Operation: $2NL to $200NL [PHASE I: Microstakes] - COMPLETE

Introduction
Alright folks this is my operation! Starting at $2NL I will do whatever it takes to make it to $200NL. Failure is not an option. It's going to take a long time, and most of all it's going to take alot of hard work. As of now I don't ever see myself going beyond $200NL but I do believe it is possible. I plan on doing alot of reading and deeper analysis of poker during May-June when I have time off. For now I'll mostly be grinding microstakes and spending alot of time going over readings and hand histories in attempt to build my roll. I started with $50, and as of writing this intial post I'm at $250. Some of this was from cash game winnings, others were small MTT's, and my short-stacking experiment.

Note: since $200NL is a little far off, I'm going to lay out some intermediate goals in between the start and finish here. My ultimate goal is to reach $200NL of course, but to do that I obviously need to set out numerous goals along the way. I'll get to those in a minute.

A Bit About Me
First I'd like to introduce myself. I'm a business student majoring in finance. School is going well. It can be tough at times but overall not super difficult. The formula's and charts etc. can get a bit boring, but I love the concepts and practicality of the subject matter. This sounds pretty nerdy, but I actually enjoy doing my readings...lol. I'm in my 2nd year, and I still don't know exactly what I want to do yet, however I'm probably looking at something like a Financial Planner or Financial Analyst type career. I like helping people so I'd probably be better at the planning, but I'll see how the rest of my semester unfolds.

Note: For the most part, this operation I will be everything poker related, however I may throw in some random posts about other things in my life. For now, I'll stick to the poker, and we'll see how the operation unfolds.

How I Will Get There
Well it's pretty obvious, but following sound Bankroll Management principles is step 1. Without proper Bankroll Management, somewhere I will end up looking failure in the eye - and this isn't something I'm willing to accept. For more information on what games I'm playing, see under heading: A Note Regarding Full Ring Vs 6-max.

Short Term Goals (As of March 17th)
1) Picking better spots to continuation bet
2) Thinking more about why an action is being taken (I tend to bet out of pure aggression as opposed to logic sometimes)
3) Think about pot control, equity, ranges
4) Read PNL 2-3 times until I know everything inside out
5) Work on mood management. Learn to leave the game when feeling tired/tilty/frustrated and so on. This has improved alot after I've taken notice of it, I still leave it on the list so I don't lose it.
6) Have a plan for the hand. I've found it's so much easier to make the correct play by planning it ahead of time. I need to do this more often.
7) Put in enough volume, effort, study, etc. to move up to $25NL by May 1st.

Long Term Goals
1) Learn more. Alot more. Continuosly aim to enhance my poker knowledge and skills.
2) Start following a workout routine (looking to get more into this during the summer, I see that alot of the balla's work pretty hard not just on on their knowledge of the game and session reviews, but also fitness)
3) Work my way out of microstakes and obtain a bankroll to handle $200NL without depositing again. Everything will be made from my intial $50 stake.
4) Eventually get a coach/mentor. I won't get one until I get till probably $100NL or $200NL. Of course one would be helpful right now, but I feel it's best I work really hard at poker on my own for the time being.

Final Word
I'll be updating the list of goals as I go on. If anyone has any comments or recommendations on my goals I would really appreciate any feedback. I'm not sure if what I have so far is too short/long or lacking direction, but if it is I definately want to change that. I think my goals my be lacking a specific time frame, so I'll try to add in dates. I'm not sure If I'm going to do the whole daily results post thing on how much I'm up or down on the day. I don't want to fret over it since I think its a bit too results oriented. Maybe I'll post some weekly's.

NEW UPDATE! ***RULES REGARDING Bankroll Management AND STAKE CHECKLIST***
1. $2NL........................ $ 50 ----------------- 25 BI's ..........COMPLETE Ship it!

2. $5NL........................ $ 150 --------------- 30 BI's ..........COMPLETE Ship it!

3. $10NL...................... $ 300 --------------- 30 BI's..........COMPLETE Ship it!

4. $25NL...................... $ 875 --------------- 35 BI's
5. $50NL...................... $ 1,750 ------------- 35 BI's
6. $100NL.................... $ 4,000 ------------- 40 BI's
7. $200NL.................... $ 10,000 ----------- 50 BI's

With this progression I project to spend an increasing alotment of time for each new stake. To help move up quicker, once I reach Gold or Platinum Star, I will consider purchasing bonuses with my FPP's. I don't imagine playing past $200NL, but I strongly believe that this is goal achieveable because I'm willing to put in the effort.

