Oh no another microstakes Op...!!!!

First of all I apologise for subjecting you to another microstakes Operation but to be honest it's probably the last chance I have at poker lol. Just to give a bit of background I have been playing for just over a year although I have fitted a hell of a lot of hands in during that time. I am 19 and so I still have plenty to learn but I have had some success with the game in the past. Last year on a site called Sky Poker I came 2nd out of 650 in a 10 pounds buy in tourney to win just over 800 pounds and the following week in the same tourney i came 6th to take another 250 pounds. At the time I had no idea about bankroll really and I cashed out basically all the money. Since then I have been leaking money all over the place on various sites.

I now have a fairly good knowledge of BR management but it doesn't stop me tilting off more than I should do on the cash tables. So the plan for now is to stick to MTT sit and goes (mainly the 90 man ones on Stars as they are where I find most success, just look it up on Poker Rankings to see haha) and also Heads up sit and goes as at the micro stakes I am finding less variance in them compared to the DON and also they take a lot less time.

It should be said that I'm a student at the University of Edinburgh so what I can't invest in money I can make up for with plenty of spare time . To make it more clear the purpose of this Op is to stick to proper BR management and stay away from cash!! Any help I can get from you all out there is a bonus as I understand there is more intersting Op's out there as I've read just about them all . Inspiration is to be drawn from a lot of them and microstakers like Nibbles and Dranger have forced me to finally post on this site. So thanks guys

Oh yeah just a couple of things I forgot.... starting roll is $50 on Stars and I'm not usng any software a part from Poker Stove.

good luck with your OP.

Good luck buddy!

Thanks for the support guys. I'm just back from the pub just now so it probably isn't wise to play much just now but I may dabble in a 90 man MTT or 2 before bed . Bankroll is currently at $64.90 after a 3rd place finish in 90 man $1 SnG earlier but ironically I was more pleased about winning a $2 heads up match. The reason for this was for some reason Stars failed to take me to the HU automatically and I only realised this 5 mins after it started. So I started the HU with only 600 chips but battled back to win, which gave me a lot of confidence . Anyway here is a key hand for you to look at from the MTT. Your thoughts would be much appreciated (I think I may have played it badly lol)....
PokerStars Game #24694437475: Tournament #139198488, $1.00+$0.10 Hold'em No Limit - Level XI (125/250) - 2009/02/07 14:36:08 ET
Table '139198488 2' 9-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: zemmagic07 (13020 in chips)
Seat 2: higherstyles (2898 in chips)
Seat 4: patxer (2225 in chips)
Seat 6: TX_ksig (1785 in chips)
Seat 7: shordee8 (8765 in chips)
Seat 8: papapeifc (2760 in chips)
Seat 9: Soundmann1 (1960 in chips)
zemmagic07: posts the ante 30
higherstyles: posts the ante 30
patxer: posts the ante 30
TX_ksig: posts the ante 30
shordee8: posts the ante 30
papapeifc: posts the ante 30
Soundmann1: posts the ante 30
shordee8: posts small blind 125
papapeifc: posts big blind 250
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to zemmagic07 [Ad Jd]
Soundmann1: folds
zemmagic07: raises 500 to 750
higherstyles: folds
patxer: folds
TX_ksig: folds
shordee8: raises 1750 to 2500
papapeifc: folds
zemmagic07: calls 1750
*** FLOP *** [5d Ts Kh]
shordee8: bets 2500
zemmagic07: calls 2500
*** TURN *** [5d Ts Kh] [Qs]
shordee8: bets 3735 and is all-in
zemmagic07: calls 3735
*** RIVER *** [5d Ts Kh Qs] [Ac]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
shordee8: shows [Kd Ks] (three of a kind, Kings)
zemmagic07: shows [Ad Jd] (a straight, Ten to Ace)
zemmagic07 collected 17930 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 17930 | Rake 0
Board [5d Ts Kh Qs Ac]
Seat 1: zemmagic07 showed [Ad Jd] and won (17930) with a straight, Ten to Ace
Seat 2: higherstyles folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: patxer folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: TX_ksig (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: shordee8 (small blind) showed [Kd Ks] and lost with three of a kind, Kings
Seat 8: papapeifc (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 9: Soundmann1 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

**update** ok well I didn't stick to my op guidlines for very long lol. Had a disastrous couple of days playing 2nl as by looking through this site more it seems that they only way to make real money is through playing cash. so the bankroll quickly fell all the way to $10 (yes seriously lol). However after a brief stint at PLO .01,.02 6 max and a couple of late finishes in the $1 90 man SnG's I'm back up to $40!! So a crazy few days and although I'm still down a bit, I've taken a lot of confidnce from my omaha play and I do know the variances are bigger but strategy towards it so much better than the one I have in NLHE (cash) that I believe I can sustain my recent success at the micro levels.... Anyway it would be interesting hear any of your views on this

