Life is what happens in between

Day 39 (2015.12.04)
Tough Friday as always. But got myself under control later on and felt bit better. And it was expected that the variance is going to hit me back - it's actually not too bad results-wise, could've been worse. I'm bit disappointed with lack of analysis and hand reviews, going to try and improve that next week, or maybe on weekend. I'm also skipping way to much sport and music, at least German goes according to plan.

Hands: 3494 (total 14296) in 5 sessions of 10NL Zoom SH
Overall grade: 7/10
Net: -22.32$ (total +92.53$) and -25.98$ by EV
Bankroll: 302.02$ (+50$ FFPs)

[x] Sport (workout)
[x] Music (guitar playing)
[v] Study (Deutsch 1 hour)

Plans for the weekend
I'd love to catch up a little with guitar and workouts, play some Spin & Go's, VIP tourneys and hopefully have some time for hands reviews and analysis.

Week 08
Another week flew by... can't even recall anything that happened - despite moving up to 10NL and having a huge focus on the tables and challenges. But can't even recall a thing...

Overall was running above EV again... Still 2bb/100 by EV is decent and other stats are fine. Stats, results and bankroll challenge report is here.

Played at Zoom 10NL 6 max: 14389 hands
Net result: +105.09$ and +28.90$ by EV
Spin & Go's: 21 x1$ played with net +13$
Current bankroll: 323.58$ (+50$ FPPs)

Weekend 08
Played some 10NL Zoom hands because of the Christmas challenge and some Spin & Go's. Plus some other stuff.
[v] Sport (2 hour forest walk)
[v] Music (guitar playing)
[v] Study (Deutsch 1 hour)

Day 40 (2015.12.07)
Sat down in the morning to record couple of sessions - they went kinda boring and I felt confused and disoriented because of the action and all the talking. Going to try and record another one tomorrow maybe. Afterwards didn't play too good - made some terrible calls and other mistakes, but ran bad too - several coolers and bad beats.

This hand was probably the sickest I've ever won with Running Twice feature at Zoom

Hands: 3176 (total 17565) in 3 sessions of 10NL Zoom SH
Overall grade: 7/10
Net: -26.27$ (total +78.82$) and -18.14$ by EV
Spin & Go's: 14 x1$ played with net +6$
Bankroll: 304.41$ (+50$ FFPs)

[v] Sport (workout)
[v] Music (guitar playing)
[v] Study (Deutsch 1 hour)

Now you can wait 1 million years for this to happen again

Woah! Look at this COACH! Congrats on the promotion, bro ♠_thumbsup:

Yeah, hand is sick... stacked off on the flop and I got flush twice - saw he had higher flush - and I was like
Then I saw whole pot coming my way and I was like
Even thought there was a bug on PokerStars for a second.

Day 41 (2015.12.08)
Finally had a better day - didn't lose much at least and even was up a stack by EV. It was a "happy hour" promotion day and I did expect a lots of action. Still - played several shorter sessions and a lot of hands, trying to stay focus and calm. At first it didn't work - ended up stuck 5 buy-ins. Then did much better job and brought it back into the green. But results are not the most important of course - the focus and mental state control is what matters. I think I improved it a little bit today. Later in the evening I attended to asimos coaching session and it was great in some ways, played better in the last session afterwards.

Hands: 4285 (total 21850) in 7 sessions of 10NL Zoom SH
Overall grade: 8/10
Net: -6.89$ (total +71.93$) but +10.80$ by EV
Bankroll: 297.47$ (+50$ FFPs)

[v] Sport (workout)
[x] Music (guitar playing)
[v] Study (Deutsch 1 hour)

Hello Jay,

Great blog. Added to my Favorites! Roland Dyens is certainly a master!
I look forward to reading future updates.

My regards

Matt

Hey Matt, nice to meet you, thanks for stopping by!

Yeah, Dyens is a killer, I've learned to appreciate his music just recently - and it blew my mind. Thanks for reminding me about it actually, because I was so focused on challenges and working at the tables - that I forgot to share music once in a while

Here we go then - another great piece that I was amazed with, not Dyens this time, but "Gran Jota" by Francisco Tarrega. What took me completely by surprise is the amount of not standard technique that in the piece, I couldn't imagine it was already explored in the XIXth century. Enjoy!

Day 42 (2015.12.09)
So I officially suck at 10NL. It's a huge fishfest - but I can't handle it. When guys calling 3bets with 55 on UTG and then just calling down with 7th pair for whole stack - that's a dream! For me it's more like a nightmare. If I had AA in that spot - they fold instantly... but when I bluff - they just call down. They call Q8s and A2o - only a complete idiot like me is unable to rake up one huge pot after another... Gimme a break!

Do I exaggerate? Yeah, maybe a little... Let me show you one hand though where I DID got lucky with a better hand... then you tell me if I'm over-reacting or not.

