It is not all about the money....[NL25->NL2->NL5 BLOG]

Nice job, keep it up

Just read your blog Alan its a good read nice work dude!

Thanks FatSunny.

So yesterday i had 4th session with w34z3l. we already covered many topics and after first session when we talked about preflop game we turned our sessions towards post flop game.

Here are the topics we talked about so far.
Preflop play and position
call 3bets
3bet bluffs
4bet bluffs
stealing blinds ranges
completing on blinds
blinds defense

So we somehow covered preflop game and went forward to postflop game with topics like.
creating a plan on flop
cBeting as a bluff and as a value
cBeting options vs different type of opponents
bareling vs different type of opponents

Today i have to relisten everything we talked about in 4th session so mostly about cbets vs different kind of opponents and postflop plans. i think coaching is going really great. Just 4 sessions untill now and i already know so much more . Of course the main goal of everything is to put all that into practice. Cannot wait to continue with that. Poker can be really a fun thing doesn't it?

Funny hand happened yesterday.

Poker Stars, $0.05/$0.10 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 6 Players
Poker Tools Powered By Holdem Manager - The Ultimate Poker Software Suite.

BTN: $24.49 (244.9 bb)
SB: $7.36 (73.6 bb)
Hero (BB): $13.46 (134.6 bb)
UTG: $14.91 (149.1 bb)
MP: $4.15 (41.5 bb)
CO: $12.67 (126.7 bb)

Preflop: Hero is BB with Q Q
UTG folds, MP raises to $0.40, CO calls $0.40, BTN calls $0.40, SB folds, Hero raises to $2.05, MP raises to $4.15 and is all-in, 2 folds, Hero calls $2.10

Flop: ($9.15) 6 4 2 (2 players, 1 is all-in)
Turn: ($9.15) A (2 players, 1 is all-in)
River: ($9.15) 3 (2 players, 1 is all-in)

Results:

Tomorrow i will have another coaching so i will have session 5 and we will discuss post-flop bluffs and turn and river bets vs different type of opponent.

So after a 26th of April when i made last update many things happen in poker. As you can see on the graph below there were many unlucky hands for me so my green line suffered a bit. Today i had great session again with green line under EV but i was almost 6BI up in 350 hands ♠_cool:.

I have to say that i was pretty happy with latest play even if the green line was pretty straight but i said to myself that until the EV line going up constantly i don't care about bad beats. So after 20k hands i am still at a winrate of 10bb/100 hands which is quite decent i guess. If things go well i will decide with my coach if i am ready to take a shoot at NL20 in about two weeks or so.

Really a lot of things to come so i am quite excited about the future.

Good luck to all of you guys.

Another week of playing is behind me and tomorrow i have another so sixth in a row session with my coach. I think i understand the game every time better and that the results are not just coincident but a consequence of hard working. So this week it went pretty well again and with new game type i think i managed to put high variance out of the game and i really try to consider every move villain do so i have pretty easier decision and more clear picture on what is going on.

Tomorrow we are having sweating session so the coach can see if i made some progress and we can talk about moving up the limit if i will do well. There are still 5 session till the and of the first coaching and i hope i will improve my game even more. On PokerStars i found so many huge fishes on NL10 and i hope that there are plenty of them swimming also on higher limits. At NL10 balancing is not important and some other really difficult aspects of poker to understand so i hope i can master them in the future but i think it will be very hard. But i have a hope :f_cool:.

The most important thing is that i still enjoy poker and i think with deeper understanding i am getting to enjoy it even more.

So there is not many bad things to say so this blog has become a bit boring but i try do my best to keep it like this ♠_cool:

Result of the past week:

Good luck at the tables guys.

