Lifeguard_22

Point 1 - disagree: player can improve but at such a slow rate that they never gain enough edge to beat the competition if it improves faster

Point 2 - agree: on a graph its the gradient of the improvement line vs the competitions that is the most important factor on how the player will perform

you have a ton of playability IP here, never folding. Backdoor flush draw to backup your gutter. Poker is a multi street game and this is the flop, two streets left to play IP with a hand that can bluff and also can make the nuts - easy call.

Bet call turn bc you have oesd. Fold river bc your very well protected and turn XR is underbluffed in general - just my 2cents though :)

NOVEMBER UPDATE
Long time since i posted, that will be what playing poker, working a full time job, having a family + pregnant partner and still trying to surf a occasionally does :) Did get a few waves last week - here's a pic

^^^ this was my last shift at "work" haha - nice way to finish on the beach

POKER
So 2017 has been a big change of path year for me, and it's been tough year time wise for me trying to play, study and work a second job for most of it. I started the CFP program with Nick Howard in January, and spent the first 6-months studying and playing, with average results. This was due to in part to my lack of integration of concepts. Also working full time job 40 hrs a week it was tough to keep up. Having a family i found scheduling was the way forward and still try and use a schedule on a daily basis. Anyway I managed to get everything together (6months living expenses in the bank) to go full time pro now, and now things are going really well.

Barcelona
Went to meet Nick and the crew in Barcelona in August, it was a great trip and I was sure then I'd be going full time asap, a few pics from the time there:

The program is always evolving +it's cool to see how far we have come as a group in terms of developing strategy that are usable at the tables, plus we have developed our own language to describe poker strategies, which sounds a bit funny but makes a huge difference for analysis. I couldn't talk about poker in any other way now.

Anyway, since i went pro about a month ago started having some good results at 200+ NL games - feels really nice but also aware its small sample and i know i still have a ton of areas to improve in. Actually exciting to know how much winrate is available still considering the upgrades i'm making. I honestly would say i am nowhere near where I want to be in terms of range vs range interaction. I recently started busting some Pio work out, was nice to add in for a few weeks, however that's gone on hold as i find a bunch of new area's to refine in my current thought processes. One thing the program has taught me is to try and find the direction that’s most relevant.

I did a quick 5K blast on 25nl zoom last week to check a few things on my overall strategy with Nick - ran well above average for sure but can also confirm there is a ton of free money available, the main leak of the regs i noticed was betting wrong hands (without knowing why) and not being able to fold after betting river - so play good on river and you will win a nice amount i am sure. Plus there is a ton of fish which obviously helps. I would think its definitely beatable for a nice clip, even though the rake is really joke high - i paid 9.5bb/100 in my sample playing 32/27/11 (vp/pfr/3b) stats, which made me feel kinda sick when i thought about adding it up over a larger sample its just unfair on the players - Top tip: don't play Stars :)
25NL zoom

^^^biggest pot :)

Other tips for beating low stakes zoom are :
* don't 3B bluff EP, MP opens much
* don't 4B bluff
* fold to 3Bs a lot

FATHERHOOD
Finally, my partner Sarah is 36 weeks pregnant, we are expecting a little boy next few weeks so its gonna be another big change for me, i am so excited and i can't wait for that. Gotta get my fatherhood skills tuned up now, and will be I will aim to update monthly now, with a pic of the little fella. That's all for now though GL everyone.

TBh i would play 3 tables of zoom max while your trying to improve

Still nice giraffe D - onwards and upwards bro

hey ian - na seems fairly thin on these ones - was looking for an idiots guide to the program - whats various parts of the interface are - and navigating my way around setting up a model

ZoomTime

So far this year results are like this:

Lots of small steps have added up to a transformed game now, funny looking back at old me now - so many mistakes in that 80K sample its crazy to think of what WR could be achieved!

So with that in mind onto this next step, which will be to continue my improvements in the best possible environment - i think zoom allows most easy way to work on my game. The rake is shitty for sure, but I want to post a nice chunky winning sample, so am kicking off this one for end of April / May grind, more results comings soon. GL everyone.

Yo people - quick update on life and poker. Have just finished a couple weeks of lifeguard training ready for the new season. I enjoy doing some practical training before the season begins again. During this induction we managed to visit the local air ambulance

got to meet the pilots / medics who fly it and hear some of the crazy stories they have. Found out you have to be careful approaching these when they power down bc the blades drop down and can take off your head! The blades on this heli cost £1.6million so don't come cheap, but they save lives daily so are worth more than any money value.

