Ryan

Hero BB w KQs

good points, def tightening up makes sense, and highly favoring suited combos - i expect to get more calls from a live reg being this deep than a online reg or a solve for sure, especially with the deepstack fish behind

150 "makes sense" to me, but i expect this to get called a ton if im being honest

maybe the point of "indifference" it something like 175-200, which is pretty massive. not sure if we actually want to be squeezing this combo a bunch if we actually have to use those kinds of sizings. it opens up reg to really wreck us with 4bets(not sure if its actually happening though), but also pretty good to play with the fun players

i ended up nitting pretty hard and calling - prob not the worst, and maybe makes sense if our squeeze needs to be so big - but also pretty great high equity combo for playing deep

Been a bit since last post

made decision a few weeks ago to all but completely cut out online poker

i really enjoy online and the strategy development aspect, and just being forced to play as sharp as possible

but i felt like i hit a ceiling for online

im really happy i went into the rabbit hole over the past year and successfully broke into the 200nl pool (something prior i felt intimidated by)

and im really surprised by my results

through a combination of game selection, and solid play, i was able to stabilize around a 10bb/100 wr at 200nl

i had aspirations to break into 500nl as well, but from the small sample I derived, the daytime games just didnt seem very appealing, and from communication with a close friend who played them a bit, they seemed to be a bit inconsistent as far as running in the daytime(fullring at least, which is where i put in a large amount of my volume/focus)

at this point i was presented with a fork in the road if i wanted to keep progressing

the hours i was playing were 10am-5/6pm, which are probably some of the absolute worst hours for online poker, but i value my life outside poker to a high degree, so i just lived with it

i could change my sleep/wake routines

i tried this, and contemplated a schedule of waking around 11am-12pm, going through "morning" routine, and then starting game late afternoon and playing until midnight or just past

a problem with this, is i condense the bulk of my playtime between Wednesday and Saturday, and leave the other days to do poker adjacent activities like deeper study sessions, or things related to the business i help run, so on the non poker days, it would interfere with my normal routines and schedules

regardless, i decided to do a test run just to "feel" it out

forcing myself to stay up pretty late for a few days, sleeping in, and getting black out curtains

i quickly observed my mental state and clarity

i felt groggy, off kilter, and was really really tired by 10 or 11 pm

of course there is a transition period and i probably could have adjusted in a week or two's time

this i knew, but the implications outside of this were just to apparent

i generally like finishing poker around 6-7pm, so i can have the evenings to spend with friends

i have responsibilities and opportunities outside of the game that I value and benefit from, that this schedule would not synergize well with

i decided it just didnt make sense

i then considered maybe i could play more volume of 6-max, but then remembered how much reg heavier those games can be. they can be great, but they can also be inconsistent, and more regs in the pool leads to way more variance - i had biggest swings i had ever experienced in poker over past 5 months or so when i was grinding 200nl day in day out - it def gave me a deeper appreciation/understanding for that aspect of the game

all this being considered, i turned my focus to live games. i realized that a big part of my process, and something i deem very important, is game selection. and when grinding online, i am/was actively game selecting and getting out of low profit games and searching for better ones - to the point i realized, "damn, there is a lot of mental energy being exhausted in remaining cognizant of the current state of each game and if its time to leave and find a better one", something along those lines

i had a shift in thinking, where i was like, live poker is like the ultimate form of game selection

i had mixed feelings about this, because live has its own set of challenges

having to actually be around people day in and out and the circumstances that arise with that

how to stay focused when the games are so slow

how to continue learning and improving

but i also believe that i can do all these things, it would just take some time

so i mentally told myself that i had reached my limit for online given what i am willing to sacrifice, and that i could be content with the progress i had made and things i had learned

i also realized that no matter what form of poker you are in, there will be ways to improve. online i made plenty of mistakes, and that creates area for review and sharpening. in live i will make mistakes, and have room for improvement

i cleared my accounts entirely on bovada, and really made the commitment to play live - i did leave a small amount on global, with the mental disclaimer that it would only serve as a practice tool and would no longer be played for financial incentive. whatever money i earned through playing on there is just a consequence of practicing, and would not be counted towards hours played each week - more of a study time

