Those „tables not popping up“ things only happen on non-stars sites for me.
Basicly on all sites except stars and winamax (which has a surprisingly nice software).

Now for the most important stuff: can we please get korea picures/ food pics/ writeups about the live there etc. Would be very appreciated

are you looking those evbb luckadjust number after each session ? I don't think that makes any sense tbh since ICM. you can be running super hot in midphases and then just lose every flip in deepruns and look the graph and see you runned hot while in fact you didn't or the other way around.

I've had this happen to me. A couple things I've noticed is if I'm the last player to register a SnG sometimes my table pops up only after the first hand has been played on the table. It's happened to me late registering some of those $30 18man Progressive Knockouts as well where I think it doesn't seat me initially and attempts to find me a spot but once my spot is found it doesn't always open up my table. I'm not sure it happens as often in MTT late registers but I pay closer attention to those games. One thing I try to do now just to make sure they always open up is pop up the lobbies and pay closer attention to the "seat me" or whatever it says inside the lobbies. If the tables fails to pop that will still show "seat me" inside the tourney lobby.

It's not only this but there seems to be a tourney epidemic especially on Stars of players deliberately abusing their timebanks in an effort to not only survive but lower the average effective BBs in the tournament. I've never seen so many sub 10bb stacks clinging onto life in their tournaments using this strategy and often joke to myself that they must be paid by PokerStars to lower the edge and attainable ROIs of all players in the tournament. I don't believe that is the case of course but it's difficult not to notice that we play far fewer hands at some of these levels before the hand for hand.

Congratulations on your daughter Sophie's first birthday. I have a son that just turned four years old. It's amazing watching them grow up and discover this world and see how much joy they get out of all the little things in life. I know it's sort of cliche and people say to treasure these moments but as a parent it's so true and it's an amazing time and it really does go by so fast. My son is already in his second year of preschool and I can remember giving him a cupcake with one candle in it for his 1st birthday like it was yesterday. Enjoy the journey

As a short stack during the itm bubble you have to tighten your shoving/calling ranges because you can not take marginal(in some cases very profitable) +chev decisions during the bubble as it's -$ev. So you want to play as few hands as possible and pay less antes/blinds to prevent your stack. So I don't see where is this a problem? Of course it's bad for a big stacks because they have a reverse situation, since all of the short stacks have to play tighter, big stacks can abuse them and print chips. Everyone act in their own best interest.

This is it. What we strive for. Updates to come after the first Sunday, best of luck to all!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvlTJrNJ5lA

glgl

Korea's not really a big deal to me any more, been here for 7 years off and on and I'm done with that Seoul street life you know? Never really been the type to take pictures of food or travels either but I'll keep my eye out for any good spots

Yes I look at it every session like a fish, multiple times.

Thanks CNY3 I'm happy for you and your son.

I've talked with many players and it seems like the table not popping up is a common occurence. One of my good friends at the company who works as a product manager DMed me and asked for logs the next time the problem comes up. So I'm hoping we can catch it.

Yes there was an epidemic with players stalling but that's a different discussion for a different day and I don't want to derail this thread with that. Here's a post with Mike Jones bringing it up. Like iAudrius says below there will always be a mix of self-preservation + multitables like me who time out as well

https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/s...9&postcount=56

YugiohPro In the Flesh Tour: Scoop Day 1 Update

Decided to spice it up with something new. I'm going to be doing a daily update with my SCOOP grind. I'll post notable runs, some BBV, some moaning, etc. The idea with the name "In the Flesh Tour" is you know when Britney Spears used to meow and then stare at you and lick her lips and say something naughty. That's me. Picture me. In the flesh.

Also just realized my references and Youtube links are super withered, oh well.

I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings

So I figured it out. Recently I've been in a bit of a malaise and grinding the first day of SCOOP boy oh boy was it energizing. Shoutout to my main men MJ23, Big L, and Triple J James Jarrett for putting together an amazing schedule. This is what the people are clamoring for why wait for SCOOP as an excuse? Put out this kind of hot fire in the daily schedule too please. Also a shoutout to PartyP for making a massive KO Series to capitalize on the SCOOP hype. Opportunistic!

