About a father who is swimming among the sharks: Cash Game on midstakes

Hello PokerStrategy!

All my poker career started here a pretty long time ago back in 2010, but I was active only on my own language (Hungarian) section. My main profile is Cash Game, right now on Ipoker and Unibet from NL200 to NL400. There is a long and successful journey behind me, but I hope there is still time and way to achieve higher objectives. I can't be grateful enough to poker as I reached so many things I was dreaming about.

I'm almost 35 years old, living with my family: wonderful wife, amazing 1-year old son, a daugther to be born in the summer and two dogs. I could not imagine any better environment for me to be motivated (well we had some tough periods before). My main goal is to find balance between my personal life and poker career and create the financial security for all my kids until they grow up or even after that.

It's very hard to target anything specific about money in poker, but let give it a try. I dont really play a limit before having 100 BIs for the limit, and I want to play NL5k, so let say the main target is reaching 500.000 € on my bankroll. I do have to pay expenes from my poker profit, so it's going to be harder than just making 500k profit.

I do have active acccounts on Betfair, RedStar and Unibet currently. I'm not saying I'm the biggest crusher on my current limits as there are some better players but I do have a decent winrate for a long period now and I'm ready to improve week by week. I always have problems with volume as I'm not that real grinder type, but hope I can increase my yearly input. Here is my graph from RedStar Poker recently, as nobody believes without evidence right?!

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The main direction is good, my red line is going to improve hopefully and my blue will not suffer that much decrease. Lets work and crush together!

GL:

novy

However I haven't received any comments, there are some likes on my blog, that makes me to keep up posting. February was a successful month in terms of quality but my quantity was pretty poor. Played only 15k hands, but had a winnings of 31 BIs, that is over 20bb/100, pretty sure it was a huge upswing that is always welcomed. It was also my first month ever with positive red line, that's a good feedback of my thinking is improving and I can outplay some of the regs of my limit. Hope the good run will not let me down for a long period and we can crush together.

Originally posted by novak53

However I haven't received any comments, there are some likes on my blog, that makes me to keep up posting.

The EN forum is not quite as active as it once used to be, unfortunately. Amassing 14 likes within such a short time is impressive, though. Normally, you only see those numbers in long-running threads, possibly still from the "boom times". You must have built up quite a following in the last 14 years to get so much support for your blog after a little over a week.

You would probably get even more support if you had any pictures of your dogs to post.

That's nice — I only played 8k hands in February, but I was 1-2 tabling. And I have 2 kids, 7 and 5 years old. I'm also taking a pro career very seriously since mid-January, working on habit building. I played 45 hours total in February, which amounts to an average of 1.6 hours a day. That's a lot for me. Keep it up; I believe you're winning. Relationships are central to everything. Poker contributes a great deal to personal happiness and a career — use both to get the most out of life. Thanks for the blog.

Hi novy!

Any specific thing you did to change your red line so drastically "overnight"? It's always a hot topic how to manage your red line (and also the debate if it's necessary at all). What's your take on that? Did you have a change in your game plan, a new approach, or just concentrating more on spots where agression was a possible choice? Looking forward to hear about your journey, I was a big fan of your videos in the past!

Z

Hey, great to find a crusher blog here. Good luck on your journey ✌🏻

Thank you for every feedback, all these give me motivation. Alright I keep it in mind to post pictures about my dogs.

Well actually I dont see myself as a crusher, there is always room to improve and be more optimal in every spot for sure. I had two good months to start the year, that's true, but we will see how things go on a larger sample. The red line is an interesting topic, I'm not really obsessed with it, but I do think after a level, its your only chance to find some extra money at the tables. Hard to answer your question in every detail, as I'm not sure what changes had the biggest impact on my red line overall. Let say a few examples:

1. Try to play each session only if I feel relaxed and rested, there is no mess around me. (That's not an easy environment, especially with a 1 year old kid ) Almost every session when I play a bit tired ends with decreasing red line, as I miss many opportunities, and mostly play only my cards and not the boards.

2. I do 3bet more from the blinds ahd have a bit stronger entire defense range from BB.

3. Initiated donkbet ranges in almost every spot that favours me.

4. Bluffing more also with made hands if I see an opponent with overold frequencies.

5. Using more overbets and blockbets.

Hope these thoughts make some sense in terms of red line play, GL!

Really helpful advice — best of luck with your challenge!

Hello!

How's the BR Challenge coming along?

Don't forget to update the reporting thread, here is the link: The Bankroll Challenge 2023 - Reporting thread (https://www.pokerstrategy.com/forum/thread.php?postid=3459704#post3459704)

Regards!

So, should I submit reports weekly, or is a monthly update acceptable? Fortunately I'm on an upswing, so the challenge is going well so far; in March I'm up to 10 BIs in winnings so far.

Originally posted by novak53

Alright, should I report every week, or once in a month is also acceptable?

Whenever you want, it's up to you - people usually don't care as long as there are sick graphs involved.

I personally liked to do a big update with stats and all every month, and smaller ones in-between when there is a good reason for it, like some kind of milestone or a big tournament win.

