Operation: the road to the $1,000 milestone

Hello fellow FTR peers. For the most part none of you have probably heard of me since I just started posting at FTR. So hopely as this operation goes on I will become more aquinted with the community. Ok, im doing this operation for various reasons ranging from developimg as a winning poker player to telling the up and down rollar coaster a beginning poker player faces. Also to help me reach my goal of achieving a $1,000 BR. I plan on sharing each of my sessions, along with blogging about my studies of poker, and the challenges that will arise as a beginning poker player. I'm also hoping this turns out to be helpful to other beginning poker players in terms of where to start and to hopefully show them how to beat the games that I plan on pwning and show some good insight about how I did it. Oh and when reviewing anything I write or a HH I post. Please.....please be as critical as possible...you won't hurt my feelings. Well thats all for now. I should be starting the Operation Tomorrow!
\Thanks, rvrking22

Ok well here we go. Day one of the operation! Before I begin I would like to fill you in on a few things. My current and starting BR on FTP is $25. My BR is extremely small obv which means im pretty limited in the type of games I can pursue, and still be within my BR. So after posting on this and thinking it over I've decided that im going to play $2.25 Turbo 9-man SnG on FTP and get into as many freerolls as possible. I want to build my BR to a $85 dollars playing just those types of games and then take I shot at the $5.50 SnG... and so on. Oh and if you have any questions or comments please feel free to post them. I would like for this operation to be as active as possible!

Ok well lastnight I decided to fire up FTP and play two $2.25 turbo SnG just to see what they are all about. As the old saying goes, first impressions are everything, and my first impression of the $2 was wtf? Im not pretending to be a SnG expert by any means but the play was absolutely horrible. Shoving in the second level of the blinds with AJ0,and reraising all in with 44's. Anyway I know I shouldnt be judging the level just yet, seeings i've only played two but I think this level can be beat by learning two basic strategies.

1) TAGG play....by this I mean choosing your battles wisely and tightening up preflop. Theres no need to throw away chips early by limping in with suited connecters or even completing the SB with a ragged hand (unless the pot odds good). Also playing position is as important as ever. I do occassionally limp from the Button or CO with a small pocket pair or suited connecters, but other than those two positions its an insta muck (Early on in the tourney ). I dont know why I keep rambling about this im not trying to write a strategy guide.

2) Situational Awareness....Being aware of each opponents stack size and M, along with yours, and being aware of the type of player your opponents are.

I feel those two strategies will be more than enough to beat these levels and those are the areas im going to be reading up on and studying the next couple of weeks to get a better understanding of both.
Thats all for now, I plan on posting a couple of hands latter today, but I might be to busy so we will have to wait and see.

rvrking22

I was wondering if this was a bad time to push/shove? My thought: With less than 10BB I push here, isolating the the original raiser.

Any thoughts, comments, what you would have done, etc...on this hand?


Full Tilt Poker Game #5572957141: $2 + $0.25 Sit & Go (Turbo) (42414328), Table 1 - 60/120 - No Limit Hold'em - 22:48:12 ET - 2008/03/09
Seat 1: caesarding (1,500)
Seat 2: Tristan826 (2,775)
Seat 3: yesnaya (5,905)
Seat 5: prefontaine10 (1,180)
Seat 8: chunkymunky (750)
Seat 9: RockinPockets (1,390)
RockinPockets posts the small blind of 60
caesarding posts the big blind of 120
The button is in seat #8
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to prefontaine10 (9c 9d)
Tristan826 folds
RockinPockets: nh
yesnaya raises to 420
Tristan826: ty
prefontaine10 has 15 seconds left to act
prefontaine10 raises to 1,180, and is all in
chunkymunky folds
RockinPockets calls 1,120
caesarding folds
yesnaya raises to 1,940
RockinPockets calls 210, and is all in
yesnaya shows [8d Ah]
prefontaine10 shows [9c 9d]
RockinPockets shows [Qd Qh]
Uncalled bet of 550 returned to yesnaya
*** FLOP *** [4c Ts 6s]
*** TURN *** [4c Ts 6s] [Kh]
*** RIVER *** [4c Ts 6s Kh] [Kd]
yesnaya shows a pair of Kings
RockinPockets shows two pair, Kings and Queens
RockinPockets wins the side pot (420) with two pair, Kings and Queens
prefontaine10 shows two pair, Kings and Nines
RockinPockets wins the main pot (3,660) with two pair, Kings and Queens
prefontaine10 stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 4,080 Main pot 3,660. Side pot 420. | Rake 0
Board: [4c Ts 6s Kh Kd]
Seat 1: caesarding (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 2: Tristan826 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: yesnaya showed [8d Ah] and lost with a pair of Kings
Seat 5: prefontaine10 showed [9c 9d] and lost with two pair, Kings and Nines
Seat 8: chunkymunky (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: RockinPockets (small blind) showed [Qd Qh] and won (4,080) with two pair, Kings and Queens


