MetalWolf

Nice one, thanks!

Yeah sometimes I speak far too generic or dont get my point across, especially when playing at the same time. Obviously you adapt to the person and if the range is tight then yeah by all means fold QQ. I guess the easiest way for me to put it is 'if you know you know'. The range means nothing because sometimes an instinct is that strong you just know the specific hand that someone has. Act accordingly. Believing in yourself is a skill of the game. I have just bought it 😀

Making that folds goes against everything anyone has ever been taught about GTO poker. And yet it would of been the right decision. My thoughts on GTO poker are well documented in this blog and as you know I like to stray from the norm because doing something just because 'you are supposed to' just doesn't sit right with me and takes away some of the real 'thinking' of the game. Escpecially on a site of recs. I knew due to the bet size, position, opponents stacks, and above all else - my own poker instinct. He opens as regulary as you would expect. The same size every hand. I'd seen lots of show down hands. Seen enough flop bets, turn bets and determined what their usual line was. But this one, It was straight away different. I looked at other stacks on the table. I processed images from what I'd already seen and remembered other times when it was 'different'. The bet wasn't the usual line, wasn't autopilot, was different by design. And that should always ring alarm bells. Thoughts flew about why it was all of a sudden this bet. A 3x used to give a 3bet good odds to do so, to commit against smaller stacks, and to make big stacks think twice as a bounty was the end goal. All this in 15 seconds or whatever the time is. Instinct and experience. I called the exact hand, QQ, to the missus. And then i pressed allin. What a fish. With regards to the book. I've only ever heard good things about it but never read it. I think I will order it though. It's the part of the game I struggle most with. Cheers mate for feedback and mentioning it!

I'm doing better. I'm slowly moving up the leaderboards and getting the cashes in. But in the one final hand I played last night it told me everything I need to know about my current mental state and why I am not fit to be playing. Anyone do anything different here and why? I knew to fold pre. I had a read. I told @Charl_xoxox the read. I told her exactly what the hand was. And then I moved allin. If I can't believe in myself then I can't play my 'A' game. I beat myself up for not having faith in the ability that sets me apart from the average player. It cannot be underestimated what a bad run does to the mind no matter how refreshed you may claim to be at the start of each day. Anyone can learn to play well and make good decisions. But I think the best players are the ones that can completely block out any mental deviances that could affect their game. That decision could of been the difference between the €40+ inc bounties I cashed and the €570+ bounties for first place. Thats the fine lines we play with when we look at the difference between 'A' game and just playing on auto pilot.

The short answer is yes absolutely I could call. But probably not with 30+bbs. I still might. Defo with 20bbs if the payouts are pretty flat. It really depends on a lot of factors like how I perceive the overall table skill, current payout and when that gets significantly better, next blind level and how fast etc End of the day I want to be top 3. Not grinding to double my money. I wish I had this scenario in the €100 event because it never happened And i ended up with €167 consistently struggling against the blinds. This would of been a perfect ‘go hard or go home’ position for me. Like you say you got only an extra €100 for finishing about 30 places above me so I would defo take the risk for a shot at 6.5k. only with a big suited connector/1 gapper though. I might fold QQ in the scenario you mention but call QJ suited.

Come on then own up. Who's playing as MetalW0lf? lol 😏

Perfect oppurtunity to double up to a decent stack 3 betting AQ allin and getting called by openers A9. But alas the 9 on the flop ended all hope of a heroic win. On to the next one...

You have no need to worry about that I will defo keep the blog alive! Still planning to be back on the UK tour later in the year and will take one final shot at UO London. And thanks for the kind words. Yeah river shove defo suicidal. Unlikely they call unless they have you beat. I like the way you played it.

You have my full permission to post ducks. It may even get @Charl_xoxox more interested in my blog and what I’m doing with our money 🤣

@MadAdo thanks mate you are absolutely right. Great advice and very well put! If it doesn't go right I have another excuse today though. It'll be my own fault for staying up late to watch game of thrones and then having to go to work!

I must of moaned enough for them to push the doom switch back off. I hope so anyway. Cashed 4 of 5 events I played last night. Only one I didn't was the nano rebuy where I went out right before the bubble AK to AA. Snuck into the 25 low money. Had no right to with my stack but those around me were gambling for some reason. Also snuck into the 100 high money in much the same way. Qualified for that from €2 so hopefully can continue that run at least a bit further. Have about 12 BB's or so. Cruised into the money in the €1 nano but failed to make day 2 after a gambler decided to take an almighty 60/40 with me (my AQ to their K10) and it ended up in their favour. I just hope this is a turn in fortune because the rest of the day upto entering those events went much the same way as the rest of the week.

