Journey from 2nl to 10nl - a retrospective study for noobs.
Greetings nano grinders. I have been meaning to write this for some time now: a retrospective look at how i survived and came through the two most ugly stakes in poker: 2 and 5nl. I say ugly coz you hate being stuck down there in the darkness with all the chimps. 10nl is similar but you're still not getting rakeback or decent FPP or anything. So the journey continues... but anywho....
This post is for those stuck at the lower stakes btw. Not just me blabbing to all the 25nl/50nl about how to play poker :)
Ok, so here's my graph thus far:
http://www.stayinwonderland.com/clie...ker/at-300.gif
God it looks much prettier on my non wide-screen monitor. Like a fuckin rocket. Ah well. So, this graph tells a story. That's why i posted it.
I began my bankroll with 40$, played some SNGs and worked that roll nice up to $25 (sarcasm). Then i met a chap called Stacks (can not remember how) but, because of my total obsessive enthusiasm, i tend to attract teachers into my life coz teachers LOVE enthusiasm (...hint!). It's always been like that for me, i'm a very keen learner if what i want to chase can almost guarantee glory.
Anyway... he suggested cash was where the money was at, so i read the beginner's digest coz first I had to learn just HOW one made money from cash... to me it made no sense when i could just fold my way into the bubble at tourneys :D
So, i started there and took my $25 to $2nl and bought in for $2. Was breakeven, as you can see, for the first 2k hands. Then lifted off for the next 2k hands. And almost broke even again for the next 8 or so thousand hands.
I then had like 4 months off and came back with a mysterious deposit in my account to the tune of $40 (a forgotten bonus) and combining that with a few wins meant i was actually ready for $5 all of a sudden. I was shitting myself, my first move up. All this time i had been employing THE MOST PRIMITIVE poker skills. I think the only thing that i used for 2nl was understanding why we raise, and also getting a feel for certain tells when someone has real strength. My starting hands were also pretty good Vs all the 2nl donk fish ranges. Simple as really.
So... lesson one... don't limp much and if you do, do it with decent hands. Ax suited is one. Small pocket pair is another. Hell, if your table is reeeeally passive, you CAN open limp at 2nl, there i said it. But... only if you're sure it's profitable i.e. people are NOT raising much at all and there's a villain that will call down anything. This can be profitable.
In general though, raise good. 3x bb from the cut off and button plus one bb for each limper... anything before that should be 4x plus one for each limper. Raising clears the path a little, if you get heads up with your strong aces, your equity increases niiiicely.
Get pokerstove if you don't already have it. It free. Learn how to use it.
Next point. Get poker tracker. It's your bread and butter. You need to spot those fish at a glace, especially when you start multi-tabling. Again, INVEST in learning how to use this software. There is no poker without it. Get the trial for like 60 days. Learn to use the HUD, review your hands.
Next point. Watch videos. This is huge and will open your eyes. Spendas are the best, he has free ones here and cheap ones on Grinderschool.com. The free ones here should be enough to get you through at least 2nl. But note: 2nl plays mad at times and don't expect the donk fish to react normally to your relatively educated plays. They may shove over you with your made hand just because it's fun, then accidentally make 2 pair on the river.
Next point. The micro fish... ah they're a beautiful bunch. Love them, hate them, they fill your $belly$ and sometimes empty it. You need to learn that micro fish don't play to evolve their poker career, they play for the HELL of it. The call coz it's only $0.50c instead of folding coz it's like TEN big blinds. If they lose it's mildly frustrating but they can just deposit another few bucks. Their game is not your game.
Ok so, i started 5nl and crushed it (see the sudden growth at 11.5k up to 19k? that was 5nl. I went into 10nl with $210 or 21 buy-ins and then hit a couple of shit all-ins and dropped down. From then on i experienced a little something called... variance. More on that later.
How i beat 5nl: so i had a decent pre flop game, stopped open limping and learned more about position. But this downswing plus breakeven stretch had me studying furiously. I watched a lot of videos and moaned a LOT on the forums. Things that happened here (the downswing at 19k):
1) getting no decent cards for ages
2) getting good cards UTG and getting like 4 callers and missing
3) getting KK in the bb and everyone folds to me
4) floping a full house multiway and everyone folds to my first bet
5) getting rivered repeatedly
6) being on constant tilt and not playing my best
Thing is, i thought i was doing 'something wrong' but for 5nl i was playing ok enough. It was just a spate of shit variance, it does not take rocket science to beat 5, so you think you're doing ok skills wise but still losing to fish, just check your sample size. Now, variance don't mean SHIT to noobs, it's incomprehensible... so here, comprehend:
http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...st-t84399.html
This is a little article written by Outlaw about just how long it can take before you see a reliable trend in poker. Just to note though, you don't have to wait till you've played a million hands, but if you're breaking even for 10k or 20k hands, it really can be just phasic. So don't post on here after your first 3k hands and tell us you suck! While that is true, all you can do is get in MORE hands and study. More hands, more study... rinse and repeat.
