Hey nicam, I didn't realise you have a journey going, I have been slightly neglectful of everyone elses of late due to my hectic life and I must have missed this!

Anyway, best of luck to you, hope you crush!

Thanks Keri, yes it is hard to keep up with and post in everyones blog or journey.

I have won just over 2 BI since I got to my lowest point. I am slowly starting to grasp little bits here and there. I have managed to increase my 3b from 4.1 to 5.4, so getting there slowly. In fact I have more idea of my 3betting range from OOP than IP, I am finding it harder to get a decent 3 betting range from the button, but no problems from the blinds OOP. I will sort it I think just maybe a little more reading and watching videos to go yet. I dont think I will be 3betting from the button like in Paul Ottos video though, as my post flop skills would not be up to it just yet,lol.
I have probably been doing more studying and watching videos than playing, but I am in no rush as I have waited 56 years to start learning this game so whats another year or so.
Good luck to everyone on their journey, even if I cant get to post in all the journey blogs I am still reading them.

Another disaster day for me today and lost 1.75 BI, disappointing after a recovery of sorts the last few days, but hey we move on. I made some good reads on this bluffing maniac fish who was betting 3 streets with say K3o on 6789x boards and stuff. I finally got into two pots with him and of course both time when I called him down he had a set!! I tried to let him hang himself but I ended up hanging myself, I just dont think the poker gods are smiling on me much right now. The very next hand he bluffed off all his chips, so frustrating that it couldnt be against me.
When I finally made a real hand a nut flush I won 77 cents!! I am still pleased with the improvement I feel I am making but I need something to go my way soon........

Hi buddy. Keep making good reads and playing well and i'm sure it will turn in your favor soon

Up and down day today, lost a BI this afternoon where I just kept raising big cards never to hit a flop, calling pp in position never hitting a set and so on, never felt like I had done anything but the losses mounted up. Then I won a BI plus a dollar tonight, so a winning day,lol. It could have been so much better too as I got allin v a mad maniac for his last 40*bb with AKs verses his J7o, sure as eggs is eggs a Jack flopped I still had overcards and a gutter but those 20% shots dont come in for me at the moment.
I still feel a little improvement though still much to work on.

well fresh day tommorow move on m8

Dropped another couple of BI the last two days got allin as a 70/30 twice and lost, stopped for the day after that.
So I thought I would take a look at my stats. I don't know how to post the graph and stats so here is a quick rundown.
I am currently losing $199 after 8777 hands @ -17.52bb/100. According to ev adjusted I am $150 worse off than I should be, but most of that is pre flop as I run the allin preflop query and it showed I am running $150 below ev preflop.
I am playing 20/16 VPIP, a little tighter than perhaps I should be though maybe best to be tighter whilst learning. I could probably raise more from the button but I found early on when I started playing that most people were calling their blinds, and not folding the flop, so I tightened up.
My 3b % is 5.2 but my defend to 3b is only 24%, so I am not defending my opens enough, my 4b is low too at 2%, and squeeze is 3.5%.
My WTSD IS 29%.
Aggression factor is only 1.8.
CB flop 69.7, CB turn 47.1, fold flop CB is 47.1. Flop CB success only 40%.
River Effic = 1.9.

Dollar totals by position

SB -34 @ -15.5BB/100
BB - 231 @ -106BB/100
UTG - 38 @ -40.58BB/100
MP +36
CO - 37
BUT +106

I dont know what standard figures are for a lot of stats, but from what I can see here is I need to improve 3betting and calling 3bets as if I am only defending 24% then I am easy meat.
I think my 3betting range from sb is 7%, but from the button is only 4.4%, its fair to say though that I have only just found my 3betting button range and the spots since then have been sparse.
But I am not defending my opens enough especially from utg, probably means I am not calling enough v 3 bets and not 4b bluffing enough either. Any advice in how to defend your opens especially utg opens or any articles that I can be pointed to will be appreciated.
I am obviously leaking from BB at more than 100/100.

Managed to turn a profit of $19 dollars last couple of days. The card catchers are still finding them and when I do hit something worth stacking off with the board runs out so bad.
Still at least kept in the game, so thats something I guess.

Nice to hear you have grabbed some profit. Remember that feeling, remember what you did to get it and do it again!

Thanks John but I think I give up my journey as it just dont happen for me, every time it matters I lose. The fish just keep catching cards every time the pot is big or I lose all in pf as fav.
I played this afternoon and played as well as I can to my ability but another $33 went on the missing list and I am now so depleted I might as well give up.
I raise TT get called, hit a set on flop get called, river completes flush, this time I shove( he was less than full stack and he shows me 52s!! He caled with absolutely no odds on turn but hit.
Next hand I raise AKo and flopped jackpot straight and won a dollar!!!!!!!!!
So I clawed back to almost parity and find KK, get 3b, and obv 4b and he shoves, he had TT and flopped a ten. I am over $250 behind EV on my allins pre flop and that it what I am losing overall. I feel I am improving little by little but those poker gods never smile at me. I started with 25 BI and I have 1/2 that left now, so I feel my journey is over.

