Turning 0$ into WSOP trip

Originally posted by quis
Hi Mantelo,
I am long time (silent) reader of your blog. It's very inspiring to see your progress in different areas of your life. Always happy to see there is an update.
One Poker related question:
Can you give some hints about what kind of content you do for spins?
Or phrased in another way: What is your advice for someone who starts playing spins?
Cheers and gl

Hi quis, thanks for a feedback
My first 3 advice for starting Spins:
1. Follow a strict Bankroll Management! Have at least 150 Buyins, maybe 100 Buyins is enough in the very low levels where players are very weak. The variance is huge in Spins so you might end up session losing 20 buyins very easily. Imagine if downswing hits you for a weak
2. Be strong mentally. As mentioned due to high variance, you should keep your fresh head even in bad times. Tilt is a huge enemy in Spins, but coping with tilt is just a very small piece in overall mental strength. As BenCB says, "Expect the best, be prepared for the worst".
3. Know starting hands by heart. There are plenty of sources which advice which hands to open and which to fold, call, raise, etc. For low levels spins it should be enough to make some profit, and the more experience you get, the more you can go to further topics, postflop for example

Hope it helps, good luck

Hi SvenBe, nice to hear from you

As for Duolingo part, I just love France It's something magical with this country for me, so I wanted to get more with it. Also my first poker trip was in France, Cannes, which played a big part into my poker career. And I hoped to visit France at least once a year, but maybe that is a bit optimistic in present times

For group exercises, the coach invited all the people who trained with her in normal times. Every Monday we have a High Intensity online training which is as exhausting as it was in the gym I've just heard that the Gym is re-opening next week so we will see how it goes.

And thanks for a Paradise video! I've included into my tasklist this week

Weekly review, part 19
2020 Challenge
Weekly profit 834€
Previous profit 16 561€
Current profit 17 385€

Good day guys, hope you are doing well
Last week I didn't play any Spins and tried to concentrate on playing SCOOP events on PokerStars. And this decision almost paid off as I was near the final table of one events, but busted in 12th place.

It was a nice 6k payday, but not much optimism when big prizes were not far away. And I made a mistake on the last hand where I increased the variance where I should have taken a less risky line. Also, when most of the events cost 50-500$, sometimes even 6k just covers the cost But profit is still a profit and I am happy with that
As for this week, I will try to continue playing Scoop. It runs for 2 more weeks, so the plan is to go till the end. One of the biggest problems for me is that I was used to wake up early and go to sleep early. Now, playing tournaments, you have to grind at very late hours and my energy levels at that time are very low. So I'm doing my best to prepare myself better for the upcoming events so hopefully I will be more focused at the deep stages of the tournaments. And next time I can show up with something better than missing FT

Really close Mantelo ! Good luck this week

Weekly review, part 20
2020 Challenge
Weekly loss 1 271€
Previous profit 17 385€
Current profit 16 114€

Hi guys, once again a time for a weekly review But You can already see that a week was not a good one. I had 3 MTT sessions, but none of them were particularly good and in the end I was down a little over 1k I wasn't playing too well + I wasn't winning any flips and when you sum it up, you can't expect good results either. It was another reminder for me that if You want to compete with big boys, you have to prepare and my preparation for this SCOOP festival was really bad. I was already used to playing in the mornings and when I now started my evening tournaments sessions, I was already tired after couple of hours. So this week I won't be playing too many tournaments However, there is another reason for it.. Nations Cup is taking place this weekend and I hope that together with my national team, I will have something to cheer about
Here is a short clip of my workplace, also my first appearance without curl hair

I like the color of your room!
But... how can you work with just one rather small screen? Most Poker professionals either have 2 screens, a wide screen or a huge screen...
Also, did you just clean up for your video?

Originally posted by SvenBe
I like the color of your room!
But... how can you work with just one rather small screen? Most Poker professionals either have 2 screens, a wide screen or a huge screen...
Also, did you just clean up for your video?

I think that purple is the most expensive color! No wonder why only Kings in the past could afford it But I'm very happy with that choice, gives me lots of energy and good vibes
As for small monitor, I'm fine with it. Mostly I play Spins, only 2 tables at once so it fits perfectly fine. Maybe on Sunday MTT session extra monitor could come in handy, but I play my best game when I don't play more than 6 tables. And 1 monitor is also good for that account

And I try my workplace always to be clean. Fresh place, fresh mind, they say

Weekly review, part 21
2020 Challenge
Weekly loss 858 €
Previous profit 16 114€
Current profit 15 256€

I haven't played a single hand online last week but still managed to lose some money. How? Currency drops Playing on pokerstars in dollars $$ but having account in euros € sometimes doesn't help. But some days I've witnessed contrary situation when my bankroll grew up without playing a hand. So maybe it is just a lottery, one additional factor of variance

But the reason I didn't play any Scoop events or Spins, is the Nations Cup. And I'm very happy to announce that my country Lithuania got bronze

12 Nations started the Championship and only 6 teams got through to the finals. We had average start, most of the time being in 5-10 positions. Before last session we were 7th but luckily the finishing was good and we moved one place before the whistle
Halfway through finals the organizers decided to review some hands of Singapore team as their plays in some hands were quite questionable. After some time the decision was made and Singapore were disqualified from the Nations Singapore players protested and to be honest, I totally agree with their explanations why did they play some hands in strange manner. The debates are still on, but final sessions were repeated and that was a very good chance for Lithuania. And we took that chance by moving to bronze! Only Australia in 2nd and Ukraine, the champions, above us so we are very happy with our results! Also, I don't have individual statistics, but rumors are saying I was one of the 2 players who managed to grab most chips in this Cup More info about this Championship could be found here:
https://matchpokerfed.org/nations-cup-world-championship-roundup/?fbclid=IwAR3OwTeG0Ax9kndwTchH4M4N-Y_9owFipHgjWm7UShudrNGYTTMdQ_riMh8

Long time without an update

Yeah I was also F5-ing a couple of times in the past days...
Mantas, where are you? Already bought your piece of land and live offline?

