The First Blog: Slow micro stakes grindage

Decided to start a blog to post in because I have been a lurker/poster here for quite a while and need to really put something down in cyberspace to keep me moving towards my eventual poker goals.

My background: Playing online for about 3 years on and off. I spent the first year as a donk playing without any concept of Bankroll Management, not learning anything and of course donked away about $50 over a few months, rebought, etc.

About six months ago I decided to make a good effort at this. I had been reading and playing off and on without any seriousness over the past couple of years but without really applying myself. I played in occasional home games and had accounts with free money on Party, Stars and Golden Riviera (one of the worst sites in existence just so you know). I deposited $50 onto Stars and started playing 2NL and $1 SNG's occasionally. So far after about 4000-5000 hands I've managed to get that up to $100.

My issues is the amount of time I have. I work three jobs for about 60-70 hours a week and my hours are all over the place. I work in sales for a Fortune 200 company, personal train and coach a local team. Some days I start at 5am and work until 7:30pm, some days I work only 5 hours. I also have a girlfriend and an active social life so playing time is often maybe 1 hour a day if that and rarely on weekends. I have been experimenting 2 tabling so far with mixed results so my hands/week is maybe 500-1000 at the outside.

My goals: Get this $100 up to $120 and start playing 5NL, then move up slowly from there. I have also been playing MTT's more often lately with decent results (cashed in last 3 in a row). Continue to learn and study. I read a lot when I'm on the road or on breaks from whatever job I am doing.

Hope that you guys can provide me with some insight into my game and advice whether harsh or not. I look forward to keeping this blog active.

First session today: 80 hands.

Nothing happening in terms of opening hands. Saw 12% of flops with pfr of 4% (saw most hands from BB). Hands raised were 77 in LP, J10s in SB and AJ in LP, none of which panned out post flop. I didn't get anything worth raising in EP or MP, most hands were garbage like K3, J5, etc.

Currently I'm trying to work on my post flop play. I play what I think is fairly tight at this level and have been making an effort to not enter a flop I don't raise into (unless I can check my BB and even then I have been raising with good hands).

No hands worth noting - yawn, very boring session. Ended it down 12BB's but that was mostly just from posting/folding. Now I go to have a nap, head to a sales meeting, then a session with a client, then helping a friend move some furniture. Maybe play some more tonight.

Wow I just got nailed hard. Check this out.

PokerStars Game #21001478650: Holdem No Limit ($0.01/$0.02) - 2008/10/07 12:57:40 ET
Table Reticulum IV 9-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: tito0510 ($1.96 in chips)
Seat 2: ponyfitness ($2.67 in chips)
Seat 3: xDaddyDx ($2.03 in chips)
Seat 4: first koala ($2.58 in chips)
Seat 6: W_A_MozaI2t ($0.84 in chips)
Seat 7: Luckbox666 ($2.11 in chips)
Seat 8: Trudy01 ($4.96 in chips)
Seat 9: winehouse ($4.87 in chips)
Luckbox666: posts small blind $0.01
Trudy01: posts big blind $0.02
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to ponyfitness [8c 8d]
winehouse: folds
tito0510: folds
AQQQA leaves the table
ponyfitness: raises $0.04 to $0.06
xDaddyDx: folds
first koala: calls $0.06
W_A_MozaI2t: folds
Luckbox666: folds
Trudy01: folds
*** FLOP *** [8h Kh Qc]
ponyfitness: checks
first koala: bets $0.20
ponyfitness: calls $0.20
*** TURN *** [8h Kh Qc] [3d]
ponyfitness: bets $0.40
first koala: raises $1.92 to $2.32 and is all-in
ponyfitness: calls $1.92
*** RIVER *** [8h Kh Qc 3d] [3c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
ponyfitness: shows [8c 8d] (a full house, Eights full of Threes)
first koala: shows [Qh Qd] (a full house, Queens full of Threes)
first koala collected $4.94 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $5.19 | Rake $0.25
Board [8h Kh Qc 3d 3c]
Seat 1: tito0510 folded before Flop (didnt bet)
Seat 2: ponyfitness showed [8c 8d] and lost with a full house, Eights full of Threes
Seat 3: xDaddyDx folded before Flop (didnt bet)
Seat 4: first koala showed [Qh Qd] and won ($4.94) with a full house, Queens full of Threes
Seat 6: W_A_MozaI2t (button) folded before Flop (didnt bet)
Seat 7: Luckbox666 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 8: Trudy01 (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 9: winehouse folded before Flop (didnt bet)

There goes my session and a buyin. Villain had been very loose preflop before this hand, calling pfrs with any ace or two suited cards. I put him on two pair or a flush draw. This is constantly my problem, winning small pots and losing big ones like this. I'm sure this is just a cooler. Hopefully one will come the other way soon.

yeah set over set blows. Hand was well played though, also I think your blog title and your first couple of posts show a good attitude, hopefully you'll do well at this game even if it does take a while due to having a busy life!

