TheLove_Below

pictures would be great haha. I really liked the pics youve shared on your trips, and the marathon picture. I think your thread at this stage has already transcended topics of poker. you can discuss anything from football to politics here, and it will attract other likeminded RIO members in these threads.

it has been a blast following your thread and updates for these years. I have always been the type of lurk on threads while reading your blog, which i think should be top 5 best blogs on site. The amount of information and honest life stories you share with us readers have brought us on a journey. Whether or not you stop posting on here, your legacy as one of the most active and giving members of the community would be known to all of us.

thanks for sharing your thoughts and giving out free advice here. But, I would like to play the devils advocate and ask what makes your content or CFP better than other models within the same market? As a person who was prior a part of CFP, i thought the theory and materials could be achieved more or less by yourself if you put in the hard work. Does your group pride itself from being a tight nit core, because as ive seen majority of you guys are on RIO blogging section and are supportive of each other. Im just curious as to what seperates your group from the rest of the pack for the people interested in joining your CFP.

not trying to be a party pooper, but if your studying in university, your better off getting the diploma and finding a real job with hourly. grinding from micros in 2022 is extremely tough, especially with the current rake. anyways gl if you do decide to continue on this path

https://www.pokernews.com/news/2022/09/ebony-kenney-joe-ingram-interview-42092.htm

you got ebony kenney style chat banned lol

sadly emsterdad you have all the time in the world to write on this forum, since you have stagnated at 25nl for last 12 yrs. You wont be making any money anytime soon.
On to the topic, I do think runittwice is making some valid points on the cost of the coaching and whether or not its worth it. Another point that I dont understand about CFP's unless the coaches are en route to retiring, is why would they sacrifice the EV and time to coach others when they can move up and grind the highest stakes for way higher profit? We've never seen Kanu make any courses during his prime, but only released his content at the tail end of his career, just to milk a few bucks more. Furthermore, I am convinced that in order to remain competent at the highest level, full dedication is required for players( which is essentially the coaches of CFP). Demondoink for one is perfect example of someone who ive followed throughout the years that was a lone wolf and climbs the stakes slowly, and was a testamant that it can be done by oneself. Obviously, Im not here to bash or make any claims of CFP being bad, but just giving my .02 that theres multiple ways to skin a cat.

great post demon as usual. Getting on your last topic. I feel like your currently at a stage of your life where your doing some type of searching. I actually don't think moving to a different country is the solution or the change that you might be seeking for, but more of companionship either in the form of finding a girlfriend or getting a pet. Maybe I'm totally wrong here lol, and sorry if i misunderstood what your trying to express through the post.
You are an already accomplished poker player, so more or less right now you're seeking something else outside of your daily grind that can give you a sense of accomplishment or difference. Poker is a career where its not really contributing to society much, and accomplishments are judged based on taking money from others. I know this would sound hypocritical, since i play poker myself, but it just feels like a very shallow career. I've personally had times where i would do volunteer work, where even though it didn't contribute much to my hourly, or some might perceive it as a waste of time, but at the end to me it was in a way a sense of accomplishment. To end my thought. I would recommend incremental changes in life, as opposed to something drastic as moving outside the country, and build upon that. Gl and keep us posted.
Also highly recommend this channel. would put a smile on you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Vj8lcnL6-Y

I mean i play different stakes than you do. Im currently grinding 500nl across few sites. My approach to study might not apply to you. At 500nl+, there's more of a grounded reg player pool base, with 1 to 2 recreationals hopping in. At this stage of my career, I'm actually studying more of my reg opponents than GTO strats, and im running node locks vs their strategy, since i play with them day in and day out, while having an overall exploit strategy vs generic fishes based on their HUD stats.

I honestly think you should stay away from solvers until you reach 500nl. Nobody at low stakes is playing anything close to GTO for you to be using those ranges. and given how wide you would be playing vs their 3b/4b ranges, its just bleeding money postflop, and with rake implications.

I would recommend you looking for some old alan jackson videos on youtube, or other torrent platforms. He was really good at exploitation and understood the meta for big pools. I think spending 10-20 hours on his materials would net a higher expectation than you dabbling with random GTO solutions.

just my .02 and hope you get out of the downswing

thanks CYD for your transparency and honesty on playing poker and the mental swings it entails. GL on your poker and life issues. I would say from personal experience is to take some time off from poker, as forcing volume would always result in bad outcomes. refresh yourself and come back stronger.

awesome post demon. I think the key point to nail is to have a routine in place, and slowly build upon it. its like the saying "rome isnt built in a day". similar to poker or life in general, it is incremental process. A similar analogy would be going to the gym. My friends would ask me how i trained for the 6-pack. And would always hope for an easy answer. but i would always tell them that it took me 2-3 years to reach that goal, with consistent dieting and 3-4 times gym weekly. having a routine, even a small one is a step forward in ones life.

thanks again patrick for all of the posts and information that youve provided to the community.

great post OP. I would also chime in a bit on datapoints of fishes.