id rate my performance so far a 6/10

the biggest thing i became very aware of over the past week is my focus at the table

when playing online, you stay dialed in because you have 4 games running, so your mind just focuses on the task at hand. you have your documents to take notes for hand review, but other than that, you just move on to the next hand for better or worse

playing live, my demons came out

you have time to sit there and contemplate, to dwell on if you couldve taken a better line, to check out the cute cocktail waitress, family matters, infinite distractions

and there were just so many hands that in retrospect, i played very suboptimal

so thats been the current focus, to relearn how to focus in the absence of tasks to keep oneself occupied

and there really is things to pay attention to

each hand that plays out while you are not in the hand offers information

bet sizing tells, is villain capable of bluffing and for how much, passive/aggression tendencies, physical demeanor, etc etc

how i am breathing. am i hydrated. taking systematic breaks to stretch and refocus

anyways, ive run out of things to stream of conscious on for the moment

live poker is where i be for the moment

see you next time

Good luck buddy - one of your best assets is the amount of volume you put in

Spent the last week refocusing online after splitting volume between live and online the last couple months

Planned to shot take 500NL online this Saturday, and did so, for about 20 minutes, and then bowed out. The games were very unappealing. Mostly regs, with just one or two short stacked nits

I think for now I am going to work on increasing my volume a bit by adding on additional tables/sites and game selecting 200NL

Definitely felt a bit rusty and less confident this week - does anyone else struggle to stay sharp when playing live poker?

Had a nice run Friday, playing 534bb eff

I am the last person desiring to post chip porn, think it's the wrong thing to focus on

Last year I played almost exclusively online, and was very torn about my future in poker (burnout related)

I linked up with some good people in discord and they really helped reshape my understanding in poker, and helped me appreciate what drives me

And then I read a post from Demondoink on here about moving up stakes, and had a paradigm shift on my perception of risk

Started putting that into practice more in the last 6 months, and now I am playing bigger, more consistently, and beating the games for more than I thought I was capable of

I am grateful, because for the first time I actually feel sustained motivation to play the game, and see much opportunity for the future, with consistent focused work+effort

It's really important to open yourself up to motivated, ambitious, and intelligent people in your space - they can help unlock aspects of reality you are not even aware of

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhteUu2Cn_k

Song
Marathon

Connor Price & 4Korners

Upstuck

Yesterday playing live 2-5

30 minutes in, a Recreational player raises from EP to 3bb
Hero calls TT in HJ playing 108bb eff
Bttn fish overcalls

Flop T83r
EP fish cbets $15
We call, Button calls

Turn Kd
EP bets $45, we raise to $140, Bttn folds, EP calls

Riv 4x
EP checks, we jam $360-370ish, EP calls, shows 33, we win set over set

--
The first thing that enters my mind, "damn, I just left $500 on the table" - I think about the previous session or two where I left a fish with a few hundred as well

Over the past month or more, I've been increasing my volume at the live tables

I've also been buying in shorter, at 100bb

The reason I decided to not buy in deeper, is risk mitigation, and to get myself more comfortable in the environment

To allow myself to feel more comfortable while transitioning to the player pool and different metagame dynamics

Partly because of bankroll management to a degree, but also partly because I am a bit risk averse by nature (something I have to consistently work on and reframe)

It's much easier to swallow a 2k loss in a day, than a 4k loss in a day

It was the right decision for me at the time. It's easy to think that it has cost me financially, and in theory it probably has, but in practice, maybe its not the full view

In practice, buying in shorter has allowed me to feel more emotionally stable while I put in volume and get more comfortable in the games - honestly, if I had been buying in deeper from the beginning, I am not confident I would have put in half of the volume I have over the last 6 weeks - so all the stacks I have won, might still be theoretical

In the past two weeks alone, I have had multiple all in situations where I left fish with money - it's easy to fixate on that point and feel as if I am missing out - and technically I am - but in the long term, it is worth it - the point isn't to maximize in the short term, but to maximize in the long term. And part of the long term, is getting myself to a point where I can arrive, and be in the games, present and ready to perform, consistently

