There is no real life, only AFK.

Study- play- study- play- study- play. Don't give up!
Sretno!

Following

We have similar plan...sretno!

Hey Karlo,

Welcome to the blogs.

Graph doesn't look so bad seeing that you know you need to improve and most importantly you have a plan to improve so I have no doubt we will start to see an improvement.

Don't worry too much about your English skills. We have a lot of non English speakers starting blogs here which is a good idea, because the language skills will improve as the poker does.

Als I have edited out your Skype address. This is for your own protection against spammers. Please use the Community tool and PMs to pass Skype and/or Email addresses.

Happy Grinding

Laz

First of all, thank you all for very warm wellcome:)

Didn't expect any Croatian forum members here, but I am very glad that there are people from Croatia playing and developing on this forum.

Now, last two days weren't best for poker. I didn't have one constant hour in two days for poker. Way too much real life obligations, but still managed to play 1500 hands. -7 $, 10$ under EV I think, so I should be happy about my play, just w8 for variance to come to the light side:)

About real life... well, next week my semester is continuing and I have 3 projects to finish, one seminar and have to prepare 6 exams for next 3 weeks. It will be hard time for poker but I am thinking about it as a little challenge. If I manage to work my schedule well, I should find time for poker.

I was in studio last night. Oh, very long night. Unexpected, my friend, bass player and audio producer called me to record some trumpets for disco-balkan-samba song about this year World Cup in Brasil. It is not style of music I am listening, but I think it will be huge hit in disco and whole Balkan too, it is modern samba mix with harmonics,brass and techno/dance + autotune vocal. All in all, very funny and interesting expirience.

Dunno how much time I will have tomorrow for poker, expecting about 2 hours somehow just to keep gaming flow constant. Weekend is something I am excited about, I'll try to play about 5-6 hours both days (which is super-much for me) and catch up with last two days of not really playing.

Wanted to ask, should I try to find another site with speed format? I am just silver on FTP and RB is really low. What do you recommend? You can PM me or give advice here if it is not consideret as advertising.

Didn't have time to check marked hands, so it will have to w8 until weekend, hope it is not a problem.

BR: 272$
Hands played since beginning of the project: 44 412
Thank you for following me, and I'll do my best to keep this blog interesting for readers.

Hey Karlo,

We have a lot of players here playing fast fold poker types. I am sure you'll get plenty of advice on the best rooms and the best VIP systems / Rakeback.

You can also check out this which will give you an overview of our best offers, which will often boost your RB.

Hope this helps

Laz

Will follow your progress - similar thing happened to me few years ago on NL25 lost large amount of my bankroll after series of bad beats and bad play caused by that

But now I am back from beginning - crushing NL2

GL - sritno

Need $3.93 to start with NL10 tomorrow!

Didn't manage to put as many hours as I wanted in poker for the weekend but pretty much happy about my game and results.

It was busy weekend with lot of good food, beer and, sadly, daily job. But you can't go against your boss, so do what you have to do. Instead of playing 10 hours for weekend, I've played 4,5 - 5 (and I am not happy about it but couldn't do anything about it due to job obligations...)

Anyway, graph looks like this right now, and even it is not close to look I want, it begins to take on contoures and course how it should look in the future.

I still have problems from SB and BB ( well, who doesn't? )
My BB improved a little ( it was -40bb at the begining of the project to -38bb now, but it is not even close to what I want!
On the other side, my SB winnings dropped and now they are -4.66bb

Here are new stats, any suggestions are welcome! I know my flop CB is turbo-low, but I am trying to follow the book and it seems I am still missing opportunities to cbet.

Anyhow... I woun't start NL10 until BR is over $300!
Current BR: $296.07

Hands played since beginning of the project: 48 998

I am still undecided about site where should I continue play, a lot of friends says that RB on Ipoker is not worth torturing with bots and regs, so according to them I should stay on FTP with better winrate and try to catch better status.

Opinions?
Questions?
Comments?

Cu soon!:)

Still no NL10

Needed just something like 4$ in first session on monday, but instead I've run into 4 strongest full houses in 27 minutes and I was down almost 6BI.

Yesterday session was so-so, breakeven, and todays sessions were: first -1BI, but session I've just finished... like gods themselves looked at me. I supposed to be -4BI down, instead I finished +2BI. I know it is not much for someone who grinds 5+hours every day for a few years, but this was rare kind of session for me, and I should remember when run is bad, there are good runs!

About real life: (not that anyone cares:) )

Trumpet - had no time to practice, hate that, I love music more than anything,but college obligations are just first priority next few weeks. If I manage to pass all exams, February is job+grind+music month!