The location where you sit vs the fish also directly influences your winrate. The better the seat, the higher the winrate.

1) the best seats to sit are directly to his left, and second best seat is two seats to his left.
given fishes tendencies to limp, we can isolate them and play pots with them. and when they raise, we can cold call IP and play pots with them.

I cannot remember exactly, but i think it was a difference of 5-7BB for having the optimal seat vs fish compared to others locations.

2) the 3rd best seat is to the direct right of the fish. mostly in SV vs BB scenarios, where you can play HU pots with them

beautiful view

Awesome post Demon. I feel so greatful that your a part of the RIO community. The advices and the time you put into writing these posts are priceless. Ive always enjoyed your content, and feel that you've basically nailed the point of putting things into perspective, and focus more on the tangibles such as bankroll management.

For OP: I think your putting too much on your plate. Focus more on the reachable goals. Ive always enjoyed PBG threads where people write about their goals for there year. However, one of the trends that I've noticed is that many people strive too high of a goal, and get lost along the journey. Start with something small, and accomplish it in piecemeal fashion. Also if you are a professional player, most of your time should be dedicated to poker and grinding volume, and nothing else. We only have a limited amount of time each day to spare, and with you juggling everything on the plate, nothing would be accomplished at the end.

I hope you succeed, and lets all make RIO a better community

awesome list. thanks for the write up and sharing.

awesome thread. been lurking on the journals for years, and really enjoyed yours and onklebs content. Could you give us a goodbye gift and gives us a 500Z power ranking for the fans. Ive always been curious all these years, who stood the test of time. Also gl in your future endeavors. Ill subscribe to your insta

glgl. its cool to see you move your old blog from 2+2 now to RIO.

Btw nice view mate. if you dont mind me asking, what country is this?

sorry to be a party pooper, but your better off finding a job than start and grind from 2nl with the current horrible rake structure. gl anyways

gl on your endeavors. I feel your in a good place with your stable job, and also winning at poker, while not overextending. This is an advice from someone whose been doing it for many years. Stick to one format and master it rather than branching off to all these variants. gl in 2022

Bro awesome first post and excited to hear what you will write further. From your writing, i can relate to alot of what your saying. Especially the confidence aspect, which is prevalent amongst us asians, which im assuming you are from your screename. With your knowledge and passion for AI, i think you can achieve way bigger things in life, especially in todays market. Keep poker as a fun hobby and limited passion, since this is coming from someone who has played poker for 10+ years semi professionally and has a full time job. Hope you achieve great things.

TL_Below

great job demon. have always been a fan of your post. Ive always wanted to ask how you cope with swings from say 2Knl when your average stake is 500z. its 4X your average BI, and obviously the skill level would be a bit higher. Do you think having enough BR helps to cope with losses, or youve been doing meditation to help you cope with losses. gl gl

flip burgers at mcdonalds if you need money so bad. i mean this is wrong on all levels.

Its probably an interesting spot to look into. I used to do this alot, which sacrificed alot of EV for me. In lower stakes, when everybody's limping, you have the tendency to limp with just complete trash in the SB/BB position, just so you can hope to hit.

around 95%+, your check/folding OTF. I mean, it doesnt look like much. but if running through 50K hand sample, thats alot of Sacrificed EV in your overall winrate

I would add this combination in my 3betting BB range. since it has playability and BU raising range should be super-wide, where JKs is crushing its equity.
I mean i wouldnt even care if villain has low 3betfold%, since im dominating all of his TJ/JQo/55 type hands equity wise, while JKs flops well.

*) As played, i would call turn. and probably call most river. This is probably top of ur range. and with villains stats, he's not that tight to warrant any fold turns.

I just cant see villain barreling 2-streets with bare 5X combination. ANd what combos of 5X is calling your C/R turn??

Whether or not to call here lies on the premises of how villain plays his turn hand range on semi-wet boards. If he's fastplaying his 2pair+ combos, then his river Jam is clearly a bluff with missed 6X/9X/ or FD.

*)GIven the SPR on the turn, its hard for me to imagine why if he has a strong range, that he wouldnt Jam turn, while waiting for river.

VIllains line is really unbalanced, and makes no sense. I would call

I mean you have to provide more stats for us to make a reasonable estimate of villains ranges.
I mean from basic Poker perspective:
1) He didnt 4bet, which we can take out AK/QQ+ from his range. and since we have QK, we block AQ and AK.
2) Theres a missed FD, which villain could be jamming river on a missed Draw.
3) Villain should have minimal combos of 3X in his 3bet flatting range
4) You have K(h), which takes out alot of villains bluff combos.
5) I mean when you checked turn, your range is Capped at QX, which VIllain might be punishing you for.

I would fold more , since dynamic wise, you 3bet preflop, bet flop, and called a turn bet.
You can still have AT/AJ combos in your turn calling range. And if he's a reg, he should be somewhat balanced OTR.

I would fold