 4.76 BB, SB raises to 9.52 BB, fold, Hero raises to 21.96 BB, SB raises to 34.4 BB, Hero raises to 103.64 BB and is all-in, SB calls 50.52 BB and is all-in

Turn: (176.56 BB, 2 players) 7

River: (176.56 BB, 2 players) 2



And this was the hand of a very bad adventure lasted 152 hands. At this point I feel like I'm stuck, as I dont rly know how to fix these mistakes, and I can't find other leaks by myself, so I feel like I will always be stuck.

If any of you got reading up to this point, thanks a lot for partecipating to my therapy session, any kind of advice, even the harshest, is highly appreciated.

Good luck during your own adventure boys!

Are you ever going to play some PLO cash?

I don't think I'll be playing some PLO cash, mainly because I still suck at NL so learning a completely new game would be pretty time consuming and I'd have to start from the bottom as I dont even know how to read the board at the gggggreat game

After reading some hhs. I feel that u are lacking a lot fundamental of modern 6max cash game. Personal avice would be fining a coach with reasonable price and start to fix yuor leaks before continue. My 2cents.

Hey thanks a lot for the suggestion mate, I wanna use part of my BR for that instead of IRL money and I don't know if I can find a decent coach for a limited price. May I ask you which hands you didn't really like so I can look into them?

Hey guys long time no see again, it's the end of the month so I thought lets have a peak at the results and maybe post them on the blog. Pretty mediocre month overall, last time I wrote that I moved down to 25nl because I was having a bad time at 50nl, this is what happened at 50nl:
50zoom

50regular tables

Aaaand this is what happened this month at 25(I'd be a decent rakeback grinder tbf):
25regular tables

25zoom

At one point during the zoom grind I thought that something was clicking and I was finally crushing then it didn't rly happened, I guess I was just being lucky. For that reason I thought it would be better to just grind zoom and leave regular tables behind, big mistake? I think a clear leak in my graphs is that redline going dooooown, still I think I'm probably one of the few guys who bluffs a lot and that sometimes ends in getting insane calldowns from villain but if thats the pace of my redline I guess I'm not bluffing/folding enough. This is still a poker blog so lets get into some fun hands from the month for the boysss:

Getting clicked in a 4b 400bb pot isn't usually a good sign, I couldnt find the fold though given this guy was a fish:

PokerStars - €0.25 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 136.28 BB
SB: 240.36 BB
BB: 73.24 BB
UTG: 262.6 BB
MP: 106.56 BB
Hero (CO): 380.48 BB

SB posts SB 0.4 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has A A

fold, fold, Hero raises to 2.24 BB, fold, SB raises to 4.48 BB, fold, Hero raises to 13.44 BB, SB calls 8.96 BB

Flop: (27.88 BB, 2 players) 2 9 7
SB checks, Hero bets 12.92 BB, SB calls 12.92 BB

Turn: (53.72 BB, 2 players) 8
SB checks, Hero bets 38 BB, SB raises to 77 BB, Hero calls 39 BB

River: (207.72 BB, 2 players) K
SB bets 137 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 137 BB

SB shows 8 8 (Three of a Kind, Eights)
(Pre 20%, Flop 12%, Turn 95%)
Hero shows A A (One Pair, Aces)
(Pre 80%, Flop 88%, Turn 5%)
SB wins 473.72 BB
Rake paid 8 BB


You do you:

PokerStars - €0.25 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

Hero (BTN): 503.68 BB
SB: 78.08 BB
BB: 112.44 BB
UTG: 119.2 BB
MP: 39.68 BB
CO: 206.92 BB

SB posts SB 0.4 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has Q Q

fold, MP calls 1 BB, CO raises to 4.4 BB, Hero raises to 14 BB, fold, fold, MP calls 13 BB, CO calls 9.6 BB

Flop: (43.4 BB, 3 players) 6 3 5
MP checks, CO checks, Hero bets 20.12 BB, MP raises to 25.68 BB and is all-in, CO calls 25.68 BB, Hero calls 5.56 BB

Turn: (120.44 BB, 3 players) Q
CO checks, Hero bets 75.12 BB, CO calls 75.12 BB

River: (270.68 BB, 3 players) 2
CO bets 92.12 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 92.12 BB

