Operation: $$ accumulation

playing ok, not quite a-game though. Working on that. 25nl shortly I guess.

haha nh that was quick. Ship da nickels!

ez game, as they say

Right, I knew you'd be whoopin' me, but holy hell! Beware though, I'm making improvements to my game so should be overtaking any day now...haha!

cheers guys.
Stars is different from FTP. There are a lot of nits out there. At one table in particular today I was sitting with three 13-10 types, one 15-12, and four 10-7 nits - those tables are like printing money!

Rolling slowly. I've earned some fpps thanks to stars having a cool promotion this month - i got platinum star playing 5nlol - plus i had a few left from whenever i last played stars. I've also accrued enough VPPs to get some stellar rewards ($20 so far!!). I know that buying the $50 bonus isn't the best use of FPPs, but I think that anything that accelerates my move up through the stakes is worth the lost future value in FPP conversion (plus i'll earn enough FPPs by moving up to compensate etc). I'll probably move up to 25nl at bankroll = $550 or $600, hopefully after one or two more sessions. Funny, my hourly in my time at 5nl and 10nl has been >>$10 excluding bonuses. Ridiculous.

Once I'm at 50nl I will start phase 2 of this re-grind. In parallel with grinding the Full Ring, this phase will involve starting at the lowest limits in some other games and learning some more. To start with it will be ante tables (I suck on ante tables), also 6-max, also omaha. I am also going to learn to 24-table - but not for a while yet. I'm probably getting way ahead of myself - first, and most important, step is to get this roll built. And that's a long way from complete...

lol remember when we were in a race for 100k.
So my roll is up to €170 naow. Wanna do a race for 1k?
One american dollar to the winner?

ahhh, 25nl. I played a few big sessions. I ran pretty bad, and didn't play all that well either. Bad on the AIEV front = -9bi or something, but also very bad on the AA<KK AND KK<AA fronts. Charging draws then having to fold rivers, calling with good pot odds but not hitting, etc... In fact, this is one of those poetic experiences that happen from time to time. I'm sure it will end. Next time i get it in on the flop with top two in a 3b pot vs 9Ts i'd like to win. For context - AA is up less than 1bi over 52 times dealt, AK is losing, KK is up 2bi over 50 times, QQ is losing, all other pairs are breakeven or losing, etc.
guess i'll play some more 10nl.
games are healthy. Bankroll isn't.

@ Oskar - race to $2.5k if you want - that's my first bankroll milestone/hurdle of this rebuild. I'm still hoping to get there from the $50 seed this month, but it's starting to look pretty tough.

DRink more imo... everythings gonna be alright.

Originally Posted by supa

DRink more imo... everythings gonna be alright.

it's good to exercise before boozing, right? I went out for an hour run until just before dark, then went bouldering at the local climbing wall. Now it's dark out, the first bottle of wine is running out, the first course of tasty food is et, maybe some more? some drop is playing in the background, and it's all about how to spend the rest of the evening...

1) I have some Dylan_Thomas kicking around that i am yet to read - and it suits the boozing I guess
2) i'm partway through Annapurna by Maurice_Herzog, which fits in with my plans for the coming summer
3) I have some more stats/maths to wrap my head around as I embark down some crazy avenue thanks to someone's PhD that isn't quite finished - if anyone wants to become entirely familiar with Stein's Paradox, Sequential_analysis (which somehow relates to gambling), and some annoying matrix algebra then maybe i can get some help not really sure if that fits at all...

man, home alone with my girlfriend still in europe. Guess I could also call the local casino and see if there's any 2-4 nlo/nlhe mixed running..

Originally Posted by daven

@ Oskar - race to $2.5k if you want - that's my first bankroll milestone/hurdle of this rebuild. I'm still hoping to get there from the $50 seed this month, but it's starting to look pretty tough.

deal!

I'll be on stars as well. Started off by playing a 1h session without looking at my holecards. Did you know that that stars has an option to turn them off? How could that possibly go wrong!

i went out for a run today. Slow and sorta long. I started hurting around the 1hr35 mark. Three weeks until i run my first official half-marathon. Ran somewhere in the 18-20km range today, so the distance should be ok if i don't try to push for a time. But i'm running it with a climbing friend. So most likely we will both be collapsing at the 10km mark after about 40 minutes, and then crawling the last 11km.

