It’s felt like months since I’ve had anything to say or even been able to get onto a table – I’m terrible with time – but strangely it’s only been about two weeks. The internet has been up and down more times than a yo-yo, costing me a few blinds every time I attempted to sneak out a bit of playing but it seems to finally have been fixed (touch wood!).

So how’s life at 2NL? More boring than watching a Chelsea game and more frustrating than watching your team squander chance after chance to win (for all you European football fans). I’ve been reading a lot of posts, asking as many questions as possible so that I can learn exactly what it is I’m dealing with both here and at higher levels. If there’s one thing I have learned down the years it is to find yourself someone who exceeds at what it is you want to do and then learn from them. Find the top 2%ers who seem to have it made in their chosen field and copy everything they’ve done without question. Oh ok, a few questions.

So that’s what I’m doing at FTR and it’s helping more than what is correctly obvious right now. My bankroll has grown by just over 20% in two weeks which is nothing to be sniffed at and I’m slowly learning to get a feel for what my range of hands should be in certain positions. Start tight and loosen up. Figuratively speaking it’s better to move from a virgin to a “lady of the night” than sleeping around with any two cards and trying to go backwards!

Which, added to the fact that everyone seems to want to buyin for 5 big blinds (yes, FIVE), is making 2NL boring, frustrating and a complete goldmine of experience. I’m having to learn table selection, hand selection and bet-reading down here simply because if I don’t I can lose it all by calling too many “baby allins”.

Of course that still doesn’t stop me from itching to jump up and play for more than nickel and dimes. The fact I haven’t already is testament to the quality of advice and amount of coaching you FTR “pros” give us newbies – as well as a bit of “coaching” by the other half.