More frequent updates will give people a reason to keep coming back, of course, and more opportunities to give feedback.

How are you doing mate? How you organise your grind with family/kid/job etc?

Originally posted by novak53

Alright, should I report every week, or once in a month is also acceptable? Luckily I'm having some kind of upswing, so the challenge is going good so far, in March Im up to 10 BIs in winnings so far

We will send you a ticket each time, it is usually due on the Monday that is following the 1st and 3rd Sunday of the Month (also updated in our reporting thread)

GL at the tables now!

Alright, since I started my blog here mostly I played on Betfair. It was a special quarter for me, as I had some kind of upswing, resulting in running over 10bb/100 in winrate. Pretty sure that's my first ever double digit winrate in such period, but I was running above EV almost 10 BIs. This kind of variance is always welcomed and I'm ready to keep up working on my weaker areas. There are some changes in my red line play, as my recent results are between 0-1bb on the positive side, that one is a big evolve in my way of thinking in the most common spots. My wwsf also increased from 49 to above 51. I'm not sure about the english version, please correct me if necessary: "luck is no coincidence".

Great post! Regarding the higher wwsf, across what sample size have you maintained 51?

Not sure about when the process exactly started, it's over 100k hands now.

Actually I just checked my recent WWSF, that is above 52 for the year so far. Probably I'm having a decent upswing, facing some good spots, making solid decisions. April is doing great so far in terms of results, but due to some other business, quantity is on the lower side:

(http://www.kepfeltoltes.eu/view.php?filename=331Betfair_April.png)

I'm not really obsessed with my red line, only green matters on the long run, but it's always an uplifting feeling to see it on the positive side. February was my best month so far with 30 BIs winnings, if I can keep up the good run I can probably broke it, but anything can happen in poker. We do the best and god do the rest.

Nice one, friend! That’s a truly enviable chart. Keep dominating!

Novak fcking Djokovic.

Really impressive results! Great-looking graph ♠_biggrin:

In April I did not manage to reach 30 BI in winnings, as I had a slightly negative last week for the month, but winrate was still above 10bb/100 overall, that is pretty cool. Last year I had only around 4bb in winrate, that should look pretty decent, but my main target for 2024 is to achieve a bit higher (5bb+) if I move up on stakes, as rake becomes less in bb/100. Obviously opponents will get a bit better, but there is no that much difference between 400 and 1k regs. Except for 2,5x in real money, that is a big part of the mental side if you have some downswings.

What do u think about comfort zone? How do you move out of it, when do you have enough courage to take a shot on higher limits? In the past I had "bigger balls", I had some sessions on 5k already (was a big loss overall). Now I have a family, I'm responsible for the material essentials and we do have to plan every details about the future of our children. I'm not in a rush, but I know my time is limited to reach high profit in poker as I'm getting older. What are your thoughts on it?

I am in no way an expert in this, but I would say, maybe have some other passion/job/income as well, not only professional poker. For example, I am now teaching computer game development to children, something that I really like. I remember when I tried to go poker professional only while having two small sons, it still led me to working at a kindergarten with disabled children etc. Professional sports is nice but people in general ask for social behavior I think. Of course it sucks in a way that you have to pull back from the career in poker but it is possible to enjoy working with children and then adding the fun to the professional poker career - it feels safer even. Getting emotional needs met in family and for others is great, real connections and real safety. I don't know if it is helpful or not, it is something that I do.

Higher limits I think is very much connected to the partner. I once played very high compared to my standards, giving my best, and she liked it that I gave my best effort in my career. I still pulled back a lot cause it was too scary playing that high. I took a 2-year break, now I moved up a bit after few months, she kept telling me to move up when I described what I'm doing and the amount of money involved. Then when I moved up, she told me to take the winnings out, cause it was too scary for her. But now I gave my best to support local schools in education and so on, so she started to support my current stakes, saying: "get that Skrill physical card, what are you doing, paying with Skrill virtual card extra $1.50 cost every time to grocery store worker (ordering food online only)". So, I believe, it has to be connected to partner. This is where the confidence is. We are no longer playing to get the money for ourselves, we have to give our best to partner/family.

May was a decent month, upswing is still in progess, managed to win 20 BIs, EV was around the same. Had my best red line ever with +3bb/100, but I still feel I could have played better in some spots. I'm going to have a bigger break pretty soon, as my daughter will arrive in 1 month. I managed to reach 100 BIs overall winnings in 2024 that looks solid, but I still have to work a lot on my quantity. GL

For a short period I'm taking a break from poker. My daughter is going to born in a few days and I'm spending the next few weeks with my family full-time. This one is a new chapter both in my career and private life, a pretty challenging one, but hopefully I'm ready for this again. My plain is to take 3-5 weeks off, but it depends on the need of my help.

The last 6 months was really a good period in my career, most probably I managed my best winrate in such a period in the last decade or so. To tell the truth I was also running above EV, but not that extreme. I could improve my sleep schedule, could improve my overall basic strategy and mananged my best red line as well. There are many factors where I could step up, obviously the results gave me confidence also.

Results on Ipoker:

(http://www.kepfeltoltes.eu/view.php?filename=365BB_Won_over_Hands_Play.png)

See you soon and hopefully we keep up crushing!