I've realized I long to be a magnificent tournament beast and I'm not meant to be wallowing away in offpeak $55 PKO's with 4K guaranteed land and $33's with 2K prize pools. I think grinding such small prize pools has been doing a number on me and this SCOOP/KO Series has really snapped me out of it. I really, really enjoy the thrill of the big bird hunt and I find it very likely that I'll be going to the WSOP this summer after SCOOP because the Korean hours are so awful for peak grinding.

I started loading at 9pm sharp today (SCOOP-02 Kickoff time) and boy was it exciting. My pump was primed and I had some shark music playing in the background and I was going in. I was sizing up each of my tables and most of them were just butter soft and free. I remember that T 54 T 97s War Challenge thread and man was he a beast. Just firing SHOTS at all the sweet cheek ass players and their nut peddling skullduggery.

Results

39th in $2100 KO Series 03-HR for $6105
20th in $215 KO Series 01-H for $1601
4th in $109 WPN Big 10 for $2880





The graph isn't updated I just got 4th in a $109 on WPN for $2880 and there will be a bunch of slower tournaments like the $2100 on Stars that will trickle in and punish me. The first set of EV numbers is all stack sizes and the second is 0-40bb.

I started off the day quite well.

First Bustout: Ended up busting out of my first SCOOP event, a $55, with top boat AAATT vs Quad Tens for a 300bb pot

Rough Beats Vol. 1: The $530 I was zoomin and accumuin and then I played a hand poorly with top 2 I think and then got got in an absolutely sleazy way with 888 vs JThh on Qh7s8d 4h where villain XRed flop and shoved turn for my 50+bb stack.

Thin/Bad Raise/Call Count: 2

I was also doing quite well in the $1K SCOOP PKO and almost got that sweet cash. Ended up making a thin/bad raise/call with 33 vs a reshove and then another thin/bad raise/call with TT vs a cold 4-bet. This will be a recurring theme in my recaps. I swear the next time I see another dude open shove a premium for 20bb or reshove the nuts for 30bb in a PKO I will slap my desk and call it Sally. I feel like these guys just spazz shovel it in because they can just say "oh it's a PKO" even though nobody calls correctly to begin with. Just weak af and I lose some cells in my gonads each time I witness this reprehensible nittery.

Caged in the 2K: One of the big exceptions to this sweet cheeked reg fest was the $2,100 1M Event. IDK if the field was just that tough or I pooped in the wrong cubicle but I drew Mr. Tim Caum on my left and a bunch of other strong regulars. Then Epiphany showed up and roughed me up in a pot and then Caecilius showed up too! Two of my favorite content producers in the flesh and for sure the worst table I've played all year. This is a good time to talk about my game selection during SCOOP.

Minimum Prize Pool Required

$10K- Will play the main event
$5K's- Won't play these unless I bink big
$2K's- $1M+
$1K's- $300k+
$530- $150k+

I actually ended up skipping a bunch of $530's on Party today and realized after the fact it was a bit incongruous to be skipping these but playing the $1k 300k's. Moving forward I'll be firing any $530 with 150k+ in prize pool because I might as well get stuck for all of it during this series.

Conclusion: F U SCOOP Day 1 (But I still love you thanks for the thrills)

So I don't have any day 2's to look forward to but I'll be back for the Monday grind. Will skip the $1K Win the Button and fire the rest.

Meanwhile on PartyPoker I was making a RUN in the $2100 1M PKO. With around 40 left I was in the hunt and got in QQ against TT for a $2K+ bounty, whiffed that, then raised a hand and lost with QT vs Q7 on Q7x vs a shorter stack. And then I busted with K8 shortly after. That one was really painful I saw the gleaming 84k+ first prize (ended up being 180k+ to the winner) and I was so close and ITM to taste it. Cashed for $6100.

