Mission: Become a poker player - via FTR

Originally Posted by Xianti

pls don't start on him again, muzz... be cool like fonz

That is a little presumptuous don't you think....

I'm just asking because I haven't seen him in IRC or on here for a few weeks.

Originally Posted by Xianti

pls don't start on him again, muzz... be cool like fonz

fwiw xman the muzz helps the slev on irc and i think they are cool now. WHERE IS THE SLEVS???

U good people berated the poor guy into exile.

Originally Posted by nibbles

U good people berated the poor guy into exile.

Nah, he's over at GrinderSchool, focusing on learning the game. He'll probably be back soon. He's actually making progress: opening a TAGG range, playing some position, making solid value bets. It's a whole new Slev - srsly.

Originally Posted by badgers

fwiw xman the muzz helps the slev on irc and i think they are cool now.

ok, I didn't know that. Cool beans.

My apologies, muzz.

heh muzzard doesn't help me on irc i've had to add him to my ignore list on irc 3 weeks ago as it goes but everything is going just great with my game and there are tonns of people that have gone out of their way to help me on FTR and for that i'm very grateful! =)

haven't updated my GS blog in a while either I joined GS for the quality of training videos and to try to inject a fresh set of study into my game - it's been well worthwhile, but i'll always consider FTR my poker home :P lack of posts is just because i haven't been playing much past week or two still playing some poker though and enjoying it will update soon =) 2nl/5nl is on hold for the time being, I'm meant to be on holiday but am having a few passport problems!

Poker is good* and so is life - hope everyone here at FTR is doing great too! =)

*Well actually I run the worst I've run since I started playing 5 months ago, today...
but no whining!

Well I've had an eventful past week or so at the tables. I have been trying hard to get my game together lately and was doing just fine until I got a little over confident and got kicked back to reality! Was up considerably after three days of solid grinding and then decided to take a shot at the next stakes... After losing most of my profits from the last three days I decided to stop and head back down the stakes. Still didn't manage to follow strict BR management but had enough of it this time to save my roll so not a total loss. Another day another dollar, so I'll be starting again today looking to grind back up. Current BR: $77.

BUT it's not all backwards steps in the world of Slevins poker. I also decided to open a Virgin account and try to win myself to LA to party with the FTR admins =) :P and... I'm about halfway there!

Will be focussing on that for the next few days and will update soon

Originally Posted by LuckySlevin

Current BR: $77.

BUT it's not all backwards steps in the world of Slevins poker. I also decided to open a Virgin account and try to win myself to LA to party with the FTR admins =) :P and... I'm about halfway there!

so you still aren;t doing the bankroll management thing - correct me if i'm wrong, but i think that only sng's with buyin >5 euro count for the virgin promotion. Playing US$7 sngs on a roll of $77.....

>=5 euro. But I didn't make it clear in my post the virgin poker account is entirely where I've been playing so I didn't just open that account with my 70 dollar BR. What actually happened was this.

1. Deposit 40 euros, grind some sngs, busto by day two.

2. Deposit another 40 euros one week later grind some sngs, hit sick varience and bust after one day.

Running total 80 euros down.

3. Deposit 30 euros later in the evening. Play for 3-4 days grind to 330 euros. Move up too quickly (including playing 20 and 50 dollar double up sngs) bust back to 60 euros. Stop for the day. Switch of computer. (yesterday)

4. Realise that I've almost thrown my roll away for the umpteenth time. Look on the bright side. I still have some left this time.

4a. Start thinking about buddhist teaching and how attachment and desire are key problems and powerful factors in my degeneracy. Attachment to profit, and desire to earn more - build BR. Wonder if I'll ever get over this hurdle.

5. Spend some time on FTR again today reading about how the hell I sort this problem, re-find this thread: http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...70.html#741552 feel a little better from reading it, and try to focus on going back to basics today and grinding the roll up.

Current BR: $77. Will be posting BR in every post from now on to try to keep me on track.

Ok, here's a novel approach. Enough beating of the dead horse. You have a clear cognitive understanding of why bankroll management is important and emotionally it doesn't make sense to you, but you're learning.