A few days ago I played a fpp tourney for laughs and got a few T$. I used T$ to play a $4.40 1000-man 4-max tournament and got my chips in preflop AT<KJ to exit in 22nd. Close but no cigar.
I moved back up to 25nl after messing around too much. I'm going to 9-table for a while. There are heaps of 24-tabling 25nl supernovas who are up >$15k grinding the micros. They intrigue me.
I made a chin-up bar this afternoon. I'm going to be strong soon. I also bought some seeds so i can eat organic vegetables all summer.
Life is simple.

i moved back up to 25nl a few days ago. I've been auto-piloting and mashing buttons way too much in some of my sessions, but at least i'm not losing money. Still hoping to be rolled for 50nl by month-end, it's gonna be close. I wish I hadn't run and played bad the first move up, shoulda been more careful..



edit:
4 good ol' fashioned value-town hands, one of these things is not like the other...
PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.25 BB (9 handed) - PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG+1 ($9.75)
MP1 ($24.65)
MP2 ($25.79)
MP3 ($26.17)
CO ($12.05)
Button ($26.16)
SB ($25)
BB ($25.26)
Hero (UTG) ($76.13)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with 9, J
Hero bets $0.85, 2 folds, MP2 calls $0.85, 5 folds

Flop: ($2.05) 9, 6, 7 (2 players)
Hero bets $1.36, MP2 calls $1.36

Turn: ($4.77) 2 (2 players)
Hero bets $3.80, MP2 calls $3.80

River: ($12.37) 10 (2 players)
Hero bets $3, MP2 calls $3

Total pot: $18.37 | Rake: $0.88

Results below:
Hero had 9, J (one pair, nines).
MP2 mucked 3, 3 (one pair, threes).
Outcome: Hero won $17.49

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.25 BB (8 handed) - PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

CO ($9.65)
Button ($52.37)
SB ($25.34)
Hero (BB) ($25.84)
UTG ($32.26)
UTG+1 ($25)
MP1 ($38.31)
MP2 ($32.87)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 6, A
5 folds, Button bets $0.75, 1 fold, Hero raises to $2.30, Button calls $1.55

Flop: ($4.70) K, 10, 2 (2 players)
Hero bets $2.80, Button calls $2.80

Turn: ($10.30) 8 (2 players)
Hero bets $5.80,

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.25 BB (8 handed) - PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG+1 ($18.68)
MP1 ($25)
MP2 ($17.90)
CO ($23.22)
Button ($28.73)
SB ($25.10)
BB ($14.77)
Hero (UTG) ($25)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with Q, A
Hero bets $0.85, 6 folds, BB calls $0.60

Flop: ($1.80) Q, 7, 9 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $1.60, BB calls $1.60

Turn: ($5) 6 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $22.55 (All-In), BB calls $12.32 (All-In)

River: ($29.64) K (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: $29.64 | Rake: $1.47

Results below:
BB had A, 7 (one pair, sevens).
Hero had Q, A (one pair, Queens).
Outcome: Hero won $28.17

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.25 BB (9 handed) - PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP2 ($23.10)
MP3 ($28.79)
CO ($33.26)
Button ($50.20)
SB ($25)
Hero (BB) ($30.80)
UTG ($25)
UTG+1 ($8.65)
MP1 ($25)

Preflop: Hero is BB with K, A
3 folds, MP2 bets $0.50, MP3 calls $0.50, 3 folds, Hero raises to $2.40, MP2 calls $1.90, MP3 calls $1.90

Flop: ($7.30) J, 7, A (3 players)
Hero bets $3.60, MP2 calls $3.60, 1 fold

Turn: ($14.50) 9 (2 players)
Hero bets $7, MP2 calls $7

River: ($28.50) 9 (2 players)
Hero bets $13.55, MP2 calls $10.10 (All-In)

Total pot: $48.70 | Rake: $2

Results below:
Hero had K, A (two pair, Aces and nines).
MP2 had Q, A (two pair, Aces and nines).
Outcome: Hero won $46.70

What was your thought process on river betsize on that first hand?

