Quarter pro

Day 26

In the last 12 days I've been clearing some mini bonuses on ipoker. It was quite a disaster and frustrating but at least I finished it today. Was running really awfully but now I can fully concentrate on playing at my first platform.

Have been also working with LB. Found some interesting things which I need to improve. At the same time I forced myself to put some things down so I will be able to look at them when I need it.

Let's go.
In the last two months I played 73831 hands and have winrate of 5,50bb/100 on NL25.
Which is not bad but there's lots of room for improvement and I will start with preflop OR range.

Out of 7584 hands I opened 612 hands.

AQo - 27 hands (-41bb)
AJo - 38 hands (-212bb)
QJs - 9 hands (-38bb)
JTs - 13 hands (-65bb)
22 - 13 hands (-47bb)
33 - 14 hands (-22bb)
44 - 23 hands (-51bb)
55 - 19 hands (-7bb)

So after playing with Equilab I set up this opening range.

Depending on the table I will add ATs, AJo and sometimes KTs, QTs, J9s. At the moment my max EP opening range is 13%.

Still no consistency. It's already day 39 and my updates are nowhere near what I wanted to achieve. Good side is I'm still following my ritual - going to sleep at 22:30h and getting up at 6:30h.

I finished some topics in the last week = Preflop range + cold calling range + 3b range.

This week I'm working on 4b range + squeezing. Working on my game is going well but my volume sucks. My goal is to play 99h this month and I'm quite behind so far. So my priority until the end of April will be to reach the planned hours.

Here are two biggest pots of this month:

1. SB is super fish. 1k hands, 37/31/14,73b (143b from SB)/19 4b
I've been waiting him so long and when I finally caught him...

Poker Stars, $0.10/$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 6 Players
Poker Tools Powered By Holdem Manager - The Ultimate Poker Software Suite.

Hero (BTN): $37.21 (148.8 bb)
SB: $39.99 (160 bb)
BB: $50.80 (203.2 bb)
UTG: $11.56 (46.2 bb)
MP: $24.21 (96.8 bb)
CO: $20.58 (82.3 bb)

Preflop: Hero is BTN with K K
3 folds, Hero raises to $0.50, SB raises to $2.50, BB calls $2.25, Hero raises to $6.25, SB raises to $39.99 and is all-in, BB folds, Hero calls $30.96 and is all-in

Flop: ($76.92) Q 5 3 (2 players, 2 are all-in)
Turn: ($76.92) 6 (2 players, 2 are all-in)
River: ($76.92) 8 (2 players, 2 are all-in)

Results:

2. Probably the biggest pot on NL25. Kind of fun because it's "double cooler".

Poker Stars, $0.10/$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 6 Players
Poker Tools Powered By Holdem Manager - The Ultimate Poker Software Suite.

Hero (CO): $25.78 (103.1 bb)
BTN: $68.77 (275.1 bb)
SB: $27.08 (108.3 bb)
BB: $30.25 (121 bb)
UTG: $25 (100 bb)
MP: $51.42 (205.7 bb)

Preflop: Hero is CO with 7 7
UTG folds, MP raises to $0.75, Hero calls $0.75, BTN calls $0.75, SB calls $0.65, BB calls $0.50

Flop: ($3.75) 7 3 A (5 players)
SB checks, BB checks, MP bets $2.74, Hero calls $2.74, BTN calls $2.74, 2 folds

Turn: ($11.97) Q (3 players)
MP bets $6.97, Hero calls $6.97, BTN calls $6.97

River: ($32.88) 2 (3 players)
MP bets $12.47, Hero raises to $15.32 and is all-in, BTN calls $15.32, MP calls $2.85

Results:

Day 42

Although I was pointing out how the volume is important I was concentrating too much on it. After great start I was adding new tables and of course I ended up 8-10 tabling. So instead of thinking while playing I was just clicking so my results are what they are. After 15k hands this month (which is great volume for 25h played) I'm breakeven.