Here's what you should do:
For bankroll management make the correct long term decision and then forget about all particulars. Bankroll Management is a concept that makes sense in the long term - so practice applying it in the long term by putting it in place and then STOP THINKING ABOUT IT.

Do not report on your bankroll.

Do not check your bankroll.

Ever.

If your bankroll management results in you playing a level where it is possible to move down I will let you check your bankroll once per week ONLY. If you can't move down it doesn't matter if you're hitting bottom - you'll need to redeposit, but you'll know that you need to redeposit when you hit zero.

Go to PT or HEM and try to find a way to hide summary columns for days/sessions so you don't get a proxy to the state of your bankroll that way. You do need to see wins/losses for individual hands for analysis so you can't hide those - but the point here is to get the current dollar and cent amount of your bankroll completely out of your mind.

The point of the above is this: You need to understand how your mind works, how it sets traps for itself and how you can eliminate those traps. Reporting on your bankroll daily is a trap - it INCREASES your focus on whether your bankroll goes up or down and makes it much more likely that you'll tilt over it and start making bad decisions. You'll feel immensely good about yourself and proud when you can report a bankroll increase and bad about yourself when the bankroll has gone down. And on a big downswing you'll talk yourself into delaying the report until you have something positive (or less negative) to report and suddenly accountability is down the drain.

Accountability - I think that's what you're trying to achieve. I've described why the proposed method is the wrong way to do it - here's the right one.

What is it that you want to be accountable for? Becoming a better poker player.

What is a sensible measure of improving as a poker player? Bankroll? No! There is way too much variance for bankroll to be a useful indicator of anything - especially if you have bankroll management issues and you can have 50 hands at too high a limit that completely skews the results based on variance (skill at this point is no longer a factor in what your bankroll comes out at).

Ok, so not bankroll - what then? Applying yourself. Here's the pledge you must make:

Whenever I play a session I will do a post session review, select one hand for every full hour played and make a post where I will explain my thought process for the selected hands. It doesn't need to be a hand I had problems with - or even played. It can be a hand between two other people.

The point here is accountability - accountable for working to develop poker skills - exemplified here in an example of you thinking about a hand (notes, reads, ranges, odds, equity etc). While other people can choose to comment this is merely a record of you being accountable to yourself on maintaining the learning as a focus of your poker activity. A good thing to include is the kind of note you would take on an opponent based on how he played the hand and what kind of adjustments you would consider making against this opponent in the future.

You don't have to choose an interesting hand, or one with a question - but you DO have to post one and explain your thoughts on the hand.

I think you should stop playing poker.
This is not a criticism, I hope you don't take it as such.
Stopping now could save you a lot of money.

If you can't play with decent bankroll management etc - you know that....

hell, if you somehow tomorrow won a small MTT for like $2k, you'd probably still have made a net poker loss...

but regardless, best of luck with whatever you choose to do on your (and I note that it is YOUR, to do with as you choose! ) poker journey.

Thanks Erpel for the advice. Thanks also Daven but I'm not entirely ready to give up on my poker just yet, and past losses don't come into my thinking, what's gone is gone is my philosophy.

But yeah something has to give I'm incapable of grinding a BR that much has been proved! I start a new job next week working from home (have been a free man for past 3 months so loads of time on my hands).

The underlying problem with my BR management has always been that I am too eager to get to a meaningful sum of money in my BR and am not capable of sustaining a disciplined approach to BR over a period of time because I am too keen to start seeing some decent money. Meaningful money is relative but for me I'd say mentally about 2k pounds.

In six months I haven't withdrawn 1 cent from poker that isn't because I don't have the playing skills (BR management aside) to beat players, I do now at the lower stakes thanks to FTR.

So for the next three months I'm trying an experiment.

I will only play $50nl. At the end of three months I'll re-evaluate and see where my BR is. Things can't really get much worse, I have a finite amount of money to spend on poker so there is no risk of a magnified loss. I'm not advocating playing outside of BR strategy unless a last resort but for me I think it is now. I've given my best effort to grinding a roll from 2nl over the last six months and it hasn't worked so now I'm trying something different.

