Giving Poker A Shot
Trying to get back into poker. Got into the theory like 5-6 years back, read some books, watched some videos, messed around with flopzilla and GTO+ but I had terrible tilt control and discipline, was broke, and wasn't in a good place in my life, so never really got off the ground.
Hoping to make something lasting out of it, mostly for self-enrichment and to prove to myself I can. Always loved games.
Also looking to be less of an ******* online than I was, looking at my old post history I'm embarrassed, I genuinely don't remember behaving like that and I want to be better.
Current roll is 20x buyin @ 5NL. Starting small.
Next Poker Goal: Hit 20k hands played online, checkin on winrate and post graph.
Study Goals: Polish up preflop (esp SB def ranges, BB def ranges, 3bet/call/fold ranges in raised pots, 3bet sizing vs 3x open). Post some hands on 2+2. Find a study group. Keep listening to Thinking Poker Daily pods. Read Play Optimal Poker 2.
Habit Goals: Play 5 days a week (1h a day min. Review hands for 10-15min, then 4 table 45min). STOP THINKING ABOUT AND CHECKING RESULTS MID SESSION.
Didn't hit previous goals, had some trouble w/ getting the routine down. Also got too in the weeds on one position in a way that was not implementable for me and needed to take a step back, esp cuz I had a couple blastoff sessions ignoring basic fundamental poker. Did get some coaching notes in at least.
Had some up and downs the past week or so. Plan was to get more hands in, got about 2k in on iggy which is decent compared to where I've been at. Ended up having some really good and really bad sessions. My most glaring/problematic issue in my worst sessions continues to be inexplicable bluffs with air. I am working on it, doesn't happen every session but when it does, it seems to happen multiple times over a short span.
Going forward, really want to try and continue to prioritize getting hands in, and reviewing my own hands. I have a tendency to get way off course on conceptual stuff I'm not ready or able to implement. I'm still a bit jumbled as far as "baseline" strategy, don't exactly feel grounded or consistent in what I am doing (sizing, my own range construction), but I do feel like I am making better decisions overall in terms of my hand vs the action/board/opponent.
Other thing I started recently is completely quit looking @ the graph. I think I was 8BI under allin-EV and I couldn't stop checking the graph mid session, so I took any winrate info off my drivehud dashboard and its been really nice. Trying to continue that, may have some infrequent checkin esp for the blog. I think maybe 20k hands like I talked about in the OP. Currently at 6400.
for fun, here's an example of a totally inexplicable hand in one of the bad sessions. I genuinely have no justification.
NL Holdem 0.1(BB)
HERO (112.9BBs)
BTN (75.7BBs) [VPIP: 18.1% | PFR: 14.3% | AGG: 41.2% | Hands: 107]
SB (167.3BBs) [VPIP: 48.3% | PFR: 41.4% | AGG: 26.3% | Hands: 30]
BB (140.7BBs) [VPIP: 18.5% | PFR: 14.8% | AGG: 26.1% | Hands: 81]
HJ (51.9BBs) [VPIP: 35.7% | PFR: 7.1% | AGG: 42.9% | Hands: 14]
Dealt to Hero: 9♥ K♥
HJ Folds, HERO Raises To 2.5BBs, BTN Raises To 7.5BBs, SB Folds, BB Folds, HERO Calls 5BBs
Hero SPR on Flop: [4.13 effective]
Flop (16.5BBs): A♣ Q♠ 6♣
HERO Checks, BTN Bets 4.2BBs (Rem. Stack: 64BBs), HERO Raises To 16BBs (Rem. Stack: 89.4BBs), BTN Calls 11.8BBs (Rem. Stack: 52.2BBs)
Turn (48.5BBs): A♣ Q♠ 6♣ 9♣
HERO Bets 89.4BBs (allin), BTN Calls 52.2BBs (allin)
River (190.1BBs): A♣ Q♠ 6♣ 9♣ 5♦
Spoiler
BTN shows: 9♠ A♠
SB shows: 4♠ A♦
BB shows: K♠ J♠
HJ shows: 4♦ 6♥
BTN wins: 145.3BBs
Found there's a 1/1 no rake bar game that runs like 10min away, and also some free tourneys that seem to run in the area daily, so hoping in the next few weeks to get my feet wet a bit in live and get comfortable just like, sitting at a poker table and tracking pot odds/stacks.
If anyone has some helpful tips/resources for 4-5 card double board plo bomb pots that'd also be great, seem to be unavoidable around here in the NLHE cash games.
