Swimming with the fishes - LahtiPelican's SH journey

Originally posted by LahtiPelican
I missed 2 weekly updates, because I discovered a new leak of mine: I don't like to write into my blog if thing aren't going forward.

Happened again. I had the toughest week(s) ever in poker, more on that later.

Week 7-8:
Hands: 27.974
Winrate: 0,88bb/100
Net won: -$5,95

1. NL25 shot

My first NL25 shot came to an end after 7.817 hands. It feels bad, when you can't play well on a new limit and have to step back, but there is an other thing which is far worse IMO. I had to step back, because I have to withdraw a part of my BR and that's why I had to step back.

Lesson learned: need bigger emergency spare for unexpected life cases.

Before I stepped back, I broke the record of biggest winning day:

2. After stepping back

Because of life issues I mentioned before, I had a never experienced pressure on my shoulder: I was so desperate to get back to NL25 as soon as possible, that I couldn't play my A game. That had a result: I started with a 17BI downswing on NL10.

I had downsings like this before, but this time combined with my life situation, I thought about giving up poker more than anytime before. I even steped back for a few days to find a solution.

3. The solution

In ordered to play my A game as much as possible, I decided to start a Twitch channel. First I had to try, if my PC is compatible with streaming. This wasn't obvious, because I am olaying on a 9 years old notebook. My coach helped me set up OBS in order to not use too much sources, while I play, so I could start.

The channel is pretty basic, but it is good enough IMO.

Streaming had it positive affect on my game, here is my graph after two days of streaming:

Most of the time I am playing on 2 Zoom tables, while I stream.

4. Lucky while being unlucky

While I had my downswing, I got luck two times:

PokerStars - $0.16 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players 2021.07.06.
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 109.38 BB
SB: 128.06 BB
Hero (BB): 100 BB
UTG: 24.25 BB
MP: 110.5 BB
CO: 115.5 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has Q:heart: T:heart:

fold, fold, fold, BTN raises to 3 BB, fold, Hero calls 2 BB

Flop: (6.5 BB, 2 players) A:heart: 7:club: A:club:
Hero checks, BTN bets 1 BB, Hero calls 1 BB

Turn: (8.5 BB, 2 players) J:heart:
Hero checks, BTN bets 5.38 BB, Hero calls 5.38 BB

River: (19.25 BB, 2 players) K:heart:
Hero checks, BTN checks

Yatahay Network - $0.10 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players 2021.07.13
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 100.3 BB
Hero (SB): 101.8 BB
BB: 116 BB
UTG: 112.2 BB
MP: 107.8 BB
CO: 120 BB

Hero posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has J:spade: Q:spade:

fold, fold, fold, BTN raises to 2.5 BB, Hero raises to 10 BB, fold, BTN calls 7.5 BB

Flop: (21 BB, 2 players) K:spade: A:diamond: K:heart:
Hero checks, BTN checks

Turn: (21 BB, 2 players) A:spade:
Hero checks, BTN bets 5.2 BB, Hero calls 5.2 BB

River: (31.4 BB, 2 players) T:spade:
Hero bets 16.8 BB, fold

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I hit my 4th and 5th royal flush in a week!

5. Future plans

I wrote before that PokerStars offered me an exlusive challenge before. Before stepping back my plan was to won that $80 twice. However since I play NL10Z on streams, my ammount of rake has increased. After some calculations, I set a goal to clear the challenge not twice, but 3 times in the following 14 days! In order to do that, I have to rake $28 every single day. Not easy, but as I calculated it will take 3-3,5 hours and I am playing that much anyway.

First one will be in my pocket later today.

My other plan with my twitch channel is to do a BR challenge, but I have to figure out the rules for that. I will start only after I cleared the bonuses anyway.

Feel free to hop in and say hi in the chat on Twitch and GL for everyone!

Hey guys!

Long time no update in my blog, but here I am again.

I wrote in my last post that I started to stream on Twitch, but a few days later a PokerStars update ruined it. With the help of forum members, it seems like the problem is solved, but I will need to replace my old notebook to stream properly.

I always thought it would be interesting to do a BR challenge and stream it. The other thing which was always in my mind since I read the article was Tankroll BRM. The last thing which was made me to start the challenge was The Bankroll Challenge 2021. Let's see the terms and conditions of the challenge!