Originally Posted by LuckySlevin

The underlying problem with my BR management has always been that I am too eager to get to a meaningful sum of money in my BR and am not capable of sustaining a disciplined approach to BR over a period of time because I am too keen to start seeing some decent money. Meaningful money is relative but for me I'd say mentally about 2k pounds.

which makes you rolled for 50 or 100nl only. Remember this....

Originally Posted by LuckySlevin

I don't have the playing skills (BR management aside) to beat players, I do now at the lower stakes thanks to FTR. and grinderschool!

don't forget the shout-out!

Originally Posted by LuckySlevin

I will only play $50nl. At the end of three months I'll re-evaluate and see where my BR is. Things can't really get much worse, I have a finite amount of money to spend on poker so there is no risk of a magnified loss. I'm not advocating playing outside of BR strategy unless a last resort but for me I think it is now. I've given my best effort to grinding a roll from 2nl over the last six months and it hasn't worked so now I'm trying something different.

ummm.... you understand the why and how of br management, and acknowledge that you are guaranteed to lose longterm if you can't stick to it - yet you choose to ignore it.
You may very well have the skills now to beat 50nl, or not. You don't have the skills (nobody does) to beat variance - hence brm.
my advice stands, good luck - but if you played smart you wouldn't have to rely on luck....

Yes more recently Grinderschool has also helped well worth a look for any aspiring new players some great videos and a really nice site.

This is my take on this Daven, if I play the ultra micros variance does not come into the equation because regardless of positive variance or negative variance I just continue playing the ultra micros for x amount of time until I get bored / impatient then blow my whole BR by playing outside of BR, when this happens I put loads of pressure on myself because its taken me x amount of time to build the roll and Im risking 25% of it in one game for example. I crash, restart the process. That has been what's happened so far. I've been stuck in this rut for six months.

My view is give the low stakes a go now, if it doesn't work out I haven't lost anything. If it does I've escaped that cycle I've just mentioned and might finally start to get somewhere with my poker.

Someone else had the same idea as me:
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/29...action-362249/

The underlying problem with my BR management has always been that I am too eager to get to a meaningful sum of money in my BR and am not capable of sustaining a disciplined approach to BR over a period of time because I am too keen to start seeing some decent money. Meaningful money is relative but for me I'd say mentally about 2k pounds.

And there's your problem. The fact that you CARE about the size of your bankroll.

I will only play $50nl.

Occasionally you will see people posting something along the lines of moving up where they respect your raises. It's a joke for a reason. As you move up you will likely find people more straightforward and more predictable to play against - but they're going to punish you for your mistakes much more. You'll learn different lessons for sure - and they will cost you much more.

That aside, a bankroll for playing $50nl is more around $1250 or so.

If you really are desperately craving playing against people who are more straightforward and predictable and you are willing to take the risk that they punish your mistakes more relentlessly (and for you expensively) the limits to consider are 10nl or 25nl. I don't agree with it, but as you're fond of pointing out - it's your choice. If you decide to go through with this experiment at least commit to playing only one table at a time. You need full concentration on the table - making notes and deep reads on your opponents so when you end up with a playable hand you have the best possible chance of knowing what your opponent has. And ONLY play when you can bring the focus.

I still think my way (and the one described in the link in this post) is better for you and addresses one of the core problems in your approach to playing poker.

One additional note. Don't think of moving up as something that YOU can DO - think of it as something that HAPPENS TO YOU as a result of factors OUTSIDE your control.

These factors basically boil down to the size of your bankroll and you following a sensible bankroll management principle - but surely by now you will agree that the actual amount of money in your bankroll is in very important regards something that is outside your control.

The same principles of making it happen and being results oriented that apply to a hand needs to be applied to bankroll management. People harp on how important it is, but just as important is to plot your course and let the LONG RUN prove you right - without constantly twitching at the controls and making your own problems.

You are your worst enemy. Do you really think you are putting together an effective strategy against your worst enemy?

