From Poker Donk To Winning Monk

[FreedoM]

@P0kerM0nk FeelsBadMan 🫂 But in a way it's awesome to know the games aren't GTO at NL100. 

You can't do much but play your game, eventually his luck will run out.

Even the biggest of heaters ran cold eventually. #ArchieKaras

 

Edited May 2, 2021 by FreedoM

[P0kerM0nk]

Games are definitely not GTO and I dabble a bit in it with poker scientists but apart from developing your own game, I doubt it is very useful in these games even up to 500NL lol. 

[P0kerM0nk]

Still running amazing, so far down -€2234 for the month, I honestly can't win a bloody hand. Think I'm going to withdraw all my money from RIO and maybe start from 25NL again on Unibet. Or maybe look for another site. Too daft for words.

[P0kerM0nk]

So not really played much, bankroll on Unibet is now €350 ish lol 🙄, last 50NL session I had just went same as before, had 3 all ins and won none. AQs vs KK, I had a screenshot but can't find it, there was a massive whale at the table opening 10x or 30x so was just waiting for a hand good enough to get it in as he was playing any 2. He opened 10x or w/e on BTN and SB 3b to 30x? , sb was playing back a lot and I just jammed AQs with all the dead money in the middle and wide ranges. No luck.

Other hands were my JJ vs AK and my AK vs J9o (seriously).

So plan is to play 25NL to €500 then back to 50NL and drop down again if it goes down to €350.

Also taking money off RIO leaving around €400 and drop down to play NL10/NL20 if and when it runs trying to build up a roll again.

Also made an account at 888 poker, just having a wee go at it, haven't deposited as not sure if traffic is any good. Had some free micro tourney tickets, barely worth it but I played one last night and managed to cash for $4.70 (dollars) something, start of a bankroll, just playing some NL2, see if we can grind it up and gives me a chance to get used to the software and see what traffic is like even on lowest stake.

On top of that, after losing €1650 or something in a week at Unibet, they sent me a text today saying I had won a Replay Rewards Poker mission worth €25. I honestly don't see how this is meant to be of any value, sure nice to get a €25 ticket but if you play higher stakes than that it feels silly to grind away a €25 cash ticket. Looks pointless to me even though I'll be using it now with my current bankroll.

Still waiting on my stats from Unibet, wonder if I need to request again as last time I had it within a day I think. I did get an answer from RIO but they don't hand out such stats but they were kind enough to put all my hands through holdem manager or something and give me those stats. I just need to have a better look at it but running -2.26/100bb for all hands I ever played on RIO. Which is kinda weird as I've withdrawn more money than I deposited but guess with bonusses etc and the stats aren't sorted by stake so it's not all that crystal clear.

After 3 failed 100NL attempts, 100NL basically giving me the finger time after time 😅 I'm going to keep it a bit tighter with bankroll management. 30 buyins for 100NL and move down when I hit 20 buy ins. But this prob is a couple of months away in the best case lol. Let's see how it goes from here.

[Rushbie]

27 minutes ago, P0kerM0nk said:

after losing €1650 or something in a week at Unibet, they sent me a text today saying I had won a Replay Rewards Poker mission worth €25.

(First of all, apologies for the nonsensical posts earlier, can't even remember doing those 😳)

But damn that Reward-ratio does look like a total piss-take 😲 
I mean sure, the DT's were almost too good to be true, very pleasing at least, but that kinda puts things into a new perspective completely. 
Every good thing comes to an end, they say..

GL for grinding anyways, stay strong 🤘

Edited May 5, 2021 by Rushbie

[Sparrow473]

1 hour ago, P0kerM0nk said:

On top of that, after losing €1650 or something in a week at Unibet, they sent me a text today saying I had won a Replay Rewards Poker mission worth €25.

Congrats on that one. Stubbe answered my question about this promo in other topic which was delegated to replay reward. You just reinforced my opinion that it is as useful as the teat on the bull...

[FunckyFish]

25 euro for 1650 loss 🤣😂

[Rushbie]

😁

Edited May 5, 2021 by Rushbie
wrong thread

[P0kerM0nk]

It’s even worse when they hand out a cash ticket for a stake you don’t play and only 100bb so you are forced to lose half of it and cash half the ticket or play less than 100bb if you can’t double up or win a pot for a while. And then you still have to grind 300 flops assuming it is the same as any other ticket. 
 

