Keeping to the Long Path

This week, I've played a mix of formats. After 12 more $1.10 DoN's, I was
6 wins/6 losses. I felt I was losing momentum, so I switched it up.

First format was Fixed Limit Hold'em at $0.02/$0.04. After feeling out
the format, I find I like Full Ring tables over the 6-max tables here.
Playing super-tight does the trick, and I won several dollars over a few
hundred hands.

I was also playing a bit of No Limit 6-max. I played at NL2 ($2.00 buy
in), and was down for a little while there, but came back with a good run
of cards + bad opponents.

Here's a fine example of a hand:

UTG ($2.60) raises to $0.06
CO (hero $5.00) reraises to $0.18 holding KK
UTG calls.

Flop 2sKsKd
UTG raises $0.20, hero calls

Turn 4h
UTG raises $0.50 hero calls

River Js
UTG raises $1.00, hero reraises to $2.00, UTG calls

Hero wins with four of a kind! I think that my opponent had J 7, so he
was essentially bluffing every street. If only it could be like this
every time I sit down to a table.

So, to round out the week, I am up about $10.00. I also made my first $50
withdrawal from the pokerstars account to start repaying my deposits.

Another thing to note is that I require 360 VPP at pokerstars by Dec 31st
to unlock a $10 reward. That's about 15 VPP per day, which means $3.00
worth of rake per day, or $1.25 at NL2. While this is certainly
achievable, it would mean playing a lot more hours, or more tables, or
moving up in stakes. The first of these (more hours) is not going to be
there. The last two (more tables, or moving up) will lead to worse play,
or the tilt problems I had before. Therefore I will do what I've never
done before and tell myself that I WON'T achieve this goal, and simply let
it go in favour of playing less and playing better.

Speaking of moving up, I have a plan and I will stick to it. For No
Limit, I will start to move slowly into NL5 once I hit $100 again. My
buy-in will be restricted to $5.00 (you can buy in for up to $12.50). If
my bankroll grows, I will move to NL5 exclusively as I approach $150. For
fixed limit, I believe I'm a winning player and could move up easily, but
I want to prove it with more hands. I will stick to the lowest limit
until I have 1,000 hands under my belt, then I will move up one notch (I
believe the next level is $0.05/$0.10.

Here's where I'm at. Pokerstars balance and total amount owing are lower
by $50 because I made that $50 withdrawal:

Current FT Balance : $0.23
Current PS Balance : $84.75
Current OWing: $650.00
Current Bankroll: -$565.02

Here's to hoping I can keep this up.

Grinding DoNs

With $66 tournament dollars, I decided to shift away from 6-max cash games
until those tournament dollars were played through. So far, I have played
through all of the tournament money except for $4.10.

I decided to play $1.00+$0.10 double or nothing sit and go's (DoNs).
Essentially, these 10-man tournaments pay you "double" if you're in the
top 5. They are very low-variance, and at this buy-in level, kind of easy
to play. The biggest downside is that they are a bit boring, as the
proper strategy is to play massively tight -> fold fold fold. On a
positive note, I can comfortably 4-table these, so I can play through a
lot without going over bankroll.

Thus far, the DoN's have been going well. 55 DoN's later and I'm up
significantly relative to my last post. $17.49 may not seem like a lot,
but in terms of percentage, I've increased my Stars account balance by
16%! This is mostly, but not all, due to playing DoNs. I also played one
$1.4 knockout Sit and Go, placing 1st, and knocking out 7 players (worth
$4.5 winnings + $1.75 in bounties). Where I wasn't sure I'd be able to
sit uninterrupted for an hour, I dabbled in some cash games - both No
Limit (0.01/0.02 blinds), and Fixed Limit at $0.02/$0.04. Fixed Limit is
new to me, but I did extremely well over a small sample of hands (up $2
over perhaps 500 hands). I might consider playing more Fixed Limit as a
result.

My Full Tilt balance was refreshed with $0.23 worth of rakeback. Its not
enough to play at any tables, so I'll wait for a bonus offer before
considering a rebuy there.

My Pokerstars balance of $125.42 is now large enough that I can keep with
my original plan and cashout some of this bankroll and start paying myself
back. I'll start with a $50 withdrawal, then wait until my bankroll hits
$200 before cashing out again.

Current FT Balance : $0.23
Current PS Balance : $125.42
Current Owing: $700.00
Current Bankroll: -$574.35

Ballooning my Bankroll

I didn't want to do it, but I had to. I've had a difficult month. I seem
to go into a pattern of having multiple good sessions with modest gains,
but then I get hit with a single session with massive losses.

