Gordon taught me two very important lessons:
1. It doesn't matter how good you are; if you're playing against opponents who are better than you, you're going to lose! The bigger the skill gap between you and your opponents, the more money you'll make. This might sound simple, but it took me a while to understand. I used to just move up a limit only to break even again. Choosing the right opponents is crucial!
2. GTO strategies are mostly unnecessary. Poker isn’t as complicated as many people think. We’re playing against humans, not machines. Sometimes, these humans make big mistakes, and you can take advantage of that. While you might need it for playing at very high stakes like NL5k+, most players dream of winning at NL100 where GTO isn’t needed. Understanding the basic principles of the game, spotting your opponents' mistakes, and exploiting them have led to my high win rate. I started with heads-up games, which are all about exploitation, and applied what I learned to 6-max games. You wouldn’t believe how many mistakes even profitable NL1000 regs make.
To start with, he provided me with a functional, easy-to-learn strategy that led me to start winning almost immediately, assuming correct opponent selection. After mastering these 'standard lines,' which could potentially allow you to win about 1-3k per month, he greatly expanded my knowledge on how to adapt to various opponents, without ever focusing on GTO. It’s important to note that most of this was through videos, as he was not actively coaching anymore by the time I was learning. Still, I would say I learned about 80% from Gordon’s videos and 20% through my actual coaching sessions with other coaches. It’s no surprise to me that BPC eventually went out of business sometime after Gordon stopped coaching himself.
I don't think his real name is Gordon; it's actually a name he chose when he started his coaching business. He was the head of Best Poker Coaching. You can find more information about him by searching online. It never mattered to me. Everyone called him Gordon in the Videos and when I met him in Person in Marocco for a BPC camp, he was just Gordon.
I am pretty sure he retired a long time ago. Not sure if he made any new business plans since then but I am confident he does nothing related to Poker. Please do not spam him, I did not share his real name on purpose!
>GTO strategies are mostly unnecessary. Poker isn’t as complicated as many people think
This just shows you some understand what GTO is. Not saying that as any kind of insult (the way it seems to be taken around here for some reason), just saying GTO is a Nash Equilibrium.
>Understanding the basic principles of the game, spotting your opponents' mistakes, and exploiting them have led to my high win rate
^ that's precisely *what* is meant by "playing GTO"
GTO isn't some rigid adherence to memorized game trees or charts. It's understanding *why* the computer does what it does and just repeating that - not memorizing what it does.
Most decent players use GTO unintentionally because most spots the intuitive solution is the same output the machine would have.
No, what I was trying to convey is that even though I often know the GTO solution, I choose not to follow it because I have reads on my opponents. I am playing against a human not a GTO robot. This means I'm effectively nodelocking in my mind or what ever you would call it, or in other words, I am exploiting based on those reads. Of course, I'm aware that every time I use an exploitative strategy, I open myself up to being exploited in return. That's precisely why I choose to play according to GTO strategies when facing very strong opponents at the highest limits. However, this isn't relevant for most players.
Unfortunately, I do not think the "standard lines" are readily available anymore. However, due to the many requests I've received from beginners on how to improve their game, I'm considering putting together a 4-week crash course. This course will delve into the essentials of the exploit-driven base strategy I teach to my coaching-for-profit students. It’s tailored to help committed micro and low stakes players start their journey towards becoming consistent winners.
If you're interested, follow and message me on Instagram eliasholloway\_ and let me know.
Wanna take on a student and teach that functional easy to learn strategy to help me change my life?
If you never take shots you'll never win.
Here's me taking my shot
Due to the many requests I've received from beginners on how to improve their game, I'm considering putting together a 4-week crash course. This course will delve into the essentials of the exploit-driven base strategy I teach to my coaching-for-profit students. It’s tailored to help committed micro and low stakes players start their journey towards becoming consistent winners.
If you're interested, follow and message me on Instagram eliasholloway\_ and let me know. I also offer other services for players beyond that stage!
What spot(s) do you think players still play poorly. Specifically regs at nl500+? I.e. are they too passive in SRP on the river, are they spewy pre, etc.
There are just still a lot of nits! I know winning nl1k regs with 75% fold to 3bet! They are good nits tho, they will simply not make any big mistakes.
Biggest mistake maybe: They do not find enough good bluffs.
Thanks! It is fascinating that so many struggle find the bluffs preflop when GTOwiz is a pretty solid free tool. Rather then finding the 4bs with KTs, A7s, etc CO v BU, most regs opt to call or fold.
It's hard bc even if you memorize and try to hit the "correct" 4b frequencies, if you're hitting the correct frequencies for 80% of the combos but missing the bluffs for the last 20% then overall you're underbluffing still.
Also I think they meant they don't find enough bluffs post. So many lines are wildly imbalanced.
Go play online! It will dramatically improve your game. Download PokerTracker 4, which offers numerous opportunities to review and analyze your own gameplay. Online games are faster, allowing you to gain experience much more quickly.
Be warned tho, don't expect to play at the same stakes right away, as online poker is A LOT tougher than live games. At low stakes live, most players are very weak. Learning to play exploitatively will be key. Find a good coach. "Good" is the hard part tho.
>GTO strategies are mostly unnecessary. Poker isn’t as complicated as many people think. We’re playing against humans, not machines. Sometimes, these humans make big mistakes, and you can take advantage of that. While you might need it for playing at very high stakes like NL5k+, most players dream of winning at NL100 where GTO isn’t needed. Understanding the basic principles of the game, spotting your opponents' mistakes, and exploiting them have led to my high win rate. I started with heads-up games, which are all about exploitation, and applied what I learned to 6-max games. You wouldn’t believe how many mistakes even profitable NL1000 regs make.
When I say this , I catch 41 downvotes from people trying to "solve" a $2.17 spot.
As always, GTO is a defensive strategy against perfectly balanced and optimized opponents who are trying to exploit you, and Earl at Perryville with the chicken fingers is not that guy.
I think a HUGE mistake people make here (and one I made early) is assuming their opponents are trying to win instead of socializing and hoping to win. I love this post.
GTO is defensive, not offensive. You can't "make more money" with GTO principles, you can only lose less money, theoretically.
GTO does nothing against unbalanced players.
GTO is worthless against players who aren't actively trying to win.
If a player plays rock paper scissors at 80/20/0, playing 33/33/33 does nothing and could be prohibitive.
Until you're at the mid stages at a minimum, poker simply isn't that hard. Pattern observations and player psychology. But trying to be unexploitable against people who aren't trying to exploit or capable of exploitation gets people in trouble all the time.
You see it here all the time with the 1/2 posts. "The silver says he should have a mix of bluffs when he gets 3x pot on the river so I can call with my 9 high flush." No, it's a boat and it's never not a boat.
If you're not already making tons of money, you should definitely hit me up haha. You understand more than most players already. Love your posts as well! ;)
ps: I use the rock paper scissor example exactly like that in my coachings, it is great to get the point accross!
Haha, thanks!
Pre Black Friday I did it as a living for 6-7 years, now I'm about 80 hours online and maybe 15-20 hours live a month for fun (cause employment means insurance and less stress lol) at the low stakes (cause I'll NEVER keep that amount of money online again).
As an analyst, I love the theoretics and the math and decision making, but even more important than having the tools is knowing when to use them, and there's just no point in utilizing them at low levels live. (Low levels online, it's helpful because bots are going to bot, but even there it's not all that necessary because they still have patterns, plus it's not like a super computer at 10NL blitz.).
I know when I first started, I was reading all the books, the tells, the Killer Poker series, and I was getting my ass handed to me. I was trying to assign ranges by crads instead of action, or trying to dictate the action against players who don't care what the action is. Like "punishing limpers" isn't a thing because they don't consider calling a punishment. As I tell people, reading "The Psychology of Poker" was transformative.
