Drive to $100NL (still the same thread)

*Last edited by jyms on Mon, 08 Oct 2007, 10:28pm; edited 7 times in total*

OK, bare with me. This may get a little long. It's basically going to be a blog by some guy who has sucked at poker up until Oct.1st/2006. This will be monotonous and slow for the action junkies and people looking for advice, but I could use a few regulars to pop in and give me shit or tell me i'm right once in a while when things go bad.

Basically, This is going to be my poker concience. Every poster on FTR that has a blog is doing good things at the tables and with thier bankroll. I have had some problems in the past with distractions and feeling rushed leading to bad Bankroll Management. Not to the effect of having my whole roll on the table, but as an example, I have played at party in the past on the $25NL tables with $300 and had a bad run. Alot of the times I play at too high a stake just to clear a Bonus that I should not have even attempted because of not having the full deposit and wasting $$$. (i.e: Ultimatebets super slow Bonus) I have wasted time and money chasing a bankroll. All my attempts have been successful for a short period but the variance is too much. I read about guys like Biondino hanging around too long at a limit and killing it. I wish that is was what I did at the beginning to just keep grinding the roll but that's in the past.

Here's what I hope to accomplish with this thread and poker in general.

>Stop playing out of my roll.
I know this is wrong, no matter how good you think you are, because the swings and short term variance is a killer.

>Get my bankroll up to $500 to play $25NL properly rolled.
This may take a while, but in order to feel that I'm actually winning this will be my first magic number.

>Play 20+ hours a week.
This is not a major problem with winter coming and and agreement I have with the wife.

>Start posting some hands and get some input into my play.
instead of having to rely on myself all the time. I also want to start spending more time in the stategy forum than the commune.

>move the computer desk out of the living room
If I'm going to do this, I'm going to get serious and give myself the right enviroment.

I will add to this post as my goals change or if I come up with anymore.

History:
Started at Party Poker with $50. (wasted the first deposit Bonus and busted) I did alright but should have been on the $2NL tables not the $25NL but I thought you played higher and dropped if needed. Bankroll Management????? What's that.

Wanted to try again so I thought, what the hell PokerStars has a $20 min. deposit and $5 S&G's plus $1 tournies. I attempted that and had no Idea how these guys were killing me at the lowest limits and could not beat anybody in a tournement. You guys know the drill, I don't need to explain how I played, you've all seen it.

Last chance. I decided to learn a little about the game. I new that there had to be advantages to certain plays and styles. Hell I'm not that stupid. I knew how a casino loaded the games for an advantage by manipulating odds, but poker is against other players, the casino doesn't have cards to play so they can't effect the winning, somebody has to win. I hate gambling but this was different, it's like a sport, a game or any other competition, I'm playing morons. So like everything I do, " I become obsessed with learning". I google "Poker Strategy" and find several sites to read, (you know what they all are) and FTR sticks out because it's the same look as my Bodybuilding and Nutrition site. (still can't read 2+2 unless someone links an article)

So I read and read and then "I got it", Bankroll Management, pot odds, preflop hand selection and what the hell c-bets are. I deposited another $100 into Party Poker in March and get to $350 and start moving up to fast. Long story short.( Ya, Ya, I know) I've been to UltimateBet, Pacific, Paradise, party, PokerStars and now Prima trying to get my bankroll up. I've been too quick to get into another Bonus. I deposit with less than maximum wasting a good Bonus, just to try and get my roll up. It's been a rollercoaster of not clearing bonuses, playing a little above my roll and riding a coaster. I've managed to buy Poker Tracker, PAhud, Handgrabber and still have just under $200 again in my bankroll. So yea, that's it in a nut shell, one big fucking nutshell.

So if your still with me, you won't have to read that again, I need your help, I promised the wife that:
>I'd finish the bathroom that I demolished down to the 2x4's and floor joists in april and have just the tiling and paint left to do.
> I'd have a thousand dollars to withdraw at Xmas time for gifts instead of our own money or quit because I obviously suck.
>Get her, her own computer so I don't need to get off mine.

