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My Ferguson Challenge

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  1. #1

    Default My Ferguson Challenge

    Hi Everyone,

    I thought I share my Ferguson Challenge. So I decided to sign up with pokerstars yesterday and made my first deposit $50. I'm new to poker so I want to keep it small. If i can win anything great but if I lose i'm not going to lose much. I found it hard yesterday playing super micro 1-2 cent zoom games as a lot of player are playing these bingo hands. I guess it's to be expected playing these small stakes. I ended the day yesterday down only $0.45 so not that bad. I'm up $1 today so it's OK. My goal is to get my bankroll to $500 by Dec 31, 2015.

    Does that seem like a reasonable goal? Any tips or help is alway appreciated.

    PJfan10
  2. #2
    spoonitnow's Avatar
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    Hi and welcome to the forums.

    Learning how to beat players who play a lot of dumb hands is one of the first steps towards making a lot of money at poker, and it sounds like it's going well for you so far.

    Best of luck!
  3. #3
    Eric's Avatar
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    Good luck!
  4. #4
    I have a lot of respect for people that don't go head first into something (like I used to do) and have a more analytic approach, joining forums, reading about bankroll management and the stuff all new players should be aware of.
    Just curious did you signup through flopturnriver ? And what first time bonus / package did you get?
    You have set a realistic goal but your main priority is to study and improve. If you play 2hrs you should study/review hands, watch videos for another 2h.
    Best of luck, keep us posted.
  5. #5
    Hi All,

    I haven't been playing too much the past few days. I saw the promotion with Zoom poker on PS and played my 250 hands and won 10 hands at showdown so I have 2 tickets to their all in shoot out freerolls. If I make the money in one it's all bonus. I will take what I can get right now. Playing zoom I won another $2 and slowing grinding and winning (at least for now). I'm just playing standard ABC poker meaning playing good to fair hand in position and not going crazy with my betting system. I'm not chasing a lot of hand yet as I'm not that familar with pot odds, equity etc etc etc. I hope to read through different sections of the forum this weekend to pick up some tips.
  6. #6
    Hi kingmotan, I will read about bankroll management this weekend. I'm a little familar with it as I read about the Ferguson challenge and what he did. Starting at $50 and playing cash tables $2 each entry I don't think that fits the traditonal BRM rules but I don't want to go in with $1 and get bully around.

    Yes i did sign up through FTR and got the bonus PS offers. I have to earn 1000 VIP to unlock my bonus. I don't know if I can get that much in 6 months but if I can unlock 50%-60% it will help my bankroll.

    You mention watching videos. Do you mean videos of my hands and how they played out? Or just videos online about playing poker?
  7. #7
    good luck for your Challenge.
    Step by Step. on the Mikros is ABC Poker still the best way.
  8. #8
    MadMojoMonkey's Avatar
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    Your goal is perfectly achievable, but I think you're setting yourself up for heartache whenever you set monetary goals in poker. Whether you win or lose any hand is not something you control. Set goals that you can definitely control.

    Examples of good goals:
    1) I want to study for an hour before I play any poker on any day. That study will include at least one hand review.
    2) I want to post more hands on FTR and I want to make sure I reply to those posts with answers to everyone's questions.
    3) I want to play shorter / longer sessions when I grind.
    4) I want to play fewer / more tables when I grind.
    5) I want to learn a sensible approach to BTN v Blind situations.

    In each of the goals above, you are the controlling factor to success, and not the variance of card draws. Achieving any one of those goals (tailored to your own strengths) will have a positive impact on your overall expected winrate.

    I think it is much better to never make a monetary goal in poker, but to savor those monetary milestones when they come.
  9. #9
    Hi Everyone,

    So I started today after a week signing up and I started with $56. I've played Zoom poker today too and I won another $3. I most definitely have beginners luck or something. MadMojoMonkey, I appreciate your feedback and need some help? How do I post hands on FTR? You mention hand review, do you mean other players or my own? If you mean my own, how do I view a previous sessions hands on Pokerstars? Last but not least whats BTN vs Blinds? I will definitely search through the forms too look that up so please don't answer that yet.

    You are right about one thing. I shouldn't just focus about the money. I should be reviewing my style and play. I think at the end of my sessions I should log how many hands I've played. How many flops I viewed and how many show downs did I win? If my win percentage is high then I know I'm doing something right.