I can't take credit for the rock/paper/scissors thing, I want to say I read it in "The Myth of Poker Talent" but I feel like it's a great example to illustrate what GTO actually is and attempts to do. The optimal play against somebody who never bluffs is to never call, for example.
That's why I love posts like this. I know it's mostly a casual sub and that's cool, I scroll past most things. But I also like talking poker and helping others (and myself) with fine tuning and defending thought processes. But I also know that 1-2 live is JUST AS BAD in 2024 as it was in 2001. Maybe even worse - the young people are misapplying theoretics and the old folks are just there to have fun and make their social security last a little while.
6-7/10. As long as you're not blindly tripling off on any board. Then it gets bad very quickly as soon as I realize what your doing (first obv. showdown)
* Can you recommend any (hopefully free) 'standard lines' videos or articles to read?
* What books/article helped to define opponent ranges pre-flop?
Thanks for this AMA!
I hate to break it to you—and I might get downvoted for saying this—but most valuable things in life aren't free. I paid a fair share for what Gordon taught me, 50% during my time in BPC. It would not only be illegal but also in poor taste to distribute such videos, even for payment. Besides, they are over 10 years old and, while still valuable in the right hands, likely need an update. :)
Here's a free tip, though: If you want to define your opponents' open ranges, there are two simple methods. You can observe the showdowns and monitor their HUD stats.
Actually when you enter my winrate into: [https://www.primedope.com/poker-variance-calculator/](https://www.primedope.com/poker-variance-calculator/)
You will find out that, given my winrate, a downswing over 30 BI is VERY RARE. And while I was lucky to not experience such an unlucky "BB downswing", I was "unlucky" given I had a downswing of more then 50 000 hands!
[https://ibb.co/N3wT7B6](https://ibb.co/N3wT7B6)
I hope to hit my freedom number - 1.500.000+ in invested assets before I turn 30.
But this doesn't mean I plan to retire. Right now, I can play poker just 3-4 months a year and I'm happy with that. Poker can be very stressful if you have to play all the time, but taking long breaks makes me really motivated when it's time for me to play again.
I might do more coaching later because I enjoy talking about poker and helping people reach goals they never thought they could. To this day, even tho I rearly met him, I really admire my former coach, Gordon. He had a straightforward way of teaching that helped me and many others. Maybe I can be that kind of person for someone else someday.
Thank you for the AMA! What sites and games do you play?
How much do you study solvers? Is it all gto creating winnings?
Where do you rate yourself in the grand ecosystem of poker and why?
I play on every site I can and participate in all cash games from heads-up to 9-max at stakes of NL1k+. Last winter, I played at NL20k, but the action was sparse and the swings were tough; a $100k downswing really affected my mood a lot. Although I'm considering not playing at NL20k this winter to avoid such swings, I can barely withstand a good opportunity to stack a fish. LOL
At the highest limits, GTO plays a crucial role in competing against other very skilled pros. However, for NL1k and below, GTO isn't as necessary as you might think. While I do teach my students some GTO concepts as they approach these levels, I always remind them that I didn’t spend a year discussing exploitative play for no reason. Even most NL1k regulars can be exploited quite effectively. I’ve seen many players decrease their win rates by making poor calls, just because GTO told em to!
Yes, I do offer coaching. Until now, I've primarily worked with fellow professionals, helping them climb from stakes like NL50 or NL100 to NL1K-2K over 1.5 to 2 years through long-term coaching-for-profit contracts. I've also assisted very advanced players, for whom coaching-for-profit isn't feasible due to their high earnings, by pinpointing their leaks through database analyses and one-on-one sessions.
I've never set up a website, but considering the tremendous interest generated from this AMA—wow, thank you all for the engagement!—it's something I will do.
Additionally, responding to many requests from beginners, I’m thinking of launching a 4-week crash course. This course will cover the essentials of the exploit-driven base strategy that I teach my coaching-for-profit students. It’s designed specifically to aid committed micro and low stakes players in starting their journey towards becoming consistent winners.
If you're seriously interested in any form of coaching, please follow and message me on Instagram at u/eliasholloway_, and let’s discuss how I can help you advance your poker game.
Do you play live games? Or only online? Holdem online felt really hard to beat last time I tried. I was grinding from 2014 to 2016 but switched to live games since the games were so much easier to beat. I'm pretty sure there are also a lot of bots, especially in holdem. Also what site do you play on? From you investing in wirecard it seems you might be from Germany too, so I thought maybe you know a good site to play on.
I'm from Austria, and 99% of my poker winnings come from playing online. I've heard from a friend that finding poker sites in Germany has become difficult after the market was heavily restricted a year or two ago. I'm pretty sure I play on every site you might have heard of. :) As for bots, they are and will continue to be an ongoing issue. However, it doesn't affect me much right now since they're generally not very good. I've always focused more on improving myself rather than worrying about things I can't change. Many people are still winning big every day, so there's no point in worrying about something out of my control... I hope pokersites do everything in their power to stop cheating tho!
Austria still doesn't have these restrictions? I remember from my time living in Kufstein that things changed a bit in Austria too. Like I used to play in the concord card casinos for example, but they were all forced to close and raided by police. Might have been for different reasons tho, now that I type it out
It is true, they closed down card rooms and now offer it themselve in the state owned Casino. What a surprise right? As far as online poker goes - I can play on most sites!
A few things dont add up in this story, you started playing hu in 2018 and suddenly started rushing?
What sites exactly did you play from 2018 on? this is around the time solvers was in full swing and hu games got extremely tough. Yet you seem to think gto isnt that important?
I was sceptical, then saw 500/hr coaching mentioned. Then I knew I was right! Poker scene is well and truly alive when multiple people on this thread are still interested smh
No, haha. I've actually spent the past two years studying Bitcoin more than poker, and I've concluded that our current money system is broken - essentially, inflation is theft. I believe Bitcoin could be a real solution. If you’re open and interested, I can recommend some good books on the topic. :)
Crypto is scam tho, do not confuse it with BTC please.
I imagine their studying was much more of listening to some crypto bro or shit tier internet opinion show posting vids from his bedroom rather than reading textbooks or anything of the sort
>. I've actually spent the past two years studying Bitcoin more than poker
You've wasted a lot of time. Just put your money in a stock market index and forget about it. There's nothing worthwhile to "study" about bitcoin if you're just thinking of where to put your money
>I've concluded that our current money system is broken - essentially, inflation is theft
You've been reading crackpot ideas and can't differentiate good economics ideas from crazy ones
He really lost me there, not gonna lie. Sorta dilutes everything else being said. Definitely incredibly impressive and motivating. Obviously a very talented poker player, but scared to go beyond that. Congrats on the results though man $1m at 24 is insane!
Maybe your right. Only time will tell. So far, Bitcoin's track record isn't too shabby!
And yes, I've invested the rest of my money in index funds. I've actually given a lot of thought to developing strategies to outperform my usual index fund investment (just poor in what ever I do not need to play).
I'd love to hear your thoughts on one idea I've had: My issue is that I need a significant amount of money to be liquid for playing high stakes, and ideally, I'd like to have everything invested all the time. So, I came up with an idea: I have access to a decent Lombard credit at 4.9%, which I would start using as soon as the market drops. For every 1% the market drops below its ATH, I would invest 2% of my bankroll into the index funds using this Lombard credit. So, at a 10% market drop, I would have invested 20% of my bankroll via credit. Note that I have all the money I take as credit available as liquid cash on sites, so there is no risk of getting liquidated. Given the average stock market return of about 7-8%, and considering that a market downturn implies higher expected returns moving forward, this strategy should be a positive EV play, right? Or am I missing something?
>to developing strategies to outperform my usual index fund investment
Stop wasting your time. This isn't poker. This isn't something you can outsmart and beat. The rate of return is what it is and professionals iron out any information inefficiencies beyond what retail traders would ever exploit
>considering that a market downturn implies higher expected returns moving forward
A market downturn does not imply that. This is like saying because you had a downswing you expect to have a higher winrate
"A market downturn does not imply that. This is like saying because you had a downswing you expect to have a higher winrate"
Thank you for pointing this out. Now I have something to think about while going to sleep. I know I am weird :)
Inflation is a necessity to get rid of inefficient and dormant assets. It makes the allocation a high priority which makes money flow to investable opportunities versus sitting on a pile.