Just finished up my final session of the day. I was off today because of a severe cold and the cards were just as cold as my body. I just finished 40 hands on stars where I saw 3% of flops due to no cards whatsoever.

The only hand I actually played I had KK in the SB. UTG+1 raised 4x the BB and still had 2 callers (very loose table). I thought if I raised hard I could get at least one of them to call me so I raised it up to $1 and they all folded.

That cooler earlier was a good indicator, it just seems like early in the week the cards are not kind to me.

Stars bankroll down to $94.74.

I've been at my head office for training the past two days, plus sick as a dog. Therefore playing time has suffered.

Did a $1 SNG this morning, placed 2nd. The heads up battle was the best part because the guy and I literally went back and forth for about 20 minutes - swapping up and down. There were some sick hands like 77 vs 88 which would have gotten me first (he had the 88 and it held up).

I busted out on an all in with a flush I hit on the turn. He got a boat on the river. Cooler but at least I profited. I'm going to play a couple more today I think since I'm home from work sick.

Friday afternoons are never that good for me for some reason. Entered two more tourneys and didn't place in either, one due to a total suckout and the other I just got too low in chips, pushed and the opponent had a better hand so I got caught.

Funny thing I'm finding especially in the $1 SNG's on Stars, sometimes you hit round 3 and have four players left, sometimes you get a tighter table and hit round 3 and have 6-7 players left. It's weird.

Just finished 75 hands on Party playing 10NL, which has been going well so far. Managed to finish up 20BB over about an hour, taking my roll on Party up to $50. I think I'm going to keep playing 10NL on there because the roll was free and I seem to be able to manage the game. So I'll start keeping track of my Stars and Party roll on here.

Stars Bankroll: $93.84
Party Bankroll: $49.74

Had a pretty decent day today on Stars. I tried an hour or so of two tabling 2NL. I think when I move I will get a larger monitor and actually try to play more tables because it certainly helps rack up the hands.

Played super tight today not only because of the cards I was getting but because the tables I was playing at were super loose, which fits my style. I really tried to pick and choose my spots. I was also amazed at some of the stuff I was seeing. Often I feel like I'm giving way to much credit to 2NL players because I see people making absolutely idiotic moves with nothing and people taking their money - when all I'm thinking is that it should be me taking that money from them.

Day's sessions: 146 hands, up 46 BB by the end or 23BB/hour while still only seeing an average of 17% of flops at 2NL.

Stars roll: $99.46
Party roll: $49.74

Would like to be over $101 on Stars by the end of the week.

God, I dunno that I'd get any poker in with your schedule.

One comment, sometimes its worth seeing some cheap flops IP against the gamblers. I run something like 19/15 usually (at 6-max), but on the right tables/position I've run as loose as 35/15 and made a killing.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by bjsaust

God, I dunno that I'd get any poker in with your schedule.

One comment, sometimes its worth seeing some cheap flops IP against the gamblers. I run something like 19/15 usually (at 6-max), but on the right tables/position I've run as loose as 35/15 and made a killing.

---

Sometimes I wonder if I should loosen up. Occasionally I'll see suited connectors in LP with 4 people called before and limp in just to see if I can make a good strike, but usually end up letting it go after the flop.

On a good note, I decided to enter one SNG before retiring and won. Brings my Stars roll up to $103 so I'm shooting for $105 by weeks end. I would like to hit my $120 goal by the time I move (December). You think I barely have time now - imagine when I move in with my girlfriend!

Much more time. She can take care of cooking and cleaning and stuff!!!

Not to hijack this thread, but what's your 3bet at bj? 19/15 seems very standard tag to me. It's difficult to make money at 25nl/50nl because of so many players that play that way these days.

At 25nl 6max, I run 25/18, with a 13% 3bet (the most important part). I'm running 14bb/100 over the last 12k hands (call it a hot streak i suppose). I find it's easier to play back against the regulars then sit and camp for fish. just imho.

My 3-bet is historically really low, only about 4-5%, but I've been working on it recently and its more like 7% now. Likewise I'm laggier in general lately, although not much higher overall.

My edges come from :

Table selection, I rarely if ever sit at a table full of TAGs, I'm off looking for fish to donate.