Actually yes I honestly believe this experiment is the best thing I can do for my growth as a poker player for the time being. Time will tell I guess!

I got this from Robb's operation:
http://www.playwinningpoker.com/poker/math/variance/

Make sure whenever you sit at a table and consider getting into a hand that you have an edge. If in doubt, fold or leave the table.

That was a very interesting article and was a nice way of understanding what being a winning player is all about. I'm looking forward to starting this new attack at becoming a winning player. It's going to be an interesting three months for me.

ZOMFG slev, jump from 2nl to 50nl? Please tell me you're leveling.

I was playing 50nl FR, 9-tabling, last night. When I saw your post, I thought about the difference between 50nl and 10nl (where I was 2 months ago). So, I was facing about 50 - 55 players (some were on multiple tables). Of those, I could identify maybe 3 real feesh. At 10nl, I expect 2 feesh per table. And just because donaters are there doesn't mean they'll contribute a stack to your bankroll.

25nl and 50nl expose leaks in your game that you can't even diagnose properly at 5nl. You don't play enough meaningful turns and rivers against decent players to have much of a postflop game at 10nl and lower. You can't win without decent postflop play at 25nl and above, and it's hard to develop those skills lower down.

The development from 10nl to 25nl took me 8 months. But once I got there and learned some more, I was ready for the next step. 5nl and below are beatable with decent proflop play. 10nl is beatable with decent preflop and flop play. But 25nl and above require the ability to play solid, ABC poker on every street against all types of villains. Sounds simple, and it is really, but the increments let you focus on one part of your game at a time. Grinding up is really just a tailor-made poker-improvement path where the villains and regs at each level provide a nicely increasing challenge.

I'll admit that I can't play 2nl successfully 'cuz the money isn't "real" to me. So I see your point. But I can't set fire to a $20 bill and not cringe. So 10nl was "real enough" that I could get motivated to play well.

Please don't gamble above your bankroll, not because it's a bad investment (which it is) but because you'll be denying yourself a chance to improve step by step, level by level.

Hey Robb, no I'm not levelling, I don't believe that the practice of levelling helps anyone so would never get involved in it.

It's not that the money in any one game isn't real to me e.g. 2/5/10 nl, it's more that I inevitably veer off to the higher tables 25/50 after a given amount of time. With the best intentions in the world I have tried time and time again to restart again when I have veered off and regardless always end up in the same situation. I do not fully understand the pyscological reasons for this but I do understand the futility of the cycle.

So I'm just going to play the game that I seem to want to play. It's got nothing to do with me wanting more straight forward villians and everything to do with me being unable to grind the ultra micro stakes as evidenced by my past 6 months trying.

It's just an experiment as I said, and I'll re-evaluate after 3 months. Things really can't get any worse, I haven't withdrawn 1 cent since I started playing

It doesn't work that way man. You're just throwing your bankroll away. Which is fine, if that's what you want to do, but don't do it under the guise of "its the right thing to do". Its the flat out wrong thing to do.

I have tried time and time again to restart again when I have veered off and regardless always end up in the same situation. I do not fully understand the pyscological reasons for this but I do understand the futility of the cycle.

So to stop the cycle, you're going to perpetuate the cycle?

ROFLMAO

Slev: I has 66, i raise preflop to $0.08, cool 1 caller ;]. Dammit, flop is AJ3 I TOTALLY MISSED
Other dude: Cbet about $0.14 slev, it's a great board.
Slev: huh? U mean I should be altho i missed?
Other dude: Yes, you can rep the A...
Slev: wow he folded!!! Imma go play dem 50nl and show all dem pplz my l33t cbetting skills. IMMA BE SO BALLA!!!

rly... those people at 50nl have already beaten 2nl, 5nl, 10nl and 25nl. You won't baffle them with your cbets. Also, you've stated this is a 3 months experience, but I'm more interested in knowing how much $$ are you going to lose before calling this off. It just might be more profitable to drop back to 50nl than to stick to my nitfest tables...

I just won me a trip to LA to meet FTR admins!! WOOOHOO =)

Wow - what exactly was the contest? It may be in the thread earlier but I am lazy.

