Making a living with STT SNGs

Hi Mate,

I am always on twitch as I do love watching all types of players/games. Really delighted to see you have a stream, I think I have watched
about 5 hrs. of your stuff and it was everything I thought it would be. As per normal you work very hard and give so much free stuff away. I can't imagine for one minute that you will not get your subscribe button in due course and although I have never subscribed to any other channel I would to yours.

Any spinner would be a fool not to watch your sessions.

Gl and keep up the good work.

Steve

Originally posted by IvicaIliev77
Whats up Gang!

I am in Thailand, having awesome time enjoying it a ton!!!

So many cool things happening here, 10 days is definitely not enough to stay in this lovely country.

Enjoy your time there!

Originally posted by IvicaIliev77
Free value for all my readers and followers!

91 minutes study session on Twitch is recorded and available to watch
I decided to provide value to all Poker players who want to play or currently play Spins, CG, SNGs, MTTs etc
In the study session you will see me doing:
- DB analysis for 25bb BB vs BTN 3bnai and 3bs
- CREV applying it all and getting results for our game plan
- Equilab equity study and combo balancing
- Adjusting initial strategy
- Assignments

Hope you enjoy it and look forward getting your feedback!

Video is HERE

Hi Mate,
was this taken down, tried to view it?

Steve

Originally posted by 177272
Hi Mate,

I am always on twitch as I do love watching all types of players/games. Really delighted to see you have a stream, I think I have watched
about 5 hrs. of your stuff and it was everything I thought it would be. As per normal you work very hard and give so much free stuff away. I can't imagine for one minute that you will not get your subscribe button in due course and although I have never subscribed to any other channel I would to yours.

Any spinner would be a fool not to watch your sessions.

Gl and keep up the good work.

Steve

Hi Steve,

Lovely to see you here my friend. Thank you so much for your words of encouragement. I am very happy that you enjoy my Twitch channel so far. Glad you find value in it! I started it to help others as well as to track my progress (just like with blog) and keep myself accountable.
I did not get approved for Twitch partner program from my 1st attempt. They said I try again in 2-4 weeks and keep improving my Twitch. Next time I apply for it, I will make sure to have larger follower base, improve my audio quality and add some more things while Twitching (like music for example). Over time, as you said, I am sure I will get it. In advance I appreciate your support! In the meanwhile I will implement some donations/support feature on my channel so people willing to help and support Twitching can donate amount they feel is adequate. Will implement this feature in February once I get back to Serbia and resume my Twitching!

Once again, lovely to see you here and thank you for checking out my Twitch channel and finding value in it!

All the best my friend,

Pedja

Originally posted by Alleen86

Originally posted by IvicaIliev77
Whats up Gang!

I am in Thailand, having awesome time enjoying it a ton!!!

So many cool things happening here, 10 days is definitely not enough to stay in this lovely country.

Enjoy your time there!

Appreciate it man! I am here 3 more days including today and then back to Serbia. When I think about 6 and 5 hour flight + waiting between flights 8-9 hours and then bus from Belgrade to my town Nis (3 hours) - I really don't feel like going back home at all ♦
I am getting hungry to study improve and play. This place, Phuket, people living here, Thailand, weather and beaches are fantastic. I will definitely consider coming here for 2-3 months next time and to also work while here in that period. I can say this test 10 day period in Asia is very successful for me and it gave me exactly experiences I wanted and needed + made me consider more permanent move in future here.

Originally posted by 177272

Originally posted by IvicaIliev77
Free value for all my readers and followers!

91 minutes study session on Twitch is recorded and available to watch
I decided to provide value to all Poker players who want to play or currently play Spins, CG, SNGs, MTTs etc
In the study session you will see me doing:
- DB analysis for 25bb BB vs BTN 3bnai and 3bs
- CREV applying it all and getting results for our game plan
- Equilab equity study and combo balancing
- Adjusting initial strategy
- Assignments

Hope you enjoy it and look forward getting your feedback!

Video is HERE

Hi Mate,
was this taken down, tried to view it?

Steve

Hi my friend,

The way I understand is those past broadcasts that are being saved on channel are not there forever. I haven't found what time period they keep them for but I tried the link and it doesn't work for me neither.
No worries, there will be plenty study sessions in the future and I will consider broadcasting and saving them all.