And to be totally realistic, I have run pretty well in the past 6 weeks playing live - and things could have easily went the other way on some days. I could have had much more painful days, with the deeper buy ins, which may have took to much an emotional toll, affected my mental state/game, and hurt my volume

It's okay to work within your constraints

Throughout the day, I did have the feeling of "Upstuckness"

I tried to breathe and let it go, and at times I briefly did, but it did linger

But it's not the whole picture

I knew up front what I was doing by buying in shorter. I knew/know I am making a financial sacrifice in the short term

The fuller picture however, incorporates the benefits

The benefits of working with myself and understanding where I am weak, and giving myself opportunity and time to strengthen there

In due time

My plan is to keep moving - it's about that time I start pushing my comfort zone, buying in deeper, exposing myself to more risk, and upside as well - upside is important here - it's okay that I move slower than someone else - self understanding is important, and what will allow me to keep moving at the pace that is right for me

I think a major mistake I made for most of my career is being to focused on the downside of things

But now when fear enters my mind, or doubt, I tell myself "good things can happen to" and it works

Reflections on Live and Online Poker

Part of reason we can raise bigger and still play more hands in live that have good playability is we often win back much of the dead money we create because we do not get 3b off equity pre or post as much - as games become more “good aggressive”, we have to tighten up and raise smaller

yeah - it seems to do something good for the body and mind

Monday fasting

4 weeks ago I made the decision to not eat on Monday's until further notice

It seemed like a good idea, as a "forced reset" each week

I find that going a day or two without food has an effect on my emotional well-being, for whatever reason

Possibly because I am such a glutton for good food, it brings me back to baseline - makes me appreciate food and forces me to look at things differently. Around food, but also around my values, relationships with people and my environment. It also forces me to slow down

I purposely chose Monday because it's a non poker day for me, so feeling hunger will not really affect my typical daily tasks on those days

I'm liking it, and think there are benefits(even if not all understood) - so today I fast, to slow down

In the last couple weeks, decided to stop looking at hole cards of opponents(even though I have option to look) - think it easily leads to results orientated thinking

Noticed often how my mind would anticipate being able to see if I made a "good fold" or got bluffed. But I think it's just the wrong thing to focus on in the anonymous games, and it burns/fills up precious mental energy

So new approach, is to take note of any spots I am unsure about, and then compare it to a theoretical framework. And also run filters using database to filter for specific nodes to see where and when it is wise to deviate from the theoretical framework based on multiple instances, rather than just the one

Ideally, would be great to combine database with a few guys to get bigger samples that we can all benefit from

Think folding is reasonable and preferred line on iggy - utg 4b range is super tight typically, and because it's anon, its easy to make mistakes postflop. We don't really know how capable he will be of bluffing stacks in the low SPR situation, so think its easy to have reverse implied odds to a degree, or to even make bad folds (this could be corrected with mass data i guess, but unless you have that for this super specific spot, good luck)

Frankie Carson makes a good point, and think this is a good line vs someone who won't bluff off much(meaning you have more clarity what their actions mean), or if you know someone can bluff off so you can more confidently call down

When I play, I often have a thought pad to write down things that pop into mind

here are a couple from this week so far (take with a grain of salt - often these are fueled by "the zone", caffeine, and probably some adrenaline

Mistake ive been making is being to focused on my own strategy rather than on what my opponents strat/range likely is and then adjusting and developing strategy around that

Refocus on strategy implementation and looking at filters in database as source of deviation rather than whether or not someone bluffed you in an individual spot. Its an anonymous site, so one off instances are useless long term because you dont know who you are against

oh okayy lol

I saw first photo showing 16/100 and was like fuck

Impressive results

I recently moved up to 200nl pool on iggy a couple months ago - pretty incredible you are hitting 16bb/100!!

What is allowing you to reach those kind of results?

Really miss the Tariq vids! By far my favorite coach on RIO - really appreciate the exploitative thinking style, and think it's very applicable for American sites+live games. Something I want to shift more towards

Know this is very old thread, but I think there is nothing wrong with quitting a good game and sticking to a routine. Not always easy, but think the steadiness pays off in the long term.

You sacrifice short term ev at times(like when a whale is present), for long term life ev. Maybe you do sacrifice your bottom line financially(I also think not as much as some may think), but I dont think money is the only factor in the equation. Happiness and all the things outside poker are also important, and probably more so. Being happy also will help your poker game.

