From Poker Donk To Winning Monk

[P0kerM0nk]

@Andy-Unibet next time I'll send them the link to your post, sure I'll get the results within a couple of hours 🤣

Struggling with a cold atm and does my head in, can't even remember last time I had one, must have been years, no fun.

Played an hour tonight, running good, 6 all ins pre, mostly vs fun player short stacks but w/e, won 5/6 😎

Ffs, always the same lol (not an all in)

 

Another thing regs seem to do is target your iso's, wonder if they are overdoing it as well like the 4bets lol, again not sure, in this example it's not a reg as you can see at the sizing lol.

 

Look at this 4b sizing, money went in and he had 88 😄

 

And runbad on RIO continues... MP opens 2x, CO and BTN calls and I squeeze, only CO calls, I bet big on flop and get raised, was like ffs but went with it... he called it off WTF poop!

Edited December 14, 2021 by P0kerM0nk

[KrustyTheClown]

16 hours ago, P0kerM0nk said:

@KrustyTheClown The annoying thing is that some people make it pretty big making it worse for me to call, like I 3 bet to 8bb and they go 25bb+ 

I’ve seen people going like 30bb and then insta fold vs my jam when I have a hand obviously and I’m like wtf as you would think they would like to get the money in with that size 😝

Works the other way around too, some make their 3bets OOP pretty small like 8bb making it a good price for me to call, but I’m not sure that they widen their range with their smaller 3b size. 

When I watch like 500NL videos or whatever you see a lot of calls vs 3bets and 4bets but I don’t think it really works that well on my stakes, people 3bet less than they should so their ranges will be tight so I always proceed with caution. Definitely vs 4bets.

Maybe people just react vs me 3 betting more than the average person at 50NL, hard to tell.

When are you moving up to 50NL? 🤗

Agree with what you said about proceeding with caution in general 🙂 
I think calling 3bets OOP is to be avoided in general, but obviously for some hands calling is the best play.
Hands like AJo/KJo/KQo/... I turn into a 4bet bluff at some frequency. 

I've played one lenghty 50NL session this month and it was a good battle with a mix of regs and funplayers.
I'm comfortably rolled for it but will mainly be playing 25NL for the remainder of this year I think.
Lots going on apart from poker and want minimal stress right now 🙂 GL!

[Estzen]

9 hours ago, KrustyTheClown said:

Agree with what you said about proceeding with caution in general 🙂 
I think calling 3bets OOP is to be avoided in general, but obviously for some hands calling is the best play.
Hands like AJo/KJo/KQo/... I turn into a 4bet bluff at some frequency. 

I've played one lenghty 50NL session this month and it was a good battle with a mix of regs and funplayers.
I'm comfortably rolled for it but will mainly be playing 25NL for the remainder of this year I think.
Lots going on apart from poker and want minimal stress right now 🙂 GL!

Its great that you have 4bet bluffing range, thats already a good thought! 

But I would suggest NOT TO use off suit combos for 4bet bluffs, can put you in a very bad spot and harder to play post. 😉 But already having at least some 4bets that are non-value show that your at least ahead from population 😉 probably.

[KrustyTheClown]

On 12/15/2021 at 11:24 AM, Estzen said:

Its great that you have 4bet bluffing range, thats already a good thought! 

But I would suggest NOT TO use off suit combos for 4bet bluffs, can put you in a very bad spot and harder to play post. 😉 But already having at least some 4bets that are non-value show that your at least ahead from population 😉 probably.

The suited combo's are (often) good enough to call...
You don't want to turn those into a bluff and fold to a jam.

