create.

Nice progress Ali and looking forward to reading future successes

GOALS - MARCH (update 3)
MTT 85 / 200
Final Table 8/ 50
Win 2/ 10 MTT
BR €83.34 / €125 (+€3.39)
Videos 12 / 20 (mostly Youtube videos w/ Kevin Martin, Daniel Negreanu, Alec Torelli)
Annotating Phil Gordon's Little Green Book

Playing MTTs is awesome. I am always eager to sit down and start grinding (I usually play 5 hours, from 9PM till 2AM) and although I haven't yet won a biiiig prize, I stay focused, knowing that sooner or later it will come pouring.

GOALS - MARCH (update 4)
MTT 126/200
Final Table 12/50
Win 2/10 MTT
BR €76.73 / €125 (-€6.61)
Videos 18/20 (this week I started watching videos by Jonathan Little)
Books read 0/2 (I changed the goal I previously had)

March has been the flattest month of all and it feels like running around and around in a circle.

Of course I'm glad I'm not losing money, still, I'm not getting anywhere near my BR goal. This month I will only play 3 more days, so there's still time for a miracle. I know I play and study enough and the continuous work will eventually pay out.

Guess who's back?

So I neglected my blog and haven't played anything for the last 20 days because I went home to Romania and surprised my family. This is exactly how my mother and father reacted when seeing me enter the room.

The time spent with my folks and friends helped me charge my batteries and now I'm ready to crush the poker tables.

GOALS - MARCH (update 5)
MTT 130/200
Final Table 14/50
Win 2/10 MTT
BR €78.22 / €125 (+€13.74 overall)
Books read 0/2
Videos 22/20

March was flat like a pierced tire but I'm optimistic that April will be kinder because, drum roll, Kidzoltan, my sensei, just moved to Toledo with me and we are locked and loaded to get rich or die tryin.

GOALS - APRIL
BR €125
MTT 150
Books 2
Videos 20

Let's rock it!

What a week! *dab* As some of you may know, my brother came in visit to Toledo and we spent some fun time together visiting the city, having deep conversations and playing board games. It was the best brother-brother week we've ever had.

I managed to squeeze in a few sessions of cash games (NL2) and I kinda like it. Though MTTs are still my favorite, cash games give you the flexibility to get out whenever you want

GOALS - APRIL (update 1)
BR €79.75/€125
MTT 11/150
Books 0/2
Videos 1/20

From now on I will post one (really good or OMG-why-did-I-do-that) hand every week. Enjoy the BOSS MOVE OF THE WEEK

Good night, :f_cry:!

Nice blog, keep it up and good luck!

Monday blog day! Guys, last week was a roller roller coaster ride.

So, if you are reading my blog (*crickets chirping in the background*) I started playing NL2. It was a total disaster. Yes, I know, 10K hands are not enough to make a realistic picture of where you're heading. I should and will give it more time, practice, learning. The part that I find hard is enjoying the game. It does give you flexibility because you can join and leave a table whenever you want, you can (somewhat) choose your opponents and there are a lot of fishes swimming around the tables. Still, I burnt half of my BR (bad calls from my part and bad luck against opponents playing with wild hands like Q8o and hitting set, two pairs so on) and boy-oh-boy I was not excited about it.
Me at NL2 tables:

So, there I am on Saturday with €36, thinking about taking a break from the tables till Monday, watching Poker videos and reviewing hands, when Pokerstars sends me an email about a Sport bet with money back guaranteed. Great! By 2PM that day I had €59 (Málaga FC, you're the MVP) and by 11PM €68 (aúpa Atleti!) and then I remembered my sweet love, MTT During the weekend I played 21 MTTs, I felt happy and I increased my BR! No more cash games for me this week, we're back with my ex, miss MTT

GOALS - APRIL (update 2)
BR €90.8/€125 (+€11.1)
MTT 41/150
Books 0/2
Videos 4/20

Ready for the hand of the week?
CALL ME RAMBO

All in all, last week was savage. I lost half of my BR and then I won some sports bets, crushed MTTs and even won a €2 MTT on Sunday.
Me after massacring everyone at the final table:

PS: Guess who joined the
BANKROLL CHALLENGE (week 1)
Starting BR €90
Goal: €1000

See you next Monday!

I am impressed by OP! Whoever has such nice presentation skills should also crush his goal very quickly :-)

GL!

April was definitely the craziest month of all, I decimated my BR then it exploded and turned into the most profitable month so far. I'm so happy I can tick some goals off my list.

GOALS - APRIL (update 3)
BR €153/€125 (+€63 last week, +€75 this month)
MTT 125/150
Books 0/2
Videos 9/20

Saturday was crazy, we've played a 18,5 hours long MTT marathon (34MTTs) with kidzoltan, racking in €210 at the end of the day.

Part 2 of the "Printing Money" MTT marathon will go down this month!

GOALS - MAY
BR €300
MTT 175
Hands 10.000
Marathon 1
Books 2
Videos 20

no me gusta Ronaldo! He stole my hair style...
But GL for may.... and wtf 18.5h session? Maniac!

Before anything else, let me thank everyone who joined my adventure in the world of online poker and took the time to read the thread and comment. Guys, you're the real MVP!