Postflop edges, I feel I have an edge postflop against pretty much all opps (one reason I historically havnt 3-bet much, I'm comfortable just calling and playing flops).

Exploiting TAGfish. Whilst I wont waste my time sitting at a table full of them, I can basically read these guys minds (since anyone whos paid attention knows how a TAG plays), so its pretty easy to find spots to win $s off them.

Overall I've never found it hard to get paid even playing tight. Some of my most profitable stretches I've played as tight as 15/11. Its pretty easy to manipulate your image without going nuts, and thats if anyones paying attention anyway.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ib3x

I find it's easier to play back against the regulars then sit and camp for fish. just imho.

---

I prefer to gambool it up v's fish rather than nutcamp. 1. If I play a marginal hand and lose they're more likely to gambool against me next time, 2. Someones gonna take their money, and it wont be me if I'm not in there playing with them. I agree most regs are easy to exploit, but I'll take the fish if I can find them, and can always work the regs on the table at the same time.

Its interesting though, I tend to playback, by calling and raising flop, because TAGfish c-bet too much (its what they read to do!!) and therefore I win more $s, however your 3-bet stategy seems to be working out really well. I guess there are times I choose to change my mind postflop because I think a flop hit their range or whatever, and sometimes they'll actually hit a flop and not fold.

you have a very good overview of your play bj.

i feel it's important to understand what you do and why you do it, whether other's argue it's ev or not.

i also firmly believe there are people who are just THAT much better at postflop play.

i'm not one of those people.

also you're probably better than me.

goes to show, there are many ways to win a poker game. </threadjack>

Managed to get in 164 hands this afternoon playing two sessions. Both went well except for a couple of key hands.

One I was betting with air towards a total laggy player who was repping that he had trips - I finally folded on the river after he had called two pot sized bets and then pushed on the river. Likely I shouldn't have even have been going that far once he called my first bet so consider it a stupid play by me.

Here's the second, this guy did a sick slowplay of a boat. And in case you're wondering about the river bet, I bet small in the hopes I was going to get a caller because it had been checked down until then. I was actually lucky he didn't bet more because I likely would have lost a lot more money.

PokerStars Game #21255062365: Holdem No Limit ($0.01/$0.02) - 2008/10/16 21:26:37 ET
Table Montezuma II 9-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 2: Ramsr14 ($2.85 in chips)
Seat 4: DekCapitaine ($0.42 in chips)
Seat 5: yourtells ($1.26 in chips)
Seat 6: ponyfitness ($3.83 in chips)
Seat 7: GUNIN4U2 ($2.56 in chips)
Seat 8: NMaximus ($3.41 in chips)
Seat 9: r19c68s ($1.38 in chips)
yourtells: posts small blind $0.01
ponyfitness: posts big blind $0.02
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to ponyfitness [Jc 9s]
GUNIN4U2: calls $0.02
NMaximus: folds
r19c68s: calls $0.02
Ramsr14: folds
DekCapitaine: folds
yourtells: folds
ponyfitness: checks
*** FLOP *** [Th Ts 7c]
ponyfitness: checks
GUNIN4U2: checks
r19c68s: checks
*** TURN *** [Th Ts 7c] [3h]
ponyfitness: checks
truller joins the table at seat #1
GUNIN4U2: checks
r19c68s: checks
*** RIVER *** [Th Ts 7c 3h] [8d]
ponyfitness: bets $0.04
GUNIN4U2: folds
r19c68s: raises $0.46 to $0.50
ponyfitness: calls $0.46
*** SHOW DOWN ***
r19c68s: shows [7d Td] (a full house, Tens full of Sevens)
ponyfitness: mucks hand
r19c68s collected $1.02 from pot
Harrison57 has returned
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $1.07 | Rake $0.05
Board [Th Ts 7c 3h 8d]
Seat 2: Ramsr14 folded before Flop (didnt bet)
Seat 4: DekCapitaine (button) folded before Flop (didnt bet)
Seat 5: yourtells (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 6: ponyfitness (big blind) mucked [Jc 9s]
Seat 7: GUNIN4U2 folded on the River
Seat 8: NMaximus folded before Flop (didnt bet)
Seat 9: r19c68s showed [7d Td] and won ($1.02) with a full house, Tens full of Sevens

I would use the hand coverter but it doesn't seem to work with Poker Office, which is what I use for my stats.

BTW guys, no problem discussing strategy in my thread - I'm happy to read insights from other players.