And I've got 2.5M hands that prove I'm ahead of the population 🤖

[GR1ZZL3R]

19 minutes ago, KrustyTheClown said:

And I've got 2.5M hands that prove I'm ahead of the population 🤖

I've just hit 25,000 hands since GameLab went live, here are some highlights. 🤣

 

[P0kerM0nk]

Just a small update, still struggling with this bloody cold, lot's of people have had it at my work and others I know, had negative covid tests but bloody hell, feels worse than covid 🤣 (although I've never had covid as far as I know)
Hope I'm better by Xmas, not bothered with Xmas itself but I'm off for a week and don't want to feel like this when I'm off work 🙄

For the rest, poker wise, not put the most volume in this week but so far so good this month, 12 days played and only 2 losing days. Also just made it to loyalty lvl 6, that will be me raking in the bonus points now 😂

Almost cleared my 4th €20 of a €100 play through bonus and have a €5 Xmas bonus after that. Then probably just keep buying €100 play through bonuses, have 41,850 BP to spend.

 

About 4bet bluffs, I also use Axo combos like AJo/ATo etc and you can use A4s/A5s as well I think, overall 4b bluffs aren't that important the lower you play, most people don't 3bet enough so I only start 4bet bluffing when I notice some regs start 3betting me too much. I think having an A blocker is pretty ace on these lvl's 😄

[Estzen]

4 hours ago, KrustyTheClown said:

The suited combo's are (often) good enough to call...
You don't want to turn those into a bluff and fold to a jam.

And I've got 2.5M hands that prove I'm ahead of the population 🤖

I dont doubt that, and yes they are often good to call, most of the time. However - I just even went and check this one up just to be sure - and I can tell you from solid solver outputs that Ofsuit combos as 4bets bluffs are unfavourable and suited ones are much more used for it. Off-suit combos are taken as almost calls pure. And it also "makes sense" due to stack depth. 

I didnt want to attack you, I was just suggesting something that I have observed by much higher rated players than all of us here and solver outputs.

I dont doubt your credibility. More power to you!

Edited December 18, 2021 by Estzen

[P0kerM0nk]

So that's my cold pretty much gone now, about time, feels like it was worse than covid although I can't compare as I haven't had covid unless that cold was actually covid without being detectable by a test 😅 Maybe it was a common cold having a levelling war with covid 😂

Poker wise, not been the best week, variance turned its back on me lol. Had a session a week ago where I opened up a table of 100NL along a few 50NL tables as 50NL was barely running and managed to lose 2 stacks, lost one flip and played some 3b pot really bad whilst having a premium hand. Bankroll peaked at €2600 but now back down just above 2k. Mostly just not getting wins with flips and not hitting many hands and draws and lately too many hands going multiway too. Maybe 5% tilt out of frustration as it still happens at times but I don't go in batsh!t crazy mode anymore like I did years ago 🤣

Had a cash in a small xmas unibet community tournament last night, final table 3 way was a bit weird as stacks were about 10bb's and I just ended up folding or shoving. Not too sure what the best strategy is here imo, still happy enough with getting to the money, once it was 3 way it's imo just luck of the cards with those stackdepths.

Poker Scientist subscription just expired last night and I'll probably end up buying it again for the year but will see if there is any decent deal coming up for X-mas or New Year, I found another code online that will give me 20% so will cost me €540. Don't think there is any tax added on top of that now.

@KrustyTheClown @Estzen

Also had a look at 4b ranges at all positions vs all other positions before my sub ran out, I'm going to have a better look when these spots come up in videos I watch as it is quite interesting. Seems in general when OOP (UTG-MP-CO) you 4b suited broadways more together with A5s/A4s and the frequency goes slightly up the closer you are to the BTN. 

When IP aka facing 3bets from SB and BB, we seem to call these suited broadways more and 4b bluff with suited hands that have blockers to Ax and Kx it seems. The likes of A2s/A3s/A7s/A8s and K4s/K5s/K6s/K7s/K8s although frequencies change depending on the position which I have no clue of why lol.

Then BTN vs SB and BB it 4bets the AJo/ATo/KJo quite often 33%-50% and similar as above A2s/A6s/A7s and K4s/K5s

SB vs BB 4bets ATo like 75% and AJo like 90% and then just A3s/A4s/A5s/A6s with A4s 50% and the others 25% ish.

