Ryokan Bankroll Builder thread

[ryokan]

Hi all, am gonna post in the beginners circle soon introducing myself so bear with me. Basically my aim is to blog my attempt to build a bankroll starting from very little.
So far i have accounts at Cake (i cashed out and have $30 left, 33% rakeback), Full Tilt (Cashed out and have zero basically), and Pokerstars ($30 again).
My goals till end of 2008 are:
- Clear Cake bonus of $50
- Clear my $50 Pokerstars Bonus
- Build a roll of $400 this year (currently $60)
- Learn functionality of Pokertracker 3 (am doing this on free trail w/ view to purchasing)
- Earn a positive ROI in sit n gos (i like playing these, will mix a few in)
- Actually make this a blog worth reading
- Will move up in stakes when i earn 40 buy ins for the above level. am playing $0.02 - $0.04 NL cash games currently.

[ryokan]

Only started this yesterday, so only yesterday to report for the week! Was a bad start to the day losing 3 buyins:

- all in pre-flop with KK vs A2os
- all in pre-flop with AA vs AKos (this one was painful, guy made a flush on me, cant believe i didnt have that ace!).
- me being stupid. had two pair on turn, mistyped in the bet box which put me all-in (i bet about 4x the pot lol) and straight draw called and hit on the river. ah well. best do these mistakes at micro stakes.

was down to just over $13 of my initial $30 at one point but after that ran pretty well and finished +$4.42 for the day.

Stats:
Daily Profit/Loss: +$4.42
Bonus Cleared: $0
Rake: $0
Weekly Total: +$4.42
Total Bankroll: $64.42 (+$4.42)

Thx for reading!

[Irisheyes]

Japanese?

[ryokan]

No am not japanese! Ryokan was a Japanese Zen Buddhist monk and poet who was just totally cool. I posted a little intro in the introduce yourself thread on beginners circle if anyone cares to check it out.

Didnt play a lot today and once again started off badly dropping a buy in instantly when i went all-in with AKs vs JTs which hit a straight. Nobody can say im afraid to get all my money into the centre tho! Im 60% in this confrontation so im more than happy to do it.

Also wanted to post about the amazing level of abuse players at low levels dish out! How anyone who plays at micro stakes has the nerve to call anyone else a donk is beyond me; we're all f**kin donks lol! IMHO anyone who puts their cash up has the right to play their hand anyway they want. If they're really really bad....great! If they suck out on me i just type nh and kick the sodding cat. I WANT to make this as friendly environment as possible for everyone to play. It concerns me how many people will give up playing because of these jerks. If they're really that bad its $ in your pocket eventually.

Stats:
Daily Profit/Loss: +$13.59
Bonus Cleared: $0
Rake: $0
Weekly Total: +$13.59
Total Bankroll: $78.01 (+$18.01)

Thx for reading!

[boro]

Alright ryokan we are in the same boat, yeah I loved the get back to donkaments chat, but now my chat is off
good luck on your journey (hope you like kids), I feel the same I want to make my mistakes at this level and I want to learn to beat this level or it would be pointless moving up

[TheRedEyeJedi13]

i think i saw u in a 5 dollar sng at stars???

[ryokan]

wouldnt have been me redeye, dont play under ryokan at any of my sites.

Well what a f**king day! Absolute train wreck of a day. I got savagely butchered. I mean really really spanked. I've never had this many brutal beats in one day in my life, poker can be a cruel game. Was really having to force myself to get my money in good by the end of it.
Thats actually not the worst of it tho. Much as all the bad beats are pretty nasty and oh so great to moan about, i think over the course of the session i really should've turned a profit. i lost a ton of chips, little bit here, little bit there on awful leaks - c-betting dubious flops, trying to push someone out of a pot, not noticing flush on the board (that is unforgivable), and just some terrible play.
Sooner or later i'm gonna hit all the draws, not get sucked out on and i'm gonna have average days instead of stellar ones cause i lost a ton of chips through daft leaks.
Has been a good lesson today on how poker is a lot more than just one or two hands in isolation.

