Hey TB, I just finished reading your blog and I found it very enjoyable, and I really like the way you structure your goals. I also loved your cover of Hallelujah.
Good luck in the future I look forward to your updates.
Notifications
Clear all
Your Poker Blogs
176
Posts
46
Users
0
Reactions
43 K
Views
Well, I certainly didn't live up to the last post 
HEY GUYS AND GIRLS
Brief tldr; of the last 2 years since I quit poker.
I realise I didn't even write it up on my blog.
What Happened?
I was a rakeback grinder basically. I had a fairly small winrate, was able to pump out enough hands to make a decent wage and take shots at higher level FLHU (unsuccessfully). I feel like I got into a rut and lost the passion to improve myself. I would grind out tonnes of PLO hands while not being a proven winner to "ride out the variance" instead of studying. It wasn't about the game anymore it was just about the graphs and I ended up making a just "decent" wage, instead of becoming financially independent which is what I wanted to do.
Basically the last year of playing was bumhunting FLHU and losing money at PLO 6max while winning fairly well at PLOHU haha.
I told myself for months/years that I just lost the spark and missed social interaction. I know now that's bullshit. I was perfectly capable of working volunteering/social things into my everyday life and was in denial.
I simply didn't make it because I wasn't good enough and wasn't working hard enough. I felt like I had failed in achieving my goals and was kinda embarassed I only did "okay". I ended up taking all of August 2013 off, literally didn't play at all 'cause I was so unmotivated.
It was over.
Later 2013-> Later 2014 - My good friend got me a job in sales by convincing his manager to give me an interview despite having a pretty nothing CV/Resumé.
That manager saw something in me and when he got promoted brought me with him into a Customer Experience improvement role, was a pivotal mentor too.
Early 2015 - Rage quit from the company, went to China with my partner for a holiday, came back and got tempted back into a contract project role at the same company which I'm going to be doing till at least July 2016.
I've spent a lot of time (and money haha) on improving my self-awareness, my body and health, relationships etc. The 9-5 corporate life (I work at one of the largest companies in NZ) is quite a bit different from poker-lyfe. I think the stress is different, and not in a great way. However, I have grown immensely in my social skills & business knowledge in the past couple of years and feel like leaving poker was the right decision at the time. I simply lacked the managerial/self-awareness/organisational skills to make the most of a poker career.
What now?
Keep going with my contract till between July-October 2016, plan after that is to move to Deutschland w/ my partner for at least a year :)))) Going to try something completely different, right now plan is do a CELTA course and give teaching a go.
My new plan is to pursue poker recreationally without the pressure of having to live off it, learn new games and see what happens Have used some new starting capital on some iPoker rooms, gonna grind up with a mix of FL and with the primary goal of learning NL.
Question for you guys:
People who are learning NL from the micros and have maybe progressed up to NL50/100, what content was the most useful in equipping you with the tools to get to those limits? I'm looking for video series etc. that are great for building a solid basis.
Also, any questions you've got for me I'm happy to answer
Lots of love.
TerrorBlade
Ahhhh, another "poker deserter" making a comeback! And a familiar name form the old days as well.
First of all, awesome to see that you're a black member.
I came back playing NL2, and I was NL100-200 reg back in the day, and I highly recommend double2's videos 10 tips to get out of the micros, cause he talks a lot about ranges pre-flop and some post-flop strategy AND also mindset, which is pretty cool as well.
So that's what I can recommend for the moment, maybe somebody else also has something to recommend.
Nice to see an old member coming back.
Cheers mate!
Cheers Calta
I have checked out double2's vids and have watched the first two. They're great because they tell me I don't have to be a super-nit!!! Thanks for the recommendation.
I'll check out your blog as well dude.
The poker itself has been going alright, I've been away for the better part of a week on holiday to a friend's bach for new years. So good. Going back to work next week so trying to get some good learning & hands in by then.
Currently sitting around $60 up from initial $40, playing NL2/4 and a bit of FL to try and secure some deposit bonuses.
Have run into some very "NL" problems like playing QQ pre against lots of action. I don't think I've stacked off well with it so far despite the strategy saying it's a good go. I know that it's meant to be a blanket strategy as to not run into difficult postflop spots, but I'm definitely not keen on following that to a T.
Spot I had was MP3 against SS open from the MP2, I 3b and BU 4b, MP3 folds and it's back to me looking at this chart that says stack off. BU is relatively unknown, 30/20 ish after 10 hands. I just got it in feeling so dirty, he had KK, I thought ofc how often can I be good here. I'm sure this and more will be well covered in videos and stuff about preflop play. 
TerrorBlade
Yeah, it's a pretty crappy spot to be in, but you said MP2 was a shortie, right? I guess that changes things a little bit, since BU could 4b a little lighter in order to isolate v the shortie's all in. But yeah, in some spots QQ and AK end up being a fold pre-flop. If MP2 was full stack, then it was certainly a fold, given the positions. But since he was short, maybe it's not that bad afterall.
I got a bit confused about your positions though, you sai you were in MP3, but then you said MP3 folded? haha It was MP2 x MP3 x BU right?
I understand you're playing FR then, yeah?
But totally agree with you, we cannot play by the book... these charts are just meant to give us an idea of what ranges are ok to play, although I think that ideal ranges are totally different.
Lemme just get the
Oh yeah, I'm trying to gather up some people to do sweats and study together. Figured maybe you're interested, what do you say?
I've had a very up and down Poker week, still on holiday from work going back in on Monday 
It's raining in the middle of my beautiful NZ Summer 
Here's my glorious girraph for everyone to behold. Oh how the mighty have fallen 
I'm finding NL to be quite challenging. There are tonnes of ranges that I'm sooo unclear about. I don't even have my open chart down yet, let alone 3bet ranges vs. different opening ranges as well as 4betting ranges.
I'm a bit more comfortable postflop in certain LHE-like situations, but I don't quite understand the concept of the NLHE c-bet yet. It seems like we still do it a lot in heads up pots but I'm not sure when a check back is the best play.
My plan is to keep reading hand evals in the forums and watching videos, giving my brain time to build the scaffolding and absorb this alien game.
@Calta: Definitely keen to have the opportunity to join a sweat group, would be great to get an insight into more experienced players' thought processes and help out where I can once I'm better.
Question
Are the preflop ranges in the 6-max preflop ranges section of http://www.pokerstrategy.com/strategy/bss/ good enough nowadays?
Are the preflop ranges in the 6-max preflop ranges section of http://www.pokerstrategy.com/strategy/bss/ good enough nowadays?
They are a starting point. Also it is very dependent of which limit you are playing. I would advice to play a lot more conservative and ABC at NL2-NL5 and start opening your game more as you move up (what are you playing atm?).
it is good IMO to start with a conservative opening range that you expand as you get more comfortable playing more hand from different positions.
Awesome, thanks for that. I will print them out cause there are so many variables, seems a lot more complicated pre than FL. I realised I have been too loose from MP2+MP3 and too tight from the other positions and ESPECIALLY too tight on 3bets.
I'm playing NL2 mainly + some FL to clear the bonuses I have.
Skype is dakrynveii
@dooleslovs, is that pokersnowie the software? I haven't heard of it but am looking at the website now.