Operation "Build a Bankroll" - COMPLETE

*Last edited by silu73 on Wed, 14 Nov 2007, 6:25pm; edited 4 times in total*

Rejuvenated and refreshed after a month’s holiday playing no Poker in October/November, I started to look more closely at my Poker career which started in June last year. I played and dabbled in everything, mostly SNG’s, the occasional MTT and most frustratingly cash games. I lost money on Full Tilt and Titan and made money on PokerStars. Anyway, after several months of confusion I decided to stick to the game I enjoy most (6-max NL) and decided to start Operation “Build a bankroll”.

As it happened I had almost exactly $500 in my Neteller account at the beginning of December. I put $200 into UB (without RB – I’m a dummy) and $200 into Doyles Room (with RB). After playing just a little bit I have now $230 at UB and $240 at Doyles. I cashed out $39 in Rakeback money into Full Tilt where I played a bit of $10NL to make it into $45. I then put $100 into PokerStars to clear their reload Bonus. I played $10NL 6-max and the occasional $4+0.4 180 SNG’s where I final tabled two out of two and finished 5th in both. I just cashed out $280 from Stars and $45 from Full Tilt giving me a total of $325 in Neteller and $470 combined at UB and Doyles.

Currently I am trying to withdraw $175 from UB without loosing the sign-up Bonus (haven’t heard back from UB support yet but I remember reading that this shouldn’t be a problem) to be able to deposit $500 at Empire Poker to clear their 20% up to $100 sign-up Bonus playing $25NL 6-max.

The aim is to have $1000 by the end of February and to have at least $1500 by the end of June to be rolled for $50NL.

I will try to make regular posts to keep those guys who are interested updated with my bonuswhoring career. If any of you know of any great bonuses or think that I will get a bad deal out of some Bonus codes then please PM me or just reply in this thread.

One thing I do is have one email address for my sign ups at poker sites where I receive all they're emails and reload bonuses alerts. I check it regularly so I dont missout on anything. Other then that, good luck; looking forward to see where this goes.

I have been going quite well. A few things I have learned so far I believe, made me a better poker player

a) Position. I kind of thought about it but I never really followed it through until now. I have removed some hands from my raising hands UTG but have increased the number of raising hands on the CO or button.

b) Put you opp on hands. A skill I try to aquire. I used to make decision hastily. Now I often use my time bank to think before I make a big decision.

c) Two pairs made of rags are still rags. Often I see myself flopping two pair with rags in unraised pots in the blinds i.e. J4o on a J4Q board just to be outdrawn. The pots become too large and more often than not I came out second best.

d) I pay attention to the betting patterns of my opposition. Often regulars follow through patterns which I pick up and use to my advantage. I often lost big pots to regular players just because I thought that they are playing back at me. More often than not they weren't.

Here are my current stats and graph. It would look a little bit better wouldn't I have lost two BIG pots with AA on Doyles. I have enclosed the HH below.

This one against a crazy maniac fish. One of the kind who you buddy list and follow around.