Stats:
Daily Profit/Loss: -$2.91
Bonus Cleared: $0
Rake: $0
Weekly Total: +$10.68
Total Bankroll: $75.10 (+$15.10)

Thx for reading!

[ryokan]

nothing interesting happened, except i didnt realise clearing a bonus was deducted from your rake till now.

Daily Profit/Loss: +$13.15
Bonus Cleared: $10 .00
Rake: $0
Weekly Total: +$33.83
Total Bankroll: $98.25

[ryokan]

Played a bit today, was a bit of a grind really. Is nice to push the bankroll into 3 figures.
Am working quite hard on my game and might take a few days off to assimilate some things. Seems like everything new i learn knackers up my game for a while until it all eventually sinks in. too much second guessing myself possibly.

Daily Profit/Loss: +$6.60
Bonus Cleared: $10 .00
Rake: $0
Weekly Total: +$40.43
Total Bankroll: $104.85

[ryokan]

End of 1st full week and i fancied playing today. Not a bad week but will have to step it up a little to hit my goal of $400 by end of the year. I expected that tho cause im only learning. I think (or i hope..) its a volume issue more than enything else....real life comes first.

Think ive made some real solid improvements last couple of days, they're mostly situational like playing connectors and small pairs better. I also found a few spots where i was a little too loose in early positions and way more spots where i was too tight late on.
Am mixing up my play pretty good now. Prolly not too important at my stakes, but will be useful later on, and is really helping me to develop some postflop skills when the lessons and mistakes are cheaper. Of course it helps beat the tedium of playing ABC poker as well....
Ok, all small adjustments but i think they'll really help the bottom line over the long run.


Daily Profit/Loss: +$15.70
Bonus Cleared: $10 .00
Rake: $0
Weekly Total: +$56.13
Total Bankroll: $120.55

[TheRedEyeJedi13]

how many tables do u play at .02/.04 and on pokerstars or cake?

[ryokan]

i generally play two tables. One table just annoys me cause is tediously slow. Actually two is pretty annoying as well but have played 4 tables a couple of times which was v easy but slows down my learning too much at the moment.

[ryokan]

Quiet day, didnt have chance to play a lot.

Stats:
Daily Profit/Loss: +$5.74
Bonus Cleared: $0
Rake: $3.54
Weekly Total: +$9.28
Total Bankroll: $129.83 (+$9.28)

[ryokan]

Suffered a massive blow to my BR yesterday. Was playing pretty well at first and was up a nice little profit. Was getting really tired and then just proceded to spew money. i just completely lost the ability to make any kind of good decision, including one to pull the plug on the session (which went on tortuously too long).

One super great decision was to call an all-in with AKos pre-flop with just the blinds to win. I mean jeez, when someone opens all-in its always because they're suffering some kind of brain meltdown after the orgasmic sight of looking down and seeing AA. Full of orgiastic pleasure and with $$ signs flashing before their eyes they move the slider to all-in. Anyway I oblige and call and damned if i dont see a 'ty' tapped into the chat box just to rub it in......git!!!!

Stats:
Daily Profit/Loss: -$18.54
Bonus Cleared: $0
Rake: $3.54
Weekly Total: -$8.74
Total Bankroll: $111.29

[dranger7070]

Dude with the amount of progress you've made in ONE WEEK you shouldn't have too much bad stuff to say about one bad session imo. Although, I'll admit, I do it myself a lot too so who am i to be giving advice? lol. Anyways nice work man! Keep it up and you will hit your goal in NO TIME.

[ryokan]

Small session to end a disappointing week:

Stats:
Daily Profit/Loss: +$2.86
Bonus Cleared: $0
Rake: $3.54
Weekly Total: -$5.88
Total Bankroll: $114.15

Had a sick start to the week. On the bright side my game seems to be in best shape ever. i've learnt a ton in the last week or so and despite a few bad days am really positive about everything.

