Turning 0$ into WSOP trip

hello from Ukraine. good luck and many victories to you in the new year!:f_smile:

2022 Challenge
Review, week 51
Weekly profit 3082 €
Previous profit 20 823€
Current profit 23 905 €
Goal profit 50 000€

With the dying minutes, here comes my last post of the Year
Recently I've reviewed my yearly goals, where I gave myself 7 points out of 10. Talking about monetary goals, my bankroll challenge is almost in the middle point. After struggling with finding a good studying/playing routine in the first part of the year, everything got much smoother in the 2nd part. And hence my results improved a lot, so I hope this trend continues into the 2023 Year as well. If adding poker trips to Prague, London and Malta, which all were won with packages, I would sum up that 2022 were not that bad

As weekly update goes, my last session of the year was gifted with a nice victory in a 162$ Bounty event. Beating a small but strong morning field sets a good tone for a fresh start.

Originally posted by Tara771
hello from Ukraine. good luck and many victories to you in the new year!:f_smile:

Thanks Tara I hope 2023 will bring one huge victory for Your country!

Happy new year, have a good one

Originally posted by jiffybag
Happy new year, have a good one
Thanks jiffybag May Aces be your frequent guest

Hello again and welcome to the Year of 2023
The motivation is always on Top at this point as first days offer you a chance for a fresh start. So its not that difficult to get it going now, but most people start struggling after couple of days as the adrenaline and willingness drop down. That's why it is important to write your goals on paper or blog, and even more important to review them once in a while. Thanks to PokerStrategy I can save some trees by avoiding paper work And when I share my goals with others, there is more chance that I will complete them. That's just how the human psychology works - sometimes a fear of failure is as strong as a drive for success. Last year I got 7 out of 10, hopefully this year I can uplift the mark at least by one point

1. Visit 8 countries, at least 1 of them new to me
Last year it was 6 countries, but with Covid restrictions lifted, I think I can go with 8. A trip every 45 days seems reasonable as it is enough time to look forward for a new adventure and not too long to feel tired of travelling. As for the venues, I hope to attend all the PokerStars EPT events but play only the events up to 1k. Also I would like to include Irish Open, Battle of Malta and one event in UK, preferably London. At the moment of writing, I already have a package to Paris in February with other satellites not running yet.

2. Experience of 10 educational trails in Lithuania
The goal Inspired by the last read book. I love travelling a lot, but sometimes I undeservedly forget how much I can experience in my own country, so the plan is to have a local trip every first Saturday of the new month. Some places are better to visit in winter as naked trees allow you to take a full view of a picturesque panorama, while others flourish in summer season. Now it is my task to pick the right ones

3. Extend Trophy board or ship Major MTT online event
Those shining knights definitely would find a perfect place in my board Battle of Malta is my favorite stop of the year so naturally I have big hopes there. Despite big fields, I usually tend to show good results here, combined with a warm climate and Mediterranean sea, that makes a perfect combination. But I don't shy away from other awards, for sure Some online tournaments gift rings or trophies as well, so any addition is a welcomed one.

4. Reach Final Table in Sunday Million, GG Masters or any 1 Million Guaranteed event
Originally as Sunday Million goal, I now extended it to any 1 Million Guaranteed event. With the fields being so large and the traffics still increasing, a Final Table in the only Sunday Million would be too unrealistic. If I can battle myself into "Last 8" in one of those Millionaire events, it would not only boost my confidence, but also offer a nice paycheck.

5. Buy 5 art paintings
Last year I've "stolen" such goal from other Poker pros, and it stays the same for this period. With only 2 inclusions in our home there is plenty of space left for additional ones. I love how it looks and how it decorates the home, also it gives me extra motivation to show myself on the final tables. Picture below with the latest piece of art in our dining room.

6. Study poker 360 hours
Last goal related to poker but probably the most important one. The studying hours strongly corelate with results on the table and this quote never gets old - "The more I work, the luckier I get". My weekly schedule includes playing on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, while Tuesday and Thursday are set only for studies. Mondays and Saturdays are my rest days which allows me to avoid burnout as every time I start a session, I always feel "hungry" and excited to play.

