Nice post dude and we will happily pledge £20 towards it so make sure you keep us updated.

I also am at peak weight and it for me just comes down to laziness and the love of beer. But after going to a funeral a few days ago I am back in the mindset of just do it. Clean life, no booze and moving my arse.

With you all the way buddy!

End of January poker update and week one weight loss review.

January was a success with poker. I made just over $1000 at the tables pre rakeback and I kept the coaching ticking over with five new students.

I played across pretty much every site in my portfolio, mostly on Unibet and Sky timewise but more volume on 888 than anywhere else.

Sky is definitely the softest site around but the software is just so terrible, my volume there is appalling and I seem to spend too much time sitting around at empty tables waiting for action, which might be ok if you're a full time player but as a part time player with limited opportunities to play, I don't have the patience to sit at the side of the pond waiting for bites.

If I just jump on to wait lists, the games aren't so much better than other sites to make it worth putting up with the software. Unibet is pretty reg heavy but many of them are huge stations and not particularly good. There are more than enough weak players to cover the rake for me and leave plenty behind for me to make a tidy profit and the software works great.

I have made a decision to focus on sites that don't have a speed poker option. I have nothing against speed poker, well, I do but I can't do anything about it, so I am hoping to do the next best thing and avoid all temptation to play. I love reg tables and I love the different dynamics that can build up in a relatively short period of time. I think you see way more weird unexplainable stuff on reg tables because the patience factor is more of an issue and the game seems less formulaic that it's fast fold brother.

I'm usually pretty strong willed. Speed poker is/has been hard to kick but I've been clean for a week now and I'm going to treat it the same way that I kicked smoking and hope to kick unhealthy food, which is one week at a time until it becomes the norm.

Talking about food, I have managed to lose 3lb in the first week of my challenge to lose 50lb in six months. I'm mildly disappointed with that, I was hoping to lose a lb or so more given it was the first week and it is supposed to come off quicker at the start but still, 3lb is decent I guess and more importantly, I managed to keep plenty of strong flavours in my meals which has been my downfall in the past. I want to get around 12lb-18lb off before I start exercising because I don't carry the weight well but hopefully by the time the weight starts coming off at a slower pace, hopefully then, the weather will be better too which will give me more ways to work up a sweat without having to brave the current horrendous weather we're having in my part of the world.

GL in February everyone.

Take care.

Reg

Congrats on losing the weight and well played on a 4 figure month! Not many can say either of those things!

What is your beef with Sky software? I think it is pretty glorious!

It's sluggish, sometimes I have to click several times to take an action and 15 seconds timebank doesn't lend itself to multi-tabling. I'm sure the guys that play upwards of 10 tables there are using software aids, either that, or they have NASA standard computers.

I know that's part of what makes it so soft but I couldn't grind there on a daily basis and I doubt they're making enough for significant investment to improve it anytime soon.

I think the problem might be on your end regarding Sky. I can multi table there and have never once had an issue nor has anyone I know even people who grind there full time. We have good computers but nothing Nasa'ish . Maybe check your graphics card, internet speed or anything else you can think of.

Our resident computer expert @MattVIP might have some ideas!

Hello, Regi. Just wanted to thank you for improving my game through your videos. I think I have watched them all your videos on youtube, even when I'm playing I let the playlist go on. The way you explain your thought process is very pedagogical and that's really appreciated.

Wish you the best of luck!

Thank you

I had to google pedagogical!

I try to keep my video's really simple. Not in a patronising way but there is a trend in modern poker discussion for players to over complicate relatively simple situations and this can be a minefield for new or recreational players that don't want to go super deep into the math or game theory.

There is absolutely a place for that kind of poker work but that place isn't in the microstakes and I try to make video's that reflect that view.

Weekly update:

I lost just 1lb this week but I had a very indisciplined weekend due to an impromptu trip to a country pub with my wife last night hoping to eat something healthy only to find their Sunday menu didn't have the dish I'd planned on having, so I ended up having a massive deluxe burger with bacon, onion rings, chips etc. It was beyond delicious but I regret doing it now.