BRM
Starting roll: $50
NL5: $40-$80
NL10: $81-$130
NL25: $131-$260
NL50: $261-$500

Rules
Every hand above NL5 will be streamed (which doesn't mean that I won't play off stream. However if you see me at the tables, while I am not online, than it isn't the part of the challenge)
If I fall below the minimum bankroll of my limit by less than 30BB: I will simply continue playing at the current limit.
Bankroll is 30 to 50BB below the minimum limit: I will continue playing until I have to pay the next Big Blind, I will leave the table before that and move down a limit
If I fall below the minimum bankroll of my limit by more than 50BB: I will move down a limit immediately without waiting for the next Big Blind
Zoom is allowed, but I will play more on regular tables
Everyone can follow my results in a Google spreadsheet, I will put the link here and my signiture if it will be ready.

And what's my goal with the $500? I will buy my new PC from it (Okay, not from the $500, I will add some money to it ). The main thing is I will buy the PC after I am done with the challenge.

That's all for now, feel free to say hi, when I am online on Twitch!

An interesting notion to only count streamed hands in the challenge.
I hope you change your mind.
It would be a crying shame to have a +4BI session off stream and exclude it from the challenge.

Whatever you decide though -- Best of luck :gl:,
VS

Hey Lahti, sounds like a fun challenge!

I may actually join you (not streaming) but with your bankroll challenge.

The last few days I was actually playing 1 table of NL5 zoom on stars while playing my usual NL100/200 tables elsewhere.

I found out I had $25 on stars lying dormant, So I felt like using it as a small experiment to gauge the difficulty of micro limits zoom in comparison to table selecting on softer sites. I'll post the findings in my Blog.. when I take the time to update it

From here i'll follow your bankroll strategy and see how it goes.
Also I think one sesh I saw you at the NL5 table! Best of luck brother!

Originally posted by VorpalF2F
An interesting notion to only count streamed hands in the challenge.
I hope you change your mind.
It would be a crying shame to have a +4BI session off stream and exclude it from the challenge.

Whatever you decide though -- Best of luck :gl:,
VS

Thanks, good luck for your challenge as well!
I won't, only streamed hands will be counted in the challenge. +4BI sessions will happen off stream, but that's also true for -4BI sessions.

Originally posted by SiKWiThIt
Hey Lahti, sounds like a fun challenge!

I may actually join you (not streaming) but with your bankroll challenge.

The last few days I was actually playing 1 table of NL5 zoom on stars while playing my usual NL100/200 tables elsewhere.

I found out I had $25 on stars lying dormant, So I felt like using it as a small experiment to gauge the difficulty of micro limits zoom in comparison to table selecting on softer sites. I'll post the findings in my Blog.. when I take the time to update it

From here i'll follow your bankroll strategy and see how it goes.
Also I think one sesh I saw you at the NL5 table! Best of luck brother!

Hi mate!

Table selection is one of the biggest (if not the biggest) part of cash games IMO, that's why I play regular tables most of the time. I am sure you saw me before, because off stream I play 4 NL10 reg tables and 2-3 NL5Z tables because my exclusive poker challenge. Good luck for you, I am curious how a higher stake player will perform on micros!

Week 1
Stake: NL5
Hands played: 1.288
Net won: $18,81
Current bankroll: $68,81

I have mixed feelings about the 1st week. I had terrible volume, but great results. I created a spreadheat, where you can follow my results. It is pretty basic ATM, but it will do the job. You can find it here.

I will be online in a few minutes, feel free to say hi!

Another google spreadsheet freak here!
Your Tankroll spreadsheet shows the beauty of how quickly that could succeed.
There is one small formula mistake in your sheet though, for the worst day:
=if(MAX(D13:D43)<0;MAX(D13:D43);"-")
which should be
=if(MIN(D13:D43)<0;MIN(D13:D43);"-")

Good luck now at the tables!

Originally posted by SvenBe
Another google spreadsheet freak here!

Do you know how to automate them?
After every stream I post my results, and it would sure be nice if could write a script that writes the results to a text file as I go, so they could display on stream. So now, I have to do that with Excel, then transfer the data to the Google sheet. (I'm terribly lazy)

Originally posted by SvenBe
Another google spreadsheet freak here!
Your Tankroll spreadsheet shows the beauty of how quickly that could succeed.
There is one small formula mistake in your sheet though, for the worst day:
=if(MAX(D13:D43)<0;MAX(D13:D43);"-")
which should be
=if(MIN(D13:D43)<0;MIN(D13:D43);"-")

Good luck now at the tables!

