From Poker Donk To Winning Monk

[AbvUrPlayGrd]

Well, here's the facts of the matter, for what it's worth.

Poker is a really shitty game. I can't think of a worse game to play for money. Yes, there are some really crappy games out there, but poker is special. You are constantly fighting a love/ hate battle with it.

You know you should be winning, you know you are better than your results, but you can't do anything about luck and that's where the struggle comes in.

In the game of roulette, you could pick 1 number and it never come in for you, ever. Highly unlikely, but possible. Now compare that to poker, where there are many more variables involved, and you begin to see the problem. You may never win a tournament in your entire life and may go bust reloading at cash games before variance decides you've had enough bad luck.

When you look at it in those terms, you're doing ok 🙂 Keep making the best decisions you can and if you don't go broke in the meantime, it will turn around(probably).

You already know all this, but sometimes it's just nice to have someone reinforce it. 

 

[GR1ZZL3R]

8 hours ago, AbvUrPlayGrd said:

You may never win a tournament in your entire life and may go bust reloading at cash games before variance decides you've had enough bad luck.

   I've read in more than one place that some poker players give up before true variance kicks in and they can't get past the losing run to start with. On the other hand some players will bink a big tourney at the beginning when variance is on their side, only to lose it all as the true picture comes into focus. My record in UOS €25 tourneys is played 1, won 1, a record that is unlikely to ever alter, so I can claim to have a 3,200 % ROI in tourneys (probably 2,500 % with the small number of nanos played) yet I struggle to get out of the nano stakes while playing cash. Which is my true record? I know, I ran good for 10 hours one night in a tourney and have run bad for 20 years in cash. 😂 I'm not giving up just yet though I may not have another 20 years for things to even out. I might not cash ever again in a tourney ( highly unlikely to play very many) and start crushing the cash any day now. 🥳 

8 hours ago, AbvUrPlayGrd said:

You already know all this, but sometimes it's just nice to have someone reinforce it. 

[CuteRaven]

On 10/17/2022 at 11:35 AM, GR1ZZL3R said:

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

Yeah I think chops should not be included at all or then they should be their own category. Seems like a oversight/bug tbh.

On 10/17/2022 at 12:46 AM, P0kerM0nk said:

too fed up writing about the fact I'm too stupid to win at poker. 

You're not stupid even if you were a losing player! I'm not an expert but I think cash games are maybe the hardest game mode to beat, it's quite study-able and seems to attract grinders and it has relatively high rake. Some pros are probably playing already at the stakes that you play at.

Managing to just about break even though you seem to have had quite a bad run in the past few months is not bad. I guess it still doesn't change the fact that it sucks  😕

 

[P0kerM0nk]

And that's the 50NL tiiickiiiit gone, tried to keep it alive but never managed to get over 4 buy ins on it anymore, this was the last hand for the last 50BB, 3b pre got called, x/c flop bet and called the shove on the turn... glad the ticket is gone TBH... just a hassle if you can't play more than one table.

And I'm halfway the bonus points needed for another 50NL ticket so we can maybe have another 'free' shot at it in a few months time, who knows.

[AbvUrPlayGrd]

23 hours ago, P0kerM0nk said:

And I'm halfway the bonus points needed for another 50NL ticket so we can maybe have another 'free' shot at it in a few months time, who knows.

Better luck with the next one!

[SkilfulPoker]

Hey mate just caught up with last couple pages of your blog. Poker can be really difficult when we're not doing as well as we think we should be, but one thing is for certain if you keep playing your A game things will turn around. 

Have a good Sunday mate, 

[P0kerM0nk]

First month over of last quarter and reached loyalty lvl 5 already. Have let some playthrough bonuses slide as cba putting in the time or I didn't have the time but I have a RAKE 500, GET 100 atm which I'll try to finish this weekend, at 30% atm.

Stats from last 4 months;

July                -€376,79 / 24,911 hands    / -6.05bb/100
August         +€275,46 / 25,750 hands    / +4.28bb/100
September     -€67,04 / 51,715 hands    / -0.52bb/100    
October       +€454,22 / 20,005 hands    / +9.08bb/100

Overall +0.93bb/100 over 122k hands lol, I'm a winning poker player 🥳 😂

Hope the next 2 months are more like October and not so much as before...

32k Bonus Points so just saving up for another 50NL ticket for 50k points. And if my bankroll ever hits 3k then I'll play 50NL regardless of the ticket and drop back down at 2.5k. 

[P0kerM0nk]

Reality of what poker is for most people from Pete Clark (check out 4:20--6:05)  I'm def getting the shit beaten out of me 😂 pretty much break even for a long time atm... as you can't really track your hands on Unibet it's always a bit hard to judge if I should be happy or not for being break even as I can't compare stats if I wanted so. See what the rest of the year brings 🤷‍♂️

 

Edited November 20, 2022 by P0kerM0nk

[P0kerM0nk]

Right, here we are, last month of the year.

Been playing 50NL for most of the past month as was just fed up with 25NL 😂 
Just trying to cut down on tables and play 4 to start and 6 if the pool is good or open 6 tables and then see which ones I want to keep so just table select a bit better. And I try to scan over the tables every 10-15min to see why I'm still sitting on a table and to make sure I don't end up with a table full of regs or nit fish.