Whats up Gang?

Hope you are having a great start of the week and end of the month as well.

I am here in restaurant, drinking coffee and waiting for my friends. One went to get some $ and the other went for a swim. I am the meeting point for both ♦
While being here, I opened my PT4 to check some stats and graphs for January. I am in particulary intrested for the period when I restarted doing HH reviews exclusively for HU OOP play. As a reminder, I wrote in past updates that in January my OOP win rate in HU dropped significantly. From Mental Game of Poker approach, that is my C- game and I decided to dedicate my time in study just to it to improve back end of my game.
Results are pleasing from -4evbb to +1evbb but mind you this is on a short sample since 15th of January.
Other interesting improvements since 15th of January are RED LINE. It is now towards break even instead of decreasing or falling. On 15$ limit it is 100% possible to have both blue and red lines winning. It takes understanding of tendencies and opponent types to properly adjust pre and post flop game plan. That translates into hours and hours off the tables work + playing focused but end result is definitely positive one.

This graph is a very small sample since 15th of January - since I focused on my C- game (OOP HU Play and SB 3W lost hands).
The EV BB is over 10 and cEV win rate is higher then what I set for whole 2017. I am definitely happy with these results and finishing year with such would be great accomplishment. However, this is small sample and I am just getting started! My warm up routine is studying on days when I am playing. It is paying off and it will keep increasing my knowledge and edges. I added 30 minute vs 60 minute sessions and that will add edge also over long term I am 100% positive about it. On top of it all, I plan to implement 2nd study session of the day in the evening times to mix between HH review and Textures studying (not giving up on my 20 textures goal - already did 4 of them!).

Enjoy the graph from 15th of January and may rest of the year flow in the same manner and better!

P.S. Very excited to resume my study routine with grinding once I get back to Serbia. Determined to make this year best year yet in my poker career. All the systems are set I just need to be persistent with it and results will continue to show and improve.

Hi mate,

I tried to find the post so that I could quote it but you write so many with sooooooo many words so hard to find but, I think you did indicate that you have been down 200plus bi's, are you suggesting you need 300 to be safe? $4.5k for your 15's. Yikes.

Steve

Originally posted by 177272
Hi mate,

I tried to find the post so that I could quote it but you write so many with sooooooo many words so hard to find but, I think you did indicate that you have been down 200plus bi's, are you suggesting you need 300 to be safe? $4.5k for your 15's. Yikes.

Steve

Hi my friend,

Yes, I dropped over 200 buy ins in December while 5 tabling mostly. My cEV was lower in comparison to whole year and I definitely (besides variance and downswing) made bad plays. I am great full because I made a decision to resume my study habit, to work harder then ever and to go for high goals in 2017.
Since you follow blog and are fan of Twitch, you will be witness if I make it to 30-35$ post RB hourly 4 tabling and if I will hit 44k$ from poker post RB in 2017. The way things look now is very hard because January I played lower volume, February is by nature shorter month but I still have 1400+ hours of grind by the end of the year to put in while working on my game.
Best thing is, my leaks are spotted and I am working exclusively on them now. They will be focus of all future study sessions and until my C- game improves (back end) I will not be pushing my A game. Also, playing shorter sessions, using studying as warm up (1st thing in the day) are very +EV for me long term and I will stick to those ways to maximize my win rate while 4 tabling.

Gang quick question!

Is it allowed to play on PokerStars from Abu Dhabi???
I will be at their airport for 8-9 hours and I would potentially like to grind some sessions with Airport wi-fi - only if it is allowed to play Poker Stars there.

Anyone has this info?
Getting it here soon would be very appreciated!

Hi Ivi. Crikey you're in Abu Dhabi! I'm still reading your excellent blog sir, currently up to page 55.

You recommend a book called 7 Habits Of Successful People. I read that some years ago, and i intend to reread it on your recommendation. I would like to suggest another excellent personal development book if I may. Its called The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod.

I read The Miracle Morning several months ago, after it was mentioned in Sky Matsuhasi's poker podcast. The book has had a big impact on me, and has promted me to meditate every morning and employ goal setting and visualisation strategies. I believe it is a worthwhile read for anyone who wishes to improve performance in any field.

I look forward to the next develpments in your blog. Hope you manage to grind at the airport!