Thanks for pointing out, I fixed the spreadheet I am more like an Excel guy, will need some time to adjust to Google Sheets. Main problem is I learned Excel in Hungarian and Google Sheets is in English.

Originally posted by VorpalF2F
Do you know how to automate them?
After every stream I post my results, and it would sure be nice if could write a script that writes the results to a text file as I go, so they could display on stream. So now, I have to do that with Excel, then transfer the data to the Google sheet. (I'm terribly lazy)

I wish I would know, but unfortunately I don't have any experience/knowledge with scripts.

Week 2:

Stake: NL5-NL10
Hands played: 3.455
Net won: $7,49
Current bankroll: $76,30

I managed to step to NL10, not once but 3 times

Still running hot on NL5 in the challenge

And the exact opposite on NL10:

Challenge status: need an upswing ASAP

Originally posted by VorpalF2F
An interesting notion to only count streamed hands in the challenge.
I hope you change your mind.
It would be a crying shame to have a +4BI session off stream and exclude it from the challenge.

Whatever you decide though -- Best of luck :gl:,
VS

At the moment the chellenge is on NL2, I decided only apply the stream rule to NL5 and above. The reason is that IMO playing whole session on NL2 just to stream is a complete waste of time. So I only will open some NL2 tables while I play my regular sessions. You can see in the spreadsheet that I am not only far from completing the challenge, but I am so far from the starting point as well

OK that makes sense

Best of luck :gl:,
VS

Originally posted by VorpalF2F
OK that makes sense

Best of luck :gl:,
VS

Thank you, I will need every bit of luck to complete the challenge.

Week 3:

Stake: NL10-NL5-NL2
Hands played: 10.335
Net won: -$55,78
Current bankroll: $20,52

Challenge total:

After a quick 9BI up, there was a 20BI downswing. I thought I won't use the NL2 line in my report spreadsheet, but I had to early on. I played on 8k hands on NL2 and I still need $30 to step up to NL5.

Graphs by limit

NL2:

NL5:

NL10:

Let's see some fun hands!

PokerStars - $0.05 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 100 BB
SB: 175.8 BB
BB: 63 BB
Hero (UTG): 145.4 BB
MP: 38.4 BB
CO: 101.2 BB

SB posts SB 0.4 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has K:heart: K:club:

Hero raises to 3 BB, MP calls 3 BB, CO raises to 13 BB, fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to 145.4 BB and is all-in, MP calls 35.4 BB and is all-in, fold

Flop: (91.2 BB, 2 players) 2:club: 5:club: 5:heart:

Turn: (91.2 BB, 2 players) A:diamond:

River: (91.2 BB, 2 players) 9:club:

MP cashed out 16.4 BB for a fee of 0.2 BB

Hero shows K:heart: K:club: (Two Pair, Kings and Fives)
(Pre 81%, Flop 89%, Turn 86%)
MP shows 2:diamond: 3:diamond: (Two Pair, Fives and Twos)
(Pre 19%, Flop 11%, Turn 14%)
Hero wins 87.4 BB

PokerStars - $0.02 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 5 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

UTG: 51 BB
CO: 85.5 BB
BTN: 115 BB
Hero (SB): 133.5 BB
BB: 83 BB

Hero posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

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

fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to 3 BB, BB calls 2 BB

Flop: (6 BB, 2 players) 6:heart: 7:diamond: 4:heart:
Hero bets 3 BB, BB calls 3 BB

Turn: (12 BB, 2 players) A:club:
Hero bets 9 BB, BB calls 9 BB

River: (30 BB, 2 players) Q:heart:
Hero bets 22.5 BB, BB raises to 68 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 45.5 BB

BB shows 5:heart: 5:diamond: (One Pair, Fives)
(Pre 52%, Flop 51%, Turn 18%)
Hero shows K:heart: A:heart: (Flush, Ace High)
(Pre 48%, Flop 49%, Turn 82%)
Hero wins 160 BB

PokerStars - $0.02 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BB: 223.5 BB
UTG: 106 BB
MP: 109 BB
CO: 44.5 BB
Hero (BTN): 100 BB
SB: 102.5 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has J:club: 9:spade:

fold, fold, CO calls 1 BB, Hero raises to 4.5 BB, fold, fold, CO calls 3.5 BB

Flop: (10.5 BB, 2 players) Q:diamond: 3:heart: 8:club:
CO checks, Hero bets 4 BB, CO calls 4 BB