Originally Posted by connectthesuitors

**update** ok well I didn't stick to my op guidlines for very long lol. Had a disastrous couple of days playing 2nl as by looking through this site more it seems that they only way to make real money is through playing cash. so the bankroll quickly fell all the way to $10 (yes seriously lol). However after a brief stint at PLO .01,.02 6 max and a couple of late finishes in the $1 90 man SnG's I'm back up to $40!! So a crazy few days and although I'm still down a bit, I've taken a lot of confidnce from my omaha play and I do know the variances are bigger but strategy towards it so much better than the one I have in NLHE (cash) that I believe I can sustain my recent success at the micro levels.... Anyway it would be interesting hear any of your views on this

Funny how things work out that way.

My cousin dropped from $100 to .70... yes.. 70 cents lol. He has since built it back to over $200 as of a couple weeks ago.. funny stuff.

A strange day again.... Fell all the way to $17 and now I'm at $37. The biggest disappointnent was a $1 MTT that I've just finished. Played for over 4 and a half hours in a field of just under 5000, finished 61st and made a HUGE $6 profit lol. Ah well, I played pretty good at least. Had around 7M near the end and was in th SB with 66. There had been 3 limpers so I pushed epepecting to be called by one deep stacked LAG, which of course was the case. He turned over K10 and spiked the K and that was that.. Might play bit more later, need a break just now though lol. Gonna help the girlfriend make dinner.....

Ok I've started paying 2NL again, I said I wouldn't but I have and this time I'm ready to be absolutley flamed. I really need your advice guys... BR is down to $26 (Been leaking a few dollars here and there when I'm tired and intoxicated which I promise myself to rectify lol). Yeah so here's a couple of hands where I'm not sure if I played correcty and I didn't have any reads on the players involved unfortunately because I was multi-tabling, hadn't been at the table long and of course have no software....

Hand 1 - I think this is a very marginal spot do I want to make a habit of doing this here?

http://www.flopturnriver.com/Poker-H...ut-661028.html

Hand 2 - Must have been a split at best, could flop have been played better?

http://www.flopturnriver.com/Poker-H...ut-661035.html

Hand 3 - Tiltish after hand 2 i think and I was never getting good odds to call if I put him on at least 2 pair. Should this have simply been folded?

http://www.flopturnriver.com/Poker-H...ut-661038.html

Ok, I'm starting to lose faith a bit now. No one seems to respond to my op.. I really need the help so many of you can offer. If this all fails to catch your imagination and I need to improve anything to get your attention, then please let me know what has to be done! thanks guys.

Advice. Pick a type of game and stick to it. you seem to be doing better at MTT's. Don't switch it up.

MTT Tourneys are a world apart and different from NL cash games.

The skills you are developing as winning tactics at MTT's are killing your Cashgame skills, and the cashgame skills are far too disasterously loose to be applied to any MTT action you may encounter.

After you've picked one and stuck with it,

Cheers Ragnar. That is a good point. Cash is just so alien to me. Especially when I have to play at 2NL and you play tight just to get outdrawn when you pick up top set or such like. Just cashed in the $2.75 tourney on Stars. Finished around 480th out of well over 7000 for a return of $5. My broadway on the flop was outdrawn by KQ which boated up on the river . Really sick board actually K,Q,J,10,Q!!

If you're looking for responses to specific hands, it would be best to post them in their appropriate strat forums. You run the risk of having them unnoticed by posting them in the blogs forum because people don't necessarily come here to help with hand histories.

Update this thread regularly and eventually you will have many readers. Try not to be offended if you don't get a slew of responses at the start - sometimes it takes time for people to become interested.

Good luck!

Cheers Courtie, I can see where you're coming from and I'll take that on board. Just got in from uni so time to setlle in to some poker I think .

News is not good I'm afraid. The BR has been crippled to just $2 and Poker has kicked me when I'm down. I was playing $1 Sit n Go's (can't play any lower stakes so can't blame BR management lol) and I hit some sick variance. I honestly can't remember a race I won where I was at least a 58% favourite. Probably the worst was when I was quite well stacked on the bubble with QQ, pushed and called by K5o who tripped up 5's on the river . So at this very moment I'm playing 2 $1 DoN's and just praying I can get 15 more FPP's before I have no monies left, as that will get me into a satelitte that is quite is to earn $11 tourney dollars out of. No doubt I will be re-depositing yet again though lol.

ZOMFG just busted out of one of the DoN's with JJ. Pushed pre (10BB's) and a guy called 2/3's of his stack off with A3s and rivered the Ace. I'm so f*cking pissed!!!!!!!!!!!