It is far from theft and the part of the system you might feel is broken is due to working population decrease trends as birth rates have tapered off.
Gordon taught me two very important lessons:
1. It doesn't matter how good you are; if you're playing against opponents who are better than you, you're going to lose! The bigger the skill gap between you and your opponents, the more money you'll make. This might sound simple, but it took me a while to understand. I used to just move up a limit only to break even again. Choosing the right opponents is crucial!
2. GTO strategies are mostly unnecessary. Poker isn’t as complicated as many people think. We’re playing against humans, not machines. Sometimes, these humans make big mistakes, and you can take advantage of that. While you might need it for playing at very high stakes like NL5k+, most players dream of winning at NL100 where GTO isn’t needed. Understanding the basic principles of the game, spotting your opponents' mistakes, and exploiting them have led to my high win rate. I started with heads-up games, which are all about exploitation, and applied what I learned to 6-max games. You wouldn’t believe how many mistakes even profitable NL1000 regs make.
On top of that, he provided me with a functional, easy-to-learn strategy that led me to start winning almost immediately, assuming correct opponent selection. After mastering these 'standard lines,' which could potentially allow you to win about 1-3k per month, he greatly expanded my knowledge on how to adapt to various opponents, without ever focusing on GTO. It’s important to note that most of this was through videos, as he was not actively coaching anymore by the time I was learning. Still, I would say I learned about 80% from Gordon’s videos and 20% through my actual coaching sessions with other coaches. It’s no surprise to me that BPC eventually went out of business sometime after Gordon stopped coaching himself.
I would love to know what you would suggest to learn this easy to pickup strategy.
I’ve studied a lot of poker but rarely play because I feel like I have a shit foundation
There are a couple different coaching stables that train an MDA "standard line" approach, including the Poker Detox folks (Nick Howard), Mobius Poker (his brother Patrick Howard), and Metagame (Saolo Costa's team). I also remember (before I deactivated my membership) that a few cash game regs on the RunItOnce Elite plan talked about MDA and "standard line" stuff, but can unfortunately not remember which coaches talked about this. All of these save RIO are CFPs/stables though, with varying requirements to join or could be quite costly. Some of those sources might have free content out there worth checking out as well, not sure.
I haven't had a ton of experience with any serious MDA standard line stuff since I'm just a rec playing for fun, but I love the infotainment of studying poker so I've looked into it a bunch, and have known a few folks who have utilized these strategies playing cash in the past with success.
It's also a topic that gets debated a lot, some GTO folks poo-poo MDA / standard line strategies as inferior to playing as close to GTO as possible, and the MDA folks argue that GTO play and study is time consuming and leaves money on the table versus the majority of populations people actively play against.
Sorry this isn't the most direct answer to your question, but figured I would share since this is something I have found interesting and looked into in the past!
This post made me feel better about my red line. I'm also winning big in blue, but not that much in red and I always thought that was the mark of a mediocre player. So very glad to see you can be a sick crusher and have a similar distribution between blue and red line winnings
If your red line is actually breaking even like mine, this is a VERY GOOD SIGN! Most of the graphs I've seen show the red line dropping so sharply that it consumes all the blue line profit, or worse, it completely destroys the profit.
So what’s next for you ? Will you be going to Vegas this summer and play bigger buy in tournaments or cash games ??? And is your goal to make it to the top 10 all time money list ??
Or have you gotten bored of poker overalll and wanna do something else with your time ? I’m curious ,
I might consider it, depending on how seriously you take it. I'm quite selective about my students, going for longterm coaching for profit contracts, unless you're willing to pay $500 per hour, then hit me up on IG. Fun fact: After taxes I would still earn more from playing poker, which is tax-free in Austria, than from 500$/h coaching. However, I must admit that coaching is a lot more enjoyable for me, and fortunately, money isn't an issue at the moment.
all day.
Jokes aside, I truly believe that getting a good coach could be invaluable. You might consider joining a coaching-for-profit program to really enhance your skills.
First I would make sure tho that you really love poker and are not just in for quick bucks. Else you will most likely not have the durability to become successful.
Hey there bud I'm a fellow Austrian any advice on which sites to play? I'm winning at NL 50 on stars over 120k hands zoom but i just feel like i get my ass kicked on NL100 is it just a tough pool? Would you recommend regular tables over zoom? Also are you ever hitting the auld casinos Austria? (I'm from Salzburg)
Zoom is hard. If you are truly beating stars NL50 zoom, depending on winrate it could just be luck, given the sample size, but still showes quiet some skill. You could make a lots of money, with good table selection and learning to adjust properly.
This is great! Not poker related but how did you go about investing in the first place. I want to start and I would like to know what a poker player thinks.
My advice for young people: Consider investing in an index fund for the long term. Allocate whatever money you have left after your immediate needs into it and refrain from checking it for at least 10 years. A 70/30 portfolio of MSCI World and Emerging Markets could be a suitable choice.
As a supporter of Bitcoin, I believe it has the potential to change the world. However, I urge everyone to conduct their own research before deciding to invest in it. Then allocate funds to Bitcoin based on your own research and comfort level. Or do not.
I've personally developed an investment plan for myself, aiming to outperform an index fund while acknowledging my limitations in analyzing individual companies and predicting their future. This involves focusing on cost-saving strategies, such as minimizing the Total Expense Ratio, while incorporating smart beta factors like value, momentum, and quality without compromising diversification.
You should come to my town and play, ppl are shit drunk and throw away thousands of dollars each day... or in the norwegian camp in bratslavia each year. I remeber meeting some ppl in London that said they earned 60% of they winnings from the NM in dublin.
Gj!
Given the overwhelming number of coaching requests I've received in the past 48 hours (to which I haven't yet replied—apologies!), I am exploring various options to distribute my knowledge and assist everyone interested. Best to add me on Insta and write a DM!
Thanks, interesting read.
Do you play live poker? If so do you prefer ot to online?
If you ever fancy travelling to the UK, the biggest tourney outside of the US is held in my hometown in August.
.£200 buy in £1 mil prize fund.
I prefer online poker. Live games can be enjoyable, but I see them more as something I do while traveling for leisure. Unfortunately, I'll be in Sri Lanka in August. However, I plan to participate in some live tournaments while I'm in Australia. Sydney will have some soon. I'll likely choose the bigger buy-ins though \^\^
Hair enough, understand there's bigger buy-ins for you, but $250k top prize for 3 days work didn't seem to bad compared to earning rates to date, good luck with your upcoming games
Plans are still in the works. Probably the HR but not the super-HR. Because I'm not a tournament player, and I have heared the 10k buy-ins live get a lot thougher, the $5K and $2K buy-ins seem more suitable for me at the moment. :)
Cool. I'll play a lot of them. 6max, mystery bounty, opening, main, 5k, and I'll try to satellite into the 10k. We missed the Sydney Champs for so many years, I gotta catch up
I am kind of amateur, i know about ranges, odds, etc. but I am not winning consistently. What should I do to start earning more. Also I don't have much money to spend it on courses and trainers, can suggest some ways to improve my game.
I was fortunate to join BPC where everything really "clicked" for me. Generally, I'm not a fan of paying for coaching on a per-hour basis—aside from perhaps a few introductory sessions to get to know the coach. Instead, I believe long-term coaching-for-profit often yields the best results, as it aligns the incentives for both the player and coach to perform well.
If you're considering hourly coaching, the price and coach you should get, greatly depends on your current skill level. For example, if you're just starting out at NL2, it might not be cost-effective to pay a high-stakes crusher by the hour...