Last week my parents paid me a visit in Toledo (family time ) and we spent a few great days together, managing to even visit the beautiful and hot Mallorca. Still, although poker was not the main focus, I squeezed in a few sessions. Let's see how I managed.
GOALS - MAY (week 2)
BR €139 / €300
MTT 20/175
Hands 522/10.000
Marathon 0/1
Books 0/2
Videos 2/20

Hand of the week: 404 not found. Still, I have a joke for the gourmand poker players:
"What does a poker grinder eat?"
"Poker Chips and Salsa."

Last week was definitely my most MTT-concentrated one so far because I played more tournaments in the same amount of time as before. A few final tables and first places later, I am happy with my game but I have a ton to work on my stats.
Me after winning an MTT

On the weekend I took part in a business building and personal development seminar in Madrid and it boosted my desire to become a professional poker player and work on becoming financial independent. 3 things that I have learned:
1. Check whether the road you're about to take is leading where you want to get.
2. Whatever you do, make sure that:

• It is working
• It is working for you
• It is worth the time and effort

3. It is never too late to begin. When you find your "WHY", everything will become simple.

GOALS - MAY (week 3)
BR €191 / €300
MTT 103/175
Hands 1.011/10.000
Marathon 0/1
Books 0/2
Videos 4/20

This post is short.

GOALS - MAY (week 4)
BR €215 / €300
MTT 161/175
Hands 4.621/10.000
Marathon 0/1
Books 1/2
Videos 6/20

enough for the next sunday million!

Originally posted by SvenBe
enough for the next sunday million!

True, SvenBe ♠_biggrin:♠_biggrin: Winning it would certainly increase my BR. Still, I don't know if sensei would agree with me signing up for it, because this would be me at the Sunday Million, flexin' with my current BR

Hey what a cute blog! You get a like and: sok sikert kivánok, szivesen fogom a naplódat olvasni.

(I´m German/Hungarian).

Monday blog d... Dude, I'm late again and *spoiler* I don't even have a hand of the week. Apologies to my huge fan club and supporters (mother and sensei), I promise to be more punctual next week or the one after or...
The good news is we had a marathon session this weekend and although it wasn't profitable (and yes, at the end of the day it does count), I know that there is a big variance in poker MTTs and as long as we focus on learning and improving our game we will get into the money. No winning photo this time, but here are a few GIFs that perfectly describes our Saturday:

How I think I will feel at the end of the marathon

Me trying to maneuver myself through the storm of unpredictable fishes

When the megafish cold calls your 3bet shove, takes down the multiway pot and knocks you out of the tournament w/ Q6o

KO, GN

Overall feeling

(WTF, why would you fish in high heels?)

GOALS - MAY (week 5)
BR €224 / €300
MTT 209/175
Hands 6.525/10.000
Marathon 1/1
Books 1/2
Videos 6/20

hey dude very impressive ur blog and ur constant work and effort:milord::milord:
I am pretty sure u will achieve all of ur goals
you got a new follower :f_drink::f_drink:

GOALS - MAY (end)
BR €230 / €300
MTT 209/175
Hands 7.168/10.000
Marathon 1/1
Books 1/2
Videos 8/20

Things I'm happy with:

• I surpassed my MTT goal of 209 tournaments in only 13 days
• I updated my blog consistently
• I maintained my positive attitude (yes, I tilted occasionally) when getting a bad beat etc.

Things to improve:

• Study MORE (take notes while watching videos and reading books, train with the ICM trainer, review your hands on a daily basis)
• Focus only on the game while playing (phone far away, browse as little as possible and only for music, be alone in the room or with your Poker mate)
• Prepare the marathon sessions better (decide which MTTs to play, sleep well and enough the night before to be rested, prepare food and drinks etc.)

And now, about last week's highlight, the Sunday Printing Money (with flames) Poker Marathon. Ugh. This is an actual picture of me and kidzoltan (from left to right) during the marathon.

It hurts, it feels bad but it's not disaster, it's variance. Often you loose because you make the wrong calls, don't have the correct mindset, multitask while multi tabling (don't do it, trust me) or fishes eat chunks of your chips with wild hands. You just need to study, work smart and grind. So, here are my goals for this month
GOALS - JUNE
BR €300
MTT 200
Hands 10.000
Marathon / Live Poker 2
Study 20 days

Hand of the week
WTF ARE YOU IN THE POT, NEMO?

So far so good.
The first third of the month felt like a boot camp because I played more MTTs and studied more than ever before. Let's see the numbers:
GOALS - JUNE (update 1)
BR €173 / €300 (-€57 because of cashing out)
MTT 144/200
Hands 678/10.000
Marathon / Live Poker 0/2
Study 6/20 days

I feel optimistic about the rest of the month. Let's crush it.

Now for the hand of the week I selected two where I need your help.
1. BUBBLEBOY
I've been on the bubble in a Satellite tournament and most players were playing extremely tight as only one person was needed to be eliminated to qualify for the target tournament. What do you think, should have I raised instead of shipping, should have I folded to avoid the risk of being eliminated or did I do the correct play?

2. MR. MANIAC, FU

Yesterday I was at a table with a maniac, who played good and random junk hands as well and was the absolute chip leader in the tournament, having thrice as many chips as the second place. I have 77 in my hand and eltitotorres who has a bigger bounty than the current payout pushes. The maniac behind me was certainly calling with a big range of hands. What do you think the best play would have been?

Post your ideas about the hands I played (I will also post it in the hand review thread) in the comments. See you next Monday!