Its time for a new update, but not again for the good news. This time EV line smiled to me pretty much and went down as it does not want to be in my favor anymore. This is how it is when variance hit but i am pretty confident that this will stop pretty soon. I am still learning and having sessions with coach and i think like i do great job. Wen results are bad as right now are our self-confidence drops a bit but iam sure this time this will not confuse me. Right now i have a feeling like everything beats my hands and i don't remember anymore when i got luck and push all in preflop with aces. Everytime some villains calls and got sets or something i everybody just folds (this is of course just mine feeling right now). So with coach we were working on constructing 3bet ranges, when to played with polarized range when with de-polarized and it makes pretty much sense so as i said.....this though days will end and there will be again planty of room to make good hands and win something. This is maybe the point when guys would said that PokerStars is rigged and maybe it really is. :f_biggrin: just kiddin.

So here is the result and despite i should make nice profit i did loose som BIs last 10k hands. I am not preoccupied because of course this is part of the game. I hope you other guys are a bit luckier than i am right now. See you soon guys.

Playing the same stakes, so will follow your blog!

Keep it up and hope your bad run will end soon!

Srečno!

@Alleen86 thanks.

Another so 8th in a row session is over with my coach w34z3l. We were working today on a defending vs 3bets. Another really great topic and he talk in a way that it is really easy to understand everything. I still have to relisten and review everything. Well he does his job really really great and i would recommend him to anyone. But still we are those who make decision on a table and nobody else does. So it is really important to put this all into practice and it is a bit difficult to change your style immediately. Before those sessions i was pretty convinced my game is good but i see now that i haven't got all aspects of the game but there were just single parts i tried to put together. On micro limits i was even then winning player but playing poker now is so much fun because things become more strategic and the game itself is really a lot a lot nicer.

Well last week i had some problems with my game and i had really bad run. but managed to put everything in right direction after it. Taking a weekend off of poker so i cooled my head a bit and thigns went pretty much better after that. So after 46k hands i am at rate of 6.5bb/100hands.

We have still two session with w34z3l to do so i hope i can even improve things by the end of that experience which is very pleasant regardless how things will and for me. The point is also that i have full-time job, i play football 4 times per week and also try to study and play a lot of poker, there is also my GF and put all of that into one single day is pretty though. But i have a plan and i hope i will stick with it as much as possible.

So here is my graph for the past week. So after last update.

Here is also funny hand that happened today.

The most funny thing here is that the guy played 19/14 style and i dont have an idea what happened to him that he called that one :f_biggrin:

Poker Stars, $0.05/$0.10 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 5 Players
Poker Tools Powered By Holdem Manager - The Ultimate Poker Software Suite.

Hero (CO): $10 (100 bb)
BTN: $11.14 (111.4 bb)
SB: $10.82 (108.2 bb)
BB: $25.78 (257.8 bb)
MP: $10.15 (101.5 bb)

Preflop: Hero is CO with J A
MP raises to $0.30, Hero raises to $0.90, 2 folds, BB calls $0.80, MP folds

Flop: ($2.15) 3 Q 5 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $1.10, BB calls $1.10

Turn: ($4.35) Q (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $1.80, BB raises to $3.60, Hero calls $1.80

River: ($11.55) 9 (2 players)
BB bets $8.30, Hero calls $4.40 and is all-in

Results:

Today we got 9th session with my coach and its time for new update. Sadly 9th session means that there is only one session left and then i will play again by my own without weekly reminders what to do and how to improve my game. In session 10 we will also discuss with w34z3l about the future, about the video i have to see, about books that are good to read and so on. We will also try to configure my HUD, so it will be really good (also right now it is good i think). I think also i am prepared to move one step up so i am will start playing NL16 very soon. Right now i am up 35BI and still 10BI under EV so i think my game is good enaugh to give a shot at NL16 and i hope the game there is not much different. In two months i played 52k hands with winrate of 6.65bb/100hands which is not that bad i suppose. Of course here and then i still do silly things but i hope i will minimize those to the minimum.

I hope i can somehow bet NL16 and NL25 and then i guess it will be time to get maybe another portion of knowledge, since i don't think my lines will work there becouse there won't be so many fishes any more. At NL10 i have to do some research to find tables with nice fishes to catch i don't know how difficult that might be at NL50.