Total stats for the day: 164 hands (2 tabled both sessions), up 17BB at the end for a total of about 9BB/hour for the day.

Stars roll up to $103.46
Party Roll dropped due to a Bonus I didn't manage to collect.

Quick update - only played one SNG tonight but managed to win it. It was actually a tough one because even though it was a $1 SNG after level 7 there were still 5 players and nobody wanted to make any moves.

I managed to suck out two pair on a river with AJ vs. AK to double up my stack and once I was big stack it was easy to push all the timid players off of their blinds and steal like crazy. Heads up lasted exactly one hand where I got dealt AK and flopped a king, he pushed and of course I called to busto him.

Stars roll is now up to $106.74 which is the highest it has ever been. I also hit my goal for this week which feels good and I should be able to hit $120 ahead of forecast, especially if I keep killing these SNG's.

Didn't get a chance to post yesterday's results because of social times. Entered a $1 MTT and was running great until I ran into the donk hand I posted in the Tilt forum. I was only super pissed because I was well on my way ITM.

After a few hours I loaded up two 2NL tables. One ran great, the other ran well until I ran into the wrong end of a flopped straight against a guy who flopped the other end (see Beginners' forum for hand). Good thing on the other table I managed to almost double my buyin in only about 30 hands. Still ended up down for the day though.

Only 61 hands played, ended up down 60BB due to the straight hand. With that plus the $1 invested in the MTT my BR fell to $104.

Hoping to get it to $110 by the end of next week - won't be playing today.

Finally had a decent session at 2NL today although I should have known better than to sit down for a short second one. First session I nailed a calling station with a nut flush over his second best flush. Also made a good call on an all in play 3 handed versus an idiot who pushed with 6/7s - good thing my KK held up or I would have lost it.

Anyway, overall a good day.

99 hands played (two tabled), up 70BB for the day.

Stars Roll: $104.55

One thing that frustrated me tonight in my later session was the super aggro laggtards at some tables. I stayed at one for about 10 hands and saw one player to my left overbet time and time again with crap. The even more unfortunate part was the suckout they put on one player which is when I got up and found another table. I would just prefer not to play with someone like that on my left because I find it really annoying.

Not sure if this is good advice, but at 2NL 6max on stars I find the players to be really really passive. With aggressive bet sizing I was able to get a lot of players to fold when I had very weak hands. Often they wont fold to a pot size cbet on the flop but by potting again on the turn I was getting enough folds for it to be profitable.

I also found that often you think you might just be stealing too much from the CO and the buttton, and cbetting too much, but the players are so passive that its worth doing non stop.

So today I decided to make a bit of a change. Since I have $29 sitting on Party and I'm literally doing nothing with it, I'm going to cash that out - partially because I hate Party and add it to my Stars roll.

So I moved up to 5NL today (see results of first hand in Tales of Poker) and had a good first session. Started out two tabling which I am getting more and more used to and I find it helps focus my play more as well because I can't do anything else like dishes while I'm playing.

104 hands played, ended up ahead 27BB.

Stars Roll: $105.88 - will add my Party money once it comes in.

Jesus. Just had one of the worst sessions I've had in a long time. I feel like throwing my computer across the room, which means I'm tilting, which means I really need to stop playing.

The thing is, I wasn't playing badly. Over my session I was 12/8, but I kept running into CALLING STATIONS that kept sucking out two pairs over my TPTK, I got smoked in one hand by a guy who flopped a boat, slowplayed and I hit a straight on the turn. Seemed like every time I played into a hand the board came up empty and I had to lay down my decent cards, although I didn't have much.

Even when I got AA (once) and AQs (once) all I got were the blinds. Meanwhile, when other people were raising these damned calling stations would happily call their pfr's with garbage. I actually saw one guy call a 6xBB raise with 2/3 suited, and called a massive flop bet only to hit a flush on the turn and almost stack someone. I was camping just waiting for a good hand to play into one of these guys but it just didn't come in time.

Exactly 100 hands played, ended up down 80BB by the end. I'll make it up I'm sure down the road. But I'm definitely done for the night.

Might have had an epiphany tonight but we'll see how things go for the next few days.

I decided to try limit. Been reading up on it and for some reason I had a feeling it might take away from some of the problems I have with NLHE. One thing is bet sizing - at NL I always had a problem losing big hands while winning smaller ones. With limit at least at lower levels it seems the moves are much more basic and somewhat transparent.

Tonight I two tabled it for 100 hands and had some good success. At the beginning it was hard to get used to how loose some players were but note taking was easy because showdowns happen far more often at limit - many players call to at least the turn and then fold on the river because they are chasing draws. I hada big downswing at first donking away bet after bet just to explore ranges for some people and then once I tightened up and started playing tighter it got a lot easier.