7. Foster our Homestead
3 major tasks this year - pave the way to our land, start gardening and build sauna. But that doesn't finish there. Our biggest purchase last year was this land 20 minutes drive from our home so we intend to be frequent guests here. Especially in summer when the sun invites to spend more time outside and having private space really helps. So far this space is mostly occupied with bushes and trees, but we are ready to start growing vegetables, fruits and my wife's favorite - flowers. First, we need to pave the way as the current one is not reliable and almost impassable under snow or raining days. Building a sauna would be a bonus as it is one of my biggest pleasures

8. Reach 50k XPoints on French Duolingo
With 35k points at this moment, my goal is to reach 50k. That's 15k a year, around 40 points per day which takes 15-20 minutes. Plus, I would like not to end my "learning streak" as it is over one year now

9. Finish in Top3 with Top Kickers reserve team, both in Winter and Summer seasons
Although I feel I could still play on higher level, I've decided to help our reserve team to finish in "Medal" zone this year. Last year I've hired a coach for the first team so I have no worries about the orders and procedures for their games. However, our reserve team was often left with no authorities for matchdays and had to deal with matters themselves. It's a common thing in Sunday League, but as this club is like my child, I have to show more attention than others. The winter season has already started and after 6 games we are in the middle of the pack. Only 2 points from 2nd place so everyone still have a chance

10. Read 12 books
As usually, I end my goal list with books. Here is the quote about them by Barack Obama:

The author is chosen not by chance as my first book of the year is..
Dreams from My Father by Barack Obama
One change from last year is that now I split reading by 15 minutes in the morning, lunchtime and before sleep. It could be all 3 different books and for me biographies work best in my morning routine. It gives some extra motivation to attack the day as most leaders prefer action than laziness.

So these are my goals for 2023. The only difference from 2022 is that Spins are now substituted with Educational Trails. More time with beloved family and friends is always +EV for your life

GL

2022/2023 Challenge
Review, week 53
Weekly loses -3232 €
Previous profit 23 905€
Current profit 20 673 €
Goal profit 50 000€

It all started with a Boom! But on the wrong side So motivated for a fresh start, preparing well for all the sessions and brutally knocked in all of them There was a nice article on Pokerstrategy that claimed how easy is to end all the year in negative figures for tournament players, especially if you play big fields like Sunday Million. Even if you have a huge edge over your opponents, the chance of winning a tournament is super low. That's why most of the Sunday sessions doesn't end well. But if/when you win, it can be a game changer I was also looking at some Pro's twitter posts where they shared their 2022 results. Interestingly, many of them had a negative year or close to breakeven. Funny how Rampage balance was over the One Million, although on December he was still down.. A prove that tournament world it all can change very quickly, so Patience is Key. It wouldn't be fun if we only take a straight line, right?

It wouldn't be fun if we only take a straight line, right?

Originally posted by Mantelo

Hello my poker friends With couple of days left in 2022, it is a good time to reflect my overall year. Before looking at my goals, it feels like it was a year full of challenges, personally for me and for all world as well, especially for those living close to the war zone in Ukraine. As I am living in Lithuania, which has a direct border with Russia, it affected my daily actions and mood a lot. But the world coped this year with Covid pretty well, I hope another evil will be eliminated soon as well.
Now let's look at those yearly goals and put overall score for it

1. Visit 6 countries, at least 1 of them new to me - 1 point
March EPT Prague National
April UKIPT London
May Match Poker North Macedonia
July - Formula 1 Hungary GP
October - Battle of Malta
October - UKIPT London
October - Match Poker in Warsaw, Poland

I'm very happy the Live Poker returned and we can hear the shuffling chips again From my 7 trips this year, 6 were poker related while Formula-1 experience in Hungary standing as exceptional one. The latter with North Macedonia were my new countries on the map, so I can mark this goal as completed

2. Play 10k games of Spins at 100$ level and be profitable prerakeback - 0 points

My computer got crashed in the middle of the year so all my statistics were gone. I was at breakeven line so my profits only came from rakeback and bonuses anyway. Looking at my tournament results, now I am happy that this accident kinda suggested me to abandon Spins Unfortunately, in my 3 year experience with Spins, I didn't hit any Jackpot, so I will have to hunt my Million on tournament fields

3. Update Trophy board or ship Major MTT online event - 0,75 points

Haven't got any physical trophies, so will have to settle with couple of GG Avatars for winning special tournaments On the other hand, my win in Friday Night Fight stands as the biggest of the year and probably I can count this as a Major online event. Hence, 0,75 point for overall efforts.

4. Reach Final Table in Sunday Million or GG Masters - 0,5 point

It was a long shot, and the closest I got was 52nd place on GG Millions. With more time dedicating to studying tournaments and having more sessions in general, I believe I can improve this result next year. Also, with increased average buy in, I will have more shots in 1 million guaranteed events

5. Buy 5 art paintings - 0,4 point
Had two scores above 5k and 2 paintings arrived in our house.


I like them both and there is definitely enough space on the walls for future additions

6. Study poker 360 hours - 1 point
January - 32 hours
February - 24 hours
March - 20 hours
April - 26 hours
May - 40 hours
June - 29 hours
July - 29 hours
August - 8 hours
September - 33 hours
October - 11 hours
November - 36 hours
December - 41 hours

Total 329 hours, so less than 10% to original goal. However, I for sure forgot to mark my studying sessions in notebook once in a while so I wouldn't be surprised that I got enough hours actually. I'm very happy with the way I am structuring my playing and studying time nowadays, especially my last two months were great. If I can stick to the routine, most of my months next year should be marked as green.

