From Poker Donk To Winning Monk

[P0kerM0nk]

If I'm going to get AK or KK vs AA again on 888 I'm going to cry!!! 3x today 🤬

On Unibet, just passed the 2k mark. Haven't played as much as I wanted yet as the heat is just doing my head in. Never liked the heat much as it just drains too much energy out of my body and my brain lol. Climate change no good.

Edited August 13, 2022 by P0kerM0nk

[CuteRaven]

On 8/12/2022 at 12:59 AM, P0kerM0nk said:

Open A9o on BTN, SB calls, BB squeezes. I fold obviously. SB calls, BB then bets big and SB calls, turn x/x and riv SB donks out 1/5 and BB calls... again a hand where I don't have a clue what either of them is doing 🤯

Legend in the big blind getting max value with 29s 😂

I like how you played those hands (though I'm not the right person to give and opinion on this). Looks like you made some nice folds especially!

[CuteRaven]

On 8/13/2022 at 9:19 PM, P0kerM0nk said:

Never liked the heat much as it just drains too much energy out of my body and my brain lol. Climate change no good.

Yeah sometimes I feel like I might have an edge on the player pool just by living up north, though the heat waves hit here sometimes too 😕

[P0kerM0nk]

@CuteRavenI thought I lived pretty north as well north east Scotland but turning more like the weather I used to see in a moderate Belgium.

Weather just becoming more extreme, longer droughts and if you are lucky enough to get rain it will fall out of the sky with buckets. Probably the trend in a lot of places.

Seems to me that there are a lot more fires around the world as well year after year. Maybe I have the wrong perception but growing up in the 90’s I can’t remember it being this bad.

Another example, last night we had thunderstorms and even woke the house up at 4am. Now, I’m used to thunderstorms from in Belgium and in the 9 years I’ve lived in Scotland I have barely seen thunder and lightning but now it almost seems like this will be more common here too in the coming years.

Poker, barely played again as was absolutely knackered with a headache on Saturday and was out most of the day yesterday. Maybe I should stay off work to play some poker 😂

[CuteRaven]

I think many people are slowly waking up to the fact that climate change is not some distant threat of the future but has already been happening and affecting the world for years now. I remember some years back many people were still thinking of climate change as something that only concerns polar bears and future generations.

[P0kerM0nk]

@CuteRavenYeah I also remember this kind of perception that climate change was something for the next generations and we only were going to feel the start of the change later in the century but reality has come knocking on our door rather rapidly. Sad thing is that there was already scientific knowledge about rising CO2 lvl's because of human activity back in the 70's (before I was born) and to think that everything has just been swept under the carpet to keep businesses making profits is quite disgusting. We never learn from our mistakes and big corporations together with corrupt governments will result in lots of people suffering together with the planet. It's a pretty somber outlook.

And to keep it a bit on topic, poker: 
Received another bonus lol and I'm also close to the €50 loyalty playthough bonus from lvl5.

Currently on the last €5 of a €20 playthrough bonus, then €23 next, another €23 after followed by a €50 and then this €35 and by then also the €50 loyalty one lol. I must say, sometimes as a cash player I have felt a bit overlooked especially when promo's out there only target the high volume or high rake players so this is a nice change and will keep me busy for sure.

Still lacking volume as per usual and will be off on holiday next week too, not sure if I can play whilst being in Ibiza, Spain? 

[P0kerM0nk]

25% through the €23 playthrough, not sure if I'll make it as won't be able to play Sunday to Sunday but yeh we will see...

Nightmare of a day again today, flopping skills 0/10 and people hitting sets over and over in 3b pots when I hit TPTK.

And fed up with losing my last big hand in every session, I don't know WTF is going on but once I press leave every table next big blind, I end up getting a premium hand and losing it. This happened like the last 5 times 🤯 

Only 50BB deep but still, I open, he 3b (lol) and BB coldcalls, I 4b and BTN just calls, BB folds... check call as gives them an option to bluff and never folding anyway with this SPR, obv he jams and I call... seriously...

 

Annoying when you see so many bad plays and you run like crap... why does rungood only last a day and never a week lol.

[AbvUrPlayGrd]

On 8/20/2022 at 3:13 PM, P0kerM0nk said:

Only 50BB deep but still, I open, he 3b (lol) and BB coldcalls, I 4b and BTN just calls, BB folds...