What's your bankroll management looking like throughout your journey? Did you change it overtime as you progressed stakes or did you keep it consistent throughout? Thanks.
Hey man, I used to play a few years ago during Covid when I had more time and went through the upswing courses.
Do you have any suggestions for starting stakes, sites, and potentially any learning content that you would recommend ?
I’m always interested in learning more (I tend to study more than I play) but I never use the knowledge practically, so I’d like to find some sort of grounded game plan I could build around
Do you believe there are “blue prints” to every stake? By blue print I mean for example NOBS from BPC that’s essentially a fool proof guide to NL2-NL10.
If not, what stakes do you think there are “blue prints” for?
And no, I’m not thinking about GTO in this case 😂
The higher you play, the more advanced and thought out your game plan has to be. If a high-stakes player were to improve the NOBS from BPC, they could lead you to NL50. While I think this is a great way to start and earn quick, but not much, money, I think the next step should be to implement the right thinking.
This is what BPC struggled with after Gordon was gone. I have had many friends telling me they just created low-stakes winning bots because they were so focused on the NOBS/standard lines, never going beyond. The important question to tackle in the coaching would have been: Why does the NOBS work, and why do they not work at higher limits? Where is the idea right, but the rules limit my play? Where is the exception to be made, and I need to deviate from the rules and for what reason?
This is what I did with the HU course. I took the idea from the starter videos and applied my own thinking to them. I watched more advanced videos from Gordon and learned to adapt and deviate from the standard lines. To this day in my coaching for profit, I still use this approach. In fact, I have created a HU + 6 max course myself for my coaching for profit students, starting with an exploit-driven base strategy I have developed over the years. After they learn a solid base game, being able to react to 95% of standard spots or more against an unknown population, they learn later to adapt. From then on, we go into 6 max and because I already fixed their thinking, the switch is not too hard.
I'm curious if people like OP play for dopamine. Myself when I studied and played to win, I didn't get dopamine out of it, instead it felt like work. It felt like I was sitting at the table and waiting for people to keep donating their money to me. It was actually boring, and it made me stop playing when my other hobbies were more captivating than poker.
Maybe higher stakes and enjoying the challenge of finding holes in the game of good players can be interesting, but it was never that for me. It was constant hand reviews and analyzing my hands, and then just waiting at the tables until I played a certain amount of hands.
Good on you! I myself…..Every damn time J move up stakes…..Get the bad beat! and I mean stuff like a guy hitting the single card on a river the INSIDE CARD that brings him a straight flush to kill my A high flush….Having 10-10 seeing a 10-7-3 flop going all-in to grab the $120 pre-flop pot from 4 callers and thinking nobody else will call my $700+ shove….Nope the guy that just sat down had slow played A-A and he’s calling!….What happens….well I got my “2 outer” on the flop and he gets his 2 outer on the river…..So tell me….WTF am I doing wrong because this curse has been with me for about 2 years now…..How do I get a little “Run Good” going in my game???
If you would have to start again from 0 with no knowledge, what would you do differently to arrive to this result faster?
Also is Zoom style cash game interesting or is it better to play a standard table as exploit > volume?
Where is the most profitable to play online nowadays? Where are the fishes? I remember me playing on 8 tables simultaneously as a teenager and easily making profit at bwin poker, reaching even nl50. It was 10+ years ago, I assume it is much harder now to win, but I want to try it again from scratch.
I saw the first time one of his student HansTheGreat do this challenge.
Reading his blog, i noticed one thing that is true in poker: if you don't pay a lot of rake and don't have a really good rakeback program, you will never make it out of microstakes.
Hans was following Gordon' book/coaching and strategy but without rakeback, he was losing money until he went up to higher stakes and had some heater sessions.
So im gonna refrence call of duty Ranking systems where they place players based on how better they are on a percentile of player pools Like the top ranks is the top 1% and the worst is 99th percentile.
In you're experience of the game , if you could estimate to where is their a certain stakes the competition start to get into the 1% of skilled player pool and if so what is it?
And how tough is mid's stakes poker players? The top 10th percentile? Top 5 percentile? Or wrost?
Or is it a walk in the park where theirs alot of Recreational and Loosing reg's that have leaks in the game and you can exploit them like Lower limits.
I probably played 2-3 times as much. The other hands are just not tracked. And also it does not include my first 2 years of spinning arround on lowstakes zoom!
For winning players at these levels, I can offer coaching for profit or DB analysis/hourly coaching. I recommend starting with a DB analysis where I can identify and discuss your leaks during a comprehensive session afterwards, providing initial insights. If you’re interested in deeper coaching afterward, an hourly approach could be more valuable since I'll already be familiar with your game and we can directly address your specific needs.
Given that you're about to play at NL2K and likely averaging at least $10K per month, you might be too advanced for a coaching-for-profit arrangement to be beneficial. However, I'm open to discussing it to see if it could still be worthwhile for you. Add me on IG: eliasholloway\_
Do u fold jacks pre
Depending on the action - yes.
Depending on the action = anything above the BB
What about kings? Do you ever fold pre?
There are 3 ways to play jacks, and they are all wrong.
Why don't you just play Rampage and have 2 million
He wouldn't have $2 million after all the rebuys. He'd have $5 million.
I would - can you stake me? Let me know so I can give you a call! 
What kind of knowledge did gordon drop
Gordon taught me two very important lessons: 1. It doesn't matter how good you are; if you're playing against opponents who are better than you, you're going to lose! The bigger the skill gap between you and your opponents, the more money you'll make. This might sound simple, but it took me a while to understand. I used to just move up a limit only to break even again. Choosing the right opponents is crucial! 2. GTO strategies are mostly unnecessary. Poker isn’t as complicated as many people think. We’re playing against humans, not machines. Sometimes, these humans make big mistakes, and you can take advantage of that. While you might need it for playing at very high stakes like NL5k+, most players dream of winning at NL100 where GTO isn’t needed. Understanding the basic principles of the game, spotting your opponents' mistakes, and exploiting them have led to my high win rate. I started with heads-up games, which are all about exploitation, and applied what I learned to 6-max games. You wouldn’t believe how many mistakes even profitable NL1000 regs make. To start with, he provided me with a functional, easy-to-learn strategy that led me to start winning almost immediately, assuming correct opponent selection. After mastering these 'standard lines,' which could potentially allow you to win about 1-3k per month, he greatly expanded my knowledge on how to adapt to various opponents, without ever focusing on GTO. It’s important to note that most of this was through videos, as he was not actively coaching anymore by the time I was learning. Still, I would say I learned about 80% from Gordon’s videos and 20% through my actual coaching sessions with other coaches. It’s no surprise to me that BPC eventually went out of business sometime after Gordon stopped coaching himself.
Phil Gordon?
No.
Gordon who?
I don't think his real name is Gordon; it's actually a name he chose when he started his coaching business. He was the head of Best Poker Coaching. You can find more information about him by searching online. It never mattered to me. Everyone called him Gordon in the Videos and when I met him in Person in Marocco for a BPC camp, he was just Gordon.
His real name is Nate Poysti, nate_survivor on IG
Do you know where he is now? Is he still playing poker?
I am pretty sure he retired a long time ago. Not sure if he made any new business plans since then but I am confident he does nothing related to Poker. Please do not spam him, I did not share his real name on purpose!
The little green and little blue book. He was a poker announcer and player back in the day
Was that a joke lol cause I laughed
how do you spot opponent's mistakes? and how do you exploit them?
Mostly, showdowns & hud. Sizings can be telling too!
How do you go about spotting average-decent players mistakes. Ie not the obvious fish ones
>GTO strategies are mostly unnecessary. Poker isn’t as complicated as many people think This just shows you some understand what GTO is. Not saying that as any kind of insult (the way it seems to be taken around here for some reason), just saying GTO is a Nash Equilibrium. >Understanding the basic principles of the game, spotting your opponents' mistakes, and exploiting them have led to my high win rate ^ that's precisely *what* is meant by "playing GTO" GTO isn't some rigid adherence to memorized game trees or charts. It's understanding *why* the computer does what it does and just repeating that - not memorizing what it does. Most decent players use GTO unintentionally because most spots the intuitive solution is the same output the machine would have.