7. Buy land, equip solar system and build sauna - 0,75 point

Although I only completed the first part of this goal, it was a huge step in general. I was even considering to mark as a whole pointer We purchased it late in the Autumn and when we finally finalised the documentation, it was already winter. Not much we can do when the snow is all over the fields, so we are now again at the planning mode. So much ideas and so little spare time to implement it But I'm sure once the sunny period comes, we will be much more frequent visitors here as this place is only 15 minutes drive from our living home.

8. Reach 30k XPoints on French Duolingo - 1 point

A fulfilled goal with a 386 day streak and still counting I will have the opportunity to test my knowledge very soon as my first trip next year will be PokerStars event in Paris. Cela devrait être amusant

9. Get promoted with Top Kickers into League III - 0,5 point

We didn't win our promotion but once again we were close to it. With two games left, we lost our most important match of the season to our rivals and had to settle in the middle of the table. Personally for me, it was OK season - 7 goals and 6 assists for a defensive midfielder never bad. But at the age of 35, you start questioning how much fuel left in the tank

10. Read 12 books - 1 point
Habits of a Happy Brain by Loretta Graziano Breuning
Rozmarinas by Kristijonas Kaikaris
Animal Farm by George Orwell
Man Who Wanted to be Happy by Laurent Gounelle
PKO Poker Strategy by Dara O'Kearney, Barry Carter
Flights by Olga Tokarczuk
Modern Poker Theory by Michael Acevedo
The Name Of The Rose by Umberto Eco
The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri
No More Mr. Nice Guy | Dr. Robert A Glover
Fateful decisions by Robertas Petrauskas
100 educational trails in Lithuania by Ramūnas Šukauskas

I am 50 pages short of finishing my last book but I have time until the fireworks of New Year. Many people, myself included, are so happy when travelling to other countries, but often forget how many beautiful places there are so close in your own nation. By reading this last book it suggested me to include "visiting 10 educational trails in Lithuania" for the next year, which should be fun and educational. Also if I can "sell" this idea to my friends, gathering a company and improve social life would be only a plus

So, that sums up 6,9 points out of 10. I think it is a fair mark, suggesting it was a good year but not great. There is room for improvement and for sure I will try to fill that room

Hope you enjoyed PKO, I think it's the first time it has been in the same company as George Orwell .

Reply: "Hope you enjoyed PKO, I think it's the first time it has been in the same company as George Orwell"

If I'm totally honest, PKO book is the one that I am planning to re-read. Many new concepts and strategies that are difficult to absorb after reading once

2022/2023 Challenge
Review, week 54
Weekly profit 431 €
Previous profit 20 673€
Current profit 21 104 €
Goal profit 50 000€

A small step towards Final goal On average, I would expect similar results based on my ROI, so I'm happy with such pace. Had one win in small morning session on PokerStars, but had some empty bullets on GG as well.

I've also been close to a seat in Irish Open, but 4 places to the prize I couldn't win a flip. I was already the shortest stack in the tournament, so I had to gamble and unfortunately Queen on the Turn took all my chips. Will have another try next Sunday
PokerStars - 600/1200 Ante 150 NL (8 max) - Holdem - 7 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

MP: 29.11 BB
CO: 21.95 BB
BTN: 16.31 BB
SB: 52.76 BB
Hero (BB): 9.62 BB
UTG: 27.83 BB
UTG+1: 26.8 BB

7 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.37 BB) Hero has A♣ 8♥

fold, fold, fold, fold, BTN raises to 16.19 BB and is all-in, fold, Hero calls 8.49 BB and is all-in

Flop: (20.36 BB, 2 players) 7♠ 5♠ T♥

Turn: (20.36 BB, 2 players) Q♥

River: (20.36 BB, 2 players) 6♥

Hero shows A♣ 8♥ (High Card, Ace)
(Pre 55%, Flop 45%, Turn 5%)
BTN shows 9♠ Q♠ (One Pair, Queens)
(Pre 45%, Flop 55%, Turn 95%)
BTN wins 20.36 BB

2022/2023 Challenge
Review, week 55
Weekly profit 289 €
Previous profit 21 393€
Current profit 21 104 €
Goal profit 50 000€

Small step towards, but I've got a seat to Irish Open at last

This week there won't by much grind as together with my family we are going for vacation in Kraków, Poland. Usually we pass by this city when travelling to middle of Europe, but this time we will have more time to experience this region. If there is any Poker Festival at that time here, let me know

Pro-tip: anything closer than 3h of flight out of London is in danger of being "Barry-cartered" and turned into a publicity stunt for one of his books. So, take care, don't let him approach you there in the wild!