Originally Posted by Nekrogovner

What was your thought process on river betsize on that first hand?

villain is very passive but may take a stab on that river if checked to and i can't really call a bet with 2nd pair on a 4-straight board, especially if he accidentally hits the pot button when he stabs. Thing is, i'm still way ahead of most of his holdings. He can easily get scared by the board on that river so i'm basically blocking for thin value - much bigger and i'm priced in, much bigger and he's folding 7x/AJ.

I just played about 6k hands for about +8bi. Long session.
closing in on 50nl, I just have to decide what the magic bankroll number is for moving up. I'm accumulating FPPs too. Think I'll hold off buying cash until the $300 or $650 bonus, not sure which

650 is clearly a better choice. You would get only 600 if you buy lower tier bonus twice, for same amount of FPPs. You could try some tourney tickets or FPP tourneys/sngs if u got skillz.

Originally Posted by daven

I just played about 6k hands for about +8bi. Long session.
closing in on 50nl, I just have to decide what the magic bankroll number is for moving up. I'm accumulating FPPs too. Think I'll hold off buying cash until the $300 or $650 bonus, not sure which

4k bonus. The end.

Originally Posted by Nekrogovner

650 is clearly a better choice. You would get only 600 if you buy lower tier bonus twice, for same amount of FPPs. You could try some tourney tickets or FPP tourneys/sngs if u got skillz.

good point. The thing i'm considering though is the cost-benefit if buying the $300 bonus earlier means i move up faster and increase my hourly sooner + earn back the difference in FPPs by playing higher stakes. I'll see.

Originally Posted by Icanhastreebet

4k bonus. The end.

word. Except I only started on stars this month from a $50 roll. It's gonna be tight. I'll give it a go.

Originally Posted by daven

good point. The thing i'm considering though is the cost-benefit if buying the $300 bonus earlier means i move up faster and increase my hourly sooner + earn back the difference in FPPs by playing higher stakes. I'll see.

Sure thing. But its only 6BI for NL50. So why not keep it in FPPs and start NL50 6BI sooner? That way, if you run good you simply grind to 50k FPP Cash bonus and still earn extra 50$.


Another option is, if you wanna move up faster, to move your roll to another poker site to grind out a welcome bonus, and then run back to stars.
Though not sure would it be profitable overall since it might take some time to adjust to players there (for example, on Party Poker players really like to mash Pot Size bet button for some reason )

Originally Posted by Nekrogovner

Sure thing. But its only 6BI for NL50. So why not keep it in FPPs and start NL50 6BI sooner? That way, if you run good you simply grind to 50k FPP Cash bonus and still earn extra 50$.

Another option is, if you wanna move up faster, to move your roll to another poker site to grind out a welcome bonus, and then run back to stars.

two really good ideas, thanks. I'm pretty much rolled for 50nl now anyway, but i'm going to play 25nl out until the next stellar reward (this was my original plan cos i wasn't expecting to run 5+ptBB over my first 20k hands at 25nl...) The first idea is what i did for the move to 25nl, the second is something i hadn't thought of but really should. Especially now that i'm rolled to bonus whore. I can probably get a free i-pad out of it too!

played another big session for a few more buyins. Moving up soon i guess. Rolled for 50nl, but i guess i won't be rolled for 100nl by month-end.

I just got in from an hour long hill run. Feels good. On Saturday a friend and I went out for 2hr20 as a half marathon training run. It seems a little ridiculous to train over a longer distance than what we're training towards, but it was good for confidence - even with the level of tiredness we both hit at around the 2hr mark. I was hungry for a long time after that run and still a little tired on Sunday so the only run was half an hour of light jogging to stretch out my legs. The half is on September 11. I'm heading out with the same guy on Saturday to try and punch out 15km on the flat in ok (by non-runner standards) time. Less than two weeks to accumulate some fitness. Game on.

in associated news, i have been chasing a lot of runner runner draws of late but only seeing very limited success. This is a shame as it means that I'm getting stacked more often than I would like. I need to hand-read better if i'm going to shove that light...

