I'm still alive by the way, I've just taken Poker down a notch or two. Donking about on Unibet and Party every now and again but it not enough to warrant comment on.

Hope you are all kicking ass and taking names but your all out of bubble gum or whatever it was that Duke Nukem used to say (ask your parents if Call of Duty was the first time you shot at computer generated people).

Happy Easter weekend my dudes. Just my now yearly check in, to read the challenge threads and see how your all cooking. Hope all at VIP are well. I've just had a little itch to play so donking around again. Just for fun.

Much love to all.

Hey man!

Did you win something or do well in something recently? I'm sure I saw the name "tallpaul" somewhere and I was wandering if it was you!

I'm always winning, but no, I doubt that was me. I've not played poker for a year.

Oioi! Great to see you bud

Cheers Jon, hows things with you? Hows poker? Still constant back and forth about GTO vs exploitative? Games any different? I'm just playing NL5 on 888 and seems OK so far.

I don't really play much anymore bud! Enjoying the other side of it and kept busy there!

Good good.

I'm really enjoying noodling back on 888 poker. Definately caught the bug again. I'm not going to invest a lot in it though, so just playing NL5 for a bit I think. Initial run has me up about 4 BI. Now I got my PT4 resetup again on my new laptop, I'll start tracking it and keep this posted. I'll post a hand or two if they are ridiculously bad, or good or lucky.

In other news I'm planning to run 500 miles and read 20 books this year. I'm currently on 161 miles so ahead of pace, and 9 books down so waaaay ahead on that. I've also started writing on a small scale. Usually weird Sci Fi or dark flash fiction. I might post some of that on as well for a change of pace.

Mental game is the best its ever been so thats pretty awesome. Maybe I'm finally getting my shit together now I'm well into my 30's! The only area I'm bombing in is lifting. I suck at weights, makes me feel sick immediately, but I know a lot of Poker people are well into that, so I'd love any advice!

Keep crushing everyone.

Sooooooo, first session back tracking my play on PT4. It had it all, it had good hands, bad hands, bad play, more bad play, and a general lack of awareness on my part and most of the people I played against. Loved it.

Started well, with some nice big showdown wins. I got a bit cocky, and made one of the dumbest, mind blank calls you'll ever see.


BB: 15.4 BB (VPIP: 66.67, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 3)
UTG: 226 BB (VPIP: 20.55, PFR: 16.44, 3Bet Preflop: 10.00, Hands: 74)
MP: 104 BB (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: -, Hands: 3)
Hero (CO): 100 BB
BTN: 101.2 BB (VPIP: 20.83, PFR: 18.75, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 52)
SB: 158.2 BB (VPIP: 30.61, PFR: 22.45, 3Bet Preflop: 4.55, Hands: 50)

SB posts SB 0.4 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has Ks Jc
fold, fold, Hero raises to 2 BB, fold, SB calls 1.6 BB, BB calls 1 BB

Flop : (6 BB, 3 players) Kh Jd 2s
SB checks, BB bets 1 BB, Hero raises to 5 BB, SB calls 5 BB, fold

Turn : (17 BB, 2 players) 4c
SB checks, Hero bets 12.6 BB, SB raises to 31.4 BB, Hero calls 18.8 BB (Hmm questionable at best)

River : (79.8 BB, 2 players) 3d
SB bets 119.8 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 61.6 BB and is all-in (WAT R U DOIN! JESUZ)


I can maybe get on board with my play up to the river call. But yikes. What did I think he had after flatting in the blinds, raising turn and bombing river?

After that I had a nice run of folding way too much. Redline into freefall. That is what tilt looks like for me. I don't spew like most, I start seeing monsters every time. Plus I hit nothing. Then the best thing was that I snapped out of it, settled down, planned my hands properly and stopped the losses, despite not getting anything good to take to showdown. So all in all I'd say a good day.

Lessons (re)learned

If they triple barrel or jam the river they are likely to have the goods at this limit. Don't overthink it with 2 pair or less.
At this limit lack of aggression is not likely to be a trap or balancing their Cbet range by checking TPWK. It is likely to mean they don't got anything.
Just play good cards, in position, plan the hand early, respect aggression. Hopefully I'll be able to beat this again with a bit of practice.

Good luck on the tables and in the real world!

Second session in the books. Played pretty well for most of it carrying on from the second half of the last session. Biggest leak was double barrelling and then whiffing vs fish. Overvaluing my fold equity as I was crushing and getting pulled down to earth by their 3rd pair call downs. I don't think any of them were horrible vs unknown, but I should have probably adjusted and saved some money vs some of these guys. I'm also not 3betting enough or raising post flop enough. And folding too much to 3bets. However I think this means I'm playing a lot of small pots vs guys I think I can move around. I dunno, I'm torn between working on it now, or just focus on the absolute basics now as I ease back into the rhythms of playing. 10BI up so far.