I think it’s hard to compare it with the DT or SDT as you wouldn’t win every time but maybe the idea of having a chance of winning €40/€400 and now and then actually winning it is more satisfying than receiving a €25 ticket even if they spread the ‘wealth’ over a bigger player base. Wonder what the criteria is to receive a €100 ticket 😆

[Rushbie]

when it comes to rakebacks and fancy bonuses, Belgians for example, get shit 😄
Nada. Zero. The're actually the most highest raking players from places that got absolutely shit as reward. And playing millions of hands/year.
That's nuts, imo 😮

But they just do that, without any bonuses. And Rocks it🤘

Edited May 6, 2021 by Rushbie

[P0kerM0nk]

Poker aside, as a Belgian / Flemish person, I’m happy I moved away from that hellhole 8 years ago now 😛 

Lovin it here in Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 

[P0kerM0nk]

So been a low profile poker week after the disastrous opening weekend of May. Went broke on 888 poker after getting the bankroll up to about $10 but eventually busted out at 2NL, games are hard 😂 Software is pretty average and mobile vs desktop is for whatever reason different. Their bonuses are crap as well, normal bonus is deposit 10 and get 10 on top of it. Then I had a deposit 30 and get a free 10 offer. And then a deposit 10 get 10 on top and 30 to spend on slots or something. But think they have a 100% deposit bonus up to $400. It's all very confusing lol. I'll leave it for now anyway, but might put a small amount on and play when I have time during work depending on what I'm doing.

So about stats, still need to have a proper look through all the stats I still have but for RIO since I started on there: played 205k hands at -2.26 BB/100 and BB is half bb [1 big bet (BB) = 2 big blinds (bb)] so I'm basically running -4.52 bb/100? Not sure, doesn't look good, Bit strange as I've withdrawn 2k now and definitely never deposited that much lol, guess bonuses and extra rakeback stuff must add up 🤨 Says my VPIP/PFR is 28/22, guess that could be a bit closer to each other.

Now Unibet for April, €211 rake paid at 50NL, won €695 / 5900 hands at 23.6bb/100, must have been running good!
€338 rake paid at 100NL, won €46 / 4900 hands at just under 1bb/100 

Obviously 100NL fell off a cliff first few days of May so that giraffe is sticking its head in the ground now 😅

Just time to rebuild now, have €350 on Unibet and €430 on RIO, I'm sure we'll get going again although might take a while 😁

[P0kerM0nk]

Forgot to mention that I've found another good youtube channel

Have only watched a few session review videos but it looks pretty solid to beat the micros.

[P0kerM0nk]

2h of 25NL battling on Unibet, funny how there is some d!ck swinging going about with the 'regs' even at that stake.

First 3 shots are the same hand, I'm not in it beside preflop, had miss clicked pre as only made it 2x instead of the 2.4x it is on 25NL in bb's. But SB called, BB (fish) minraised, easy fold for me then SB 4b, BB 5b and then all went in the middle. Not a fan of the AKo call pre. Can't remember who won but w/e, normal flip.

 

Another random hand, UTG (fish) opens, SB 3b, BB coldcalls, UTG calls as well, SB cb flop and BB calls, UTG folds, SB cb turn and get jammed on and calls it off, crap river for him.

 

Whale on my table, managed to get this beauty vs him, thanks.

Another hand vs same whale, think I 3b pre then let him bluff it off lol, thanks again, ended up with 640bb after he left. 

 

Those annoying spots with JJ, I never really call so 3b is standard, get 4b so big lol, makes it easier for me to fold.

 

This hand was from Friday I think vs fish, crap river!

 

Almost back to having a shot at 50NL 😄

 

 

[Stubbe-Unibet]

 

On 5/5/2021 at 9:14 PM, P0kerM0nk said:

On top of that, after losing €1650 or something in a week at Unibet, they sent me a text today saying I had won a Replay Rewards Poker mission worth €25. I honestly don't see how this is meant to be of any value, sure nice to get a €25 ticket but if you play higher stakes than that it feels silly to grind away a €25 cash ticket. Looks pointless to me even though I'll be using it now with my current bankroll.

 

You're not doing bad enough long term 😉

As mentioned in the dedicated thread, it's not only about last week, and we look at a long list of criteria: it's mainly about improving the ecology and not spew money at players just having one bad week. Players will generally get missions for the stake they play, but there're exceptions, and we're moving to completely generic missions which can be completed on all game types and stakes (half the missions are already these generic ones) - I of course agree it sucks to get a mission for a stake you aren't likely to play normally.

Every week we have many players getting +30% rakeback from this initiative. Can also mention I just adjusted the formula a bit, so from next week all missions will have a value that's 20% greater or so (adjusting it every second week or so, based on the data).