    The first thing I will read now is bankroll management. I know I can't but with this winning streak I feel like playing higher levels. I won't because if I do it will defeat the purpose of this grinding and learning.

    Lets start the IPOD, listen to some Pearl Jam and start reading.
  10. #10
    MadMojoMonkey's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by PJfan10 View Post
    MadMojoMonkey, I appreciate your feedback and need some help? How do I post hands on FTR?
    I'm sure someone else can answer this for you. I never played on stars for real money, so I don't know how to get the hand history from stars. There should be some way for you to get a text file of the poker hand. Just feed that to the FTR hand converter (there's a tab at the top of the page) to make it readable.

    Quote Originally Posted by PJfan10 View Post
    You mention hand review, do you mean other players or my own? If you mean my own, how do I view a previous sessions hands on Pokerstars?
    I meant your own, but what I meant in the examples is not really relevant. That's just a list of brainstorming ideas for what you might set as a goal. Whatever goes on YOUR list is entirely up to you and where you are as a player. If you are brutally honest about yourself when you study, you'll be able to find your true weaknesses as a player.

    I don't play on stars, so I can't help there. I'm sure you can google it, though.

    Quote Originally Posted by PJfan10 View Post
    Last but not least whats BTN vs Blinds? I will definitely search through the forms too look that up so please don't answer that yet.


    Quote Originally Posted by PJfan10 View Post
    You are right about one thing.
    It's about time I was right about somethin'.

    Quote Originally Posted by PJfan10 View Post
    I shouldn't just focus about the money. I should be reviewing my style and play.
    That's the spirit!

    Quote Originally Posted by PJfan10 View Post
    I think at the end of my sessions I should log how many hands I've played. How many flops I viewed and how many show downs did I win? If my win percentage is high then I know I'm doing something right.
    Much as I love charts and graphs (and I do), this sounds like a complete waste of time that will get you thinking about crap that has nothing to do with making good poker decisions.

    Quote Originally Posted by PJfan10 View Post
    The first thing I will read now is bankroll management.
    It's a great first step, so I heartily recommend it.

    Quote Originally Posted by PJfan10 View Post
    I know I can't but with this winning streak I feel like playing higher levels. I won't because if I do it will defeat the purpose of this grinding and learning.

    Lets start the IPOD, listen to some Pearl Jam and start reading.
    Oops my bad... is this just a masochism thing? I might have misread this post.
  11. #11
    http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...-a-198098.html thats a link explaining how to do it if you have HEM2 for tracking your results.

    ALternatively if you have no tracking software an easy way may be to use the boom player in the stars software. Longer term though you will ideally want to get either HEM2 or PT4 so hat you can review sessions and or look for opponents leaks that you can exploit.
  12. #12
    You started with $50, looks like around December 15th. Turning $50 into $100 by December 31st sounds like a realistic goal. $500 in 15 days would be making 10X which is not realistic for me, unless... I see you managed to get some tickets to some other tourneys by grinding, getting rakeback, etc. That is a very smart way to go. I try to play on sites that give me the most for my money, so sometimes chasing a bonus or qualifying for a freeroll here and there is great. I know for me, I am in a Bovada promo that is almost over. I have won a ticket to a $5K freeroll for like 4 separate weeks, and this week I am hoping to win a ticket to a $20K freeroll. If my NFC West team can beat the one remaining team, NFC North.

    p.s. I would not play a higher level unless I had $200. Good luck in your progression.
    It takes 2 years to learn to talk, but a lifetime to learn when to shut up.
  13. #13
    Good luck from me.
  14. #14
    Did a bit of reading, bit of playing and a lot of eating this week. Love Christmas season.

    Keith thanks for the link about how to post hands. I've found a way for PS to email my a previous hand and I like to post a hand on a new thread to get some people opinion. I've looked up HEM2 & PT4. I've sure the software is worth the money how every I'm just playing .01-.02 and next level being .02-.05 I don't think its worth it for me. If I hit by goal next year and I have a bankroll of $400-$500 and I'm playing higher states then I will look into getting one of them.

    eberetta1 my goal was to get $500 by Dec 2015 not this year. Now I just want to get better. If I just play better the money will come my way. Even if only pennies
  15. #15
    Shoot.... I forgot to mention on my previous message. MadMojoMonkey, BTN vs Blinds. You mean Button VS Blinds. I'm I correct