Q9ss - 11:44 - think you missed a value bet vs the rec on river. seems like a good spot to just explo size targeting calls from Tx and maybe weaker. like 33% on river probably is very good even if it isnt a thing GTO or balanced with any bluffs vs this particular player

AK - 30:33 - very glad you went for the thin value here

KQdd - 37:47 - vs a rec, you might be able to get a 33% bet in here on river looking to get called by TT-QQ, some KJ, KT, K9s, 9x etc

A3dd - 43 - Are you sure flatting A3s on bttn is a good idea with high rake+aggressive 3betting from blinds? 6bb/100 rake is higher than most 50NL games, and even at 50NL R/F strats are pretty good given rake

Good job BTW, pretty cool to see how far you have come over the past couple years!

Tyler was using a super tight range in that spot because of a trend he has picked up on in pool where some players are limping a very tight range

Where do you play LiveCashGuy ? are you a fellow Floridian player? your structure sounds like the hard rock

Hunter Cichy why do you think straddling is profitable? UTG seems like it probably isnt, but possible Bttn is. I see other regs doing it, but I have never done it myself. the 200bb/100 seems really hard to over come so I just stay away from it, but clearly some people(including you), think it is a good idea

A8s - exactly why I think 35 is to small - If I want to play 5 way, I think I prefer to limp than make it $35

AJo
when you say "giving up 18% equity", you are referring to times they have a FD I guess. I suppose with AJ, I am pretty confident I can go bet turn+riv and get called by Ax often, so that seems like something I want to do. While with weaker Ax I am content getting one street on river

i guess it is possible that getting called "light" by way way more hands on river does out perform just given the increased FQ. Probably very close spot EV wise

on the A8s hand at 18:10 - what do you think about using a larger RFI sizing? I think I would typically raise closer to $40-50 as my standard sizing, and view the $35 as a bit small, encouraging pots to go multiway more often. I'd also consider limping button if the players arent too wide/are very sticky/have an aggressive 3-bettor in the blinds.

what are your thoughts on this?

AJo - 887Axxss turn - I think with this strong of an A, we are a bit incentivized to bet turn, and check back weaker Ax. It also alludes to a point you mentioned later - if you are giving them free equity with a check back, I think you need to be confident they turn stuff into bluff on river, otherwise you are just letting them realize equity for no purpose - so for this secondary reason especially vs Rec players, I think I want to bet the turn with AJ and consider checking with some weaker Ax

Thanks for sharing

your enthusiasm for poker really comes through in your videos and makes me feel more enthusiastic about the game

Luke Johnson

pretty sure I was referencing the Turn decision - maybe not using this specific combo(but maybe still some), along with a range for say 1/3 on turn.

think I was just surprised to hear you using a 2/3 or check strat on turn more than anything, because thats a spot I might use some 1/3 is all

River I agree, not much point going small unless playing vs a rec for exploitative reasons

21:14 - 54s - is there a reason you only play 2/3+check there? seems like a small bet could be effective strat to have in there, or do you think that OOP range is so well protected that the small bet doesnt achieve very much and you are playing more polar from turn and less merge bets for equity denial

seems like a spot I would consider a small bet with parts of range, but also possible I like this because of people having more unprotected checking ranges at small stakes

teunuss
Do you not think its possible your small river raise might encourage a lighter jam from 8x? when you use this size, it seems to eliminate J8/KJ from your range a bit from my perspective, so seems possible. But maybe this doesnt actually happen enough in game and people just take the call option not trying to get you off of a 8x hand.

its pretty interesting - I have thought of doing this very thing in the anonymous pool. having a limping strategy that takes advantage of people isolating to wide. its like you can raise and play against a tight range and make a ton of worst hands fold, or you can limp and get iso'ed by like 20% of hands. Ive talked about this with friends and in my discord server. just never actually did it. interesting to see people doing it.

you say "weaker stables" implementing it. I mean, it could just be a really effective exploit in an anonymous pool. imagine in zoom it could be really good since there is 0 sample there

confident not everyone is as aware as you are about this