As you can see this move didnt work out for me. I plugged this situation into pokerstove and the number was something like 17% for my 99.


So far I've logged in 4 $2.25 SnG and have placed 5th, 5th, 3rd,6th...Dont great but this is obv. the smallest of small samples and im not to worried. I am also wondering if someone with a winning track record in smaller limit SnG could explain what to do if you are card dead through out most of the SnG?

Also I took a shot at the $1.25 90-man SnG an FTP. Overall I felt like I played pretty well. However I also think im playing way to tight at times. I finished 20th (18 places payout) so I was kind of upset when I bubbled. Im going to post 2-3 hands from the tourney tomorrow and see what you guys would have done. Thats it for now. Hope you have a great night and good luck at the tables!

Well I was planning on posting a few hands from the 90-man SnG I played lastnight, but my HH didnt get saved to my file..so no HH for me. However since I still am have night-mares about this one hand im going to try and recite it as bet as I can.

Blinds 150/300
Hero Dealt ( 10d 10c)
1)fold
2) Hero raises to 1000
3)folds
4)folds
5) Villian calls raise
Rest Fold

Flop: 6 7 4
Hero bets 2000
Villian Calls 2000
Turn: 8
Hero bets 1500
Villian raises ALL-IN
Hero: wtf? Fold

Thats the meat and potatoes of the hand. I kept replaying the hand in my head and I put him on the made straight during the actual hand. So that would mean he called my raise with 5x or 89s. Considering there was about 24 people left and 18 get paid, and not to mention he was TAGG, I highly doubt he had the straight. He most likely had AA KK QQ JJ AK AQs. SO in all reality I think my fold was probably a bit weak but I think it was the right decision. Maybe im wrong. If someone would like to give me feedback on this hand that would be great.

I only played one 2.25 SnG today. ( School, practice, meeting, homework..they add up). Anyway I placed 2nd. I was pretty card dead I felt like such a nit. With about five people left and $1,100 in chips I got dealt QQ in the BB. SB, who has $7,350 in chips and is raising everyhand Pushes I call he shows 10d 7d. Winning the pot and doubling up I loosened up a lot and stole blinds like mad from the BB when I was the SB. Seriously this guy was the tighest player I've ever seen. I actually think he played 8 hands out of the blinds. Anyway it gets down to me,tight-ass, and super-agg donk. Two hands later Super-Agg donk pushes with A4o and is called by tight-ass who shows KK. Wouldnt you know it an A comes on the flop and Tight-ass leaves in 3rd. So its me and this over agg guy who thinks he owns the world because he has 4:1 in terms of our stack sizes. We play a few hands and then im dealt A7s with about $3,000 in chips. Super-Agg Donk calls with 95s. Flop comes 10 6 2 turn brings a 9 and river brings a K. Bastard sucks out again. My next post is going to be related about what im reading/studying and so of the new things I've come across.

Villian has a set a lot there, but I probably call because its a $1.25 and people think any pair is the nuts on a board like that.

I want to build my BR to a $85 dollars playing just those types of games and then take I shot at the $5.50 SnG

Make it $100.

what to do if you are card dead through out most of the SnG?

Keep folding. Look for steals from late position, once you get to around 10BBs start playing solid push/fold poker.

Bastard sucks out again.