I don't know how big a 4b it was but I don't necessarily think it was a bad call. Depends on history, dynamics and all that jazz but it's a game of incomplete information. Besides it may have been me...so just in case lol

On 8/20/2022 at 3:13 PM, P0kerM0nk said:

And fed up with losing my last big hand in every session, I don't know WTF is going on but once I press leave every table next big blind, I end up getting a premium hand and losing it. This happened like the last 5 times 🤯

Ain't that the strangest thing! I found that quite often, almost like you're being punished for leaving. What normally happens to me and I haven't figured out why it does this. But quite often I select "leave all tables next BB" and when my BB comes around the table doesn't close. Then I feel obliged to play another round and the shit hits the fan!

 

[P0kerM0nk]

So that's me finished a weeks of work already after coming back from my week away on holiday. Didn't play any poker that week nor watched anything poker related, didn't have the time really and just good to switch off completely now and then. Came back on Sunday and too tired to put many hours in so didn't make it for my €23 playthrough but that's all right. 

Currently on this which includes the €50 playthrough reward of loyalty lvl5 (1st step).

Have 107k XP atm and kinda aiming to get to lvl 6 by the end of the month which will be a big task as I need about 4k XP a day lol, we will see.

Last months profit was €285 (including bonus money) over 25k hands, 3-4bb/100 maybe? Pretty average...

Up 5 buy ins so far after dropping 4-5 to start with this month... it's strange when you come back after a week off and you open up some tables, the looks/fonts etc look so unfamiliar for whatever reason but now it's pretty normal again, weird thing.

Here some good to be back hands, oh I missed poker 😂

Quote

CO opens, I 3b, BB 4b and I decided just to call vs 75BB stack, he bets just under 1/2 on flop and I call and he then sticks it in on the riv, call... bloody 4 outer

BvB, open he calls, I c/r the flop he calls, I bet turn and riv and 42o lol...

BTN opens I 3b he calls, decided to cb 1/3 vs bad opponent, he jams it in... he's the spazzy type so call it off expecting to be ahead vs some crap, some draws and have some outs vs pp. Just didn't win the flip.

Regfish opens UTG, I 3b he calls, he donks out 3/4 lol I call, he donks 3/4 again on turn so I stick it in, if he has a set I'm dead anyway and if he has some draw it puts him in an annoying spot, I also don't have a heart so maybe more reason to jam. He binks one of his 5 outs... that's some donk on the flop with ATo lol

3 handed, BTN opens, I 3b he calls and I barrel it off 3 streets and he snaps me down lol, guess a non believer putting me on AK? Although he has an A! 🤣 But he doesn't block any STR draws that's true 😆

 

Prob wont be as many posts this month, maybe just some short updates with the progress. Lets hope we make loyalty lvl6! If it goes well I could mix in some NL50 soon 🙈

[P0kerM0nk]

Played 2h yesterday afternoon and up 7 buy ins, then played 5h last night and down 14 buy ins. (so 7 down overall) Actually unbelievable how spazzy the play is Saturday evening/night, so many drunk? whales wow... and the run bad is amazing as well. Feels like I'm battling a bingo machine at times.

Rough guesstimate of how many hands I have to play to reach loyalty lvl6 is prob about 50k, will be interesting to see how this will turn out. So far this month I've played 11k hands, choppy waters so far lol. I like the way I play and I'm about 90% happy with all the hands I play. Only here and there where I think, ok I shouldn't have done this which sometimes cost me a stack and when I replay the hand I realise I should have just folded or given up. Should also battle a bit more for smaller pots. 

But there are so many weird spots when there are so many recs and bad regs on the tables, so many multi way pots as well making it a real guessing game. Sometimes makes me wonder if making a decent profit month after month (without extras) in such a player pool is actually possible.

 

Quote

MP reg opens 3x, CO rec calls, BTN random fishreg calls, I squeeze obviously, everyone calls lol, pot is not 60BB and I have 100BB behind and cover the rest, based on this there is no way we are folding AA here ever imo... I don't want this to go x/x/x/x so I bet 1/4 on a pretty dry board where I'm mostly ahead % wise. MP calls, CO calls, BTN jams... even though it's a disgusting spot I can't fold this so I call and end up being the only caller...

And we hold... just shows you it's a bingo game trying to guess peoples hand/range. 52s isn't even a calling hand pre and this is some kind of weak multi-tabling reg. 

 

I open KK UTG, MP rec and SB rec both call, I decided to x flop and MP open jams, SB snap calls, easy fold for me as I haven't invested much in the pot yet anyway + someone must have a Q right? 

Oops, guess not... A8o bingo players...

 

100k xp to go to loyalty lvl6 - current RAKE 225, GET 23 at 86%, I'm dreading the next couple of RAKE, GET bonuses I will receive if they will reflect the volume I will be playing this month... RAKE 1000 😂

Edited September 4, 2022 by P0kerM0nk

[AbvUrPlayGrd]

2 hours ago, P0kerM0nk said:

But there are so many weird spots when there are so many recs and bad regs on the tables, so many multi way pots as well making it a real guessing game. Sometimes makes me wonder if making a decent profit month after month (without extras) in such a player pool is actually possible.