Turn: (18.5 BB, 2 players) T:spade:
CO checks, Hero bets 12 BB, CO raises to 24 BB, Hero calls 12 BB

River: (66.5 BB, 2 players) 3:club:
CO checks, Hero bets 13 BB, CO calls 12 BB and is all-in

Hero shows J:club: 9:spade: (Straight, Queen High)
(Pre 15%, Flop 19%, Turn 100%)
CO shows K:spade: K:diamond: (Two Pair, Kings and Threes)
(Pre 85%, Flop 81%, Turn 0%)
Hero wins 87.5 BB

[Note: he was a whale, that's why I iso raised my whole range]

Finally the most painful one:

PokerStars - $0.02 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

UTG: 100 BB
MP: 36 BB
CO: 81.5 BB
Hero (BTN): 110.5 BB
SB: 36.5 BB
BB: 93 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has 4:diamond: 4:heart:

fold, MP calls 1 BB, CO raises to 3 BB, Hero calls 3 BB, SB calls 2.5 BB, BB calls 2 BB, MP calls 2 BB

Flop: (15 BB, 5 players) 4:spade: 3:club: A:diamond:
SB checks, BB bets 14.5 BB, MP raises to 33 BB and is all-in, fold, Hero calls 33 BB, fold, BB calls 18.5 BB

Turn: (114 BB, 3 players) 3:spade:
BB checks, Hero bets 40 BB, BB raises to 57 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 17 BB

River: (228 BB, 3 players) A:spade:

BB shows A:club: J:diamond: (Full House, Aces full of Threes)

Main Pot [114 BB]: (Pre 19%, Flop 1%, Turn 1%)
Side Pot#1 [114 BB]: (Pre 38%, Flop 2%, Turn 2%)

Hero shows 4:diamond: 4:heart: (Full House, Fours full of Aces)

Main Pot [114 BB]: (Pre 57%, Flop 98%, Turn 98%)
Side Pot#1 [114 BB]: (Pre 62%, Flop 98%, Turn 98%)

MP shows J:heart: A:heart: (Full House, Aces full of Threes)

Main Pot [114 BB]: (Pre 23%, Flop 1%, Turn 1%)

MP wins 55 BB
BB wins 165 BB

Challenge finally heading to right direction. The low point was $10 bankroll, but I successfully gained some BIs. Table selection helped a lot TBH. I put the link to results spreadsheet to my signature.

Here is my favorite hand from today:

PokerStars - $0.02 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

CO: 73.5 BB
Hero (BTN): 125 BB
SB: 100 BB
BB: 16 BB
UTG: 123 BB
MP: 60.5 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has A:heart: A:diamond:

fold, MP calls 1 BB, fold, Hero raises to 4.5 BB, fold, fold, MP raises to 8 BB, Hero raises to 28 BB, MP raises to 60.5 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 32.5 BB

Flop: (122.5 BB, 2 players) T:heart: T:club: 8:club:

Turn: (122.5 BB, 2 players) 4:club:

River: (122.5 BB, 2 players) 6:heart:

MP shows K:diamond: 3:heart: (One Pair, Tens)
(Pre 10%, Flop 1%, Turn 0%)
Hero shows A:heart: A:diamond: (Two Pair, Aces and Tens)
(Pre 90%, Flop 99%, Turn 100%)
Hero wins 118 BB

Soon back to NL5 and streaming

Originally posted by LahtiPelican
Here is my favorite hand from today:

What a suckout! Imagine that, you beat K3o with a lousy AA.
Opponent must have been fuming.

Why not put the link to your stream in your sig?

Cheers,
VS

Villain totally limp trapped hero there. Just unlucky he run into top of heroes range. Well better luck next time.

Originally posted by VorpalF2F

Originally posted by LahtiPelican
Here is my favorite hand from today:

What a suckout! Imagine that, you beat K3o with a lousy AA.
Opponent must have been fuming.

Why not put the link to your stream in your sig?

Cheers,
VS

I know AA is a border line hand, but I was tilted a bit, so decided not to fold preflop

Displaying Twitch link is an excellent idea! Thank you, Sir!

Originally posted by ghaleon
Villain totally limp trapped hero there. Just unlucky he run into top of heroes range. Well better luck next time.