Welcome to SnGs, these guys are the ones who will build your roll for you, but sometimes they get lucky.

First of all thank you bjsaust for going over the hand and the rest of the posts.

Now i figured I would go on about some of the things im doing to improve my game beyond FTR. I've started reading Mike Caros book " Most Profitable Hold'em Advice: the complete missing Arsenal." Its helped my game a lot. I think the most important thing i've learned so far is the image,psychology, and manipulation of poker. He goes very in depth in each of these topics and I do feel it will help my game when I reach higher limits. Along with reading that, im going over my HH. Well the ones that I get anyways. I would recommend doing this for any beginner who wants to be a winning player. Just doing that alone has helped me spot many leaks in my game and has given me something to focus on.

After im done reading the Caro Book. Im going to jump into the HOH volumes. So over the next couple of weeks thats what im going to be doing in terms of studying and working on improving my game.

I also wanted to write down (more like type) three goals that I really want to work on in terms of 4nl and the 2.25 SnG.

4nl
1) Play solid TAGG poker
2) DO NOT TRY AND GET TRICKY ( I seem to do it at least once every session and it cost me .70 to .80)
3) Get reads, and USE them.

I feel these are the areas I need to work on most and im going to be focusing on each of them every session.

$2.25 SnG
1) once again, DONT GET TRICKY
2) STEAL MORE blinds
3) DONT LIMP, PLAY POSITION
4) SITUATUIONAL AWARENESS

Those are the goals im setting for myself and I'll get back to you on how im progressing with each one over the next couple of weeks.

Hand from morning session: This is $4nl...
I see a couple of problems with this hand after going over it.
1) What hell was I thinking limping in early position with a hand like that
2) Then calling the min raise....
3) And then re-raising on the flop.

How would you have played that on the FLOP?
Not really worried about Pre-flop play considering it should have been a fold from the start.....



Hand #1437012034000926: Rome 12034
Seat 1: boorick (0.36 in chips)
Seat 2: jimwey (4.00 in chips)
Seat 3: RyanC54 (1.96 in chips)
Seat 4: jnabs (3.55 in chips)
Seat 5: POPErope (0.58 in chips)
Seat 6: BUFFYSDAD (1.05 in chips)
Seat 7: teamkill (0.68 in chips)
Seat 8: rvrking22 (4.71 in chips)
Seat 9: Havitas (3.66 in chips)
Seat 10: SwerveShot (3.73 in chips)
jnabs: posts small blind $0.02
POPErope: posts big blind $0.04
jimwey: posts big blind $0.04
Dealt to rvrking22 [ Qd Td ]
BUFFYSDAD: folds
teamkill: folds
rvrking22: calls
Havitas: calls
SwerveShot: folds
boorick: folds
jimwey: checks
RyanC54: folds
jnabs: raises to $0.08
POPErope: folds
rvrking22: calls
Havitas: calls
jimwey: folds
@@@ F_L_O_P @@@ [ 5d 9s Qc ]
jnabs: bets $0.32
rvrking22: raises to $0.70
Havitas: folds
jnabs: is all in 3.1500
rvrking22: folds
rvrking22: mucks
jnabs: returns uncalled bet $2.77
*** SHOW DOWN ***
jnabs wins $1.67



After I raise and then he re-raises I was positive that I was a big underdog. His mine raise Pre, then him firing on the Flop...this was enough to convince me to fold..

After I folded he showed AA, so im read was right on..hell yeah!!!

PF isnt too bad, just bare in mind you're playing a hand like that to hit big. If the flop had been 5TQ then you just stacked the guy. The problem is TP medium kicker is not a big hand. You started out the hand with one plan (presumably) and then went off script with it.

Flop raise isnt terrible, but make it more if you're going to. You barely did more than a min-raise there. Once he shoves, easy fold. Better option might be to flat the flop, and see what the turn brings and whether villian fires a 2nd barrel.