College - passed first two projects for EU, 6 exams and 1 project in next two weeks, wish me luck.

Job - had great show today. In TOP 40 , 20 domestic and 20 foreign singles, I was host to two Croatian singers. One was Neno Belan, pop-rock singer from Split, and other one was Prlja - lead singer of great attraction band Let3. Two different worlds, two great musicians. Some of music you can check under this wall of text.

I am really happy that I have opportunity to work with so many musicians, singers and people from music world. So many tales, anecdotes and stories:)

Anyhow, I really hope to start with NL10 this week, but would not change my $300 mind for start no matter what.

Current BR: $278.26
Hands played since beginning of the project:53426

Neno Belan

Let3

Kurcem u celo means Dick into your forehead:) If you like this band, chek their live show , they are hilarious:)

Stay kewl and play much!

Uh, not good, not good at all.

My mid-term exams started last week, I had two of them and wrote them very good, but this week I have four of them - week from hell.

That means that no sessions will be played next 4 days because I don't feel well playing while my mid-term exams are in circulation. If I play, there is no focus on college obligation or if I am focused on college, my game sucks big time. So year ago, I decided no sessions will be played day before or on same day when mid-term exam is going on.

Given that, I've played just few thousands of hands last week, and manage to drop my BR to 245.77$ which i feel like a huge slap in the face, because all I needed was 4$ to start NL10. But, now I feel like I can't beat NL5 either and still have a lot to do with my game to be able to win on NL10.

I have to say that I become lazy last week, didn't even look at charts from the book I am playing and stopped reviewing my sessions. Gods of poker punished me. You are not crushing the game, stop being cocky, they said.

I will probably lose my silver (rofl) status on FTP next week due to not playing any sessions, but if I manage to pass all my mid-term exams, February is college-free month for me and all focus will be in poker,trumpet and my job.

All in all - I am still staying on FTP, NL5 rush, motivated more than ever to crush the game.

Current BR: $245.77
Hands played since beginning of the project:61805

Hey Karlo,

You're dead right. Exams are important. You need to have other things you can fall back on if poker treats you bad.

Regards

Laz

Title killed me. well played sir well played.

Great title, that's how I live my life too

Aaaaaaanddddd... I'm back!

First of all, I am glad you like the title:)

Second, I've finished and passed all of my mid-term exams! All I have is one semester more and then I'll decide will I go 2 more years to specialists education for economics and marketing..

Pokerwise...blah, not good. Still stuck around 240$, but now I am playing a lot more, 3-tabling rush instead 4-tabling and trying to use more notes. Finished with Gordon videos, now I am watching Pleno1 videos, seems little to advanced for this lowest stakes but I'll try to get value from them. I was really hoping to start February with NL10 but downswing, bad play and college stopped me. Ironically, all I needed was 3.7$ more to start NL10, but god knows how fast should I drop down if ds hit me there.

Still running about 10BI under EV, it is little frustrating but I can't do shit about it. My bb/100 is criminal ( around 2.5) and atm I am really not sure is it about bad play or bad run of cards. I mean when I started project I had around 7bb/100 I think and things were moving up really fast... Maybe I was on good run then, and now is real state...

Any advice is welcome!

Current BR: $247.64
Hands played since beginning of the project:70 072

The exact thread I was looking for. / thanks google for searching

I have explored the world of poker knowledge from diferrent perspectives and none seems to suit lower stakes.

Looking forward to get some approval about your choosen way with Gordon's book.

Best of luck at the tables

*following

Uf.... long time no here:) Where to start?

Well, finally, NL10 is here! Long, up-and-down journey, with some downswings, bad play, setups, games played with not cleared mind, short sessions due to real life obligations etc... But, now I am here, never coming back, I hope.

I am NOT satisfied with my results... Earned only $78 on NL5, after 93283 hands. That gives me 1.68 bb/100. It is true, that 95% of time, I was running 10-15BI under EV but that is not excuse. I have to be better. I know it is probably not smart to go on NL10 with low winnings like that, but new challenge will derive best from me. Focus, strenght, better understanding of game, better responding to light 3bets/4bets, adjusting to much aggressive style of play.....

I had huge downswing last week, approx 20BI on NL5 and all the hope was gone, but then I read book again and watched some of Pleno1 videos... Managed to retrieve most of that in three days, but I've put a lot of hours to the tables. How did I do that?