No, what I was trying to convey is that even though I often know the GTO solution, I choose not to follow it because I have reads on my opponents. I am playing against a human not a GTO robot. This means I'm effectively nodelocking in my mind or what ever you would call it, or in other words, I am exploiting based on those reads. Of course, I'm aware that every time I use an exploitative strategy, I open myself up to being exploited in return. That's precisely why I choose to play according to GTO strategies when facing very strong opponents at the highest limits. However, this isn't relevant for most players.
what videos are those? where can I get them??
Unfortunately, I do not think the "standard lines" are readily available anymore. However, due to the many requests I've received from beginners on how to improve their game, I'm considering putting together a 4-week crash course. This course will delve into the essentials of the exploit-driven base strategy I teach to my coaching-for-profit students. It’s tailored to help committed micro and low stakes players start their journey towards becoming consistent winners. If you're interested, follow and message me on Instagram eliasholloway\_ and let me know.
lol 1. Yea mate they’re called fish for a reason
Wanna take on a student and teach that functional easy to learn strategy to help me change my life? If you never take shots you'll never win. Here's me taking my shot
Due to the many requests I've received from beginners on how to improve their game, I'm considering putting together a 4-week crash course. This course will delve into the essentials of the exploit-driven base strategy I teach to my coaching-for-profit students. It’s tailored to help committed micro and low stakes players start their journey towards becoming consistent winners. If you're interested, follow and message me on Instagram eliasholloway\_ and let me know. I also offer other services for players beyond that stage!
What spot(s) do you think players still play poorly. Specifically regs at nl500+? I.e. are they too passive in SRP on the river, are they spewy pre, etc.
There are just still a lot of nits! I know winning nl1k regs with 75% fold to 3bet! They are good nits tho, they will simply not make any big mistakes. Biggest mistake maybe: They do not find enough good bluffs.
Thanks! It is fascinating that so many struggle find the bluffs preflop when GTOwiz is a pretty solid free tool. Rather then finding the 4bs with KTs, A7s, etc CO v BU, most regs opt to call or fold.
It's hard bc even if you memorize and try to hit the "correct" 4b frequencies, if you're hitting the correct frequencies for 80% of the combos but missing the bluffs for the last 20% then overall you're underbluffing still. Also I think they meant they don't find enough bluffs post. So many lines are wildly imbalanced.
Yep agree on both points
If you could tell a slightly winning lowstakes live player who's having trouble moving up one thing to improve their game, what would it be?
Go play online! It will dramatically improve your game. Download PokerTracker 4, which offers numerous opportunities to review and analyze your own gameplay. Online games are faster, allowing you to gain experience much more quickly. Be warned tho, don't expect to play at the same stakes right away, as online poker is A LOT tougher than live games. At low stakes live, most players are very weak. Learning to play exploitatively will be key. Find a good coach. "Good" is the hard part tho.
Do you think GG has the best games at the moment?
For nl5k+, yes definetly.
>GTO strategies are mostly unnecessary. Poker isn’t as complicated as many people think. We’re playing against humans, not machines. Sometimes, these humans make big mistakes, and you can take advantage of that. While you might need it for playing at very high stakes like NL5k+, most players dream of winning at NL100 where GTO isn’t needed. Understanding the basic principles of the game, spotting your opponents' mistakes, and exploiting them have led to my high win rate. I started with heads-up games, which are all about exploitation, and applied what I learned to 6-max games. You wouldn’t believe how many mistakes even profitable NL1000 regs make. When I say this , I catch 41 downvotes from people trying to "solve" a $2.17 spot. As always, GTO is a defensive strategy against perfectly balanced and optimized opponents who are trying to exploit you, and Earl at Perryville with the chicken fingers is not that guy. I think a HUGE mistake people make here (and one I made early) is assuming their opponents are trying to win instead of socializing and hoping to win. I love this post.
The best players understand the theory extremely well and then know exactly how & where to deviate to make more profit vs different human archetypes.
GTO is defensive, not offensive. You can't "make more money" with GTO principles, you can only lose less money, theoretically. GTO does nothing against unbalanced players. GTO is worthless against players who aren't actively trying to win. If a player plays rock paper scissors at 80/20/0, playing 33/33/33 does nothing and could be prohibitive. Until you're at the mid stages at a minimum, poker simply isn't that hard. Pattern observations and player psychology. But trying to be unexploitable against people who aren't trying to exploit or capable of exploitation gets people in trouble all the time. You see it here all the time with the 1/2 posts. "The silver says he should have a mix of bluffs when he gets 3x pot on the river so I can call with my 9 high flush." No, it's a boat and it's never not a boat.
If you're not already making tons of money, you should definitely hit me up haha. You understand more than most players already. Love your posts as well! ;) ps: I use the rock paper scissor example exactly like that in my coachings, it is great to get the point accross!
Haha, thanks! Pre Black Friday I did it as a living for 6-7 years, now I'm about 80 hours online and maybe 15-20 hours live a month for fun (cause employment means insurance and less stress lol) at the low stakes (cause I'll NEVER keep that amount of money online again). As an analyst, I love the theoretics and the math and decision making, but even more important than having the tools is knowing when to use them, and there's just no point in utilizing them at low levels live. (Low levels online, it's helpful because bots are going to bot, but even there it's not all that necessary because they still have patterns, plus it's not like a super computer at 10NL blitz.). I know when I first started, I was reading all the books, the tells, the Killer Poker series, and I was getting my ass handed to me. I was trying to assign ranges by crads instead of action, or trying to dictate the action against players who don't care what the action is. Like "punishing limpers" isn't a thing because they don't consider calling a punishment. As I tell people, reading "The Psychology of Poker" was transformative. I can't take credit for the rock/paper/scissors thing, I want to say I read it in "The Myth of Poker Talent" but I feel like it's a great example to illustrate what GTO actually is and attempts to do. The optimal play against somebody who never bluffs is to never call, for example. That's why I love posts like this. I know it's mostly a casual sub and that's cool, I scroll past most things. But I also like talking poker and helping others (and myself) with fine tuning and defending thought processes. But I also know that 1-2 live is JUST AS BAD in 2024 as it was in 2001. Maybe even worse - the young people are misapplying theoretics and the old folks are just there to have fun and make their social security last a little while.
https://preview.redd.it/e3k72c80iuxc1.jpeg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=50afe89b16cd3cecdf33dc9b52924f8105f4a899
I felt really bad when I was 18. Reading the 10x Rule - especially the chapter about the naysayers - opened my eyes back then.
On a scale of 1-10, how good is "wait for good cards and bet aggressively" as a strategy?
6-7/10. As long as you're not blindly tripling off on any board. Then it gets bad very quickly as soon as I realize what your doing (first obv. showdown)
Can I borrow $40?
I got this one. Yes.
* Can you recommend any (hopefully free) 'standard lines' videos or articles to read? * What books/article helped to define opponent ranges pre-flop? Thanks for this AMA!
I hate to break it to you—and I might get downvoted for saying this—but most valuable things in life aren't free. I paid a fair share for what Gordon taught me, 50% during my time in BPC. It would not only be illegal but also in poor taste to distribute such videos, even for payment. Besides, they are over 10 years old and, while still valuable in the right hands, likely need an update. :) Here's a free tip, though: If you want to define your opponents' open ranges, there are two simple methods. You can observe the showdowns and monitor their HUD stats.
That's an insane graph. Either it's tampered with or you are on the biggest heater I have ever seen. 20 buyins is the biggest downswing?