Notes:
As my game has progressed iIve become more comfortable playing deep in cash games. I'll generally leave the table if I'm OOP vs another deepstack, but I love being in position deep now. I think it might have something to do with understanding pot control more after reading PNL. Buying that book was for sure a good investment.

NEW UPDATE! *A Note Regarding Full Ring Vs 6-max*

I will be primarily playing full ring - however, I want to become a better all-around player, so I'll be making some time to play short handed here and there. But, for 6-max, I will play at least 1 level below where I am for full ring. There are two reasons for this:

1) 6-max is a more volatile game, and because of the higher variance, therefore I would prefer to have more buy-ins
2) I've played more full ring than 6-max, so I'm not sure which is really my best game, however for the time being I feel I'm stronger at full ring, so I'd like to play against a slightly weaker opposition for 6-max if I have the choice.

Also, for the BR MGT stake checklist, it's a representation of full ring. I won't bother including which level of 6-max I've completed since it will generally be 1 or more levels below full ring and won't include as many hands.

NEW UPDATE! *Game Selection*
I'm starting to incorporate more 6-max into my sessions. I've noticed there are some really juicy 6-max tables running if you table select well. I also want to start getting more 6-max experience and become a strong short-handed player. For that reason, I'll be grinding 6-max at the same level as I play full ring now, unless I'm either A) not performing or B) don't feel I'm ready yet. To make sure I succeed I'm going to be honest with myself about where I feel my game is at, and from that gauge whether or not I should be playing down a level for 6-max games.

Lastly, a quote from Illfavor that I feel is essential to be reminded of:

imageshack.com

I'll be following this thread. Play good man!

Good Luck on this!
Im sure you will sweep through microstakes in no time.

Thanks guys. I've hesitated to make an op' up until this point, but I figure I could use all the support I can get. Plus I think there's some hidden leaks in my game that aren't so obvious to me. Hopefully I'll discover as many as I can along the way. The biggest issue of January was playing too tired/stressed etc. but I'm doing alot better at picking good times to play poker and getting away from the table when my head isn't in the game. Now as I continue to manage playing more when I feel good and less when I'm too busy or have something else on my mind, I'm going to start digging deeper into the fundamentals. As much as I like to think I know alot about poker, I know I really don't. I'll never know enough. So hopefully this thread will provide me with the little extra motivational boost to get my head into the books and my mouse running through hand histories so I can start learning more. One thing that I really need to do is get myself a copy of Professional No Limit. There are alot of concepts in that book that I want to study thoroughly, so that's on the to do list. I'm pretty new to 6-max, so I'm not sure how crazy dumb I play it yet (lol) but right now I'm on a ridiculously mad heater running 35BB/100. Can't wait for all the coolers to come, lol. Anyway, I'll follow up this post with a graph from $2 NL, some stats, and some comments on my play and some reasons that I discovered on why I ran bad near the end and so on.

Good luck macro, i just deposited 50$ and am starting at 2NL as well...hopefully we both beat the game haha. Ill be following this thread

Good luck on ur operation "Micro" Razz

Maybe at the end of it we start calling you Macro? Laughing

It's rough times for finance majors right now. It's my last semester in college, getting my BA in Finance and boy the job market here (NYC) sucks for finance majors. Hopefully things change around by the time your out in a few years.

You made it to $250 with a mix of different types of games right? I would suggest to pick one type (MTT, Cash FR, cash 6m) and just stick to it so you can move up the ranks and understand the game better as fast as possible.

What BR are you planning on moving up to 200NL?

Okay here is the $2NL 10K hand results:

A few comments:
I started off playing pretty well. I made a few bad calls for my stack which I shouldn't have, but I managed to get around that and keep grinding. Once I hit the 7K mark or so though I played really bad. I was pretty busy with school and things at home that my mind just wasn't in the game. I was basically playing on tilt without even realizing it - until I checked out my PT graph! It sucks that I played like such a spewy donkey there, but I learned from it. I learned that poker requires concentration and a clear head - at all times. I do my best to play with a clear head now whenever I log on. With my hectic schedule it's tough to always find the best time to play, but I can usually fit at least 2 hours a day.

