Cash is QUEEN! Prim´s little CG corner (and BR-challenge)

Guys, I never ever thought I would do this, but here we are and I do it: Here´s my new own blog with exclusive focus on Cash Games!

Who am I?

For those who are new: Welcome! I´m Prim, 50 years young, freelance writer, competitive tennis player, constant gardener and a former SnG-grindette.

What´s my poker story?

I was an ambitious SnG- and MTT-grindette once - 100 years ago, I guess? Years ago, a very bad downswing killed my motivation for that lovely hobby and I went CG, with quite nice results, but then the restrictions came here in Germany, where I live! Many poker rooms left, traffic broke down and still not entirely recovered from my tournament downswing, I decided to go just-for-fun recreational player. During the next couple of years, I played just sporadically, even considered giving up poker entirely (cause I have plenty of other hobbies). Last summer, my friend Harrier 88, with whom I still share a blog (https://www.pokerstrategy.com/forum/thread.php?threadid=543324) convinced me to do a funny little freeroll-challenge. So, my little Koopa freeroll challenge (https://www.pokerstrategy.com/forum/thread.php?postid=3470683#post3470683) on PartyPoker came to life. I cashed everything out and started with 0 $ and freerolls on PartyPoker.

I didn´t expect anything, to be honest, it was just for fun! Then I qualfied for the Big Quarter, a 11 $ PKO MTT (back then it was PKO, now it´s Mystery Bounty) and guess what: I came ITM and had my first little BR. However, my BR on Partypoker grew and grew, so I decided that as soon as I got 50 $ on Party, I will return to the CG-tables. Hey, guess what: Yes, i got those 50 $ and even more. I had qualified for the 22 $ Sunday Carnival (PKO, 40.000 $ Gtd.) and ...yes, you can guess it: Cashed! And with that said, let´s look at our start-BR.

Starting BR

92 $ (built from scratch with freerolls)

Enough to play CG, so let´s get on with it!

What will I play?

NL Holdem and PL Omaha 6-max

What can you expect from this blog?

Well, this blog now will be a bit more "serious" and "ambitious" than my shared blog over there (https://www.pokerstrategy.com/forum/thread.php?threadid=543324&page=64). We´re starting with NL2 and PL2 and of course the goal is to move up in limits and build a BR. Let´s go from fish to CG-shark!

Why CG?

Super fun fact: I master the mental game of poker in CG better (yes b-e-t-t-er) than in SnGs or MTTs. Don´t ask me why. I prefer to play with hard cash, no increasing blinds and - that´s another important reason - you´re way more time-flexible with CG than with tournament-poker. You see, i got other hobbies, I don´t have hours and hours to spend at the poker tables! And furthermore, we here in Germany, are only allowed to play 4 tables at once, big MTT grinds with 8-tabling are not possible anymore. That makes CG even more practical!

What will you see in this blog?

Well, it´s still a hobby-blog and I´m still a hobby-player, but this blog is strongly Cash Game-focussed (even though I still gotta find out how to post hand histories from PartyPoker). But hey, I can post food from time to time, if requested.

How often will I play?

I plan to play about twice a week, I will still play tournament poker at work-free days and weekends, freeroll challenges are still going on, on Partypoker as well as on 888, but that´s a topic for over there (https://www.pokerstrategy.com/forum/thread.php?threadid=543324&page=64).

So now, I would say, without further ado: Let the (cash-)games begin!

Hey Prim! Pumped to track your CG progress from NL2 all the way to shark status! 🦈

Wishing you the best of luck! ♠️♥️♣️♦️

Great to see your new blog! Best of luck, and congratz on earning your starting bankroll.

Cash games are not really my cup of tea, especially not Hold'em and Omaha, so I'll gladly let you crush those tables. Of course, you will have my support, as always.

If any newcomers are wondering about the Mario characters, they often serve as Prim's poker mascots. Mario games are a mainstay during our (usually monthly) social meetups, so we ended up using the characters for our poker blogs too. I see Pom Pom is your new cash game mascot. Care to introduce her?