Very nice @XY ! Best of luck! After moaning so much on my blog my luck began to change last night and I cashed 4 out of the 5 UOS events I played, and practically bubbled the other. Cashed all 'mains' but the 100 is the only one I made day 2 of and as you can see I'm not a great stack but there is still hope! I'm not sure the hand you show is the best way to play it, and someone else may advise - but it is EXACTLY the way I would of played it lol Well played in my opinion but I've been asking myself a lot this week 'What do I know?' lol. Could argue that we had the chance to get it all in and double up on the turn but I prefer the low variance route and I would worry about being only called by sets. Tonnes of missed draws and 89 type hands for them to hang themselves with. Love the river for the fact that it's not a spade, diamond or completes any straight, and AQ probably 3 bets pre so that rules a load of combo's out that beat us. Few worries in 44 / 88 / KQ / QJ / Q10 but don't think we are ever folding the river anyway.

Cheers @GR1ZZL3R nice one. What’s crazy is I played 3 normal mtts two days ago and came 3rd,3rd,5th and ran ok. It’s like some conspiracy to stop me doing well in UOS lol i will always keep reporting. I would be really disappointed with myself to stop reporting and leaning on the community for help just because the profits are falling. Best of luck mate.

@sgriff Thanks mate. That would be a good idea to have a break every few days. There is no way that recs can challenge for the leaderboards in its current format. Haha sorry about the qualifier but at least I didn’t donk you! Best of luck in the 25/25! Im not planning to play live at the moment because baby will be due in less than 2 months, plus the structure of the MK tournament didn’t exactly make me want to rush back for a Unibet uk event. I am considering one last shot at UO London but hope to see you on some sort of tour soon mate!

Thanks @sgriff for the comments and you are absolutely right and I need to look at hands and scenarios in a vaccum and focus more on wether I made the right play. You have my utmost respect and I appreciate the feedback. There is more to this for me too. I often feel these types of series on a rec site are a great benefit to players like me who are used to grinding and satting and having decent scores. Many people from other sites feel the same as I see regs names from Skypoker etc all over the place. But this kind of series takes a huge toll on personal and family life. So it’s double tilting for me when I don’t feel justly rewarded as I’m missing out on family time. also, with the blog, I feel a huge sense of pressure. Yeah I’m a good player but there are millions of them. Not many that open themselves up honestly and stay transparent on a blog though. It becomes almost embarrassing to be transparent when failing so hard. On to today I guess and today’s prizepools could render all this sadness obsolete.

This run is ❤️♥️❤️ unbearable.... Only in the realms of space and astronomy do the figures exist to describe the odds of losing all the things I have this week. I have never EVER been on a run like this where not only can I not win a hand, but every decision I make, good or bad, is punished. 3 bet 23BB's allin in a good position? Yeah I should be able to add 7 BB's to my stack here they will never call... oh wait... they call K7 and Yep there it is K on the river to beat my A7. Reraise allin with top set as an above average stack against chip leader who has led on a dodgy board? Yeh I will get maximum value against this open ended or flush draw... oh wait... they've called with a gutshot and yep there it is! Just outside the points with a good stack and AK suited? UTG+2 knows whats a great idea! To push 50 BB's allin! Not caring about the min points I see a great oppurtunity to double against... 44? ok... Oh cool K on the flop nice I'll be one of the leaders now.... oh no wait 4 on the river cya later then. Raise from mid. I'm on button with QQ. 3 bet allin 25BB's. HUGEEE stack next reraises allin. But it's ok right? He's just being a bounty gannet he probably has trash. Oh, he has Q8. Excellent ohhhhhh no course board is 6 7 9 10 cya later then. Sneak in a pot with a raised pot with suited connecter. Flop pair and open ended. Bet, Move allin, snapped off by top pair who's 'snuck' in with J2. But wait I've turned a flush draw too. Surely I'm going to be fine. But no. It holds. Too many outs. I know @Brocky knows what I mean but it is so difficult to comprehend this sort of run. It should be almost mathmatically impossible but it continues to be relentless. You question every play you make. You wake up and load up games dreading the first bad beat which sets up your mental state for the rest of the day. You theorize that because you have the casino banned and haven't had to deposit much that Unibet is punishing you into spending more money. I'm not saying I make great decisions. I've made a lot of bad decisions during this series and more so due to the mental state. But its a double whammy when you consistantly see such awful play being so richly rewarded. What's scary is even through the bad decisions and being allin with trash I'm often still ahead!! There are very few people on this forum that could even begin to relate because I don't believe there are many who play the necassary volume to encounter runs like this. But if there are guys out there that do feel free to post some warm advice!