One more note on when I ran bad + play bad: (mostly just play bad though)
The red line starts to slope downwards at a sharper pace.
My thoughts on this....
Because I wasn't playing my optimal game between 7K and 10K hands, I realized that I was picking really bad spots. I was making hopeless bluffs, chickening out on stealing when I should be putting the chips in the middle, and calling off too light. Therefore, bluffing at hopeless pots + not picking up enough uncontested pots led to my money won without showdown being lower than it should have been.

Thank god I donked of a few BI's at the beginning of my operation so I can learn from it with minimal financial loss and recognize the cause before the effect takes place.

Lately I've been playing more hands/day. I'm trying to get $5NL done by March, and also learn some 6-max too. I'll post some stats and maybe bring up some random hand histories from $2NL, but I won't have any reads other than HUD stats since I won't remember the hands by now. I won't play more than 6 tables, and I usually just play 4. Starting with one, adding another, and then adding 2 more once I feel I'm fully engaged. Alright now I bet you all want to see my stats now (I'll warn you they're nitty as f**k, lol) so that will be in the next post.

Quick update: To help my operation move in the direction of success, my girlfriend did a wonderful thing for me today for V-day. She bought me a gift card to the book store. Yes of course...borrrrring. BUT, that gift card is more valuable than it looks. I'm going to use it to purchase Professional No Limit, and it's been something I've been meaning to do for awhile now.

For some entertainment I figure I might as well post this since it was the highlight of the night. I was pretty lucky to get paid off here lol.

BB ($4.84)
UTG ($6.57)
MP1 ($5.57)
Hero (MP2) ($6.29)
CO ($5.41)
Button ($2.40)
SB ($6.55)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with A

, A

2 folds, Hero raises to $0.20, 3 folds, BB calls $0.15

Flop: ($0.42) A

, A

, 9

(2 players)
BB bets $0.40, Hero calls $0.40

Turn: ($1.22) 4

(2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks

River: ($1.22) 9

(2 players)
BB bets $1.35, Hero raises to $3.65, BB calls $2.30

Total pot: $8.52 | Rake: $0.40

I owe my operation to people like this.

Alright just a little update on how my week has gone. I had a bit of a rough downswing which included a couple coolers, but I can't deny the fact that I definately stacked off and called some bets a bit too lightly during it.

HOWEVER, I managed to turn my head around and stop letting my mood of 'being annoyed cuz I'm losing' get to me. One of my goals right now is to be emotionless at the tables (or at least close to it) and grind it out no matter how shitty things go. If I find my mood affects my play negatively I will stop or at the very least move down to 1 table till I'm too bored to play anymore. I didn't return to the game until I felt confident I wouldn't screw around like a monkey again, and I ended the day after beginning to feel exhausted.

I played about 2000 hands today alone, and If I keep things up, I'll be finished with $5NL before expected. I'm far out of the nasty swing that just came about, and I'm going to work on keeping things moving forward without ever looking back (except to review hands/stats of course!) I'll be taking shots at $10NL as of next week hopefully. My bankroll is at $260 now, and I plan on adding a table of $10NL when I hit $270ish Smile

(yes I know, I'm a bankroll nit most people start that at $200 lol)

I'm sick-crazy busy at the moment too with midterms approaching. I still managed to get a good chunk of study done today. All I can do is just go-go-go.

Well, I'm making some progress here and I feel I have increased my awareness on my mood and the effects it can have on my game. Knowing this I will be better equiped to choose the best times to play and avoid those where I'm just not into it. Time to keep grinding and keep the head up. After midterms I'm going to get into some deeper study and learn a few new things from the books I plan on ordering.

-Micro

Ew. I just lost 300 big blinds in one hand when I was deep and I had the nut flush against a huge donk fish who flopped quads. I got my money in behind and I'm really not very proud of it because I think it was a huge mistake to stack off here (board was paired). At the time I wasn't really thinking enough I just felt I had to get my money in because the player was sooo bad. Looks like I'm the sucker now. Bankroll Took a 3-buy-in dive in one hand so I'm done playing for the night since I'll just tilt my roll away. I'm not even going to post the HH because I played it so bad its embarassing, I need to learn how to fold nut flushes when its obvious I'm beat. The sickest part is if I just got up and left the table when I hit 5 buy-ins this never would have happened....(if it did only 1 buy-in would be toast). I think I'll be leaving once I double up for a while to build my roll back up.