After 40 hands I was down 17BB and then ended the session up 11BB playing .05/.10. Maxed profit at 16BB but then ran into a flopped straight with a guy who called my pfr with 5/6 against my KK.

Still, a good experiment and I really enjoyed it.

Stats: 102 hands, 27/11 played - ended session up 11BB.

Stars roll: $101.57

Had another successful limit session this afternoon. I actually wish I could play more because I'm really thinking this was a good switch.

Advantages I've found so far is that the swings aren't as bad, it is a lot easier to get away from questionable hands, and reads become a lot easier as well. The two tables I was at this afternoon had a couple of total calling stations (like 90% pots entered) and it was fairly easy to confidently bet into them knowing they had nothing better than two pair or had fluked out with a flush when they started raising. I've also noticed that my play so far (only 200 hands of course) has been about 28/12 which is way more loose than usual but it seems to be okay so far.

I'm very happy with the performance so far but I want to give it some time before I move up.

102 hands played, ended session up 38BB.

Stars Roll: $103.63. I'd love to get it back up to $106 and then move towards $120 by the end of the weekend but it is a busy one so not likely.

Sigh...that's the last time I waste my time at an MTT. I really need to learn to avoid them.

Entered our FTR $300 Monthly tourney. Couldn't catch a break. 57 people entered, managed to make it to Level 4 for 36th place which is pathetic. Only top 6 paid as well which I didn't know at the beginning, I won't be entering another one of those unless it's considered fun money.

6 handed tables made for very loose play, which is not my style at all (I didn't know that before the tourney started). Every time I had a somewhat decent hand and raised either all I got was the blinds or I ran into someone with a better hand. 2 crucial hands crippled me - ran into my 66 raised preflop into the SB who had Q10, obviously I didn't hit my trips but the board paired on the turn so I bet. Turned out he flopped top pair. Then I got AJ, raised again with one caller, flopped air, c-bet and got raised hard. Had to lay it down.

The final hand was me short stacked (5xBB) with Q8s and a guy who had been stealing my blinds for four rounds or so raised into me so I pushed. Turns out he had AK.

So I just blew my winnings for the past few days in one short shot. I'm going to stick with my limit play for a while.

If you have any confidence in your small MTT ability playing the FTR300 is a must. With 50 people in the payout is like a $9 tourney, thus with no edge (positive or negative) over the field you'd still have 200% expected ROI for a $6 profit.

True, although my confidence in my small MTT ability is questionable lol.

I'm tilting now just because of a short session at the tables after that tourney so I need to stop. Final straw was my KK pfr called by Q10, the guy flopped a set of queens. Tonight just isn't my night so I'm going to bed.

I'm getting very frustrated because every time it seems like my BR is slowly starting to climb I donk away $3-5 in a night playing tournies or just having a crappy table night. Back down to $99 again.

Welcome to poker ;-)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by swiggidy

Welcome to poker ;-)

---

Thanks. So far I'm overstaying my welcome lol.

After a very long weekend of partying and recovering from partying there was no time to play any poker. Good thing because I was drinking most of the weekend.

Managed to get in a good session today in two parts. This transfer to LHE is still managing to keep consistent. I'm constantly astounded at the level of "holy crap I can't belive he played that" I'm running into constantly. People called pre flop raises with total garbage and then hitting the most ludicrous draws. It is totally different even from 2NL so far. The good thing is there are lots of showdowns but for some people there range is pretty much anything so reads go out the window. However, you can take advantage of the people who think their 2nd pair is good and build some decent pots (at this level). Tons of draw chasing, people playing anything suited, people thinking TPWK is a golden hand with ace rag. Amazing so far.

203 hands played, ended up 9BB - first session I was down 9 and then the 2nd I tightened up and played well after doing some donkish things his afternoon. Roll back up to $100.

Had a nice long session tonight. Wasn't overly successful in terms of wins but definitely it was good for learning how to play against maniacs. At one table things were fine and constant, and at the other the people were just insane. The two guys on my left for the first 30 or so hands were both 90% VPIP and would call anything to the river. I just never picked up a good enough hand to take either of them out.

A typical hand: I had 8s8c in MP, limped, 3 other callers. Flop comes 7/J/9 all spades. I have 14 outs to improve so I bet, get two callers (both maniacs - neither in blinds) - keep betting to the river which is an 8 to give me trips. No more spades fall. I bet, both call again.