Hands: 2122 (total 21850) in 3 sessions of 10NL Zoom SH
Overall grade: 6.5/10
Net: -33.66$ (total +38.27$) and -31.16$ by EV
Bankroll: 263.81$ (+50$ FFPs)

[v] Sport (workout)
[x] Music (guitar playing)
[v] Study (Deutsch 1 hour)

Day 43 (2015.12.10)
I was playing around with the new layout, testing it out etc - wasn't too focused, but then it got better, and even though I didn't run too hot or crush or anything - still felt really calm, relaxed and enlightened. Only in the last long session I lost it a little bit - got tilted and frustrated again by some stupid plays (both mine and opponents) and had couple of unpleasant coolers like set vs set. But overall - day was pretty decent and I love the new layout/setup and it makes me feel good too - so hopefully I'm gonna get better at playing too... Here how it looks like actually:

Also played 10 x0.25$ Spin & Go's - that Christmas promo tickets I've got. Won 6 out of 10 and should've won 3 more by EV. I'm seriously considering to give those Spin & Go's a try when I finish my Zoom-hands plan - I'd like to grind a decent number of Spins and see if I'm any good at it, at least at the lowest limits. It might be just more profitable in terms of $/h etc. We'll see...

Hands: 2238 (total 21850) in 4 sessions of 10NL Zoom SH
Overall grade: 8/10
Net: +9.29$ (total +71.93$) but +1.72$ by EV
Bankroll: 277.60$ (+50$ FFPs)

[x] Sport (workout)
[x] Music (guitar playing)
[v] Study (Deutsch 1 hour)

Day 44 (2015.12.11)
I... just... can't... breath...

Hands: 2440 (total 28650) in 3 sessions of 10NL Zoom SH
Overall grade: 6/10
Net: -98.85$ (total -51.29$) and -69.98$ by EV
Bankroll: 178.85$ (+75$ FFPs)

[v] Sport (workout)
[x] Music (guitar playing)
[x] Study (Deutsch 1 hour)

Didnt have time to catch up on everything but, whats the reaosn you play zoom instead of reg tables in the first place? (just curious, not judging)

Hi, vonki. I planned to expand my introduction section with some bio/history - but still can't find time to do that. So your curiosity is fine - no worries.

Long story short - I prefer the format. I know, there are pro's and con's for both Zoom and regular tables and if... WHEN! I move up to higher limits - I'm sure I will have to go back anyways. But at this point I have a choice and for now I prefer Zoom.

It might be tougher than regular table in some way - but still huge aquarium and that's part of my frustration that I can't beat them. But the biggest difference for me is - less mental games and leveling ups. I've been playing Zoom since the day one it was launched on 17th March 2012 (according to my old blog) - and it was immediately more profitable for me. Every single time I've tried regular tables after that day - were disasters one way or another. Mostly because I can't just play with the same people over and over again because I start to level myself heavily. For example I think if I 3bet them too often then start to play back - so I either reduce my 3betting frequency or playing back too aggressively. Or if I steal the blinds every round - they're gonna start adjust etc-etc...

Other two biggest pro's for me were - more hands/hour and freedom in playing rhythm - I mean stopping and starting session whenever you want. The volume part is obvious and as of the freedom... When we moved to Germany - the kid was 2 years old and he drew a lot of attention. I could put him to bed for the afternoon sleep, start a regular session, spend like 15 minutes to select 5-6 juicy tables with fish - and he could wake up and call for me. Or the same at late nights - I just couldn't stay at the tables with fish, no consistency at all. Nowadays it's not that of an issue - but still, I love the freedom, I can play in short bursts like 10-15 min sessions or a long one - without worrying about table selecting etc.

I know, there are pro's and con's for both Zoom and regular tables and if I move up to higher limits - I'm sure I will have to go back anyways. But at this point I have a choice and for now I prefer Zoom.

That makes sense. I just wasn't so sure if zoom is actually that beatable (mostly because of reginfestation and rake). I don't really have any samples myself to make a judgement, but I looked at the samples I have of other players between 5-19k hands and from what I saw like 8/10 were losing players and 1/10 breakeven and 1 winner... I know, the samples are VERY small but it's still a trend imo... Swings are huge, which is usually accompanied by low winrates and players switching money with one another... I can't really say that I have seen any microstakes blogs with people who play microstakes zoom (I know there are 50nl+ blogs) and do very well (if anyone knows any zoom microblogs with great results feel free to post them!)... Generally, when it comes to my own students, I've also seen a trend of higher winrates among players who play regular tables compared to my zoom players...

Again, I am not judging anyone at all or trying to trashtalk zoom/zoomplayers. I am just genuinely interested in how beatable the zoom games are at the micros. I don't enjoy zoom enough myself to try to find it out

I'm not scanning blogs that often, can only show you one of friend of mine Panos who became PS.com coach recently - if he beats Zoom 100NL with decent winrate then the lower limits are also possible to beat. And I've been playing Zoom up to 50NL - it's not a regfest and most of the regs are weakish regfish as well, for a good player there should be no problem. It's just the fact that I'm not a good player stops me from crush them

Week 09
Toughest week so far in the challenge. Played decent amount of hands at 10NL Zoom but did poorly. Well, that's underestimation I think because I've lost 15 buy-ins and around 10 buy-ins by EV. The problems are the same - overplaying hands, being a calling station and tilting as a result. I gotta change my approach drastically or there will never be any progress.