Uninvited 10474968-108483 Holdem No Limit $0.10/$0.20
[Nov 28 07:30:45] : Hand Start.
[Nov 28 07:30:45] : Seat 1 : Dr_LPJ has $13.33
[Nov 28 07:30:45] : Seat 2 : Freddyqs has $123.61
[Nov 28 07:30:45] : Seat 3 : tadeus has $5.42
[Nov 28 07:30:45] : Seat 4 : earlgrey23 has $56.43
[Nov 28 07:30:45] : Seat 5 : 1004you has $48.98
[Nov 28 07:30:45] : Seat 6 : austriaco has $45.14
[Nov 28 07:30:45] : Freddyqs is the dealer.
[Nov 28 07:30:45] : tadeus posted small blind.
[Nov 28 07:30:45] : earlgrey23 posted big blind.
[Nov 28 07:30:45] : Game [108483] started with 6 players.
[Nov 28 07:30:45] : Dealing Hole Cards.
[Nov 28 07:30:45] : Seat 6 : austriaco has As Ah
[Nov 28 07:30:47] : 1004you called $0.20
[Nov 28 07:30:52] : austriaco called $0.20 and raised $0.80
[Nov 28 07:30:54] : Dr_LPJ folded.
[Nov 28 07:31:03] : Freddyqs called $1 and raised $3.20
[Nov 28 07:31:06] : tadeus folded.
[Nov 28 07:31:09] : earlgrey23 folded.
[Nov 28 07:31:09] : 1004you folded.
[Nov 28 07:31:15] : austriaco called $3.20 and raised $40.94 and is All-in
[Nov 28 07:31:26] : Freddyqs called $40.94
[Nov 28 07:31:26] : Showdown!
[Nov 28 07:31:26] : Seat 6 : austriaco has As Ah
[Nov 28 07:31:28] : Seat 2 : Freddyqs has 8d 8s
[Nov 28 07:31:28] : Seat 6 : austriaco has As Ah
[Nov 28 07:31:37] : Board cards [2c Jc 9s Jd 8c]
[Nov 28 07:31:37] : Seat 6 : austriaco has As Ah
[Nov 28 07:31:37] : austriaco has Two Pair: Aces and Jacks
[Nov 28 07:31:37] : Seat 2 : Freddyqs has 8d 8s
[Nov 28 07:31:37] : Freddyqs has Full House : 8s full of Jacks
[Nov 28 07:31:37] : Freddyqs wins $87.78 with Full House : 8s full of Jacks
[Nov 28 07:31:44] : austriaco : u got to be kidding me
[Nov 28 07:31:47] : Hand is over.

Here again against a donkey.

Casino Royale 10474665-196483 Holdem No Limit $0.10/$0.20
[Jan 2 04:46:51] : Hand Start.
[Jan 2 04:46:51] : Seat 1 : austriaco has $37.35
[Jan 2 04:46:51] : Seat 2 : qjammer1 has $9.27
[Jan 2 04:46:51] : Seat 4 : dillionjr has $35.67
[Jan 2 04:46:51] : Seat 5 : crazy loco has $4.65
[Jan 2 04:46:51] : Seat 6 : bubby23 has $14.51
[Jan 2 04:46:51] : austriaco is the dealer.
[Jan 2 04:46:52] : qjammer1 posted small blind.
[Jan 2 04:46:52] : dillionjr posted big blind.
[Jan 2 04:46:52] : Game [196483] started with 5 players.
[Jan 2 04:46:52] : Dealing Hole Cards.
[Jan 2 04:46:52] : Seat 1 : austriaco has As Ah
[Jan 2 04:46:42] : crazy loco folded.
[Jan 2 04:46:44] : bubby23 called $0.20
[Jan 2 04:46:49] : austriaco called $0.20 and raised $0.80
[Jan 2 04:46:49] : qjammer1 folded.
[Jan 2 04:46:56] : dillionjr called $0.80 and raised $1.60
[Jan 2 04:46:58] : bubby23 called $2.40
[Jan 2 04:47:01] : austriaco called $1.60 and raised $12.80
[Jan 2 04:47:04] : dillionjr called $12.80
[Jan 2 04:47:07] : bubby23 folded.
[Jan 2 04:47:08] : Dealing flop.
[Jan 2 04:47:08] : Board cards [7d 9d Kh]
[Jan 2 04:46:45] : dillionjr bet $20.27 and is All-in
[Jan 2 04:46:49] : austriaco called $20.27
[Jan 2 04:46:49] : Showdown!
[Jan 2 04:46:49] : Seat 1 : austriaco has As Ah
[Jan 2 04:46:51] : Seat 1 : austriaco has As Ah
[Jan 2 04:46:51] : Seat 4 : dillionjr has Qd Ad
[Jan 2 04:46:57] : Board cards [7d 9d Kh 4s 4d]
[Jan 2 04:46:57] : Seat 4 : dillionjr has Qd Ad
[Jan 2 04:46:57] : dillionjr has Flush AQ974
[Jan 2 04:46:57] : Seat 1 : austriaco has As Ah
[Jan 2 04:46:57] : austriaco has Two Pair: Aces and 4s
[Jan 2 04:46:57] : dillionjr wins $71.04 with Flush AQ974
[Jan 2 04:47:07] : Hand is over

I put $500 into Empire to clear their Bonus. Had my first session there playing $25NL SH for about 600 hands. Down $35 mainly due to never hitting the board at all and then loosing a stack when I flopped a Qhigh flush and it went all in against a set on the flop and of course the river paired the board. I was playing not too bad though. I think a few months ago I would have lost far more but I've made some tough laydowns when I knew I was beat.