One has AQ no spades meaning he called with two overcards to the river.
One has 2/10! At least the ten was a spade but this means he chased a gutshot and a flush draw to the river never mind calling preflop with 2/10, and hit the straight on the river.
My trips are obviously no good.

It is play like this that takes an adjustment. All night I was value betting and then getting beat when a board straightened or flushed and opponents were playing with connectors (suited or not) and anything suited.

Still, I'm happy with the way that I played because looking back over about 6 significant hands I played them all properly.

I really wish the hand converter worked with Poker Office because I would love to post some for feedback but it doesn't seem to work.

Been a busy couple of days but I still managed to find some time to get in some hands. After reading some more and studying I decided to add suited A rag to my opening hands and had some half decent results. Basically I'm treating them like a low pocket pair. Limp in EP or MP, raise in LP and hope to hit a good hand. The thing is with only two more suited cards hitting on the flop I still have 12 outs to what will likely be the best hand so I'll see how it goes.

So far I'm really enjoying this LHE experience. I'm still having trouble dealing with calling stations but even that is getting better - still frustrating, but better.

180 hands played, managed to end up 18BB for the six sessions I played. After the calling station special session I had on Tuesday I'm basically up about 4 BB after the last three days.

Geez...I just noticed I'm getting killed on rake. Yikes.

Well, the week ended on not such a good note. Today it just seemed like no matter what I had, the other guy had the one hand that could beat me. I posted two of them in the beginners forum to check if they were just coolers or if I actually played them badly. I definitely went on tilt towards the end when I was getting beaten by ridiculous hands like J6s and 85o. I'm having real trouble with these calling stations because getting aggressive and raising does absolutely no good at these stakes.

One was trips over trips with a higher kicker and the other was a guy who hit trips on the turn and a boat on the river vs my trips with a straight draw.

Hit over 1000 hands and at this point I'm basically breaking even, which is ridiculous but today was a very bad day.

Calling stations are the reason I cannot play LHE. But, it's not like you can make ppl fold in NL either. In these cases, I like to look at NL as being more profitable (though higher variance), because they will gladly stack you with TPnK and marginal hands like that.

Good luck with your grindage. Stick with it, and don't let it get to you!

I think the higher variance is why I'm enjoying LHE more than NLHE - the variance in NL was driving me insane. Of course, the variance in LHE is still there but at least it isn't stack to stack.

Had a phenomenal day today, I think my best on record at LHE, which I really needed after Friday's debacle. I went down to one table and just focused on good solid consistent play. Reading Small Stakes Hold'Em again on the weekend definitely helped. I stayed relaxed, picked my spots and thought about every hand before I clicked bet/fold/raise.

Results: 153 hands played, ended up winning 27BB total. Basically everything I lost back on Friday. My graph looks like a roller coaster lol. However, what I liked about today the most was not only the results but also that my play was really consistent and I can't say that I did anything really wrong.

The only reason that I wasn't up more was because of this:

0.05/0.1 Limit Holdem
10 players
Converted at weaktight.com

Stacks:
UTG spinaker60 ($1.70)
UTG+1 Hero ($3.70)
UTG+2 ydlbet ($2.26)
MP1 losnmoney ($1.71)
MP2 cawthra ($0.86)
MP3 Soccer_ref99 ($2.63)
CO breadman255 ($1.73)
BTN BlackAce420 ($4.33)
SB kvambo ($1.70)
BB scott92054 ($4.10)

Pre-flop: (1.4 SB, 10 players) Hero is UTG+1 :jd: :as:
spinaker60 calls, Hero calls, 1 fold, losnmoney calls, cawthra calls, 2 folds, BlackAce420 calls, kvambo calls, scott92054 checks

Flop: :7c: :js: :3d: (7.0 SB, 7 players)
kvambo bets, 1 fold, spinaker60 calls, Hero raises, 1 fold, cawthra calls, 1 fold, kvambo calls, spinaker60 calls

Turn: :5c: (7.5 BB, 4 players)
kvambo checks, spinaker60 checks, Hero bets, cawthra calls, kvambo calls, spinaker60 calls

River: :9s: (11.5 BB, 4 players)
kvambo checks, spinaker60 checks, Hero bets, cawthra calls, kvambo calls, spinaker60 calls

Final Pot: 15.5 BB
spinaker60 shows: :qc: :qd:
Hero shows: :jd: :as:
cawthra shows: :ts: :jh:
kvambo shows: :8h: :8c:

spinaker60 wins 14.8 BB ( won +11.3 BB )
Hero lost 3.5 BB
losnmoney lost 0.5 BB
cawthra lost 3.5 BB
BlackAce420 lost 0.5 BB
kvambo lost 3.5 BB
scott92054 lost 0.5 BB

Calling me to the river with QQ, no pre flop raise and nothing on the board. Immediate note: does not know what raise is.