Again, best of luck at the tables, it will be exciting to see how far you can go with those freeroll winnings.

Thank you very much, guys! I hope my blog will be helpful and entertaining. Yes, of course I have a mascot, which is "Pom Pom" - as I am such a big fan of those Mario-games, I choose a little mascot for every format. I think Pom Pom, an unfortunately no so well known Koopa and Villainesse in some Mario-games (like "Bowsers Fury") is perfect. Here she is and she´s adorable:

SUPER MARIO SERIES - All Pom Pom Battles (2011-2024) - YouTube

Tap to unmute

SUPER MARIO SERIES - All Pom Pom Battles (2011-2024) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9K2VxlOMg0U)Dark Lord Chaos (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwQ8dPEOQmKNijqq0dD00VQ) Dark Lord Chaos126K subscribers

Fun fact: When you defeat her, she turns into CASH!

Never heard of that Pom Pom but then again I have mainly played just the really old Mario games. Plus I think first of the Luigi mansion ones.

For cash journey just stay out of fast forward tables. At least in general they tend to be lot tighter which is not great for profitability.

Originally posted by ghaleon

Never heard of that Pom Pom but then again I have mainly played just the really old Mario games. Plus I think first of the Luigi mansion ones.

For cash journey just stay out of fast forward tables. At least in general they tend to be lot tighter which is not great for profitability.

Won´t play "Fast Forward" or whatever they called. Will play regular, normal CG.

My mascot, Pom Pom, is not very well known, so don´t sweat it, if you don´t know her. She and her brother (or partner?) "Boom Boom" only show up in a few Mario Games (like for example "Bowsers Fury"). Never played a game with Pom Pom in it either (yet). But I think she´s adorable.

A good start with Omaha!

Man, I was so happy to find two PLO2-tables on Party! Very often, the PLO tables on Partypoker are either totally full or totally empty! I took the opportunity to play a little lunch break session (about 1,5 hours). So, here we are! Back at the CG-tables! Now what? Well, let´s get into it and watch Villains carefully. As you can guess: The tables at PLO2 are filled with recreational fun-players. Of course! A lot of limping was going on, a lot of bad calling, so the procedure was standard: Wait patiently for a solid hand with nut potential and value bet, whenever you have the best hand, watch the action, watch the blockers, no unprofitable calls. During the first hour there was not much action (card-dead), the big action came during the last 10 minutes of my session. We were pretty much dancing around break-evenish the whole time until this happened:

(https://ibb.co/fVhtbQXv)

Let´s call this hand a session saver: Got acies, one Villain raised, I 3-bet, another Villain 4-bets and eventually we all get it in! Acies held up, two stacks for me. Another spectacular hand, which unfortunately I forgot to save as screenshot were quads 7777, they got paid, but Villain was not with the full stack at the table. Not a bad start with +2,5 stacks up!

Strong choice of hands against those opponents.

Originally posted by ghaleon

Solid hand selection from the opponents there.

Hey, I double-checked whether I was REALLY in the correct game: this is Omaha HI, right? Because years ago I once played PLO in a PLO8 tournament (and ended up winning it, since during the HU I noticed the split pots and began playing the RIGHT game!). So, I checked twice to be sure we were REALLY playing Omaha hi! Yes, we were!

Here it is: my hand for the day

(https://ibb.co/MDhzRyQN)

Really nice opening session — I was happy to be able to rail a little. You showed solid judgment in spots where I probably would have folded too soon, but that’s why you’re the one grinding Omaha cash while I stick to "mixed games" tournaments.

Although I don’t claim to be an expert in PLO (or PL Omaha generally), the hand selection by your opponents in that "session saver" hand left me genuinely confused, especially Player 6. Did we mention it went all-in preflop?

And those quads were magnificent, naturally. Your opponent swallowed the bait completely.