    I've learned limping on the button with A suited or A paint is not worth it. You have to raise because the SB or BB will have random hands. You can hit your A and bet into the hand and the blinds can beat you with 2 pair. With the raise I can remove some of the junk hands and put the blinds better qualify cards like connected cards, suited cards, small pair or paint. Thats my 2 cents at least.
  16. #16
    where abouts are you from ? There are some site sthat don't allow the use of HUDS ,which wouldn't put you at a disadvantage against other players that may be using them. SKY and Unibet are like that. HEM 2 and PT4 both give a 1 month free trial as well ( although PT4 has an annoying trial mode banner over each table when you use it during the trial. HEM and PT are now the same company so get the one that works best for you or that you like the best.
    If you want to wait before buying , consider the hud free sites, or 888's snap poker is hud free whereas conventional tables can be used with a HUD.
  17. #17
    MadMojoMonkey's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by PJfan10 View Post
    Shoot.... I forgot to mention on my previous message. MadMojoMonkey, BTN vs Blinds. You mean Button VS Blinds. I'm I correct

    I've learned limping on the button with A suited or A paint is not worth it. You have to raise because the SB or BB will have random hands. You can hit your A and bet into the hand and the blinds can beat you with 2 pair. With the raise I can remove some of the junk hands and put the blinds better qualify cards like connected cards, suited cards, small pair or paint. Thats my 2 cents at least.
    BTN = Button, yes.

    BTV v Blinds is a term which means that at the start of the hand, it was folded to the BTN. The BTN does not fold.

    The BTN knows that he has position for the rest of the hand, and that he has a pretty good chance of getting both the SB and BB to fold right now. BTN responds by opening a much wider range of hands than usual (maybe as much as double the %-age of hands he would play if it was folded to him in the CO). The blinds know (by popular perception) that the BTN should be doing this, according to game theory analysis. The blinds also have dead money in the pot already, which gives them better pot odds against the BTN raise.

    So the blinds respond by playing a much wider range as well, and 3-betting much wider. The BTN now has dead money in the pot, and faces a 3-bet that represents a wide range.

    See how this dynamic starts out simple with the BTN opening a very wide range, based on position. Then it snowballs into playing big 3-bet and 4-bet+ pots with medium-strong hands if the blinds respond correctly?

    ***
    OMG, yeah, never limp when it's folded to you on the BTN. NEVER.
    On Bovada, I usually open raise 4x + 1 BB for each limper. Except when it's folded to me on the BTN, I standard open 3x.
    My reduced open size is exactly because the blinds are expected to 3-bet wide, and I can call more hands IP if their 3-bet is a bit smaller.
    Last edited by MadMojoMonkey; 12-28-2014 at 12:25 PM.
  18. #18
    Hi All,

    Great week last week. I started the day up another $11 I'm trying to keep a cool head as it's only been 2 weeks playing online and I'm sure I will have some volitility in the coming days and weeks ahead.

    Keith, I will look up free HUD sites and 888 snap poker hud. My fear is getting some virus or spyware on my computer. I will ask other friend if they have any of the software. It would be nice to see how it works.

    MadMojoMonkey, thank you for the great explaination. I'm learning quickly the importance of the button when I play. I feel pre-flop and post flop I'm OK. I play a lot of zoom poker on pokerstars that I get nervous when someone re-raises me and I'm out of position. A lot of players playing bingo hands that happen to hit. I've already lost 2 all in pre-flop with AA. I don't feel bad losing an all in pre-flop with AA because I know I went in with the best hand.
  19. #19
    pokertracker4 and holdemmanager2 trials through the respective sites are virus free . If you do a dodgy download off torrent to try and get an unlocked version for free you are highly likely to download trojans and other nasty software. Its not worth the risk. FPDB is a free hud but will take more effort to set up and get working. some pieces of software are banned by stars as they used a shared database and stars look for them . if they find them on your computer they can close your account. just stick to the main poker trackers.