ZOMFG just busted out of one of the DoN's with JJ. Pushed pre (10BB's) and a guy called 2/3's of his stack off with A3s and rivered the Ace. I'm so f*cking pissed!!!!!!!!!!! Oh and now I'mout the other. Made a Move in late posiion with KJs and called by K8s (wtf) and of course the BB has rockets. I'm sick to the back teeth. 56c left.... oh the possibilities. Sometimes you just have to laugh

Going to deposit $100 and play lots of SnG's at the $3.40/$5 level and throw in a couple of MTT's to boot. I'm determined to get over this hurdle and push on. I just have to resist playing the cash games and realise that is posible to tilt in SnG's. I'm going to study the SnG part of this forum religiously if I can lol and try and take my game to the next level.

Hey connectthesuitors keep your chin up.

Here is what I would do, stick to one format of game as others have suggested, DON's are radically different to the MTT's you're playing and I think you just need to pick one style and work at that. Also when posting your hands or talking about hands like you have above, try to always use the FTR hh convertor this will include vital information, such as stack sizes and blind levels etc... which all effect the descision process and will be handy for anyone to be able to look at when analysing your play.

KJs Is a really weak hand to be putting your entire stack on the line with. It's behind any Ace rag and any pocket pair - also because you were in late position if they think you're stealing and the blinds are high they may call you light anyway.

You speak about being worried about tilting off more than you like on cash tables - I think that's the first thing to work on. Because while you're undisciplined you'll just be throwing your money down the drain. You need to address that. SNGs are higher variance and it's just as easy to register for another SNG as it is to buy in again on a cash table.

Lastly! really try hard to always put your opponents on hands, I see in some of your posts you speak about ... hand XX getting beaten by YY but what will really help your game is putting your opponents on hands and then playing accordingly instead of just thinking about absolute hand strength.

My advice would be to deposit $50 and play the .01/.02 cash games on Stars have a stop loss so that if you lose a set number of buy ins in one day you stop (say 5 ?) I understand why you want to deposit more and start a little higher but this will just eat your money away and put a wall in front of your poker progress! (says.. someone speaking from experience )

Good luck!

Thanks Slev you've made a lot of good points. I've read your op from back to front so I know you're peaking from experience lol. I've already deposited the $100 and I'm just going to concentrate on the tourney side for now because cash isn't good for my health lol!! If I cn get my roll up to a level I feel comfortale to play cash then I will go ak to it at some stage.

Another thing I'm going to try and do this time round isnonly play when I'm in the peak state of mind. That's also been a problem for me. I need to adopt a stop loss for the SnG's too. I think I'm going to start taking notes to make things stick in my head too. I'm just desperate to improve because I've fallen in love with the game!!

Ok I'm going to stick to the $3.40 turbo 6-max SnG's for now. They are reasonably quick and I find it easier to assess opponents when there is less of them for obvious reasons lol. I'm 3 wins for 3 (don't bother telling me about sample size lol because I know you need to play about 5000 haha) so I've taken a bit of confidence from that and I'm really focussing and thinking outside the box... Hopefully this will continue but as long as I can sustain a BR to play I'm happy. Really just trying to have fun now, enjoy poker and let the BR become an afterthought until the end of the week or whatever. Btw it's currently at $114.35. I'll maybe play a couple of MTT's and a few SnG's before I call it a night.

Usually I'd play until 2 or 3am but tonight I'm going to stop while I'm ahead. BR is $126. I satelitted into the Sunday Two Hundred Grand and withdew the entry, which is always sweet as it feels like Pokerstars are finally giving me something back after how muh their system has screwed me over the last couple of days (ignore me I'm just bitter lol). So roll on tomorrow!!

Roll is up to $141 but I'm disappointed which is a good sign I suppose. I was at $164 at one point during the day and probably should have stopped but it was early in the afternoon so I carried on. Perfomance dipped for a while and so did the roll in turn as it fell all the way back to $128. Fortunately I had a deep finish in the $2.20 90 man SnG I've just finished and so I'm sitting on $141 but I donked off so many chips a the final table due to tiredness it was unreal. It really didn't help that a guy disconnected for the entire duration of the final table which made it so slow and I let it get to me. I really need to clamp down on the sloppy errors I'm making.

However, these last two days have at least let me see that I have a decent chance of being a profitable player so long may it continue

Roll is now up to $168.51. Feeling pretty good about my game at the moment. I've been playing plenty of SnG's and doing ok for myself. I'm then using the profits to play a few 5NL 6max games and I'm pleased to say I've fixed a few leaks in my game for the moment. My cash play is obviously still far from good but I'm getting somewhere at least. I'm trying to be more positive as it hasn't been plain sailing these last couple of days. My roll fell to $120 after getting to $150 so it gave me a lot of confidence to get to where I am now and demonstrates to me that if you have faith in you're game, you don't need to worry to about the swings in your roll.