I also got 20th in one of the big $215 KO fests where first ended up with something like 34K. I cashed for $1600.

As you can see by the EV charts I was getting destroyed all day in the mid to endgame spots. Would have been really nice to hold in the $2100 but alas.

Onward to Day 2

Game selection/table count/flow was pretty good. I played at least 12 hours and Scope is showing 93 games, so even at 100 games it means my table count was decent. I ended up skipping pretty much every $22-$33 today and using $55's as my max late registrations. Pretty much mandatory when you're firing $2100's I think.

EV was strong and I think I'm playing pretty well. I wish I could just clone myself or assemble the Infinity Stones and go back in time and play Sundays over and over. I'm going to be so sad when SCOOP is over I'll write a love sonnet to SCOOP when it's all done. For now I will enjoy the moment. We'll see what the next days bring. Best of luck to you and yours!

Scoop Day 2 Update

Bit of a frustrating day and I feel my energy levels flagging unfortunately. Which shouldn't be happening since I started at 2AM and it's 10:37 AM now but I played a lot of 6-Max today and did a lot of grinding yesterday. I'll have to take a rest break after Tuesday if I can't maintain the kind of focus I'm looking for.

Got off to an awful start ended up getting in QQ/AK+ versus better four times within the hour in all of my higher stakes stuff for full 50-100BB+ stacks. Had to rebuy in the BBHR and the $1,050 KO Fest 300K losing with QQ in both. I covered too so it would have been nice to suck out on some fools.

Speaking of high stakes stuff I made some thin fires that I'm not sure on. I skipped the $1K WTB 300k Scoop event because I don't like the format while multi-tabling. I ended up playing the $1K 300K on Party for 2 bullets because I busted the first one in level 2. It was a 6-max PKO. Being PKO will lower variance and then being 6-Max is good if you feel you have an edge short handed. But the fields were quite tough no real soft spots.

I ended up rebuilding in the $530 BBHR and the Monday $215 6-Max and they were my two exciting runs for the day after bubbling the $530 on Party as well with a lot in bounties. I also finally qualified for the $215 Phase. I might be in for 8+ bullets in that one so it feels good!

Notable Runs

42nd in BBHR for $1562 + $883. Easily $50k+ up top in this one. I lost a key flip with 55 vs AQ for another $800 bounty and that left me with 1bb.

20th in Monday 6-Max for $1131. $34k up top this one hit a massive 200k prize pool which is double the guarantee. I ended up misplaying a spot I think, going for way too thin value. It's really a shame playing quite well and building stacks and then just lapsing focus briefly in one moment.

9th Big 100 on ES. Egption got me here. I'm a fan of his game for sure along with Pav and Buehlero.

PokerStars - 2000/4000 Ante 500 NL - Holdem - 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

SB: 45.8 BB
BB: 9.24 BB
UTG: 21.15 BB
UTG+1: 70.04 BB
Hero (MP): 36.9 BB
MP+1: 36.29 BB
MP+2: 54.52 BB
CO: 33.44 BB
BTN: 22.62 BB

9 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.62 BB) Hero has A J

fold, UTG+1 raises to 2.28 BB, Hero calls 2.28 BB, fold, fold, fold, BTN calls 2.28 BB, fold, fold

Flop: (9.46 BB, 3 players) T 9 A
UTG+1 bets 3.12 BB, Hero calls 3.12 BB, fold

Turn: (15.71 BB, 2 players) 7
UTG+1 bets 5.18 BB, Hero calls 5.18 BB

River: (26.08 BB, 2 players) 8
UTG+1 bets 32 BB, Hero calls 26.18 BB and is all-in

UTG+1 shows Q J (Straight, Queen High)
(Pre 26%, Flop 19%, Turn 14%)
Hero shows A J (Straight, Jack High)
(Pre 74%, Flop 81%, Turn 86%)
UTG+1 wins 78.45 BB

This hand's a pretty nice illustration of how much luck there is in tournaments that's not tracked in EV. If you track the EV from street to street it was good to be me but the last street is all that matters. Also say we give him the QhJs. Strong players are probably barreling off the 3rd heart runout with all of this leverage. Anyway nice hand for him hope he won it.