Regardless, congrats Gary!

Thanks Casey! It was to cash in 40 STTs over at virgin poker
(5 euro or greater buy in) I'm really looking forward to the trip

It's also the biggest thing I've won in my poker so that feels pretty cool too

Originally Posted by euphoricism

It doesn't work that way man. You're just throwing your bankroll away. Which is fine, if that's what you want to do, but don't do it under the guise of "its the right thing to do". Its the flat out wrong thing to do.

I have tried time and time again to restart again when I have veered off and regardless always end up in the same situation. I do not fully understand the pyscological reasons for this but I do understand the futility of the cycle.

So to stop the cycle, you're going to perpetuate the cycle?

Hmm. I see your point eupho. I've been here so many times before. I must say now I have actually won something concrete through my poker I feel quite a bit better about it. :P

I am going to have to listen to your comments eupho, stop the cycle OK experiment cancelled. I'm going to start a new project soon which will simply be play X amount of games at a specific stake. This will get me away from being BR orientated because instead of letting that dictate when I have succeeded, I'll have succeeded simply when I've played the predetermined number of hands/games at the predetermined buy in limit.

I'm going to have a think about what game / limit I'm going to play and post my full plans soon.

Thanks for the advice and encouragement eupho/kmind.

Originally Posted by LuckySlevin

So for the next three months I'm trying an experiment.

I will only play $50nl.

Woohoo!

I think the project is going to be something along the lines of - play 1000 SNGs with no more than a $10 buy in. Something along those lines anyway. That nike slogan comes to mind just do it that's how I feel about my poker now Just do it!

There are no outisde influences for this goal. It's just play a set number of games at a given stake. I'm not going to pay a blind bit of notice to my BR. I'm certain I have the skill set now to beat $10 games, just going to play the games and at the end of the OP see where my BR is.

I feel like giving the double up games a try too so may make them the focus of the OP. I think there will be less variance in them also which will be nice. Whatever it is I'll write my progress/1000 in my OP daily. I'm really attracted to the lack of focus on 'grinding up' / needing to increase BR, in this challenge, I think that's what might make it work for me.

Its time to come clean Slev,

Your not really an aspiring poker player at all are you? Youre really a psychology grad who's studying various personality types and how often you can ask for their help and subsequently ignore it before they get pissed off/bored with you. Which type am I, and did I fit the stereotype or are you building all the profiles from scratch?

A lot of work has gone into your study, I have to hand it to you. Hundreds of long, articulate posts were made to create an online persona which would enable you to extract the data you need from all these helpful individuals. Awesome level man. Pure Epic.

Sorry for outing you. Where do you plan on publishing this study once its complete?

Playing 50nl fullring on stars is a much better idea imo

I don't care if you guys want to have a little bit of fun, I just won a trip to LA to meet the FTR admins poker is good at the moment woohoo

Id ask if they would consider just giving you the cash for the ticket. The money is way more useful in your BR right now than in a plane ticket.

Originally Posted by LuckySlevin

I just won a trip to LA to meet the FTR admins poker is good at the moment woohoo

enjoy the buzz dude

I have a new regime now before I play any poker. I've called it My Poker Protocol. It says that I should remind myself that the focus of my time at the tables is discipline. That for the next two hours I must play the stake/game already decided and I must take a break before opening any more games/tables once two hours has elapsed. I'm also to remain completely emotionally detached from every hand.

This is my new Poker Protocol and I like it, I'll be using it before every session from now on!

Originally Posted by LuckySlevin

I just won me a trip to LA to meet FTR admins!! WOOOHOO =)

'Cause you're the only European based FTR'er to have entered.

Just a quick update for all those following my journey, poker is going the best it's ever gone for me. I think winning the trip really gave me a confidence boost.

Playing on other sites lately including bodog (the ftr333 introduced me to bodog)

BR is the highest it's ever been (we're talking over 500$ !) and poker is going well. Cheers hope you're all doing fine. Will update properly in a week or so (in a library at the moment). Since my ISP went down and came back up again I can not access FTR. Every other site fine, just not FTR! I'm typing this in a library. Speak to you all later!!

