Operation 200k in 2008

Yeah, so I started playing poker online two weeks ago after a five month break. Deposited $400 and I've worked that up to $3550 playing NL25-100 6max. Just cashed out $1500 tonight which felt pretty damn good.
Still spewing all over the place at times, especially at the lower limits, but on the whole I'd say I'm playing pretty well. Eliminated a TON of leaks. And moreover, I've yet to play not sober.

Figured I might as well start another operation; maybe posting updates on my progress will help me keep my discipline up like I did when I went on that tear after posting my first op. And I'll have to read through my other two old op threads to remind myself not be a moron. Hopefully I won't be playing drunk and like a fish at NL1000 with a $5000 BR like I did this past December right before going busto.

How much are you playing to build $400 into $3550 in two weeks?

A lot. Ten tabling for about 5 hrs a day every day. Got 40k hands so far.

I can pretty much say I wouldn't be where I am if it wasn't for twosev. Hit me up anytime, you know that by now Good to see you're back in the mix.

Wow. Welcome back dude - I enjoyed readng you're previous posts, Hope it works out for you this time.

Good luck.

Been running bad and playing even worse lately. Lapsing into spewy, loose and weakish play far too often. I went on a $2200 downswing over Thursday and Friday last week spread roughly half and half between NL200 and NL100.

I've had some winning days since I last posted too, and I'm now at $2900 overall, $1200 below my peak. Going to try to play a more taggy game in the coming days. Will post my winnings graph and PT stats soon.

Be more conservative with BR management, just to give yourself more of a buffer (and since you're unlikely to be able to cut out all the lagginess, you'll need it).

Been up and down quite a lot since last time I posted. I'm up a couple hundred from last update--I'm at $3100--but that includes a $285 FPP bonus so I'm actually down a bit. I think I'm going to play NL50 for a while. I tilt too easily after losing a few buyins at NL100.

I really have to start playing lockdown poker; I'm killing my winrate with spewy big bluffs, heroic calldowns, and general looseness and sloppiness. On a good day, I'll play 23/19 (and I'll almost always win playing like that), but more frequently there are days where I'm running 28+/21, and it's a real pain in the ass to beat the lower limits with those stats.

Bonuses are money too! Just play whatever you feel comfortable with, and always quit when you feel you aren't playing your best

Went on a $1000 downswing shortly after last update. Mostly running bad but tilt definitely played a factor. I've been playing almost exclusively NL50 the last 4-5 days and am on a heater--up $1250. Going to move back up to NL100 soon I think. Bankroll now stands at $3350.

Me owning you...don't steal my blinds beeeeeeatch. All I got really, you're a winner in my database.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (6 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

Button ($57.65)
YOU ($48.75)
Hero ($50)
UTG ($54.50)
MP ($37.25)
CO ($97.70)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 3, 8.
4 folds, YOU raises to $2.25, Hero raises to $6.5, YOU folds.

Final Pot: $8.75

Another up and down week. Went on a tilty $1700 downswing over two days mid last week at NL100 but I've since recouped all of it. I have a really bad habit of putting people on hands that beat me and then calling anyways and seeing exactly what I thought they have. I gotta start going with my instincts, make smart laydowns and stop being such a call-station.

Current BR: $3550

graphs plz

Been a rocky few weeks since my last update but I managed to make a decent amount of money despite a $1100 downswing and a $2300 downswing. Current BR is at $5100.

Been playing quite a bit of Omaha. I'm still kind of a fish at it but I'm getting better. I'd guess I'm breakeven or up a bit at it though I don't have PT Omaha so I don't know for sure.

Been doing all-right the past few weeks, with the exception of donking off a couple grand at PLO a while back. I can be such a spewtard at that freaking game.

I've mostly just been taking it easy since then 12-tabling 50NL with some 7 tabling 25 and 50PLO thrown in. I love 50NL since it's just such easy money because of the abundance of fish and it's relatively stress free since losing a few buy-ins doesn't cause me to get tilted like when I play higher levels. If I want to get better and have the chance to make some serious money though I really need to play more at the higher levels.