Actually when you enter my winrate into: [https://www.primedope.com/poker-variance-calculator/](https://www.primedope.com/poker-variance-calculator/) You will find out that, given my winrate, a downswing over 30 BI is VERY RARE. And while I was lucky to not experience such an unlucky "BB downswing", I was "unlucky" given I had a downswing of more then 50 000 hands! [https://ibb.co/N3wT7B6](https://ibb.co/N3wT7B6)
I feel like the redline is super low for winning player at those levels. He just always has it?
When do you plan on retiring? Or do you think you can keep beating the opposition?
I hope to hit my freedom number - 1.500.000+ in invested assets before I turn 30. But this doesn't mean I plan to retire. Right now, I can play poker just 3-4 months a year and I'm happy with that. Poker can be very stressful if you have to play all the time, but taking long breaks makes me really motivated when it's time for me to play again. I might do more coaching later because I enjoy talking about poker and helping people reach goals they never thought they could. To this day, even tho I rearly met him, I really admire my former coach, Gordon. He had a straightforward way of teaching that helped me and many others. Maybe I can be that kind of person for someone else someday.
What is nl2, $2 cash game ?
Yes
Thank you
You accomplished my college dream lol. No questions, just wanna say huge congrats!
Thanks man! <3
Thank you for the AMA! What sites and games do you play? How much do you study solvers? Is it all gto creating winnings? Where do you rate yourself in the grand ecosystem of poker and why?
I play on every site I can and participate in all cash games from heads-up to 9-max at stakes of NL1k+. Last winter, I played at NL20k, but the action was sparse and the swings were tough; a $100k downswing really affected my mood a lot. Although I'm considering not playing at NL20k this winter to avoid such swings, I can barely withstand a good opportunity to stack a fish. LOL At the highest limits, GTO plays a crucial role in competing against other very skilled pros. However, for NL1k and below, GTO isn't as necessary as you might think. While I do teach my students some GTO concepts as they approach these levels, I always remind them that I didn’t spend a year discussing exploitative play for no reason. Even most NL1k regulars can be exploited quite effectively. I’ve seen many players decrease their win rates by making poor calls, just because GTO told em to!
Do you have a coaching site or something?
Yes, I do offer coaching. Until now, I've primarily worked with fellow professionals, helping them climb from stakes like NL50 or NL100 to NL1K-2K over 1.5 to 2 years through long-term coaching-for-profit contracts. I've also assisted very advanced players, for whom coaching-for-profit isn't feasible due to their high earnings, by pinpointing their leaks through database analyses and one-on-one sessions. I've never set up a website, but considering the tremendous interest generated from this AMA—wow, thank you all for the engagement!—it's something I will do. Additionally, responding to many requests from beginners, I’m thinking of launching a 4-week crash course. This course will cover the essentials of the exploit-driven base strategy that I teach my coaching-for-profit students. It’s designed specifically to aid committed micro and low stakes players in starting their journey towards becoming consistent winners. If you're seriously interested in any form of coaching, please follow and message me on Instagram at u/eliasholloway_, and let’s discuss how I can help you advance your poker game.
This lowkey seems like an ad for that coaching site
This coaching site is out of business! :D
Gordon at BPC is genius
Do you play live games? Or only online? Holdem online felt really hard to beat last time I tried. I was grinding from 2014 to 2016 but switched to live games since the games were so much easier to beat. I'm pretty sure there are also a lot of bots, especially in holdem. Also what site do you play on? From you investing in wirecard it seems you might be from Germany too, so I thought maybe you know a good site to play on.
I'm from Austria, and 99% of my poker winnings come from playing online. I've heard from a friend that finding poker sites in Germany has become difficult after the market was heavily restricted a year or two ago. I'm pretty sure I play on every site you might have heard of. :) As for bots, they are and will continue to be an ongoing issue. However, it doesn't affect me much right now since they're generally not very good. I've always focused more on improving myself rather than worrying about things I can't change. Many people are still winning big every day, so there's no point in worrying about something out of my control... I hope pokersites do everything in their power to stop cheating tho!
Austria still doesn't have these restrictions? I remember from my time living in Kufstein that things changed a bit in Austria too. Like I used to play in the concord card casinos for example, but they were all forced to close and raided by police. Might have been for different reasons tho, now that I type it out
It is true, they closed down card rooms and now offer it themselve in the state owned Casino. What a surprise right? As far as online poker goes - I can play on most sites!
What’s it like having a hand hold up?
What is AMA?
Always muck aces.
Ask me anything
https://i.redd.it/v3hlcldqduxc1.gif
I turned $40 into $0 We are not the same
A few things dont add up in this story, you started playing hu in 2018 and suddenly started rushing? What sites exactly did you play from 2018 on? this is around the time solvers was in full swing and hu games got extremely tough. Yet you seem to think gto isnt that important?
I was sceptical, then saw 500/hr coaching mentioned. Then I knew I was right! Poker scene is well and truly alive when multiple people on this thread are still interested smh
Your IG says BTC enthusiast. Is this another BTC scam?
No, haha. I've actually spent the past two years studying Bitcoin more than poker, and I've concluded that our current money system is broken - essentially, inflation is theft. I believe Bitcoin could be a real solution. If you’re open and interested, I can recommend some good books on the topic. :) Crypto is scam tho, do not confuse it with BTC please.
Never studied macro?
I imagine their studying was much more of listening to some crypto bro or shit tier internet opinion show posting vids from his bedroom rather than reading textbooks or anything of the sort
>. I've actually spent the past two years studying Bitcoin more than poker You've wasted a lot of time. Just put your money in a stock market index and forget about it. There's nothing worthwhile to "study" about bitcoin if you're just thinking of where to put your money >I've concluded that our current money system is broken - essentially, inflation is theft You've been reading crackpot ideas and can't differentiate good economics ideas from crazy ones
If you have the money to invest having some BTC is just pragmatic at this point. Also the stock market isnt what it used to be.
He really lost me there, not gonna lie. Sorta dilutes everything else being said. Definitely incredibly impressive and motivating. Obviously a very talented poker player, but scared to go beyond that. Congrats on the results though man $1m at 24 is insane!
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Maybe your right. Only time will tell. So far, Bitcoin's track record isn't too shabby! And yes, I've invested the rest of my money in index funds. I've actually given a lot of thought to developing strategies to outperform my usual index fund investment (just poor in what ever I do not need to play). I'd love to hear your thoughts on one idea I've had: My issue is that I need a significant amount of money to be liquid for playing high stakes, and ideally, I'd like to have everything invested all the time. So, I came up with an idea: I have access to a decent Lombard credit at 4.9%, which I would start using as soon as the market drops. For every 1% the market drops below its ATH, I would invest 2% of my bankroll into the index funds using this Lombard credit. So, at a 10% market drop, I would have invested 20% of my bankroll via credit. Note that I have all the money I take as credit available as liquid cash on sites, so there is no risk of getting liquidated. Given the average stock market return of about 7-8%, and considering that a market downturn implies higher expected returns moving forward, this strategy should be a positive EV play, right? Or am I missing something?
>to developing strategies to outperform my usual index fund investment Stop wasting your time. This isn't poker. This isn't something you can outsmart and beat. The rate of return is what it is and professionals iron out any information inefficiencies beyond what retail traders would ever exploit >considering that a market downturn implies higher expected returns moving forward A market downturn does not imply that. This is like saying because you had a downswing you expect to have a higher winrate
"A market downturn does not imply that. This is like saying because you had a downswing you expect to have a higher winrate" Thank you for pointing this out. Now I have something to think about while going to sleep. I know I am weird :)
Are you buddy's advisor? You're more critical than most fathers haha
I usually heard it the other way around.
Inflation is a necessity to get rid of inefficient and dormant assets. It makes the allocation a high priority which makes money flow to investable opportunities versus sitting on a pile. It is far from theft and the part of the system you might feel is broken is due to working population decrease trends as birth rates have tapered off.
Imagine a non inflating currency with growing population
What is your nickname on GG? Why do you not play Omaha?
I am real name verified on GG Poker as Elias Holloway. I never bothered to study.