I rebought into Stars for an extra $90, and this subsequently dwindled
down to about $50. My Full Tilt balance has been obliterated - down from
$6'ish to zero.

At PokerStars, I was also going to convert my Frequent Player Points (FPP)
into cash, a conversion which requires 2500 points, and nets $25, for a
conversion rate of $0.01 per FPP. However, I was two hundred points
short.

Instead, I picked up a technique from the www.twoplustwo.com forums: Play
6-man hyper-turbo Sit and Go's which cost 280 FPP. Out of the 6
positions, the first 2 players get a buy-in to a weekly quarter million
dollar tournament, and third place gets their FPP back. You get nothing
for placing 4th through 6th. If you win a tournmanent entry, you can then
unregister for the tournament, and you will get $11.00 worth of tournament
dollars in your account.

Since 6 players contribute 1680 FPP minus one player who gets his 280 FPP
back, that means there are 1400 FPP for prizes totally $22.00. That pegs
the FPP value at 0.0157 if you do "average" over the long run at these Sit
and Go's.

I had enough FPP to join 8 of these. I did amazingly well. I placed 3rd
in one of them, regaining my FPP, which I reinvested in a 9th SnG. Of the
rest, I lost only 2, winning 1st place in 6 of them. That netted me
$66.00 in tournament dollars. That's roughly $0.03 per FPP, so I
essentially TRIPLED what I would have gotten with a cash bonus!

It was good fun to play Sit and Go's again. The winnings are tournament
dollars, which means they are only available to pay for subsequent Sit and
Go and Tournament entries. I don't mind, as I am a winning player at Sit
and Go's. In fact, going back to SnG's is probably good therapy after
getting trounced at 6-max cash games for the past year. As well, the
lessons I've learned from 6-max should enable me to play a little looser
in the early going with confidence. In fact, if I play well enough, I may
stick with Sit and Go's to rebuild my bankroll, as I'm confident that I
can do it.

As for my Full Tilt bankroll, it looks like I will have to do something
similar. I have 4000+ player points. Time to look into what I can do
with those to rebuild there (although using them will impact subsequent
rakeback). Or I could possibly wait for a reload bonus while I work on
Pokerstars.

Current FT Balance : $0.00
Current PS Balance : $107.93
Current Owing: $700.00
Current Bankroll: -$592.07

The $5.50 tournament

I had the day off today, so I played the $5.50 tournament for the donation. Unfortunately, I did not get in the money this time.

Out of a field of 5004 players, the top 720 players are in the money. I was busted out in 1215th place.

The hand that busted me was my QQ versus an AK holding.

This player was getting quite aggressive, and I'd seen him try to bully a number of pots prior. His aggression factor is 3.5 and his 3bet percentage is just over 10%. Here I thought he was simply bullying the initial raiser and I was going to squeeze.

Poker Stars $5.00+$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t150/t300 Blinds + t25 - 9 players - View hand 1020234

Hand History Converter



BTN: t5685 M = 8.42

SB: t24804 M = 36.75

Hero (BB): t11105 M = 16.45

UTG: t1925 M = 2.85

UTG+1: t4520 M = 6.70

UTG+2: t12000 M = 17.78

MP1: t14230 M = 21.08

MP2: t16030 M = 23.75

CO: t8040 M = 11.91



Pre Flop: (t675) Hero is BB with Q Q

1 fold, UTG+1 calls t300, 5 folds, SB raises to t2100, Hero raises to t11080 all in, UTG+1 calls t4195 all in, SB calls t8980



Flop: (t26880) A T 9 (3 players - 2 are all in)



Turn: (t26880) K (3 players - 2 are all in)



River: (t26880) 6 (3 players - 2 are all in)



Final Pot: t26880

SB shows A K (two pair, Aces and Kings)

Hero shows Q Q (a pair of Queens)

UTG+1 shows A 4 (a pair of Aces)

SB wins t13170

SB wins t13710

Another tough night

After losing three buy-ins... this happens.

My opponent has played roughly every other hand, and I've been playing back at him by reraising his limps and until now he's been backing down. I've actually had the goods each time! Unfortunately, he hits his breaking point and won't take it anymore and calls his way into a lucky break:

Poker Stars $0.02/$0.05 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 1006337

DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter



CO: $7.63

BTN: $5.05

SB: $5.16

BB: $4.39

UTG: $3.19

Hero (MP): $14.01



Pre Flop: ($0.07) Hero is MP with K Q

UTG calls $0.05, Hero raises to $0.15, 4 folds, UTG calls $0.10



Flop: ($0.37) 9 Q 6 (2 players)

UTG checks, Hero bets $0.25, UTG calls $0.25



Turn: ($0.87) 4 (2 players)

UTG checks, Hero bets $0.70, UTG calls $0.70



River: ($2.27) 3 (2 players)

UTG bets $1, Hero raises to $4.45, UTG calls $1.09 all in



Final Pot: $6.45

UTG shows 4 3 (two pair, Fours and Threes)

Hero shows K Q (a pair of Queens)

UTG wins $6.14

(Rake: $0.31)

The $5 MTT

Just an update - No, I haven't played the $5 MTT yet. I haven't had time, but I will this coming weekend! Rawr! I can't wait.