I had that in mind, when I limped in. However with the raise I kind of second guessed myself if I should call (but i guess the pot odds were good). When the Q came on the flop and the villian bets .32 I kind of felt he was somewhat weak and trying to defend his raise, so I reraised. Then when he pushed that was an easy fold. Going off of what you said, I agree with the bigger raise. I think my thought process was if I reraise big and im wrong on my read then im pretty much pot committed or have to fold when I could have just found out he was strong with the smaller reraise. I obv need to start having a different mind set. Once again bjsaut thanks for the comments!

I want to talk about my session of FR $4nl. I reallt tried to work on the goals I set myself for FR, and overall I think I did a pretty good job. Maybe played a little to tight, but overall played solid TAGG poker. In certain situations I really wanted to be kind of deceptive and tricky, but I kept my goal of limiting this and I forced myself to re-evaluate. I thought my reads were ok, but nothing great. Noted a few players who min-raise with AK+ (which seems to be the norm at this level, at least on cake), or bought in for $1 and folded everything but AQ+, and if they had a hand would shove Pre-flop (Also seems to be a common theme at cake). I think the best hand of the night for me was when I laid down my pocket JJ, I'll see if the HH comes up and post the hand and see if it was the right decision.

Before I post the overall stats, I want evereyone to know there is only 24 hours in the day and the majority of mine are filled up with school, sports, clubs,etc... So my 200+ hands a day is a pretty good sample for me, or like 3-4 SnG, However I know this is like nothing compared to what the majority of you guys do, so if I seem excited to "grind out" 300-400 hands, Im sorry if I piss any of you 2k+hands/per grinders. Sorry just wanted to put that out there so when I say I got in a good sample of like 400 hands I dont get pounded for suggesting that, that is enough hands to be classifed as a "grind".

So anyway here are my stats for the session:

Hands Played: 208
Hands in which I saw a flop: 36
Pre-Flop %: 17%
Total Profit: +$2.64
BB/100: 31.7
Session Time: about 2hr
Overall Thoughts: Good session, work more on reads

Oh and before I post BR stats, I added my cake account to my overall BR so its different then the original starting of $25

Starting BR: $55
Current BR: $66.24 (Including PLO session/profit from SnG's)

Thats all for tonight....I'll hopefully be able to post some hands of this session tomorrow......

Sorry I havent posted anything lately, i've been pretty busy. However I plan on putting in a lot of time this weekend and posting hands and stats.......I plan on two tabling $4nl, along with playing a few 90-man SnG.

Ok so basically I thought this weekend was going to be dedicated to poker and thats what I had in mind the whole week, but do to some random events this was not the case. I didnt get to play any 90-man SnG ,and I was only able to put in a very small sample of $4nl again. However there is an upside to the limited time playing. If anything good happened this weekend it was that I actually was able to put in a lot of study time. Im about finsihed with Caro's book and I really do like a lot of the concepts he teaches and explains. I recommend this book to anyone who is fairly new or to someone who has been playing break-even poker. Anyone I really just want to talk about the little session I had...here are the stats..

Hands Played: 259
Hands in which I saw a flop: 49
Pre-Flop %: 19%
Total Profit: $5.23
BB/100: 50.6
Session Time: about 2 1/2 hr
Overall Thoughts: Ran well, made some good lay downs, and had some fun.

Here are a few hands:

OK should I be raising this big with 4 limpers?
My thought was to isolate one or two of them and play accordingly..

Hand #1440012458000865: Rome 12458
Seat 1: rvrking22 (6.26 in chips)
Seat 2: pzsolti (4.02 in chips)
Seat 3: blindasabat (8.65 in chips)
Seat 5: Cincatz13 (7.88 in chips)
Seat 6: pint0 (0.74 in chips)
Seat 7: unreal (1.36 in chips)
Seat 8: burnedup3 (1.45 in chips)
Seat 9: cuzFTPsucks (1.65 in chips)
Seat 10: DonkHolliday (4.99 in chips)
rvrking22: posts small blind $0.02
pzsolti: posts big blind $0.04
Dealt to rvrking22 [ Ah Ks ]
blindasabat: folds
Cincatz13: calls
pint0: folds
unreal: calls
burnedup3: calls
cuzFTPsucks: calls
DonkHolliday: folds
rvrking22: raises to $0.28
pzsolti: folds
Cincatz13: folds
unreal: folds
burnedup3: folds
cuzFTPsucks: folds

This next hand I thought I played way to weak. Probably should have raised PF and c-bet depending on the callers). However on the flop when i
fold to a .04 bet getting 7 to 1 with two overcards, I thought that was really weak to...any thoughts?