I've decided not to sweat the fires too much but I'm not going to be looking at or posting day to day financial results in the thread. I think it'll be good to get into the habit of just ignoring my balances. Even if SCOOP doesn't go well and I dust a bunch I had a nice six figure padding to start with and I'm getting better week by week. It's also interesting to me that you can win something like the BBHR for 35K+ bounties and then your entire SCOOP is almost paid for. Or you can win something like the $2K 1 Million and then you're rich. I'm in the hunt day to day and that's all you can ask for really.

I'm still just getting nut peddled on left and right in all spots and dimensions. Now I'm in a few tournaments I don't want to be in. The $162 Builder, Gladiator $109, Late Great $88, and the $88 15K Mega Stack on WPN. I really should be resting for tomorrow but what can I say. I loaded these when I had the $215 6-Max and $530 BBHR up since I was hoping for a deep run.

Hands: 6291
EV BB/100: 0.38
BB/100: 0.22
Chips Adjusted: -572k
Chips Won: -1.5m

Scoop Day 3 Update

I'm excited to announce we (not just me but me + all of you) got our first SCOOP cash today. It was the $22 6-Max that I max late registered but all journeys, no matter how far, begin with a single step.

Had a pretty good session today my focus was sharp and I felt quite alert for all of it. No huge mistakes really and I cut it short to not be stuck in offpeak NA tournaments so I can rest and be pretty for tomorrow. In the middle I stone bubbled quite a few tournaments to nonsense. It's getting kind of annoying losing so much preflop ev to outright knavery. I also keep running JJ+/AK into better for stacks which isn't good.

Notable Runs

- 3rd in Big 215 for $3513. Was quite a tough final table but all the good players busted and I was left 4 handed with some boosted animals. They played some ridiculous hands. I notice a lot of times people wait until short-handed to reveal their true colors. The long story short of the final table is this:

Reg 1 -3.94 bb/100 adjusted, +64.71 actual. -135k luck adjusted, +402k.
Reg 2 -30.26 bb/100 adjusted, +33.18 actual. -99k luck adjusted, +249k.
Me A sad face and a punctured erection

It wasn't just me that suffered. Noble players such as Sasuke got got as well. Oh well, better luck next time.

- 70th Bounty Builder High Roller for $1031+$840. I lost a really big hand with QQ vs saint bencb's AJs approaching the bubble. It lowered my stack utility quite a bit even though I ended up taking him out later for a min bounty. What a nit. Everytime I see him at the tables I hear his voice in my head saying yah yah. He really has such a rich voice. Truely elite. I rebuilt after this setback but then lost a few flips again. One of these days I will win like 8 more flips than I deserve and it will be glorious.

I still feel quite fresh and realized the other day that I lucksacked a healthy amount of BTC at $5k or so that's now up to $8k. So in a way my poker downswing has been counter balanced by this hot crypto action that I have little to no clue about. I'll just chalk that up to the big man looking out for me and be thankful for these blessings.

I'm very excited for tomorrow! Table count was probably less than ideal today so I will go through my list of tournaments played and make some cuts.

Day 3
Hands: 6369
EV bb/100: 2.39
bb/100: 4.25
Chips Adjusted: -575k
Chips Won: -2.1m

All SCOOP
Hands: 25628
EV bb/100: 10.66
bb/100: 7.41
Chips Adjusted: 1.68m
Chips Won: -7m

Lold hard at bencb „yah yah“ inf in your head so true

Also vamo BTC

Scoop Day 4 Update

It's been a very rough month. The doomswitch started from April 15 and I've been getting destroyed at the tables. Ideally this downswing wouldn't be happening (it's quite large now) but it's important for me to keep perspective. I'm still up a very healthy chunk since leaving my job and I think if you told old me that I'd be +90k or something at the 5 month point I would have snap accepted this.