Originally Posted by LuckySlevin

Just a quick update for all those following my journey, poker is going the best it's ever gone for me. I think winning the trip really gave me a confidence boost.

Playing on other sites lately including bodog (the ftr333 introduced me to bodog)

BR is the highest it's ever been (we're talking over 500$ !) and poker is going well. Cheers hope you're all doing fine. Will update properly in a week or so (in a library at the moment). Since my ISP went down and came back up again I can not access FTR. Every other site fine, just not FTR! I'm typing this in a library. Speak to you all later!!

well done mate. Poker trip sounds cool. I meant to have a crack at it, but forgot - prob too late for the 2nd place.

Well done on Bankroll. Don't fck it up playing silly priced SnG's.

Originally Posted by LuckySlevin

Just a quick update for all those following my journey, poker is going the best it's ever gone for me. I think winning the trip really gave me a confidence boost.

Playing on other sites lately including bodog (the ftr333 introduced me to bodog)

BR is the highest it's ever been (we're talking over 500$ !) and poker is going well. Cheers hope you're all doing fine. Will update properly in a week or so (in a library at the moment). Since my ISP went down and came back up again I can not access FTR. Every other site fine, just not FTR! I'm typing this in a library. Speak to you all later!!

Your ISP is obviously rigged. What ISP?

Originally Posted by euphoricism

Id ask if they would consider just giving you the cash for the ticket. The money is way more useful in your BR right now than in a plane ticket.

Plane ride may last longer than the cash

Originally Posted by bigred

Originally Posted by LuckySlevin

Just a quick update for all those following my journey, poker is going the best it's ever gone for me. I think winning the trip really gave me a confidence boost.

Playing on other sites lately including bodog (the ftr333 introduced me to bodog)

BR is the highest it's ever been (we're talking over 500$ !) and poker is going well. Cheers hope you're all doing fine. Will update properly in a week or so (in a library at the moment). Since my ISP went down and came back up again I can not access FTR. Every other site fine, just not FTR! I'm typing this in a library. Speak to you all later!!

Your ISP is obviously rigged. What ISP?

Same shit happened to me yesterday except ISP didnt crash. Just couldnt hit up FTR for a while.

Originally Posted by LuckySlevin

Just a quick update for all those following my journey, poker is going the best it's ever gone for me. I think winning the trip really gave me a confidence boost.

Playing on other sites lately including bodog (the ftr333 introduced me to bodog)

BR is the highest it's ever been (we're talking a deposit of over 500$ because of Christmas money I received!) and poker is going well. Cheers hope you're all doing fine. Will update properly in a week or so (in a library at the moment). Since my ISP went down and came back up again I can not access FTR. Every other site fine, just not FTR! I'm typing this in a library. Speak to you all later!!

imo

Originally Posted by spoonitnow

Originally Posted by LuckySlevin

BR is the highest it's ever been (we're talking a deposit of over 500$ because of Christmas money I received!) and poker is going well.

imo

+1

Slevin Rules!!!!!!

wow, Slevin you've actually improved your Bankroll significantly somehow. Hopefully you're going to keep improving and will now only be going upwards on your money graph eh?

anyways, subbed to your thread

EDIT: NM just read the entire thread, did you really move up to 50NL??? how much money did you desposit to get to 500$ BR???

Originally Posted by xptboy

how much money did you desposit to get to 500$ BR???

Luhlz

It's good to be back.

All my poker bankrolls have run out, but I'll soon deposit $50 and try to build it. Basically only a moron could read Ftr and lose money, so with a bit of luck this will be my last deposit! Just deciding whether to put it in pokerstars or a euro fish tank atm.. i' m edging towards euro room atm, just because i couldn't believe how easy boss was compared to pokerstars when I last played!

Originally Posted by flomo

Slevin Rules!!!!!!

ty always liked you flomo <3

What happened?! Did you ever meet the radmins?

welcome back

slevin is back!!!!!

lets party with bacardy

why did slev dissappear?