Melting hours of January, just like the ice melts above the River A picture from a hike in Vilnius, one of my yearly goals. So let's go through all of them now

1. Visit 8 countries, at least 1 of them new to me
January - Krakow, Poland (non poker)
February - FPT Paris (package)
April - Irish Open (Seat only)

My first time this year outside Lithuania is a trip to Krakow. A city rich in History, culture and castles, no wonder why it is often called The Capital of Kings K♦: So with one trip already gone, my two others are planned for February and April. It is very possible that another will be added on March with Eureka Rozvadov, but I need to win that package first ♠_cool:

2. Experience of 10 educational trails in Lithuania
Saidės educational trail

Not much green color in winter, but I enjoy white as well! 4 hour walk in wild nature was one of the most memorable and enjoyable events this month

3. Extend Trophy board or ship Major MTT online event
The biggest victory so far was a 109$ event for a 2k prize. Small player pool so there is definitely room for improvement

4. Reach Final Table in Sunday Million, GG Masters or any 1 Million Guaranteed event

This was the closest I got in January. Finished in 1% of the field, but 4 more tables before the Final one.

5. Buy 5 art paintings
No big scores in January so no paintings. But my 2 years old daughter is helping me on this goal

6. Study poker 360 hours
January - 36 hours
Happy with both volume and quality of studying this month. Often people struggle which choosing the paths of studying, not knowing what is the most important. Recently I've read an article on PokerStrategy which illustrates well where should we put our focus the most. Although it was directed to Spin&Go players, for sure it suits for MTT Grinders as well.

7. Foster our Homestead
I must confess, I haven't been at the homestead this year yet The main reason is climate, as it is complicated to get to the area now. Even if I get there, there is not much to do at the moment as all the land is covered with snow. However, I plan to visit the place in the coming days, just to view how it looks in winter

8. Reach 50k XPoints on French Duolingo

On the last day of the month, I got this badge from Duolingo It was still fast enough to beat 86% of the competition

9. Finish in Top3 with Top Kickers reserve team, both in Winter and Summer seasons

We are on track to finish in Top3. At the moment sitting in 3rd place but all teams are very close, both above and below. In the latest highlight Video, you could witness the author's contribution by assisting and scoring, No 20

10. Read 12 books
Dreams from My Father by Barack Obama
Haven't finished yet, but I'm on the latest pages. A story about the boy who has to climb from the bottom to the top. Just like me from MicroStakes to Highrollers

That concludes my monthly review, and it seems like I'm on a proper way. Happy with how things are developing so hopefully my motivation stays the same for the next period. Until next times!

Great month!
I especially like the "visit 8 countries" goal — that is so hard to do from Canada. I managed half that last year, but that was a once-in-a-lifetime trip. In Europe you could do 8 countries in a weekend.

Originally posted by VorpalF2F
Great month!
I especially like the "visit 8 countries" goal — that is so hard to do from Canada. I managed half that last year, but that was a once-in-a-lifetime trip. In Europe you could do 8 countries in a weekend.

If I would really want to complete this task fast, I would just take a bus to Spain ♠_biggrin:

2022/2023 Challenge
Review, week 57
Weekly loses -2026 €
Previous profit 21 393€
Current profit 19 367 €
Goal profit 50 000€

Flips didn't go my way last week and it finished with a 4 figure loses. After a tiring train trip to Krakow, I found it difficult to perform on the highest level. Our daughter also got sick and I had to babysit her for couple of days, in price of studying time. And as it usually happens, if there is no calmness in your head, it will show up in results So on the weekend I went to an educational trail, to gain my focus back. And also to make some prayers to the River(s)

2022/2023 Challenge
Review, week 58
Weekly profit 936 €
Previous profit 19 367€
Current profit 20 303 €
Goal profit 50 000€

Good day Grinders
Last week I mostly played Spin&Go games on GG network as I had to collect points for upgrading my status there.

The ratio between 1st 2nd and 3rd place was very good, but still didn't manage to end week in pure profit. But with around 50% direct rakeback and SpinWheel bonus of 540$, it ended in a good week overall

And only on Sunday I fired up some tournaments, mostly with a hope to win a seat to Eureka Razvadov event. Surprise surprise..

But all the preparation for this event will wait as tomorrow I'm travelling to Paris for FPS event. Seems like PokerStars did an outstanding job with entertainments for package holders, including tickets to PSG match. They really know how to bribe me

Originally posted by Mantelo
But all the preparation for this event will wait as tomorrow I'm travelling to Paris for FPS event. Seems like PokerStars did an outstanding job with entertainments for package holders, including tickets to PSG match. They really know how to bribe me
Enjoy your trip!

I can only dream of travelling to Paris?