    snap poker on 888 is HUD free as 888 asked HEM and PT developers to remove support(although I think that snap tournaments are supported still but cash games are not) , so you won't find a snap hud .
  20. #20
    Here's my biweekly update. I know what it's like to go on tilt. Lost 5% of my bankroll in one day when flopping a very strong hands and losing to runner runner. I hit mid set and villian hit top pair with a suited hand then runner runner flush. It happen to me and I had to turn off pokerstars for awhile however since then I've build it back up. I'm finding 2NL very tricky as a lot of players will call a 3B or 4B raise with anything. I think one of my holes is when someone re-raises me pre-flop. I will call with hands like AK -AQ and pocket pairs like JJ, TT and 99 and I like to call these re-raises when I'm in position. I find I'm folding post flop when the board doesn't go my way and the villian makes a large bet on the flop. I will try to find an example in the next couple of days and post it. Now back to the grind.
  21. #21
    Had an awesome week last week and I cracked $80 with the help of unlocking first $10 bonus
    Just today alone I'm up another $6. My next goal is to learn playing with a deep stack. I like to enter a table with $2 and leave with $6-$8.
  22. #22
    Sounds like your doing well mate, I find 2NL tricky, find it hard to adapt, frustrates me sometimes playing it but I am determined to beat it, when will you be going to 5nl? or will you stay at 2nl for a little while longer
  23. #23
    Hi All,

    It's been awhile since my last update. I've been sick for most of Jan and early Feb but much better now. I'm finally over $90 and grinding my way to $100. It has come with a lot volatility. I'm following strick bankroll managment resisting the temptation of playing 5NL however I did try it once.

    MrFerguson91, yes I find 2NL tricky too but I just try to stick to my game and ABC poker. I try not to chase too many flush/straight draws unless I have the odds and I really make others pay to chase their draws. I think I will try 5NL when I'm over $110 however will not play it often. I will move to 5NL level once my bankroll is at least $150.
  24. #24
    Nice mate, what games are you playing anyway? full ring or zoom or 6 max or something? usually 20 buyins is enough to go up levels but if you are doing well and beating 2nl keep it going for a while anyway, I was speaking to someone on pokerstars a few nights ago who told me his bankroll is $450 and he grinded it up at 2 nl tables. Said he moved to 5nl and lost $80 so he just plays 2nl because thats what worked well for him
  25. #25
    I'm playing 2NL zoom 6 max per table. Just hit a ROYAL FLUSH and won a pot of a whopping $.05!!!! Can't find someone trying to bluff me when I have the nuts.
  26. #26
    I'd recommend starting a blog dude in the "Blogs and Operations" section of this website, as it sounds like you have the right (read: realistic) attitude for the Ferguson Challenge, and to make poker a profitable hobby.

    FWIW, I followed the rules of this after reading about it when I started donking around in few freerolls. It's a good idea and set of rules to follow for anybody looking to avoid ever depositing their own money and learn the games/levels in a structured format.

    The challenge is NOT easy though, and certainly not as easy as it was for a Main Event champion 5-years ago or so. The first couple of hundred came easily enough for me through freerolls, but then the first $1k and beyond can be slow as you move up to levels where the opposition isn't stupid anymore. That's my personal experience though, and everybody is different and starting from a different base level of knowledge and experience. I've only just made the $10k after a few years of part-time playing, and the games are definitely getting tougher. I still enjoy playing though and delighted that I found a game that I never seem to tire of.
  27. #27
    Quote Originally Posted by The Bean Counter View Post
    I'd recommend starting a blog dude in the "Blogs and Operations" section of this website, as it sounds like you have the right (read: realistic) attitude for the Ferguson Challenge, and to make poker a profitable hobby.

    FWIW, I followed the rules of this after reading about it when I started donking around in few freerolls. It's a good idea and set of rules to follow for anybody looking to avoid ever depositing their own money and learn the games/levels in a structured format.

    The challenge is NOT easy though, and certainly not as easy as it was for a Main Event champion 5-years ago or so. The first couple of hundred came easily enough for me through freerolls, but then the first $1k and beyond can be slow as you move up to levels where the opposition isn't stupid anymore. That's my personal experience though, and everybody is different and starting from a different base level of knowledge and experience. I've only just made the $10k after a few years of part-time playing, and the games are definitely getting tougher. I still enjoy playing though and delighted that I found a game that I never seem to tire of.
    Hi The Bean Counter,
    I've never started a blog before and for what I'm doing I think your suggestion is a good idea. I'm very tempted to move up levels now after the past 2 days of playing but will stick to my rules/Ferguson Challenge guidelines. I will tell you more about it when I start my new blog
    PJfan10

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