Up €400 last month but don't think much of that is pure profit of the tables, mostly just from the bonuses etc. Bankroll just about to hit 3k now.

Just hit the last reward at lvl5 giving me enough BP to buy one of these again:

Feeling more confident now I'll be able to get this cleared so fingers crossed. As long as we don't run bad... had 4 all ins today and lost 3 tied 1 so yeh 🙄 but ended up 2+ buy ins anyhow lol, but the ticket starts tomorrow!

Have €20 more to clear from a €50 playthrough from the loyalty scheme and next I've got a RAKE 600, GET 120 which I won't clear as I did one before but I was off work for a week and just no chance to do this when I work during the week but that's ok. 4k BP left atm and might buy some playthroughs from the BP shop, will see.

Been some effing year, fingers crossed for a good finish 🤞

[P0kerM0nk]

Numbers from last month, made €371 profit at 50NL running at 3.21bb/100

Still battling it out for my 50NL ticket, 1300 flops left to go, just the usual, disgusting how I mostly run, no end to it. Every time I make some profit it ends up with the next session being one from hell.

Lost 12, won 5, tied 1. I don't know why every month starts like this??

Had a good session earlier today, 4 buy ins up, then later lost pot after pot losing almost 8 buy ins,

Guess I'm not allowed to win a big pot either...

All in on the turn, 93%

All in on the flop, 86%

 

On the positive side, I like my game and it is def good enough to win at 50NL and hope I can make a profit on this 50NL ticket to prove it. 

Also close to 50% on my RAKE 600, GET 120 playthrough, didn't plan on going for it but I might do now... need some compensation! One week to go on it.

And a nice extra, a bet that covers most of my silly bets here and there on the world cup 😂 at least that's England out of it 🥳 C'mon Morocco, all the way to the end! 😀

[P0kerM0nk]

WHY DO I ALWAYS RUN LIKE AIDS ??????

[Rushbie]

Maybe the villains just won't respect shoves or raises 😄

It's weekend afterall 🙂

GL

Edited December 11, 2022 by Rushbie

[P0kerM0nk]

€215 left on the 50NL ticket, 445 flops to go, just no ending to the running bad, just the story of the year. 

17 all ins lost, 8 won, 2 tied... and most of the 3b/4b pots that go to the flop I end up flopping TPTK and then lose to the over pair... every draw I flop never gets there and so on and on and on... if I 3b an early position it mostly ends up by getting 4b or when they call I then flop barely anything and ends by getting jammed on lol, it's getting really absurd tbh.

Just started a session and lose like AQ vs KQ all in pre vs a spazz and then a few more hands don't go my way and the only hand I win is when I myself spazz jam a pp and flop a set vs the over pair... seems the only way I can win, just with the bad plays. But again 6 buy ins down in less than an hour.

84% on the playthrough towards €120, 4 days left... 15k BP left to spend as well, think when I get through all the BP's it will be time to say good bye, I just can't handle this shit anymore and the marginal profit isn't worth my time. It has run its course. And I just hate it how this run bad affects my game at moments and it also turns this blog in what I guess must look by others like a losing player complaining because they can't improve their game enough to win and blames it all on running bad 😂

[FreedoM]

I think you should take some time off to disconnect/reflect and relax while doing other things before coming to a conclusion, sometimes we can't see the forest for the trees. From where I stand it seems to me you try to force it and this makes you really emotionally attached to the outcome when deep down you know we can't control how the cards come or how other people play their cards, but we can control how we react.

Also depending on our skill (lose minimum/win maxim) + volume (time frame of your set bad/good times) = Results, so I think since you don't depend on this money and your volume is low you could get the most out of poker using a more aggressive BRM and just move up and down until eventually, you break through or it becomes clear you have reached a plateau and that's that.

Some Quotes:

Fall in Love with the Journey, Not the Destination!
If you think the cost of winning is high, just wait until you get the bill for regret.

[P0kerM0nk]

Just too many of these hands all the time:

3b pre and he calls 2 barrels then donks the riv obviously lol

Just the usual, 3b UTG and like I never win.

BvB, get 3b, I 4b he calls, I cb flop 1/4 he calls, he flops the nuts on turn...

I squeeze pre, BB coldcalls, I cb 1/2 flop he calls, I bet turn he jams I call obviously.

I squeeze pre he calls, 3 barrel it off and he gets there on the riv...

 

Same with every time I call with AK and I flop TP they got the over pair or the set or I make trips and they have a boat, absolutely getting destroyed in 3b pots...

134 flops left on ticket, hopefully won't go bust this time, an improvement I guess 🙄

3% left on RAKE 600, GET 120

Also played a bit of banzai last night, just the €1 stake 😆 I actually don't get the attraction to this game but ok, seems more like a random arcade game where you just spend some money for some fun action and less like real poker.

Edited December 17, 2022 by P0kerM0nk

[P0kerM0nk]

So €315 down on the initial ticket, rough calculations ran at -3bb/100
Highest was €750 ish, lowest is actually what I received now... such a shambles.