I am pretty sure, he will not miss WSOP.

Originally posted by SirPaulius
I am pretty sure, he will not miss WSOP.

I am pretty sure I did I haven't played a single hand in summer and there is one big reason for it. I will reveal it in my monthly goals soon, so you have a day to guess that

Originally posted by Mantelo
I haven't played a single hand in summer and there is one big reason for it. I will reveal it in my monthly goals soon, so you have a day to guess that

Is there a prize for the correct guess?

I guess you won a lottery, and have taken a fabulous trip.
Now that you're back, and have a superb bankroll, you'll be a high-stakes grinder.

How did I do? ♠_biggrin:
VS

let me guess. You have started Your own business which took Your time.

you bought your dream house on the riverside with no electricity/internet?

You bought some land !

So after 3 months of silence, I am back to poker tables I will start slowly, playing small-to-mid stakes just to get form back and then hit the high stakes once again. You have put nice guesses about my "vacation" but non of them were truth If you are very impatient, scroll down to number 8, otherwise let's follow the journey from the start

1. Make 12 trips
February - MPN Madrid 895€
February - Kings of Tallinn 1880€
March - Unibet UK Tour London 95€

No shock news as I had no trips during the summer. And as Covid-19 is not slowing down, probably no trips incoming in the following months. I had some hopes about Battle of Malta, but last week it was announced that it will be shifted to online as well.

2. Get some profit over 10k games at 100$ Spin&Go's

The table is the same as in May so I don't think I will hit 10k games this year. More realistic number is about 7k-8k games unless I hit grind really hart which seems unlikely either.

3. Everlasting study of poker - 360 hours
January - 35 hours
February - 30 hours
March - 37 hours
April - 34 hours
May - 20 hours

After 25 weeks the number stood at 156 hours which was on course. But with 3 months missed, I will have to study even more than in the beginning of the year. Let's see how it goes

4. Update trophy room or win Online Major
Fulfilled It was a huge result for our country Lithuania in WorldCup! 3rd place and bronze medal is more than it was expected from us, probably the same odds as Lithuania gets bronze in football World Cup Also it was a steady performance from personal point of view as I was No. 2 player by chips won from all the participants. Moreover, guess who showed the best form in the super finals

5. Practice French language

I was still learning French so this task looks good. Once a day for 15-20 minutes is not a big task but still something that needs commitment. The bad news is that I probably won't be able to practice this being in France anyway

6. Buy some land outside the city

Most of you had a guess that my vacations were deeply involved with this task. Unfortunately no buys in this front, but we have upgraded our backyard. My wife loves the flowers (which woman doesn't) so all the corner is dedicated to colours. Birds also like this place what is a good news for my cat

7. Hold a healthy body through proper nutrition and active exercises
I am happy with my results here although I am not putting much hours in the gym anymore. My weekly routine is 4 times football and only 1 time in gym, with rest or simple running on other days. You wonder, why my hours are so limited? Let's head to next point

8. To maintain strong relationship with others

On the 30th of June a beautiful girl appeared in this world For us it is a first child so life changed 360 degrees. Everything is new, we try to learn a lot and make her life as enjoyable as possible. Thus I wanted to spend more time with her and see her growth. I was expecting to get back to playing in August, but her smile brings me more happiness than pocket Aces so it was easy choice to extend my vacation

9. Get promoted with Top Kickers to League III

This one got wrong a lot this year. Our best players were acquired by teams from higher divisions and we were left with quite average players this season. I still think that we play much better than results show, but after this round we are stuck in relegation zone. Hopefully we can change our fortune in the 2nd part of the season

10. Read 15 books
1. "Factfulness" by Hans Rosling
2. "Think like a cat" by Pam Johnson Bennett
3. "Unlimited memory" by Kevin Horsley
4. The Man Who Laughs by Victor Hugo
5. 2nd World War by Robertas Petrauskas
6. "Kiss me" by Carlos Gonzalec

Not much progress here as well and I feel kinda guilty of this. Last book "Kiss me" is not a love story but a practical book how to raise a child At this moment I'm also reading a book about parenting and there are couple more of the same topic awaiting in the shelves

So, now you know my secrets I hope to post here at least once a week with weekly updates coming again. Until that time

Wow!
I was closest!
A new baby is worth far more than winning the lottery!

I like how you say, "her smile brings me more happiness than pocket Aces"
I remember this feeling. I called it "perma-grin" -- you cannot stop smiling.

I wish your family all the best!
VS

Congrats!

Congrats Mantas!

I know how you feel! I have a 1 year old son and whenever I see him (which is almost all the time due to the fact that I work from home) I smile like crazy!