Originally Posted by daven

This is a shame as it means that I'm getting stacked more often than I would like. I need to hand-read better if i'm going to shove that light...

you're not alone there!

Not a whole lot of fold equity in this game. I'm totally getting my ass kicked by my 100NL deep auto pilot. I cought myself in a three barrell bluff with bottom pair on a wet board which I used to do cos I could rep the obvious draw when it comes in or get paid when I hit my disguised draw. Ended up taking it down with the best hand when villain snapped with bottom pair and I had him outkicked.
I'm going to put huge focus on not bluffing unless I have a decent draw, and not calling unless I have a really good reason. Going to over-adjust way into the opposite direction for a while.
Huge problem with hand reading at lolNL is that almost nobody can actually read their own hand properly as it relates to your range. So it's prolly best to just stick to a super simple value betting strategy and not get cought up too much in the details.

i'm not convinced that going crazy with air is always gonna be profitable... Looks good so far though? or do i deserve to be losing a lot of chips?

Exhibit A
PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.25 BB (8 handed) - PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB ($14.75)
BB ($25.25)
UTG ($18.80)
UTG+1 ($14.81)
MP1 ($9)
Hero (MP2) ($27.26)
CO ($18.91)
Button ($10)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with A, K
3 folds, Hero bets $0.85, CO raises to $1.75, 3 folds, Hero calls $0.90

Flop: ($3.85) 7, 5, 6 (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $2, Hero calls $2

Turn: ($7.85) 8 (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $3.25, Hero raises to $13.02,

Exhibit B
PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.25 BB (7 handed) - PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP2 ($47.31)
CO ($31.38)
Button ($28.76)
SB ($36.42)
BB ($23.75)
UTG ($14.36)
Hero (MP1) ($27.26)

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with J, J
1 fold, Hero bets $0.85, MP2 calls $0.85, 4 folds

Flop: ($2.05) 10, 3, 8 (2 players)
Hero bets $1.50, MP2 raises to $4.50, Hero calls $3

Turn: ($11.05) 6 (2 players)
Hero bets $1.50, MP2 raises to $11.50, Hero raises to $21.91 (All-In),

Exhibit C
PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.25 BB (9 handed) - PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB ($27.10)
BB ($26.10)
UTG ($30.70)
UTG+1 ($10.75)
MP1 ($25)
MP2 ($25.60)
Hero (MP3) ($25.50)
CO ($18.88)
Button ($25)

Preflop: Hero is MP3 with 8, 6
4 folds, Hero bets $0.85, CO raises to $1.75, 3 folds, Hero calls $0.90

Flop: ($3.85) 2, Q, 2 (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $2, Hero raises to $4.80, CO calls $2.80

Turn: ($13.45) 5 (2 players)
Hero bets $12.80,

Exhibit D
PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.25 BB (8 handed) - PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (Button) ($28.59)
SB ($25)
BB ($9.65)
UTG ($25.66)
UTG+1 ($29.82)
MP1 ($7.74)
MP2 ($28.73)
CO ($26.96)

Preflop: Hero is Button with 3, 6
5 folds, Hero bets $1, SB raises to $3, 1 fold, Hero calls $2

Flop: ($6.25) 7, 6, 4 (2 players)
SB bets $2.75, Hero raises to $25.59 (All-In),

A = good spot to bluff
B = I think villain has you beat
C = villain annoying you with light 3betting? I'd rather 4bet/fold. But as played I suppose you are representing a variety of a strong hands. Good turn to bluff.
D = Why jam? Wouldn't raise to 8$-12$ do the trick?

Overall, I think you might be a bit spewy if you don't got good reads on villains (specially on those particular boards).