Have a wonderful time! I also left my job at the abandoned cats shelter when our 2nd son was about to be born; my wife wasn’t pleased, but sometimes you have to make such changes in your life.

Welcome back! My daughter was born in mid-July and I took a moderately long break during that time. The girl is getting stronger every day and the family is growing more exhausted by the day, but my wife and I keep trying.

In August I had some sessions, but I felt a little disoriented and it was hard to find the proper biorhythm and concentration. Since September I've been trying to sleep alone on a different floor of the house; most nights I don't have 8 hours of undisturbed sleep, but it helps me get better results at the table. August was my first losing month of the year, but fortunately in September I returned to the 10bb winning path. Most likely the strongest part of the year for player pool quality is still ahead, but I really need to increase my volume if I want to reach higher goals.

Good luck! Having a second child can be difficult; I even experienced depression because I became completely tied to that family 24/7 (my girlfriend’s mother was angry and frequently attacking). A child forms a very strong bond that can change your life. Every difficulty strengthens you... I wish you the best with both your family and your career.

Hey PokerStrategy! So I'm posting my results since the birth of my daughter. Honestly I haven't had my best game on some periods, but maybe these results are still acceptable in terms of quality. During these months I had my first losing calendar month of the year and had my longest DS/BE period also. Anyway I managed to get back on the winning path and hopefully two more very successful weeks are ahead of us.

(http://www.kepfeltoltes.eu/view.php?filename=247Since_girl_was_born.png)

I have never been a red line player before, most probably 2024 is going to be my first ever year with positive trend. Wwsf is also the first time when it goes over 51 on a long run. So basically my game became more agressive, using more overbets and protecting those capped ranges in a better way than before. Main stats for this weaker period:

winrate: 7bb/100 EV: 6bb/100 wwsf: 51 red line: +0,5bb/100

Pretty soon I'm coming with my yearly summary, GL!

Very nice results, congrats! How tough are midstakes games on ipoker? Do you table select heavily (do you quit a table if there aren't any fish at the table) or do you battle with regs every session?

I think the pool is pretty much the same in every room from Midstakes. I don't really feel it would be tougher or softer than any other room on the market right now. Of course table selection matters — that provides the largest boost to your win rate.

Year 2024 on Ipoker:

(A short recap of my results)

probably the best winrate across a calendar stretch in my career --> 10bb/100 (9bb/100 in EV) the emphasis was on quality over quantity (targeted 5bb+ in EV before the year) first time ever with a positive red line on a sample this size (+1bb) highest wwsf recorded on a larger sample (51,5) 10 winning months, 1 losing month and 1 month "rest" with family one father with a big heart, one worn-out wife, two small children, two dogs and a challenging daily biorhythm, yet I'm continuing to do my best to reach my dream

(http://www.kepfeltoltes.eu/view.php?filename=304BB_Won_over_Hands_Play.png)

There remains much to improve, see you in 2025!

Congratulations! novak53:f_drink: Great performance.

Congrats on the + Red line — many have been waiting for that forever! (or meanwhile every other line is trending down...). Or perhaps you’ve hit the level where they honor your raises?

Thank you, I'm still trying to improve in some aspects of the game, there is still room to evolve. Haha, I'm not sure about my respect at the tables, I have a pretty bad image, most guys dont believe my raises, but yeah I'm trying to make some exploitments against overfold frequencies for sure. To be honest I dont think a positive red line is easier on higher stakes, as I guess on NL25-100 there are more regs with massive overfold tendencies. Well I'm not saying I have become a red line player, as my blue is still dominant that gives the bigger part of my winnings.

Hey!

A brief summary about my recent 2 months. Finally a tough and long downswing caught me in this period, probably the biggest one in the last 5 years. Played around 45k hands this year and down around 5 BIs so far. That wouldn-t be such a big thing, but I'm running really poor in almost any given situations. There is 20 BI gap between my yellow and green line, I never ever had a losing showdown winnings graph on such a sample before. I really hope hard times can make strong fighters and I can evolve in all area that is the most needed right now. Gogo!

https://ibb.co/1Gk6V7KH

-5 BI in 45k hands, you'd still be ahead in rakeback, right?

Fantastic resources

Hi — my aim is to reach NL400. Right now I'm playing NL2.

A quick update about my recent results. After a bad start for the year I finally managed to get back to the winning path. The second quarter was crushing again with over 8bb/100 winrate and over 9bb/100 in EV. The third is also on the better side so far with 5bb in winnings (4bb in EV). Overall I should be satisfied with my quality of play since the the big downswing ended in March. My main goal for the rest of the year is to increase my monthly quantity from 20k hands to 30k hands and try to evolve my red line play again. I havent spent so many hours in the lab as I have planned, so that's also an important factor for the rest of the year.

Results from April to August:

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Really nice results. This is regular tables and not any zoom or rush games?

Are you still fulltime professional poker player?

I wonder how your social environment deals with that as you are a father of two now?

And maybe you can also let me know how you organize the poker pro lifestyle with family lifestyle demands 🙈

Sorry for so many questions.

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