I'm hoping to start doing some exercise towards the end of the month when the weather improves. It's been wild where I live weather wise all winter, not the kind of weather to tempt a confirmed idle bastard in his couch but with Spring around the corner, I'm hoping to conquer my idle ways and start getting some more fresh air.

It's been an average poker week. I've made around €150 and have been playing more €50nl but I haven't ran great, so in a way, I'm pleased to have made money despite having many infuriating moments.

I was pleased this week to start what I hope to be a weekly podcast which can be found here but sadly, the audio gets progressively worse throughout the video due to my messing the edit up but if you could give me some feedback on it, I'd appreciate it.

If you would like to take part in a future episode, please get in touch, I'll be looking for someone different to talk to every week about a whole range of poker related subjects and keep it fresh, so don't be shy.

Have a good week everyone and if you can't play good, be lucky!

Ain't no JUST mate that is dope.

My mum loses like 1lb a week every week last year and obv it added up to be chunks by the end of it even with all the slip ups or whatever. Slow and steady wins the race bro!

That's what my wife said. I'm an impatient sod though and if I get it in my head that 3lb per week is what I want, I'm always likely to be disappointed when I brick it.

Cheers though, I know you're right

Slightly belated update for this week.

First of all, weight loss. Just 1lb again, which people have already tried to cheer me up about but I'm pissed off with it. I do well most of the week, then over indulge on treat night or whatever and undo a weeks work! This week, I'm cutting out most of my bread consumption and yoghurts that I thought were healthy but turn out to be full of sugar!

I also did my first piece of real exercise in ages last week. Just a 4km walk but I was pleased with myself for doing it. I was pretty sore for a cople of days after but I'm off work until the weekend after this afternoon's shift and I plan on taking a walk tomorrow and Friday over a similar distance (weather permitting).

5lb lost in 3 weeks is ok I guess but I know I can do way better and I will hopefully prove that when I weigh in next Monday.

On to the poker. It was another good week. I played mostly speed poker due to a fear that my volume was way too low. I started out playing $30nl Snap and finished the week playing some $25nl full ring zoom. I made around $300 and felt good about my game.

I know that full ring suits me better than 6 max. I prefer to play full ring but like many, I guess I fall into the trap of doing things I'm less comfortable with because that's what most of the discussion around online poker centres on. Nothing wrong with that of course but I should probably be more disciplined mentally and sit in games that I like best rather than try to force square pegs into round holes as we all no doubt do from time to time.

I think a lot of why I have played so much 6 max over the last 18 months has been because of my desire to build my coaching business that is aimed at inexperienced players. It feels like if you don't play 6max, you're not credible. The more I think of this, the more I think I have been making a mistake.

I actually believe that new and inexperienced players would be much better served starting their poker life in full ring games, be that cash games, SNG's or MTT's, so it is my intention to get back up to speed with full ring poker. I intend to still play some 6 max of course, mostly on Unibet or Sky but not so much at speed poker tables.

I would also like to try and get $50nl full ring zoom going again once I feel I have given my game enough of a workout at the $25nl tables but if I fail, I expect to be playing $50nl full ring reg tables on stars by the end of the month (unless I find I can make $15ph at $25nl, in which case I'll happily just stay in that pool).

Finally, I'm still on the lookout for beginners/inexperienced players to join me on my new podcast. This week's hasn't been made yet due to work commitments, so if you would like to join me on an episode to be recorded some time tomorrow, please give me a shout. Anything goes on the podcast, we can talk about any problems you have when playing, we can discuss the weeks talking points, such as Mizzi cheating again, or Negreanu talking about big game politics etc.

So there you go, quite a long update but the cliffs are, it's been a better than average week.

GL this week folks!

I would be down for jumping on if you can find me of any use?

Sorry Jon, I thought I had replied to your post. I'm really struggling to find people willing to take part to a point where I can make it a regular thing, so I'm shelving the idea for the time being. I still want to make a weekly podcast, just for fun as much as anything but I don't want to do it solo.

If you want to have a chat about making a weekly, or bi-weekly podcast (if you have time) let me know and we can boot some ideas around.

On to this weeks update.