I'm an idiot. The other day I managed to halve my bankroll to around $85 and wiped out the good work. I was running super bad in the SNG's and continued to play when I should have stopped and what was worse was I added more tables than I had been playing and the run continued until I was in a deficit of $15 of my original deposit.

I was feeling really down about the whole roll situation and didn't want to even see another SnG at that point, so I took a day off and did some stufying in the video section of FTR. I had watched Spenda's videos while playing before and figured I hadn't really taken much of them in and so I watched them a couple of times over. So today I played a few hours of cash (5NL) and was getting really into it, making good reads and just enjoying playing. The result was I ended up several buyins, albeit admitedly I ran well. So BR currently stands at $115, so has been salvaged somewhat.

The thing now is I don't know what direction to take as regard to MTT's, SnG's or cash as I have limited success and failure at each. I'm probably best at MTT's but it's just the time they take at the microstakes isn't so rewarding to the bankroll..... Oh well something to ponder. I'm pretty beat so I'm going to call it a night before I donk off any more good work!!

I like your blog... you are very honest about your strengths and weaknesses. That said, I'm confused about the goals of your operation. Your initial entry says you will be sticking to 90 person SNGs and that you have a good handle on BR management, but you haven't done that. You should be very specific about what you want to accomplish. If you start to get bored and need a change, play 2 cent omaha instead of risking your bankroll in bigger cash games (take it from someone who deposited $50 four times before learning things like position and c-betting).

Then again, my operation (that starts tomorrow) is about violating bankroll management rules so perhaps I'm not a person who should be lecturing about restraint and playing within your limits.



GL

Hey Suit! Like your OP. You seem to be brutally honest with yourself, which is the only way anyone can improve. As you gain experience you will not only see progress in your game play, but your mental approach to the game as well. I will track your poker journey.

Now for my $0.02. I think you you should focus more on ring games and only play S&G / MTT occassionally. The luck factor is very high in tourney style of play. And IMO, one learns more about hold em from cash games than they do tourneys. In cash games you can sit and wait for big hands and favorable situations to take advantage of. Nutcamping is obvious but microstake play is so bad opponents will still pay you off. Microstake tournaments are the very definition of donkament so I don't think there is that much you can learn from them, with the play being so awful and all.

Cheers for the comments guys, their much appreciated and I take on board what you are saying. I am aware I'm lacking direction at the moment but I'm just not sure which path to take. I'm thinking about lowering the volume of hours I play and concentrating more on quality until I'm happy with my game and what I'm trying to achieve.

I think I agree with you Nibbles and may play cash for a few days at 5NL 6 Max and throw in some MTT's too. Thanks for your input again both of you and I will report again tomorrow as I work on a Sun so won't get much poker in until I'm back home in a couple of hours.

Well I'm pissed right now but I'm up a dollar on the session lol. I broke even playing cash (started well but then started to tilt after beat or two so called it a night on the cash front), lost around $10 playing MTT SnG's and just now made it back in a $2.75 $5000 gauranteed MTT.

I finished 350th or something out of just under an 8000 field but I was lying 34th when I was busted. I 3 bet AI with AKo and was called by AQs and of the course the guy nailed the flush. Was just so sick to play for all that time to get coolered and only pick up around $8 profit. I'm going to FT one of these large field tourneys one day if it kills me lol.

Anyway enough moaning already haha. It's almost 2am and I have class in the morning so off to bed I go. Until next time guys......

BOOM!! Up over 4 buyins today and I've only played around 500 or 600 hands. Wheeeeeeee......

Played an hour and a half this morning and an hour just now and it was pure pwnage. Best part is I didn't even play that great as I donked off at least a buyin with two pair on the flop and knew I was beat. So there is still lots of improvement to be done at 5NL but more days like today and I will be much more optimistic about my poker future

BR stands at $137.64

Just played my final session of the day after a game of football (soccer ) and again it was only an hour. Ended up another 2 buyins HEATER so BR is at $146.96. Hopefully I can carry this on and be at 10NL in no time. Here's the crappy PS stats from my last 5NL 6-max session:

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 189 hands and saw flop:
- 19 out of 39 times while in big blind (48%)
- 7 out of 37 times while in small blind (18%)
- 24 out of 113 times in other positions (21%)
- a total of 50 out of 189 (26%)
Pots won at showdown - 6 of 12 (50%)
Pots won without showdown - 38

Not sure what to make of these tbh but I like that I saw the flop 26% of the time.

So the last couple of days I've been extremely busy with work for Uni which kind of distracted me from poker unfortunatley (i know it should be the other way round lol). I did fit a very small amount of hands in but this was not a very bright idea as my head wasn't really in it and the bankroll fell to $138. However, I've just stopped playing after only 272 hands because I was up over 4.5 buyins which has really brougt me back into things with a bang and I'm ready to push on to the $200 mark now so I will have a break for dinner before another (hopefully successful) session later.