So i look forward for the last session with my coach, i ll make a shot at NL16 so there is pretty much to do and to work on in next months and weeks.

Here are mine results after the last update.

Good luck guys.

Nice results you got there

I am sure you will crush NL16 and win a lot of $$$

The 64o hand in the previous hand reminded me of this

Grabbed by Holdem Manager
NL Holdem $0.02(BB) Replayer
SB ($0.71)
BB ($1.86)
UTG ($2.10)
Hero ($3.45)
BTN ($0.70)

Dealt to Hero A♥ A♠

fold, Hero raises to $0.06, BTN calls $0.06, SB calls $0.05, BB raises to $0.10, Hero raises to $3.45 (AI), fold, fold, BB calls $1.76 (AI)

FLOP ($3.84) T♣ Q♦ Q♠

TURN ($3.84) T♣ Q♦ Q♠ 7♠

RIVER ($3.84) T♣ Q♦ Q♠ 7♠ T♠

That guy was on tilt a little bit because of the hand before ♦

Thanks @Rains7.

Yeah....64 is huge i think specially if it is suited

Its time for the next update. After i finished coaching i spent few days in configuring my HUD. It is sensational now ♠_biggrin:. I also moved to NL16 and i like the game there. I think it more juicy than on NL10 so i really like it. After some troubles in first few session i am already comfortable and it is really pleasure to play NL16.

Last session of my coaching was about configuring HUD and we talked about future. How to deal with downswings how to treat poker etc. Well w34z3l said he is not a psychologist but i have to say he should be good at psychology also:) He motivated me for the future and i really look forward to everything regarding poker.

I put so much effort in correctly configuring HUD. I think i spend more than 8 hours to make everything as it suppose to be and results are here already. I do faster and better decisions at the tables with coverage of some stats. It is so great.

Here is also my graph with few k hands at NL16. As i said game is great at this limit. For me much more fun there as at NL10.

I also made a review of my coach w34z3l and if someone is interested in it here it is: w34z3l's Cash Game Coaching!

I really recommend him.

Good luck at the tables guys.

Nice to see your excitement, Alan883!

Wish you good luck with your further efforts!

What bankroll management do you use? What's your minimal amount of BI's to play a limit?

Hey Alleen86. Thanks for stopping by and for nice wishes.

Currently i have 750$ for play and more than 600$ on Skrill for clearing bonuses so when Pokerstars says that there is deposit bonus i have always something prepared to take action:). So my active BR is 750$ and thus without any Bonuses (FPP points are in my account until i reach Gold status on Pokerstars).

I am going to take a shot of NL25 at 1k$ and if i ever reach NL50 i think i won't make a shot before 3k.

I am a bit conservative regarding BRM but more important thing is that i move up when i have feeling that i crushing that limit.

I agree with you. Conservative bankroll helps alot to stay more fearless about the money while playing.

Nice job and keep it up!

Heey guys here i am again. I was away a bit because i was on holiday and i went to visit Brač island Croatia. We had some fun there.

here are also some pics from Bral-Bol

I played also some poker before vacations and a bit after.
Here is the graph of NL16:

We are going up and down and up and down. On vacations i also read a bit about poker. I brought a book with me with title Small Stakes No limit Holdem. This was an advice from my coach w34z3l and it was a great read. It was talking a lot about balance and some lines i never used before. I tried immediately to apply some things in my game and i have to say there were not much problems to do so. Book is easy to understand and very complicated at the same time but there are some clear thoughts we can follow easily. Again and again...position position position. Today i played for example like 21/17 and this is a few percentage more than usual...usual i got like 19/17 andthis is of course a result of more betting from BTN and possibly from CO. I have to find good spots to fire even more hands from this position and be very tight from EP and possibly even from MP.