Yeah it's difficult to say the least, which is why I prefer not to have a table full of them, nor do I really want a table full of elite players. A little poker gem that has always stuck with me goes something like " If you look around the table and can't see the weak player, it's you!"

That's an all too common occurrence and mostly you are going to be frustrated, either because you called and they have it or because you didn't call and it's something similar. 

[P0kerM0nk]

Best hand of the day, woo quAAAAds 🥳

 

Crap hand of the day, CO limps and I flop a boat... not to be yet again...

[P0kerM0nk]

Another update before my blog falls off the 1st page of the blog section 😆

Played less than I wanted but I always struggle with that lol, was away to a comedy gig on Thursday in Glasgow and was meant to play Friday but felt so tired as only came home during the night and ended up only sleeping 5-6h. I fired up some tables for 40min and I just quit as I ran bad to start with and my play was just horrendous. 

Bankroll bit up and down, back around 2k mark after dropping to 1.75k, not sure if I'm dropping the ball sometimes or just run bad. Wish my bankroll would go a bit upwards more regularly or bit more constant. These multiway pots are real killers imo as you can't really bluff in these spots.

Currently at 140k xp so 80k to go to loyalty lvl 6, think I average 1500xp/h (8 tables) so that's 54h to go or lets say 3h a day... need to start clawing back before it's too late. Also trying to keep somewhat track of amount of rake I pay, roughly €2.25 per table per hour x8 = €18 per hour. Actually crazy if you see it like that.

RAKE 250, GET 50 at 62.5%, 9 days left so easy enough, need another 9-10h ish. After that it is a RAKE 350, GET 35 so probably pushes me for more volume so that's good to help reaching lvl6.

An interesting new series from Pete Clarke, a public view on how he coaches people, only 2 episodes in but I find it interesting to see where this will lead to in the end. Watching videos from crushers or high stakes players is nice to learn but watching videos from similar edged or worse players than you (with all due respect off course) can be interesting as well as you can spot the mistakes before the coach explains them and in that way you can kind of judge if your own game is spot on or not.

There is a hand where the student squeezes or 3b (cba looking it up lol) and the SB coldcalls and they end up heads up but Pete says these spots can be trivial as they don't happen that often to be important enough to study the spot. Guess he never played on Unibet 😂

 

[AbvUrPlayGrd]

On 9/11/2022 at 10:36 PM, P0kerM0nk said:

Guess he never played on Unibet 😂

🤣

[P0kerM0nk]

Just bought a 50NL ticket for 50k BP... have enough playthrough bonuses to keep me going and this way I get to play some 50NL. Won't be playing on pc as going to stick with 25NL for now and def when I'm multitabling. But I can play this on my Ipad just 2 tables or something and see how it goes. This way I can focus more on table selection, villains and hands etc. Hopefully we won't go busto 🤞

 

3rd video from Pete Clark is out for who wants to check it out, haven't watched it yet.

 

[AbvUrPlayGrd]

Best of luck with the 50NL

[P0kerM0nk]

And that's the RAKE 250, GET 50 cleared! Now on to RAKE 350, GET 35.

Need to make this weekend and the next one count as the end of the month is close. Won't be able to play on the 30th as I'll be away to Glasgow to see Swedish House Mafia 😎

70k xp to go, glad I have an extra day on Monday because of someone's funeral... can't remember who 😂

[P0kerM0nk]

41,500xp to go for lvl6, will be tiiiiiiight 😅 

At 83% of my RAKE 350, GET 35 and that's since Friday so I need to clear another €415 before end of the month which seems reachable but lots of hours needed this weekend as won't be able to play the last day of the month.

Been running like a b!tch last few days, bankroll not been affected too much but lost 1-2 buy-ins each day. Hope to run a bit better at the weekend again 😀

Crazy to see that even games like Wordle are getting solved these days 😂

 

[AbvUrPlayGrd]

On 9/21/2022 at 10:49 PM, P0kerM0nk said:

Crazy to see that even games like Wordle are getting solved these days 

If I had watched that Wordle video at around 5 mins, before I started playing poker, I never would have started 😂

[P0kerM0nk]

Making progress with the loyalty points, a good 15k points to go and we are there! (should be easy)

Been playing a little 50NL with my ticket and seen 500 flops so far and just down a bit @ €485. Went up to start, then down and then up again to what we have now, small swings.

Pretty much the story of my real money bankroll, at this moment I'm up 1 buy in (25NL) for the month, and that's with the rakeback / rewards etc included which is pretty crap. Definitely been playing too many tables (but not too many so I play spewy etc) but just sacrificing that till I get to loyalty lvl 6.