I'm handling this swing a lot better than I did previously. I think the key difference is I still think my future is very bright. In 2015/2016 when I was getting dusted I knew I was not very good and I didn't necessarily see a light at the end of the tunnel. This time is different and it starts with the ev and underlying metrics I guess. Yes I'm getting hosed in the high stakes games but I can always just drop down and game select vigorigorously and hopefully get there.com on some fools.

Speaking of the high stakes games I was making a run in the Party $1K 300K today and realized how tough the competition is in these types of games and on Party in general. I've also noticed that my winrate is lowest on Winamax, then Party, then the other sites. I know Winamax has had problems with bots at times and it's also short handed so having elite regulars have position on you is very bad. I really think I need to cut the High Roller from my schedule and something about that site just feels off to me. Same with WPN at the super high stakes when you run deep. Some of these regulars just have too good results with too good metrics I think.

Having said all this, at high stakes (say $200+) yes my winrate is quite lower, about 33-50% what it normally is give or take, but still quite healthy. It's hard to estimate the true winrate especially with all of the preflop coolers I'm taking but I'd put my short stack game up against most lineups. I'm just in a stretch right now where I'm running very unfortunate. 0-40bb stacks at $200+ I'm at 4.14 expected and -9.49 actual over only 5,354 hands. I've also gotten in the top 40 of 3x $2K's on Party with easily 6 figures to first.

I'm learning some expensive lessons right now. I think playing high requires a different approach and it's not something that should be taken lightly, especially seeing how poorly I deal with swings and how even all of the elite HS crushers have very large downswings.

I'm going to continue firing shots during SCOOP but I will remove some of the more marginal games, especially on Party and Winamax.

Notable Runs

- 70th or something in the Bounty Builder High Roller for ~$1600
- Day 2 in the SCOOP $109 coming in with a lot of chips

I got absolutely torched today in everything else. Lost a huge flip near the bubble of the BBHR with AK<QQ with AAx on the flop. My BBHR's have fit the same pattern the past 3 days. Monkey spew bullet 1, re-enter and run super hot, lose a key flip somewhere to get neutered, and then try to make a run.

There's a really thin line between success and failure in the higher games. They get pretty tough in the middle to late stages and I get put into a lot of tough spots that I can't always process correctly. My ranges and approach are generally pretty strong but I get put in a lot of deep water I think and it's fun solving it out after the session and learning that way.

I hope your series is going better than mine. Again I think the future is bright and the point of this series was to test myself against the best. If it doesn't work out I'll rebuild and try again.

Day 4
Hands: 4321
EV bb/100: 1.66
bb/100: -13.65
Chips Adjusted: 718k
Chips Won: -545k

Was actually nice to flip the EV back to positive. I think I'm punting preflop quite a bit even with GTO ranges since basically everyone is nut-peddling preflop. I'm done with this lifestyle if anyone ever catches me light 4-betting or 5-betting again I will give you a tug and plug straight up.

Played about 2000 fewer hands so I cut the table count quite a bit today. Will still need to cut a few. And then I'm going to remove some of the marginal fires on my schedule for sure to avoid going busto.

Scoop Day 5 Prelude





I did not mind posting results when I was smashing it up so I'm posting this as a cleanser. I'm in one of the worst losing stretches of my career, after being in one of the most glorious stretches prior to that. One can look at my adjusted winrates and say it's downright unfair to be suffering in this manner. And it's not just stacking weak players deep or winning at lower buy-ins because the winrate is positive at all buy-ins and the sub 40bb winrate (third image) is smashing.