Will reduce the number of tables and hopefully the amount of mistakes will also go down.

The biggest pot this month.
Vs big fish 34/29/40 ft3b
I took his stack and then waited for another but I just had to hero call because "he has AT". Right! Although they are bad this still doesn't mean I have to be super calling station.

Poker Stars, $0.10/$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 6 Players
Poker Tools Powered By Holdem Manager - The Ultimate Poker Software Suite.

MP: $44.70 (178.8 bb)
CO: $25 (100 bb)
Hero (BTN): $45.47 (181.9 bb)
SB: $28.21 (112.8 bb)
BB: $25.35 (101.4 bb)
UTG: $29.43 (117.7 bb)

Preflop: Hero is BTN with K A
UTG folds, MP raises to $0.70, CO folds, Hero raises to $2.50, 2 folds, MP raises to $5.40, Hero calls $2.90

Flop: ($11.15) A 2 J (2 players)
MP bets $6, Hero calls $6

Turn: ($23.15) 7 (2 players)
MP bets $9.20, Hero calls $9.20

River: ($41.55) Q (2 players)
MP bets $24.10 and is all-in, Hero calls $24.10

Results:

Let's stay positive - at least I'm still in the green for this month ♦
Turned off the results so I will hopefully concentrate more on my game instead of having a winning session.

Hi jaxkukmian,

I'm very glad I found your blog, it's a really nice read.

As I can see you are not fan of zoom games?

Also, this last AK hand, why you didn't raise the turn, you had some reads about his aggression and 3barreling?

All in all, great blog,
Keep us updated please

Kind regards,
Fran

Originally posted by FFRRAANNKKIIEE
Hi jaxkukmian,

I'm very glad I found your blog, it's a really nice read.

As I can see you are not fan of zoom games?

Also, this last AK hand, why you didn't raise the turn, you had some reads about his aggression and 3barreling?

All in all, great blog,
Keep us updated please

Kind regards,
Fran

Tnx for positive feedback.

Zoom... hate it very much. I noticed I play faster and I do more auto moves. Also tend to play more aggressively. Plus my eyes are not happy with it.

AK...Was thinking about r-shoving T but I had whole stack behind me and I thought he would fold weak Ax if I shoved. My plan was to call shove or raise shove any R. His tendency was bet bet bet. Funny thing is I said to myself: "He could have AJ but I'm going broke anyway. He could have AT or AQ and other that these two cards on the R I'm going broke." Then Q comes he insta shoves and I end up snap calling instead of taking my time and after 20 seconds I would most likely find a fold here.

Today I'm taking play free day. Only working on my game. I'm going through my preflop ranges. I went through Weazl's second video and I'm having some problems understanding some hands he recommends. Will play with equilab some more to see if I can include some of his hands into my range.

^yeah, the Q river was a very bad card indeed for your AK, but it makes sense to keep him betting worse Ax and not scaring him away.

glgl

Day 47

April looks like this...

While having the initial upswing I was aware I was running hot. So I wasn't particularly disappointed when that green line went down. I was working quite hard on my game so my second slope was somewhat result of all that work. Or so I thought but recent drop was hard. It's not so much about losing these 10bi but I just can't seem to find my winning rhythm. I was testing some new lines and I'm aware that increased the variance but still I don't have that right feel atm.

There are some positive things too and the most important is probably my volume. I've been struggling for quite some time with volume and it seems I'm on the right path to finally reach decent volume of at least 30k hands.

Also I still enjoy playing poker so there is no pressure and that feeling "I have to play" which is nice.

Day 49

Yesterday I took day off. I don't have that feeling of burnout I just thought free day is going to give me more energy and a bit motivation to get over this mini obstacle.

So today I got up early, made exercises. Watched the video about squeezing and after that I prepared myself for the session. It started well but it ended as my biggest losing session this month. I guess every session is a test of your character and atm my is not so strong. I lost 2 stacks due to bad beat and then I started to play stupidly spewing like monkey, donating 3 or 4 stacks. One week ago I was sure that tilt is not my biggest enemy but today I see I can't control my emotions as well as I would like.