Literally can't win a bloody 3b pot, how do they always flop something and get there as well.

UTG opens, MP whale 3b, I 4b, I x flop and he jams... 

 

Half stack opens 4x, I 3b, cb flop he calls, barely money behind so I just stick it in... ofc they always hit it.
Always stupid when they call half their stack and that's me pot commited really.

All in pre vs another whale, can't even win when I flop a monster!

Pots I've won: [none]

Bought a €100 playthrough to keep something going as nothing else lined up. Bankroll still going up (@ sloth speed), feel like I'm just a rakeback grinder now 🙄🙄🙄

[P0kerM0nk]

How good do some fish run eh?

Same guy I posted a hand from couple of posts back: all in on the flop in that hand and by magic got there...

 

Playing him again today, first won vs me AK vs his QQ...

Then hand not vs me but he calls pre, then jams 150BB vs a x/r lol and gets there, flipping again his way..

 

Here I open, SB 33BB shortstack 3b, he coldcalls, I 4b 35BB just covering SB and he just calls, go to the flop and pot is already 100BB, all in on the flop, how good does this c*nt run bloody hell...

 

Getting a bit of a joke Unibet...

[P0kerM0nk]

Sad statistic lol

 

Terrible day again, biggest pot won was 70BB and played like 3h 🤣 unable to win any 3b pots yet again

All in pre, yup... standard

MP opens, BTN 3b, I 4b he calls, all money in on turn... yup standard.

 

Guess Unibet is trying to bankrupt me before I take all my money off after New Year 😂 GG!

[CuteRaven]

Unibet with some smart tricks. First they give regs bonuses (rake x get y), which makes regs play more tables, which turns them from winning players to breakeven players, which means they pay more rake but win less from the fish, so the fish stay longer and the desparate regs also stay chasing the massive 30€ reward.

Then they turn on the doomswitch when they are about to leave.

Exposed 😛

[P0kerM0nk]

@CuteRaven TBH, my RAKE, GET bonuses have been decent enough, shows you how much they love me 😂

It's true about the amount of tables, I have sinned quite a bit with it when I was playing 25NL but I have toned it down since I started at 50NL, mostly keep it with 4 tables which is a good balance for me.

[Samba]

Why are you taking your money off? GL

[P0kerM0nk]

So no I haven't quit (yet) and have been playing all along really and was going to make a post start of the year but then had to wait about a week on my stats for December so here we are.

Played around 65k hands in December and lost €570 so ran at -1.77bb/100

Weirdly enough I made about €480 profit for December lol, I just keep track of the amount I start with each month and I think I included January the 1st in it as that was the end of the week lol, another reason was because I battled it out for the leaderboard that last week and came 1st for €600 so yeh, happy to scoop that one up.

I just started playing start of my holiday and decided to go for the €500 playthrough bonus at loyalty lvl 6 and saw I had a good chance for the leaderboard, hit 2 straight flushes one day early in the week so then decided to give that a shot as well, pretty tough I must say, worst is actually cramp in my hand/wrist from all those hours and have recently bought a vertical mouse, seems better although I might prefer a smaller size in mouse. Hard to know when you buy shit online.

So now its January, working my way through the €500 bonus and almost cleared the first payout. Play/luck seems a bit better recently and kinda hope to make a normal profit for once. Trying to tighten up some spots vs regs, I would actually love to see some people stats as I think there are some real tight arse nit regs out there and it is sometimes hard to keep track of it without a HUD and for me personally I think I end up in big pots too many times where they practically don't have any bluffs but I always think, oh they can have this or that bluff and call it off but they just keep showing the supernuts. 

Not sure what the plan is for next couple of months or the year, see to clear this playthrough to start with and how the month goes imo. But overall looking back on last year I ran pretty bad I must say, obviously I don't have hard data but there were some harsh periods for sure.

Even last week of December, one day I lost 10 buy ins and lost 5 to one reg alone, KK vs AA, AK vs AA (BvB), 2 times he hit a set on the flop when I have an OP both in 3b pots and one pot where he called a 4b IP with a suited gapper, flops 2nd pair and BDFD, turns 2p and has my OP dead again... days like that are just... meh!

And I know I like to rant and moan about how bad I run bla bla but I'll end with a positive note, I think last March I took off my entire bankroll, €1800 or something to start fresh with 2x 25NL tickets and cleared those and then had some shots with 50NL tickets and sure I got them from Bonus Points and also cleared some playthrough bonuses on the way but I ended the year with €3,300+ which in itself is maybe not all actual poker profit but in the end it doesn't matter as I got it by playing poker and that's €3.300 I did not have before so 🥳

And now I'm playing 50NL as standard and feel comfortable at the stake without going bust and that's already an achievement in itself. 

[P0kerM0nk]

I don't like running bad.

And I don't like running good either.

Because I know running bad comes after it.

[FreedoM]

1 minute ago, P0kerM0nk said:

I don't like running bad.

And I don't like running good either.

Because I know running bad comes after it.

[P0kerM0nk]

First time ever I've hit 4k in my account, hmm 100NL soon? 🤔