I won't say this though. I like to believe in a karmic universe and eventually everyone gets what's coming to them (even though I know this isn't true). Truthfully I have been getting a bit sloppy after my heater and I got Stars back. I haven't taken as many notes, I've been playing too many tables and too auto pilot, and my game selection has been pretty much non-existent. I remember when I went through a bad stretch in 2015 or 2016 (I don't remember the year now) I went on a 50-60k downer during WCOOP or something. Got 12th in a SCOOP with 300k up top, 100th or something in the WSOP Main Event, and bubbled the Supersonic with 50-60k up top with a boat. I remember honestly being in crippling depression kind of not wanting to get out of bed during that time.

I'm a pretty bright/sunny person who rarely goes through these kinds of things and it's pretty much always work related or sometimes lover boy blues. This is why I'll always be grateful to PokerStars for giving me a chance at employment and helping turn my life around. My time on the Isle of Man produced a closer relationship with my wifey and a beautiful baby along with a lot of friendships and experience I will always cherish.

This time around the downswing doesn't sit as well with me but my winrate in 2016/2017 was something like 2 ev bb/100 adjusted so things are much different this time. Honestly part of the reason I'm posting the EV here and in my daily updates is as a sort of crutch because that's the kind of thing I need when the results aren't going well. One day I will be in a place where I don't need any crutches and I can feel myself getting there! Moving forward from today I'm going to turn the page a bit and hold myself more accountable.

1. Less tables
2. Less sloppiness
3. More reads/notes
4. More game selection.

I've talked to a few great friends about this. And one consistent piece of advice about handling swings is to treat them like fight club. Out of sight out of mind. So from now on in this thread we will not discuss swings.

Gl, sounds like you have a great approach; no doubt you will succeed.

Scoop Day 5 Update




0-40 bb stacks for today and for all of SCOOP. I apologize for spamming this thread with EV numbers but it's all I'm clinging to right now.

I'm trying to find the bottom but haven't hit it yet. It just keeps getting worse! I don't want this to be a moan thread; my spirits are relatively fine during this and today I just smiled it off. The good news is I think I'm approaching the point where I can kind of ignore it. I feel my resistances building up quite a bit.

The bad news is I seem to have lost my mojo in the sense of believing in the heart of cards. For most of 2017-2018, when I would run deep in something major I would get quite excited and hope for the best. But I've noticed lately when I'm running deep in big stuff I'm just kind of waiting for the other shoe to drop right on/in my heinie. It's unfortunate. I think humans tend to respond to stimulus and if you're repeatedly getting wrecked in big spots you start to expect it.

The rush/euphoria of Scoop is beginning to wear off and I'm taking a day off tomorrow since I don't play 6-Plus and felt a lack of energy today after busting my most important tables. Part of me is also looking forward to the days after SCOOP where I'm just gonna get back on that midstakes humility grind. This is probably the fourth consecutive year I've written something like this teehee :P Shoutout to the savage grinders loading up that super late $1K and battling in the $530R.

Big Runs and Key Hands

30th SCOOP $109 250k for $855
53rd KO Series $320 for $1542
11th in $109 Hyper for $552
10th in $215 Turbo for $522
12th in Hot $82 for ?

It was a rough one again. I busted the $2k Thrill pretty early shoving to catch a bounty with KQs and losing to ATs. I busted the $530 250k on Party (trying to limit to 1 bullet) with AK vs QQ. And I busted my BBHR bullet with J2hh vs KJcc on Js3h8h. I also lost a key flip near the Hot $82 final table to bust that one too. All fine.