Also went for a ride around in the local inshore lifeboat for a training exercise - the things rapid, was flying around clinging. It was amazing some of the kit both had on board and nice to get some experience with them:

Poker so far this month has felt like a very tough learning curve, still making some big pot errors but when i look back at my thought process 6 weeks ago its a different game to now. Results for March are EV 2.85bb/100 over 37K hands. Not that stoked overall to post a graph so wont bother. There are so many messy hands in there though that i am excited to see what kind of results i can achieve in April. Hopefully it will be my breakthrough month in terms of results - but of course i can't say that its easy to be breakeven for a long stretch - however i believe if i follow my plan and keep learning i feel confident of the next year. Am off to Amsterdam for the weekend now with my partner Sarah to see some culture and also meet some of the CFP group in person. Looking forward to meeting everyone and seeing some cool sights.

March update.
So started March off grinding hard but it hasn't worked out in terms of results so far. I got lost in the micro side of poker and forgot about the macro (which is the long view of the game, not day to day results). I find as soon as i start doing this i lose sight of how important it is for me to be actively studying and drilling my thought process - although i was studying daily it didn't have enough intensity so what i was learning wasn't being made part of my natural thought process. So i made a few changes - dropped a table or two and added in more study. Been working hard and feel like my thought process is transforming. Excited about integrating everything i have learned and upgrading my game. Big props to some of the other guys who are crushing the program so hard and i feel i have lots to do to keep up with there work ethic. Also wanna give a big shout out to Nick Howard or all the crazy amount he puts in to this program so far, just so much ambition for success its pretty inspiring. The amount of content that is being produced by him is insane! I am definitely humbled by the CFP so far. Feel good at the tables right, working on macro analysis in the mornings before i play and then coming in with shorter more concentrated bits of micro analysis as i play through the day. Only got 20K hands played so far here is graph:

Gonna try and get a good second half of the month, give myself a chance for the prop challenge - more soon GL :)

Yo people - time to get back to the poker. Group spirit is high right now, we are discovering new ways to learn and enjoying it, the material we are working on is really relevant. I feel my games getting stronger daily. Results have been bad this month, but i have loved playing so much despite this. This month we are doing a group prop bet to see who can win at the highest EV rate over 90hours. Overall that is not the biggest benefit although the extra money would be nice, but the direction and motivation it gives is nice. Also i can now look through my HEm and just take to pieces the mistakes i have made and it is very good for me mentally to recognize the failures and attack them. I used to stress in game and that in turn lead to poor play based on how i was running. Now i trust myself to make the correct play, if i don't know that fine i just carry on and attack the problem by asking the most relevant questions afterwards. My goals for this month are:

* 60K hands at 20NL
* Increase my consistency

Graph for month so far (will update this a few times during the month):

So got the image uploader working now so here's some pics from my Morocco trip - definitely a country i recommend visiting :)

seems to be working now thanks GameTheory

can you tell me what size image, file size, ect you accept ?

maybe you can post some pics on my blog please :facepalm:

thats a pretty weird rule for such an active forum !

cant upload pics to my blog either, i tried to use the Ctrl+g function but it doesn't work ?

also i have the pics uploaded to the interweb so if i knew a way of embedding them in my blog that would be nice, whats the html coding i need to use to embed an image please

thanks DDog, just wondering if you could help me embed some pictures to my blog - can't work out the html or whatever you need to do it

whats up guys, time for a somewhat non eventful update in terms of results. have been away with my fiance and son for a holiday to Morocco, which was really great. hired a car and journeyed around 1200km around the place over a 10 day period. i felt it was important to show Lewis who's 7 yrs old a different culture at a young age and see how other people live, so we made an effort to explore off the beaten track quite a bit. The people were great and very helpful despite my broken French. I tried to upload a few pics but ended up not working on the RiO uploader - maybe that's bc they're large files from my SRL camera I'm not sure but would love to share some, anyone know anyway i can embed them?