And in return she will not bother me about the time I spend playing as long as things are taken care of at home.

ka; dr

play in your bankroll, study the game, get rich

repeat to yourself.

if u stay as focused as u sound, then those goals will be met!! unfortunately with those kinda withdrawals (purchases) u will never go beyond NL25!! i would hold off until ur atleast to NL50 w/ a bankroll of atleast $1200 before u consider any withdrawals!!

P.S- for a quick extra $300+ why dont u Casino Whore the top 3 - minimum risk casinos for their 100% matching Bonus??
1) Starluck
2) PlanetLuck
3) C.O.N

*Last edited by jyms on Fri, 29 Sep 2006, 10:29am; edited 1 time in total*

So here is where I started.

$50 initial deposit at Party Poker.
$20 first deposit at PokerStars.
$100 second deposit at PartyPoker.
$50 on Poker Tracker
$25 on PAHud
$15 on handgrabber

$260 total spent on poker.

$175 bankroll on Prima(River Belle)
leaves me $85 in the red as we speak.

As of right now I just busted out doing the deposit Bonus on Gaming Club casino, in my first attempt at whoring casinos. that's one reason my roll is so small. I withdrew $50 a couple of days ago to try this. Not a great first attempt. I tried to autoplay thru the 90X $200 Bonus for $50 deposit and busted with 1k hands to go, playing Las vegas BJ, after reaching over $300 before bed last night. These are the things that have killed my roll before and what has prompted me to start this responsibility thread. Give me shit or tell me to try again. There are two more I want to try badly. PlanetLuck and Starluck. I need black jack games with auto play, incase you didn't read my long, original thread where i mention I hate gambling. I'd rather play bingo than black jack or any other gambling game.

I will post some stats from PT when I get home tonight and maybe a hand or two. I plan on playing 600+ hands tonight 4 tabling Prima and maybe a tourney. This has been a problem for me in the past though. I can 6 table full ring or 4 table 6 max, but when i get into tourneys I don't pay attention enough. Without checking stats I can guestimate I finish ITM 50% of the time in big tourneys and 30% of the time in 1 and 2 table S&G's and haven't figured out where I should play. I love the tournements and S&G's but don't always have the time for them, that's why I play ring, I think I'm better at ring at the moment and I think thats where the money is but I think to much. That's why I need to get this thread started. The problem will be If I win a big score in a tourney i will probably end up playing higher stakes without working up to it and the winnings may be short lived.

You guys are quick. Thanks. I just typed my second post and already have 3 replies. My last post should answer a few questions but to reply, I have only withdrew to buy poker programs that I thought I needed. As for the casino seoul_child I've already addressed it in my second post. What do you suggest now, continue or wait for a little cushion.

WOW, I dont know what casino that was to charge u 90x the Bonus, that's insane man! I would cushion ur roll once again in whateva means that has been working for you, and then when u have an investment of $100 again do Starluck, PlanetLuck, and CON in that order. Very minimal risk involved with those casino whorings and Star/Planet have very low wagering requirement (9x-->($100= $200) u need to wager $1800 to withdraw. Use the wizardofodds.com BJ chart and get yourself some moneys!!! Best Of Luck

It was because it's only allowing 33% of the wager on black jack to count towards the Bonus (It's actually a 30x casino Bonus.) They had autoplay so without getting to deep into it it's $200 Bonus for $50 deposit and I was told with the HA of 0.4% it's ev is around $128. even with these T&C's.

BAD casino!!! do the ones i stated or rather follow along with my Post --- seoul_child1's Casino Whoring Journey, i will give all pertinent info. needed and u can see my results. First 3 casinos i do should be +EV of $300+ ;]

T_J, PM/AIM me any time if you want to discuss the concepts that work at 25NL, even if I'm not quite "killing it" as you kindly stated!

(I can say with absolute certainty that WITH DISCIPLINE you will become a winning $50NL player by Xmas and you should be able to make $2k, allowing you to withdraw $1k for Xmas, without any problem. In fact. I'd happily make a wager to this effect - you are one of the sharpest beginners I've read on FTR)

Good luck T_J, I'm sure you'll soon get back to $25NL and then will be kicking its butt.

Hope things go well for you on Prima, there's a few bonuses out there to grab, but they do take a while at $10NL (pfft... take a while at $20NL). But Prima hates me, so I'm biased.