Also how did you run out of monees? I thought you had joined the ranks of grinderschool and that you were doing well over there.

Thanks One day I tried to log in and couldn't access ftr it's just fixed itself thats why I dissapeared for about 3 months I think my isps ip was on some ban list or something.

I did join the ranks of GS but have a long way to go yet - still decidely in donkville atm! I've played maybe 3 times the past two months and am looking forward to having another stab at it soon - I've decided to take some coaching in a couple of weeks time hopefully that'll add a bit of structure to my game and iron out any glaring weaknesses!

Originally Posted by kmind

What happened?! Did you ever meet the radmins?

welcome back

Thanks no not yet, I haven't been able to access the forums or website since last year so couldn't set anything up - hopefully I'll be able to meet them within the next few months.

I haven't currently got any bankrolls anywhere, I start a new job soon so the plan was deposit once I have done and start playing again. In about 2 weeks.

I was logged into FT today checking the FTR freeroll out and ended up entering the main UK FT 100$ freeroll - it's taken a while but I'm in the last 27 so will be cashing some small amount, I think I'll try one of those build something out of a free roll challenges for the next few weeks while I wait to deposit propper. Will update shortly!

Edit:Wow it took 5 hours but I Finished 4th in the end for a whopping $7 ! pretty pleased with my play on the whole.

I'm going to play the micros at FT with this and see if I can't build on it. Quite satisfying I think it's the first big freeroll I've final tabled I really don't know how the hardcore MTT'ers in FTR manage that marathon like play day in day out!

I've decided after the break away from the tables that I'm more determined than ever to develop as a poker player and actually start a meaningful climb up the ladder. The 7$ lasted a day or so which considering it was 3 buy ins wasn't too bad, but back in the real world of trying to develop as a poker player... I've decided to deposit and start working hard at my poker again.

I've deposited 40$ on stars and am grinding away at the .01 / .02 cash games, I've got off to a bit of a flyer which I'm pleased about, as long as the bankroll keeps climbing up instead of down I'll be happy. I've learnt alot here at FTR over the months and during my short visit to GS and I can really start to feel the difference in my game, the break did me good.

Two thoughts have been very useful to me recently, the first was something Rob said in one of his posts, about a key part of being a winning mircostakes player. He said you need to be winning big pots and losing small ones, simple enough... Yet when I was thinking about this as I played it made many of my descisions that much easier, when in a marginal situation for instance, it was so much easier to fold when I considered the implications of continuing in the hand by the time we got to the river, and saw the possibility of losing a big pot with a marginal hand, this one simple mantra - win big pots, lose small ones, is serving a nice reminder to keep things sensible.

My positional awareness is slowly improving now too and I'm looking at the game in a more dynamic way than I used to - the videos over at GS are mostly responsible for this, watching them made so much of the positional knowledge I had gleamed from FTR click into place. I said there were two thoughts that have been handy recently, the first I've just mentioned - Robs, win big pots, lose small ones... the second was something Spenda said in a recent thread: -

I told this to a student yesterday who is kinda stuck as well, I remember when I was doing this BR building challenge for GS and I won like 12 buyins in the first 3k hands at 10nl FR and then went on like a 6-8 buy-in downswing over the next 3k. Poker is brutal like that, it's amazing how much worse you play when you're running even slightly poorly.

This helped me big time, it helped me to stay focussed and detached during my pretty sick first session of 2 hours where I ran at 67.2BB/100 - this is just natural variance remember this when you're running bad I told myself... and low and behold within the first couple of hands of my second session my aces got busted by someone chasing a flush draw. By remembering that little bit of information though about the way variance effects sinner and saint alike I was able to just brush it off and carry on with the second session which over the course of about 5 hours really turned out to be another good one (29.7BB/100).



So it's been a good start I've got a good work ethic towards my poker at the moment and I intend to keep it that way. I'm looking forward to making the climb up through the microstakes and really have faith that I might actually pull it off this time around.

I don't know I think I was stuck in a rut before, everything seems so much more straightforward since I started playing again.

Two hands from my first two sessions...