CO shows 4 3 (Straight, Six High)

Main Pot [120.44 BB]: (Pre 19%, Flop 46%, Turn 19%)
Side Pot#1 [334.48 BB]: (Pre 22%, Flop 50%, Turn 19%)

Hero shows Q Q (Three of a Kind, Queens)

Main Pot [120.44 BB]: (Pre 63%, Flop 45%, Turn 81%)
Side Pot#1 [334.48 BB]: (Pre 78%, Flop 50%, Turn 81%)

MP shows 9 9 (One Pair, Nines)

Main Pot [120.44 BB]: (Pre 18%, Flop 9%, Turn 0%)

CO wins 446.92 BB
Rake paid 8 BB


Overbet and somehow get paid:

PokerStars - €0.25 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

Hero (BTN): 946.6 BB
SB: 252.56 BB
BB: 231.36 BB
UTG: 127.92 BB
MP: 292.08 BB
CO: 180.68 BB

SB posts SB 0.4 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has T K

fold, MP raises to 2 BB, fold, Hero raises to 7.2 BB, SB calls 6.8 BB, fold, MP calls 5.2 BB

Flop: (22.6 BB, 3 players) J Q A
SB checks, MP checks, Hero bets 10.48 BB, SB calls 10.48 BB, fold

Turn: (43.56 BB, 2 players) 6
SB checks, Hero bets 53.56 BB, SB raises to 234.88 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 181.32 BB

River: (513.32 BB, 2 players) 5

SB shows J Q (Two Pair, Queens and Jacks)
(Pre 38%, Flop 18%, Turn 9%)
Hero shows T K (Straight, Ace High)
(Pre 62%, Flop 82%, Turn 91%)
Hero wins 505.32 BB
Rake paid 8 BB


Wait why are chips going your way sir?

PokerStars - €0.25 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 175.04 BB
SB: 225.48 BB
BB: 50.44 BB
UTG: 102.6 BB
MP: 175.4 BB
Hero (CO): 225.52 BB

SB posts SB 0.4 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has Q Q

fold, MP raises to 3 BB, Hero raises to 9 BB, fold, SB calls 8.6 BB, fold, MP calls 6 BB

Flop: (28 BB, 3 players) 7 Q 7
SB checks, MP checks, Hero bets 8.72 BB, SB calls 8.72 BB, MP calls 8.72 BB

Turn: (54.16 BB, 3 players) 8
SB checks, MP checks, Hero bets 16.88 BB, SB calls 16.88 BB, MP raises to 33.76 BB, Hero calls 16.88 BB, SB calls 16.88 BB

River: (155.44 BB, 3 players) J
SB checks, MP bets 123.92 BB and is all-in, Hero raises to 174.04 BB and is all-in, fold

Hero shows Q Q (Full House, Queens full of Sevens)
(Pre 80%, Flop 4%, Turn 2%)
MP shows 7 7 (Four of a Kind, Sevens)
(Pre 20%, Flop 96%, Turn 98%)
MP wins 395.28 BB
Rake paid 8 BB


I even got some coaching lessons from a 100nl reg from my pool but felt like it was a scam, he just gave me some guidelines on how to approach some textures OTF from different positions but he didnt rly explain the concepts behind it and I said "yeah lets resume those lessons in the future..." . On the other hand I got a RIO sub and I'm rly enjoying saulo10/sauce videos, its insane how deeply they understand the game, expecially sauce.

Lifewise the situation is pretty shitty, I can't do any running because everything is still closed around me, I haven't seen my friends in a while because I'm kinda scared to go outside and my 9-18 CS job is slowly killing me from the inside as everyday I wake-up hoping that those working hours pass fast and I can play some poker. Then I get on the tables and I get massacred I really saw something in poker that could get me freedom IRL and make me change my job but I'm clearly not talented enough for it even though I spend a lot of hours on it. I kinda wanna put a deadline on it and just quit poker and do smth else instead but as of now I'm enjoying the grind/study with gto+ routine so I'll just keep going.
Little footnote: I finished reading Atomic Habits, very interesting book, and now I'm going through Charlie's Almanack.

Hope you all run good, peace!