That's at least what I can make out of it the now, obviously every 4bet range has a reason as it counters a 3b range and what not but it's something I will keep an eye on when watching live play videos and see what the pro's do. Obviously as I said before, the lower your stake the less valuable it will be as people don't 3bet enough so there is no point in 4betting wide. But good to keep in mind and even think about it in game which I will do even if I won't use it, at least it will train my brain to memorize ranges more or less.

So off for a week now as lots of people I guess. Hope we get to run a bit better again and double the bankroll before New Year 😂 Just need to keep focused and disciplined.

Enjoy the holidays everyone!

[Estzen]

@P0kerM0nkHoldem and stack sizes has really tricky stuff. Its good to learn lots of context. Recently in another forum, a guy was confused because certain MTT situations use smaller sizings while even the exact boards, suddenly use larger sizings at cash. He was so confused about that. And there are many things that can seem so contradictory specially for Micro players. We all make mistakes tho,  and its a very good recap from you. Its not that I dont make them xD. 

And yeah, about 4betting. Just a day ago, just finished one WSOP winner review and they also concluded, that like even in there... there are spots where people should 4bet jam wide vs CL who 3bets a lot with pressure... but the reality is that people dont do the 4bet jams enought... therefore, the 3betting overrealizes equity and at times, can go pretty crazy manic there.. because basically we can fold to all 4bets vs nits and just keep doing it. 🤣 

So your own insight, really also correlates a lot into mid and even high stakes tournaments too. The same is true. 

[P0kerM0nk]

Working our way up again atm, been a bit swingy and played 100NL a few times when 50NL was mostly dead or no seats available, running pretty crap at 100NL so far lol.

This is a lvl 6 loyalty tab, a novelty really but managed to beat my previous record today which was 621 BB or something. Bit of a task of getting to a 20 buy in stack lol.

 

Few hands:
Open KK UTG, get 3b, cold called by a fun player and squeezed by the BB, easy jam, rec calls and BB folds.

Very strange squeeze fold of the BB, trying to iso the BTN I understand that but after an UTG open and a CO 3b it's not a standard iso... burning 25.5bb imo.

 

Trying to bluff a fun player and he snap called me on the river lol.

 

Poker is dead, nothing special, all in pre, nothing special of my end anyway 😆

 

100NL , BTN opens, SB is a shorty who also plays at 50NL, prob the only short stacker I often see but he does keep playing when doubling up etc, wouldn't say he is the best player... here he 3b and I 4b and he ends up calling... 🙄

 

Crappy flop really and goes x/x, don't see any point in betting as I'm not folding anyway and just as well keep his spasm jams in with air...

So we call his jam on the turn and... 99 for a flopped set... beautiful...

 

When it goes limp limp and I raise and half the table calls again... lovely flop lol.

Hand at 50NL vs short stacker from above, he 3b me pre with QTo lol but easy call with AQs, call flop cbet, turn goes x/x... ffs typical river again... I hate 4 flush boards 😠

And a random hand where I wasn't involved in but: BTN opens, SB 3b small, BTN calls, SB x flop and BTN bets 1/2 and SB calls, SB then donk bets pot on turn lol and BTN raises to 56bb and SB jams... BTN FOLDED NEXT !!! can't make it up lol for another 12bb 

 

Hoping to reach 3k bankroll by end of this week hopefully, games should be good enough this week as more people are off with the holidays so hoping to capitalize on it!

[Merenitsu]

2 hours ago, P0kerM0nk said:

Working our way up again atm, been a bit swingy and played 100NL a few times when 50NL was mostly dead or no seats available, running pretty crap at 100NL so far lol.

This is a lvl 6 loyalty tab, a novelty really but managed to beat my previous record today which was 621 BB or something. Bit of a task of getting to a 20 buy in stack lol.

 

Few hands:
Open KK UTG, get 3b, cold called by a fun player and squeezed by the BB, easy jam, rec calls and BB folds.

Very strange squeeze fold of the BB, trying to iso the BTN I understand that but after an UTG open and a CO 3b it's not a standard iso... burning 25.5bb imo.

 

Trying to bluff a fun player and he snap called me on the river lol.