Today's goal - to clear all unnecessary poker related stuff from my comp. I noticed I have lots of folders containing stuff I don't use at all or at least at the moment. Will create only one Poker folder instead of 329 ♦

Keep your head up and don't tilt guys.

Hahahaha...who's back? YAX!!!

It's been a while since my last online poker hand - almost 4 years!

I didn't have time to read this blog from the start but I will definitely do that in the following days. First page seems so serious and that attitude "Let's do it, I'm a pro you know

Those "goals" are just gold...

Originally posted by yaxkukmian
From noob to donkey to average player to...(hopefully) QUARTER-PRO.

Short term goals:

- Update this blog as much as possible because that will mean I actually follow my plan
- Progress as much as possible in every prospect of the game

Mid term goals:

- Buy HM
- Play low stakes comfortably
- Improve myself and my game even more

Long term goals:

- Strive to improve even more
- Play low stakes comfortably
- Progress and take shots at medium limits

Starting BR: $118,09.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MILESTONES

No definition, no time frame, no clear measurable things...just something that seems cool.:mdr:

Originally posted by yaxkukmian
From noob to donkey to average player to...(hopefully) QUARTER-PRO.

Quarter pro is a cool title so I will keep it. This time though I have no high hopes of becoming a pro since my life priorities changed quite a bit in the last four year. I will however play for fun and to win of course. One thing you definitely won't find in this blog - so serious attitude, (over)analyzing, calculating, (over)thinking,...as it used to be.

One thing I can share is Starting BR: $111(100€).

Is there anyone from my "era" left?

Will update tomorrow... but Hello to everyone.♠_thumbsup:

Hey wassup,

there are actually many of us coming back after some time. Me for instance I have come after a 5 year break and I have seen a few more blogs saying the same. I dont know how about you but for me one of the main reasons is corona, since I am stuck at home now.

And I used to be the same - serious blog, plans, over analyzing, basically over commiting ♦ That is gone. I just wanna play for fun. Well and ideally winning, but for fun in general.

So good luck at the tables. Will be following

Originally posted by Dandiiik
Hey wassup,

there are actually many of us coming back after some time. Me for instance I have come after a 5 year break and I have seen a few more blogs saying the same. I dont know how about you but for me one of the main reasons is corona, since I am stuck at home now.

And I used to be the same - serious blog, plans, over analyzing, basically over commiting ♦ That is gone. I just wanna play for fun. Well and ideally winning, but for fun in general.

So good luck at the tables. Will be following

Yup, corona:truestory:

Nice to hear I'm not alone. I'm looking forward to your comments in the future! Tnx for your input and good luck at the tables! Enjoy and crush at the same time:s_drink:

Since I like challenges and if I want to finish anything I need to think about it at least a bit.

BRM:
NL10:diamond: $111 (11BI)
:spade:NL25:spade: $300 (12BI)
:club:NL50:club: $650 (13BI)

I will invest 15 hours per week -> 10h for playing (1-2 tabling), 5h for refreshing basics (later I will invest 3h per week for some off tables "work")

I need some kind of path to follow so here are my goals:

Short term goals: [1 month = up to 30.4.2020]

1) Update this blog min once per week (=4 posts)

2) Create OR Chart (12.4.2020)
I found some old charts but I don't have feeling what % are certain ranges.

3) 3B range (26.4.2020)
It's very useful to go through it when not playing because I can check it with Equilab so I can play easier.

4) Reach NL25 (by 30.04.2020)

Mid term goals: [6 months = up to 30.9.2020]

1) Get BR for playing NL50 (30.9.2020)

2) Update this blog once per week (=24 posts)

3) Preflop 3B dynamics for NL25 (31.5.2020)
At the moment I'm just doing random moves.