I'm really going to try to try to put some more effort into poker in the coming weeks. Lately I've been lazy, putting in a few hours or so a day on autopilot and booking the win and stopping if I win $500 on the day. I never review my hands in PT and rarely go on poker forums, except for NVG and BBV on 2P2. I was watching CR videos pretty regularly, but I've stopped doing that too. If I want to get better as a player I need to get focused and put in the time.

Current BR: $7100

this just became new best thread.

Let this be a successful one plz. Kthx

Been doing pretty well since my last update--bankroll's up to $10,800.

I'm finally getting decent at PLO. Before I would just spew all over the place, playing like 50/30, cbetting virtually every flop regardless of texture or # of players, bluffing most scare cards, potting it everytime I bet or raise, and semi-bluff pushing non-nut combo draws. Now I'm playing 35/2o, mixing up my bet sizing, and showing a lot more restraint postflop.

One thing that I really don't know whether is positive or not is I've become a lot more risk averse. I play .5/1 and lower even though I can afford to play 1/2 and even 2/4. I cash out down to $2000 everytime my online balance gets above $3000 so I never have enough in my acct to move up stakes to chase losses while on tilt. If my online balance gets too low to comfortably play .5/1, I don't deposit more money in; instead I grind out micro stakes. When I get up 5-600 on a sesh I generally either move down limits or stop playing. I'm either saving myself from tilting away lots or missing out on making lots by playing like this, which one I really don't know.

Sorry I haven't updated in forever.

Making decent progress, despite some sizeable downswings and bad tilting sessions. I'm currently up $14,700 on the $400 I deposited in mid-May.

Been playing pretty much exclusively PLO. It's just so much more fun and interesting than hold em. I'm back to playing slightly maniacal with a vpip around 45 but it seems to be working out ok (well, except for when I tilt). I've been spreading my play between 1-2 and .5/1, and I've been continuing to play when I get up a decent chunk, which sometimes works out well and sometimes doesn't.

Just breaking even since last update. Had an epic tilting session on saturday, dropping 19 buyins (!) at .5/1 PLO. Once I hit some bad luck and got steaming, I was 3-betting all sorts of trash and once I was in the pot preflop I don't think I folded to a single 3-bet or 4-bet. So frustrating to lose my cool and blow a ridiculous amount of money on a game that's absurdly soft as PLO100 on a weekend. Luckily I didn't move up stakes to chase my losses, or else I likely would have busted my stars account.

***sending good karma your way***

Been doing really well since I last updated this. I'm now up over $30k since I started playing again last may and I have ~$26k in readily available cash spread between my bank account and poker account. I've still been playing massively overbankrolled low stakes PLO (mostly 1/2).

I've also been playing a decent amount of 6max and HU NLHE. My heads up game is getting to be really solid. I'm running at ~35ptbb/100 over the 4k hands I've put in at 1/2hu so far in '08. The games are very soft and I've been running very well.

I completely stopped drinking and doing drugs in the last month or so and that really seems to have made a big difference in my game. I seem to be a lot sharper and have much better tilt control.

My goal for this year is to make at least 6 figures, including bonuses, which I think is definitely obtainable. I was thinking of shooting for Supernova Elite too, but reflecting on it I realized there's no way in hell I'm going to be able to do that, but I think I should be able to get 20k in milestone bonuses.

v nice good to hear man.

can you confirm that the avg 1-2 plo game is softer than the avg 1-2 nl 6 max on a site like stars?

r u playing plo cuz it's just so much more fun?

Yes 1-2 PLO is definitely softer than 1-2 nlhe on stars and I do find PLO more fun too.

Had an awesome January, making over $20k and accumulating 45k vpps. I've been playing roughly half 6-max PLO and half HU NLHE, at the nosebleed stakes of .5/1 and 1/2 with the occasional shot at higher levels. I've been very nitty with br management but it seems to be working well for me, and preventing those tilty big loss days that used to plague me. What I've been doing is cashing out down to $2000 at the end of every session, that way I'm forced to play low limits and it's impossible to go on tilt, move up stakes to chase losses, and get my br decimated.

So seeing as January turned out so well, I'm going to set new goals for the year--600k vpps and $200k.

awesome man

gl

Been in a bit of a slump lately. I am winning, but not very much, and I am playing rather poorly. I'm also developing a bad habit of moving up stakes to chase losses. It's not that big of a deal, as I am rolled for higher stakes than I play, and most of the time I buy in for somewhere between 40bb and 60bb, but still, if I'm going to play those stakes I should play them when I'm in a good state of mind rather than when on tilt. Luckily I've actually been doing pretty well when I move up stakes to chase losses.