[P0kerM0nk]

@Stubbe-Unibet Not planning to find out if we can lose more this week but won’t be possible anyway with the current bankroll 😂

Update for poker this week: so far haven’t played as no time, gf has been away for a few days visiting family/friends and I’m too busy taking dog out when I get home from work and cook etc etc, will def catch up on poker starting tomorrow (Friday). 

[P0kerM0nk]

Just played a small hour and not much to mention but this:

Was 1 tabling a 50NL on RIO and 3x 25NL on Unibet:

Then this happened on RIO, 1000bb splashpot, J3o crap, then on turn I had 70% pls pls pls 😆 but no luck 😢 would have been a nice €350 booster to the bankroll! Instead only €30 lol.

But managed to crack a reg his AA for my only all in today so far, only 6% on the flop, pretty much dead. Wish I could have swapped my luck to RIO, rather had the 700bb 50NL pot 😝

[P0kerM0nk]

And another day gone, played 2 sessions today, played mostly on RIO, decent day, bankrolls are just under €500 for Unibet and just under €600 for RIO so I'm kinda mixing in games on both sites, on Unibet still mainly 25NL but RIO I play 10/20 or 50NL depending on what is running.

Here another hand from yesterday, busting the rockets yet again 😂 guess I should have moved up to 50NL with this rungood.

And here a list of my all ins today on RIO, all mixed games so dunno which one is what stake but doesn't matter, running fine. And don't think I fold QQ btw, just never had it going all in 🙂

Quite like keeping track of all ins as it gives you a bit of an idea of run good / run bad and how biased our brains can be. Sometimes (or mostly) you think you run bad but in reality you just run more or less normal.

And I haven't forgotten to do my bb/100 calculations for the past months or since I started on Unibet but I cba doing it atm but will do at some point. Just be patient 😋

[P0kerM0nk]

Average day, bit up on RIO, bit down on Unibet. 4 all ins today, lost em all 🙄

RIO
JJ-AK 0-1

UNIBET
AK-A5 0-1 🙄
AQ-A4 0-1 🙄
QQ-AK 0-1

Another splashpot, only 100bb this time:

 

Why oh why lol

BTN limp calls my iso, then x/r the flop, bet small on turn I think then 1bb on riv lol, rlly...

Those crap multi way hands where you get such good odds to call street by street, I raised the turn vs a 1bb cbet, MP called and I x/c river as he only bet 5bb into 50bb pot lol. Not that I was super optimistic...

 

Deleted 888 poker as software was terrible and player pool didn't look that big either tbh. Might give GGpoker a go at some point, I know they do a 100% matched welcome bonus up to $600 and 90 days to clear it. Not sure if you have to clear it all to get the full amount or if they release it in chunks and you only get what you cleared within the 90 days. Will need to up my volume for this anyway as don't want to quit Unibet or RIO. And still have my €500 bonus to clear on Unibet too. Decisions decisions, maybe the summer isn't the best time to start playing on another client anyway lol.

Edited May 16, 2021 by P0kerM0nk

[P0kerM0nk]

Not too much to mention, mostly played on RIO so far but not much change in the bankroll for both sites.

Had a funny hand today, BB vs BTN, call pre, x/r 1/3 flop cb and barrelled the turn and then bet 1/4 on the riv, kind of representing a semi good hand but not a 9 and sometimes it makes villains go crazy vs the small bet as what happened here 😛 guess he has blockers though lol.

 

Also weird how there are often more players at 50NL compared to 25NL 🤔

Edited May 19, 2021 by P0kerM0nk

[P0kerM0nk]

4 tabled for 5h last night and 👎  Not sure what's going on recently but it's like my game just tanked big time. I do think I call too many rivers where in theory calls might seem ok in reality nobody ever bluffs! 🙄

3/4 tabled for 3h today just on RIO so far and think I played much better, just thinking more and folding more on rivers lol.

I opened AJ and got 2 calls, flop goes check and I cb turn small and overbet the river just trying to get us off a chop, worked 😝

Biggest pot of today, I 3b MP and he 4b me, being deep I just called, called 2 barrels with FD IP and he jammed A river which is pretty narrow range if its for value, AK / AA / AT. Very rarely a 5 in his range, not sure if 4b KTs is a thing this deep. Don't think I should have played it differently, obviously we'll miss some rivers where we end up mostly folding to a jam I guess.