1. Aces getting busted early in the second session. Villain decided to chase the flush despite my overbet he was holding 52(s) the all in shove was based on the fact that guy was a bit of a maniac and I was trying to get as much FE as possible, was that OK or was I wrong to over bet like that?

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.02 BB (9 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

saw flop | saw showdown

Button ($1.92)
Hero (SB) ($2)
BB ($5.76)
UTG ($3.99)
UTG+1 ($7.54)
MP1 ($5.33)
MP2 ($0.88)
MP3 ($2.31)
CO ($2.73)

Preflop: Hero is SB with A, A
UTG calls $0.02, UTG+1 calls $0.02, 1 fold, MP2 calls $0.02, 2 folds, Button bets $0.14, Hero raises to $0.36, 2 folds, UTG+1 calls $0.34, 1 fold, Button calls $0.22

Flop: ($1.14) 3, 10, Q (3 players)
Hero bets $1.64 (All-In), UTG+1 calls $1.64, 1 fold

Turn: ($4.42) 6 (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($4.42) 7 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $4.42 | Rake: $0.20

Results:
Hero had A, A (one pair, Aces).
UTG+1 had 5, 2 (flush, Queen high).
Outcome: UTG+1 won $4.22

2. My luck was in here... a nice spot to hit a set.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.02 BB (8 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

saw flop | saw showdown

CO ($3.46)
Button ($1.16)
SB ($5.31)
BB ($8.76)
Hero (UTG) ($2.66)
UTG+1 ($9.69)
MP1 ($5.66)
MP2 ($3.37)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with 4, 4
Hero calls $0.02, UTG+1 calls $0.02, MP1 bets $0.14, 4 folds, BB calls $0.12, Hero calls $0.12, UTG+1 calls $0.12

Flop: ($0.57) 8, K, 4 (4 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $0.49, 1 fold, MP1 raises to $3.12, BB raises to $8.62 (All-In), Hero calls $2.03 (All-In), MP1 calls $2.40 (All-In)

Turn: ($14.13) A (3 players, 3 all-in)

River: ($14.13) 3 (3 players, 3 all-in)

Total pot: $14.13 | Rake: $0.70

Results:
BB had A, K (two pair, Aces and Kings).
Hero had 4, 4 (three of a kind, fours).
MP1 had A, K (two pair, Aces and Kings).
Outcome: BB won $2.85, Hero won $7.73, MP1 won $2.85


Anyway... enough talking - just wanted to update on my progress, my goal is to take some coaching on within the next 4-6 weeks by which time I hope to be ready to start 10nl.

Day 1 complete now, I'm going to get some sleep and aim to get another 1k hands in later in the afternoon!

Welcome back to the grind. Hopefully your Grinderschool experience will pay off. GL and see ya at the tables.

Originally Posted by LuckySlevin

1. Aces getting busted early in the second session. Villain decided to chase the flush despite my overbet he was holding 52(s) the all in shove was based on the fact that guy was a bit of a maniac and I was trying to get as much value as possible, was that OK or was I wrong to over bet like that?

fyp. You don't want a worse hand to fold here. You want a worse hand to continue without odds.
shove is fine with reads

Thank you - well I succumbed to the age old discipline/tilt issue which had a pretty big effect on my bankroll. I think it's good FTR has instilled the need of natural progression in me, because If I was making the same undisciplined/tilt mistake time after time on the higher tables it could be very expensive indeed. I've started over and so far it's going ok. Playing .01/.02 since yesterday and am up, I just had a 4.2 hour session and ended up $1 down which is kind of annoying, but that's all part of grinding isn't it - i'm still up for the day so am not complaining.

I'm pleased I'm down at .01/.02 it's a good training ground to get the basics in place. Until I learn self-control I'll just languish down here, and once I master it - I'll move up, there's a beauty about the natural law operating here.

Anyway I'm determined as ever - so onwards and upwards. I'm about $12 up in the last 24 hours, I've played 1400 hands in 8.3 hours, for an average w/rate of 19.47BB/100. Here's to building on it, and hopefully not trying my luck at big boy games with small child bankrolls.