 

Poker is dead, nothing special, all in pre, nothing special of my end anyway 😆

 

100NL , BTN opens, SB is a shorty who also plays at 50NL, prob the only short stacker I often see but he does keep playing when doubling up etc, wouldn't say he is the best player... here he 3b and I 4b and he ends up calling... 🙄

 

Crappy flop really and goes x/x, don't see any point in betting as I'm not folding anyway and just as well keep his spasm jams in with air...

So we call his jam on the turn and... 99 for a flopped set... beautiful...

 

When it goes limp limp and I raise and half the table calls again... lovely flop lol.

Hand at 50NL vs short stacker from above, he 3b me pre with QTo lol but easy call with AQs, call flop cbet, turn goes x/x... ffs typical river again... I hate 4 flush boards 😠

And a random hand where I wasn't involved in but: BTN opens, SB 3b small, BTN calls, SB x flop and BTN bets 1/2 and SB calls, SB then donk bets pot on turn lol and BTN raises to 56bb and SB jams... BTN FOLDED NEXT !!! can't make it up lol for another 12bb 

 

Hoping to reach 3k bankroll by end of this week hopefully, games should be good enough this week as more people are off with the holidays so hoping to capitalize on it!

Sounds too self-confident. It is necessary to look from the other side, that the people who went on vacation to make money on you.

[Estzen]

1 hour ago, Merenitsu said:

Sounds too self-confident. It is necessary to look from the other side, that the people who went on vacation to make money on you.

Should start counting how many AA was got from that session, probably that was the real problem. 

[Merenitsu]

4 minutes ago, Estzen said:

Should start counting how many AA was got from that session, probably that was the real problem. 

Guys, it's joke time🙂

[P0kerM0nk]

I’m lost in my own blog, I honestly have no idea what the last posts are about, someone get me a translator 🤣🤣

Edited December 27, 2021 by P0kerM0nk

[P0kerM0nk]

Don't think I've posted this one here before but this is another solid (and free) cash game player on Youtube, not that many videos but just watched a few starting from the oldest ones and they are pretty decent, worth a check for those that are interested:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC22I6ZnngwMiSII2p456XqQ

[P0kerM0nk]

Trying to incorporate some "next lvl plays", doesn't always work out 😅

I open A5s and get min 3b, easy call, he 1/2 cb flop and I call, pretty close already I guess with no spade (pretty close = that's what the pro's always say 😂) turn goes x/x and then he bet 1/2 on riv again, feels weak, think it's not a bad raise on the river with my exact hand. Try a 3x raise.

Spoiler

Oh well, snap called again 🤣 at least I tried 😛

 

Edited December 28, 2021 by P0kerM0nk

[P0kerM0nk]

Someone donating a stack, thanks a lot, online poker is dead 😛

 

LoL line of a reg, I open he calls in BB, I cb he x/r I call, he x/r me again on the turn, using the whole timebank followed by a jam 😂 sure mate all that thinking with the nuts probably 😂😂😂

 

So far won 2000 BP (€20) with santa flips, I always collect after 4 flips which gives me 400 BP.

2 days to go, one buy-in away from 3k lol, hope we get there even as a symbolic target, swings go up and down but would be nice to end the month and year above that number 😎 not going to cry about if it doesn't happen lol, at least the giraffe has been going upwards this month, happy enough with that already.

[P0kerM0nk]

First news, RIO is shutting down on the 2nd, no real surprise but bit of a pity, quite like the software just no games running which is its downfall, would have been nice if it had traffic like Unibet but hey ho, will have to withdraw my 'big' bankroll on there unless I go broke by Sunday 😅

Unibet -> played 7h yesterday 😮 and was a real struggle, 4.5 buy ins down which is all in all not too bad. Lots of big hands not going my way. Probably also lost some concentration during these long sessions.

CO opens, BTN calls, I squeeze to iso BTN who is halfstacked, he calls and at this point I'm never folding as SPR is almost 1:1 for him, I bet small mainly to induce but I could jam as well and he minraises lol, I just jam and he calls, T9o nice hand sir... and he gets there.