BR stands at $161.38 ...... Wheeeeeeeee

Here's a couple of 300bb hands to review. I wasn't at the table long enough to determine ranges but I just thought they were cool hands, even if one one of them was a bit of a cooler (but A2 wtf?lol)

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (5 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (UTG) ($7.87)
MP ($10.38)
Button ($3.71)
SB ($13.09)
BB ($9.70)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with K, 10
Hero bets $0.20, 3 folds, BB calls $0.15

Flop: ($0.42) A, J, 2 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $0.30, BB calls $0.30

Turn: ($1.02) Q (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $1, BB calls $1

River: ($3.02) 9 (2 players)
BB bets $1, Hero raises to $6.37 (All-In), BB calls $5.37

Total pot: $15.76 | Rake: $0.75

Results in white below:
BB mucked 5, 4 (flush, Ace high).
Hero had K, 10 (flush, Ace high).
Outcome: Hero won $15.01

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (6 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB ($6.02)
BB ($11.69)
UTG ($10.22)
Hero (MP) ($7.49)
CO ($1.72)
Button ($5.28)

Preflop: Hero is MP with K, K
UTG bets $0.20, Hero raises to $0.50, 4 folds, UTG raises to $1.50, Hero calls $1

Flop: ($3.07) 7, 3, K (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $1.55, UTG calls $1.55

Turn: ($6.17) 8 (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $4.44 (All-In), UTG calls $4.44

River: ($15.05) Q (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $15.05 | Rake: $0.70

Results in white below:
UTG had A, 2 (flush, Ace high).
Hero had K, K (three of a kind, Kings).
Outcome: UTG won $14.35

man I'm crushing this level at the moment and it feels so good. Going to call it a night but I gained another 3.5 buyins to take me to $178.57. That takes todays total upswing to 8 buyins, which is great!

Here is the hand that pleased me the most today, not because of the way I played it but because of the way I identified the very weak deepstack through table selection and then viewing the and histories of the table. I saw that he'd shown down some real trash from OOP in raised pre flop pots and used this to my advantage here, expecting (and hoping) he only had a deuce. As for the other opponent I had no idea what he was holding but I had to think I was ahead here of course. I was just looking to stack off against vik7 as soon as possible.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (6 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB ($3.62)
BB ($12.44)
UTG ($9.69)
MP ($3.20)
CO ($5)
Hero (Button) ($5.45)

Preflop: Hero is Button with 5, 5
UTG bets $0.20, 2 folds, Hero calls $0.20, SB calls $0.18, BB calls $0.15

Flop: ($0.80) 2, J, 2 (4 players)
SB bets $0.10, BB calls $0.10, UTG calls $0.10, Hero calls $0.10

Turn: ($1.20) 5 (4 players)
SB checks, BB checks, UTG checks, Hero bets $0.30, SB calls $0.30, BB raises to $0.60, 1 fold, Hero raises to $1.20, SB calls $0.90, BB raises to $1.80, Hero raises to $5.15 (All-In), SB calls $2.12 (All-In), BB calls $3.35

River: ($14.82) 4 (3 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: $14.82 | Rake: $0.70

man I'm crushing this level at the moment and it feels so good. Going to call it a night but I gained another 3.5 buyins to take me to $178.57. That takes todays total upswing to 8 buyins, which is great!

Here is the hand that pleased me the most today, not because of the way I played it but because of the way I identified the very weak deepstack through table selection and then viewing the and histories of the table. I saw that he'd shown down some real trash from OOP in raised pre flop pots and used this to my advantage here, expecting (and hoping) he only had a deuce. As for the other opponent I had no idea what he was holding but I had to think I was ahead here of course. I was just looking to stack off against vik7 as soon as possible.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (6 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB ($3.62)
BB ($12.44)
UTG ($9.69)
MP ($3.20)
CO ($5)
Hero (Button) ($5.45)

Preflop: Hero is Button with 5, 5
UTG bets $0.20, 2 folds, Hero calls $0.20, SB calls $0.18, BB calls $0.15

Flop: ($0.80) 2, J, 2 (4 players)
SB bets $0.10, BB calls $0.10, UTG calls $0.10, Hero calls $0.10

Turn: ($1.20) 5 (4 players)
SB checks, BB checks, UTG checks, Hero bets $0.30, SB calls $0.30, BB raises to $0.60, 1 fold, Hero raises to $1.20, SB calls $0.90, BB raises to $1.80, Hero raises to $5.15 (All-In), SB calls $2.12 (All-In), BB calls $3.35

River: ($14.82) 4 (3 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: $14.82 | Rake: $0.70

452 hands played in a session today and I'm up another 2buyins and a bit. Bankroll at $190.55. Just got to keep doing what I'm doing to get to 10NL. What point to you guys think is best to move up? $250?