Stats:
Daily Profit/Loss: -$8.64
Bonus Cleared: $0
Rake: $3.54
Weekly Total: -$8.64
Total Bankroll: $105.51

[ryokan]

[START RANT]
Why will people put themselves on long table waiting lists rather that sit at an empty table, play a little heads up/short-handed, AND GET SOME BLOODY ACTION GOING????
[/END RANT]

[nibbles]

You are making hella progress playing 2 cent 4 cent games. Is that a typo? Did you mean $2/$4?

And I am guilty of waiting instead of playing short-handed. My style of play works best with 7 or more players. Plus it is worth waiting for favorable table conditions. When u start a new table the dynamics are unknown, and it will cost u $$ to find out. I only play on Stars and finding a table is never an issue there. I cant speak about other sites though.

[ryokan]

I almost wanna cry I got stacked tonight more times than in the whole history of this blog! I just cannot win a hand no matter what. Even got stacked by button w/J2os cold calling my big reraise of an early position raiser (the J2 made full house). that was sick.
Anyway if u want free money, come to stars $0.02-$0.05 and if your lucky enough to sit at my table u can stack me too. is a cash bonanza, all my roll must go!

Stats:
Daily Profit/Loss: -$16.80
Bonus Cleared: $0
Rake: $3.54
Weekly Total: -$25.44
Total Bankroll: $88.71

[ryokan]

Am amazed how much my game has changed in such a short space of time. I started out really tight and conservative, and now im pretty aggressive and speculative. Am getting quite large swings now as well (last session i was up a couple of buy-ins, down 4 buy-ins, finished about 1 up). It feels like poker, only on the edge of your seat.
Think im gonna reel myself in and tighten up a little tho. My ambition has outgrown my ability lol!

Stats:
Daily Profit/Loss: +$4.18
Bonus Cleared: $0
Rake: $0.00
Weekly Total: -$21.26
Total Bankroll: $92.89

[slownpainful]

I have the same problem of getting over confident and opening up my game too much. Try laying down a specific hand range you're going to play for a while for each position and stick to it. don't play a hand unless it falls into your range. You're better off playing too tight than too loose at these lower levels as they love to spew with marginal hands. The tighter you play the more often you'll have the best hand at showdown. Your non showdown winnings will decline slightly if you tighten up but your showdown winnings should go up dramatically.

[ryokan]

Solid, if v short session. took a ton of notes today, something i've neglected.

Stats:
Daily Profit/Loss: +$7.73
BonusCleared: $0
Rake: $0.00
Weekly Total: -$13.53
Total Bankroll: $100.62

[ryokan]

Ran really well. Decided not to pull back but to really just play as i feel. I like my aggressive style and am not willing to give it up.
Still getting huge swings but i hit 2 sets vs TPTK and i hit 2 pair (i had 76s on K76 board, opponent had AK and didnt improve, and we got down to felt) when needed. If u hit good cards, poker is easiest game in the world.

Stats:
Daily Profit/Loss: +$26.02
BonusCleared: $0
Rake: $0.00
Weekly Total: +$12.49
Total Bankroll: $126.64

[ryokan]

Stats:
Daily Profit/Loss: +$7.36
BonusCleared: $0
Rake: $0.00
Weekly Total: +$19.85
Total Bankroll: $134.06

[ryokan]

Am keen to expand my poker beyond the basic online bankroll grind, specifically i wanna play live stuff more.
Luckily i was born and live in hull, england, home of the world famous dave 'devilfish' ulliott. Well actually its kinda crap to live here, but theres plenty of poker going on.
A couple of local casinos run tournaments all week. They're Pot-Limit but that's standard for UK. Also cash cames run all the time after people get knocked out. casino provides dealers on a couple of days. Not gonna play em out of my roll tho.
Also we have a local pub league which is pretty cool. Games run every night of the week and are free to enter. If you get in top 16 you get points on a sliding scale. top points scorers play a monthly final for prizes. Usually they have pretty cool stuff like buy-ins for UK tournaments with accomodation thrown in, which is nice.

