[Funkarello]

I hate people saying they’re old being younger than me…. 🙂

Being a decent player shouldn’t be that difficult.

Let’s wish being winning players for both of us, the old guys !!!!

[Tommycomedian]

Hahaha sorry there Funkarello. I feel 37 though.

Yeah, let’s do this.

[Tommycomedian]

First things first. What an AMAZING site this is. It has everything I was looking for with the courses the tools and the quizzes. Just in the format I need and want. Amazing.

I love doing the work and I love the way I am doing things at the moment. Doing study, exercise, mindset podcasts and meditating, not drinking and getting good sleep.

That being said I am at a big low atm. I am down 35!! buy-ins the last 5 days. I am now a break-even player after 30K hands. Although my W$SD is at 50,7% I am running into a lot of second nuts situations and where I keep calling off (odds right?). I must really (at $10 PLO) just believe the river strength. I must have more big leaks but I can’t find them very easily because numbers seem to be ok. (tips anyone?)

This and life things are really getting me down whilst on the other hand I am doing so many things good.

Moving down to $5PLO because I am getting to scared to play. Will take a day off from playing. This will probably sound crazy to some guys playing higher but not being able to beat $10PLO is really getting to me.

[Payoffwiz]

This site is so good 😀

What kind of RFI numbers do you have? It could be reasonable to play tighter then GTO because you have much less fold equity. That way you won’t be running in to too many tough spots were you have to call because of good enough equity.

Good luck!

[Tommycomedian]

Yes, I have to play tighter. I still have old opening ranges stuck in my system.

I started the crushing Small Stakes on the side and first 2 subjects already I am playing way too many hands.

Gonna one table zoom to get it into my system. Defending BB and playing vs 3bet OOP are first.

[Funkarello]

What you will learn here is to play good and to play gto/exploit. Being down 35 Buy ins at the beginning is not exceptional. Downswings ith some mistakes you may do, its easy. There are a lot to learn on this site….

I really think it is a waste of time to play PLO5 for many reasons….

1/ The rake….

2/ players clicking buttons and trying to be lucky…. Never folding, too many multyways pot…. If you want to exploit that. It is mainly value town postflop (so a little bit boring,)

3/ I understand bc of BR management you want to play that…. I would counter what it is said here and there about BR. I already played with 50 buy ins deep, (and got broke few times). But to go up PLO25 very fast will be a better way to learn than PLO 5 (its like play money. It could be good to practice for a while, but not too long…)

About being scared money, I play with the BB’s (not the money indicator). It helped me a lot to think in terms of what is the good play instead of being scared money)

Best of luck at the tables

[Tommycomedian]

Although this is not my time of year and I am struggling with personal issues, I am doing the work.

Still not drinking, doing the 10 week training, Mental podcasts, sport, meditation and all. I like doing the work.

I moved to a very fishy site with good rakeback. Problem now is that I should be beating the $10 PLO pool very easily but the players are sooo fishy that I am starting to play to many hands and too many straight hours (tables are so good ). Resulting in bad results and hating myself for it again. I must get out of this self-destructing loop.

Solutions I find for myself now is to force myself (quit if not ) to start playing way tighter and shorter hours. (2x 2 hrs) and quit after midnight. And do more theorie work. Problem here is that I get so excited after doing one lesson that I want to play real bad.

[Tommycomedian]

Last 3 sessions went pretty good. Also result wise.

Do find I am loosening up when the sessions get deeper and I loose focus. Got to be aware.

Watched Jnandez live with hand breakdowns and solvers. That is a bit overwhelming but hope I can slowly dip into that although math has never been my thing.

But, I can let others do the hard work and remember what are the outcomes:)

[Tommycomedian]

Happy New Year to all. Sure hope things get brighter.

After the festivities it is time to go back to structure. First of all it starts with dry January.

I am gonna try to find a balance between work (50% atm), studie poker, playing poker, painting, being a single dad and working on myself.

It sounds like a lot, which it is but I think I can find a balanced way. I found that poker, the studying and mental work gives me structure and purpose.

Result wise after 16K hands last month (no zoom) is that every time I am close to break-even I go back in a hole. Rakeback and bonusses are what keeps me floating. I still play to many hands.

I am trying shortstacking now because the tables are super soft and there is more action on the €20 tables.

Main goal for this month is to tighten up. I am currently playing 33/17 which is way too high for this stake. And I must limit myself to the playing hours and quit at a certain time although there are whales at the table.

Should be doable right 🙂

Best of luck to everyone.

[Tommycomedian]

Slowly but surely tightening up. Still get carried away sometimes.

And I simply forget lessons learned.

Still having fun with the process

[Tommycomedian]

I am honestly on the ropes. down 50 Buy ins after 30 K hands. where I should be break even EV adj.

Keep making same mistakes and it is getting to me. Maybe I am better off quitting. I am doing mental things ( meditate, mindboosts mp3) but the results weigh too high.

I find it hard to study now because of the overall bad feeling.

I will give it a day or two rest but maybe it is just not for me and I have to move on.

[Senselessapprentice]

Your first post was on December 1st. Today is January 15th. So that’s less then two months that you’ve been doing this course? If you’ll allow, let me share my experience so far, maybe it will help you, maybe it will tilt you, but here goes.

I started playing full time poker about a year ago, and lost nearly $15k in the first few months, playing way too many tables, always playing for stacks, with no fundamentals. This was soul crushing, as I had sold my stake in a financial services company that I was a partner in for 10 years to finally follow my dream of being a poker pro. Self doubt, regret, all these negative emotions were swirling around in my head after punting this money in a very short time period. I’m married, with a wife that has gotten used to a nice lifestyle, so failure isn’t an option.