Good luck man.

I am also a Finance major, now in my 3rd year. I am taking Finance 354: Investments right now.

Lol I'm pretty protective of my money. I'm at 25NL and when I get +1.5 buyins or more, I stop unless the table dynamic is really in my favor. So, no, I've never had a +5 buy-in session at any stake, but I've also never lost more than 2 buy-ins in any day and that's variance I can handle for right now.

As for an update on my progress: I played about 500-600 hands or so at $10NL the other day. I didn't check the graph yet but I think I'm down a buy-in or so. I'm not going to get to hyped up about results, I need to just focus on my game and making +EV decisions. Today will be a day off from the tables since I'm going back home tonight, but tomorrow I'll be getting some hands in because weekends are soooo fishy.

2-tabled $10NL today for awhile to focus on reads more and being more selective with my aggression since the other day I felt like I was on autopilot as I spilt 3 BI's away do to mostly choosing bad spots to bet postlfop against loose opponents.

Today was different though. I felt more prepared to play, and only playing 2 tables at once gave me lots of time to develop good reads and take solid notes. I'm really proud because I feel like I played very good poker. I was 'in the zone' when it came to postflop play, and I felt like I was more able assign more accurate ranges to my opponents and adjust accordingly because of minimzing the tables and maximizing my focus.

If only I could get it through my head that I need to concentrate to the best of my abilities when I play EVERY SESSION....oh well, I'm working hard at this one, and as I become more aware of it every day, I feel like my focus increases ever so slightly each new seat I take at the tables.

I'll be 2-tabling $10NL for awhile till I'm settled in and comfortable + gotten some stats on the regs. Once I am past the point where I believe it will be unlikely that I will have to move back to $5NL again, I'll begin adding more tables and probably cap it out at 6. From that point on I will 6-table till my bankroll is set for $25NL - Woot Woot.

Just wanted to let you know I'm enjoying reading your blog Wink

A useful technique I learnt for staying focused during the sessions especially when single/two tabling, was to force yourself to remember the preflop, and flop actions for the last 5 rounds for everyone on the table, I actually found this really hard to do at first, this was something that I picked up at Grinderschool and it really helps to keep the mind focussed while playing, it might help keep you focussed.

Enjoying reading your progress glgl!

Ummm...are we supposed to like players like this? I thought for sure he had a 10 and I didn't want to lose my customer on the river...check it out:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.10 BB (9 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG+1 ($9.30)
MP1 ($12.65)
MP2 ($1.85)
MP3 ($2.55)
CO ($9.75)
Hero (Button) ($13.15)
SB ($7.45)
BB ($10)
UTG ($17.15)

Preflop: Hero is Button with Q

, Q

5 folds, CO calls $0.10, Hero bets $0.50, 2 folds, CO calls $0.40

Flop: ($1.15) 3

, 2

, 10

(2 players)
CO checks, Hero bets $0.65, CO calls $0.65

Turn: ($2.45) 2

(2 players)
CO checks, Hero bets $1.50, CO calls $1.50

River: ($5.45) 7

(2 players)
CO checks, Hero bets $2.50, CO calls $2.50

Total pot: $10.45 | Rake: $0.50

Results:
Hero had Q

, Q

(two pair, Queens and twos).
CO had K

, K

(two pair, Kings and twos).
Outcome: CO won $9.95

Aside from the results (lol), I can't ever check that river after being c/c by an unknown limp-caller can I?. I figure a ten is showing up here way more often than KK+ that v-betting the river is a must against any passive unknown.

My thought of the week:

"LOL at me. Why do I try and outplay all the 13/10 reg grinders? There are just so many fish out there...I think I'll pick on them for a change. Maybe I'll make some money?"

EDIT: Somehow the difference between $5NL and $10NL seems a bit significant. It is pretty evident some of the plays actually do some study and work aside from the tables. HOWEVER, I've noticed that there are still plenty of really, really bad players. I think table selection/seat selection is a tad more important now. I find having position on the reg' grinders is really important because they generally shut down if you 3-bet their obvious isolation raises Smile

.