Back again after a strange couple of days: one really craptacular and one (today) going exactly the opposite.

Yesterday was totally frustrating playing with a bunch of calling stations who managed to suck out every possible good card against anything I happened to have. A couple of times though I completely deserved losing the hands because I was tilting towards the end and continuing to try to push people off of hands which just doesn't happen with micro calling stations. I was also severely overvaluing my TPTK hands and kept getting nailed with trips and two pairs.

Today was much better. I didn't even have any great starting (top ten) hands and still managed to play position, bet and fold when I should have and not do anything really stupid. It also helped that I was playing at a table that totally suited me without any calling station maniacs.

249 hands played over the two days, ended up only 6BB because of the session yesterday, which I won all of back today.

So far my win rate is only 2BB per 100 hands which I'm trying to get up to at least 5 before I even consider moving up. My graph looks ridiculous because it is so up and down, however I'm realizing that this is a long term process and over time I can definitely beat this game.

Today was a day when I'm glad I decided to play that extra session before retiring for the evening.

I worked for 14 hours today from 5:30am to 7:30pm at all three of my jobs. I was exhausted but still wanted to get some hands in and after the first session I played 32 hands and was down 12BB without even blinking so decided to stop - making stupid calls, etc and running into bad play that was paying off for the people.

After eating, relaxing for an hour I figured I would fire back up for an hour and see what happened and ran very hot, winning 22BB over another small sample of 30 hands. Granted, I was getting good cards but it could have been even more considering the fish that were at this table. I didn't really want to stop but I have to sleep.

I'm beginning to wonder if it is time to move up. So far over 41 sessions played I've had a winning session 44% of the time and I'm starting to feel very comfortable. I know it isn't a large sample size at all but for me and the time I have available to play it's not bad. I'm about 1600 hands into this so I'll see what happens when I get to 2000 which I should hit next week. I'm more than rolled for the next level so management isn't an issue. If anyone is reading and has any suggestions or advice please let me know.

Quick session today but I was totally owning the table during it. The cards were definitely in my favour as I hit two boats and quads during the session and got paid on all of them. My results would have been a lot better but I actually was proud of the laydown I made here:

8 players
Converted at weaktight.com

Stacks:
UTG Zen_P ($3.48)
UTG+1 AuricGldfngr ($3.91)
MP1 PDR47 ($9.60)
MP2 frog69 ($1.08)
CO 5bigb ($4.53)
BTN bodica2 ($3.26)
SB dukpond44 ($1.23)
BB ponyfitness ($4.72)

Pre-flop: ($0.07, 8 players)
Zen_P raises to $0.10, AuricGldfngr calls $0.10, 3 folds, bodica2 calls $0.10, dukpond44 calls $0.08, ponyfitness calls $0.05

Flop: :5s: :9c: :4c: ($0.50, 5 players)
dukpond44 checks, ponyfitness checks, Zen_P bets $0.05, AuricGldfngr calls $0.05, bodica2 calls $0.05, dukpond44 folds, ponyfitness calls $0.05

Turn: :6c: ($0.70, 4 players)
ponyfitness checks, Zen_P bets $0.10, 1 fold, bodica2 calls $0.10, ponyfitness calls $0.10

River: :jc: ($1.00, 3 players)
ponyfitness checks, Zen_P bets $0.10, bodica2 raises to $0.20, ponyfitness folds, Zen_P calls $0.10

Final Pot: $1.40
Zen_P shows: :kc: :ks:
bodica2 shows: :ah: :ac:

bodica2 wins $1.34 ( won +$0.89 )
ponyfitness lost -$0.25
Zen_P lost -$0.45
AuricGldfngr lost -$0.15
dukpond44 lost -$0.10

For some reason I just knew that these guys had good cards and would not lay them down and when those clubs kept coming I just laid it down. Good thing, because they wouldn't have laid down AA and KK if I raised.

32 hands played, up 12BB for the session. Quick and dirty - would have been 18 except for that hand.

Checking my recent sessions I'm actually up 48BB over 228 hands, or running 22BB/100 hands for the last few days. Good to see an upswing for once.

For some reason last Sunday was a great day but today was simply one of those days where everyone had me one card better.