I will clear the $100 Bonus on Empire hopefully soon and of course I want to make some money playing poker as well. I like to play the occasional MTT wilst grinding on the cash tables but new tourney structures always take some getting used to so I'm not hoping for much there.

BR still at about $760 so up +$260 since December. I can't complain.

Jut finished a great little session 2-tabling $25NL SH on Empire. Played a little bit under an hour for +2x buy-ins despite getting destacked early on. I only played about 200 hands but I stopped because I feel I'm getting impatient as I'm hungry and need a shower. I think a lession learnt is that I shouldn't play when my mind is not at least 80% on it. I still play with the TV on but as soon as I'm interested more in the programme than on the tables I start loosing. Little edges over the long run matter!

Sounds like you're having a good start. Keep up the good work. You'll be at 50nl in no time.

Why does the deposit on PokerRoom not work and why is their live chat disabled and why do they not reply to my e-mails? Strange. Had $660 together to get the maximum of the 5x 30% to $100 Bonus there and now it doesn't work. Their server was down as well today so who the hell knows whats going on there.

Luckily I have some money left on Doyles Room and it didn't let me down. A couple of brutal suckouts where weighed up against juicy pots with the nuts against total fish. Altogether was up about +$40 in 800 hands at their $20NL SH tables.

BR is currently at $979 at the moment which is nearly double of the $500 I started with in December. It would be more than 1k but I tried to qualify for the first time for a big Sunday evening tourney as its a Public Holiday today in New Zealand and I would have time to play them for once. Long story short I tried to qualify for the UB tourney but after final tabelling about 3 out of 6 satellites without any return I gave up.

I'm currently trying to clear the Bonus on PokerRoom but I don't like their software. Its easy to click the wrong button and the waiting time for decisions is like 5 seconds. I cannot play more than 2 tables at once without sitting out at least at one table. Its a mess. At least the players are often substandard and I can win some big pots. But that means also that I loose some pots. However, since really concentrating on my cash game career it seems that I loose a few small pots which are offset by winning one large one.

I have also started to incorporate some moves into my arsenal when I sense weakness. I love when those come off and although the pots are not huge they will add to my BB/hour significantly. I will still only try to take small steps and I hope that by the time I'm finished with PokerRoom that I can take a stab at $50NL SH.

Here are some fun hands and some bad ones:

Hand 1:
Was not quite sure what I did here. I was confused and I would have thought a little bit more if Pokerrom wouldn't give a warning signal within 5 seconds or so. I also should have potted the turn.

PokerRoom No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (5 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

Hero ($28.55)
BB ($26.70)
UTG ($24.50)
MP ($21.65)
Button ($23.60)

Preflop: Hero is SB with K

, A

.
2 folds, Button calls $0.25, Hero raises to $1.65, BB calls $1.40, Button calls $1.40.

Flop: ($4.95) 8

, 6

, Q

(3 players)
Hero checks, BB checks, Button checks.

Turn: ($4.95) T

(3 players)
Hero checks, BB checks, Button bets $0.45, Hero raises to $2, BB calls $2, Button folds.

River: ($9.40) A

(2 players)
Hero bets $4, BB raises to $8, Hero calls $4.

Final Pot: $25.40

Results in white below:
Hero has Kd Ad (one pair, aces).
BB has Js Ks (straight, ace high).
Outcome: BB wins $25.40.

Hand 2:
Make sets get paid - soooo standard. I checked the flop to induce a bluff on the turn.
PokerRoom No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (6 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

Hero ($24.60)
Button ($5.70)
SB ($14.85)
BB ($14.10)
UTG ($23.25)
MP ($26.25)

Preflop: Hero is CO with 6

, 6

.
2 folds, Hero raises to $1, 1 fold, SB raises to $1.75, 1 fold, Hero calls $0.75.

Flop: ($3.75) 6

, K

, 5

(2 players)
SB checks, Hero checks.

Turn: ($3.75) J

(2 players)
SB bets $1, Hero raises to $4, SB raises to $7, Hero raises to $19, SB calls $6.10 (All-In).

