mike

March 2026

Another OK month as I make some coin, got more studying done despite being under the weather. I had about 10 days where I just didn't feel like playing much as I as sic. That plus becoming mildly obsessed with building poker software with AI really lowered my volume.

My mind is blown that I can basically build the poker software I want on my own. I tinkered around with a bunch of things but the pre-flop and post trainers I build I am pretty happy with. I have used them for drilling and plan to keep using them and tweaking them as needed.

As I am still getting over the cold/flu I just want to feel better and get back to having energy to focus and grind more. I plan to keep up the drilling with my custom trainer, and try to focus more on just playing 200nl this month.

GL on the flelt and with the withdrawal

"Sometimes I felt confident in my game and like hmm I am almost there, like I don’t have a little luck to blast through everything. Other times I felt clueless and not sure how to play at all (usually after the game, and less while playing)."

I feel the same. My confidence seems to go up/down all the time. It isn't even connected to results on the felt. Sometime my study causes me to lose confidence. But I have accepted that doubt is just part of the deal and keep putting in the work.

GL on the felt

Nice work!

FEB 26

I had a good month of poker from an objective point of view but somehow it doesn't feel like I did enough. I started to shot take 200nl and so far so good. My result are from a mix of 50nl-200nl as I tried to table select 200nl carefully and played a few 50nl sessions when I was tired. The month was pretty low volume work as I had family visiting from out of town. But I can't complain making a bit over $50/hour without having to leave my house :)

I found toggle and used it to track my poker work. This feel a little more like a poker training journal which I like. I can see where I spend my time and adjust my "training plan" for next month. I did even more studying that playing this month.

1)slowly ramp up the playing volume this month

2)maintaining a good study routine with a bit more focus on active forms of study like Anki/GTO wizard drilling.

3)work on dialing in 3BP OOP PFR and 3BP IP PFC strategy game plans.

Thanks - I read the Inner Game of Tennis decades ago when I was serious tennis player. And I remember using some of the ideas to stay more focused/present on court.

Nice post. I have never considered that looking for every exploit could be an energy drain.

Thanks for reminding me to read Jason's new book. GL on the felt!

GL!

go go

I have reviewed lots of material and create Notion with my playbook and study for most parts of the game tree. This took a lot of time but it feels great to have my poker strategy and thoughts more organized.

I read a book about endurance training call Lemon to Legend. The author talks a lot about 1000d training plans. In his book/YT/substack he emphasizes that it takes years to build an elite level of endurance. Of course I related this to poker. Getting to HSNL in 1000 days feels more doable to me. It just removes a little bit of the pressure I feel to perfect every node of the game tree. Instead I will just get up everyday and put in the reps - Anki cards, trainer drilling, and playing poker.

I also hope I can make this process more sustainable. Train/study/grind a reasonable number of hours every month. I want to avoid the big swings of having periods where I am solely focused on one or the other. I am going to begin tracking this in some simple way and add my results to this "poker training Journal" every month.

Nice vid. I need to start doing this myself as I don't get HHs on the sites I play.

1)Is that spread sheet linked to your pio database something that is commercially available or did you build it?

2)I would love to know why you are using that 2.5x 3b ip sizing? and 2.25x SBvBB sizing? Maybe you have explained this in another already that you can point me to?

I don't understand why you choose examples with combos that are either pure calls or pure folds(78o) to XR? Why not at least use some mixing combos?

I had a quick look at their defense ranges and it didn't seem like we were really putting them into super tough spots - the last hand OOP can just call AK and TP+draw and not overfold the TP region.

Welcome back

Be like grandpa and put on those overalls!

Keep Learning!

Sorry I have never played PLO5. I would assume live is much softer as that is generally the case in other formats.

Thanks. I wouldn't copy what I have done as I think it was sub-optimal. I mainly focused on online from the start of the year until the WSOP I then hard switched to live. So I would guess my hours played split might be close to 50/50 this year.

Not sure what you mean by "$100 live tables..." But if you are asking how 100nl online compares to 2/5 live? They aren't even close, and I like to think of them as different games. Cash games during WSOP and back east in the summer are MUCH softer. I think the biggest difference is online most pots are contested HU, and live most pots are 3+ players.

GL on the felt.

Thanks for all the information and inspiration :)

Results

I was away last ~2 month and grinding live cash back on the east coast. I was lucky to find some good games. I think I played well and the results were excellent. But there were two problems with the last few months of poker: 1)not enough volume as the games only ran 3 days per week 2)not enough poker study.

I am disappointed that I am very likely a worse poker player now than I was ~4 months ago. I suspect I have forgotten a lot of what I learn from the DWD and Freenachos coaching.

