Hillman

2025 Results (First, WITHOUT my WSOP win and I explain further down why removing your biggest score can be helpful): CoinPoker: -$100k PokerStars: +$144k GG Poker: +$409k GG Rake: -$70k GG Rakeback: +$40k —————————— Total Profit: $423k Hours played: ~200 Full 8–12h sessions: 20 Day 2 / Day 3 / FT sessions (2–4h): 10 Total sessions: 30 Hourly: $2,150 —————————— Now INCLUDING the WSOP Main: Total Profit: $4,323,000 Hourly: $21,615 —————————— I play 20–24 tables. That’s my sweet spot. I often stream on Twitch → extra distraction + people seeing my game. Yes, I could play fewer tables. But 20–24 maximizes my hourly. With 10–15 tables I’d have higher ROI. But significantly lower hourly. —————————— Yes, my yearly sample size is smaller. Usually 700 – 1,200 tournaments/year. I mostly play Sundays. 2–3 sessions per month (more during big series). I have similar results for the past 10+ years (of course not as big as winning the WSOP main). A lot of my time goes into my two businesses: @raiseyouredge and @AcendClub . Fewer sessions = more focus. More excitement. Better preparation. And that reflects in my results every single year. And I want to show you something important: You don’t need to be a slave to poker. Even at midstakes, you can earn very well playing only a few sessions per week - depending on your goals and life outside poker. —————————— I also spend a lot of time on: • content creation • studying • researching • updating material for our students That keeps me sharp. I spot new things and exploits fast. I like systems. Simple systems. Extremely effective. I don’t follow many of the pushed GTO concepts. I believe many of them hurt winrates more than they help. I focus on: • spots that are massively underbluffed • spots where I can fold my entire bluffcatcher range • spots where I don’t need to bluff at all I train to identify those spots. Result? I need 1 second to decide. Others tank 20 - 30 seconds, think about blockers, balance, GTO… and still make a losing decision because they don’t realize the spot is under-bluffed. That speed lets me: • add tables • reduce mental load • increase profit Example: I created Postflop Rocket → one of the #12 most profitable postflop exploits for our Champions students. It’s a checklist. Easy to apply. Extremely effective. Especially if you don’t want to waste hours in solvers learning strategies that don’t move the needle anyway. People still laugh and say: “Your game is unbalanced. Easily exploitable.” Okay. Sure. —————————— Why remove the biggest score? To identify trends. In tournament poker, big scores often carry an entire year. They can also completely distort reality. Example: You’re down $100k. Then boom - $130k score. Now you’re +$30k on the year. Add rakeback → maybe +$35–40k. BUT… If your graph goes straight down for thousands of games and one score saves the year, chances are high you’re a losing player with one lucky run. Yes, we need big scores in MTTs. But be brutally honest with yourself without your biggest score: • Break-even? → Not bad • Slightly up? → Good • Decently up? → Amazing • Decently down? → HIT THE LAB! Review with friends/coaches. Find the Leaks ASAP! This is about probabilities. Are you truly winning - or just lucky? Many players overvalue their biggest score. They move up in stakes. And their bankroll disappears faster than they can react. —————————— “WOW, if I made this money, I’d quit and enjoy life.” Reality check. This mindset is exactly why you won’t succeed. Yes, money matters. Making alot of money matters to me too. But its not everything. You lack: • Passion (NOT the Passion to make money with Poker), but REAL passion for the GRIND • Fire. Fire to also get up after brutal sessions. Fire to be excited about fixing leaks and improving. • Respect for the lessons this game teaches Without the above? It puts you at a huge disadvantage. For people like me, I dont mind ... • Getting up after downswings • Studying with zero paycheck • Grinding for years without results • Appreciating the growth and learnings without seeing the $ results. Yeah its not nice. But we accept those things as part of the journey. It took me 2 years to withdraw my first dollars. Are you willing to do that? 2-4 years of serious effort with no results? To grind your way up in Poker whilst working a job? You only see the highlights. The big scores. The Instagram moments. That’s not reality. That’s not the grind. This delusion will hold you back. You won’t last. You can’t handle effort without immediate reward. Welcome to life. We can do everything right and still lose. Results are often not in our control. Only consistent effort over years makes success likely - not guaranteed. But not trying guarantees failure. If you think you’d “retire” after making X millions, you haven’t understood what it takes to win. Why quit if you love the game? If it’s your fire? That’s the difference between: • players winning for 10+ years • and those with one good year who disappear Everything has a price. Poker millions cost: • sacrifice • downswings • self-doubt • people laughing at you • pushing through anyway Most people want the millions. Not the price. That’s why I’ve never thought about quitting. Maybe one day - because something else excites me more or I don’t enjoy the grind anymore. But never because I made X dollars. —————————— If you made it this far - good sign. Most only care about the money. They look for shortcuts. The value of this post isn’t the results. It’s the messages. That’s the stuff that actually moves you forward. I wish you a STRONG 2026 CHAMP! Lets Crush!