Just had a frustrating break-evenish 700 hand session. but I suppose it was due. I did end up a little though so I suppose I can't complain really. Don't think I'll get any poker in tomorrow as I'm away to watch a football (soccer) match and will probably go to the pub after - note to self: Do not do a Slevin, poor guy lol

So BR lies at $192.42 until Sunday, which makes this week around +$75 with a relatively low volume played.... Roll on next week then

Well I'm proud of myself as even though I was tempted to play while drunk yesterday I managed to hold my fingers back from the mouse and go to bed lol. I'm really feelig the benefit now, as I've just completed a session of only 150 hands where I finished up around 4 buy-ins. Good times keep rolling baby!! The BR stands at $211.45....

nice job not playing drunk keep up the good work!

Nice work man, btw where bouts are you in Scotland? I live in Glasgow.

Your roll is rockin'. Good grinding. Keep up the outstanding work.

LOL it's just all went wrong, I've just given back the 4 buy-ins with some tilt and not placing in MTT's. Two of the buyins were to a maniac. He was showing down some real trash and raising 10BB preflop lmost every hand so I made a stand with AQ and of course he had AK an then he outkicked my TP on another hand grrrrrrrrrrr. I'll get it back tomorrow. back down to $190, just when I thought I was getting somewhere haha. Glad I've stopped playing though beause my roll was about to be decimated. It was actually reading this thread and your comments that stopped me playing because I know how much of a fool I woul have looked, so thanks I guess lol.

Well done on stopping playing when you felt tilted, nice work. BR's moving along nicely keep it up!

How rude of me not to reply to you all.... Not used to getting responses lol.

Courtie - thanks and yeah I felt pretty pumped about that this morning even with a hangover lol

Carroters - I'm from Edinburgh/East Lothian. I will look out for your posts in future mate If you wanna do a hand review session or something give me a shout (offer open to anyone BTW!)

Nibbles - Your the microstakes man on this forum at the mo so that means a lot and thanks for giving me the advice to go with cash!

Slevin - Cheers man. Don't know if this helps you at all but I've learned from your mistakes mate. If you hadn't made them before I definitely would have!! So hope that is some consolation

Well the last couple of days have been pretty damn hard to get through. The BR is at $186, which surprisingly, I'm really pleased with as it dropped all the way to $145 at one point. Losing buy-ins was really getting to me and I felt like a failure and kept spewing all over the place. I'ts amazing how you don't post when your doing badly but I know I shouldn't have felt embarassed as it happens to the best of players. I guess I need to thnk Slevin for a post I read in his Op in which he made a really good point about the BR just being a 'tool' and not money in your pocket. It was a catalyst to turning things around and so cheers man.

One other thing, I've signed up for the PT3 fre trial and I'm finding it really useful, so long may it continue

Originally Posted by connectthesuitors

Nibbles - Your the microstakes man on this forum at the mo...

If only Courtiebee felt the same way!

Good work on the op. The way you're going, you will hit your mark fo sho. Blog the good and the bad. Especially the bad. We learn more from our failures than our successes. And the same way you learned from Slev's experiences, others can learn from yours. I put my feelings in writing. I look back on them and see improvement in my mental approach to the game, as well as other aspects. We are documenting our journey, not just the highlights. No reason for embarrassment. this is your blog for your thoughts and feelings. If others don't like it, they don't hafta read it. I, however, will. Keep up the good work!

Originally Posted by nibbles

Originally Posted by connectthesuitors

Nibbles - Your the microstakes man on this forum at the mo...

If only Courtiebee felt the same way!

Good work on the op. The way you're going, you will hit your mark fo sho. Blog the good and the bad. Especially the bad. We learn more from our failures than our successes. And the same way you learned from Slev's experiences, others can learn from yours. I put my feelings in writing. I look back on them and see improvement in my mental approach to the game, as well as other aspects. We are documenting our journey, not just the highlights. No reason for embarrassment. this is your blog for your thoughts and feelings. If others don't like it, they don't hafta read it. I, however, will. Keep up the good work!

Yea wtf am I? Chopped liver? Jk dude keep it up, our BR is pretty much the same at the moment. Mines at $182 I think...

Lol don't worry Dranger it was just a ploy to get you to comment on my Op so I could get more views

Arrrrrggghh. Back down to $175. Lost $5 in tourneys, AA got cracked by a flush draw in one of them. I was playing well at ring after that when I got 3 bet pre flop with AA and Villain turned over QQ and of course he hit the 2 outer. So I've stopped for today as I don't want tilt to settle in again!!