On the weekend I took a break from Zoom to think it through, talked to friend of mine, have gave me some good advice and I think I'm going to step back and play 5NL for a while longer, at least next week. I've played a little already, around 500 hands...

I also spend all Saturday playing VIP freerolls and finally took a try to clear those FPPs in Hyperturbo SNG's. Everyone knows they are the best way to convert FPPs into T$ but I just never bothered too much. I gave it a shot now with some experience in Spin & Go's and it went fine. I've won 6 of 23 for 235 FPPs, so I converted 5405 into 66$ and that's just a bit more than 65$ those points worth. But then I've played 22 of 3$ Spin & Go's and got 96$ in the end. I've also bought 11$ ticket for The Big 11$ and cashed in for 24$ - so overall my bankroll actually feels much better now.

Stats, results and bankroll challenge report is here.

Played at Zoom 10NL 6 max: 14261 hands
Net result: -156.38$ and -106.76$ by EV
Hyperturbo SNGs: 6/23 x 235 FPPs won/played with net +66$
Spin & Go's: 32/80 (0.25$, 1$ and 3$) won/played with net +35$
MTT VIP Freerolls: net +24$
Current bankroll: 307.96$

Weekend 09
[v] Sport (2 hour forest walk)
[x] Music (guitar playing)
[x] Study (Deutsch 1 hour)

Day 45 (2015.12.14)
Took a deep breath... reviewed some hands... watched videos from asimos again... read his notes in the coaching thread, talked to him in Skype about micros and took seriously the advice he gave... Dropped to 5NL and going to have a fresh start again.

And it went great actually. With WTSD as low as 23.5% it looks like the adjustments are in the right direction. Going to play 5NL the whole week and see if I can take another shot at 10NL.

Hands: 3621 (total 4092) in 5 sessions of 5NL Zoom SH
Overall grade: 9/10
Net: +29.68$ (total +41.96$) and +27.33$ by EV
Bankroll: 337.49$

[v] Sport (workout)
[v] Music (guitar playing)
[v] Study (Deutsch 1 hour)

Day 46 (2015.12.15)
Another solid and stable day mentally but bit more shaky in terms of results. Got some coolers and overall tough patch, but I'm happy I ended up b/e instead of losing couple of buy-ins as if it would be last week or so... Bit looser today with WTSD 28% but W$SD is bit over 50% so I guess the showdowns were reasonable.

Had some time to play Spin & Go's x1$ - won first 7 out of 7 with decent multipliers and then lost 5 in a row. It was fun, relaxing - and profitable!

Hands: 2581 (total 6672) in 5 sessions of 5NL Zoom SH
Overall grade: 8.5/10
Net: +0.27$ (total +42.37$) but -4.39$ by EV
Spin & Go's: 7/12 x1$ won/played with net +16$
Bankroll: 353.76$

[v] Sport (workout)
[x] Music (guitar playing)
[v] Study (Deutsch 1 hour)

I've also managed to wake up at 6 in the morning again - couldn't do that for a while. Had to sleep around 30-40 minutes after the lunch though, but still - want to do it regularly next month as a challenge - and might add one more challenge, stay tuned to the challenge-fest!

Day 47 (2015.12.16)
OK, so variance hit me today. It felt very weird - I've been winning small pots here and there, but when it came to big pots or/and big hands - I was just getting crushed. Quick overview gave me an impression that it's just a rough variance patch, overall not spewing or anything... will see how it goes tomorrow.

Hands: 3501 (total 10137) in 6 sessions of 5NL Zoom SH
Overall grade: 8/10
Net: -15.74$ (total +26.63$) and -22.16$ by EV
Spin & Go's: 3/4 x1$ won/played with net +2$
Bankroll: 340.02$

[v] Sport (workout)
[v] Basketball (workout)
[x] Music (guitar playing)
[v] Study (Deutsch 1 hour)

Day 48 (2015.12.17)
Had a tough day so got really tired towards the last session. But other than that - played really solid and focused. WTSD 21% is probably all-time low. But I didn't hit too many boards for like an hour or so - no wonder had to fold a lot. I am really happy I'm able to fold a lot though - this was the biggest leak of mine for years.

Hands: 2984 (total 13157) in 4 sessions of 5NL Zoom SH
Overall grade: 8.5/10
Net: +5.27$ (total +31.90$) and +5.99$ by EV
Spin & Go's: 1/4 x1$ won/played with net -2$
Bankroll: 343.27$

[x] Sport (workout)
[x] Music (guitar playing)
[v] Study (Deutsch 1 hour)