Liar Dice - Diary of a Bean Counter!

January 2022 Monthly Update

Monthly profit: -$614.36
Playing hourly: -$8.7 (70 hours).

Graph in BB/100:

January was a nightmare resultswise. At some point it was clear I was running pretty badly, but as so often this caused me to play badly, too. By the end of the month, though, I'd organised some coaching, been more active in the study group and begun making some changes. I feel I'm close to understanding the 'formula' to beat NL50 on my current site. The question is whether I can implement this formula, time and again, in the face of the luck factor that is a perennial a part of poker. The evidence is against me, but still... watch this space!

-Tim64

February 2022 Monthly Update

February was still overall a tough month for me, but by the end of it I've was feeling a bit more positive. The lessons from my coaching sessions are beginning to sink in. NL50 reg speed remains (for some - no doubt - psychosomatic reasons) unbeatable. But I've had better luck in fast fold games where there's less opportunity to build up a head of tilt steam...

Roughly b/e on my main site but made a small profit on Party for a few hundred bucks overall.

Monthly profit: $478.83
Playing hourly: $5.9 (~80 hours).

Graph in BB/100 (mainly nl50):

Once again, nothing to be proud of but it is better than January...

So...March. Can we have a month with steady volume of 2-3k hands per day? With a steady play level somewhere above breakeven? Pretty please, can we?

The best thing that could be said of this last February is that it was short.

Best of luck in March! :gl:,
VS

Ok, BR over $4k again and things going pretty well. Let's hope for stable confidence and no pride b4 a fall. Mixing vol between two sites, one much fishier than the other. Cracked AA with 66 in 3b pot on a 66TA2 board, where he bet riv ip and tanked for a full minute before calling my check shove. Presumably his way of slowrolling me. Well, f**k him.

Almost a $1k day playing 100NL Cash. Stoked.

Hey, you moved to Nl100 already ? Congratz for the result

March Monthly Update:

Graph in bb/100:

Managed 80k hands which is a personal best by some margin. 34k hands 100nl; 18k 50nl; 27k 25nl or below. Mixed limits and platforms with little progress on BR challenge. I think I cleared about $1500 in rakeback which made up for a slight loss on the tables for ~$800 profit. Nothing to be delighted about.

Mood up and down; more or less in tandem with the graph. At one point $1800 profit in the bank and dreaming of going to Madrid chess candidates. Yesterday, just $100 profit before a mini upswing. Still calling way too much even though I know people underbluff habitually.

I'd love to make April my breakthrough month where I really get established at 100nl and deal with all the swings and coolers.

Profit: $914
Playing hours: 107
Hourly: $8.5

Originally posted by Tim64
March Monthly Update:

Profit: $914
Playing hours: 107
Hourly: $8.5

...but ...but ... your BR is now at? According to my calcs you should have finished your challenge with the march results...

Taking a break from playing on that site, where I haven't been able to make any progress. Playing elsewhere to rebuild confidence. BR stalled at $3300...:f_cry:

April Monthly Update:

First, graph in bb/100 on Site A, where I moved my volume for April. Almost all 50NL. ~5bb/100. Pretty satisfied and definitely the best month so far from a mindset consistency POV, despite running $650 under EV.

Graph in $:

Also did very well in leaderboards with ~$600 extra rbk which made up for the runbad. Unfortunately I had started month on "cursed" Site B at 100NL where I lost around $600, which meant I was fighting an uphill battle from the start. So in the end a pretty modest month but I'm feeling the most positive I've felt for ages. Edit: discovered another $300 on Site C for extra rakeback in March so will amend final profit figure up to $960.61 from original $746.

Wonderful week in Paris, too, with perfect weather so all in all pretty good.

Profit: $960.61
Playing hours: ~75
Hourly: $12.8 (creeping up...)

May Plan: 100NL on Site A. Focus on a consistent grind, keeping mindset level. Continue working with solver to buid a robust gameplan.

May Monthly Update:

$ Graph:

BB/100 graph:

Obviously delighted to have run so good first full month at 100NL. Caught up the lost EV from April, and then some. Managed an EV hourly of over $20 for the first time since starting to play cash, which I'm delighted with. It would have been nice to have a slightly better bb/100 to look at, but 30k hands is a small sample.