What the hell...all the coolers I'm getting are from the weakest, 'passive-est' players...
I think I'm going back to $5NL soon...I'm -2BI's after 3,500 hands at $10NL. Bad beats don't help when I'm playing like shit either, the latter just makes things worse.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.10 BB (9 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG ($11.70)
UTG+1 ($2)
MP1 ($19.35)
MP2 ($11.10)
MP3 ($14.55)
CO ($3.35)
Button ($8.60)
SB ($7.90)
Hero (BB) ($16.80)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 5

, 5

5 folds, CO calls $0.10, 2 folds, Hero checks

Flop: ($0.25) J

, 8

, Q

(2 players)
Hero checks, CO checks

Turn: ($0.25) 5

(2 players)
Hero bets $0.20, CO raises to $0.40, Hero raises to $1.80, CO calls $1.40

River: ($3.85) 2

(2 players)
Hero bets $1.50, CO calls $1.45 (All-In)

Total pot: $6.75 | Rake: $0.30

Results:
Hero had 5

, 5

(three of a kind, fives).
CO had Q

, Q

(three of a kind, Queens).
Outcome: CO won $6.45

After this I got all pissy and dropped another buy-in because I thought I was being bluffed out of a big pot when I obviously wasn't (way to go retard me). My operation has been a disaster so far...Looks like I'll be grinding $5NL for awhile now and doing some major study. I think I just might take a break. I've been playing well and have shown success up until now...for some reason I just can't peice things together. Maybe I'm just not 'mentally prepared' for $10NL..who knows. I'm probably not even in the right mindset for any poker now that I've played really bad for the past 3500 hands. Bankroll is at $240 right now. I'm not going to touch $10NL until I have $300 now. Hopefully I'll start making non-retarded plays soon.

Oh it's funny how (just for the record) I have never, ever, had a winning cash game session on a Sunday :S

Well I've discovered something, and from that discovery I'll be making a new goal. After reviewing some of my play I've come to realize I suffer from fancy play syndrome (FPS (hey that also stands for Fuck Poker Stars, lol)). I will be taking a couple days off to do some reading etc. to refresh all the ABC concepts and then for the next 5K hands at $5NL I will aim to not attempt a bunch of weird shit to try and forget about even thinking about leveling donk-fish 0 level thinkers who don't even know what cards they're playing. I've been a decent winner up until now but for some reason I believed I had to make akward changes when I moved up to $10NL. Clearly I was wrong. I'll provide an update in a few sessions after I clear my head and start playing better. I want to stop nitting it up so bad but I guess I made money doing it...I don't think $10NL is the stake to start opening up my game and doing things I'm not used to.

Thanks for the reply Jason.

I've been very nitty throughout $2NL and $5NL, and I'm eager to open up my ranges more and take more flops/become more of a menace in position, but when I tried..it didn't really work out. I think I'm just going to nit it up throughout the stakes until it proves itself unprofitable because alot of players aren't paying much attention, so trying to throw them off with fancy plays is just pointless. To make nitting it up work though at $10NL and $25NL, I'll need to start working harder at table selection and seat selection since every new level seems to have a few more grinders.

I imagine once I reach $50NL or $100NL I will need to start 3-betting more and working on balancing ranges etc. to keep the reg's from picking off my exact hand. IMO trying to do these things at $10NL is a waste of time, even the 'regs' don't pay attention because they're mostly 8 tabling tagg-fish. Looks like I'll continue just being the tight-ass I am and get back to taking money.

I also noticed that at $10NL there's alot of tight/passive players who will just flat call big pairs to the river after limp/calling preflop. I figure if I just play tight against these guys instead of trying to get them to fold a good hand I should do alright.

Alright so I'm over the disaster which occurred at $10NL. I took a few days off from playing and I started back up today at $5NL. Because I was eager to do well, I was very focused and managed to play a solid session. A few hands had me thinking a bit but I'll probably post them in the Beginner's section if I get around to it.

I'm up a couple buy-ins after a 1000 hand session, and I didn't make any really retarded spewy mistakes like I did when I tried $10NL (I still don't get what happened there but for now I will remain at $5NL to gain back confidence).

I wrote a midterm for Investment Analysis I today, so I've been pretty busy lately. Tomorrow morning is a Law test, and then after that I'll put in another 1K hands and maybe provide an update near the end of the week on my progress.

I also discovered what appears to be my optimal number of tables that keeps me on a good balance of profit/paying attention/not tilting/not becoming distracted and browsing etc.

fwiw those last two hands you posted you played 100% standard.

I'm 6-tabling and I find that for me, its the perfect balance.