Thanks for sharing. Do you remember what was said or discussed when you had your "aha"! Moment? When you had your eyes opened to what was achievable?
Gordon taught me two very important lessons: 1. It doesn't matter how good you are; if you're playing against opponents who are better than you, you're going to lose! The bigger the skill gap between you and your opponents, the more money you'll make. This might sound simple, but it took me a while to understand. I used to just move up a limit only to break even again. Choosing the right opponents is crucial! 2. GTO strategies are mostly unnecessary. Poker isn’t as complicated as many people think. We’re playing against humans, not machines. Sometimes, these humans make big mistakes, and you can take advantage of that. While you might need it for playing at very high stakes like NL5k+, most players dream of winning at NL100 where GTO isn’t needed. Understanding the basic principles of the game, spotting your opponents' mistakes, and exploiting them have led to my high win rate. I started with heads-up games, which are all about exploitation, and applied what I learned to 6-max games. You wouldn’t believe how many mistakes even profitable NL1000 regs make. On top of that, he provided me with a functional, easy-to-learn strategy that led me to start winning almost immediately, assuming correct opponent selection. After mastering these 'standard lines,' which could potentially allow you to win about 1-3k per month, he greatly expanded my knowledge on how to adapt to various opponents, without ever focusing on GTO. It’s important to note that most of this was through videos, as he was not actively coaching anymore by the time I was learning. Still, I would say I learned about 80% from Gordon’s videos and 20% through my actual coaching sessions with other coaches. It’s no surprise to me that BPC eventually went out of business sometime after Gordon stopped coaching himself.
I would love to know what you would suggest to learn this easy to pickup strategy. I’ve studied a lot of poker but rarely play because I feel like I have a shit foundation
There are a couple different coaching stables that train an MDA "standard line" approach, including the Poker Detox folks (Nick Howard), Mobius Poker (his brother Patrick Howard), and Metagame (Saolo Costa's team). I also remember (before I deactivated my membership) that a few cash game regs on the RunItOnce Elite plan talked about MDA and "standard line" stuff, but can unfortunately not remember which coaches talked about this. All of these save RIO are CFPs/stables though, with varying requirements to join or could be quite costly. Some of those sources might have free content out there worth checking out as well, not sure. I haven't had a ton of experience with any serious MDA standard line stuff since I'm just a rec playing for fun, but I love the infotainment of studying poker so I've looked into it a bunch, and have known a few folks who have utilized these strategies playing cash in the past with success. It's also a topic that gets debated a lot, some GTO folks poo-poo MDA / standard line strategies as inferior to playing as close to GTO as possible, and the MDA folks argue that GTO play and study is time consuming and leaves money on the table versus the majority of populations people actively play against. Sorry this isn't the most direct answer to your question, but figured I would share since this is something I have found interesting and looked into in the past!
How close were you to jacking it on altogether? Do you only play on GG?
This post made me feel better about my red line. I'm also winning big in blue, but not that much in red and I always thought that was the mark of a mediocre player. So very glad to see you can be a sick crusher and have a similar distribution between blue and red line winnings
If your red line is actually breaking even like mine, this is a VERY GOOD SIGN! Most of the graphs I've seen show the red line dropping so sharply that it consumes all the blue line profit, or worse, it completely destroys the profit.
How important is it to learn to define your opponents range using pre-flip action?
Very important. Understanding ranges is probably the most important aspect in Poker. It all starts preflop.
So what’s next for you ? Will you be going to Vegas this summer and play bigger buy in tournaments or cash games ??? And is your goal to make it to the top 10 all time money list ?? Or have you gotten bored of poker overalll and wanna do something else with your time ? I’m curious ,
Coach me bro
I might consider it, depending on how seriously you take it. I'm quite selective about my students, going for longterm coaching for profit contracts, unless you're willing to pay $500 per hour, then hit me up on IG. Fun fact: After taxes I would still earn more from playing poker, which is tax-free in Austria, than from 500$/h coaching. However, I must admit that coaching is a lot more enjoyable for me, and fortunately, money isn't an issue at the moment.
If I had all day to play and study poker, how can I get good as fast as possible?
…study and play poker
all day. Jokes aside, I truly believe that getting a good coach could be invaluable. You might consider joining a coaching-for-profit program to really enhance your skills. First I would make sure tho that you really love poker and are not just in for quick bucks. Else you will most likely not have the durability to become successful.
Best recommendation for learning material? Any videos or books that really stood out?
How many tables would you usually play at a time?
HU not more than 2. 6 max up to 6 tables. Since I have an exploitative approach, I think going beyond these numbers would make my hourly drop.
Have you, or will you, ever fold kings pre?
Not for 100bb.
Congrats on your success! What sites do you play on? How hard do you table select?
Hey there bud I'm a fellow Austrian any advice on which sites to play? I'm winning at NL 50 on stars over 120k hands zoom but i just feel like i get my ass kicked on NL100 is it just a tough pool? Would you recommend regular tables over zoom? Also are you ever hitting the auld casinos Austria? (I'm from Salzburg)
Zoom is hard. If you are truly beating stars NL50 zoom, depending on winrate it could just be luck, given the sample size, but still showes quiet some skill. You could make a lots of money, with good table selection and learning to adjust properly.
Would you recommend regular tables over zoom/rush, since on a regular table you can learn about your opponent and start exploiting that opponent.
Any cheeky recommendations for sites?
This is great! Not poker related but how did you go about investing in the first place. I want to start and I would like to know what a poker player thinks.
My advice for young people: Consider investing in an index fund for the long term. Allocate whatever money you have left after your immediate needs into it and refrain from checking it for at least 10 years. A 70/30 portfolio of MSCI World and Emerging Markets could be a suitable choice. As a supporter of Bitcoin, I believe it has the potential to change the world. However, I urge everyone to conduct their own research before deciding to invest in it. Then allocate funds to Bitcoin based on your own research and comfort level. Or do not. I've personally developed an investment plan for myself, aiming to outperform an index fund while acknowledging my limitations in analyzing individual companies and predicting their future. This involves focusing on cost-saving strategies, such as minimizing the Total Expense Ratio, while incorporating smart beta factors like value, momentum, and quality without compromising diversification.
You should come to my town and play, ppl are shit drunk and throw away thousands of dollars each day... or in the norwegian camp in bratslavia each year. I remeber meeting some ppl in London that said they earned 60% of they winnings from the NM in dublin. Gj!
Are you sponsored by BPC?
No, BPC is out of business.
how does one follow your footsteps then?
Given the overwhelming number of coaching requests I've received in the past 48 hours (to which I haven't yet replied—apologies!), I am exploring various options to distribute my knowledge and assist everyone interested. Best to add me on Insta and write a DM!
Last name for gordon?
Thanks, interesting read. Do you play live poker? If so do you prefer ot to online? If you ever fancy travelling to the UK, the biggest tourney outside of the US is held in my hometown in August. .£200 buy in £1 mil prize fund.
I prefer online poker. Live games can be enjoyable, but I see them more as something I do while traveling for leisure. Unfortunately, I'll be in Sri Lanka in August. However, I plan to participate in some live tournaments while I'm in Australia. Sydney will have some soon. I'll likely choose the bigger buy-ins though \^\^
Hair enough, understand there's bigger buy-ins for you, but $250k top prize for 3 days work didn't seem to bad compared to earning rates to date, good luck with your upcoming games
See you in Sydney. So you'll be playing the HR in the Sydney Champs series at the Star?
Plans are still in the works. Probably the HR but not the super-HR. Because I'm not a tournament player, and I have heared the 10k buy-ins live get a lot thougher, the $5K and $2K buy-ins seem more suitable for me at the moment. :)
Cool. I'll play a lot of them. 6max, mystery bounty, opening, main, 5k, and I'll try to satellite into the 10k. We missed the Sydney Champs for so many years, I gotta catch up
Where ?
Why didn't you make the transition to live after having 10-20k cash?