 

All in pre flop hand, not too special but QQ villain is same villain as hand above 🙄

CO limps, I raise SB calls and so does CO, both recs, CO bets out small on flop and I call, SB minraises lol and CO calls and I re-raise 3x and they both call again, CO open jams turn and easy call and same for SB... and we don't hold up again...

 

I open QQ, get 3b, I 4b and SB calls, I cb flop and get jammed on... I folded this as what does he realistically have here, or a sneaky AA-KK or more certainly JJ TT as those get more called preflop I'd say... and maybe 89s/TJs, I folded as there aren't really any draws on the board, don't see much I beat...

 

I open BTN again, get 3b, I 4b and he calls, terrible flop, flop goes x/x, turn goes x/x and I call a big bet on the river... same as hand above this flop hits a 4b calling range a lot, but I think I have to call river as we are deep so range could be a bit wider but my hand is maybe underrepped as I could have QQ no diamond? I'm also hoping to win vs a hand like even AK or a broadway hand with a Q in it or one diamond or a plain bluff with 99 or whatever. Not to be lol.

 

And this is actually a loss of concentration / tilt hand... I faced a lot of hands like the one above and following hand is a slamdunk easy fold, being deep again as well... I open KK get 3b from SB, I 4b and he calls, already hating the flop lol and goes x/x, I bet 1/3 on turn and get x/r BIG and I called, then faced a big bet on the river and just called again. Obvious tilt calls turn and river. Wasted money there. Sometimes hard to stay disciplined if you face hands like this over and over for a short period of time and you get this feeling that you have to fold vs everything and everyone like people start to bluff you left right and centre but obviously that's not the case.

Sessions could have been worse but I think I could have walked away breakeven at least. Live and learn and make a profit again today 🙃

Also my thoughts on deepstacked poker:

Spoiler

Feck that! 🤣

 

[P0kerM0nk]

And another year gone, flies past when you are having fun 😛

Have requested my stats for last month so will see when it gets through, have made €1,053 profit but that's with bonuses etc, rough guess is I made about €750 maybe and played about 35k hands I think. Wouldn't say I'm overly impressed about this lol. I def can do better, still lose too many stacks in spots where I shouldn't lose em but I could also run a bit better at times. 

Will take some money off to re-new my poker scientist sub, still waiting to see if they will be giving out any discount but I already have a 20% one so that's prob what it's going to be, will cost me €540 for the year which is actually pretty cheap anyway. Will definitely use it more this year looking at my own play and using the trainer.

Plan for the rest is just to stay at 50NL for now (and hopefully don't move down lol) building up the bankroll and keep working on my game. Last year was pretty swingy just because of bad play etc which I hope I have better under control now. I have put in a lot more work towards the end of last year + played more as well and I've been pretty happy with the way the last month and half have been. Still making obvious mistakes but my overall play seems more disciplined and structured than before. We will see what the next few month bring starting with this month. 

Have kept my x12 Bonus Point multiplier so that keeps adding up and bankroll should still be around 2k after I withdraw some for poker scientist so think it's all set for a decent start of this quarter.

1.5k New Years flip, missed the money by about 10 places or something, think I had 54o lol, not sure how I ended up so close to the money after only one hand and with that hand.

Few hands in the spoiler:

Spoiler

Another donation, I open he calls, he donks pot and I raise he calls, I x turn back and he jams river, thanks 😀

MP and BTN limp, I raise and they call, I cbet 1/2 and MP minraises, BTN folds, we get it in... oh yeh the good old 63s... and we brick... 🙄

Another limp raise pot, UTG and MP limp, I raise, BB UTG and MP call, UTG donks 1bb and I obviously raise and we go HU, bet 1/2 on turn, not best turn but w/e and he donkjams the river...  think there are enough hand that we beat and we get priced in anyway, just again a rubbish hand that gets there.



My good run on 100NL continues, only playing when not enough 50NL runs, MP opens, I 3b and SB coldcalls and we go HU, go 1/2 on flop, could go a bit bigger but I got Kd and villain is not a full stack and he calls, I jam the turn and there we go, wp sir lol.



