It's been exactly a month since I jumped into $25NL and I am pleased with my progress and have earned the bankroll to graduate from the so-called "micros" into the so-called "small stakes" playing $50NL. I put in a lot more hands than I had typically logged at previous stakes. Before $25NL, my lowest volume was @ $10NL playing only ~1300 hands per week and my highest volume was ~2000 hands per week when I started $2NL and I just about doubled that this time with ~4500 hands a week. So, ~18k hands later with a win-rate @ ~15bb/100 (7.5ptbb/100) and my bankroll is sitting @ ~$1500.

For the first time since starting a new stake, I got off to a good start that turned into a sick start. After 3 or 4 thousand hands in just a week or so, I was over half-way to $50NL and a win-rate at ~55bb/100. It was quite thrilling and then it abruptly turned the other cheek as these things often do I saw some very strange things during that stretch that really tested my psychological mettle and while I certainly didn't handle it perfectly I'm sure I could have handled it worse, too. Despite some unusual coolers and bad beats during that stretch, I definitely caught myself tilting several times and just generally not playing at my best. The first thing I tend to tilt towards is to stop putting villains on ranges: villains become simply strong, weak, or bluffing. This is bad for losing money when you're behind and equally bad for extracting money when you're ahead because I would typically fast play all my big hands and just hope villains were strong enough or suspicious enough to call. Whereas when I'm on my game, I can usually do a better job of knowing where villain is at or at least where I think their range best fits and make the right adjustments to maximize. The next thing I tend to do that a LOT of other players tend to do too is call down light. When you suffer a string of bad results, the paranoia or feeling of wanting to get even can be overwhelming and it's tougher to make standard or difficult lay downs and your stack tends to leak slowly, but consistently during those times. But fortunately, the anomaly ended as anomalies always do and I was back on track and richer for having gone through the experience - both bankroll wise and experience wise.

I've been watching a ton of videos on Deuces Cracked plus reading the latest release "Small Stakes No Limit Hold'Em" the unofficial sequel to "Professional No Limit Hold'Em Volume 1". At $25NL I did do a much better job of putting opponents on ranges and using PokerStove as I had planned, but the work never stops. In my next move, I want to keep doing all the things I've been doing plus I particularly want to revisit tilt control and having a good psychological mindset. I feel this has been a general strength, but I realize the more I move up, the more I will be tested with better opponents and bigger swings due to tougher games ergo the more important having a good center and outlook becomes. Poker is odd - you HAVE to have confidence enough to want to do well and succeed but also NOT care that much about short term results or losing money. If you care too much, you open yourself up to tilt and being emotionally tied to those results which often leads to bad decision making. If you don't care enough, then you won't be motivated to put in the study time, log hands at the table, or even play optimally. It's a tough balancing act, but a big reward is in store for the few who can manage it. Strategically, I have never thought of 3 betting to be an important concept at the full ring micros and I'm not convinced it will be an important focus initially at the small stakes either, but I will at least start looking at it for the first time in terms of my game and my villains, adding it to my HUD, and making adjustments as needed if needed. I want to continue to learn to play a higher volume of hands while playing optimally. During my bad stretch, I think the added hand volume contributed some to my results in terms of me not being @ my best. I want to train myself to naturally play my best for longer stretches of hands and time, but also be smart enough to take strategic, short breaks. And, as always, I want to continue focusing on ranges until I can read every one's soul and calculating equity until I can do it in my sleep.

To move up from $50NL to $100NL, I'll need to win 30 buy-ins:

$50 times 30 equals $1500 (profit)
$1500 (profit) plus $1500 (my current bankroll) equals $3000 (amount I need)
$100 (next level) times 30 (required buy-ins per my bankroll management rules) equals $3000 (amount I need)

As always, everything will take care of itself eventually IF I'm able to consistently win.

Here's my $25NL graph from HEM:


Here's my overall graph:


I plan to start playing and keep playing $50NL until I drop down to $1000 (20 $50NL buy-ins) at which point I'll drop back down to $25NL or until I rise up to $3000 at which point I may move up to $100NL. The caveat depends on how difficult I feel the next stake may be. I reserve the right to stay at a stake longer if I feel I need a larger bankroll or more time before I move up. Ultimately, it'll be a feel situation, but the minimum number of buy-ins before I would move up is 30.

I'm particularly looking forward to playing at these stakes because I have a weekly live game that uses the same blind structure $0.25/$0.50 so it'll be cool to be playing concurrently online, too. Also, looking @ my previous stakes hourly wage (~$7.50/hour), if I am able to maintain a commensurate win-rate, the hourly possibilities for the first time seem reasonably good (~$15.00/hour), like something you actually could use to keep the lights on with. That's not my purpose or what I'm striving to do, but when you literally started playing for pennies, it's an interesting thought nevertheless.

In the next few days, stay tuned for a $25NL retrospective plus I'll also have a separate "Micro Stakes" ($2NL-$25NL) retrospective.


How High Can You Get?
Level 1 ($ 2 NL) - 12/13/2008 @ $100 -> Winrate for level: 24bb/100 or 12ptBB/100 over 11k hands (As of 01/22/2009)
Level 2 ($ 5 NL) - 01/22/2009 @ $150 -> Winrate for level: 36bb/100 or 18ptBB/100 over 8k hands (As of 03/03/2009)
Level 3 ($10 NL) - 03/03/2009 @ $300 -> Winrate for level: 24bb/100 or 12ptBB/100 over 20k hands (As of 06/18/2009)
Level 4 ($25 NL) - 06/18/2009 @ $750 -> Winrate for level: 15bb/100 or 7.5ptBB/100 over 18k hands (As of 07/18/2009)
Level 5 ($50 NL) - 07/18/2009 @ $1500
Level 6 ($100 NL) - ??? @ $3000
Overall Winrate 23bb/100 or 11.5ptBB/100 over ~58k hands (As of 07/18/2009)