Another splashpot albeit only 100bb from last night, 34o 🙄

 

[P0kerM0nk]

Rant post, not played too much this week as had to work overtime and just played over an hour today. Minus 5 buyins. Poker isn't going anywhere, really struggling to get a win on the board, don't really get what is happening, I struggle to even win a pot nowadays. Seems every random reg fish just plays random hands preflop and is able to double up no bother and I try to keep it solid yet never get anywhere. I don't overcall, don't call in SB, don't coldcall 3b's etc etc yet no results. Every 3b pot I get annihilated as people outflop me time after time. It's like I get outplayed all the time. Very frustrated to say the least. I probably keep 'trying' for the rest of the year but if it is more of the same l move on after that, waste of my time I could be spending more wisely.

Only won 1 hand today AK vs 99 but was vs a halfstack. Not won much else beside that.

3b pot, all in on the turn... I don't have the Ah and beat KJ on the turn, shouldn't have a 6 as I big bet the flop. 

Regfish, been 3b'ing me a lot but here I open UTG he calls, I x/c 3 streets... manages to get there, surprise surprise. Loose call down but hey ho.

3b pre, barreled it off, guess not a good idea. Qh is prob bad as I block the suited hands.

3b pre, he calls big flop cb, x/x turn, I bomb riv with A blocker, ok nice hand.

Open pre, regfish in sb calls and so does bb, I cb flop and get c/r big, I call 3 streets, all draws miss 2p and 44/66 still win vs me, guess could have folded the river also having the nut flush blocker but this was last hand and couldn't give a f anymore.

 

So yeh, seem I just need to keep folding vs every raise and barrel. Nothing works anymore. Month had a terrible start but been pretty much breakeven ish after that, very boring. 

Unibet roll €250 / RIO €475

Spoiler

BOLLOCKS

 

Also FU with these pictures, crap system. Can't even delete this bottom one 🙄

Edited May 27, 2021 by P0kerM0nk

[FreedoM]

 ^ Can also translate in part to CG.

https://www.exceptionalpoker.com/blog

^ Do you do any study?

Why do you actually play?

[P0kerM0nk]

@FreedoMThanks for posting and I do understand and am aware of the differences between GTO vs exploitative play but maybe my view on the game is indeed totally scewed because of GTO. Not that I play GTO but I keep falling for the traps of 'I should call this' and yet villains almost never ever show bluffs in big pots etc. "Folding is free" lol.

And not sure if you were asking me those questions or you just quoting the blog? I still study yeh but probably not as much as I would like to as time is the biggest issue, play vs study, try to balance it but I also have other stuff to do / want to do other stuff. Why do I play, because I still like the game and I don't mind studying it either, doesn't feel like a grind or anything but I still want something to come from it, investing time for no result is a bit pointless imo, especially when the result of poker should be making (some) money.

Anyway, I'm not bankrupt so can still keep on playing 😄

Just played a bit on RIO and fired up my NL4 ticket on Unibet, all in or fold strategy, we are halfway flops left and still alive 😝 think some kind of reg (if you can call players at 4nl regs?) was so kind to donate 3 stacks to me today calling my all ins with A6o and the likes when I don't really jam super light, pocket pairs / ATo+ ish. Thanks anyway, be a miracle if I get the amount of flops completed but you never know.

[P0kerM0nk]

Not played a lot this weekend have to say, slept terrible prob as I had some really early mornings last week for work and then the dog woke me up last night every 2h 🙄

Need to get some volume in as only 40 days left on my €500 playthrough bonus and I'm only at the 2nd segment.

Games are just same old same old, hard to win these days even at 25NL 🙄

First 2 hands vs same funplayer, he did these 1bb bets and he done it a few times in previous hands with weak holdings, can't remember exact action but I bluffed the river with a big bet lol think it's an ok play.

Few hands later I get this hand, at least I got 'my money' back.

bvb, what a run out again... think he donk jammed the river but impossible to fold as he barely had anything left.

 

Next 3 hands vs same guy, not sure if it was a reg or rec... first hand is disgusting, I open and he calls in bb, he donks and I raised and he called, then he min or half pot donks the turn, terrible card really as what does he donk with on the flop with me already blocking AT,  then he overbet jams river, guess its A7 / T7 and nothing else right? I mean AT would be outrageous lol.

Few hands later this, he did that random donking again, just not as big of a pot so he flopped a hand again.

Later in the session he just lost a hand with a flopped set vs a turned straight, went all in on the turn, then I get KK 3b him and he insta jams... always the same.

Also lost AK vs QQ but that's nothing spectacular... Think I played decent, just not going my way honestly... 

Edited May 30, 2021 by P0kerM0nk