Hand #1440012458000868: Rome 12458
Seat 1: rvrking22 (6.84 in chips)
Seat 2: pzsolti (3.96 in chips)
Seat 3: blindasabat (8.45 in chips)
Seat 4: Rednex63 (0.78 in chips)
Seat 5: Cincatz13 (7.84 in chips)
Seat 6: pint0 (0.74 in chips)
Seat 7: unreal (2.60 in chips)
Seat 8: burnedup3 (1.41 in chips)
Seat 9: cuzFTPsucks (1.61 in chips)
Seat 10: DonkHolliday (3.67 in chips)
Rednex63: posts small blind $0.02
Cincatz13: posts big blind $0.04
Dealt to rvrking22 [ Qh Jh ]
pint0: folds
unreal: calls
burnedup3: folds
cuzFTPsucks: folds
DonkHolliday: folds
rvrking22: calls
pzsolti: folds
blindasabat: calls
Rednex63: calls
Cincatz13: checks
@@@ F_L_O_P @@@ [ 7s 3s 3c ]
Rednex63: bets $0.04
Cincatz13: folds
unreal: calls
rvrking22: folds
blindasabat: calls
*** TURN *** [ 2d ]
Rednex63: bets $0.04
unreal: folds
blindasabat: calls
*** RIVER *** [ Th ]
Rednex63: bets $0.40
blindasabat: folds
blindasabat: mucks
Rednex63: returns uncalled bet $0.40
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Rednex63: mucks
Rednex63 wins $0.40


Anyway overall I thought I played pretty good and I felt that I was sticking to my goals that I mentioned earlier in the operation. I do plan on playing at leat one if not two 90-man SnG tonight and i'll be discussing my play with you tomorrow. Gl at the tables....

So instead of playing the 90-man....I decided to play a freeroll..I think reading this message pretty much sums up how it went (brag)

Congratulations rvrking22,

Out of 379 players in Tournament 1788118, you came in 1st. Your prize
is a seat (which has been automatically registered for you) for the
following Tournament:

This tourney was probably the best thing that has happened thus far in my early poker career. I made my first FT...and not only that but took down the tourney!!!!! I know it was only a freeroll qualifier.....for the $500 Freeroll Bank Roll Builder @ Cake Poker, but thats not the point...
Anyway im going to get back to the tables and play some $4nl and post the session later today.....

Congratulations rvrking22,

Out of 119 players in Tournament 1802021, you came in 5th and have won
$60.00.

I dont think ive ever been this excited in my life....making my first Final Table!!! It was hosted by cake poker...it was a special rebuy chip tourney (basically a FR)....I placed 5th as the message implies.

I thought I might take a moment to share the tournament experiance...
I started off pretty good and I only bought in once (Hell yeah). I tripled up with QQ anf had about $6200 ...i slowly build my stack to $10,000 and then called an all-in with Aks...villian had 77..hit set on turn no biggy.

After the first hour I had about $7700...planning on adding a rebuy of $2500 but my computer thought differently. During the break my computer went on the frits and I had to shutdown and start-up my computer during the break. Not only did I not get my rebuy, but when I finally was at the table my stack was $6900...wtf. So right off the bat im kind of pissed off and not really caring about this tourney anymore, until three hands later and AA are staring back at me. SO I raise 3x and BB shoves. I call the shove and take down I nice pot....through out the 2nd hour I caught a few hands and managed to get my chips in and take down nice pots.

So fast forwarding to the FT....I sit down with $60,000...and am playing fairly tight....(kind of scared)...and so on...etc..

Ok im really fing tired its like 2:30 in the morning...so yeah im really pumped about the FT and all!!!!!