Thought I would update where I am at right now. I have carried on playing since I last posted. I didnt post much about it as I didnt want to go on moaning about the beats. The mental side of poker is so much harder than you can possibly imagine when you first start out, you have to dig so deep into yourself.

Well to date I have not made any progress moneywise but I do feel I have made some progress game wise. There is still so much strategy stuff that I just dont get but I am trying so hard to learn but I also have to learn that Good Judgement comes from experience and experience comes from bad judgement!

I have only played 15k hands to date, I do suffer from not being able to do big volume as I have long term health issues. I am still only playing one table at a time. I cant add to it yet as I cant spread myself wide enough just yet. I play about 3 hours a day, thats 1.5 hours in the afternoon and the same at night. Obviously as I start to add tables(hopefully get up to 4 tabling at some stage) my volume will increase. I am still some 12BI down after 15k hands but honestly feel that I am progressing slowly. I also honestly feel that at my level I am not outclassed or that there are too many that are any better than me. I havent run good to date but also have made plenty of mistakes too. But you are allowed to make mistakes so long as others make more mistakes than you I guess.

I do feel that long term I can beat this level, just need some spots to come my way for a change. I got to just stay in the game and keep learning. I would love to get coaching at some stage but right now its out of my reach and bankroll. I do need to understand more of what I am doing but I keep studying and trying hard..

15k hands 1 tabling is a ton! Poor health or not! I doubt anyone else here has done that!

Its great to see you back and i have deffs missed reading your journey. Coaching can be a great thing and should be seen as an investment but yes its somewhat expensive compared to players bankrolls or stakes they play.

For now coaching wise: Put lots of hands up in the strat forum, mention/ask about certain spots here and myself + members + coaches will respond. This is a great way to learn and really start moving on up in your poker career.

Thanks for the reply Jon appreciated.

Hey Nicam,

Sorry to see you are having a bit of a hard time! Have you tried playing more than 1 table? When I first started being staked I had only played a couple of tables at a time and it all seemed a bit daunting to me at first and I had worries about trying more. Once I did though, I realised it is so much better. So much more action to keep us interested and it helps me to stop playing too fancy, getting involved in hands I shouldn't be.

Maybe you could try 4 tables with a stop loss of say 3 buy ins, you may really enjoy it and believe me you will quickly get used to it. I now play a minimum of 6 tables during a session and 8 when I have no distractions and feel on the ball. Obviously it is always best to do what you are comfortable with but I hope this helps.

Best of luck to you

Hi Keri

I want to play more tables in time but right now my bankroll has dwindled in half so I dont want to spread myself so thin. All in good time I feel if I can hold out long enough, but thanks for the advice!

Hey, that is fair enough, no worries at all, best of luck to you!

wtf 1 tabling and ur at 15k hands lol this seems crazy to me!
as long as u think ur improving just keep going in the right direction...there are plenty of tools here in this forum, youlll get those 12bi back!

15k sounds a lot but it is over the course of a couple of months so only 300-400 hands a day when I play, as 3 hours is max I can play per day right now.


Was card dead today played like a 15/11 but I did win a buy in having to make a brave call down against a triple barrel as his river bet just wreaked bluff to me, and another couple of river calls were okay too, lets see how it goes tonight.

Pretty break even the last 3 days, no headway made but no further losses. Was pretty card dead Friday and Saturday but saw more action yesterday. I played my longest ever session about 3 hours and I was getting pretty knackered by the end of it. I started about a BI down. I lost half a BI v a reg when I had AA and the flop came QQ6, I cbet and immediately got raised, I called and he bet the turn, I called again, maybe I should have folded turn but it feels a little to weak but he was only representing Q or 66, he shove river I fold, and another loss in co with KJs, got 3 bet v light 3 better on the button who doesn't fold to 4 bets either, so I called oop even though its not good to call 3 bets oop but I know how light he 3 bets from my notes, the flop came KT4, he bet I called, the turn a blank again I c/c, river a Ten but completed the flush, I check but fortunately for me he checks behind and he shows JTo. Forgetting the river what to do in these spots, where you know you are being light 3 bet a lot, I could tighten up my co range I guess, but against someone like him who I feel is just a gambler I think maybe I get some value calling in these spots and calling down with semi decent equity. I dont want to 4 bet as he will either call or 5 bet and I will get blown off my hand. I dont really want to be calling 3 bets oop but sometimes feel I have to.
Then I felt pretty unlucky as I hit two sets and flopped the nut flush but each time no one else had a second best hand to pay me off with, you do need that luck too where someone can have the second nut flush etc. Then I just won a few small pots and eventually finished the session 54c behind which was as good as I could hope for.
Lets see what this week or month brings. My goals are simply to keep going, keep trying to learn and understand more as I go along.

Good update man! Yeh March sounds good but April is going to be bigger!