Played a mad game in a local pub recently. About 35 people entered and was a crazy structure. levels had gone up twice before we'd gone one orbit! Had no idea what to expect, and was pretty pissed when the dealer looked at winning cards i mucked and showed em to everyone!!!! The game was mostly for a laugh tho and this was standard so i just loosened up and me and my mate had a cracking good time with the locals. I finished 2nd, picked up a massive £10 food+drink voucher lol!!

Lastly, tomorrow night am playing the poker player magazine grand prix freeroll on betfred. Is ten freerolls, the winners win entry to the grandprix as do the top 30 points winners. chance to win 10K. not bloody likely, but will be lots of fun!

Reason im rambling is cause im stuck a couple buy-ins and it helps soothe the pain....

[ryokan]

End of week results:

Daily Profit/Loss: +$2.43
BonusCleared: $0
Rake: $0.00
Weekly Total: +$22.28
Total Bankroll: $136.49

[ryokan]

Never hit a hand in my first proper tournament. busted out 309th out of 669. Won two hands in total. best hand was AJs.
Was wierd actually, my plan going in was to play hyper-aggressive and exploit the fact that no one wants to bust out early. what happened was that I didnt want to bust out early and wimped out on a few moves. In cash i would've shoved a couple of spots without thinking, but with my tournie life on the line i wimped out and folded. shame on me!

[ryokan]

Daily Profit/Loss: +$15.01
BonusCleared: $0
Rake: $0.00
Weekly Total: +$15.01
Total Bankroll: $151.50

[bigred]

Never hit a hand in my first proper tournament. busted out 309th out of 669. Won two hands in total. best hand was AJs.
Was wierd actually, my plan going in was to play hyper-aggressive and exploit the fact that no one wants to bust out early. what happened was that I didnt want to bust out early and wimped out on a few moves. In cash i would've shoved a couple of spots without thinking, but with my tournie life on the line i wimped out and folded. shame on me!

Hyper aggressive near the bubble is the appropriate strategy. Hyper aggressive at the beginning of a tournament is asking to bust.

[ryokan]

ok, so i just donked off a ton of my roll pissed up. didnt even realise till the next morning! I tried to play some today but am still too mad at myself to play rationally at the moment, so am going on a xmas hiatus. I vaguely rememeber playing a couple tables of $0.10-$0.25....Was great for my FPPs, but crap for my bankroll!

Im so far off any of my goals its disappointing, but im gonna come back, 100%, and all guns blazing in a few days!!

[Jason]

Ick. Sorry to hear. Remember to keep an eye on the "money in play" and if it gets above 5% of your BR, wait for the big blind to get to you and leave the table. And, obviously don't forget to move down in stakes when appropriate. Good luck coming back after your break.

[xptboy]

Interesting thread, keep posting, I'll be watchin ya progress

sorry to head about ya recent pissing off of ya roll btw, hopefully your lesson's learnt

[ryokan]

After the distater night my bankroll stands at 106.91. I'd cleared a bonus and won a little before the loss, so in total i lost a little over $60. The monetary loss doesnt bother me anywhere near as much as my play.

I was sure i was gonna take a break from poker but after a couple of days i just really really miss playing. Am definately gonna play tonight. Everytime anything bad happens to me in poker i feel so much stronger when i overcome it. Im feeling 100% motivated, 100% focused, and 100% determined at the moment. ahh, who cares?? just deal them f**kin cards!

[ryokan]

back on the wagon.....

Daily Profit/Loss: +$6.37
BonusCleared: $0
Rake: $0.00
Weekly Total: +$6.37
Total Bankroll: $113.28

[ryokan]

v quick session. This will be last week i post up results everyday. I dont really see the need to focus on the day in, day out natural ebb and flow of my roll. I want to broaden my spectrum a little. My focus day in day ouy has to be playing my best game. As long as im playing games that i expect to be +$EV in, i hope my bankroll will steadily increase despite a few ups and downs.