I'll have a think. What would be the priority if I was to work on one? 3betting or facing 3bets?

Just as a comedy aside I came into the kitchen this morning and my daughter looked up at me.
"What. Is. That on your head?!"
"Its just a spot darling, nothing to worry about."
"Are you sure? It looks ridiculous! Go and look again!"

Cheers. Really set me up for the day at work.

What do we think the best play here is on the turn? UTG limp calls. No idea what his range is, looks like a pretty major fish. Firing the flop standard I think. Loads of pairs, draws etc. Turn is a brick so fire again. Not sure why so small in hindsight. Seems like an error. When he raises though. He's probably got all the 2 pairs, JT, can't see him having sets. Ah blocks a few flush draws. But then he could be spazzing. Feels like a fold to me. I need him to have a lot of combos of spaz, or raising naked TP for me to be ahead of his range here.

Hero (BB): 128.8 BB
UTG: 145.8 BB (VPIP: 69.23, PFR: 25.64, 3Bet Preflop: 20.00, Hands: 40)
MP: 132.6 BB (VPIP: 23.86, PFR: 15.91, 3Bet Preflop: 6.98, Hands: 89)
CO: 202.6 BB (VPIP: 33.87, PFR: 16.13, 3Bet Preflop: 3.45, Hands: 64)
BTN: 115 BB (VPIP: 20.00, PFR: 12.73, 3Bet Preflop: 13.04, Hands: 55)
SB: 126.6 BB (VPIP: 23.53, PFR: 14.71, 3Bet Preflop: 5.71, Hands: 277)

SB posts SB 0.4 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has Ah Ad
UTG calls 1 BB, fold, fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to 4.2 BB, UTG calls 3.2 BB

Flop : (8.8 BB, 2 players) Ks Qh 9h
Hero bets 6.6 BB, UTG calls 6.6 BB

Turn : (22 BB, 2 players) 3c
Hero bets 11 BB, UTG raises to 36 BB, ?

Bit of a meh run the last few days. Still up a few BI overall, but the upward streak got less pretty. I've been getting into lots of river raise spots, where I'm not sure if I'm too loose or too tight.

BB: 88.2 BB (VPIP: 60.00, PFR: 40.00, 3Bet Preflop: 33.33, Hands: 5)
UTG: 213.8 BB (VPIP: 77.78, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 10)
CO: 199.4 BB (VPIP: 21.03, PFR: 11.81, 3Bet Preflop: 4.50, Hands: 280)
Hero (BTN): 126.6 BB
SB: 131.8 BB (VPIP: 27.53, PFR: 18.99, 3Bet Preflop: 7.09, Hands: 319)

SB posts SB 0.4 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has Ac As
UTG calls 1 BB, fold, Hero raises to 4.4 BB, SB calls 4 BB, fold, UTG calls 3.4 BB

Flop : (14.2 BB, 3 players) 8s 5d 7h
SB checks, UTG checks, Hero bets 10.8 BB, SB raises to 28.6 BB, fold, Hero calls 17.8 BB

Turn : (71.4 BB, 2 players) 2c
SB bets 98.8 BB and is all-in, ?




CO: 100 BB (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: -, Hands: 3)
BTN: 104.2 BB (VPIP: 40.00, PFR: 20.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 6)
Hero (SB): 158.8 BB
BB: 106.6 BB (VPIP: 28.49, PFR: 20.67, 3Bet Preflop: 6.67, Hands: 182)
UTG: 71.6 BB (VPIP: 41.67, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 12)

Hero posts SB 0.4 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has Kd Qc
fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to 2.4 BB, BB calls 1.4 BB

Flop : (4.8 BB, 2 players) Qd Td 4h
Hero bets 3.6 BB, BB calls 3.6 BB

Turn : (12 BB, 2 players) 2h
Hero bets 9 BB, BB calls 9 BB

River : (30 BB, 2 players) 9d
Hero bets 15 BB, BB raises to 50 BB, ?

don't be concerned about being too tight on the river, it'll save you loads.

This was lolz! Isoing limper pre, perhaps a bit loose OOP but whatever its Zoom. Flop the supernuts, and plan to checkraise, but then the other guy calls as well, so I redo plan to get it in on the turn.

Turn goes as planned, and assume I'm up against the dummy end of the straight, sets, maybe some ambitious 2 pearz. Coolers, sucks to be them.

But seriously? 2nd pair no draw and a preflop flat of KK in position? My ranging attempts are totally pointless sometimes.