Nice work — a strong return to the cash tables after such a long break.

Originally posted by ghaleon

Never heard of that Pom Pom but then again I have mainly played just the really old Mario games.

Same here - actually, I think Prim and I mostly stuck to the older handheld entries back in the day. When we first tried New Super Mario Bros. Wii last year as our first "modern" (as in 2009) main-series game, we ended up struggling quite a bit.

I always favored the spin-offs like Mario Kart, Mario Party and the sports titles over the core series anyway. But Prim and I like the characters a great deal, which is why she began collecting plush versions of them. Hey, isn't it about time to show off your Pom Pom plushie, Prim?

I hadn't heard of Pom Pom until sometime last year either, and I still haven't played a game she appears in. Primrose liked the character straight away too, so I bought her the plush for Christmas.

You managed to get me both: Boom Boom and Pom Pom — and here they are:

(https://postimg.cc/3W2v7GrV)

Btw if you like mario games I would definitely recommend Astrobot which won game of the year award. Assuming PS5 is available. Absolute masterpiece and pure joy to play. Its single player game though.

Originally posted by Harrier88

But while I admittedly don't know a lot about PL Omaha (let alone PLO cash), your opponents' hand selection in that "session saver" hand truly baffled me too, especially Player 6. Did we mention that it was a preflop all-in?

9532ss has many good sides like steel wheel draw and its rarely dominated!

The odds calculator says ....

(https://ibb.co/rKx75vfg)

Well, that suited 52 is very often dominated by better flushes. The 9 is clearly a dangler there. I wouldn´t jam it pre in CG, to be honest. Would be probably an emergency-jam in a tournament as short stack...

5293ss vs acies only

(https://ibb.co/YBXvP1TZ)

Originally posted by ghaleon

Btw if you enjoy Mario-style games I’d strongly suggest Astrobot, which won a Game of the Year award — assuming PS5 is an option. It’s an absolute masterpiece and a pure delight to play. It’s single-player only, though.

For now our choices are Wii/Wii U, Steam and retro systems (and arguably Xbox 360), and aside from Steam, they’re only available offline for face-to-face meetups.

Just to be clear, my remark about that 9532 trash hand was entirely sarcastic. But yes, you should obviously open-fold. Still, some players go wild with certain holdings when facing 3bet and 4bet. Maybe they're hoping both have AA, or more likely this guy simply wanted to gamble. I’m not convinced this would even be a favorite against two AA.

The odds calculator shows ....

Absolutely!

(I used my hand from yesterday and then generated another random AAxx hand)

(https://postimg.cc/B8wvcSSx)

Still, it’s obviously a straightforward fold. In a PLO8-MTT scenario however, as a desperate shortie, I might think about shoving.

Learning by f*-ing up!

Well, nobody expected me to play perfectly on my second day of CG after "100 years" of absence. I clearly notice that I´m getting some skills back, some hands I played really well, and some others .... not so much...:f_ugly: Today I f*-ed up 4 hands, that´s for sure! I noticed it. No surprise that I was most of the time about 1 stack down. I was pretty much ready to call it a day (after 2 hours) and accept that little loss, until .....

(https://ibb.co/bgZHy1L8)

...super-hyper aggro fun-player bluffed their whole stack away - to me! Yeah, thank you very much! I didn´t say "no". After that hand, they went on tilt and I took the rest:

(https://ibb.co/dJH488RF)

Not much action with FOUR cards today, was struggling to get a to a table, played like half an hour at the only table available, where a super-hyper-aggro fun-player was raising, 3-betting and potting all the time and getting incredibly lucky, getting runner-runner-quads, hitting gutshots, etc. They took about half a stack from me by hitting their gutshot on the river (while I held trips). Otherwise, I was not involved very much in hands, missed all the other flops completely but watched that hyper-aggro fun-player sucking out on Villain after Villain, sitting there with a HUGE stack. I was hoping that their luck may be waining and I may get a chance to take some of this huge stack, but I was card-dead and decided to pick up TWO cards instead.