Game selection was pretty good I took those shots but that was it and actually skipped a lot of super withered daily stuff that is very tough/bad in SCOOP times. I had a day 2 in the $109 coming up so I was still pretty excited. It's quite a relief to end up in some of these softer lineups and I was accumulating quite well. Ended up losing this hand in the $109 which absolutely destroyed my stack utility:

PokerStars - 60000/120000 Ante 15000 NL - Holdem - 8 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

UTG: 2,367,891
UTG+1: 6,580,851
Hero (MP): 3,785,507
MP+1: 9,582,603
CO: 7,358,315
BTN: 1,546,166
SB: 1,278,101
BB: 1,640,838

8 players post ante of 15,000, SB posts SB 60,000, BB posts BB 120,000

Pre Flop: (pot: 300,000) Hero has Q A

fold, fold, Hero raises to 240,000, fold, fold, fold, fold, BB calls 120,000

Flop: (660,000, 2 players) 8 A T
BB checks, Hero bets 180,000, BB raises to 1,385,838 and is all-in, Hero calls 1,205,838

Turn: (3,431,676, 2 players) 9

River: (3,431,676, 2 players) 5

BB shows A 5 (Two Pair, Aces and Fives)
(Pre 28%, Flop 12%, Turn 7%)
Hero shows Q A (One Pair, Aces)
(Pre 72%, Flop 88%, Turn 93%)
BB wins 3,431,676

Ended up getting in 25bb later with 30 left with AJs against QQ and losing. I wasn't very happy with this result.

Meanwhile I was building a stack in the $320 250K Gladiator on Party. I ended up losing with AA vs KK for a 75bb pot with 50 players or so left. I "smooth called" preflop and he ended up hitting a set on the river but either way one of us was getting stacked preflop or postflop. It's actually a spot I later realized I should be doing more shoving (esp against nut peddlers) being OOP.

Ok so now NOT COOL. I ended the day getting 11th in the $109 hyper losing all my chips to the same guy winning a 25%er then a 37%er. And then ended up bubbling the $215 Turbo final table with AJdd against Qd7c where the board ran out 9d9cTc 2d Qs. Double not cool.

In the long run I want to get really numb to short term results and hopefully I'll reach a nirvana flow state where results don't affect me at all. This would be ideal.

But the down side right now is I'm not having as much fun playing. I've lost the joy a bit and don't believe in the heart of the cards and it's not a real good place to be. I feel like a slave to fortune in many ways. How I run is out of my control and I'm just stacking EV but that doesn't get me anything tangible.

I'll be taking tomorrow off and watching some Yu-Gi-Oh! videos to channel the spirit of Yami Yugi. Eventually this is going to turn around and when it does I'm going to pat myself on my own back for my robust fortitude and e-fellate myself. See you on the flip side! And hope you bink some v v big birds. May you draw a Pot of Greed in all your duels.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ay_S8NjPEXk

So do u play yugioh competitively/professionally?

YU GI OH!!!!

Possibly a naive comment... you can play YuGiOh professionally?!?

You d be surprised

Lol. No I do not. My name YugiohPro (which I made over 10 years ago) was tongue in cheek because I was a "well-known" Yu-Gi-Oh! player but there are no pros in that game because it has no prize support.
***************************

Reflections: Infinite without Fulfillment



These are my career stats for 0-320, 321+ (so basically 530's and higher), and then my stats in these since I left my job at PokerStars.

For those of you who have been following me in my journey for the past X years you've probably grown tired of this type of post. I've written infinite versions but this is the last one. Also I went back and reread my posts on this and in fairness to me I did say I would reevaluate if I went on a heater.



These are my EV numbers at $321+ in my sample. It does not include WPN $530+ where I have final tabled multiples and made deep runs in many. I'm guessing my ev bb/100 on WPN $530+ is very positive.

Now the truth of the matter is for most of that 966 game sample I have not been a winning regular at $530+. I would guess my ev bb/100 winrate prior was anywhere from breakeven to slightly negative. Nowadays I would guess it's anywhere from breakeven to slightly positive. As I play SCOOP tables I get matched up with a lot of HS regulars and do a lot of sharkscope analysis from 2017 onward. The fact of the matter is a lot of regulars with great reputations and past success are often stuck six figures +. Even the best of the best have graphs with multiple six figure downswings. I can't imagine playing for 3 years and having nothing to show for it but -190k. Well I don't have to imagine it because it's happened to me on a lesser scale.

