Hey,
Reading through your posts I think moving away from fast tables will benefit you greatly. Playing/studying 12 hours/day and getting in 6k hands is not going to end very well for many people.
What is it that you study? I only ask because 3/4 hours day seem an awful lot of its a book/video material. That is a lot of information to absorb and try to incorporate into you own game while understanding each concept?
Hey,
Thank you for your comment. I think so as well. It has already forced me to think differently and to be more honest with myself about my weak spots [there are so many it seems like it is all one big weak spot...]
Right now I'm learning trough audiobooks - mental game and general approach to poker related. I listen to it while doing mechanical stuff that doesn't require my conscious attention but has to be done daily like cleaning, working out, walking a dog, eating and so on.
While I was making sandwiches today I thought to set a goal of posting and/or reading hands on forum and asking coaches for help with my understanding of those situations. I'll figure out exact numbers and deadlines later but I feel good about that idea.
I spend maybe 30 min every other day watching actual strategy/gameplay videos, don't even know where to look now [I don't have any acc linked, so I don't generate strategy points to upgrade my status]. However, just one 15 min long video I watched on YouTube about squeezes and how its math work has netted me some serious BBs already.
At the beginning I was reading "Treat Your Poker Like a Business". I'll slowly move towards studying more game theory, counting and absorbing more game-plan strategy since my mental is becoming stronger every day [I'll still listen to those audiobooks, prob multiple times over, I'll just spend less time playing afterwards and more time analyzing and contemplating spots. My mental was and prob still is my weakest spot, and so I put most of my attention to improve that part of my game at the moment].
I am also experimenting during my sessions and I'm trying to learn in real time. At least one strategy I have integrated with success on NL2 on previous room works here on NL4 vs recreational players and at least some regs [mostly those on the tighter side of the spectrum].
A♠:
Here are 2 hands mentioned yesterday enjoy:
UTG (Hero): €6.61 (165 bb)
MP: €8.37 (209 bb)
CO: €4.00 (100 bb)
BU: €13.02 (326 bb)
SB: €4.00 (100 bb)
BB: €8.50 (213 bb)
Pre-Flop: (€0.06) Hero is UTG with A♦ K♥
Hero raises to €0.10, 2 players fold, BTN 3-bets to €13.02 (all-in), SB calls €3.98 (all-in), 1 fold, Hero calls €6.51 (all-in)
Flop: (€17.26) 3♠ K♣ 6♠ (3 players, 3 all-in)
Turn: (€17.26) 4♣ (3 players, 3 all-in)
River: (€17.26) T♠ (3 players, 3 all-in)
Total pot: €17.26 (Rake: €0.99)
Showdown:
BU shows J♥ 5♦ (high card, King)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 21%, Flop: 5%, Turn: 14%, River: 0%)
UTG (Hero) shows A♦ K♥ (a pair of Kings)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 45%, Flop: 86%, Turn: 64%, River: 100%)
SB shows 8♣ 9♣ (high card, King)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 34%, Flop: 10%, Turn: 21%, River: 0%)
UTG (Hero) wins €16.27
--
UTG: €8.37 (209 bb)
MP: €4.00 (100 bb)
CO: €6.41 (160 bb)
BU: €4.00 (100 bb)
SB: €8.46 (212 bb)
BB (Hero): €16.27 (407 bb)
Pre-Flop: (€0.46) Hero is BB with K♦ K♠
2 players fold, CO raises to €6.41 (all-in), BTN calls €4 (all-in), 1 fold, Hero calls €6.37
Flop: (€17.24) 6♣ Q♥ K♣ (3 players, 2 all-in)
Turn: (€17.24) 3♣ (3 players, 2 all-in)
River: (€17.24) J♠ (3 players, 2 all-in)
Total pot: €17.24 (Rake: €0.97)
Showdown:
CO shows 7♦ 9♦ (high card, King)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 17%, Flop: 4%, Turn: 0%, River: 0%)
BB (Hero) shows K♦ K♠ (three of a kind, Kings)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 72%, Flop: 94%, Turn: 100%, River: 100%)
BU shows 5♦ 8♠ (high card, King)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 12%, Flop: 2%, Turn: 0%, River: 0%)
BB (Hero) wins €16.27
A♠:
25.09 summary.
time spent working: 5 h
time spent studying: 3 h
Interesting day. It started with the session on one table. I run an unsuccessful bluff into a guy who has very well underrepresented his hand [it wasn't huge pot, but I noted to myself how he played AK on dry K high board on flop and turn]. We got into another pot not a bit later I was 3 betting him, and he flatted. Based on that previous time he played his TPTK certain way I turned my bottom pair into semi-bluff and shoved over his turn bet. He had two pair. After that play I felt like no1 respected my bets and I wasn't comfortable playing, so I took a short break.