Also i am adopting a lot on players lately and i have to improve that even more. I still cannot say i beat NL16 but i am stacked all the time around break even but i am quite satisfied with the progress. After vacations i got new elan for poker and now i have to grind and grind.

I hope you guys are doing well and i wish you all nice happy summer days.

BTW: This days i am impressed how this girl can sing....Check her out.

Here is a little update.

Well i played some poker this days and i run well above the EV line...until today when Stars punched me in the face again :f_frown:. I made some flips shoves and lost all of them. But what can we do here?! Otherwise it is an interesting play here and i enjoy the game pretty much even if it is hot as hell...yesterday was almost 40°C but today will cool down a bit since there were already some storms and some will be at night said meteorologists.

So here is graph for dew last days.

Well to make this blog a bit more interesting i decide to proveda also a bit of info outside the poker. Now i have only one follower (me) and maybe with that i can get anther one :f_p:.

Well i do live in Slovenia and as every decent poker player i run to:) Sometimes we just forget how beautiful our country is. Here are some pictures of my everyday running track.

This is the road where i run.

I have also nice veiw from the other part of this field.

And finally i have some steps to do under that beautiful castle.

Well i think many things when i run since i find running very boring but i have to prepare myself for next football season. I play in the lowest Slovenian national division but still we have to run here and then ♠_cool:.

I do also a lot of tennis this days and i would like also to cycle a bit more but the weather is currently inappropriate for cycling since it is to hot and there are chances for the storms since we live very close to the mountains.

So guys have fun.

Just hit my third Royal Flush. Closed session immediately after it, because my heart rate was like 250bpm. Thanks PokerStars

Poker Stars, $0.08/$0.16 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 6 Players
Poker Tools Powered By Holdem Manager - The Ultimate Poker Software Suite.

Hero (MP): $28.95 (180.9 bb)
CO: $19.50 (121.9 bb)
BTN: $7.10 (44.4 bb)
SB: $16 (100 bb)
BB: $9.84 (61.5 bb)
UTG: $44.48 (278 bb)

Preflop: Hero is MP with T A
UTG folds, Hero raises to $0.48, CO folds, BTN calls $0.48, SB calls $0.40, BB folds

Flop: ($1.60) J J Q (3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $0.80, BTN folds, SB calls $0.80

Turn: ($3.20) J (2 players)
SB checks, Hero checks

River: ($3.20) K (2 players)
SB bets $2.29, Hero raises to $27.67, SB calls $12.43 and is all-in

Results:$32.64 pot ($1.47 rake)
Final Board: J J Q J K
Hero showed T A and won $31.17 ($15.17 net)
SB showed J A and lost (-$16 net)

It's time for a new update. I didn't do any update for a whole month. Shame on me. It was a difficult month for me regarding poker. I felt in a strange careless mood and i didn't find a way out of that mood for few days. It was really obvious what is going on so i decided to take a bit longer break. I was without poker for more than a week. Still i am not satisfied with a volume for the past month. The only good thing was luck which was really on my side. Still there was not any good results but i played so bad that i would deserve being in a red numbers. But as mentioned fortune helped me this time. I know i won't get many next chances.

So after a pause i played again much better. A lot more focused and confident and i got those great feelings for playing poker again. Currently i have a lot of football training and matches so i am to tired to play poker after i came home and i just don't feel prepared enough and concentrated enough to sit at the tables.

I will grind tomorrow again. This evening i am satisfied with the fact that i do this review here and show to you guys my progress...if we can say progress to that what is going on atm.

My BR is just below 1k$ so i have really to prepare myself to take a shot at NL25. It won't be easy and every limit will give me less credit for mistakes. PokerStars just treated me well for the past month and i can just thank them that i finished in profit.

So a lot of work in front of me. Tomorrow i will grind again and i hope next updates will be a bit more positive than this one was.

Here is also a graph that shows how lucky i was lately. When i was at 9k hands i took a longer break because i knew i played very bad. It was a great decision to take a break.

Good luck at the tables guys.