The good news is I recognized it early and did not stay at tables for long. The final straw was a hand where villain check/called to the river with a gutshot straight over my KK and hit it on the river. I dealt with a table full of calling stations at one point (54% saw flop) and as a result my hands never stood up. However, I did learn how to get away from a table pretty quickly.

Tomorrow will be a better day.

Whew! It has been quite a week and a long time since I have been able to hit the tables. Here's a short synopsis of what I have been up to:

I moved in with my girlfriend.
I had my car broken into.
I had my annual sales close.
I had a job interview for a new job.

The stupid thing my last session before all of this was super crappy and I totally tilted and spewed out.

Today I loaded up for the first time and things just flowed quite nicely. I didn't have long to play but after only 24 hands I was up 16BB. Too bad I had to stop. If I can have a decent week I'm going to move up to 10/20 for sure.

Thread revived!

Well, it has been about a YEAR since I have played any sort of consistent poker. However, I have managed to get back into a somewhat regular schedule and get my rolls back, so it is time to set some new goals.

Sticking with LHE and the occasional MTT when I have a chance.

Goal #1: Get 250 Titan Points at Titan Poker and earn a free copy of Poker Office.

Goal #2: After Poker Office attained, get my roll at Stars up to $150 (currently $130) to be able to move up to .25/.50 LHE and up from there.

Good thing is that I'm working on Titan Poker and the people there kind of suck for the most part. I'm playing at .25/.50 just to earn more points even though my roll started at only $50 and it's already up to $70 after about 500 hands. If I can build that roll while also earning my copy of Poker Office then great!

By the way, my schedule now is just as screwed up - I'm working in four different places at the moment, getting married in six months and trying to save for a house. I think I'm just a glutton for punishment.

Lots of donkage on Titan tonight. Managed to get my roll up a couple of more $$ plus I only need another 100 Titan points to earn my free Poker Office copy. Hopefully that will be done by the weekend.

My only bad play was yet another "he can't possibly have that" moments and I called a stupid bet when I knew the guy had an ace when one hit on the turn. One of my biggest leaks is when I know I'm beat, can't believe the person played that way with that hand and call anyway just to make sure.

So far I'm absolutely killing .25/.50 on Titan for 15BB/100 hands.

Wow I had two very good sessions today. I still can't believe the level of donkishness I see on these tables. Very different than the play at PokerStars. I have about a dozen people on my buddy list already because I have seen them drop $10-20 in about 50 hands.

I've gotten my Titan Points amount up to 205, very close to the 250 mark but more importantly my bankroll hit $80 today.
250 hands and up $12.50 at this .50BB level means a rate so far of 10BB/100 hands and that's just at .25/.50. This rocks.

By the weekend hopefully I will be able to send out for the free copy of Poker Office. I'm probably going to stick with Titan for a while and go between Titan and Stars just because these tables are so soft.

1st goal achieved!

I hit 250 Titan Points yesterday and sent an email away for my free copy of Poker Office. Haven't received a reply yet but hopefully they are just checking into it and I will get a response soon.

Now I have another goal I was thinking about last night. My fiance and I want to go away on a trip in February and I would love to have poker pay for that trip. Right now my total roll is about $250. If I can get that up to $1500 I can pay for the trip and still have my original roll, all through poker. At a very hopeful 5BB/100 hands win rate that would mean 10,000 hands at .25/.50 would bring me to $500 and then another 20,000 hands at .50/1.00 would take me to my goal.

Right now my weekly hand average is way too low but if I bump it up slowly I just might be able to pull this off. Any thoughts?

Had a couple of days off and still haven't received any word from Poker Office about my free copy. I'm a little pissed but I'm giving them to end of day tomorrow since it is the weekend.

I suddenly realized I have other money floating around on other sites at micro levels. Riveria Poker has $30 of my money (generated from the free signup $10 they give) which they won't cash out until it is at least $50. I also have another $25 on Party Poker, god knows where that came from.

Just jumped on Party for about 50 hands and won 25BB at .05/.10. Game seems pretty soft so I'm going to set up some new goals.

Goal #1: Get my money at Riviera up to $50 so I can cash it out because that site totally sucks. I'm going to play out on my roll for that one but even that may be a challenge because they have very few tables, so finding a game will be tough. It was a free $10 anyway so if I go bust I'm not worried about it. And, if the games are really soft I might make some quick $$.

Goal #2: Start playing/note taking on Stars although since I'm having such good luck at Titan I might transfer some of my roll over there so I can go up to .50/1.00 without stretching my roll.

Current bankroll: with all rolls $280, attempting to shoot for $1500 over time. Only about 20,000 hands to go.