Ok I'm up just over a buy-in today after playing around 600 hands. This doesn't sound like much but just look at the hands below that I encountered today.....


PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (6 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (CO) ($5.43)
Button ($9.38)
SB ($3.63)
BB ($10.66)
UTG ($13.09)
MP ($7.27)

Preflop: Hero is CO with A, A
UTG calls $0.05, 1 fold, Hero bets $0.25, Button raises to $0.65, 1 fold, BB calls $0.60, 1 fold, Hero raises to $5.43 (All-In), Button calls $4.78, 1 fold

Flop: ($11.58) 5, Q, 8 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Turn: ($11.58) 3 (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($11.58) 8 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $11.58 | Rake: $0.55

Results:
Button had Q, Q (full house, Queens over eights).
Hero had A, A (two pair, Aces and eights).
Outcome: Button won $11.03

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (6 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

CO ($10.48)
Button ($2.36)
SB ($9.34)
BB ($6.30)
UTG ($2.17)
Hero (MP) ($6.20)

Preflop: Hero is MP with K, K
UTG calls $0.05, Hero bets $0.25, 1 fold, Button raises to $0.45, 3 folds, Hero raises to $2.05, Button raises to $2.36 (All-In), Hero calls $0.31

Flop: ($4.84) 6, 7, 9 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Turn: ($4.84) 10 (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($4.84) A (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $4.84 | Rake: $0.20

Results:
Button had 8, 8 (straight, ten high).
Hero had K, K (one pair, Kings).
Outcome: Button won $4.64

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (4 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (BB) ($6.48)
UTG ($3.51)
Button ($7.34)
SB ($5.22)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 3, 3
2 folds, SB bets $0.20, Hero calls $0.15

Flop: ($0.40) Q, 3, 8 (2 players)
SB bets $0.35, Hero calls $0.35

Turn: ($1.10) 9 (2 players)
SB bets $0.75, Hero raises to $1.95, SB raises to $4.67 (All-In), Hero calls $2.72

River: ($10.44) K (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $10.44 | Rake: $0.50

Results:
SB had K, K (three of a kind, Kings).
Hero had 3, 3 (three of a kind, threes).
Outcome: SB won $9.94

Think I might be getting somewhere now as I didn't tilt or barely even spew at all after these hands and just kept trying to get it in good and remain as emotionless as possible. To be up still after these hands is a pretty good days work IMO and hopefully variance swings back in my favour tomorrow

Ouch that hurts....
If it makes you feel any better, one time in the span of about 120 hands
I had KK lose to JJ all in preflop.
I had a AA lose to AQs when opp hit his flush on river.
I had a set of 8's lose to a straight
Had QQ run into KK with a board that was all undercards...

I just let myself know that its variance... Thats what a BR is for.

Page 2 wooot..... Oh and Badugiiiiii Played my first tourney of it today and won it!!!! Out of a field of 80 (sooooo soft) for $2 I got $44 back. Takes the bankroll to $211 and means I'm one for one in tourney wins in both Badugi and 5-Card Draw!!!

I'll report again later!

OMG what do I have to do to win at cash?? Seriously!!!Guy is running 86/14/1.4 LOL

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (6 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG ($18.92)
Hero (MP) ($6.20)
CO ($11.82)
Button ($13.83)
SB ($10)
BB ($5.93)

Preflop: Hero is MP with A, K
UTG bets $0.25, Hero raises to $0.45, CO raises to $0.65, 3 folds, UTG calls $0.40, Hero calls $0.20

Flop: ($2.02) A, 3, 5 (3 players)
UTG checks, Hero checks, CO bets $0.25, 1 fold, Hero raises to $0.70, CO raises to $1.15, Hero raises to $5.55 (All-In), CO calls $4.40

Turn: ($13.12) 4 (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($13.12) 8 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $13.12 | Rake: $0.65

Results:
Hero had A, K (one pair, Aces).
CO had 8, A (two pair, Aces and eights).
Outcome: CO won $12.47


Roll is still at $214 though. I'm still at a table with this crazy assed guy so hopefully I'll make some of my losses to him back!

See banner. Wheeeeeeee. Finished for today now.

hah, badugi is awesome.

Originally Posted by courtiebee

hah, badugi is awesome.