Here are my stats so far this year:

Hold 'Em:


Omaha:



So I'm up about 32k on the year (I've missed some sessions I played at my friend's place but I think I am basically breakeven in those), plus I've made $4500 so far in FPP bonuses, which means I'm still on track to make $200k this year, though to be honest, I doubt I can keep up this pace as I have been running above expectation this year.

I'm pretty disappointed in how things have gone since my last update, though I've been on a heater the past few weeks. I'm not exactly sure where I stand on the year as far as profit made, since I got a new macbook pro laptop and played on it in mac mode without pt before installing boot camp, and also played a lot at friends' too.

I currently have around $47k spread between my bank acct and poker acct, down from a high of over $55k earlier in the year, but I spent over 20k since last update on taxes/macbook/30" samsung monitor/rent/pit games/various other expenses so I'm at a new peak as far as winnings. My main games have been 1-2 6max plo and 1-2 hu nl with some shots at higher limits, generally while on tilt chasing losses and with not even a full buyin, and generally not working out too well.

I've also become a bit of a pit game degen. I've lost 7k at ub blackjack this year and another few thou at foxwoods. I have closed my ub account though and I'm trying to stay away from those foolish -ev games.

I have a little over 160k vpps so far this year, so I'm going to try to hit 300k by the end of the year to get two milestones. $200k seems an unreasonable goal for this year now as it's over halfway done and I've only made $45kish, so I'm revising my goal and I'm going to aim to have at least $100k to my name by the end of the year, which likely means making around $60k in the next 6 months. I think that should be obtainable. Not sure if I'll move up to 2-4 or stick to 1-2 as my main game, though I'm leaning towards 1-2 as it's easy money and the skill level of the opposition is significantly lower.

I'm pleased with how I've been playing lately though, for the most part. I really have come a long way as a player. Until the past 10 or so months at nlhe and the past 7 months at plo I really was pretty terrible at both games and didn't grasp many fundamental concepts such as tight play, position, aggression, and 3 betting. I would do some really bizarre stuff such as coldcalling 3bets with suited connectors and small pairs and never folding to 3 bets if I raised preflop in NLHE, and doing all kinds of atrocious stuff in omaha, from raising uncoordinated low pairs to stacking off with dry overpairs and non nut draws. In NLHE I went through phases of being a maniac and phases of playing passively and would tilt like crazy at times. Really the only reason I wasn't a losing player overall was I had some semblance of tightness and aggression, could read hands pretty well, and was playing in soft games. I have learned a lot about poker in the past 14 months, improved a ton, and am playing the best I ever have right now.

high five

the poker-related developments remind me of some of my own struggles/progress

keep it up and gl

When moving up stakes to chase losses goes right:

POKERSTARS GAME #18914997899: OMAHA POT LIMIT ($25/$50) - 2008/07/18 - 15:17:54 (ET)
Table 'Parthenope III' 9-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: Svend sværd ($2350 in chips)
Seat 2: twosevoff ($1557.10 in chips)
Seat 3: Opel1 ($5994 in chips)
Seat 4: refaelamit ($3894 in chips)
Seat 5: Birdstone44 ($1075 in chips)
Seat 6: jessica88 ($1760 in chips)
Seat 7: itcho333 ($3695.10 in chips)
Seat 8: monika13 ($503 in chips)
Seat 9: MrCoco ($1541 in chips)
twosevoff: posts small blind $25
Opel1: posts big blind $50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to twosevoff [Ad Tc Kd Js]
refaelamit: raises $125 to $175
Birdstone44: folds
jessica88: folds
itcho333: calls $175
monika13: folds
MrCoco: calls $175
Svend sværd: calls $175
twosevoff: raises $925 to $1100
Opel1: folds
refaelamit: calls $925
itcho333: calls $925
MrCoco: calls $925
Svend sværd: folds
*** FLOP *** [7h Jh 3s]
twosevoff: bets $457.10 and is all-in
refaelamit: calls $457.10
itcho333: calls $457.10
jessica88 is sitting out
MrCoco: calls $441 and is all-in
*** TURN *** [7h Jh 3s] [Jc]
refaelamit: checks
itcho333: checks
*** RIVER *** [7h Jh 3s Jc] [Jd]
refaelamit: checks
itcho333: checks
*** SHOW DOWN ***
twosevoff: shows [Ad Tc Kd Js] (four of a kind, Jacks)
refaelamit: mucks hand
itcho333: mucks hand
twosevoff collected $48.30 from side pot
MrCoco: mucks hand
twosevoff collected $6386 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $6437.30 Main pot $6386. Side pot $48.30. | Rake $3
Board [7h Jh 3s Jc Jd]
Seat 1: Svend sværd (button) folded before Flop
Seat 2: twosevoff (small blind) showed [Ad Tc Kd Js] and won ($6434.30) with four of a kind, Jacks
Seat 3: Opel1 (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 4: refaelamit mucked [2c Qc As 2s]
Seat 5: Birdstone44 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: jessica88 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: itcho333 mucked [8c 7s 5c 9d]
Seat 8: monika13 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: MrCoco mucked [Ah Qs Qd 4s]