I sat down to play another table, this time 3/4 handed. I focused on observing the guys and I found one that seemed very honest. I started to play a lot of pots with him, calling more from BB, forcing myself to play OOP, noting to myself his sizing. After few pots I had a pretty good idea what sizes he's using to bluff with, and so I called him down couple times even with under pair to the board - the tilt started to emerge [at least that was my impression].
Im on the BTN and hes BB [one guy left already making it 3handed]. I bet pretty standard sizing into his check [expecting the fold, like may times before]. He raised...I had the middle/bottom pair with A6 on 68X fd. My bet was small and I thought he might begin to get out of line due to my agression vs him or simply do this with a bunch of draws, so I called. I don't remember the turn, some kind of overcard, a Q maybe [ill find this hand later, when I receive HH]. He checks, I bet preety small to feel out the situation [didn't want to check back and give his draws free card and I didn't want to burn money firing into his legit value range which he for some reason checked with].
River comes and it is a 6, giving me trips and not completing fd. He checks I wait a bit and bet the pot for little above 40BBs. I didn't use this sizing once in this session, he couldn't have known what that meant. So he either folds hes misted draws or has a spot where hes holding something of value he decided to raise the flop amd check call the turn with [knowing I play quite lose and I bet a lot]. Polarizing bet seemd the best choice here. He called with 8T [having top pair, middle kicker on the flop].
Soon after that hand I got dealt aces UTG, and he called me on the button [table had to be 5 handed at this point for this to make sens, I'm not sure]. I potted K high board quite quick [again something I have never done in this session], he called pretty quick. Turn came and with it possibility of second fd I bet pot again and he shoved almost instantly... I called and won a pot, he had KQo [quy who wouldn't have made that play 10min before]...
My calling him down in very marginal spots based just on sizing tells, combined with hitting the trips on the river and putting him in the spot to hero call made this guy click, and he blew up - he lost another big pot to the other guy and left.
I played quite solid for a while longer. Making few bluffs that I was content with and 2 quite marginal calls [it was 3-4 handed as people joined and left, so I played way outside my comfort zone, but I was trying to think really hard].
Problems begun to emerge in the next session. Number of players increased, and so I was able to play 5-6 tables BUT I was still playing/thinking in the 3handed mode. I played way to many spots, trying to win way to many hands.
After I have realized that I slowed down but I couldn't make any right play. All of my bluffs run into value hands, all of big calls were incorrect. I felt like I can't get anything going. Then I lost a big pot set into rivered straight [it was very hard for me to find a fold there - ill post this hand, you will maybe see why - or maybe you will tell me that's an easy fold]. I started to feel irritated with myself - kept looking at the cashier [even tho I tried not to I just couldn't help it, since it is visible in the lobby]. I felt bad and the mental techniques were not helping fast enough, I played on tilt.
I had to take a break - I didn't want to but I had to. We took our dog for a walk, talked a little, I was able to breathe and I tried to get rid of this unpleasant feeling inside of my body.
My wife made me amazing sandwiches and I ate them listening to something poker related - she was busy doing her own stuff, so we ate separately. She then came around, hugged and kissed me, I got my coffee, and my attitude started to change.
I grabbed the black tape and literally taped it on the screen where the cashier shows my bankroll. I played mostly 4 tables from that point.
I had a hand where I rivered trips with A7, OOP vs very aggressive guy on a very wet board, river also completed a flush. I bet quite small [my regular sizing tho] and this guys shoves. I'm saying to myself in my mind "is he really playing a flush like this - I've seen him playing the flush few hands ago, this doesn't feel right". But he could also have a straight or a boat... So this one time when I basically have circumstances to actually make a hero call not against honest players but against this Crazy Pete kind of guy I froze. Im staring at my 75BB left in the stack [I started the hand somewhere around 120/130]. 2sec left in the time bank and I decided to call BUT my body refused to click this damn button - I felt the pain of losing yet another stack to yet another stupid and unnecessary bluff catching call before I even had a chance to call... I timed out... The guy won a pot and showed Q8o for a top pair...