Edit: I'd like to make a note about this actually on how the number of tables I will play isn't static. I don't start with 6 immediately. I'll generally open up 4 tables and get going, then I'll add the other 2. If I feel like I'm missing too much information, start playing sloppy, or just don't feel like playing 6 I'll drop the number 1 at a time. I'll keep dropping as necessary until I'm at 0 - at that point, that's me quitting for the session and possibly the day if I don't feel like playing poker again.

Okay time for an update.

BR currently at $285. Sweet. I'll be on pace for $10nl by the looks of things as my original plan had me aiming to get there for early March. I think I did poorly on my first attempt (mid Feb) because it felt like I was rushing it and for somereason I was assuming the play was alot different. No more moving up in limits in less than a month anymore, lol, I need time to breathe in.

Anyway, I'll post the $5nl results graph and some comments on my play, what I learned etc. etc. when I'm >$300. Until then, I'll be grinding away.

*** KEY UPDATE*** (Key points in BOLD, long post)

It is March 1, and $5nl is officially over for me in terms of it being my primary stake that I play. Bankroll closed at $300.62 after a long night of super-grinding. $10nl will officially start Monday, as I'm taking Sunday off to study.

I now want to take a moment to thank everyone at FTR since I think it's a good time to do this after clearing the first 2 levels of my operation, and now (finally) showing some success at 6-max.

I seriously could never have had the inspiration to grind my way up without ever seeing any of the operations here. I never would have had the skill to do it either if I didn't actively read and participate in the forums. I also never, ever would have accomplished what I have so far without being patient. Sometimes it's hard to be patient when you watch little 10 cent chips flying around, but I think being a member of FTR has helped me with this indirectly (somehow), mostly due to motivation I guess. I see so many FTR regs acheiving such great success in bigger games and it is truly an inspiration to learn as much as possible about poker so I can work my way up.

The most help definately came from the daily posts I've been reading in both the BC and other forums, so I'd like to thank everyone for sticking around the community and helping one another.

Second to that, Renton's full ring guide has been somewhat of a bible for me. Props to him for taking the time to create it (it's great to read when I feel like I'm playing bad or am on a downswing because it helps re-enforce alot of important things). Also, I've read and re-read all of Spoon's posts and also have his website bookmarked. It's a shame he isn't here anymore, but it's a huge Bonus for him to have written all his material. Spoon: if you ever happen to lurk these forums and come across my operation, big thanks to you sir. Also, bigspenda, your videos have helped me like no other in straying away from my bot-style thinking and I feel like I've been improving my reads. I have reason to believe your videos played a huge part in that.

Anyway, I've done okay so far, but this is just a bit of a milestone in terms of bankroll - not skill. I have alot to learn. I can't even comprehend the list of things I need to do better so this is by no mean a brag post of any sort (other than to gloat about clearing $5nl lol). I can even think of a couple concepts right now that just blurrr my mind, and that's not good. I'll be purchasing a couple new books that cover them more in-depth so I can continue to improve. I figured now was a good time to show my appreciation to the forum since it'll be awhile till my operation is complete and I'd rather not hold off on that until then.

Once again, thanks FTR. I couldn't have ever considered grinding without joining here. More updates will be on the way as of next week while I play $10nl, however, I won't be posting bankroll numbers, because I don't want to get results oriented. I'm just going to play poker, and continue to study. I'll probably post a few hands in my operation as well as the forums after each session.

Cya around guys,

Micro

ps: 5nl graph soon to come.

Gratz man. Gogogogo pwn up 10NL as wel.

Your doing 6 tables of 6max?

thanks man.
nah 6 is when I play full ring. if I play 6-max I usually only play 3-4.

Well after logging a total of 4500 hands at $10nl I'm down 4 buy-ins.

I guess it's just a huge downswing + a couple mistakes here and there, I hate admitting that I run bad because I always feel I could play better but I must say things have been gross so far.

I probably could have saved myself at least 1.5-2 buy-ins from not misreading a few hands etc, but things were pretty nasty. The reason it sucks as much as it does is because its happeneing right at the beginning of me playing 10nl. I'd much rather have it happen after I've been winning at it for awhile. I wouldn't be so concerned if I were winning over 20k+ hands at 10nl and then experience a horrid swong. The way it works now though is it ends up leaving me second-guessing my game, which I doubt is very good.

