Make Poker Great Again
Hey everyone,
My name is Matt I am 24 years old from Canada. My goal is to document my journey from mid stakes to high st
April Update
April was going great right up until yesterday at 2.5k. Still ended up being a solid month overall though.
And guess what? I hit another BBJ! Just the smaller side this time, but still a nice bonus.
All Sites:
PokerStars:
Party:
GG:
Total: +$12184.42 + $27197.51 ($25297.51 GG, $1500 PS, $400 Party) = +$39381.93
So clearly, this lower volume, higher stakes strategy hasn’t really worked out the past two months lol. What I’m considering for the upcoming month is dropping 500nl on GG. The reason is that, for the first time this month, I’ve noticed I’ve had so many tables up that I’ve been misclicking and with the new GG timebanks, it’s been a lot harder to keep up with the action.
It’s also tough to actually improve (versus just autopiloting and trying to focus on the stuff I’m working to implement) and then review hands properly when there are just too many of them. I’m not 100% sure I’ll do it, but it’s starting to feel like it might be necessary.
If my math is right based on previous results, even in a worst case scenario, each 500nl table I have running on GG is worth around $13 (Excluding BBJ)100 hands. I’m not sure how much that will change if I’m not hitting the leaderboards as consistently, though right now that adds about 10–20% more in rakeback per month.
Honestly, I thought we’d be playing on ROW again by now, since the court date was back in November (and still no decision has been made). It’s been tough trying to balance maximizing the Ontario pool while it lasts, versus improving and getting ready for when we go back to the global pool.
Average stake aside let’s say I’ve got one hour free. Do I spend it reviewing hands or working in the trainer, or do I just fire up tables knowing I’m making X hourly? It’s getting harder to justify not playing.
Anyway, just thinking out loud. We’ll see how May goes!
May Update
Pretty solid month overall, except for 2.5k on Party. Managed to make up for it at 5k, so it balanced out in the end.
Also won another Main Event seat like last year—looking forward to seeing how that goes next month.
All Sites:
PokerStars:
Party:
GG:
Total: +$28140.97 + $9,901.42 ($7,551.42 GG, $1750 PS, $600 Party) = +$38042.39
As I mentioned last month, I’ve been trying to cut back on playing 500nl on GG. After running the numbers, I ended up losing about 10% in leaderboard rakeback. That said, it definitely felt good not having as many tables going, and from a pure EV perspective, it’s not clear that I’m not actually making more at 200nl on PokerStars or Party.
Of course, there are still some good 500nl tables on GG, so I won’t be too strict about avoiding them—but overall, this might be a direction I continue with going forward.
Lastly, CoinPoker is running a , and I’m thinking of jumping in for fun to see how it goes.
Here’s to a good June!
Awesome start to the year! Nice to see you get that BBJ ev back! Gl rest of the way
June Update
Ok month in Ontario... Not so much on Coin 😃
All Sites (Ontario):
PokerStars:
Party:
GG:
Total: +$9567.49 + $5129.60 ($3929.60 GG, $1000 PS, $200 Party) = +$14697.09
CoinPoker Championship
+1k for losing the most week 4
Obviously, the results were not what I had hoped. At one point, I peaked at +$5k EV, but the last ante week was rough. I didn't really know what to expect since we have been ring fenced for a while, but overall, I was pretty happy with how it went and I really enjoyed playing it. I also joined the CoinPoker stream for a bit with Collie and Bencb on Day 2.
I have a lot of thoughts on the challenge. I think I will probably make a video on it when I am back from Vegas, but here is a quick summary:
-A lot of the Ontario guys seemed to hold their own, which was nice to see
-The show card feature was awesome. I definitely learned a lot
-I need to work on multiway pots
-It seems 10bb/100 would be about the peak (something to note when considering reg battling with high rake)
I will be in Vegas for the next week or so if anyone wants to meet up, let me know. I will also be at the GTO Wizard & GG party.
Hopefully, I cash the Main this year, and here's to a good July!
Good luck!.
Sick results, gl in Vegas.
July Update
Well, good news... we cashed the main!
It was a pretty good month online as well.
All Sites:
PokerStars:
Party:
GG:
Total: +$10474.06 + $2707.96 ($2307.96 GG, $250 PS, $150 Party) = +$13182.02
Happy to be back playing online, let's hope we run better at the higher stakes next month!
August Update
After a bunch of good months, it was bound to happen eventually. A rough month at the higher stakes.