River: ($35.85) T

(2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $35.85

Results in white below:
Hero has 6c 6s (three of a kind, sixes).
SB doesn't show.
Outcome: Hero wins $35.85.

Hand 3:
I knew this donkey would push his TP. Passivity gets rewarded from time to time
PokerRoom No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (5 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

Hero ($28.20)
UTG ($12.35)
MP ($5.40)
Button ($14.10)
SB ($29.95)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 9

, J

.
UTG calls $0.25, MP calls $0.25, 1 fold, SB completes, Hero checks.

Flop: ($1.25) 4

, K

, 7

(4 players)
SB checks, Hero checks, UTG bets $0.5, MP folds, SB folds, Hero calls $0.50.

Turn: ($2.25) 2

(2 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets $1.5, Hero calls $1.50.

River: ($5.25) J

(2 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets $10.1 (All-In), Hero calls $10.10.

Final Pot: $25.45

Results in white below:
Hero has 9s Js (flush, king high).
UTG has Kc 5c (one pair, kings).
Outcome: Hero wins $25.45.

Hand 4:
In the old days I would have lost my stack here. He was a little bit of a calling station thats why I didn't raise the turn when he bet weakly into it. I thought that I couldn't push him off his hand and that he 9 out of 10 times was ahead here.
PokerRoom No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (4 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

Hero ($24.60)
SB ($31.00)
BB ($20.60)
UTG ($41.75)

Preflop: Hero is Button with Q

, Q

.
1 fold, Hero raises to $1, SB calls $0.85, 1 fold.

Flop: ($2.25) T

, K

, 7

(2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $2, SB raises to $4, Hero calls $2.

Turn: ($10.25) 7

(2 players)
SB bets $2, Hero calls $2.

River: ($14.25) 3

(2 players)
SB checks, Hero checks.

Final Pot: $14.25

Results in white below:
SB has 3c Ks (two pair, kings and sevens).
Hero has Qs Qh (two pair, queens and sevens).
Outcome: SB wins $14.25.

Hand 5:
I struggled to put him on a hand. I really thought I was ahead here. I usually bet the flop here but he was a small stack and I didn't want to be bluffed with a c/raise on the flop.
PokerRoom No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (5 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

Hero ($26.35)
MP ($24.90)
Button ($24.75)
SB ($29.95)
BB ($7.50)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with J

, A

.
Hero raises to $1, 3 folds, BB calls $0.75.

Flop: ($2.15) 2

, K

, 2

(2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks.

Turn: ($2.15) J

(2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $2, BB calls $2.

River: ($6.15) A

(2 players)
BB bets $4.5 (All-In), Hero calls $4.50.

Final Pot: $15.15

Results in white below:
BB has 2c 4h (three of a kind, twos).
Hero has Jc Ah (two pair, aces and jacks).
Outcome: BB wins $15.15.

Hand 6:
This is one of those "move" hands. My read on opp was that he was found out twice to weakly bet his flush draws. Here I tried to see if he really was and I guess I was right.
PokerRoom No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (6 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

Hero ($39.75)
UTG ($21.25)
MP ($27.15)
CO ($2.50)
Button ($8.80)
SB ($29.00)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 3

, A

.
3 folds, Button raises to $0.5, 1 fold, Hero calls $0.25.

Flop: ($1.15) 5

, J

, Q

(2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $0.25, Hero raises to $1, Button calls $0.75.

Turn: ($3.15) Q

(2 players)
Hero checks, Button checks.

River: ($3.15) 4

(2 players)
Hero bets $2, Button folds.

Final Pot: $5.15

Results in white below:
Hero has 3d Ah (one pair, queens).
Outcome: Hero wins $5.15.

Its hot in NZ at the moment and the Tri-series of Cricket in Australia is hotting up. Also the Super 14 Rugby season has started and my cricket team (incl me) is playing like shite. So many distractions made me play hardly any Poker. But at least I managed to complete 20k hands since December which on my puny little 14" screen two-tabling is not too bad. BR is now over $1000 and when I clear the $200 Bonus and continue to make a little bit of money playing Poker then I will move up to $50NL. I believe that my play is good enough and I only need the BR to support it now.

gl man

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Operation "Build a Bankroll" - COMPLETE