I didn't blow up. I didn't even feel anger or irritation with myself. I just felt sadness - something new.
I told to myself that at least you finally got some discipline bitten into your mind/body and you laid down a strong hand in a very marginal spot - good job - still, sadness was overwhelming...
"If this guy plays this way I'll find good spots to take money from him - this wasn't huge pot - focus and double up through him - there will be better spots - good fold buddy - good fold"
Sure enough few minutes later I get into spot with this guy. I 3bet him with KJs OOP. Board comes Qxx two spades. I bet 2/3 he calls. Spade comes giving me second nut flush. So I bet very small and surely enough this guy shoves... I'v never snapped someone faster... He had some kind of junk.
On another table I had a spot where I was about to fire 3rd barrel in 3bet pot OOP holding AK, just two overcards to the Qhigh board and again I froze [so many times I got burned today]. So I check, turning this line into complete junk. Guy checks back and wins the pot with 76s bottom pair and missed fd. God damn it, why couldn't you pull the trigger.
"its fine - focus - you don't know if hes folding to a 1/3 bet there - those guys like to be sticky - you had a lot of eq on all streets against this guy's hand, stop dramatizing, this spot it wasn't as bad as you think - I basically turned into my own support-buddy" [I don't know if that line wasn't indeed as bad, but I managed to convince myself that it wasn't in that moment].
After this spots and this mental dialogue something clicked inside me. I played in the zone. I wasn't afraid to pull the trigger for the entire stack when I thought the spot was calling for it and I won the pot. I started to run pretty good. I hit 2 big hands, won quite a lot of pots with decent [in my opinion] bluffs and I felt really good about my performance.
I don't know if I recovered all the losses from earlier in the day - I don't know because I didn't look.
I felt exhausted, so even tho I planned to play for at least 3 more hours I decided that's it for that day - I won't force it, that has never ended well [so I am learning something, slowly alright I give you that, but still, I AM LEARNING - amazing! I don't feel stuck and helpless in regard to my stupid habits anymore, something is changing, I AM changing and my poker is changing alongside of me].
I'll try to open the software and move it into the taped spot without looking at the balance - don't know if that will work 
I'm going to truly study my fist poker math book - let's see where that train takes me - I am full of hope - Finally, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel [it has also shoved my how far I have to go to reach the destination... at least now I feel like I can do it for real this time, not only in my dreams and bold, unsupported with results claims].
All best,
A♠:
26.09 summary.
time spent working: 5,5 h
time spent studying: 4-5 h
This day started quite well. I was playing good, running good. Made 1 big call, 2 big bluffs, few plays that I was content with - I felt in control.
Mistakes came later and unfortunately in huge pots. I lost 350BB in a matter of 2 hands, due to my own misreading of the hands completely. I decided I won't be playing deep stacked - If I double up or gather above 150BB I'll leave the table and rejoin. I don't know how to play deepstacked and since I'm allowing myself to experiment by making aggressive plays and trying to put pressure on my opponents, I don't want to risk more than 100BBs when I'm wrong.
I kept forcing plays and kept losing big pots - tilt took over and costed me 1 or 2 stacks to many before I took a break. I thought I am stronger than this but it turns out that I have to pay close attention to my emotional and mental state even more than to my conscious thinking process.
I feel like my style might be better suited to play a bit higher. Of course, I would have gotten destroyed in the 3bet pots and on blind defense - I think those are my biggest weaknesses currently - but in other spots I feel like those stakes are boringly honest - Maybe I am just bad at folding and trying to find excuses to justify incorrect plays...
Poker math doesn't seem so scary after all - I just need to practice.
I think I might try out GG poker and it's Rush and Cash soon - it seems compelling.
All best,
A♠:
27.09 summary.
time spent working: 6 h
time spent studying: 5-6 h
I was running good [besides one bad beat, and I am not sure If I played it correctly. I mean I got it in very good but overall in this spot, I don't know...].
I kinda wanna look at the results on the one hand, and I am literally afraid to do it on the other [its hard to explain]. I'm up, that's for sure. Yesterday, before I started playing my bankroll was 199 €.
I think I'll go the entire week without looking, I've established how to do it even if this soft doesn't allow to hide the cashier.