As soon as you're rolled for $25NL I'd seriously suggest going to the CryptoLogic network (which is where Biondino did/does his killing... and yes mate, we've seen your stats, it's called "killing").
It's amazing what a difference Bonus+Rakeback makes to the old roll. If you can play 15k hands a month there you'll probably be getting an extra $350 (do that in November/Decmber and you're a ways towards your grand without touching your roll).

Either take Sun Poker (FTR's link) or Poker Plex (PM me for details there).

I play $1/2 limit these days (and I admit it's not going so well at the tables) but I've whored over $600 off Crypto this month with another $150 coming in Rakeback off 11k hands (would be about 16k hands @ $25NL).

Thanks Anosmic. I have a Bonus I'm clearing here but I will grind my roll up a bit here first before attempting anymore tricks. I think it's time for grinding out hands and stopping leaks.
Here's my first day of my new disciplined poker playing. I had a few good hands and played well. Got unlucky and got stacked a couple of times. It's tuff at $10NL, they can actually have anything. Guys will push with TPNK or have a nut flush, you never seem to know. Here's an example.

** Game ID 963482656 starting - 2006-09-29 19:54:42
** Beckenham [Hold 'em] (0.05|0.10 No Limit - Cash Game) Real Money
- clarky666 sitting in seat 1 with $42.04 [Sitting out]
- ryby184 sitting in seat 2 with $3.05 [Dealer]
- trainerJyms sitting in seat 3 with $9.75
- P-Funk27 sitting in seat 4 with $3.24
- iamtehnoob sitting in seat 5 with $11.20
- Stamang sitting in seat 6 with $26.29

trainerJyms posted the small blind - $0.05
P-Funk27 posted the big blind - $0.10
** Dealing card to trainerJyms: Queen of Hearts

iamtehnoob raised - $0.30
Stamang called - $0.30
ryby184 called - $0.30
trainerJyms raised - $0.50
P-Funk27 called - $0.50
iamtehnoob went all-in - $10.90
Stamang folded
ryby184 folded
trainerJyms went all-in - $9.30
P-Funk27 went all-in - $2.84

** Dealing the flop: Three of Hearts

,

,

** Dealing the turn: Eight of Diamonds

** Dealing the river: Six of Hearts

trainerJyms shows: Queen of Hearts

,

iamtehnoob mucks:
P-Funk27 mucks:
trainerJyms wins $10.32 from the main pot
trainerJyms wins $23.24 from side pot 1

So I succesfully stayed at $10NL for 1K hands tonight, and it was a little tough. Everytime your down you want to chase it back up. And the raises scare the b-gesus out of these guys. I need to settle down on the moves, play the board, play position and bet my hands. I let a couple of guys chase for cheap and it cost me. Nevermind the times I made them pay and they still chase. I know it's not supposed to bother me but damn.
** Game ID 963709984 starting - 2006-09-29 23:13:30
** Beckenham [Hold 'em] (0.05|0.10 No Limit - Cash Game) Real Money

- SuperDavey87 sitting in seat 1 with $9.90
- Birqis sitting in seat 2 with $13.22 [Dealer]
- jules2420 sitting in seat 3 with $16.33
- konakidgb sitting in seat 4 with $16.17
- Parsifal sitting in seat 5 with $3.55
- trainerJyms sitting in seat 6 with $24.95

jules2420 posted the small blind - $0.05
konakidgb posted the big blind - $0.10
SuperDavey87 posted to play - $0.10
** Dealing card to trainerJyms: Eight of Spades

,

Parsifal folded
trainerJyms called - $0.10
SuperDavey87 checked
Birqis folded
jules2420 folded
konakidgb checked

** Dealing the flop: Nine of Diamonds

,

,

konakidgb checked
trainerJyms checked ( I checked because it was a rainbow flop an dI wanted some one to have something to chase with, Is this a bad play?)
SuperDavey87 checked

** Dealing the turn: Two of Diamonds

konakidgb bet - $0.10
trainerJyms raised - $1.60 ( $0.30 pot so I overbet thinking that I need to get the money in before they all mis the river and I waste this set.)
SuperDavey87 called - $1.60
konakidgb called - $1.60