First of all, weight loss. Another 1lb off this week, which is not beginning to frustrate me. I'm being very disciplined with my diet but the weight is coming off slower than I had anticipated and hoped. I bought some badminton rackets last week and they arrived yesterday. I plan on playing twice per week, so hopefully that will help shift an extra lb or so because losing at a rate of 1lb only per week is breaking down my spirit a little.

This weeks poker has been ok, I started off hot and ended the week like a wet squib but I made money (albeit at a moderate hourly rate) and confirmed that stars (still) isn't my cup of tea.

I played 23k hands of zoom, mostly full ring and all $25nl. I played maybe three sessions of 6 max and just found the whole experience to be dull and unrewarding both in terms of enjoyment and profit. There are just too many solid(ish) players in zoom pools to ever make the game hold my attention. I'm certain that I beat the game but I expect not for a rate that makes me want to suck it up and grind it out.

Pushing what I expect to be a 3bb winrate in those games is just not in any way enjoyable to me. I'd rather just have a job picking litter up or in a supermarket for min wage than grind zoom for an equivalent hourly. I understand why some people like it and I fully understand why tonnes of players stick at it. It's easy to crush volume, the game is accessible pretty much 24/7 and the dynamics barely change so if you devise a winning formula, it's not that hard to just grind it out and make $$, particularly if you live in a country where making $1k per month puts you in a top earner bracket.

That isn't what I want my poker story to be though. I'm a recreational player at heart and as such, I need to be enjoying the poker experience and grinding it out against a bunch of similarly skilled players, riding the emotional rollercoaster and enduring the higher variance that comes with having a lower winrate just doesn't do it for me.

I have had a damn good look around the upper microstakes poker landscape so far this year and it's relatively barren. I think 888 remains the overall best option for someone like me. It has the speed poker option for times when I can't find enough good reg tables. It has just enough Full Ring traffic for when I feel like slowing it down a bit and the fish:reg ratio is still just about favourable enough for me to achieve a 5bb+ winrate. It's far from ideal but I believe it to be the best of a moderate bunch of options and it's where you will find me for the forseeable future, although with me, that can often be as little as just one week

Given I played a whole week on a site where tracking software works, I can share a graph with you as I know you guys love seeing graphs. I can also share my YTD graph for the first time as it's now approaching 50k hands. It doesn't of course show my results at Sky and Unibet where I have played at least 50% of the year so far but it does demonstrate that so far, despite a lot of chopping and changing, I'm having a decent enough start to 2016.

Last weeks grind https://gyazo.com/7c676ac69275851a24e2d6d6f4fb15fb

Year to date (on tracked sites) https://gyazo.com/85950371970c2a0945e0988ec4034306

Have a great week everyone.

Hello again folks, this update is going to be purely poker related and to the point. It is likely to irritate some grinders who have the polar opposite view but it comes straight from my guts and isn't going to be sugar coated.

I have been playing exclusively on Sky Poker and have returned to the methods that served me so very well from 2009-2014 where I consistently had a winrate >10bb/100. As anyone who reads my contributions to various forums regularly will know, I've been wrestling with the volume/game quality dilemma since last summer and I have been oscillating between speed poker and Sky/Unibet.

I have finally concluded that I have cost myself several thousand pounds by procrastinating so long and lacking direction.

For as long as I can remember, I have been urging most microstakes ring game players to avoid Pokerstars like the plague. I think I can now extend that to speed poker in general.

The games just suck. There isn't enough dead money in the pools to go around and give regs a winrate they can take pride in. A 2.5bb winrate isn't something anyone should take pride in. It demonstrates that the player is a busy fool, effectively slave labour for the sites.

If you're making 2.5bb/100 at a limit where that translates to an hourly rate of $25 or better, I guess that is ok but the guys grinding $10nl or lower for $2.50ph or less plus some crumbs of rakeback, are absolutely not making full use of their skills.

I was reading a post on 2p2 yesterday and I saw someone ask this question.