Daily Profit/Loss: +$4.28
BonusCleared: $0
Rake: $0.00
Weekly Total: +$10.65
Total Bankroll: $117.56

[ryokan]

Daily Profit/Loss: +$5.82
BonusCleared: $0
Rake: $0.00
Weekly Total: +$16.47
Total Bankroll: $123.38

[ryokan]

Still grinding. just keep blowing my roll after geting pissed lol. had a fun exchange after a hand (i had JT and flopped a straight):

villain: could not fold set, knew you had JT
ME: if u knew, why not fold?
villain: i said i could not
ME: that makes sense.
villain: duh
ME: .....
villain: fold set until river?
ME: well ok. if u knew your beat but
dont fold, cant wait for other hands against u
OTHER GUY: that makes sense.....

[daven]

don't chat anything that has the potential to improve your opponents as players.
Type "fair enough, nh" and move on.

I found FTR when i was trying to find out what a "fish" was when i heard it in chat after stacking someone. Thanks google.

[ryokan]

roll at $227.73.
gonna move to 10NL at $250 when (or if) i get there. was gonna go at $200 but dont feel in a rush at the moment. my game still needs a ton of work.
Have been surprised just how hard the grind is at this level. If i was playing $0.10-$0.25 and i had a choice between playing a table of people who deposited $500 and started at this level, against a table of people who ground their way up from $0.01-$0.02, it would be a very easy choice.
I just feel i've taken so many beats, so much shit, that i wouldnt give up the last couple of months for the world. Plus im just as sure that i'll see all the shit again at the next level and it'll just cost me more money!! except im kinda learning to live with it.

[ryokan]

bankroll at $241.71

i think i play a little too loose preflop. am gonna neaten that up a touch. It works for me tho, and i think everyone has to figure out a way that works for them in the micros.
am hoping to break $250 this week and play some $0.05-$0.10 with a half reasonable roll for once.

[ryokan]

..

[ryokan]

firstly, when you've just cut up chilli for a stir-fry dont rub ANYTHING! god it hurts like a bitch at the moment!
Anyway, have played awful the last 3 days. Too focused on what i've got and not giving enough consideration to my opponents.

[ryokan]

bankroll: $252.18

finally! am gonna move up to $0.05-$0.10. has took me a while cause i lost 5 or 6 sessions on the trot. would love to call it a minor downswing but really i just played terrible. last 3 sessions i really gave it 100% and won a ton which makes me wonder......

[ryokan]

well am almost back down to 5NL lol. played quite good until i stacked off with K high flush against the A pretty deep. ah well.
to cheer myself up i played some omaha. have no idea in this game just tried to use common sense. was pretty sick session. cant believe people were stacking off pre-flop. i dont know shit about omaha but it seems pretty crazy to do that. After a while i got a half decent feel for what hands were kinda ok to play and really enjoyed it.

[ryokan]

Have been playing SNGs the last couple of days or so. have played 28 SNG's for a massive profit of $4.50. Thats an ROI of 9.93%, hardly world beating. tbh i thought id do a little better than that. $1 SNGs are completely mental!

[ryokan]

have started grinding again, just more relaxed now. My roll is entirely on cake. i was getting a little results orientated before and just not enjoying playing. things are going good now, and i NEVER look at the cashier when playing lol.
also i have a little bit of cash left on stars for my new addiction: 2-7 triple draw! strictly for fun of course! im playing limit cause the NL stakes are too big for me. Is soooo frustrating for a NL player cause when i get a decent hand i really wanna put some pressure on the other players. i think im pretty -$EV in the games at the moment cause im an eternal optimist. not a good trait for a lowball player...