Those famous limp traps! Villain must be on a downswing, that could be the only reason behind him losing the hand

Week 4:

Stake: NL2
Hands played: 2.098
Net won: +$17,10
Current bankroll: $37,62

Challenge total:

Last week was nice, but I made some progress this week as well. Ladies and gentlemen, I am hapy to announce that after 19k hands the challenge is back to the starting point after been down to $10!

I have never been this happy, because I didn't make any progress (TBH hones it seems like break-even, but it's only in $. In term of big blinds I am up with 759bbs.)

I have some technical issues with streaming (also I hoped they won't delete videos, so the whole challenge will be recorded on Twitch). It seems like OBS and PokerStars don't want to work together properly. Final solution could be moving the challenge into an other poker room (888 or PartyPoker, maybe Unibet [unfortunately I can't step back from NL5 there]). Also I will move the challenge only after I completed my chest. I need to in order to keep my gold ones. I only need 800 points from 7500, but it is not too fast on NL5.

Originally posted by LahtiPelican
Those famous limp traps! Villain must be on a downswing, that could be the only reason behind him losing the hand

The limp trap is a majorly under-used poker line.
Another one is folding as a bluff

Hello all!

I forgot to post last weeks result here, but it is in the challenge reporting thread.

Week 5:

Stake: NL2-NL5 (finally )
Hands played: 2.535
Net won: +$19,27
Current bankroll: $56,89

Challenge total:

I really liked Montecarlol concept of recording videos, but my coach suggested to take it even further and record my thought process while I play.

Here is the result:

From my stage fright, you can tell this was the first time I recorded my thinking process in english Video quality is ok (I can do better I think). I used my phone to record my voice, so I am satisfied with the result there. Also the mic is too good, and you can here me clicking the mouse. I will improve that in the future in an easy way: not put my phone next to the mouse

It will be useful to watch my game with my thoughts and I think I can learn a lot. Also everybodys comments are welcome, so feel free to share your opinion on the hands!

For example this one:

PokerStars - $0.05 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 55.4 BB
SB: 105 BB
Hero (BB): 101.4 BB
UTG: 100 BB
MP: 129.4 BB
CO: 110.4 BB

SB posts SB 0.4 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has Q:club: Q:spade:

UTG raises to 3 BB, fold, CO raises to 9 BB, fold, fold, Hero raises to 20 BB, UTG calls 17 BB, CO raises to 110.4 BB and is all-in, Hero ???

To see what I did, you have to check the video

Hey LahtiPelican,

Well played i can say. Honestly I don't like your flatting middle pairs and KQo from CO and MP. I usually 3bet or fold from these positions. I am not sure whether this is profitable at nl5 but this is something you should consider when going up the limits.

On the other hand you open 4bb from EP and MP. What % you open from these positions? If you are pretty tight it is fine but if you widen up your range this will be definitely an issue.

BR
Doychin

Hello Doychin!

First of all, thank for your comments!

Originally posted by ddoichev
Well played i can say. Honestly I don't like your flatting middle pairs and KQo from CO and MP. I usually 3bet or fold from these positions. I am not sure whether this is profitable at nl5 but this is something you should consider when going up the limits.

Most of the time I play on regular tables and I try to focus on table selection (only play on tables with 50+ vpip fishes), where I choose not to cut off the fishes from the pot over the less rake with 3bet or fold game. Also against short stacks I prefer to play with in 2bet pots, where I have bigger space to use my edge (and where they have more space to make mistakes). I could do well with call ranges on NL10. On NL16 and NL25 I switched to 3bet or fold and it was a disaster. Which shows that I have serious leaks in 3bet pots as the agressor. I will fix those leaks until the next time I will play those stakes

To be honest I don't believe in playing always with call ranges and don't believe in playing 3bet or fold all the time. IMO we have to be familiar with both strategies and which one is better based on the given circumstances.

Originally posted by ddoichevOn the other hand you open 4bb from EP and MP. What % you open from these positions? If you are pretty tight it is fine but if you widen up your range this will be definitely an issue.

BR
Doychin

I am opening around 15,5% from EP and around 17% from MP. Not too loose, but not nitty either. As I said in the video I am experimenting with the 4x size from EP and MP as my coach suggested it for lower limits (Usually I play on Unibet NL4 which is like play money playerpool). TBH on NL5 I could open 4x with QQ+, AQ+ from everywhere and 3x in other situations, most of the pool wouldn't notice the pattern (for sure on Unibet, where I play with 5 aliases at the same time).

Thank you again for watching the video and sharing your thoughts! Good luck at the tables!