EQ Poker

If you want to have fun when you play, you have to try to win. If you want to win the max when you play, you need to have fun. You might make some money just finding a good game and clicking buttons, but it's not a good use of your time.

If you're a cash pro who wants to make the most of poker without wasting their life you're chasing roughly 0.5 to 1 Buy-ins EV for your daily grind. IMO if you aren't reaching these or can't access games where this is possible do not try and get into poker as a way to make money. ONLINE BENCHMARK: 5-10bb/100 250 hands/hr 𝟏𝟐.𝟓-𝟐𝟓𝐛𝐛/𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐫 20 hours of volume (weekly) = 2.5 to 5BI Monthly EV = 10-20BI You can either play a ton of tables at 100-200nl or play 500nl+ and make $100k+ EV annually with a 20-30 hour work week and some months offs. LIVE BENCHMARK: 15-50bb/100 25 hands/hr 𝟑.𝟕𝟓-𝟏𝟐.𝟓𝐛𝐛/𝐡𝐫 20 hours of volume (weekly) = 0.75 to 2.5 BI You need to be playing at least 5/10, texas deepstack 5/5, ideally 10/20 so you don't have to be glued to the table. THE GRINDER TRAP: <5bb/100. You play more hands, but mostly on autopilot (a functional necessity of the high volume approach). Since you need 2-5k hands a day and are playing 6+ tables, you are training skills that will not serve you well above 200nl online where there are less games running. Live players fall into this the most because they can always find a profitable game but may have no time or energy left to really work on their game > and the live environment does nothing to offer feedback/learning opportunities. Solution for both is carve out and commit to your learning away from the table. Record hands and questions that arise. Seriously work to answer them. Get serious about ranging people and challenging your assumptions on review. Making it a non-negotiable, and actually enjoying the deeper work of analyzing the game and how you + others perceive it. Easier when you have a group of peers/mentors you can trust so you can get an outside perspective. Can be hard to know what assumptions are true (this guy always has it here) vs something we're projecting (this guy always has it here) otherwise.

half the guys I know who play 100/200+ and crush are into hypnosis and law of attraction or hypsertition or whatever. Mindset and vibes under pressure, with an above average foundation. Most 200nl regs would crush any live game in the world. on paper. In reality the game hits different when the blinds are bigger than your yuppie inner-city Sydney rent.

Remember the good old days when app games were full of these guys instead of Russian bots?

Probably decent edge to carve out for most regs on the right side of the line in cash games. GG and IPoker I am not qualified to comment but there is opportunity there for online specialists. "High Rake" is ultimately relative to how much volume vs how soft a pool you can get. If just seat selecting high stakes or you have soft apps/private game obviously it's on right side of the line. Stakes may vary. Not financial advice and I have played on only 10 or so of these platforms.

Poker Sites Plotted on Rake vs Softness:

If you have: - 6 months life expenses - $10k roll - At least a 1 year history of consistent volume and profit with a definable edge - A love of the game - Access to games with fish at high enough stakes to make 2x the EV you need to live well. You can make a good living in this game.

Any close bluff or call deviates to a pure action off like... a 51% confidence read? When you know the theory, and you *still* want to fold? Probably fold. If you don't know the theory, make a note, then probably fold an earlier street.