Chip Tricks and Keyboard Clicks - The Grind Gazette

Great plan, looking forward to your green weekly updates!

Cheers. I do hope so.

PokerStars - 10/20 NL (3 max) - Holdem - 3 players

BTN: 21.5 BB
SB: 28.5 BB
Hero (BB): 25 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has A♥ K♥

fold, SB raises to 2 BB, Hero raises to 6 BB, SB calls 4 BB

Flop: (12 BB, 2 players) 5♦ 5♣ T♥
SB bets 6 BB

Hero calls 6 BB

Turn: (24 BB, 2 players) 3♦
SB bets 7 BB, Hero calls 7 BB

River: (38 BB, 2 players) 5♥
SB bets 9.5 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 6 BB and is all-in

Hero wins 50 BB

November Review

My primary objective for the month was to play a minimum of 30 spins every day to complete three attempts for the leaderboards. Last month, had a day where the initial two attempts were unsuccessful and the start of the third attempt seemed unpromising but managed to secure 3rd place at $5 LB for a total of $80. So, that’s why at least 30 games a day is important.

Played 1350 games over 27 playing days, averaging 50 games per day. I mostly played two tables, occasionally added third and sometimes even a fourth table in the last week. Currently, I find that three tables strike a balance, allowing me to maximize opportunities without sacrificing attention to player tendencies.

Another goal was to venture into $10 spins when appropriate and aligned with my bankroll. In the first week, I played around 20 games. Played again after getting 2x$10 spin tickets from Chests in the third week. Played 95 games in total.

BR wise and results wise could have kept (and maybe should have) on playing them but I opted to proceed cautiously. I aim to gradually build my bankroll and get used to schedule where I do all the daily tasks in and out of poker and be able to play around 60 games.
Ideally, would like to play 30 games daily at both $5 and $10 to participate in both leaderboards.

On the side, played plenty of tournaments, primarily in WPT, and a couple of Sunday Millions on Stars through the Power Path. Although the Sunday Millions did not yield profits, I managed to make around $400 in WPT.

Cash games occupied about an hour daily, split between PokerStars for the Cardex challenge and WPT for the Kings of Cash promo. Didn’t get much from promos, excepts tiny amounts from cardex but overall breakeven with games.

Summary:

Spins games played: 1350
Days played: 27
Profit: $532
Weekly challenge/LB/Chests: $492
MTT: ~$400
Total: +$1424
Despite running above EV, witnessed two 40BI drops within a hundred games. However, following the first drop, I experienced an 80BI upswing, only to encounter another 40BI drop afterward. Quite swingy 400-game stretch.

Taking a brief two-day break, I plan to return to the tables on Friday.
My girlfriend, currently on a three-week work trip, will be returning soon. I have some cleaning to do lol. And the garden needs a cleanup as so many leaves have fallen, and I’ve been sweeping them under a tree, little mountain there already.

Daily cash hands will still be played to fulfill challenges, taking about an hour.

GL

As i was writing previous post i was playing daily $22 $4k GTD in WPT.
Nice run and could have been much nicer as i got pre all-in AA vs 99 and sneaky 9 on the flop. picked up FD on the turn but no help. Would have been third in chips.

My goal from December onwards is to plan my days well and try to consistently play 60 spins a day.
Sixty games daily have a twofold meaning. Currently have a 40% RB weekly challenge and to complete it twice a week it takes 60 games a day for 7 days. I should take most of it while it lasts. In November could have made more with challenges but was able to complete only once in two of the weeks due to playing tournaments. But that’s okay, in November I already outdid my set objective of 30 games a day.

Even when weekly challenge is at 10% then I expect it to be also around 60 games a day to complete it twice a week.

And the second reason to consistently play 60-a-day is that I would like to participate in both $5 and $10 leaderboards.
I think to start 4-tabling more. Don’t see much of a difference in my cEV or nonSD lines whether I play two tables or 3-4 tables. I might miss some player tendencies but other than that I just play my game best to my knowledge and pay attention plus HUD helps a bit.

I also take mini notes that help.
Example:
10F/10R – limit/ fish or reg
UG, ST, HC – ultra gambler, station, herocaller
BxB 33 wB/wV – BxB 33%pot with bluffs/with value

And sometimes take more detailed notes of lines but only for regs and tendencies like attacking paired boards high% etc. For fish I only use ST, HC, bet size tendencies notes and range notes.

