My $800 Blog

[scott_owen]

gl sir... word on FTP. they rake you like a bitch at stakes 10NL and below. This makes stars a better game until you reach 25NL... if you have rakeback on FTP then its basically the same as stars with no rakeback

[Petulie]

Glad to see you've started up a blog, think it'll help to keep things in perspective as you progress and it's a nice place to keep a record of things you learn along the way.

Just a quick thought. It may be a good idea to focus on one game. I don't know much about SnGs but I understand there's an entirely different approach than to playing FR/6max. As you are receiving coaching in FR, it may be an idea to just focus on improving that game and making sure all your thought processes etc are sound before expanding to different games.

Also, I wouldn't worry too much about building the bankroll/regaining the lost monies. Hopefully your $800 were disposable and not cash you need immediately. Rather try to focus on improving your game and becoming an awesome poker player, and the monies will pour in as a consequence.

Best of luck!

[derekeverett]

Glad to see you've started up a blog, think it'll help to keep things in perspective as you progress and it's a nice place to keep a record of things you learn along the way.

Just a quick thought. It may be a good idea to focus on one game. I don't know much about SnGs but I understand there's an entirely different approach than to playing FR/6max. As you are receiving coaching in FR, it may be an idea to just focus on improving that game and making sure all your thought processes etc are sound before expanding to different games.

Also, I wouldn't worry too much about building the bankroll/regaining the lost monies. Hopefully your $800 were disposable and not cash you need immediately. Rather try to focus on improving your game and becoming an awesome poker player, and the monies will pour in as a consequence.

Best of luck!

Thanks for the support!

I certainly realize the benefits of focusing on one game.. and I had focused on only cash games for the last few weeks.. but I can't deny that I have sng skills that make me money.. so I can't leave them behind entirely just to focus on cash games.

The coaching I've been receiving has been worth every penny and much more when it comes to my cash game FR play. My game now is 100x what it was and I'm finally confident that I might not blow the farm! So I'll keep trying there too.

Fortunately, the $800 was totally disposable.. just a wound to the pride. Also fortunate is that I have a lot of time to play.. so keeping up with sng's and cash games while learning and growing in both should be possible. If time was more of an issue I may have to make a choice... that would make me sad.

[derekeverett]

gl sir... word on FTP. they rake you like a bitch at stakes 10NL and below. This makes stars a better game until you reach 25NL... if you have rakeback on FTP then its basically the same as stars with no rakeback

I wasn't aware there was a big difference.. so thanks.. information is nice to have.

Thankfully I do get rakeback at Tilt.. and I'm fond of their software so I'll keep playing there for now. I do have an account at Stars though, I will be playing there too.

[scott_owen]

I wasn't aware there was a big difference.. so thanks.. information is nice to have.

when I first played on tilt 10NL and below got raked 10%, it was catastrophic unless you were some kind of god. For me it killed my win rate by about 75% and probably made a lot of winning players on stars loses on FT. My account is years and years old so i dont get rakeback. Now i believe its not quite so bad as the rake has been reduced. The figures are pretty horrible, I've seen peoples stats from ~20000 hands at FT 10NL who were losing/breakeven, had they played on stars they'd have been up ~$120

some more info here Rake and Rakeback at the Micro Stakes: A Critical Review

anyway, you have rakeback so it doesnt matter so much to you.. just know that if you're only a marginal winner and your winnings seem to be coming from rakeback its because FT are greedy mofos

[derekeverett]

some more info here Rake and Rakeback at the Micro Stakes: A Critical Review

Wow I had no clue..

[derekeverett]

So my first day in my new poker life was a fun one. Took an unexpected turn which had me coaching a friend that is taking up an interest in sng's... taught me a lot to try and teach somebody. I'm no coach (that's one of the things it taught me lol)... but I think we made progress today. I coached her through 3 sng's and we even scored her first ever 1rst place finish.. so that felt good.

Needless to say the 3+ hours I spent with her cut into my poker time today and I didn't play as much as I had planned.. but here's the results from what I did play...

I should mention that I started my poker day out with an hour of hand reviews done by my coach. I can't believe how much I am learning from that guy.. I leave every session with him just dying to get in a game and put some of the new skills to work.

I 2-tabled some 10nl for a while.. taking it slow so that I can focus on the players at the table.. and it's paying off I think. I made almost 2 buy-ins over 264 hands. I made some folds that I don't think I was capable of just 2 weeks ago.. man does that feel good.

I also fit in 6 sng's. I cashed in 3 of them (1 first place and 2 second place finishes) which makes a tidy profit there also. 1 of the sng's saw me exit after only 5 hands to a massive cooler.. that's poker for ya.. I got my chips in good though so no complaints. Pretty rare to see me play a hand that early in a sng.. nevermind getting all my chips in the middle!

So all totaled I'm up $33.93 on the day so I go to bed now happy about that. I can't expect to have that nice a return on such little play often.. but I'll take it when I can get it and it sure is a nice way to get the ball rolling!

[derekeverett]

Today was another day of decent results..

Played 8 sng's and cashed in 4 of them. 1 first place, 2 second places, and 1 third place finish. Made money in the end so can't complain.

One of the second place finishes was a bit of an odd one. I played nearly 80 hands head-up.. I'm pretty sure that's never happened before. Went back and forth a couple times but in the end he cracked me.

Played 3 tables of 10nl while I watched a few episodes of Fringe. I know I mentioned earlier that I really want to concentrate on what I'm doing.. and I meant it.. but sometimes having something in the background helps me focus. Sometimes it doesn't.. but today was one of those days that it did. Played 516 hands and left with a profit of $25.70.

So I'm up $40.20 on the day.

Nice to be making some progress.