Originally posted by mostlyfolding
Hi Ivi. Crikey you're in Abu Dhabi! I'm still reading your excellent blog sir, currently up to page 55.

You recommend a book called 7 Habits Of Successful People. I read that some years ago, and i intend to reread it on your recommendation. I would like to suggest another excellent personal development book if I may. Its called The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod.

I read The Miracle Morning several months ago, after it was mentioned in Sky Matsuhasi's poker podcast. The book has had a big impact on me, and has promted me to meditate every morning and employ goal setting and visualisation strategies. I believe it is a worthwhile read for anyone who wishes to improve performance in any field.

I look forward to the next develpments in your blog. Hope you manage to grind at the airport!

Hi Mate!

I am glad you are enjoying blog and read so far. Your wishes are great and like you, I also look forward to this year and making it the best year improvement wise for me. I can see myself making enough money for Thailand relocation and moving up stakes while my knowledge gets to the point that combo counting post flop along with range construction and pot odds gets to much higher level.

Will definitely check out book you recommended. I am very much into self help things and what you described from book makes sense. Meditation - lots of poker players suggest it, I don't do meditation but I do daily go over my goals to make sure that they are in line with my short mid and long term mission and vision. I also have every Sunday 1 hour scheduled for GOALS where I go over all the poker goals I set for this year and write complete or in progress + add how much I accomplished. So for volume I wrote down 1500, I would then add how many hours I played so far in 2017; 20 pot flop textures, completed 4 of them, have 16 more to go; cEV target vs what I actually have so far etc. Definitely lots of value in reviewing and making sure I am on right track, keeping myself accountable for key things that I set myself for in this year.

Back from Thailand!

I will make this somewhat quick update and lay out what awaits me ahead.

3rd of February 2017. Thailand trip super successful! Money returned to my friend (1.4k euro) - check! Apartment mortgage payed off in full - check! So less then 1 year since I got back to Serbia (13th of March 2016) with very little money (500$!!!) I can say that I managed to accomplish some close to impossible things. Switched to new format (Spins - cEV vs ICM , 3 handed vs 6 handed, winner takes all vs top 2 get paid = very different game!!!) and successfully so. Managed to move, live on my own in a great apartment, pay all my bills and expenses from poker and live life that I want. Resumed my teaching guitar and music lessons which definitely helps me keep my poker vs other things in life balance.

Now, I face some other sort of challenges in 2017. They are in following order:
- Clear 1.4k make up by 15th of April by latest (next 270+ hours of grind)
- Keep my studying habit daily and hammer on largest leaks found (SB 3 way and BB HU)
- Grind consistently 5 hours per day in 30 minute sessions
- Twitching all my study and grind sessions, continuing to improve quality of my Twitch and grow followers
- Improve my cEV to hit target 57-62 cEV 4 tabling
- Save money to move to Thailand in December 2017
- Complete 20 post flop textures with range vs range analysis for both GTO and expected strategy IP and OOP
- Get 50k from teaching and poker in 2017

The difference between last year and this one is my goals are not existential anymore. In 2017 I work solely to improve my win rate, improve as a poker player, make more money in the process and move to lovely location that is Thailand where I will have more poker friends who play same game as I do (accountability and study partners - very important) + be surrounded by lovely Asian girls, weather and conditions that improve my overall life quality. So lots of motivation to keep going, push hard and make it.

Lets take it 1 step at the time. For February that step consists of:
- Grinding 24 days, 5 hours on each of those days = 120 hours of grind
- Studying 24 days, 1 hour minimum on each of the days = 24 hours of study
- Teaching weekly 4-5 lessons on average
- Focusing on playing very strong game, not rushing, tilting or making -EV plays (avoiding to play tired!!!)
- Working into schedule more studying sessions because knowledge leads to more certainty and confidence which leads to less tilt
- Twitching all my work off and on the tables

That is it for February.
Expect all the updates that follow to be related to Twitch schedule and things that I will do.

Lets do this February!

Another update in regards to coaching and staking

I am currently in staking deal with my friend where I get 300 buy ins BR and we split 85/15. This is amazing deal, something that I don't think anyone does anywhere online in the poker world. I am truly great full (Forever!) to my friend and this is definitely very +EV deal for me.