Final hand I played I flopped a set of 7's, my c-bet got shoved into, River brings villain a 2 outer to set/set me with QQ. What a wonderful end to a session lol. At least I ended on the worst beat. I want to point this hand out because I didn't bother waiting for the blinds to reach me - I just left. I was really happy that I was able to instantly get up and leave instead of play on tilt. This isn't the easiest thing to do when you see someone play like garbage take your money, but I think leaving the game when it just isn't working is one of the smartest things I've done recently with regards to poker.

I'll see how things go for the next 5-10k hands and if I feel like things are going downhill perhaps I will consider a few coaching sessions. I think these would benefit even If I was steadily winning for the sole fact that having a mentor is hugely +EV.

I also might get into 6-max more. The players are super spewy from what I've seen so far and it's easier to play for stacks. Not like this nut-camp full ring. It's amazing how tight 10nl is comapared to 5nl. I sat at one table where every single player at V$IP's less than 18-20ish, and a few below 10. I ended up jumping around tables alot because the fish were noticeably a bit more scarce. I notice that winning alot of uncontested pots is pretty standard, and if you raise 3 times in a row, you're picking up the blinds 90% of the time.
Maybe I'm just playing at the wrong time, who knows. I definately can spot some differences in the game though.

Also, alot of the regs float wayyy to much. Like literally, once an orbit they're flatting a flop in position only to fold to a brick on the turn. It's so grossly exploitable, I've started raising SC's more in middle position only to get called by them with their huge button range, and then I just double barrell anything that looks representable. It's interesting to see a change in the stats of typical reg players. Alot of them have a very low fold to c-bet stat, but then a high fold to turn. Gotta love Poker Tracker, makes it easier to notice these guys.

My v$ip/pfr were alot higher than usual because of the table conditions, so perhaps I'm losing for now because I'm still adjusting to loosening up my play and having to 2-barrell more oop. I also need to start adjusting to the short stackers. I find I'm calling them off too light when they make their moves and I need to fix this leak. There aren't any 20bb stacks at 5nl because of the deep buy-in, but since there are at 10nl, the game changes slightly when you have a table full of shorties.

Ed Miller's book (Professional No Limit Hold'em) is on its way. I can't wait to read it and apply some of the concepts that are discussed. I've read about it here on FTR and it seems like the book covers alot of very important material.

Well that was a long post with an update of my progress and a note on the differences I've spotted between 5nl and 10nl. Looks like I'll have to just keep grinding away and get that PT graph shooting upwards.

Ouch. Sorry about the slow start. I find your post particularly interesting because I am on the verge of making the jump to $10NL myself. Ironically enough, when I first started $5NL, I dropped a couple of buy-ins early, too. Maybe it's a rule that the next level up you have to lose buy-ins :/

Jason: glad to see you're interested in my operation and are following things regularly. I need to thank you for repsonding because you're input seems to keep me on track mentally, and I realize I need to keep my head up when things don't go as planned.

Funny thing, this happened to me at $5nl as well, but just not as drastic. I was a little up and down for awhile near the beginning until one day I ran well and just took off. I guess it may take awhile for things to 'click' when playing at a different limit, so looks like I'll just need to be patient, play my best game, and then let the results follow in later.

You make a good point about having enough buy-ins to weather the storm. If I started $10nl with only 20 buy-ins, I'd be in some trouble bankroll wise. I think nitty Bankroll Management is way more beneficial than one may think, even if it means moving up slower. I can still log plenty of hands per week, so it won't be a problem if I have to drop down to $5nl.

If things continue as is I may play drop to $5nl for awhile longer and wait until I reach $350. This of course would be in the event of an extreme downswing, but I feel it's good to have a backup plan. $350 sounds pretty extreme at 35 buy-ins for $10nl, but looking back I played $5nl for awhile before I moved up with 50+ buy-ins in my roll because I wasn't quite rolled for $10nl yet (and I felt very, very comfortable playing with so much ammo).

Update:
Still grinding my way through the current downswing I'm going through. Things are starting to look a bit better and I'm getting a better feel for the different stack sizes etc. found at 10nl. I figure I'll start profiting when I reach 10K hands or so :S. Pretty rough but I have to admit, I haven't really had a prolonged series of gross suckouts since I started my operation. I guess I was just due.

If I played perfect poker there's no doubt I'd be ahead now. So I'm going to have to estimate that I've spewed 2-3 buy-ins worth of chips. Oh well, I learn from making dumb mistakes. If I played perfect poker this thread would be over by now anyway and I wouldn't have learned a thing.