1- c/f flop if u don't 4b pre
2-why fps? just c/shove turn
3-just make it a little bigger on flop to prevent him to float too much and make it more credible like 5.5$, also on turn you don't need to make it much more than half pot here
4-meh, this can't be -ev, but a more plus ev play imo would be just calling, and also either 4b pre or fold.

i followed a bum up to 100nl last session - he had stacked me once and i had stacked him 3 times, so i guess it was his money i was following with. Nothing happened, he busted, I left. Hopefully I will be regging up there soon.

month is underway
12k hands at 4.5ptBB/100.
Volume needs to increase, winrate needs to be maintained.

some days you run horribly in flips, 95-5s, etc.
So you keep on grinding it out cos really, the player pool is weak. And it gets no better. And you run about 7bi behind on flips over two sessions in a day. And you look at the graph, and you laugh. Cos you still broke even. Today was such a day. And there are a few sessions left to go

I'm playing so few tables now that a break even streak of a couple thou hands is like half the month. It's nice to see it put in the perspective of just another day.

another graph for lols
i'm getting in the volume i want
i'm playing ok

Originally Posted by daven

Once I'm at 50nl I will start phase 2 of this re-grind. In parallel with grinding the Full Ring, this phase will involve starting at the lowest limits in some other games and learning some more. To start with it will be ante tables (I suck on ante tables), also 6-max, also omaha. I am also going to learn to 24-table - but not for a while yet. I'm probably getting way ahead of myself - first, and most important, step is to get this roll built. And that's a long way from complete...

phase 2 underway, kinda. I'm reading and thinking a bunch about omaha, and also deep play. Not sure which i'll be hitting, or if indeed either.
It feels good to have ground up a roll from $50 in a reasonably short time. I'm not sure how much time I will be spending on other games vs playing my bread and butter.

it is a sunny winter day and time to go out for a run. Sunday morning I will be lining up at the start line of a half-marathon - my first ever. Excited about that.

if i were to pick, i'd diversify my holdem skills (ie learning to play deep, maybe CAP, perhaps work on my tournament game/ICM etc) before lunging into a somewhat new game. and that's what i plan to do once i feel i'm remotely competent at 100bb deep no limit hold them. but i'm not you. so good luck navigating whichever path you choose.

I ran my first half marathon yesterday. The start was a disaster, i didn't cross the start line until over a minute after the gun, then the course was too narrow to easily pass people for ages. 13minutes to get through the 2km mark. WTF?! I hit the 10km marker in 57minutes (basically walking pace) and decided to start passing people. The next 11.1km i went a little faster (53minutes) and passed a few slow people. So, a mediocre time but it felt great to get it done. And my legs had heaps left at the end. I'm going to do some training now and run another one in a few weeks. Cutting 7minutes off my time would be cool, so target is 1hr43'. That would set me up to run something a little faster early next year.

I played a simple nit session at 50nl this morning (below). Simple nit sessions are good for reminding me of ABC. I should start mixing in more 100nl before month-end.

today was pretty gross. I flopped a few sets, that's usually nice. I got a couple of streets of nice value most times. That's usually nice. Villains rivered over-sets often. That's less nice. Mix of 50nl and 100nl today.

Hey man hope all is going well! It said I received a PM from you but my inbox was full. I cleared some space but still didn't receive it .

i decided to get a feel for what going for SNE would be like. I should have done it last year, or this year. 3k vpps/day isn't that tough, i've done it two days in a row now playing small stakes plo and nlhe. Doing it every day for a year would be crazy tough. But move up in stakes and it becomes easier. Maybe next year.
this year i'm wondering about targeting the 200 or 300k milestone. From $50 and less than 1k vpps in August. Maybe it's silly.

Some sick graphs above! Nicely done already dabbling with 100nl and running your half marathon.

another graph, i seem to only post graphs when i'm losing flips. I obviously win flips too sometimes. I'll post a graph next time it happens.



i hit 50k fpps today too - i can't believe i wasted some on baby bonuses earlier. Looking forward to hitting nova and getting me some $4k action.

are you shooting for supernova this year?

i just reread over this thing. i really admire your outlook on poker and your work ethic. not to mention consistently solid winrate and volume. really, really got me keen to get my ass on the study/grind. sick work man.