I feel like these types of swings, unless you're cream of the crop elite, almost necessitates a backer. And being backed isn't good for tournament professionals. My goal was always to make my coach/backer six figures and then go on my own. Even right now I have multi six figures in assets and I'm sweating going online busto because of these swings. What am I doing?

I was watching Team Liquid's triumph over Invictus Gaming yesterday and watched the Story of Doublelift. It's quite interesting and I see a lot of shared experiences amongst Asian-Americans due to pressure from parents, poor parenting due to a lack of education on child development, and things of this nature. Anyways he got kicked out of his house for becoming a pro gamer and in an interview he gave in that clip he says that he practices relentlessly and works at his craft because pro gaming is all he has. If he stops being the best and employable, he will be out on the street and lose everything. Very inspiring stuff.

I love poker so much and I also can't afford to lose. My situation isn't quite as bad as his was but I can't afford to fk this up. I also have a baby and a wife that lean on me for support and I'm no longer a 24 year old young lion who can absorb the blows and build back. When you look at this graph of 0-$320 and $321+ honestly it makes you think what the hell are you doing in these games. Why put yourself through that pain and suffering when you're basically running a printing press at midstakes?

The answer to this obviously is bigger buy-ins are more lucrative as a mathematics function of $530's and $1,050's providing more $/game than a $33 or $55.

Two issues to this. One is that it's difficult to establish a positive ROI in the toughest lineups. Even right now I'd like to think my ROI in the Super Tuesday is thinly + (mostly due to my short stack game) but it very well could be negative. And you're not making anything if it's negative. But the second is more important because it pertains directly to me and I am a special snowflake that my mommy made with utmost love and care. The equation changes for me because I bring two exceptional strengths that I am constantly undervaluing:

1) I can multi-table many tables quite effectively. Yes a $530 is worth 10x $55's but I can add a $55, a $109, a $33, and a $16.50. At my peak on PokerStars I was playing 20-24 tables stacked. This kind of EXTREME multi-tabling is no longer feasible but the point stands.
2) I never tilt and I have great endurance when playing. I can churn out a consistent table count at B+ or better game.

I think the combination of these two things has produced a great career graph at 0-$320. The results over 966 games at higher stakes is out of my control.

I was excited last night while half asleep picturing writing this post this morning. Even looking over the 0-$320 sample this year there are a lot of thin fire games that I don't need to be in. Tournaments like the Hot 215, the Winamax 250 High Roller, among others. Better game selection can remove swings entirely so I can just stack money for baby Sophie.

Moving forward I'm going back on that humility grind. I'm doing a mental reset of my results, locking 80-85 profits or whatever, and starting fresh so I don't feel I have a 50k hole to climb. This is kind of a fish move but whatever I'm kind of a fish person.

$2100+- Not allowed. After 200k+ profit, series shots are allowed on case by case basis if they have $1m guaranteed+ with no re-entry
$1050- Series fires allowed on case by case basis. Minimum is $400k+ prize pool no re-entry.
$530- Sunday BBHR allowed as a one off shot. Re-evaluating the daily BBHR on a daily basis due to recommendations from a few respected friends. No other $530's.
$215 range- Cut down bad daily tournaments

There's never a shortage of tournaments to play on all sites. Stuff like random $33's and $55's add a decent chunk of $ to my pocket and provide zero stress.

FREEROLL ALERT: If I break the terms of this post I will send $500 to the next 50 posters in this thread.

In. As per our chat last night, I think this is a smart call anyway. Guys like you and me are strong at putting in a lot of volume and playing pretty solid poker. Beat up dem midstakes and stack up dat cash. Leggo <3

Sounds like a smart plan and the best one for long term stability especially with a family to support. Congrats on a great year so far and gl going forward.

Good post and probably wise decision for you, not so good for me as I'll see you more often at my tables lol. Glgl

Gl, I cannot fathom how you're doing this after so many years in the game and now with a baby as well