Anyway, I think to play 4 tables, 2x5 and 2x10 at the same time. ABI $7.5 but first I want to show consistent playing of 60-a-day and I will do it at $5s for a month or so. To also see how 4 tabling will be over larger sample.

Want to have my main focus and effort on spins. Perhaps will get a GTOWizard for Christmas.

And other endeavors such as cash games and MTTs.
Well, I do want to keep on practicing 6max cash. I will keep playing around for an hour a day as that is how long currently it takes to also complete cardex challenge. This might change a bit during December when this challenge ends but regardless I think that an hour a day is a decent effort and will add up over a year. Also ditched zoom from yesterday and going forward will only play regular tables albeit without table selection, for now.

In WPT will ditch playing cash games for weekly promo. I just don’t enjoy playing FR 3-blind+ ante games there.
As for MTTs I think that I will only play two of Yuan main events daily, when I can get a seat via satellite. Those run at times when I should have most of my spins volume done. And occasionally play on Sundays if can play main events and I have Sunday million tickets so that can do a proper Sunday grind on both sites.

On a study side like mentioned above perhaps will get a GTOWizard for spins. And work through MTT bundle I got plus couple of books I enjoy reading daily few chapters.

I think this is a reasonable approach. Once I’m done with MTT bundle I should have a reasonable sample at cash games to then decide how or if I want to proceed with them.

Ok, so this will be embarrassing.

For the last 4 years or so, once a year, usually in December I like to drink beer. Rest of the year not drinking at all.
And I like to drink quite a bit. In a day around 2.5-3L but not in one go. So, I wake up, put in the work and around noon I start cooking lunch. Usually take around 30-40min and while doing so I drink first can. Then with food

I drink another one and after that I drink another 2-3 small cans with salted peanuts on the side while watching some movie. Then take a couple hour nap. When I wake up, I do stuff, prep food for dogs, go shop and put in some work and then I repeat the same sequence for dinner and go to sleep.

Thing is, this year I started in October, first month just in the evenings with dinner but this month for lunch and dinner. Every day.
I feel heavy. My belly bloated up. When I go to pee, I cannot see my D! never happened before.
I’m not like a big guy, quite small build and more on the skinny side rather than other way. But now it’s so out of proportion. Even got small man boobs which have never been the case before.

And during those times when I enjoy beer a lot, I throw exercise out the daily equation completely.
Usually, I lift weights a couple of times per week, go 4-5km bicycle rides almost daily and visit the swimming pool once a week. Last two months I have done none of that. Combine this with eating well and sitting a lot and there I am, totally out of shape.

It is hard to break the cycle, but I need just couple of days without beer and then it is totally out of my mind, and I can start recovering and getting back in shape.
I hope not to repeat this anymore.
Think my gf will be in for a little shock when she comes home. Maybe I will let her take a photo of my belly and then in however many months I will post the before/after picture.
But a couple of days ago I told her that I will stop this month and I shall do so.
I got five cans for today and that’s it.
From tomorrow must start working out slowly again and taking good care of myself.

One day i will win it!

Couple of post up i wrote that will mainly play Yuan tourneys that were biggest prize pool daily main events. I say were because since yesterday they have completely disappeared from lobby. Not just main events and satellites but all yuan tourneys altogether. Replaced with different tourneys with pumped up GTDs but if I recall correctly then yuan tourneys were bigger value. But I do see satellites to $55 tourneys so that’s great. There are cool tourneys for that price range that usually have overlays, but I guess that will soon change if they offer sats to those as they did not do before. Nothing changes though, timewise they are at same slots and if anything then its better as non-yuan tourneys have at least 5 minute breaks.

Does anyone know what the issue could be that my laptop starts lagging every 4 or 5 days. Everything still runs smoothly it is just mouse cursor that starts lagging/skipping. A restart will fix that. I don’t turn it off but always hibernate if that helps. Running windows 10 pro. Two SSDs and one that runs OP system has still 70GB free space.

Should i update RAM? been thinking of that. max support is 32GB but i thought to just get one 16GB to a toal of 24GB and then later if needed switch another to a 16 as well.