4) Preflop 4b dynamics for NL25 (30.6.2020)
Don't remember anything but for NL10 you don't even need this.

5) Preflop plan and postflop plan for most frequent situations (31.8.2020)
I don't intend playing much more tables but with defined situations I can't play easier without too much guessing at the tables.

Long term goals: [end date = 11.3.2022]

1) Reach $4000 to buy Grand Seiko watch (let it be a secret which one)
Will be 40 and I would like to reward myself with my grail watch at that time.

2) Share the picture of the watch when I buy it:f_biggrin:

3) Do 100 posts by 11.3.2022

This will do for now. It's more important to start than to have super detailed plan with "everything prepared". Frankly I've been playing for few days now and I'm already getting some feeling for the game. It's funny how my heart started beating faster when I went all-in. It's $10 but it was like I was playing NL100:f_eek: It will be easier with time and bigger BR.

Good luck everyone.:f_cool:

PS: My lucky number is 13 and ironically enough I'm restarting my blog at page 13:s_biggrin:

Sounds like a great plan!

Good and very specific plan! Above I wrote that no overcommiting or overplanning but it is good to have any sort of plan for any activity you are even a little serious about. If you work out, you will probably have a training and/or nutrition plan. If you study a language you plan what kind of grammar or vocabulary you wanna learn and when.

I have been trying to figure out something like that for myself in the last few days. I will be a little more humble probably (NL25 by the end of 2020 would be nice).

So good luck and stick to your plan

@VorpalF2F...
When something like this comes from eminence like you - Thanks:f_smile:
How are you? Nice to hear from you again.

@Dandiiik...
Agree. Good plan is a foundation for every success. Small wins aka checkpoints are definitely a must. Will do more mini-rewards for myself during this challenge (just have to figure how to reward myself and how).
Open your blog it will help you composing your thoughts. It's a really positive experience because we usually know what we think (at least we think we know). When we have to find adequate words and express ourselves then something clicks and very often we realize our "feeling" wasn't correct. For anyone who wants to make some progress having a blog is a must (yep, that's a provocation:f_wink:). Go for it and you won't be sorry. Tnx for support.

#1 THE ICEBREAKER

Ok, so my journey began.:f_cool:

I've been playing for four days now and already some adjustments occured. I started playing 1 table but since I was bored I soon found myself playing too many hands - cold calling 3b, flatting preflop raiser, 3b light, xr on bad boards,...all that moves fishes do:f_mad:

Adjustment: Start playing 2 tables!
Result: It's much better. I'm playing mostly without a hud at the moment so concentrating on 10 players is not an easy task for someone coming back after such a long period. I'm playing less hands and also I'm more selective with my preflop range. Still haven't got it but slowly we'll get that preflop range.

I found HM2 but it's too much info atm so I will probably start using it next week. I have my old HUD but it has 4 lines and it's just a distraction since I have 10-30 hands on players which is nothing but temptation is there to assume sth stupid about opponents.

About my game - I'm not satisfied because I'm being bullied by the regs and in so many situations I don't know how to continue. But ok let's not be too self-critical. I quickly remembered that playing vs regs is not that EV+. Find bad players and play them accordingly.

This week's most important task is to define preflop range from every position and put it in the Equilab.

BR: $174

Have a nice day everyone and enjoy playing:f_thumbsup:

Originally posted by yaxkukmian
This week's most important task is to define preflop range from every position and put it in the Equilab.

I did not find it in previous posts but where do you play? If on Pokerstars then you wont be able to use ranges in Equilab while playing because they banned this software. I put mine first in Equilab, then I found out about this so I made screens and put it in power point ♦ Dont need it now against the fish on NL2 anyway but for future purposes.

I create range in Equilab, take a screenshot, put in Paint and save as .jpg. I wonder if Excel is no better, becouse I have a lot of chart for open rise, flat defend blinds etc..