All Sites:
PokerStars:
Party:
GG:
Total: -$12670.12 + $8017.93 ($6417.93 GG, $1250 PS, $350 Party) = -$4652.19
The past couple of months I’ve been busy selling my old house and moving into a new one. Now that everything’s finally sorted, I’m glad to be back on a consistent schedule and able to put in my usual volume.
Here’s hoping September is better!
September Update
Same as last month... ran pretty badly at the higher stakes but well at the lower ones. Maybe one day that'll turn around! 😃
All Sites:
PokerStars:
Party:
GG:
Total: -$8814.15 + $11278.43 ($10328.43 GG, $750 PS, $200 Party) = +$2,464.28
I'm due in October!
October Update
Sorry for the late update. I was in Toronto for the World Series. What a heartbreak. I went to all four games in Toronto, and putting my Jays bias aside, I truly think that was the one of the best World Series ever. It’s a shame they couldn’t pull it off, as that was a once in a lifetime opportunity.
On the bright side, in order to afford those tickets, we finally had a pretty good month! It had been a while.
All Sites:
PokerStars:
Party:
GG:
Total: +$4516.69 + $14,625.31 ($13,475.31 GG, $750 PS, $400 Party) = +$19,142.00
Let's keep it up in November!
Man, that is very impressive you survived that first year or so. If I read correctly you basically had a 1M or so hand breakeven stretch right off the bat?! Wild.
I've recently started putting more volume in online and putting live poker on the back burner. I'm curious how many tables you generally play at once? Thanks.
Ryan
November Update
November felt a bit disappointing because my peak was double where I ended up. But I can't look at it that way. I'll take the win.
All Sites:
PokerStars:
Party:
GG:
Total: +$6,519.66 + $10,565.35 ($9,565.35 GG, $750 PS, $250 Party) = +$17,085.01
I will be headed down to the Bahamas for the 25k. If anyone is down there and wants to meet up, let me know!
December/Year End Update
Let’s start with December. Online was an okay month except at 2.5k. What a grind that stake has been this year.
I also went to the Bahamas to play the 25k. Tried to run the parlay, but it didn’t work out. Fired one bullet at the start and one max late reg.
The Bahamas itself wasn’t amazing, but meeting some new people was cool, and overall it was still worth the trip. Guess it just wasn’t meant to be this year. Maybe next year!
All Sites:
PokerStars:
Party:
GG:
Total: +$6555.42 + $17535.08 ($16285.08 GG, $1000 PS, $250 Party) = +$24090.50
2025 Recap
Overall, 2025 was a good year. Finally hit some BBJs, cashed the Main for the first time, and even without the BBJ hits I still made a lot more than last year.
All Sites:
PokerStars:
Party:
GG:
Summary
I’ll do a more in-depth recap in a video on my channel in the next couple weeks, talk through my thoughts a bit more, and go over my goals for the new year.
Coaching
I know this is the time of year where everyone is plugging their coaching, but I’m looking to take on 3–5 people for a 6-month program.
Ideally, this is for someone playing 100–200nl who wants to move up, or who’s having trouble sticking at those stakes.
What I’d offer:
-Full access to me for 6 months in a small group
-Monthly database reviews using my custom H2N profile
-Custom prebuilt standard lines for flop and turn
-Monthly 1-on-1 calls + weekly group calls
-Prebuilt GTO Wizard drills
Why me?
-I’m still putting in volume every day and constantly building better protocols
-Always learning, testing new ideas, and getting coached myself
-No long term commitment
-No profit sharing
I know a common pushback is “you play in Ontario, anyone can win there.” And yeah, I’m not saying the games aren’t good. But once you’re playing 1k+, there’s real competition. I’ve also played the Mid Stakes Championship, and when I’m in the US I play on Coin and ACR as well.
If this sounds like something you’d be interested in, feel free to DM me on Discord realmattroberts or email me at [email][email protected][/email] and I’ll send over more details.
Damn am I reading GG rake right, it's 15bb/100, I hope you had a good rake back program there!
Edit: 14bb/100 rake back is impressive!
January Update
A bit disappointing how the month ended, considering how we started. But yeah, that happens sometimes.
I also tried not playing any GG 500nl and of course it ended up being one of my worst months at 1k there.
All Sites:
PokerStars:
Party:
GG:
Total: +$7,041.18 + $9,531.57 ($7,881.57 GG, $1,250.00 PS, $400 Party) = +$16,572.75
The new GG rakeback system is pretty bad. Ontario still doesn’t have PVI, and technically we get higher rakeback now at 80%, but it’ll take a year or so to actually redeem the full amount. So that’s going to change my monthly results a lot.