When i have 2 poker sites and PT4 running then usually i see only half of total RAM used. and CPU at 40%

I was re-reding my 2024 goals and objectives.
Realized that I’m spreading my focus and effort thin across many tasks.
Looking back on the year I also realized that MTTs have way more potential than anything else.
Sure, the schedules are not always the best and must be prepared to sit down for extended periods but there are solutions for everything. Can play tournaments that are not on odd times but choose other available ones. Prepare and practice mentally and physically to be able to play for longer hours. Also prepare other aspects like food and get what’s needed to be done prior to planning to play a tournament.

One year ago, when I decided to play tournaments for a year my goal was to try to make money in one other variant in addition to spins. Before tournaments, spins were only poker variant where I’ve been able to show consistent profits, albeit not big ones but at least consistent.
And all that was thanks to my friend who introduced me to spins and spent next several months helping me to understand the basic strategy, spending many hours a week on call with me either watching me playing live and discussion strategy on reviewing HH together. And that was it. Not long after that he quit poker for good and I was just cruising with basic knowledge and putting in the games.
It was sweet moment when I understood that I’m not losing money playing poker but breakeven or small winner instead.
I have watched some YouTube videos and some twitch streamers who play spins and have picked up some additional knowledge but been happy with just able to win at small stakes and every now and then taking shots up and sometimes making a lot more than I usually do but ultimately moving down at some point due to feeling more stress with bigger monetary movements and using winnings to buy whatever was needed.

So, where I’m going with this?
Back to tournaments. I’ve been just playing them for a year with minimal study. Just read two books, one satellite book and PKO strategy. Both quite thin books but still learned plenty, but I read them when I just started out and I think would benefit more by reading again.
And then I’ve been watching lex twitch stream a bit.

So, I thought what if I really focus and try get better at tournaments. Like I did with spins. Sure, this time I would have to do it on my own, but I got all the materials ready. (all bought with MTT profits like I planned to do when just started out)
When I first started playing MTTs then I used profits from spins to play satellites and some tournaments. At first, I lost some sum but gradually started to get ITM more often thus not losing much. A couple of deeper runs here and there gave BR to play MTTs without sacrificing spins profits. And that was a dream moment, something I looked forward to when starting with tournaments.

I know, I know I have written down many thoughts and wants in previous posts but now as I stopped drinking beer, I feel clarity.

So, here is the actual game plan I put together.

I will keep playing spins like I have done it thus far.
• Main goal with spins is to play on avg 60 gamed a day.
• When feel like reasonable then mix in higher stakes.
That’s it. Will not stress when or how can I improve with spins strategy. I mentioned some posts ago that HUSNG has a course I would be interested in. I will think of that when the following is completed.

More focused, consistent and push through study approach for MTTs
• Read through 6 books. (2 of them as re-read)

To read every day for 30-45min.
I set an order in which I will read them.
PKO strategy 1st, Satellite strategy 2nd, exploitative play 3rd, Poker Talent 4th and Endgame strategy 5th. Essential math I will read alongside of all books.
Also, with Essential Poker Math can access a 10-hour math video course.
• Work through BBZ MTT bundle
One or more videos every day. Some are short so watch more.
But avg also one hour a day on videos (with some note taking)

That’s it. No cash games, not even x number of hands a day for promo purpose.

Daily poker schedule in a nutshell:
First put in spins daily volume.
Then BBZ bundle
Read books afternoon/evening (except math book, that I might read a bit first thing in the morning)
And will play tournaments that are best value/suit my times best. But a strong focus is to just push through with study and then think of increasing MTT volume.

I might take a photo of some more interesting ideas from books to post. But no promises.

I do believe that when I complete with my little study bootcamp I will be better at tournaments and will have more cashes and more deeper runs.

Today played three satellites and lost 7 buy ins. One sat was to monthy $110 elite and other was just $55 tickets. 6 out of 7 times pre all-in way ahead but bust.
Even tho more satellites are running decided not to play WPT today any more but rather opened spins.

spinned and won my first 50x
highest multi seen prior was 25x at PS

3way was already long battle with the most agro player busting eventually. HU was even longer but luckily vs very passive weak player with 55% vpip, 0% ISO, 90% fvLCB, 0%XR and 20% CB

Went through the first day without beer and feeling good. Was no sweat and at no point did I think to drink. Feeling already much better in my mind and body feels lighter.
From tomorrow will restart my workout. Will do something that I found easy to follow and be consistent at previously.
For a warmup basic stretch and 5-min rope skipping and then dumbbell workout
The new plan is slightly different than in the past. It will be four times a week every other day.
Day1: Chest and back
Day2: Arms
Day3: Legs and ABS
Day4: Shoulders

Each day has 5 different exercises, 4 sets and 10 reps a set.