My very, very good friend, you know him here as Dendra ( had absolutely fantastic blog here few years ago, try to find it) stayed at my house for my birthday and few days more. I never managed to play more than hour, maybe hour and a half if I feel really good, but with him, I've played 2-3 hour sessions like nothing, talking about hands, poker, life and playing. Awesome feeling, and even I love to be alone and have my own peace, if there is situation where I can play NL100+ as a pro, he wold be my first choice as roommate, life coach and a friend. Excellent guy.

One last semester is in front of me.. 2014. is all or nothing with poker for me. I would like to reach NL50 and prove myself that I can beat micro stakes again.. If I fail, I will probably try to find good job (which is impossible in Croatia ), because my hourly is just small, like I am working on World Cup balls in Indonesia for 3c per hour...

@illioas: Hey, thank you for following. What I say about Gordon's book after 100 000 hands is exactly what he said: some will find it useful at the moment, some little later, some will need time. I need time. Had huge winnings when I was focused on book, with charts ON, looking for ranges, 3bet bluffs, right calls IP etc.. I think it is best book of all books I've read for low stakes. My winnings does not show that but I hope that I will just explode on NL10 .
You probably want to see some graphs, stats etc... Here they are. As usual, any advice and suggestion is welcomed:)

Graph

Stats

Sorry for not being up-to-date, just a lot of things happened: birthday, friend was at my house for a week, real life obligations, some appearances with orchestra...

Anything you want to ask, comment, suggest, feel free to do!

Great work man.
The results could be better but as far as you are in green is fine IMO.
Few things you can try to improve are:
1. Leave FTP and find more beginner friendly site to play. And with some decent rakeback deal.
2. If your bankroll allows then move to NL10 max 2 tables and THINK about how hand progresses. People at NL10 do more and more looser stuff that makes your game work. While at NL2/5 they play tight and always end up with premiums.
3. Get the charts back in front of you (does not matter which ones - as far as they are designed for NLHE 6max) and follow them because the more you play at some point you see yourself crushing and start opening looser than allowed.

Hope these points help.
Waiting to see some more results, better results.

Once again, ilioas thanks for your response:)

I've stayed on FTP and managed to improve to gold status, so now rb at least looks like something. I was doubting about ipoker but after some conversations, only good thing was rb, everything else was big minus, and to be honest ipoker is at the moment only alternative. I have to play rush poker because of my schedule , small pauses between college and work, so there is not much time for table selecting and playing long sessions.

Some news: I have new staker, he is also my coach. NL100 player with good theoretical and practical knowledge. We have started with 30 BI for NL10, coaching is at least once per week, I have to send all my hands every week for review and there are some daily problems which I have to solve so I'll post them here when there is time. We have found some basic leaks and they are: cbet more more more, defend BB more (wider calling range), 3bet for bluff more from btn. Really excited to try everything through next sessions.

I am currently winning NL10 with 2,45 bb/100 but EV bb/100 is 4,75 on 31494 hands. That is some improve but I woun't be happy until it is at least doubled!

If you have any questions or suggestions just say it, and I'll try to answer them and be more up-to-date.

Great blog thus far, I just read from start to finish. I too have been thinking about trying out iPoker, am currently playing 2nl-10nl zoom on stars. Following!

I really have to learn how to keep my promises and be up to date!

A lot of things happened since I wrote here last time.Personal life issues, new semester started, working double shifts on radio station and playing really bad.

Ok, where to start...
Well I really don't wanna discuss personal life here, so I'll skip to college obligations. New semester started and I've picked theme for my graduation thesis. It is about logical matrix about financing student dormitory building from European Union... Crazy stuff, a lot of work to do, but I am going step-by-step. Have three months exactly.

Radio, well, job is still very interesting, I've met a lot of people from radio world, some musicians, actors etc... Problem is it is payed very bad 15 kn per hour which is 2.5$ per hour. Bigger problem is that I have 2.87$ per hour on poker at the moment which is not really good. I didn't run any calculations but wr with 7-8$/hour would give me satisfaction because I cant play more than 3 hours per day and that would give me about 120 kunas or 22-24$ which is average daily payment in Croatia. Wow, how our country sux.

With all things that happened to me, it was normal to play bad. I've played good over the week, but when the weekend comes, every day is -5/6 BI. Just can't fold TPWK or something when I see guy is playing one table of NL10, 3 freerols, 1 sng and one MTT. It makes me sick,weak and call happy. I hope to improve that. My cbet and 3bet stats are still way too small but I am working on that!

Here are some graphs and stats from March.
As usual advice, suggestion or any comment is very much appreciated.

Stats for March:

Graph for March:

Hands played: 41138
BR : 392.83$