Anyway, thanks to my "session saver" (forgiving me my stupid play during the last 2 hours): pretty much break even!*

BR: 97,95 $ (86,42 €)

*I think it´s +4ct

Hello Prim — what concerns me is that your bankroll on a poker site is larger than the biggest bankroll I currently have on any poker site.

Originally posted by taavi1337

Hello Prim, what concerns me is that your bankroll on a poker site is larger than my current top bankroll on a poker site

Hello Taavi and welcome to my little CG diary!

Well, as you know, Bowser Jr. earned this bankroll for me. It’s all assembled from freerolls in the Koopa Freeroll Challenge. To be honest: more than half of it comes from the 22 $ Sunday Carnival (40.000 $ Gtd. PKO): two decent bounties and an ITM that doubled my bankroll on Partypoker. We had secured a 3.30 $ Sunday Carnival Qualifier ticket in a “Free to play around the clock” freeroll, then we qualified for the Sunday Carnival and picked up two good bounties and an ITM in the target event. And that’s how it happened!

That could be the case, we can't really tell

Taking tennis to the poker tables ....

Yeah, that´s what I do. Today was study-day, so no session ,no hands, but some thoughts. NL2 and PLO2 remind me on a tennis match I played in March this year, described here (https://www.pokerstrategy.com/forum/thread.php?threadid=543324&page=59). It was a tennis tournament with two single´s matches to play (women 50 plus singles). And NL2 and PLO2 remind me indeed on my first Villainesse in that very tournament. She wanted to play "tricky", she was a very aggressive player, but: made tons of mistakes! And what did I do? I played safe and clean tennis! No risks, no tricky play, no special moves, just safe and clean! This is exactly what I gotta do at the tables - unless Villains show me otherwise. I won the match clearly, I think it was something like 6:1, 6:0, just by not making mistakes. My husband was watching the match and said afterwards something like "WTF was THAT?" Because he knows how I can play tennis, and THAT wasn´t even 50 % of what I can do. My answer was a very common German saying: "A good horse just jumps as high as it´s required" ("Ein gutes Pferd springt nur so hoch wie es muss"). I knew that there would be a second match and the second Villainesse wouldn´t be so easy to beat.

So now: Let´s take that to the NL2 and PLO2-tables. Let´s jump just as high as required, which means: no fancy-shmancy bluffs, no fancy play, no big, risky moves, just safe and clean poker - unless I see fit for some moves. And to be honest: After "100 years" of absence from the CG-tables, I have a lot to re-learn!! So, why not re-learn first solid, safe and clean CG, right? I remember some cool moves, though, but first things first: Let´s focus on safe and clean poker against (mostly) Just-for-fun-players at those limits.

Yeah, small-ball is great — today I shoved my 50bb stack versus 4bb who was open with 66 in an SnG... seems like the optimal play against that opponent

Originally posted by taavi1337

Yeah, small-ball works well; today I shoved my 50bb stack versus 4bb open with 66 in an SnG... seemed like the correct play against that opponent

In a recent freeroll on PartyPoker, I shoved my 60 big blind or so with KK preflop, fully expecting someone to call. Sure enough, someone did — with 99. And I got sucked out on!

Won’t be doing that in cash games, though!

In hell's kitchen!!

Today there were just way too many "good customers" - at least at work! I got a monster order at work with an insane deadline, so I went straight from work to the tables (not exactly my smartest move). Need to review this session — I may have overplayed that hand by jamming the flop with my open-ender and an overpair?

(https://ibb.co/ND8gqxs)

Anyway, that cost me one stack. Whoops!

Another stack disappeared in Hold'em due to variance, losing QQ < 48s (a fun player called my 3-bet pre with 48s), and sometimes they catch up. I called the flop with a pair of 8 and hit second pair on the turn. Sh!t happens.