@Dandiiik...
I play at Pokerstars. I didn't know you can't have Equilab while playing there but one warning was enough for me:f_smile: It's important to define range and then stick to it. At micro limits you sometimes find some player who you think you can exploit and then you widen your range and usually play vs whole table. But yeah like you and pimient0 mentioned I also create ranges and then "export them" (through print screen and ctrl+V). Will print it and have in front of me so I don't use a lot of time clicking through different windows.

@pimient0...
You can create where ever you want. Important thing is that you find a way which is easiest for you. I for instance print it out and have it in front of me while playing. So stick with the system that works for you.

Thank you both for your comments and take care.

#2 DON'T PUSH IT TOO MUCH

I've been playing just 4h after my last post. Mostly I've been playing around with Equilab and working on my preflop range. I think I have quite good starting point, a bit on a tighter side but it's better than random hands:f_biggrin:

Playing only hour or two is not so fun as I thought. I need at least 20 min to feel the table and my opponents and just then I can start using their weaknesses. What is the most dissapointing thing is the fact that I'm hunting the fishes. And that doesn't mean waiting them with a good hand but I'm just overplaying my average/ solid hands. Playing more aggressively and big pots with them is only in their favor. I lost at least 4 stacks against super bad players, mostly with super bad calls. I don't think I was tilting but I did notice pushing the action a bit more after lost pot against them (probably to "get my money back").

In general my play is not that bad but we're moving slowly on. For now I'm ok with my progress and I'm sure when I eliminate major leaks (calling 3b, playing OOP without initiative, "playing tricky") the winrate will get higher.

Short-term goal:

2) Create OR Chart (12.4.2020) DONE (11.4.2020)

Next homework -> planning my hands. I play 2 tables so I noticed I don't think for 2 streets ahead. I calculate my odds and think about card, two or three that may come and maybe even how I'm going to play it but I don't think actively about opponents range and their potential action.
WHY bother with planning the hands?
Planning phase should give me more confidence and certainty in frequent situations.

Be well and crush it.:f_cool:

BR: $188

#3 NO HERO CALLS PLEASE

Been grinding some more. Although playing 2 tables can't be called grinding or can it? I tried adding third table but tables got much smaller and my level of play fell quite a bit so I decided to play only 2 tables. It's less stressful, I have bigger edge and way more enjoyable... so win win win:f_cool:

My latest adjustments:

+ Not hero calling river raises/ donk shoves/ xr
Feeling that opponents are bluffing you is always present but that curiousity "lets see it just this time" burns a lot of blinds.

+ Calling less 3b OOP
Still do it too much because I think I have an edge but that's stupid because players on NL10 don't play position or player just their hands -> usually your AJ-, KJs, 66, etc are beat and tough to play postflop. I have lots of work on this area but I started finding fold button.

+ I constructed simple HUD
My HUD has 12 stats and that's perfect for now. I'm using HM2 every second session. The reason is simple - if I see some numbers I try to make good use of it. Nothing wrong but the sample size is important and 50 or 100 hands can't give you very precise information. I noticed I play better without HUD because I'm more focused on my opponents and my play. HUD will definitely be useful in the future so I'm already testing it.

- I play much more than I planned
ATM I'm not working and that's not a big problem but my goal is to devote part of my free time and not to exceed my time limitations. After all I'm only quarter pro:f_biggrin:

- Overconfidence is dangerous
I'm probably running very good atm but my mind just doesn't want that explanation. It takes the one which is "a fact" and that is that "I'm sooooo good Overconfidence is never good because it gives you that feeling what ever you do everything will be ok. It's a bit funny talking about being overconfident at NL10 but that's just a note for myself to be aware of it in the future.

That's all for now regarding my latest challenge.

One thing linked to poker... I'm really happy Galfond won his challenge. I don't have a clue about PLO but Phil is really such a nice guy I'm really happy for him. Also he's a big inspiration for everyone - even after big successes he remained humble and down to earth. ♠_biggrin:

Have a nice weekend:f_thumbsup:

BR: $248