Hopefully I run a bit better in February.
February Update
Pretty good month, can’t complain.
Nice to still have solid results even with the new GG Poker rakeback changes.
All Sites:
PokerStars:
Party:
GG:
Total: +$21,890.02 + $1,880.00 ($580.00 GG, $1,000.00 PS, $300.00 Party) = +$23,770.02
I think I’m gonna test out CoinPoker a bit this month. Curious to see how their new update is. The 100% rakeback for two weeks will be nice too.
Would love to replace my GG500 action with something else when times are dead so I don’t have to play it lol.
I’ll also be in Vegas at the end of the month, which I can’t wait for. If anyone’s down there and wants to meet up, let me know.
Here’s to a good March!
Congratulation for the good results and the consistency during the years ! I am wrong or GG gave you around 5 % RB this month ? What are the new changes in GG ?
Yeah, the only rakeback I get right now is from the daily leaderboards.
I can’t cash out the fish buffet until the end of the year if I want the full 80%.
Apparently, this is what it looks like for Ontario right now:
will be a nice little christmas present though
March Update
Another good month. Solid start to the year so far!
All Sites:
PokerStars:
Party:
GG:
Total: +$35,325.47 + $2,180.00 ($1,530.00 GG, $500.00 PS, $150.00 Party) = +$37,505.47
CoinPoker:
So I did test the new (Or I should say licenced) software out and here were my results:
Total: -$3,410.00 (Results) + $3,817.54 (Daily Rakeback) + $301.74 (Leaderboards) = +$709.28
I'm not sure how much I'll keep playing on Coin with their new rake and rewards structure. Even with 15% flat back, leaderboards, and splash the pot, I don't think it really evens out against the rake hike and the game quality. It was basically all regs all month (and those last two weeks were especially bad).
I’m really curious to see what the rakeback from leaderboards actually looks like. It’s a huge unknown variable, especially since we can’t see hand histories to know how much rake we’re even paying.
The new software has some pros and cons too. It took some time, but I don't hate the update as much as I first did since they're starting to fix a lot of the bugs. I do like the Poker Intel feature (it actually shows results post rakeback unlike GG) and being able to tag hands in the client is cool, but I really hope we can download hands again soon.
The fact you can't resize notes or some of the lobby screens is really annoying lol. But the rake increase is the real killer. We'll have to see if that extra money is actually going toward player acquisition and if it even works.
Time will tell, but I think once people clear their CHP the site will die unless some major changes happen. It feels like they're doing the opposite of what they were preaching (which was to offer some of the lowest effective rake games online). It's a real shame.
I’m really curious to see what the rakeback from leaderboards actually looks like. It’s a huge unknown variable, especially since we can’t see hand histories to know how much rake we’re even paying.
Time will tell, but I think once people clear their CHP the site will die unless some major changes happen. It feels like they're doing the opposite of what they were preaching (which was to offer some of the lowest effective rake games online). It's a real shame.
The rake is really high there. I had just started playing I liked the older software much better.
I think they also tried to play most of the players like fools with the sneaky rake high and make it confusing to calculate effective rake. They have extremely low amount of recreationals there.
Amazing results on your other sites!
April Update
Well, I guess we were due for one of these months this year...
All Sites:
PokerStars:
Party:
GG:
Total: -$24,243.16 + $2,750.00 ($2,250.00 GG, $250.00 PS, $250.00 Party) = -$21,493.16
Time to lock in and make it back!
May Update
Back to back rough months.
Sorry for the lack of graphs. HM3 has a bug right now where they don’t seem to load.
I definitely feel like I pushed the volume a little too much trying to get out of the downswing. But overall, I’m reasonably happy with my play, and it’s just a matter of time before it turns around.
All Sites:
PokerStars:
Party:
GG:
Total: -$17,530.92 + $3,750.00 ($3,350.00 GG, $400.00 Party) = -$13,780.92
PokerStars/FanDuel is back on the 3rd, so hopefully that brings some run good.
June Update
Back to back... to back again rough months.
All Sites:
PokerStars:
Party:
GG:
Total: -$15,694.32 + $3,040.00 ($2,690.00 GG, $350 Party) = -$12,654.32
Flying to Main next week. I’ll accept the last 3 months for another deep run there 😃 If anyone is around and wants to grab a drink or something, feel free to send me a message!