I found a guy that talks about intuition a lot, and he's overall approach to poker is a lot different from other high stakes players or poker players in general. He returned my faith in my own ability to learn by myself, trust my gut and basically don't give up just because I think about poker differently than most. My lack of results in the past discouraged me, but this guy is as crazy as I am and he's playing and winning high.
I'm still going to work with some basic poker math but I no longer believe that what is currently mainstream is the only way to climb and be successful.
That's it for today I don't really feel like sharing lately.
All best,
A♠:
UTG: €6.11 (153 bb)
CO (Hero): €4.42 (111 bb)
BU: €4.00 (100 bb)
SB: €4.88 (122 bb)
BB: €4.51 (113 bb)
Pre-Flop: (€0.06) Hero is CO with 7♠ 6♠
UTG raises to €0.10, Hero 3-bets to €0.36, 3 players fold, UTG 4-bets to €1.14, Hero calls €0.78
Flop: (€2.34) 6♦ 2♠ 2♦ (2 players)
UTG bets €2.21, Hero raises to €3.28 (all-in), UTG calls €1.07
Turn: (€8.90) 4♦ (2 players, 1 all-in)
UTG checks, Hero checks
River: (€8.90) K♦ (2 players, 1 all-in)
Total pot: €8.90 (Rake: €0.51)
Showdown:
CO (Hero) shows 7♠ 6♠ (two pair, Sixes and Twos)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 65%, Flop: 56%, Turn: 49%, River: 50%)
UTG shows 6♣ 5♣ (two pair, Sixes and Twos)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 35%, Flop: 44%, Turn: 51%, River: 50%)
CO (Hero) wins €4.19
UTG wins €4.20
One 3bet in a row to many and his mental exploaded. Sick.
few hands later against the same tilted guy.
UTG (Hero): €4.13 (103 bb)
CO: €4.00 (100 bb)
BU: €4.80 (120 bb)
SB: €4.46 (112 bb)
BB: €6.17 (154 bb)
Pre-Flop: (€0.06) Hero is UTG with K♥ Q♥
Hero raises to €0.10, 3 players fold, BB 3-bets to €0.32, Hero calls €0.22
Flop: (€0.66) 2♦ 9♥ J♥ (2 players)
BB bets €0.31, Hero raises to €1.14, BB calls €0.83
Turn: (€2.94) 3♦ (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets €0.69, BB calls €0.69
River: (€4.32) 4♦ (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets €1.98 (all-in), BB folds
Total pot: €4.32 (Rake: €0.25)
UTG (Hero) wins €4.07
he left 
ok, nvm, hes back 
BU: €4.00 (100 bb)
SB: €4.24 (106 bb)
BB (Hero): €7.22 (181 bb)
Pre-Flop: (€0.06) Hero is BB with A♥ K♥
BTN raises to €0.10, SB 3-bets to €0.44, Hero calls €0.40, 1 fold
Flop: (€0.98) 2♦ K♠ 3♦ (2 players)
SB bets €0.64, Hero calls €0.64
Turn: (€2.26) 4♥ (2 players)
SB bets €3.16 (all-in), BB (Hero) folds
Total pot: €2.26 (Rake: €0.13)
SB wins €2.13
It is on the table where I've been battling the tilted guy... So this guys sits quiet for the entire session and then this happens... I MUCK AND HE SHOWS A4. What's going on with these guys today a lot of unusual plays I would say.
NIT who suddenly lost his mind or is that some kind of genius right there ?
On top of that I got distracted in the middle of the hand by my wife... not to blame her - my mind went blank. This hand seemed so weird... it so unlike nuts that it has to be nuts right [at least that's what happened in the past] ? Wrong
I guess it is still better to overfold at those stakes Ill prob be better off in the long run anyways.
I can't believe I actually folded there - sick.
A♠:
I like this one a lot.