Plan

Now that I am back home I need to refocus poker training for the rest of the year. I have lots to review/relearn and some coaching session left. I am also feeling more motivated to get back to the study grind and play some online poker again.

So the goals for this week:

1)run through all my Anki decks and see how much I remember

2)review my Killpoormike playbook notes

3)use above to figure next out steps

For the first time I can remember I went at least 7 days without a single poker thought! Camping and hiking all over Yosemite National Park was amazing. Avoiding screens and having limited cell service made it all even better. I think this kind of turn off the news, stop obsessing over poker and getting outside the normal routine is exactly what I needed.

Plan
The rest of this month I plan on getting back to more poker study mainly by reviewing all the Freenachos materials. Basic idea is to spend sometime every morning studying and then try to play some live and online in the afternoons and evenings.

Results

I had excellent results in the WSOP cash games as played my A-game almost every session, and ran well. I am proud of putting in the hours in a sustainable way this year. About 5 sessions per week with most sessions between 5-7 hours seems to be my sweet spot.

I did have a few bad days after learning about the gambling tax law changes coming in 2026. I think I had a little PTSD, and flash backs to UEIGA. I was more stressed/worried than I should have been from a rational point of view. So I took a few extra days off and then just got back on the grind.

I'd like to do better keeping up with some poker study while grinding. This really dropped off over the past month. My motivation for poker at the moment is zero so I feel good about my plan.

Plan

WSOP is over and so am I for the rest of the month. It is time for some vacation!

Results

I have been getting in the volume playing ~5 days per week. This feels like a good sustainable schedule. I have done almost no study which feels like a problem but not for the obvious reasons. I feel like not studying hurts my motivation and focus while playing. There is something about being deep in the weeds of poker study that sparks some curiosity while playing. This curiosity and desire to improve my poker needs to be part of my day.

I am very happy that the physical training and time in the mountains has been going well.

Plan

1)keep up the live WSOP grind 5x per week for the next two weeks
2)do a quick 30m poker study session 5x per week
3)keep up training and time in nature
4)plan a vacation for when the WSOP ends in a little over two weeks

I am not a big Dnegs fan but in his WSOP vLog he has an "Oppsie counter" I like the sort of fun and not big deal vibe of labeling our mistakes just another "Opps".

GL on the felt

Results

Since this is a training journal a good analogy might be - I am a in-season poker athlete. I have been getting in good volume and my playing A-game the last two weeks. Study is more like watching the game film as I just review any interesting spots and make Anki cards so I can review it at some future date.

I have been thinking about mental game and how to incorporate "intuition" into my live poker play. I don't have any answers on exactly how to do this. I am reading The Joy of Poker so maybe it will help.

It is funny how everything is going right as I am running good and playing good - but I have this minor creeping dread feeling as I am due for the poker gods to kick me in the face :)

I gave up on the only reading at night as I am often just too tired and my sleep has been pretty good.

Plan

1)keep up playing volume with 4-8 hours 6 days per week.

2)keep up the physical training, and getting out into the mountains twice a week to clear my head.

Results

Study is now in the back seat as WSOP in town and I have switched to the live poker grind. I will still do some Anki cards, HH review, and watch the DWD live poker videos when they get released.

I was a little concerned about how I would feel switching back to live poker after over 6 months away from the felt. To my surprise it was super easy and I felt relax/calm/focused my first few sessions. I didn't do so well with the late night TV as I just felt like I wanted to zone out and wind down after playing poker all day. I need to do better with this as good sleep is so important.

Plan

1)night time reading in place of screens

2)work on getting the live hours up while still playing A-game

GL on the felt

Nice job with your YT mental game video.

Yeah I have also read EOP a few times but it has been awhile so maybe I will reread it. I also really like his RIO videos.

I read the Qureshi book when it came out and don't remember much other than it didn't grab me. He admitted to parts of the cheating, lost his job as a Cardrunners coach, and then "retired" from poker.

Good to hear as I just started reading The Joy of Poker, and EOP is my all time favorite poker book.

Results

I had a frustrating week as I lost a little playing in great games. Of course this is normal but for some reason it really bothered me this week. I think my expectation just got out of line with the reality of the game as I don't think I had a losing session on this new site prior to this week. It is funny to write this now but I was annoyed at myself for letting a few losing sessions bother me.

I also didn't get the study grind done I was hoping, and to top it off I got sic. I am getting better and hoping to get back to the live poker grind with the WSOP starting this week.

Plan

1) No late night screens

2) Start to ramp up the playing volume as I feel better