I also must adjust my diet a bit. It is okay overall, but I like mayo too much. Mayo with potatoes and chicken, mayo with rice (ye I know, crazy), mayo with eggs and sandwiches.
I think this is also one reason I gained such belly fat. As it happens, I did run out of mayo yesterday and today I picked up lite mayo instead. I don’t know how it tastes but it is the same Hellmann’s brand that I like just lite with less fat. And I try to use much less of it going forward.
I don’t eat nor drink much sugar at all so it’s good in that part. Just occasional assorted cinnamon buns which are fantastic. And will try to eat more veggies because I almost never eat them. But I will looks up some recipes and make some salads.

Tournament Study

An interesting snippet from PKO Poker Strategy

What makes PKOs unique

The example is a 9-handed table where first six players have 20BB and it is folded to the button who has 10BB, SB has 12BB and big blind has 20BB.
It is folded to button.

A look into how BTN, SB and BB should play against each other.
Four examples: cEV spot (no bounties), an early PKO spot, a normal FT spot (no bounties) and PKO FT

The difference between these four sitations at an otherwise identical table really showcase the impact of both bounties and payouts to our ranges.

* all these ranges assuming everyone is playing GTO and were simulated by an ICM calc.

BTN 10BB shoving range
ChipEV: 45%
Early PKO: 40%
Normal FT: 41%
PKO FT: 25%

Notable difference at the PKO FT when payouts are involved but also everyone has an average bounty.

Now SB calling range vs BTN: (techically re-shoving range)
ChipEV: 30%
Early PKO: 37%
Normal FT: 12%
PKO FT: 21%

Now in every example ranges diverge massively from eachother, the impact of bounties and payouts are much more profound because when we are calling we dont have the benefit of fold equity. Have to have the winning hand when we call and in this example the bounties and payouts dictate just how good you hand has to be.

now BB vs BTN calling range (SB folded)
ChipEV: 38%
Early PKO: 48%
Normal FT: 22%
PKO FT: 44%

But most interesting example is a situation when BTN shoves and SB shoves over the top

Big Blind calling range vs two:

ChipEV: 20%
Early PKO: 54%
Normal FT: 4% !!!
PKO FT: 51%

Hope you found it interesting.

A new book just arrived as i was eating a cinnamon bun.
Many years wanted to read it.

It is huge. I thought it is small kinda pocket sized. Wonder if it is some sort of printing error and all the text is small and barely takes half of page. Or maybe it was meant to be that way so that when one reads there is only that and light around

Might sometimes write down some more interesting thoughts here i will find from it.

Gave chatGPT a promt to create weeks meal plan. Told what ingridients i like but to add veggies/salads in to mix as well. And to have easy breakfast but solid lunch and dinner.

heres what it came up with

Then only lunch and dinner with couple ingridients

and finally a balanced and nutritious diet.

I like Nestea lemon iced tea. Been drinking it quite a lot, usually around 0.5-1L a day.
Today while eating I was wondering why I like it so much.
I found out that in a 500ml bottle there is 43g sugars, I think that’s quite a lot probably.
Then continuing I read that it has sugar substitute – steviol glycoside which is like the sweetest sweet.

Some steviol glycosides exhibit sweetness that is nearly 300 times higher than that of sucrose.

Will not be drinking that any more.

I never really liked water too much. But I recall periods when I start drinking only water then at some point start to like it and body crave it and other drinks don’t taste too good.
I like carbonated water though.
But now I think I will try to just drink regular water as I started to workout again and looking to lose belly fat.

One of the coolest videos i've seen in a while.
The background so perfect as well.

While the idea of playing at the highest stakes might be enticing, a more balanced and strategic approach would likely involve a combination of playing at challenging stakes, studying the game rigorously, gradually moving up in stakes, and continuously refining your skills. Responsible bankroll management remains a fundamental principle, even in a hypothetical scenario with an unlimited bankroll.

A nice 40% RB - 450 redemption points/ $36 just lasted for a month.
Back to 10% and now 650 points for $13

Them quick to switch back down but take ages to get 40%