I guess now I can legitimately call myself a professional cash game poker player:f_thumbsup: Next month I'm travelling to Madrid by train to see the World Chess Championship Candidates Tournament. Super excited to be roaming the world again.

Profit: $3610.87
Playing hours: ~78
Hourly EV: $27.1
Hourly Actual: $46.15

June Plan: Continue 100NL on Site A. Improve GTO understanding together with appropriate exploits. Two holidays planned, so volume will take a back seat.

Originally posted by Tim64
I guess now I can legitimately call myself a professional cash game poker player:f_thumbsup: Next month I'm travelling to Madrid by train to see the World Chess Championship Candidates Tournament. Super excited to be roaming the world again.

Very nice results — let's hope they continue.
Will you be in that tournament?

Oh no. Only the tip top Grandmasters are playing.

Originally posted by Tim64
Oh no. Only the tip top Grandmasters are playing.

Well that leaves me out

Hello from Austria - "Nice result"
I think you deserve it - was very hard time the last months.
Play you mostly Zoom-Tables ?
A are you a chessplayer - whats your Elo-Rating ?
Gl for June.

Hi PokerSpass,

Yes, mostly fast fold format on various sites.

I love chess; About 1800 ELO.

Thanks mate, wishing you a good month also!

June Monthly Update:

Great month, all round. Two months over $2.5k in a row is a really good sign. If I've found a way to make a living playing NL cash, I will be absolutely delighted, even if it won't ever make me rich!!

Low volume month because of the Interrailing trip to Madrid mentioned last time. Great experience; pics:

Chess players in Retiro Park:

Hikaru Nakamura arriving for game 5 of the 2022 Candidates:

Four Seasons Hotel, central Madrid (*not staying here ♦ )

Profit: $2912.22
Playing hours: ~55
Hourly EV: ~$44
Hourly Actual: ~$53

Thanks,
Tim64

July Monthly Update:

July got off to a terrible start as I decided to play play some Pot Limit Omaha (and a bit of NLHE) while watching the Candidates chess. Somehow lack of concentration coincided with unbelievable bad luck, resulting in me running 15 BI under expected value, to go a total of $2k down in one day… Never seen that before in Cash, even PLO!

Day 1:

But ok; in such situations one simply has to adjust one's expectations. Now it's reasonable to ask only: "Can I at least get back to break even, by the end of the month?" The starting point was not to try to to win back the losses at Omaha, but rather focus strictly on Hold'em. I got back in the lab, and back on the tables and the grind to zero started in earnest. Together with rakeback I managed to clear most of the losses by the middle of the month. I had been planning to take a shot at 200NL and so once the BR was in decent shape again, I gave it a whirl. An early upswing was followed by losing a couple of big pots and thereby some confidence (though the spots were super standard), so it was time to beat a hasty retreat. Back at 100NL, things went pretty smoothly, running at over EV 8bb/100 for the month.

July NLHE graph in BI (NL50, NL100, NL200)

NLHE graph in $:

Profit: $3266.91
Playing hours: ~72
Hourly Actual: ~$45.37

So in the end, it was one of my best months so far as a Cash Pro. Not what I'd have expected after the first day!

August Plan

There are two things I'd love to achieve in August, workwise. One is to finally finish the BR challange on Site B, where I started with $20 back in April 2021. It's a popular but difficult site, so it's been tough. But I think if I get my head down it should be possible. $20.00 to $5,000 was the goal. I have $800 to go so it should be straightforward, but then I've gotten close a few times and it's slipped from my grasp, so we'll see... The second thing is to take another shot at 200NL and try to do so with a stronger mindset. But I'll have to wait until it feels right to undertake this; there's no rush. If 100NL can provide a living for the time being, it's silly to feel like I must rush up to the next limit, seeking stress and swings when it's not necessary. But on the other hand, of course, a shark that stops swimming, dies. So finding the right balance between ambition and risk management, as always in Poker, will be key. A family holiday to Wales will at least provide a distraction, hopefully stopping me taking things too seriously. See you at month end!

Thanks,
Tim64

The Bankroll Challenge I started on a whim in April 2021, is finally complete!

Start:

Finish:

Absolutely stoked, right now.
Thanks for following,
-Tim64

Congratulations!