It was at that point I decided I cannot just play like I had done in the past, and signed up for the mastermind around August of last year. I’ve put in 20+ hours a week of study for the past 4 months, and slowly the results started to come. Month one I was break even. Month two +2k. Month three +5.5k. In December I had around a +7k month and got closer to my monthly goal, regained my confidence, and plugged some very basic leaks (mine was being too maniacal and VPIP way too high). I played a ton of pLO pre Black Friday so I’m probably progressing quicker then your average newbie. I think Fernando said it typically take 6-12 months for most new players to start seeing consistent results, I could be off on that time frame, but it’s not overnight.

It’s not easy, the ups and downs are tough if you don’t handle them properly. It seems like you are focusing a lot of your attention on your results and this “downswing”. An important skill I’ve developed in this whole process is to not pay attention to my results/balance while in the middle of a session (remember what Kenny Rogers said, “You never count your money when your sittin at the table”). Personally, being free from the worry of whether I’m up or down, allows for much better decision making. Easy to say, hard to do, but well worth it once you figure it out.

Also, and this is super important, don’t forget to have fun. Find the little victories, go out for ice cream after a long session where you maintained and didn’t tilt after a string of bad beats. If you can’t find the joy in playing, maybe it isn’t you thing, and that’s totally cool as well.

I guess the whole point of this rant (I’m sorry if it came of as self indulgent, I’m really trying to help), is that it’s only been a short time. Work the process, do some soul searching, and really, don’t take it TOO seriously. It is a game, after all.

Best,

Devin

• This reply was modified 3 years, 3 months ago by  Senselessapprentice.

[Tommycomedian]

Well, thank you very much for your reply, time, insight and care. It means a lot. Thank you!

It sounds all so familiar. I also look at my HM3 numbers whilst playing. Mostly because I want to check if my numbers are going down but offcourse I see the $$ and shit from there.

I always been a winning player up to black friday. And graduallly became break even losing player after that. Simply beacause I did not put enough time in studying. Even now when I study, after 10 minutes I get so anxious to play because I feel I need to get my number of hands in.

Thank you again.

[Tommycomedian]

Thoughts.

I can rant here about life being unfair and I am going to 🙂

I hate quitting and I hate giving up, I never do. As a widower I had a few serious moments on giving up on life, but I can’t. The theme of life being unfair also goes for poker of course.

I really thought I was making progress and my Preflop numbers are getting down and I am grasping more and more of the PLO fundamentals and I really like it. Much more I like the structure in my life and the Mastermind site is just ff-ing great.

After another big loss session of 18 Buy-ins ( -8 adj) it is getting to me. Not just the last 2 months but it is a accumulation of a few years. Also the fact that I can not afford the mastermind anymore feels like big failure. I know this is a underlying thing with me which I also need to address which poker is amplifying.

I feel bad about myself ( also not fair) and the whole COVID, no income, depressing weather and prospects are just too much atm.

I have to, at least, take a break to find some love for myself and find future prospects, financially and emotionally.

As soon as I can afford the mastermind again I will be back. I just won’t give up. I know I can do this.

I’ll be back goddamnit.

[Nilez]

Hi man, i saw you at the tables with some nice stacks the other day i was really hoping you were doing well, im sorry to hear your not doing great.

If you keep working on and reviewing your game and making good decisions (bankroll) im sure it will turn around and sometimes smart decisions includes reviewing money going out like your doing now.

I just hit my first brick wall of variance myself.

The most important thing in poker is to not go broke and if your having a hard time being more conservative with your brm is always a good thing if your not in a position to refill. The second you get too invested in the desire to win(or not lose) it becomes a lot harder to make good decisions.

Hope you turn it around soon and dont lose your enjoyment/love for the game even if its sometimes brutal af.

Best of luck and hopefully “welcome back” soon,

NileZ

[Tommycomedian]

Thx Nilez

I am considering all. Thx a million

[Tommycomedian]

Had 4 solid sessions. Sure I made mistakes but I made some good moves as well and my PF numbers are slowly dropping.

Gonna get another month of the mastermind. Big reason is that I see my progress but the main reason is that I need the structure that the MM is given me and reason for me to stay healthy and sane.

Gonna continue with the 10W and CSS course.

[Senselessapprentice]

Nice, glad to see you are progressing and hanging in there!

If you ever want to chat about any interesting/confusing hands, my discord is SenselessApprentice#9877

[Tommycomedian]

Cool, will do!

[Tommycomedian]

Still here 🙂

Luckily I will have access to PLO trainer for another month, that is cool.

Really learning but I need to speed it up. So more studyinmg and less playing. I find that hard to do though because after one 10 minute course or trainer session I soooo wat to play.

[Nilez]

lets go dude!

fold more SB and lead less oop 😀 lets fucking go. Your putting in the work and your recognizing your weak spots in gameplay and habits.

Your on the right path man just keep it up!

[Tommycomedian]

hahaha and right you are Sir!!!

[Tommycomedian]

Work in progress.

[Tommycomedian]

I am learning, I am. Things are getting better and I know more and more what I am doing. Still a lot is acracadabra but at my $10 level I am now winning and with RB and bonus I am touching the $20 tables.

It feels like 15-20 years ago on these omaha tables only more bullets to dodge because these days they have 2 more cards. Good old bonuswhoring days and playing against complete lunatics.

I am taking a break from the Mastermind because I also want the trainer with it and 20 buy-ins a month is just not gonna work right now.

I got enough material to work at and a nice MM buddy to work with who made amazing sheets.

The main thing is I am having fun with the game and the process.