[ryokan]

Played 3 HUSNG's and lost every single one!
despite losing i think i played pretty well and was pretty unlucky, losing one going all in on flop with TP and straight flush draw. i know i had some bloody equity in that pot...
i dont have any experience heads up at all and have kinda neglected that area. the big mistakes i think i was making were:

- Playing Too many hands OOP
- 3 betting too widely OOP
- Building pots that were too big for my hand
- Not folding enough

was great fun anyway, am gonna really do some serious study over the next few days on HU.
All in all poker is just super fun at the moment.

[ryokan]

So, I've been playing FR and im down about $50 over a few days. downswing i tell myself. i know its been pretty tough, not flopping much, having a brutal time with all-ins etc etc. Since i stopped trying to grind and starting playing more for fun i haven't really payed much attention to my game......and its gone terrible (ok wasnt that amazing before, but relatively speaking). Playing around 30% of hands dealt, just calling too much with awful awful hands and worst crime ever: bluffing the micros! *slaps head*
yuck, just every basic mistake imaginable.
Anyways, I fix a few things and cut out the basic basic basic errors and it all turns around and i play a nice session winning just under $20. Discipline may well be #1 key to micros.

[dranger7070]

No... discipline IS the #1 key to beating the micros. Seriously, thats it. Just play solid ABC pokers and you will pwn.

Good luck

[ryokan]

Well, much as i hate to actually say it, im on a downswing. I cannot win a hand. I've lost about $120+ of my BR. I lost nearly $60 in around ten minutes on one table (@$0.05-$0.10). Table was laughing cause after i went all in i was ahead and then got sucked out on so many times. Has been sick. last 10 all-ins i've been ahead guaranteed. Maybe im pushing slim margins too much and should pick my spots better. i've been all in a few times w/TT and JJ and maybe they are slightly marginal hands, but i just cant help calling a shove with them when opponents all-in range include AJos+ and all Ax suited (plus sometimes any 2 suited cards).

Anyway, this operation is done. Has been a disaster in terms of what i wanted. So after a couple of days off am gonna start a new op, w/ new goals and new focus. I still love poker and i cant believe how much better i am than when i started. im just really really undisciplined and still tilt and play when pissed.

On the brightside my roll is still well over $100 so i have plenty to play with. cant really write cause im so fucked off right now.

[ryokan]

spent a day or so seriously thinking about everything and came to the conclusion that how can i be on a downswing if i cant prove im a winning player??? losing players are on a permanent downswing. To be honest i was pretty pissed with myself for having such a loser attitude and approach to poker. I think i can be a winner in poker and have a lot to prove to myself.
Anyways im totally renewed and really focused on showing what i can do and really crushing these games.
Last 2 days i've been playing really well (and running well) and am up nearly $70. Which is pretty good for 2 days work at $0.02-$0.04 and by far my best return so far. Thats over way less than 1500 hands, which is not bad going.

On a side note, i had a really interesting player on my left yesterday. Basically he called all pre-flop bets, any c-bet, and evaluated his hand on the turn. If he'd made something he was firing and there till the end, if not, he folded. Literally a call with any 2 (he did fold to preflop shoves and things like that tho). He was owning too lol, which was pretty funny.

[ryokan]

cant wait for the next week cause im off work and will have some time to put in some serious poker study. i hope i can put in around 15k hands this month, which is a LOT more than i can do normally.
Poker is going pretty well at the moment, roll is just over $250.
I still tend do undo lots of really good play with moments of extreme madness. Ive definately got to give up on my ego in a lot of situations. Is funny how i run over myself as much as i run over others. I can play really good poker and then just have some wierd brain anomaly that kills me!
I think i try to be too aggressive in situations that just are plain stupid. Is so annoying cause i think im playing really really well apart from that.

[ryokan]

roll is at $287.01

last post in this op. am pretty excited by my game recently and wanna do a performance based op rather than a results orientated one.
Had an eye opening experience when i finished a session with around $120 on my tables. thats more than i earn in a day working. Made me realise i gotta bring more to the table.

As i write this i've just had brutal experience. lost $50 in about 3 or 4 mins lol. Getting in good does not equal shit. on bright side im in a 3-way match with a guy w/500bb and another w/200bb+