Coaching wise, I was considering whether or not to join some program in this year. I put things down on paper EV wise and saw that it is not +EV for me right now. For most part because programs ask sick volume and take huge chunk of your winnings (40%+).

Right now, I am negotiating with a friend of mine who is crusher of Spins. He also coaches and potentially the deal we are discussing could be very +EV for both of us. I want list details here for both his privacy and not to disclose his business deals but I am highly considering working with him because:
- Games required are less vs what programs ask
- We are friends, he is crusher, value I would get is insane = I can reach my goals faster cEV wise
- Profit split and length is better vs other deals

So I might work with my friend crusher in the near future. When I say near future I mean once I get out of 1.4k make up in my current Staking deal with my friend.
Also, I am thinking of a way to include my staking friend in the deal as well as I want him in this year to get a lot of money from me - because he was there along with another friend of mine (also crusher) giving me amazing deal and helping me out with BR and I will never forget him that!

So TLDR:
- Considering to join coaching deal with a friend who crushes Spins
- More flexible then anything offered on market right now
- Faster way to reach my goals due to his knowledge and level of trust we have between each other
- Thinking of ways to include my staking friend in that deal also!

In regards to previous post

It took less then 30 minutes but I figured out best way with both my friends how to make everything works

I will not list complete deal but just say that I have AMAZING FRIENDS who go ABOVE AND BEYOND to HELP ME! I am forever grateful to both of them and am thinking of ways to pay them back already in 2017.

So, I accepted coaching deal with my friend + will remain in initial staking deal with my friend.
Coaching value is insane and I want my friend to earn as much money as possible. Also, through his help, I will improve and fix my leaks + increase hourly sooner. Our coaching schedule will be like never before. I worked with many people but what friend promised goes above and beyond any normal or priviledge type of deal out there.

I am positive this deal is maximum +EV for all 3 sides because:
- My friend still gets same % for staking
- My coaching friend will get compensated for his hard work and coaching hours
- I get knowledge and tools needed to improve my hourly sooner, exit make up and continue to crush for the remaining of the year
- Deal is flexible so extending is an option and working more with coaching friend will just get me closer to higher hourly which brings me closer to 44k goal in this year

Win/Win/Win - Synergy. 7 habits of highly successful people happening in real time.

Special thanks to my coaching friend who offered to help even while I am in in make up. He knows I can't compensate him in this period yet he offered to help me climb out of it and start working together today.

Quick update before bed time

Today as I wrote earlier very cool and exiting thing happened. In my staking deal, my friend crusher offered to help and provide insane value. I accepted to work with him and we spent most of the day dealing with my PT4, setting up new HUDs and such. I also got to grind a bit, 2 tabling but it felt weird at times because for certain stats I feel lost even when I 2 table 3way and then for HU things look very different in comparison to HUD I used so will just need time to get used to it. On top of everything, my DB now only has hands from this year so that my HUDs can run smoother so I will miss a lot of hands on regulars especially. I do have players color codded with notes I took so that should help.

What is the plan then for following days?
- Study 1st thing in the morning. Continue working on 2 main leaks while going over pre flop strategy 1st with friend and then discuss textures and range vs range post flop later.
- Grind 2 to 3 tabling. Play as much as possible with 30 minute sessions. Focus on learning every single stat in the new HUDs so that when 4 tabling happens I can not loose my mind in the HUDs.
- Twitch study sessions, pause on grind sessions until I get back to 4 tabling.

Overall plan is to get to 120 hours of grind this month. In terms of games, hard to say what it means since I am 2 tabling vs 4 tabling right now. I also expect to study 24 hours minimum on my own + do sessions with my friend which will definitely bring value to my game. I will also have specific hands, scenarios and questions ready for sessions but 1st want to see what my friend has in plan for us to do.

That is all for this update. Tomorrow is a new day, one which I look forward to a lot since I will get to study, do leak fixing and grind more then I did today (close to 2 hours instead of 5!).

Have a great night and remaining of the February!

Twitch update:

9:30am which is in 15 minutes, study session focusing on OOP HU Lost Hands. Will review hands from beginning of the year since that is the sample that I have now.

See you on Twitch, stream will be in real time, 1 hour long study session.

Study update
4 lost hands analyzed in 1 hour. Range vs range covered for each hand, discussed every betting calling and x/r line for the entire range OOP as well as expected opponent betting ranges. Feels good to guess opponents tendency based on line in all 4 hands and spot the leaks that I had.