The rest went fairly okay — not great hands, a few dumb mistakes but nothing too pricey, mostly card-dead. This hand was the day's highlight:

(https://ibb.co/PzvB6Xsk)

I think I misplayed it:

(https://ibb.co/JFjVDChc)

CO (crazy, maniac, just-for-fun player!) raises pre, I call on the BTN, SB calls, BB calls, UTG calls (I probably should have 3-bet?). The flop gives me an open-ender and a (questionable) flush draw, UTG checks, CO bets and I raise because I want a heads-up pot with the maniac CO. SB calls, BB and UTG fold, CO calls and ends up all in. Turn is x/x and SB jams turn; I fold. SB shows an Ace-high flush. Glad I folded, but that wasn't great play!

Anyway, at the end of the day: 2 stacks down.

BR: 83,07 €/93,58 $.

Hopefully I play better in tennis (https://www.pokerstrategy.com/forum/thread.php?postid=3525919#post3525919) tomorrow

Tilt without loosing a single poker hand!!

Goodness me! Just reviewed the first hand QQ76ss above!! WTF, Prim?! That could not only be the a$$-end of the str8, but there´s a possible flush draw out there plus a possible higher str8 draw. Oh boy! That was one of the first hands I played right after work! I was SO MUCH focussed on not tilting at the tables, staying calm, that I never thought about tilt from work-load!! That´s new to me, but tilt not only comes at the tables, but can also come from crazy customers at work! Okay guys, next time taking a break after work before hitting the tables is a MUST!

I know grinding time is scarce, but quality will trump quantity every time. At least try to take a short break right after work before you hit the tables, maybe have a nice drink or dessert. You will know best what feels right and allows you to clear your mind a little so you can stay focused.

Originally posted by Harrier88

I know grinding time is scarce, but quality will trump quantity every time. At least try to take a short break right after work before you hit the tables, maybe have a nice drink or dessert. You will know best what feels right and allows you to clear your mind a little so you can stay focused.

Yes! Next time I will do it better! When playing freeroll I can afford playing like a fun-player, but NOT in CG anymore!

Just check back QQ76ds on flop if that was possible. If facing pot lead it's even close to whatever to continue as there is only three nut outs.

8877ds would be usually 3bet for me. You can also call if CO goes for 4bet. But rainbow and single suit combos just calling. As played postflop is well played. By raising flop you can get some better flush draws to probably fold from players behind. River is easy fold especially with SB betting into empty side pot. Meaning it should never be bluff.

But yeah thank SB for not squeezing preflop with absolutely mandatory 3bet hand. Would have cost whole stack most likely.

Many thanks, Ghale! ♠_thumbsup:

What I learnt for the poker tables today ...

Played tennis, not poker, but again got very interesting insights into the tilt-phenomenon! Vilainesse was good! She is a good solid player, no doubt. And I had to fight hard in the first set, which I closely won with 7:5! So, now: Villainess went on tilt! And what happened? Won the second set 6:0! That taught me a lesson about adjusting! In the first set, I really gave everything I got and I even had to carry out risky moves. But in the second set, I only had to play save and clean tennis! No risk, no moves, nothing, just not making mistakes! And this is exactly how I should also adjust at the poker tables to different Villains.

I pretty much played "poker" on the tennis court. But this is how I should also play poker. The second set was kind of a "rope a dope" play. I let Villainesse make the mistakes and avoided unforced erros myself.

I decided to post this here, even though it´s not directly about poker, but has A LOT to do with the mental game and adjusting to different types of players and to tilting players.

I don't play sports myself, but I understand how participating in a comparable competitive game could help make parallels at PokerTracker.

I did good (even though it didn´t pay)! ..

Well guys, there wasn´t much I could do today at the cash tables (NLH and PLO), because I was mainly card-dead. Not much chance to bluff either — too many call-happy fun players around (who of course caught their lucky cards!). I played two hours of CG, about half an hour of that was PLO, and there was just... well... nothing. So I don´t have PLO hands to show because I either folded pre or folded on the turn or river. I hit aces about twice, but on a wet board with three pre-flop calling fun players... no draw for me, nothing... I maybe should stay VERY still with my chips.