Hey dude, keep it up man. Don't let these downswing/break even stretches affect your play. I had an entire month of ZERO BR progress (all of January Sad

) but I just kept grinding out the hands, and it finally ended and February was my best month ever ($78 profitz).

Just grind out dem hands, and if you haven't done it already, I suggest dropping you table # from 6 down to 4 or something like that. Let you focus in a little more on the table dynamics, and get you used to the players tendencies.

We need to have another pissing match real soon, too. Smile

Ever since that convo we had in the BC I've been itching to discuss poker strat, ranges, etc. Keep up the grind man!

heh, funny how you suggest dropping the tables down. I cut it to 4 so I reduce the risk of spewing multiple BI's at once and focus on taking more notes.

My plan is to keep at 4 tables until my results start trending upward, and then I'll add more tables. I was down 4.5 BI's before I started yesterdays session and made back 2. (Sweeeeet!) so like you said, it's only a matter of time and grinding. Thanks for the support man.

I've also noticed alot of people go through months where they run dry. Guess it's pretty standard.

haha and about our pissing match: I think that's just a sign we need to start talking poker/reviewing hand histories together more often. If you want to go over hand histories or just talk poker and you've got msn/yahoo or whatever pm me your email and I'll add you up.

Sounds good man I'll def do that.

good reading, i hope you get out of your little funk soon.. keep grinding man and you will... hope your next post is something positive, you're about due for a good session... keep it up man

BadAssOutlaw: the funk is ovaaaa.

I'm even cash now, yippie.

Long overdue for a good session, today's was sick. I was ahead in all-in postflop battles 3/3 times which helped bring that PT graph back on an upswing. Now it's time to keep grinding on and screw worrying about whatever the results may be. I know my game is +EV enough to get through 10nl. Just gotta keep grinding and staying focused, and once again screw results.

Playing 4 tables helped me take alot of notes that I would have missed otherwise. This led to helping make some key decisions later on. I won't be going back to 6 until I'm sitting on a good cushion bankroll-wise.

Thanks for the support guys, it would be tough to keep a positive attitude when the going gets tough without any additional feedback.

It's been awhile since I've been at the MTT scene, so I decided to give one a go for some variation (and the fact that winning would pump the bankroll up a fair amount).

Was feeling good so I played a $2.20 180-turbo. I busted out after shoving 3 times in a row (short-stacked near final table and picked up 3 pretty playable hands), got called down light the third time as expceted but the cards failed to hold. Oh well, I hate being too short getting into the final table so I'd rather gamble a bit to build my stack rather than blind out for an extra couple $ of prize money. The blinds were at the point where they engulf pretty much everyones stack. I finished 15th (ITM) so Ship it!

It felt good to play an MTT since it's been awhile. I'll probably squeeze 2-3 in a week into my playing schedule since I've done lots of reading on MTT's yet I don't play them enough anymore since I've become pretty serious about the cash grind.

congrats on the MTT cash dude. good to hear you're out of the cash rut you were in. keep it up!!

Thanks sil.

Alright here are some of the goals I'm keeping in mind for this coming weekends fish-fest at the tables:

1) Don't bluff the stations. Seriously, just make a hand, it's not hard to win money from these guys.

2) Stop tangling with the other grinders. They're working just as hard at the game if not harder than me, so I have no reason to get into a raising war with somone who's 15/10 when there's plenty of fish on other tables that will get all in with garbage.

3) Table select. The other day I sat at a table with a Supernova, and the rest of the table all had VP$IP's BELOW 15 AT 10NL! It's purely unnacceptable to sit at a table like this at microstakes. I don't know why all the other players were just sitting there, but not getting on a table with at least one fish is just retarded - no more of this. I left before any of the others did, so I officially claim to be less retarded than them (I guess they don't like easy money?). I hope they enjoyed passing blinds around and probably losing to the rake.

4) Good play will be rewarded in the long-run. 500 hands is meaningless, stop looking at that PT graph!

5) Remember what I'm here for. I feel it's important never to forget our motives for what we do, especially if it's something that is purely by choice. If we forget why we're doing something, we'll probably stop caring. When it comes to poker, this may equate to sloppy play. Therefore, keep these goals in mind, and focus will follow.

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Operation: $2NL to $200NL [PHASE I: Microstakes] - COMPLETE