UTG: €1.77 (44 bb)
CO: €5.20 (130 bb)
BU: €5.29 (132 bb)
SB: €7.54 (189 bb)
BB (Hero): €4.51 (113 bb)
Pre-Flop: (€0.06) Hero is BB with A♣ K♦
3 players fold, SB raises to €0.12, Hero 3-bets to €0.36, SB calls €0.24
Flop: (€0.72) 2♦ K♣ 8♦ (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets €0.42, SB calls €0.42
Turn: (€1.56) 3♣ (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets €0.50, SB calls €0.50
River: (€2.56) 7♥ (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets €3.23 (all-in), SB calls €3.23
Total pot: €9.02 (Rake: €0.52)
Showdown:
BB (Hero) shows A♣ K♦ (a pair of Kings)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 69%, Flop: 92%, Turn: 95%, River: 100%)
SB mucks 8♠ A♠ (a pair of Eights)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 31%, Flop: 8%, Turn: 5%, River: 0%)
BB (Hero) wins €8.50
Here's previous week [it still needs an update, it's missing a lot of the hands from 27.09]:
28.09 summary.
time spent working: 7,5 h
time spent studying: 1,5 h
Day started amazing. I was playing super confident, I was present, and I was running quite good.
After an afternoon meal everything changed. I made 2 very loose assumptions and lost 2 stacks [my mind was foggy and I didn't realize in time that I am not the guy from previous session anymore]. During the day I tilted away/spewed about 4 or 5 stacks...
Running good or bad aside, just my mindset/state control, costed me at least 4 stacks... that's why I spend so much time listening to mindset and tilt control related books, strategic materials do me more harm than good if Im being honest. Players on these stakes don't play nearly as aggressive to justify playing poker with them [unless you are on a completely different level I guess, but then I would just play higher]. So I'll continue to focus mostly on mindset and try to get into my head that these guys are mostly honest and just because I am shipping in this spot with different stuff doesn't mean they are capable of doing it as well.
I wanted to play more yesterday - much more. I was exhausted. Playing 6 regular tables is harder for me than playing 6 fast tables... I was trying to secure my place on the leaderboard but it costed me more money in the end, playing while being tired - not a great idea.
NL20 wasn't running yesterday and I feel like some players dropped to NL4 - the field was much tougher than usual.
I don't know how to approach this, but I think focusing on my game and playing while I feel good will be much more effective than trying to reach high place on leaderboard and lose money while doing it.
A♠:
Testing new lines.
UTG: €4.32 (108 bb)
CO: €4.96 (124 bb)
BU: €3.84 (96 bb)
SB: €6.46 (162 bb)
BB (Hero): €4.10 (103 bb)
Pre-Flop: (€0.06) Hero is BB with 6♣ 8♣
1 fold, CO raises to €0.10, 2 players fold, Hero calls €0.06
Flop: (€0.22) 7♠ 3♦ T♣ (2 players)
Hero bets €0.08, CO calls €0.08
Turn: (€0.38) A♣ (2 players)
Hero bets €0.36, CO calls €0.36
River: (€1.10) 2♦ (2 players)
Hero bets €1.44, CO folds
Total pot: €1.10 (Rake: €0.06)
BB (Hero) wins €1.04
4BB added to the pot so at least some regs will be raising wider. Im just set mining here. On the flop I guess I have a best hand decent amount of times and if not ill quickly find out and not lose much more later in the hand. On the turn I was like "WTF". It seemed so cheesy and unlike any strong hand, so I just went with it even tho I wasn't planning to put much more money in this pot... The AK fold showed me that even some1 who plays seems regular player can go mental for no reason I guess... I don't know. I'm just clicking buttons lately - maybe I just run good - I like to think I am just getting better - time will tell.
UTG: €4.62 (116 bb)
MP: €4.87 (122 bb)
CO (Hero): €4.00 (100 bb)
BU: €5.05 (126 bb)
SB: €4.00 (100 bb)
BB: €10.83 (271 bb)
Pre-Flop: (€0.22) Hero is CO with 9♣ 9♦
UTG raises to €0.30, 1 fold, Hero calls €0.30, 3 players fold
Flop: (€0.82) 6♠ 7♥ 2♦ (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets €0.46, UTG calls €0.46
Turn: (€1.74) 4♣ (2 players)
UTG bets €1.65, Hero raises to €3.24 (all-in), UTG calls €1.59
River: (€8.22) Q♠ (2 players, 1 all-in)
Total pot: €8.22 (Rake: €0.46)
Showdown:
CO (Hero) shows 9♣ 9♦ (a pair of Nines)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 81%, Flop: 88%, Turn: 77%, River: 100%)
UTG mucks 5♣ 5♠ (a pair of Fives)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 19%, Flop: 12%, Turn: 23%, River: 0%)
CO (Hero) wins €7.76