Ok so i have a confession...my operation is going to be changed to some extent...well actually a lot. I think i have found what I was truely meant to play...MTT. I know i may be putting all my eggs into one basket, and the amazing run I have had the past few days may be also influencing this decision...but I am officially and strictly a MTT player as of now...well along with few SnG... I thought hard about the decision and it was actually harder than one may think....but I actually look forward and am very excited when I enter into a tourney...unlike when I buy into a cash game for 100bb ( not saying I was completely against it). But I just love the environment of the MTT atmosphere and I really enjoy reading/studying about it....so as of now I am a MTT player!!!!!

With this...I think the operation is in need of a few changes in goals and direction.

Goals: (march 19-April 30)
1) learn the fundamentals of MTT strategy
2) read up on as much MTT strategy and theory as possible...
3) Put in 1 hour of study for every 1 hour of play
4) play at least 6 MTT per week ( not a lot but its a start)
5) review each MTT and spot leaks
6) Post leaks/unsure of hands in MTT forum
7) Post like a madman in the MTT forums
8) Have FUN.....
9) make one FT ( hopefully more )

These goals are well within reach and I feel with the right attitude and mental focus I can really make a run in the MTT area...

Now for the operation itself...im going to being using a schedule for the operation. Meaning im going to update it Sundays, Tuesdays, Fridays....along with a few posts here and there randomly...

The post will include a 2-3 day review of what I've played and the results, thoughts on my play, anything else I feel is worth posting, and I am finally going to start and make a little strategy guide for specific topics relating to MTT geared towards beginner to noviced players...
Oh and my BR stats...

Thats if for now...but im really excited to begin this journey of MTT and I am hoping you get as much out of it, oif not more, than I do...

Gl with the tourneys tonight all....

P.S current BR and other stats:

BR: $126.48
FTP: 154.10
Gold Chips: 24

* I play @ Tilt and Cake... rvrking22 (cake)....prefontaine10 (tilt)

So the last few days have been kind of a rollar coaster for me in terms of the up and downs I have faced. After a few tourneys im almost sick of looking at QQ...not really but when it gets two-outed by 44 and then the very next tourney gets two-outed by 77....you kind of go on tilt. But hey my equity is 80 to 20 and if I broke out everytime with that kind of equity I'd be a rich man..

Ok so first let me go over the BR stats and events and all that good jazz.

Starting BR:$126.48
Current BR:$106.00
Gold chips: 21
SnG Played: 15
SnG ITM: 8 (53%) 1st=2 2nd=3 3rd=3
Total Profit from SnG: +$7.70
MTT Played: 8
MTT ITM: 1 (13%)
Total Profit from MTT: -$28.18

So there are my stats for the last few days....now i want to get into what I played....

SnG:
I play the $1.25 Turbo 9-man SnG on FT. If anyone is trying to start a BR from scratch I strongly recommend learning to play SnG and starting here. Its almost like free money Anyway I also played one $5.50 on cake and got sucked out on the bubble...but what can you do about it. Thats why my SnG profit is off if you were to just calculate it with just the $1.25's. Overall I thought I played very solid and its amazing how each table is completely different than the last. For instance on one table we were in the money before the 60/120 blind level..yes you read right the 60/120. Then you will have tables were everyone is tight and nobody gets knocked out until the 100/200 levels. So this level of SnG is very exploitable and I think Im going to keep playing these to keep my BR evened out...

MTT:
My only ITM in the MTT area was the FTP $1 Rebuy (1r+1a)...Probably played the best poker in terms of MTT strategy, but took a coin flip to try and build a stack to go deep and busted out in 26th (27 ITM)... 3 hours of work for +.22. A well earned .22 cents I might add. Moving on. Im a reg as of now in the tourneys on Cake. I play the $1,000k GR, $1,500 GR, $2,000GR, and the $2,500 GR Bounty Tourneys. I havent really had much success yet, but I have a feelng its right around the corner. The play is horrid and I think if it werent for my bad run in most of these then I would have went the extra mile in one or two of them. But for real im running bad in all of these tourneys. Everytime except for one instance,my equilty was well about the villians hands equity but at cake that must not be enough..

My goal the next few days is to build my BR back up to even playing SNG and play at least one GR tourney on cake...