Hah, I can't complain about it so far. Is it still pretty easy to beat at the higher stakes courtie??

oh I have no idea, I've only ever played $0.25/$0.50 cash! I'm pretty horrible at it, but so is everyone else at that stake :P

Going to have to go back to 5NL after this hand :

Guy in MP was a complete donk. No stats sorry because I was on my parents PC.
PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.10 BB (6 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG ($11.05)
MP ($26.70)
Hero (CO) ($20.95)
Button ($9.40)
SB ($10.05)
BB ($5.55)

Preflop: Hero is CO with A, Q
1 fold, MP calls $0.10, Hero bets $0.50, Button raises to $1.60, 2 folds, MP calls $1.50, Hero calls $1.10

Flop: ($4.95) 6, A, A (3 players)
MP checks, Hero checks, Button bets $2.20, MP calls $2.20, Hero raises to $5.40, Button calls $3.20, MP calls $3.20

Turn: ($21.15) 10 (3 players)
MP checks, Hero bets $13.95 (All-In), Button calls $2.40 (All-In), MP calls $13.95

River: ($51.45) 8 (3 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: $51.45 | Rake: $2.50

Results:
Button mucked Q, Q (two pair, Aces and Queens).
MP had 8, A (full house, Aces over eights).
Hero had A, Q (three of a kind, Aces).
Outcome: MP won $48.95
After that hand I preceeded to lose $35 pot set over set. Arrrrrghhhh bloody poker Gods..... BR all the way down to $172, let the re-build begin haha

Thank you $3.40 SnG's . Back up to $209. Swwwwiiiiinnnnggg

Ok today started off with me donking around in the $3.30 re-buy and losing $12 in the process.... Got up to $24000 during the re-by period then lost my stack QQ<AA and didn't recover. Bad BR management I know but I wanted to have some fun lol. After that, however, I played 886 hands of 5NL (full ring for a change) and it was a resounding success as I ended up over 9 buy-ins . So BR is $242 whheeeeeeee.

Just finished the $3.30 re-buy again with much greater success today . Unfortunately I was card dead for the last 45 mins of my tourney life and ended up bustin trying t defend my BB wih a small stack. However, here's my finish....

PokerStars Tournament #147626416, No Limit Hold'em
Buy-In: $3.00/$0.30
4680 players
Total Prize Pool: $56523.00
Tournament started 2009/03/18 14:15:00 ET


Dear zemmagic07,

You finished the tournament in 165th place. A $67.83 award has been credited to your Real Money account.

You earned 80.52 tournament leader points in this tournament. For information about our tournament leader board, see our web site at http://www.pokerstars.com/poker/tour.../leader-board/


Congratulations!

Thank you for participating.
Out of a field of 4800 I'm quite proud of my finish to be honest!

Haven't been posting because I haven't been playing much for the last few days.... Bankroll is at $280 after ending up 2 buy-ins today. Started playing 6m 10NL and lost 3 buy-ins so sitched to FR and won 5 buy-ins. Got in a good volume of around 1100 hands so hopefully this will continue!

Kept getting close to the $300 and then fell behind again. So, I decided to do a large multi-tabling session of $1 SnG's. I am pleaed to say it went great . I played 20 at once for an ROI of 125% meaning the roll is up to $313. I played like a bot but it seemed to work pretty damn well haha.

sngs are the devil! i built my roll on them though, so i can't blame you for playing them

Cheers Courtie. I know they do suck but can be quite profitable at times but anyway I got back to the grind today. However, I only played 347 hands as I was up 3 buy-ins and felt quite tired, so yaaaayyy for progress at 10NL finally!! roll is at $337.....

Ok I'm going to have to stop playing the $3.30 re-buy when I'm underolled. I jst cannot afford not to cash in it. I should probably wait until I have at least $1k before playing it. Managed to donk off $22 in it, which is just so stupid because it ruins my work on my grind.

HOWEVER, I destroyed 10NL 6m for the first time tonight. After about 750 hands I was up close to 7 buy-ins.... SHIP-IT! See the banner for new BR....

You should probably have minimum $1500 to play the $3r. I'd probably want $2.5k to $3k to play it on a regular basis.

omg courtiebee, you avatar just gave me a headache lol

aw why? it's so pretty!

what is this -->badugi ?
i've never heard of it.

Originally Posted by courtiebee

aw why? it's so pretty!

Cuz when I looked at it, I thought for SURE it was an upside down pic with lamps lol. THEN i was like no no no, its gotta be lights hanging from the ceiling, then i have no clue what i thought lol.

Its kinda like Micro2macro's avatar on stars: tilts me lol.

It does look nice tho

And yea what is badugi?

Originally Posted by flomo

what is this -->badugi ?
i've never heard of it.

Strange game. These vids probably explain it best....

http://www.pokertube.com/MyPokerface.aspx?movie=9170

Wow, thanks for posting that link to the vids. That actually (somehow) seems like a pretty interesting game. I might try screwing around on some play money tables, then playing a mtt/sng or something.

Cheers!

On a sick downer. After getting coolered a few BI's I went into super tilt/ spew mode and have fallen all the way back to $322. It's so frustrating and annoying so I'm going to stop playing for the night (or a least cash anyway) and hope I'm in a better frame of mind tomorrow!!