I do play 4 tables of 50NL as this gives me more time to think and follow how others are playing, table select etc.

Played 105k hands since the reset in July and absolutely struggling to get my bankroll going, highest I got was prob €2,250 and lowest €1,700 and atm we are back in the middle.

Will see to get my 50NL ticket cleared with hopefully a profit on it or anything but going broke 😂

Then we will see for the next quarter, hope to stay on 50NL once my ticket is cleared and just play 4 tables and table select. If it doesn't work out then I'm afraid this will be the last quarter I will be putting this much time in poker and prob leave it to just playing a bit here and there at the weekends.

[P0kerM0nk]

That's me reached loyalty lvl6 last night as won't be playing any poker today. 

Been playing my NL50 ticket for last few days and been ok till last night losing 7 buy ins, ticket is sitting at €270 now as failed to win anything yet again. Ran QQ in to AA, KK in to AA, QQ in to AK and lost and every other 3b pot where I hit TPTK or the odd board I trippled off as it was that good for me they all just hit sets.

Story of this year, nothing going my way. 👎

Only won AA vs KK but that was vs 50BB stack... and on one table I had AA 4x in 9 hands! (wonder what the odds are for that?) and never got any action lol. Pretty sad going...

Wonder what the next 3 months will bring. Pretty fed up with the results to say the least.

[GotKot99]

2 hours ago, P0kerM0nk said:

That's me reached loyalty lvl6 last night as won't be playing any poker today. 

Been playing my NL50 ticket for last few days and been ok till last night losing 7 buy ins, ticket is sitting at €270 now as failed to win anything yet again. Ran QQ in to AA, KK in to AA, QQ in to AK and lost and every other 3b pot where I hit TPTK or the odd board I trippled off as it was that good for me they all just hit sets.

Story of this year, nothing going my way. 👎

Only won AA vs KK but that was vs 50BB stack... and on one table I had AA 4x in 9 hands! (wonder what the odds are for that?) and never got any action lol. Pretty sad going...

Wonder what the next 3 months will bring. Pretty fed up with the results to say the least.

Congrats reaching lvl6!

Otherwise sounds somewhat harsh. Let’s hope the luck will turn 💪

[P0kerM0nk]

Passed the 400k hand mark, looking at my results... this is probably a bad beat rather than a brag lol.

Not the best start of the month, 10 hands in today and I had AK vs AA BvB 🙄

50NL ticket sitting at €250 and halfway the flops needed (1500/3000)

Started playing some 25NL again with my normal bankroll as don't have enough on my tiiiickiiiit to play more than 2-3 tables... Last hand was AK vs QQ and won it... should of been on 50NL!

[P0kerM0nk]

2 weeks since last update, not much to share, playing less since the reset as just CBA. Trying to keep my 50NL tiiiickiiit alive but its just a shambles, dropped down to 2 buy ins, then managed to get it above 4 buy ins again and today back down to 2 buy ins. Never get any minute of run good. 1100 flops left to see. 

8 buy ins up at 25NL so far this month... still a shambles anyway. Played about an hour today, 25NL/50NL and didn't win a pot bigger than €13.5 🙄 But I did lose KK vs AA, KK vs QQ, QQ vs AA, KQs vs QQ on a QTx-T-T board 🙄 🙄 I literally flop the worst flops ever if I call a 3 or 4bet. I always hit top pair top kicker and what not and then I get sucked in anyway whilst they hold the set of the top pair I hit.

All in luck 13-10... oh I had AA vs AA, KK vs KK and AK vs AK and all tied which all counts towards the all ins you win LOL I pay rake on it so unless there is enough dead money in the pot I pretty much lose money on a tie. Shouldn't even be counted towards the wins.

Didn't make the last RAKE, GET I had, now on a RAKE 500, GET 50 and 17% in it so far, no idea if I'll go for it, not really pushing tbh. Next one is RAKE 500, GET 100 and then a €20 playthrough from the loyalty scheme.

Next update maybe at the end of the month or the end of the year, too fed up writing about the fact I'm too stupid to win at poker. 

[GR1ZZL3R]

It seems no matter how badly I run there's always someone running worse. 😱 This isn't anything to celebrate, just a fact. 

I agree with the all ins record, when you chop but lose money how on earth is it recorded as a win? 🤔 

You're not too stupid to win at poker. I've suffered from similar thoughts for years, it's just something you have to deal with. Those that do so successfully can win, those that can't will struggle. I'm in the same situation , CBA, but am ticking over till the new year and a new start. Hope you come through this blip. 🤞