Poker is still very exciting at the moment, been working hard with Nick Howard and a group of 8 others, we are making lots of ground daily and fixing our thought processes to become better players. Next month there 's a win rate group competition so ill let you know more on that soon. That's all for now GL everyone

Hey people whats up - i been back on the building site slogging hard this last week, day off today so gonna study and surf. Have been implementing sooo much new stuff into my games its crazy, it will take lots of practice to get it running smoothly for sure. Excited to be having this opportunity though, i been doing decently at the tables too nice little mini heater but volume is a joke due to so much study + real life work:

GL everyone will report back soon :)

So 10K hands was completed and i almost made the entire sample without any bad calls, still made a few but overall the challenge really helped my mental game and overall game so much. Probably some close to bad folds though in there, however it did me good to just sure things up. Overall i am pretty aware that i'm still a fish in turn an river spots so taking the humble approach is helping avoid me playing like a spider monkey on acid which is nice ;)

Other BIG news, made the team with Nick Howard and 7 other like minded individuals and couldn't be happier to take my game to the next level. There's a really good vibe in the group which is great for motivation. I began my study properly yesterday and have been loading up, which is all good but i need to level off +clear the brain now so hitting the gym now. Will update in a week or so with some progress reports, that's all for now GL

JUst saw this thread - how inspiring to read for a micro's player, well played all you legends :)

Today i did lots of video study again, its so good for the motivation, and after lots of watching i made a plan for next 10K hands, seems easy but for me it would be so sweet to achieve since right now i am still struggling with my old patterns of confused poker - so will try the following:

#1 No river calling when i'm unsure / confused - this is by far the toughest part for me bc it occurs pretty often and i don't like the feeling of getting run over - definitely a mental game leak that would be hugely important to fix.

#2 No bluffing river in 3B pots unless its one of a few hotspots i have worked on off the tables (i only know a couple right now) - helps keep the mental game strong.

#3 When i enter a hand postflop, challenge my own assumptions / opinions on whats the best play - what evidence am i using to justify my decision? stops the silly calldowns. Will read this post before every session now and update after 10K hands - more soon GL

So hit 5K hands since i began trying to implement a fresh strategy at the tables, i have ran pretty average / poor for that time. Results are unimportant right now, just following the right path of learning and not letting old habits creep back in. Also i think its worth noting right now i am unsure in a lot of spots so am taking a more passive approach instead of forcing it, trying to decrease variance. Overall my hero folding has been much better vs a field who don't bluff enough. I still have a list of hands marked "HERO FOLD" with lots of losing spots although luckily only a few are river showdowns. I deceided best course for making progress was to type up a mental reflection on how i felt during the hand - what points were most relevant and this allowed me to identify and make a clear plan for improving when i get into a similar thought pattern in the future. I guess i would be around 25 buyins under EV in last 30K hands so hoping things turn around soon and i can use this time to get my mental game tuned up and ready for the crush when i run a bit better. Happy NY everyone reading and GL :)

Hey Ninja, that's awesome you got engaged and are looking for a fresh page to rebuild your game, feels really exciting to be in the spot now.

Done a nice bit of study in last few days, just absorbing everything i can from the material i have at hand is really great feeling to have some positive direction, also have played about 3K hands. Games seem good, Christmas vibes at the tables. Been working lots on my thought process and prioritising what factors are important during a hand, and ignoring irrelevant stuff instead of using it to make assumptions. Making lots of mistakes and have marked about 35 hands so far. I am a bit worried that i am marking too many to efficiently look over, so gonna go through them all in next two days before i mark any more. I am proud of my river game improving as a direct result to the work i am putting in, still making a few bad ones though:
facing river donk

Key stuff i missed here is my perceived range contains all flushes and straights, villain is fish so so i think on brick rivs vs this bet calling with top pair is good, but on this runout where the board becomes very scary it definitely an assumption to think he will donk pot with air, and i haven't got enough evidence to make a profile so i would lean towards a fold.

^^^^ Ha yeah Ddog that's what everyone using flopzilla probably needs to brighten up there day :p

So poker has been fairly low volume for the last week, been running pretty awful aswell, trying my very hardest to make tons of disciplined folds on bad runouts vs regs who don't bluff enough, almost there and re calibrating my emotions towards how it feels to play that way. Study is next on the list of things i need to work harder on. I am in the process of making a plan for the next few weeks. I hurt my knee surfing so have some free time available. Also i applied for a coaching program with Nick, hoping lots of to get that chance, but still have another step before the final selection is made, i will try my hardest to achieve it and even if i don't get it i will continue on my path of self improvement. More soon happy xmas and GL

Looks super sweet man - i use a app called "one note" which is really user friendly and you can use on phones / laptops while your on the move aswell. you can screen shot a body of text and it will convert it in words for you, as well as numerous cool highlighting features. Anyway GL upspiral think i bumped into you at 10NL on MG the other day :)