Originally Posted by rpm

are you shooting for supernova this year?

i figure 4 months from $50 and <1k vpps = i should be shooting for snee
seriously though, i'd like to give 300k vpps a nudge.

Originally Posted by rpm

i just reread over this thing. i really admire your outlook on poker and your work ethic. not to mention consistently solid winrate and volume. really, really got me keen to get my ass on the study/grind. sick work man.

cheers dude. My work-ethic has been a little stupid. I'm spending more of my poker-work-time not playing poker these days. And i'm getting better at poker as a result.

oh, and if you want inspiration then go re-read m2m's blogs!

how many tables are you playing and for how many hours for 3k vpps/day?

also, hu4playmoneyrollz?

Originally Posted by courtiebee

how many tables are you playing and for how many hours for 3k vpps/day?

i'm trying to open up the playing history audit file from stars cos that includes vpps/session and /hand etc. I'll report back.
the playing history audit file is useless for this sort of thing.
I'll simply record hours/stakes/avg tables/vpp received over the next few sessions i play. It's all in HEM except for accurate vpps.
So why don't i just combine the two sets of info....

ok - so it appears that i got the vpp count wrong at the start of the monster grind two days. This could be because of me working on NZ time and the reporting being EST. According to the stars data I made 2200vpps one day, and 2300 another. Both days were huge grinds cos i wanted to know = 12+hrs, and I was still not running at sne pace. Makes more sense now, i should have known it wasn't that easy.

I seem to be getting 0.2 vpps per hand at 50nl, and a few more at 100nl, and quite a few more at 50plo and 100plo. Seems that i get more vpps/hand than the standard fpp-pro calcs. I can think of quite a few explanations for this, any of which could be wrong. Interesting that you get 0.6 vpps/hand at 100plo.

5million hands at 50nl to get snee = even a chinese wow-gold farm would struggle.
I think i'm going to stop buying stellar rewards and get them all as a lump sum once i reach nova, that and the $4k fpp bonus = a $5k incentive to get there soon. And it's worth close to another $8k (milestone+accrued vpps) to get to 200k vpps. Interesting.

Originally Posted by courtiebee

also, hu4playmoneyrollz?

pot limit omaha-8 is my game of choice for this

Just in case my goals are sounding a bit clouded.
I am not aiming to be an FPP-pro = A PokerStars' Player who makes more than half their profits from the VIP Program (from fpppro.com).

However, I do like the sound of FPP-insurance = at least you'll still get some $$ even when variance is hitting you like a wrecking ball....

I was thinking about doing some reg-exploitation analysis, but for now i'm going to wait until I get to stakes where I am happy to be. Game on.

i played quite a few hands of b-c game the last week. I did a big analysis of my game again last night and found a whole bunch of leaks that i have let creep in. Now I just need to start running better. This month has been ridiculous on the winning flips and 90-10s front. Latest session at 50nl is starting to feel pretty standard. About 30bi behind on flips so far this month, and only 30bi in profit at the tables. WTF.

last month was pretty gross. Not much more than $1k in table profits. I collected a few fpps, but whatever.

I started this month by not playing any poker. Instead i went rock climbing in wanaka. Now it's time to study and grind.

In interesting 'life-outside-poker' news, I went and spoke to my bank about house mortgage finance yesterday, they laughed about the poker playing thing but were quite happy when they saw the regular poker income i've had the last couple of years - and when they realised what my % deposit would be! I looked at the house that i am interested in today, it is under offer right now but it sounds like the vendor and prospective buyer have reached a stalemate. I talked to the bank again this afternoon, i'd like to be able to make an unconditional offer. We'll see. Updates on Monday i guess.
More news. Trout fishing season is underway. I'll post a pic of the first respectable fish i decide to kill and eat. Mmmm. Tasty trout.

and a link - cos this is more 2pt gold
Systematic Training Drills for NLHE - Small Stakes Pot Limit and No Limit - Small Stakes Poker Forum

Originally Posted by daven

Systematic Training Drills for NLHE - Small Stakes Pot Limit and No Limit - Small Stakes Poker Forum

i discovered this thread a few days ago as well. awesome content