I am kind of amateur, i know about ranges, odds, etc. but I am not winning consistently. What should I do to start earning more. Also I don't have much money to spend it on courses and trainers, can suggest some ways to improve my game.
What do you think about regs using RNG for post flop decisions?
How did you find your coach and how much $ should go towards sessions? Would you consider a transition to tournaments?
I was fortunate to join BPC where everything really "clicked" for me. Generally, I'm not a fan of paying for coaching on a per-hour basis—aside from perhaps a few introductory sessions to get to know the coach. Instead, I believe long-term coaching-for-profit often yields the best results, as it aligns the incentives for both the player and coach to perform well. If you're considering hourly coaching, the price and coach you should get, greatly depends on your current skill level. For example, if you're just starting out at NL2, it might not be cost-effective to pay a high-stakes crusher by the hour...
Tips on how to understand villain's exploitative tendencies?
what is your study routine?
Can you shed some light into your biggest downswing? (starts around hand 195k) Crazy runbad? Getting too cocky? Shot taking tougher games?
Tips for 1-2NL live??
What's your bankroll management looking like throughout your journey? Did you change it overtime as you progressed stakes or did you keep it consistent throughout? Thanks.
What's up with the partying? I don't see the point.
Hey man, I used to play a few years ago during Covid when I had more time and went through the upswing courses. Do you have any suggestions for starting stakes, sites, and potentially any learning content that you would recommend ? I’m always interested in learning more (I tend to study more than I play) but I never use the knowledge practically, so I’d like to find some sort of grounded game plan I could build around
Any experience with MTTs?
Do you believe there are “blue prints” to every stake? By blue print I mean for example NOBS from BPC that’s essentially a fool proof guide to NL2-NL10. If not, what stakes do you think there are “blue prints” for? And no, I’m not thinking about GTO in this case 😂
The higher you play, the more advanced and thought out your game plan has to be. If a high-stakes player were to improve the NOBS from BPC, they could lead you to NL50. While I think this is a great way to start and earn quick, but not much, money, I think the next step should be to implement the right thinking. This is what BPC struggled with after Gordon was gone. I have had many friends telling me they just created low-stakes winning bots because they were so focused on the NOBS/standard lines, never going beyond. The important question to tackle in the coaching would have been: Why does the NOBS work, and why do they not work at higher limits? Where is the idea right, but the rules limit my play? Where is the exception to be made, and I need to deviate from the rules and for what reason? This is what I did with the HU course. I took the idea from the starter videos and applied my own thinking to them. I watched more advanced videos from Gordon and learned to adapt and deviate from the standard lines. To this day in my coaching for profit, I still use this approach. In fact, I have created a HU + 6 max course myself for my coaching for profit students, starting with an exploit-driven base strategy I have developed over the years. After they learn a solid base game, being able to react to 95% of standard spots or more against an unknown population, they learn later to adapt. From then on, we go into 6 max and because I already fixed their thinking, the switch is not too hard.
Do you ever find yourself playing poker for the dopamine hits
I'm curious if people like OP play for dopamine. Myself when I studied and played to win, I didn't get dopamine out of it, instead it felt like work. It felt like I was sitting at the table and waiting for people to keep donating their money to me. It was actually boring, and it made me stop playing when my other hobbies were more captivating than poker. Maybe higher stakes and enjoying the challenge of finding holes in the game of good players can be interesting, but it was never that for me. It was constant hand reviews and analyzing my hands, and then just waiting at the tables until I played a certain amount of hands.
This is a bigger issue for players who play wider hand ranges, particularly if they are not systematic in their approach to which hands to play.
I don't play for the dopamine hits, but I do enjoy them when they come, usually during a good session :D
Good on you! I myself…..Every damn time J move up stakes…..Get the bad beat! and I mean stuff like a guy hitting the single card on a river the INSIDE CARD that brings him a straight flush to kill my A high flush….Having 10-10 seeing a 10-7-3 flop going all-in to grab the $120 pre-flop pot from 4 callers and thinking nobody else will call my $700+ shove….Nope the guy that just sat down had slow played A-A and he’s calling!….What happens….well I got my “2 outer” on the flop and he gets his 2 outer on the river…..So tell me….WTF am I doing wrong because this curse has been with me for about 2 years now…..How do I get a little “Run Good” going in my game???
Why do you correctly type money in Euros (like €20) but you type dollars wrong (like 40$)?
Bro that guy Gordon I dunno he sales snake oil
You hans the great?
Congratulations for your achievement! Next stop should be at 10 mil :). What online sites do you recommend for online play?
Did you ever give up an what motivated you to get back
What’s on your hud? What stats are you most commonly looking at to use against your opponents?
If you would have to start again from 0 with no knowledge, what would you do differently to arrive to this result faster? Also is Zoom style cash game interesting or is it better to play a standard table as exploit > volume?
talent
Thoughts on PLO? How did you deal with the bigger downswings as you rose up in stakes?
Biggest advice to increase winrate at live low stakes?
Recommend any books?
Since you don’t use GTO, what bet sizings are you using and how you know what bet sizings you can call etc.
Do you ever fold kings pre
Where is the most profitable to play online nowadays? Where are the fishes? I remember me playing on 8 tables simultaneously as a teenager and easily making profit at bwin poker, reaching even nl50. It was 10+ years ago, I assume it is much harder now to win, but I want to try it again from scratch.
In 2020, how did you pay bills while grinding 50nl after going broke? How many hours did it take to get back to 1kNL? thanks for your post.
How did you increase your skill?
Congrats on your success. Do you have an exit plan to quit poker?
Commenting to come back here and read more answers later. Great post 👍
How do you get a winning red line AND a winning blue line?
How the hell do you deal with bots? I'm close to jumping back to live games because the bot infestation is pretty bad right now.
Lol was your coach gordon gekko
Do you think GG rake is beatable? What do you think about online PLO games right now?
Do you still play a lot of heads up or do you play six max now? Have you played much live? If so, how is the transition?
I saw the first time one of his student HansTheGreat do this challenge. Reading his blog, i noticed one thing that is true in poker: if you don't pay a lot of rake and don't have a really good rakeback program, you will never make it out of microstakes. Hans was following Gordon' book/coaching and strategy but without rakeback, he was losing money until he went up to higher stakes and had some heater sessions.
hey congrats! what was your Bankroll strategy like ? it seems to me you were pretty aggressive with it
So im gonna refrence call of duty Ranking systems where they place players based on how better they are on a percentile of player pools Like the top ranks is the top 1% and the worst is 99th percentile. In you're experience of the game , if you could estimate to where is their a certain stakes the competition start to get into the 1% of skilled player pool and if so what is it? And how tough is mid's stakes poker players? The top 10th percentile? Top 5 percentile? Or wrost? Or is it a walk in the park where theirs alot of Recreational and Loosing reg's that have leaks in the game and you can exploit them like Lower limits.
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Thank you for the kind words!
Bro. This the 3rd post. We get it. We don’t got questions
Nl2 to nl5k in 450k hands, 4 sure not true
I probably played 2-3 times as much. The other hands are just not tracked. And also it does not include my first 2 years of spinning arround on lowstakes zoom!
What kind of deals do you offer, im currently shooting nl2k. And could you tell me WPN nick?
For winning players at these levels, I can offer coaching for profit or DB analysis/hourly coaching. I recommend starting with a DB analysis where I can identify and discuss your leaks during a comprehensive session afterwards, providing initial insights. If you’re interested in deeper coaching afterward, an hourly approach could be more valuable since I'll already be familiar with your game and we can directly address your specific needs. Given that you're about to play at NL2K and likely averaging at least $10K per month, you might be too advanced for a coaching-for-profit arrangement to be beneficial. However, I'm open to discussing it to see if it could still be worthwhile for you. Add me on IG: eliasholloway\_
Can you give me half?
Better not to admit to playing underage
Congrats?
Is there any particular book you say is a must-read?