Access please and then if I qualify for Malta I’ll personally bring those box of chocolates 😃

You're still above me mate despite last nights better efforts. Had an unexpected and positive boost in the UOS bankroll today so I'm ready to take you over tonight 😛

Thanks @Silver1 I appreciate the advice. I'm getting closer but wonder when I'm going to get a break. Cashed 3 out of 5 tonight. Just finished 18th in the bounty high. I got no bounties but it wasn't for want of trying. I was probably allin to win a bounty 8 times and was never dominated. Always ahead or behind 40/60. Couldn't win a thing. Then in space of 3 hands im out. pushed 89 into short stack KQ, he held and I missed bounty. Threebet allin AK and called by A9 and they rivered a split pot. Next hand push 9 10 suited and get called by KQ and it holds. Win just one of them and maybe I make the final... I just can't seem to win an allin when it matters. Got points in 2 other events (both nanos, cashed both) but the cashes are insignificant to me at the moment. It's the wanting to play well and get rewarded for it that I'm after. @theMachine you currently have €0.37 coming your way don't panic! 🤣

@GR1ZZL3R Haha it was a good'un wasn't it! Unfortunately the same could not be said about my performance last night. Points in one low and one nano and a measly nano cash in the PLO mean that I am still yet to make any mark on this series. Just got home from work to start putting that right.

@triceraatopp honestly thanks for that I do appreciate when people point things out to me. I certainly can’t tell the difference when I’m in that mood lol and thanks again for the kind words! 😃 i just tried to look at the hand history but it wouldn’t load but you’re right - by the time that tournament even started I was tilted beyond belief and if I did lose AK jam to some trash that would of only made it worse lol Now I just need to work on catching you up! Had a decent afternoon on the tables so far and am looking forward to PLO tonight!

Thanks @triceraatopp I really appreciate the kind words 😃 Which table was that? There were a fair few it could be lol There were some smaller tables I opened last night for the purpose of blowing off some steam to try and save other tables but the cards were relentless I couldn't get back into the correct mindset. The post in itself last night was just me blowing off steam and I feel pretty good again now to go again today. One of the main reasons I love this blog is to document what it's like to be an on and off grinder of nano - mid stakes, with kids, with a full time job. I hope people can see the effort involved, and it's really hard! Life and poker often don't mix but I love that I can still remain profitable and every so often compete at Unibet's higher end. At the end of the day that's the positive message I sell myself. Just in those moments like last night it's incredibly hard to do! lol. We've all been there. Questioning everything we do because it seems nothing we do works. It is really hard to play good when you are running bad but I am really pleased with the way I handled the bubble of the low reentry event (the last table I had up). I was cool, made good decisions and managed to double my stack without being allin while we were hand for hand. It's those scenarios that I have to remember and not the bad ones. I'm not happy with a lot of my results this year, and there are many reasons for not currently being where I want to be escpecially over the last two months. I am hard on myself because I know I can do better. Those wins will come! Thanks Tri I think I'm right in saying you've already made a pretty good start on the leaderboard and I hope you can win some! I look forward to the inevitable battles with you again tonight 😃

I cannot comprehend how such shocking play gets so rewarded... Another unbelievable night. One of my worst in memory despite one cash in a low. I don't know the words exist to express the luck I've had tonight. I won't bore you with it. Just know that if I win a leaderboard it will be because of a titanic late effort. If this continues for much longer I'll be out of the running even by tomorrow night. I was tempted to call someone out on here so they could explain their thinking in a truly atriocius luckbox effort which crippled me, because I think I must of forgot how to play poker if this is how to win. But thats not my style. People pay their money. They play how they want. They ultimately give that money me. We go again tomorrow.

Absolutely seething after bricking the first 4 events - 3 in the same hand 10 seconds of each other all ahead and allin pre and two of them against hands that had no business whatsoever being in it. Add two stupidly unlucky sat bubbles to this and within the space of 2 hours I’ve gone from fully prepared and feeling good to wondering why I love this game so much (and what the hell goes through some people heads). Laptop has flown across the room. If it still works I’ll try out at least one point on a leaderbord tomorrow.

Final Stat update before UOS and I am expectig these figures to look loads better after it! Tournaments played: 746 (376 sats) ITM: 224 / 30.03% Total buyin: €3619.05 Total Cashes: €4400.69 Tournament Profit: +€781.64 ROI: 21.60% Tournament wins: 11 1x Galaxy Nano - 90 Runners 1x 1k Dark Matter - 103 Runners 3x Singularity - 87 / 128 / 37 Runners 1x 1k Moonwalk - 119 Runners 1x Deep Crazy Moon - 38 Runners 1x Zenith - 73 Runners 1x Shooting Star - 63 Runners 2x Community Game (€25), (€1) Hexapro 1: Played 231 won 107= +€87 2: Played 414 won 143 = -€22 5: Played 207 won 79 = -€32.5 10: Played 2 won 1 = -€5 Hexapro Profit: +€27.5 Cash 4NLH: 17 buyins +8.64 profit 4PLO: 18 buyins +15.60 profit 10NLH: 9 Buyins -16.89 profit 10PLO: 13 Buyins -15.41 profit 25PLO: 1 Buyin -25 Profit Cash Profit: -€33.06 Total Games Played: 1658 Total Unibet Profit: +€776.08 +€46.28 from other sites = +€822.36