Please enlighten me which player is going to win LONGTERM at a NL100 tables at which stars charges 30bb/100 total (5bb/100 per player)
1. Fish (-5bb/100)
2. Hero (3bb/100)
3. Breako reg (0bb/100)
4. Strong reg (6bb/100)
5. Massgrinder (1bb/100)
6. Bot from Belarus (5bb/100)

Whether those numbers are super accurate or not, it's still a very good question. Even is we fiddle with the numbers a little to make the fish lose at 10bb and drop the bot to a lower winrate, it still demonstrates just how little money there is to be made in these games.

Even allowing for the occasional whales that lose at enormous rates at the nanostakes, the extra rake will account for a lot of their money and the games are still very hard to beat.

I'm sure at this point, lots of you will be thinking along the lines of 'work harder' 'learn to beat the regs' 'become the strong reg from the example' etc. This logic is severely flawed. In theory it makes perfect sense but in practice, for the vast majority of players it just isn't going to happen. What you end up with is a huge slew of talented players that aren't quite top grade for their pool propping the games for the strongest regs and the sites to make all of the money, whilst they chase the dream that one day, they will be that 'strong reg'.

Almost without exception, every player that I know that has successfully made the break away from speed poker and got back into playing reg tables practicing good table/seat selection has increased their profitability significantly. When we table select, we not only get to choose who we play against, we also get to decide who to allow to have position on us and we also get to choose good seats relative to the weakest players, which obviously has a huge impact on our profitability.

Imagine instead of the example above, you could play at a table like this.

1. Fish (-20bb)
2. Fish (-30bb)
3. Hero (10bb)
4. Reg (5bb)
5. Reg (5bb)
6. Reg (10bb)

You wouldn't need many tables of that quality to eclipse your tiny winrate from speed poker and what is more, you would actually be on track to build a roll. Who knows, maybe you might even start truly enjoying the game.

There are so many players that almost have a love/hate relationship with the game and that's mostly because a lot of the time, the games are just too tough but they feed some kind of addiction, either to the action, or to the dream that one day, the player might just have it all click into place and become the next end boss.

The overwhelming narrative you get from almost every poker community is that to be successful you need to play insane volume and be some kind of GTO whizzkid. If you're not that guy, you're not a poker player.

Whilst that maybe a slight exaggeration, it isn't at all far removed from the truth. This post is designed to challenge that narrative and hopefully help some people at least consider changing their ways. I expect the vast majority of players that currently subscribe to the high volume/low winrate 'learn to beat the regs' way of life will dismiss this out of hand and pour scorn on this post. That is fine, I am used to the derision and I'm fine with it but if this post has given you some food for thought and you decide to try a different way, please let me know how it goes, I'll be expecting to read more success stories than tales of woe

GL until the next update

Reg

Very well written and well spoken in the podcast as I already let you know elsewhere I have made this journey myself, from trying desperately to eek out a profit at the nl25 zoompool, bashing my head bloody against the eastern european (often professional) regs, failing miserably and hating poker life. After starting playing again at unibet I can even feel that I am crushing again and I haven't really felt that way in several years now. I also enjoy playing poker again with no pressure and very tiny downswings and that is really important for me too as I don't care to play only for the money, I reeeally need to enjoy myself too.

Thanks again regi!

Time for a little update.

I'm still oscillating between Sky and 888 with more of my volume on Sky than 888.

The games on Sky are great but it can be utterly infuriating at times with some of the insane hands that go down. The short term swings are harder to deal with and the reduced volume accentuates that but long term, I'm sure Sky is the most profitable site for me right now.

I have been experimenting with some open limping and overlimping and posted some thoughts Here I'm far from happy with how I'm implementing it yet but it's work in progress and I'm having fun with it.

I don't know if it's just the poker circles I move in but the poker landscape seems to be shifting. Players seem to be slowing down a little. Games seem slightly less aggressive pre flop, calling seems to be coming more de rigeur. If I'm right, it's a welcome change. Even when I play Snap, the games seem to be quieter pre flop. Maybe players have tightened up a little, rather than become less aggressive. I don't play on Stars, so I can't comment much for that but I'd be interested to read the observations of other grinders.

Finally, I have created a group for microstakes players on Facebook. Here is the link if you want to join and get involved Here

Link city up in hereeeeeeeeeeee!

Go steady on the advertising please buddy