** Dealing the river: Four of Diamonds

konakidgb checked
trainerJyms bet - $4.85
SuperDavey87 went all-in - $8.30
konakidgb folded
trainerJyms called - $8.30 ( I call because I have a set, I can't lay this down, can i?? Why would he call that turn bet with a draw?? Oh ya $10NL. Rolling Eyes

)
SuperDavey87 shows: Six of Diamonds

,

trainerJyms mucks: Eight of Spades

,

SuperDavey87 wins $21.45 from the main pot

End of game 963709984

Also here's my rollercoaster from last night. Anybody know why imageshack is not letting me get a full sized image anymore??

Anyway it's 2 am I'm going to bed, I'll continue this in the morning.

Slowplaying is almost always wrong, you should have made a psb on the flop here I think. Get the money in the pot when you're ahead Wink

Good luck Trainer, I'm on the same road so I'll be keeping track of this thread. I'm also beginning to get serious about my workout routine too, I just picked up Arnold Schwarzenegger's Encyclopedia to bodybuilding and started on its beginner schedule.

So here we go. The weekend was a disaster. I withdrew $100 to start casino whoring. Had $82 left after Fridays debacle. I stayed at the $10NL tables 4 tabling and was riding a rollercoaster, divided up amongst stacking and getting stacked on some bad beats all weekend.

Here's one, Villiand has C-bet every flop he gets to.

** Game ID 967117911 starting - 2006-10-01 22:13:34
** Epimachus [Hold 'em] (0.05|0.10 No Limit - Cash Game) Real Money

- ColdFeats sitting in seat 1 with $15.12
- Pickeljoe sitting in seat 2 with $35.71
- trainerJyms sitting in seat 3 with $10.61 [Dealer]
- rollande65 sitting in seat 4 with $8.17
- zoquete sitting in seat 5 with $9.75
- budfather sitting in seat 6 with $11.57
- BigluckAA sitting in seat 7 with $0.60
- dezzaw sitting in seat 8 with $1.00 [Sitting out]
- Greiner sitting in seat 9 with $5.82
- Piotr6660 sitting in seat 10 with $9.40

rollande65 posted the small blind - $0.05
zoquete posted the big blind - $0.10
Pickeljoe posted to play - $0.10
** Dealing card to trainerJyms: Queen of Hearts, Ace of Hearts
budfather called - $0.10
BigluckAA folded
Greiner folded
Piotr6660 folded
ColdFeats raised - $0.40
Pickeljoe called - $0.40
trainerJyms raised - $0.70
rollande65 called - $0.70
zoquete folded
budfather folded
ColdFeats called - $0.70
Pickeljoe called - $0.70

** Dealing the flop: 4 of Spades, 2 of Spades, Queen of Diamonds
rollande65 checked
ColdFeats bet - $3.00
Pickeljoe folded
trainerJyms raised - $6.00
rollande65 folded
ColdFeats went all-in - $11.42
trainerJyms went all-in - $3.91

** Dealing the turn: 6 of Diamonds

** Dealing the river: 6 of Hearts
trainerJyms shows: Queen of Hearts, Ace of Hearts
ColdFeats shows: Queen of Clubs, 6 of Clubs
ColdFeats wins $22.52 from the main pot

And another for your funny bone. Was this a bad call by me to get this all -in at these stakes

** Game ID 945873396 starting - 2006-09-18 23:38:39
** Bellingham [Hold 'em] (0.05|0.10 No Limit - Cash Game) Real Money

- trainerJyms sitting in seat 1 with $18.55
- derekNUTSm sitting in seat 2 with $12.19
- deadmoney_18 sitting in seat 3 with $10.00 [Sitting out]
- rocket2A sitting in seat 4 with $2.50 [Dealer]
- I_Cash_Out sitting in seat 6 with $7.60

I_Cash_Out posted the small blind - $0.05
trainerJyms posted the big blind - $0.10
** Dealing card to trainerJyms: King of Diamonds, King of Hearts
derekNUTSm raised - $0.80
rocket2A folded
I_Cash_Out folded
trainerJyms raised - $1.50
derekNUTSm called - $1.50

** Dealing the flop: 8 of Hearts, 10 of Spades, Jack of Spades
trainerJyms bet - $3.70
derekNUTSm went all-in - $10.69
trainerJyms called - $10.69

** Dealing the turn: Jack of Diamonds

** Dealing the river: 7 of Clubs
derekNUTSm shows: King of Spades, Jack of Hearts
trainerJyms mucks: King of Diamonds, King of Hearts
derekNUTSm wins $24.13 from the main pot

My weekend was a disaster and I had $65 left in River Belle. $100 in Neteller and I have a casino Bonus going great. I'll let ya know how it goes.