So, i then got sweated by Dranger who was playing 10 while i was playing 5 and he opened my eyes big time to a few things. At the same time someone suggested i play at night instead of the late afternoon, and after (see graph @ 28k) that i shot up, got sweated again by Robb, and arrived at $260 (again, Robb opened my eyes to value, see my breakeven stretch brainwashed me into thinking the villain aaaalways had it, so i would maybe not fire a third bullet on the river or get all in without massive hessitation even though i had trips etc). Upon his review we found my game suitable for 10nl stakes.
More on beating the last few $$ at 5nl...
If i say to you: position is important... and you don't go: FUCK yeah. You haven't understood position in poker. So go learn about it and go learn about how to cbet. Robb has a good post on this. Infact here it is, it also sharpens your poker tracker HUD skills:
http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...ng-t67647.html
So i was beginning to cut my limps right down. My stats went from like 30/8 to about 22/14. But note that at THESE stakes, limping is much more ok than higher stakes. A lot of the time you'll have 87s in the small blind and 4 people will limp... what are you gonna do?
And then i started to raise more from the CO and BU and get into cbetting. Cbetting + value towning stations is your bread and butter at these stakes. I also learned about BET SIZING. That is HUGE. You bet this many big blinds and he calls, 2 more big blinds and he folds, it can be that fragile as to how your hand plays out. Or x more bb and you end up almost pot committed by the river.
So, really all i needed and i think all you need to beat 2 and 5 is:
1. Good Pockertracker/HUD skills
2. Positional awareness
3. Good PF range
4. Bet sizing + getting value from stations
5. Cbetting
6. !!! make friends with other micro grinders and sweat eachother !!!
7. shit... table selection! forgot about that! Learn about table selection and only play against fish (see Robb's post about HUD stats)
Literally, if you understand the above to a half decent degree and play late at night, against the feesh, it's just a matter of time until you're shooting for 10nl. After that i can't help coz i've only just began settling into to that stake :)
Anyway, this post could go on but i've said just about enough. Just know that if you keep grinding, some day you'll have, at worst, a decent part time income that can be generated anywhere in the world that has an internet connection... at best? only dreams will tell!
Keep on destroying the agro punk fish donk bitches my fellow grinders. Oh and usual thanks to all my poker buddies, you know who you are, i'm always name dropping.
Re: Journey from 2nl to 10nl - a retrospective study for noo
Quote:
Originally Posted by wonderland
So... lesson one... don't limp much and if you do, do it with decent hands. Ax suited is one. Small pocket pair is another. Hell, if your table is reeeeally passive, you CAN open limp at 2nl, there i said it. But... only if you're sure it's profitable i.e. people are NOT raising much at all and there's a villain that will call down anything. This can be profitable.
I definitely second your opinion of open limping not being quite as bad as it's made out to be in 2NL and 5NL. I actually wrote about that in my OP. A cheap flop is VERY easy to see in the 2NL and 5NL and can be all you need to stack your fellow opponent. Speculative hands are obviously the best kinds to open limp. However, I promised myself to stop this shitty habit in 10NL...and I did. I tried it a few times...but got punished for it by a raise in MP or LP. I won't be doing much (if any) open limping in 10NL.
Nice post. I basically agree with all your observations. Now let's go own 10NL!
Re: Journey from 2nl to 10nl - a retrospective study for noo
Quote:
Originally Posted by wonderland
More on beating the last few $$ at 5nl...
If i say to you: position is important...
This.
I was taking forever to grind my way through 5nl. It was only when Muzzard (thanks mate) made me realize how ridiculously tight I was playing on the HJ, CO and Button that I took off. 2 weeks of Iso-Raising and then C-Betting limpers, often with any two, and I was ready for 10nl. Ez game.
Also, it's totally personal but I think I'm in the spenda camp when it comes to HUDs - I've chosen to leave them alone until at least 25nl.
Nice post dude.
Re: Journey from 2nl to 10nl - a retrospective study for noo
nice post, worth reading, and
Quote:
Originally Posted by wonderland
Just know that if you keep grinding, some day you'll have, at worst, a decent part time income that can be generated anywhere in the world that has an internet connection... at best? only dreams will tell!
amen