25NL, CO opens, SB calls and I complete. Lovely flop, CO bets 2/3, SB calls and easy raise, SB calls, bit of a crap turn but depends how many 5x he has... I bet and he jams, easy call... ffs and he is freerolling here against me too and he gets there 😠

Hand vs a reg, I open SB and he calls, I x/c a small bet, then he overbets the turn which I call and riv goes x/x. Weird line with 55 no club, can't check solver but don't think it's a thing but who knows lol. 

Another hand vs more of a nitty reg, BvB he opens I call, he bets big on flop and I call, he x turn so easy bet for me and then this massive x/r... just plain greedy and makes no sense, pot will be so big and he has only 50bb behind, I doubt this is a draw too tbh so I just folded, could be AA or JJ or some diamond kind of draw maybe. Still happy with my fold, big raises like this are very rarely a bluff. Nit! 😂

 

 

Edited January 1, 2022 by P0kerM0nk

[P0kerM0nk]

So requested my stats at around 6pm on Saturday and they were on the case! Got an answer back an hour later... only they forgot to attach the files 😂 But I only checked my emails the next day so I told em and they came back to me withing 15min! Better than the week wait last time round 👍

So as said I made €1,053 profit last month, pure profit + extras like bonuses etc.

NL50, €1,049 profit / 34,795 hands = 6.02 bb/100

NL25, €69.09 profit / 521 hands =  53 bb/100  (sample size 😂 )

NL100, €472.14 loss / 1,054 hands = -44,8 bb/100 (sample size 😬 )

€1,323 rake paid in total

Note how my total profit is almost same as NL50 profit... spooky 😋

So yeh, ran pretty bad at 100NL for the few hands I played there, but just focusing on 50NL, seems reasonable, thought it would have been 4-5 bb/100 so kind of surprised. Think it's decent going forward.

Running pretty bad for the start of the year, not much going my way but I managed to end up at the cash game leaderboard for a 'free' €50 so only down under 3 buy ins this month. Sounds like nothing actually but been running like hell. Can't wait for a heater to come my way now 😄

Not winning any flips and getting outflopped by recs in 3b pots when I have an overpair and the board runs out good enough to triple barrel it off but they always have it so far lol. Just need to persevere.

[P0kerM0nk]

Hopefully we are turning the tide now, maybe this hand is the cut off point lol, all in pre but both ended up with a boat, me having the better one, must be a sign! 😛 

Random hand again, I open, SB 3b, BB coldcalls, I 4b and SB folds and BB calls, SPR 1:1... feck flop, these spots are murder... x back flop, then face this on turn...

Spoiler

I'm never folding as seen enough rubbish vs this type of player in the past.. same stuff here again, max value this time 😋 but this can go either way, can have Ax 6x and flushes... I just find it hard to fold vs these types of players, you obviously have to kind of know which ones but seen it before villains jamming any pocket pair and what not...

 

[P0kerM0nk]

Getting fed up with it ffs

AK-66 0-1
AK-22 0-1
KK-AK-JJ 0-1-0

Variance taking the p!ss, don't think I've won an all in with AK so far this year 🙄

Edited January 4, 2022 by P0kerM0nk

[Samba]

Looks like a bit of a cold run at the moment but glad to see things have turned around since last time I read the blog 😄

[P0kerM0nk]

@Samba these losing stretches are pretty normal within poker variance so I could ignore to post about it but I like to moan now and then anyway, and it’s my blog after all 😁

[P0kerM0nk]

2 Unibet Community freerolls coming up tomorrow evening, 1 for people with a (active) blog and the other for all people who have won a member of the day reward in 2021. (most likes during a single day)

Prizepool €575 for the blog one and €500 for the member of the day one.

How do you join? Well you can't unless you already qualified for one or both mentioned above. But you can join the forum and/or start a blog and who knows you'll get an invite in a years time 😛 

Good value for money anyway as the player pools will be relatively small and full of donkeys, me included 🤣

Thanks Unibet 😄