I do win some money too. I hit up the free 200 at platinum casino and got real lucky on the slots. They give you a free $200 to start and you have to wager the full amount once on the slots before putting it into a Bonus. If you have over $200 after you get the full $200 as a Bonus on a $20 deposit. I actually hit a rolling jackpot and got to $485 but they only give you $200. Then its a 30x clearing Bonus like all the others but you just deposit $20. If you don't get the full $200 they have a match Bonus for you instead, up to $100. Anyway after getting the full $200 and my deposit of $20 I had to clear it. I let Blackjack Auto play for me all night but it only cleared $30 bucks because it clears at 2%. bastards. but my roll was at about $250 so I just cleared it at roulette. I bet $10 on black and red and hit the green a couple of times after a couple hundred auto spins. I cashed $218. Hope I get away with that. I no one could tell me if they would bitch about the roulette trick to clear a Bonus.

So my total bankroll is at about $320. Not a great start. I busted another casino Bonus. It's time to try the big three. I took more roll from River Belle so now I have $65 left to play. I started playing $2.50 S&G's at River Belle and have done ok. They are pretty easy. If you play like a nit, and play maybe two hands and get about half a stack from someone, your in the final three. I may do these for a while. I'm having a hard time Isolating guys in ring. It seems that every hand someone is drawing to the flush. I got my aces cracked last night on a three way all-in pre flop with two guys flipping over 3s,6s and 7d, td and doesn't the Diamond hit the flush for one but the 3, 6 spades gets the boat. Just getting stomped. I think part of the problem is playing for the big win. I was doing some calculations last night after taking some bad beats. And If I make 30bb/100 (pretty good rate) over 1000 hands that would be 300 bb or 30 dollars. ( I think I may not be playing for that pace. I need to stop trying to win stacks at every table every hand I VP$P. At 6max I would need to make 1.8bb in an orbit (net). THAT"S THE FUCKING BLINDS. Am I wrong? Am I working too hard? 1.8 BB every 2 orbits at $10NL is $0.36, at $20NL its $0.72!! I know I'd have to make up for the times I miss and the times I bet preflop, and the times I lose at showdown, but my pace is off. I've been aiming much higher. I'm going to shoot for "slow and steady and not stack off without the near nuts. Tell everyone at Prima $10NL I'm a folding machine. This explains to me why my poker trends never looks like all the others I see (one side of the mountain going up with a few bumps. Look at mine above, they all look like that. I will post some of my stats when i get home so I can start getting some input. I think for now, while trying to build the roll I won't worry about missing out on some edges and just stick to the basics. I know, I know Embarassed

TJ, send me some HHs. However, one thing I immediately notice is your min-re-raise in the AQ hand - that's a leak right there. Not only will everyone call that raise (if they don't re-raise you - in which case you're folding, or calling when probably behind), but AQ isn't all that strong a hand especially against more than one opponent. If you re-raise here you have to slam it up to $1.50 or so - but I might be tempted to just call here and dump it on an unhelpful flop.

Thanks, I will send some. I wanted to post more hands but the Poker Tracker hands from Prima are hard to convert. As for the re-raise, I think I get caught alot playing the wrong game. If my raises start getting folded back around to, I tend to lower my raises for my better hands to get callers. I do the same with open raises. I may have betting tells then, after frustration sets in I only raise large with marginal hands because a fold around would be ok for a steal. After figuring out some of the things I wrote about above, I'm just gonna keep pumping them. I don't really need to get callers and try to bust them with every premium hand. Sometimes 10 or 12 BB is goot.

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Drive to $100NL (still the same thread)