Remaining of the day I will grind 2 tabling. Later today I have my 1st coaching session with my friend. Last night I sent him list of questions for pre flop game plan. Will see if we will cover all of it today or he has something else in mind to do. I want to check my pre flop vs his strategy and adjust it accordingly especially for shallow stack depths for all 3 positions.
I will resume my Twitch grinding once I get back to 4 tabling and get used to new HUD. In the meanwhile I will 2 table and increase to 3 tables once I memorize both HUDs and can recall stats instantly that I need.
My PT4 is very different now since yesterday we added some things and also took some things out. I did not back up my 3 way HUD so that is now out I do have 2 new HUDs which I look forward getting used to. Will enjoy the process of getting used to it, not paying attention to the results, just focusing on playing solid poker and exploiting opponents based on general tendencies and hands that I get. Once again, I have only 1-2k tourneys since start of the year so my HHs for player pool on 15s is very limited. I will make plays based on read less play as well as color coding and notes. If I find useful note (l/t wide, sol aggro, aggro in limp pots and such) I will adjust right away. If there are no notes, I will play most +EV with given hands in the entire range vs expected ranges.

Let the grind begin

Update for today

Studied a bit over 1 hour, played 4.95 hours and had 1 hour coaching session.
Very successful day considering that I am very pleased with all 3 areas today. Studying, focused on biggest leak, reviewed 4 lost hands and did range vs range for all streets both IP and OOP. My hand reading in those spots was very good in post analysis but in actual games not as good. Need to continue working hard until post game analysis becomes in game analysis.
Grind went excellent. It is weekend so there is more recreational players but overall I am extremely pleased with 2 tabling and learning 2 new HUDs. I had tons of time to make decisions and thanks to that my red line was crushing and I could exploit most opponents both pre and post flop. 2 tabling is definitely easier vs 4 tabling but volume wise it will be less of course and hourly may suffer. You can see today's graph at the end of the post. Even today, I had marked several hands which I plan to analyze myself and ask my friend his range construction for those spots. I have space to improve, a lot of space and fixing 1st those C- game leaks and my largest leaks will instantly improve my win rate. In future days when I feel more comfortable with HUD, I will add 3rd table and then eventually 4th. Will try to find ideal ratio for hourly and focus while keeping improvement happening.
Coaching session was very good. I got answers to questions I asked, some of them and they were more then satisfying. My friend took time to do ranges and write out text which he really didn't need to do but did it anyways. There is a lot more to discuss in future sessions when it comes to pre flop game plan, in particular dealing with very specific ranges and frequencies and discussing starting point vs adjusting. I think my starting points are profitable but the point is that they can and I want them to be crushing. For this to happen, I need to learn and apply master level of range vs range for both 1vs1 and 3 way play pre flop. It will take time to learn and implement it but it will be one of those things that deals with improving my top of the game (A game) vs C- game. Next session my friend asked to record myself and have it ready for tomorrow for review. We will watch my recorded play, pause and discuss interesting and tricky spots. I know I will learn a lot with him this way and I am definitely looking forward to do HH evaluations with him with marked hands as well as go over whole pre flop game plan and adjusting (to check my game plan vs his and see how it is different and why as well as discuss MAX EV plays for 15s and higher stakes/different opponent tendencies).

So there you go, pretty awesome day filled with poker.
Tomorrow I will meet a friend for drink, tell him about Thailand, study, grind 5 hours, record that session for review and have coaching session with my friend.

Here is the graph for today, 2 tabling and playing 30 minute sessions with breaks in between (15 minutes minimum).

P.S. Yes I know, 2 tabling is much easier for red line. I want to get to 4 tabling level and have positive red line + improve my C game (back end). Once this is done I can hit my cEV targets 4 tabling 57-62 or even higher.

Study and Twitch update:

11am in 50ish minutes, I will Twitch my study session. Focus will be on lost hands from this month (only 2 days of grind 2 tabling = low volume). If I go over all the lost hands for HU OOP, I will move to SB 3 way play lost hands. After that I will move to marked hands.

So plenty of work to be done. Now going to store to grab some coffee and breakfast.

I will see you soon on Twitch - 11am 1 hour study session in real time.