Hold'em wasn´t much better: tons of junk hands, loads of missed flops and right before time was up (I only play 1-2 hours to avoid fatigue-tilt!), I had this hand:

(https://ibb.co/wxXmsSt)

Yeah, not spectacular, but this is the ONLY value hand of today. Also, there was a decent bluff catch:

(https://ibb.co/n83wGfdg)

Even though there was no win today, I´m happy and proud: I stayed calm, stayed focused, remained resilient, I could analyze situations pretty well and even though I barely got hands and missed most flops, there was no tilt! The bluff catch was the last hand of my session! I´m -1,50 $ down, but I would still call it a good session! I´m proud of myself! I know there´s nothing more I could do! More luck next time!

Short but nice...

Only a short session today, cause had a lot of work to do. But there was at least 1 hour time for a nice CG session. Was happy that I could pick up FOUR cards - and that was where my today´s results are coming from. Played also Holdem, but not much action there ....

It´s always lovely when acies hit hard...

(https://ibb.co/qLh6zzXF)

...and a call-happy fun-player gives you their money.

Played this double pair aggressively

(https://ibb.co/cSZ0Yrnz)

Player 6 to my right, raised pre, I 3-bet of course, only Player 5 and Player 6called, everybody else folded. Flop comes 3-7-2r (as you see in the picture), Player 6 checks, I fire about 3/4 pot, Player 5 calls, player 6 folds, turn comes 5 and I get it in, Player 5 folds and I get a nice big pot. Guess this was right?

Just a fun hand from Holdem (cause no big action there): 72o wins!

(https://ibb.co/p5f95zk)

Anyway, at the end of my short session, I was a bit more than one stack up!

BR: 82,45 € (91,84 $)

AA88 its awesome flop to get overall as two pairs and sets are very rare. So potting with low SPR make sense even 3way. Turn is not greatest but I guess shove is ok.

Thank you very much, Ghale!

Only TWO cards today

Couldn’t get to a PLO table, bummer! Wanted to pick up FOUR cards but had no chance — PLO tables were full. Oh well, then let’s pick up TWO cards. The first 45 minutes of my session I was completely card-dead; all I did was steal and bluff, just maintaining my stacks. After a while I decided to open four tables to get through the card-dead stretch faster, while observing the games, labeling Villains, taking notes and hunting for good spots to steal and bluff. Yes, poker is about patience and sometimes patience pays! This is a fine way to end a card-dead phase, isn’t it?

(https://ibb.co/d40yYTGG)

But “daily quads” aren’t bad either, are they?

(https://ibb.co/RGwQ9kcx)

Still no full stack taken, until .......

(https://ibb.co/FLwdhpyc)

This is just a low-limit classic!

With all that and only a few dumb mistakes (bad river calls), we’re 3 € up! About two stacks up (in $).

BR: 85,04 €

I’ll probably keep reporting in Euro, since $ amounts involve currency swings...

Blooper of the day

Why c-betting half a pot, when you can c-bet half of your STACK?

(https://ibb.co/60pkxY6V)

This was a misclick with misclick-equity...

I did not disappear .. don´t worry (non-poker related)

...there simply wasn´t any poker yesterday, but time for friends and a social life! Met up with Harrier88, who is, as you might know, a long-time friend of mine in real life. Today, I have to play in a tennis match, actually stepping in for a friend who can’t play today, and this will be my last event until the end of June! I´m really soooooo looking forward to a break, because competing every weekend is, honestly, pretty exhausting. I´ve been regularly competing in tennis since January this year and my body is sending clear signals that it urgently needs a bit of a slow-down.

Well, last efforts for now I guess .... :f_biggrin:...more about the "Trollette Open" here (https://www.pokerstrategy.com/forum/thread.php?postid=3527735#post3527735).