+ev imo

Apparently, when moving up stakes to chase losses, hitting running quads is standard:

POKERSTARS GAME #18999174150: OMAHA POT LIMIT ($10/$20) - 2008/07/21 - 19:50:08 (ET)
Table 'Eugenia III' 6-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 2: Lay Lo ($909 in chips)
Seat 4: twosevoff ($1802.40 in chips)
Seat 5: Psier ($2048 in chips)
Seat 6: eitan2134 ($1850 in chips)
Psier: posts small blind $10
eitan2134: posts big blind $20
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to twosevoff [3s Kd Qd Qs]
Lay Lo: calls $20
twosevoff: raises $70 to $90
Psier: folds
eitan2134: calls $70
Lay Lo: calls $70
*** FLOP *** [As 4h Ts]
eitan2134: checks
Lay Lo: checks
twosevoff: bets $220
fsp-tomcat leaves the table
eitan2134: raises $718 to $938
Lay Lo: folds
twosevoff: raises $774.40 to $1712.40 and is all-in
eitan2134: calls $774.40
*** TURN *** [As 4h Ts] [Qc]
*** RIVER *** [As 4h Ts Qc] [Qh]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
eitan2134: shows [9d Ad 7s Th] (two pair, Aces and Queens)
twosevoff: shows [3s Kd Qd Qs] (four of a kind, Queens)
twosevoff collected $3702.80 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $3704.80 | Rake $2
Board [As 4h Ts Qc Qh]
Seat 2: Lay Lo folded on the Flop
Seat 4: twosevoff (button) showed [3s Kd Qd Qs] and won ($3702.80) with four of a kind, Queens
Seat 5: Psier (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 6: eitan2134 (big blind) showed [9d Ad 7s Th] and lost with two pair, Aces and Queens

Didn't play that hand especially well, but I think I have probably around 35% equity against his range (and I had 48% equity against the hand he had) so the shove over his raise isn't terrible. I was on tilt and wanted to gamble, and it worked out well so ship it.

I continue to run like god this month when I take tilty shots at high stakes. In 300 or so hands at 5-10+ this month, I am up over $12k. My current bankroll is at $59k. I get my 200k vpp milestone in about 20kvpp which is nice. Maybe I'll be able to get up to the 400k vpp milestone by the end of the year.

I'm definitely keeping it in mind that if those shots at higher limits hadn't panned out then I could be in much worse shape. I'm going to try my best to stop moving up to chase losses, as it's a bad habit that can have disasterous consequesences, as I know from my period of stagnation from March until early June.

As long as you keep cashing down, you'll be straight.

Nice run, but don't go thinking you're a 25/50 PLO reg just yet!

That's my plo graph for july. I also made 2k or so in a few thousand hands of hu nl and 1,740 in bonuses, making this month I believe my best month ever. I owe it almost entirely to running really, really lucky when moving up stakes to chase losses. If things had gone the other way, and I had lost 16k instead of winning 16k at 5-10+, it would have been among my worst months ever, so I'm definitely trying to stay humble and keep that in mind.