Nick is a cash game player, content creator and part of 888poker’s Stream Team. Each week he's been sharing his thoughts and experiences as a player dedicated to the daily grind, and as a new year dawns he's feeling an unusual mix of competence and hope...
As we approach the end of the year, I have to say I am extremely excited to see the back of 2024. There’s been plenty of details regarding the barbarism I’ve experienced over the last 12 months in previous articles, but it’s safe to say it’s not a year I’m going to look back on with any fondness, particularly when it comes to the online streets. I did manage to secure a few deep runs in some UKPL tournaments which I am very pleased with, and the goal is certainly to go even further in 2025. Who knows, maybe I will even cash my first 888LIVE Main Event!
As one of the most dramatic poker players you are likely to find, I have seen very few instances that could be construed as a silver lining, particularly since my move up to 100NL. When your every move feels wrong, and your graph indicates a never ending spiral of defeats, finding any reason to be hopeful is always going to be tough (particularly for someone as perennially negative as me).
That does mean, however, if you happen to come across a reason to be remotely optimistic, you need to grab it with both hands. And in a recent session at 100NL, there was a slight glimmer of hope that I’m going to milk for every last drop of buoyancy.
Think before you fold
In the heat of a disasterclass the buy-ins were flying everywhere, mainly from my bankroll into my opponents’. It was another dizzying and demoralising episode in a long and painful series, but amongst the turmoil, I played a hand that gives me a faint hope that there are the remnants of a successful poker player lurking somewhere below the surface.
I opened the small blind to 3bb with 
, and my opponent - a strong regular - defended his big blind. We were greeted with a flop of 
, and I elected to go for a small c-bet, which my opponent raised. Not much I can do at this juncture but call and so I do, and the turn is the 
. I check, and my opponent fires again, this time a polarizing, pot-sized bet. With my pair and flush draw, I’m obliged to continue in the form of another call, and the river is the disappointing 
.
I check again, preparing myself for the final barrel, and my opponent delivers it, all-in for his remaining $90 which I cover. In my 2024 form, I’d regularly snap fold this spot, pointing to a lack of creativity in bluffs from most opponents and a fundamental disgust that I didn’t get there again. But this one just smelt funny. For once, I started to ask myself some actually pertinent questions, the most important of which being: 'What the hell can this geezer actually have here?'
Enough was enough
His value on the turn consists of a lot of 
and 
, neither of which can shove the river after the K counterfeits them. is a large concern, but I block that heavily with my own , and is only 3 remaining combos. K-x of spades is certainly at the back of my mind, but I think villain would check back the majority of the time, if not always, to realise equity in that situation, particularly when I bet-call the flop.
Before I knew it, I was running out of value hands to prescribe to this very competent player, and decided enough was enough. My 6 was too strong of a blocker, and the K river made it much less likely my opponent had value. I was obviously still reaching to find bluffs they could have, but when the value is so considerably limited, they only have to be bluffing a small portion of the time to make my call profitable.
I take a deep breath, ask the stream to wish me luck, and flick the $90 into what I assume is the abyss. But, to my utter relief and sheer delight, my opponent whips over the almighty 
, and I scoop the $250 pot. To say I was happy with myself would be a considerable understatement, as I spent a good 5 minutes further explaining my genius to Twitch chat. After posting the highlights on YouTube as part of my weekly Top 10 Hands series, the comments further stroked my ego to the point where I was happy to be honest with myself and say; ‘there may well be a player in there after all’.
What's in store for 2025?
And maybe I just have to find that player much more often than I have been. I’m not sure exactly what 2025 will bring, or whether I will commit myself to the level of study I clearly need to show improvement, but deep down I know I have the capability to compete in this game if I want to.
I do have other goals, one being to further chase the dream of becoming a poker commentator. 888poker have been incredibly supportive in this endeavour, and I’m hopeful that I can keep improving and take part in more UKPL commentary and other events in 2025 to further my ambitions. There's even the possibility of handling the commentary for the entire week of 888poker LIVE Madrid in January in the absence of the legendary David Tuchman. Should that happen, it would mean I wouldn’t be playing, but if you’ve read any of my articles this year, you’ll know I won’t mind the time off the grind.
That said, with a lot on my plate if I’m wanting to take my game to the next level and chase other goals along the way, this sadly marks the end of my regular weekly articles with PokerOrg.
There’s a good chance I will return at a less regular interval given the extent to which I have enjoyed it, but in the meantime, thank you very much for reading my weekly misery, and thank you to everyone at PokerOrg for giving me the platform from which to do my very favorite thing in the world: moan.
Until next time!
Cheers.
Follow Nick on X, Instagram, Twitch and his YouTube channel.
Featured images courtesy of Gema Cristobal/888poker