BTN: 46.8 BB (VPIP: 16.67, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 6)
Hero (SB): 118.6 BB
BB: 111.2 BB (VPIP: 100.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 2)
UTG: 123.2 BB (VPIP: 17.65, PFR: 17.65, 3Bet Preflop: 20.00, Hands: 17)
MP: 60 BB (VPIP: 20.00, PFR: 20.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 5)
CO: 74 BB (VPIP: 66.67, PFR: 33.33, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 3)

Hero posts SB 0.4 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has Jh Tc
fold, fold, CO calls 1 BB, fold, Hero raises to 4 BB, BB calls 3 BB, CO calls 3 BB

Flop : (12 BB, 3 players) 7s 8h 9c
Hero checks, BB bets 6 BB, CO calls 6 BB, Hero calls 6 BB

Turn : (30 BB, 3 players) 4h
Hero checks, BB bets 22.4 BB, CO calls 22.4 BB, Hero raises to 108.6 BB and is all-in, BB calls 78.8 BB and is all-in, CO calls 41.6 BB and is all-in

River : (296.4 BB, 3 players) 2s

Hero shows Jh Tc (Straight, Jack High)

BB shows Kd Kc (One Pair, Kings)

CO shows As 8d (One Pair, Eights)

@thetallpaul Glad to see you back sir! I missed your arrival a bit because I'm kinda busy adjusting to my new place at the moment, but I'll definitely follow this thread and try to contribute in the future.

@MattVIP How is the new place? You still the mental game master over here? My mental state continues to improve. Its interesting reading back over old threads to see what a bad place I was in. Less so here, than my old thread on 2+2 from years ago, where I was even more negative and self defeating than I was here, if you can believe that. I read a piece the other day about learned helplessness (I think it was your article) and that definitely resonates.

Pokerwise, I'm not taking it that seriously, but I'm currently up 18BI on NL5. The standard on 888 is horrible. Even rusty as I am its still pretty soft. I will probably try NL10 at some point soon. I'm just doing the 888 promotion stuff now. It rewards a small amount of play every day, which is fine for me just now. I doubt I'll move up much if at all. I think on balance I like just playing nickel and dime poker for fun while I'm watching TV in an evening.

Its been a year away from Poker. My kids are growing up fast and are awesome, workwise I get paid even better for a job I'm good at now. My wife got a personal trainer and is running a marathon soon, for Beating Bowel Cancer (after we lost a close friend to it, at 34) and is in the best shape she's ever been in, which is a win for everyone! I'm running 500 miles this year (170 miles down) and just re-joined a gym so hopefully I'll be able to get my fitness on point. I'm also writing a bit which is fun. The biggest single things I've changed though.

1 - Every night I write down 3 things I am grateful for in my day. It starts off all like about my kids, or seeing my family or wife or whatever, but what's fun now, a year in, is the things get smaller and more random. Gratefulness is like any other skill, as you practice you get better at it. Now it can be tiny moments, or stupid things. Yesterday for example I was walking through a carpark and saw a sign that said 'Smile, you're on CCTV' as a theft deterrent. I smiled at the camera, tripped on a loose paving slab, and that made me really laugh thinking about the person watching the cameras. Not that long ago, I'd have been embarrassed to publically trip, or annoyed about the loose slab. Now I find a small bit of joy in the whole affair.

2 - I made a decision to every day do 1 thing for my mental health and 1 thing for my physical health. It can be something big or serious like meditation or a long run or whatever, but again the fun stuff is when you start to notice the smaller chances to do something for your wellbeing.


What's going on in your world more generally?

The new place is fine, I moved to a rural area, it's less practical (took me like two months to adjust to it) but it's quieter and far more beautiful than the middle of the city which suits me well. Thanks for asking!

I wouldn't exactly call myself 'mental game master' but yeah I'm here to help. I'm genuinely happy to hear your mental state has improved. We're all works in progress and it's always great to hear when someone manages to catch some positive momentum.

As for me, I've been busy... and not in a good way. It was more "flapping my wings around" kind of busy rather than "focused, diligent work on something of value" kind of busy. Fortunately, I'm in the process of readjusting my priorities and I should be fine from now on. Being grateful helped with that process a lot actually. The idea of gratitude journal sounds like some new age mumbo jumbo straight out of a bad pop-science infotainment book, but it's actually an amazing tool for anyone that cares about their peace of mind. So yeah, not that you need it but I definitely approve of the changes that you listed Let me know if I can help with anything and have a great one, sir!

Had another little session on Friday night, and have now won over 20 BI. Whats the current view on when to move up. I used to use 20BI at the next level and then take a 5BI shot. I'm at that point now, so could have a try at NL10. Might have to get my stats checked over as well, see what I've forgotten in my time away.

Move up when you feel you have enough $ and the confidence!

I'm gonna have a little run at NL10. Will mean I have to concentrate and may even have to call some 3bets!

NL5 was so straight forward, it was a nice return to the game.