The Big Tilt-Off

Well, it wasn't enough to learn the lesson once...

After losing a few buy-ins on Friday night, I tried to recoup the losses
very late at night at higher limits... extraordinarily high limits.

I essentially tilted off my entire Full Tilt roll down to $2.00 at NL100.
I was actually doing quite well until I lost a Full House to a larger Full
House (54 with a 456 flop. A 5 on the turn, and we're all in. Villain
was holding 66 to achieve a better Full House). I then went to Pokerstars
with an "F"-it attitude and proceded to tilt off the entire balance there
where two pair lost to a rivered flush.

After these events, I had essentially $2 left. And I still owe myself my
initial $600 Full Tilt deposit.

New Rules
---------
1) No play past 1 a.m. When I play "up" and "take shots", invariably its
well after 1 a.m. when my judgement begins to be impaired with fatigue.
At 1 a.m., I will immediately set to sit out at all tables after the next
big blind rolls around to me.
2) Stricter Bankroll limit enforcement. No taking shots unless adequately
bankrolled. I will continue playing at each level until I have 30 BI for
the next level. I will fall back down to the lower limit if I drop to 20
BI's at any point. These buy-in limits are site specific.
3) Cashouts. Once I hit each milestone of $50, $100, $200, $300, $400,
$500, at any given site, I will cashout half of the balance. This is
BEFORE any consideration to move up in stakes. It ensures I stay at lower
limits longer. It also ensures that it is not possible to do as much
damage if I go on a fatigue-induced bankroll tilt-off again.

Since Friday, I have played short-stacked NL2 tables at Full Tilt, where
the maximum buy-in is $0.80. I have done quite well and built that
balance from $2.00 to $6.75. I am still inadequately rolled for NL2, but
it looks like I will get there without any problems.

On Stars, I had to rebuy to be able to play at all. I rebought for the
minimum. $10.00. This will be repayed in addition to the requirements
above (perhaps wait until I hit $60 rather than $50, then cashout $35).
After playing a short time on Pokerstars, my balance there is now $11.90.
So this is encouraging too. The only problem is that there are no
short-stacked NL2 tables. Minimum buy-in at any table is $0.80 (40bb's)

I should be able to recoup these losses. At NL2, over 14,000 hands, I am
achieving a win-rate of 23bb/100 hands. I've won about $60 at this limit.
There should be no reason I cannot continue to do this and rebuild my
bankroll at this level. It will just take a lot longer to accomplish.

Current FT Balance : $6.75
Current PS Balance : $11.90
Current Owing: $610.00
Current Bankroll: -$591.35

Why Pokerstars is better for the micros despite Full Tilt Rakeback.

First off. I've gone from $2 to $139 in a month!! Wow! Move over Chris
Ferguson. I was at $36 dollars at Full Tilt last time I posted. The new
approach has worked wonders. My full tilt bankroll balance is now $139.

I'm playing a tighter, more solid range, and it is working.

My bonus at Full Tilt has now expired. I still have 27% rakeback at Full
Tilt, but from a purely effective rake point of view, its better to play
the micros at Pokerstars without rakeback until I hit NL25. This is
because Pokerstars rakes $0.01 per $0.20, as opposed to Full Tilt's $0.01
per $0.15. Because of the rakeback percentage, it would normally be close
to a wash, but the difference is made up via the respective to vip points
programs. The pokerstars points are unencumbered, whereas using the full
tilt points will incur a rakeback penalty. This means that when you
factor the bonuses, etc. for a person on the lowest end of the VIP scale,
I come out on top with pokerstars.

In addition, Pokerstars points are currently doubled for NL10 and below,
which makes it an even sweeter deal. I don't know how long this will
last, but it makes pokerstars clearly the number 1 option right now.

But I still like Full Tilt better in a few key ways. Here are the reasons:
1) Full Tilt has Rush Poker. On regular tables, you inevitably have to
wait a lot for the multi-tabling types who play too many tables, and
make every hand last > 1 minute, even when they are folding pre-flop.
Rush does away with this for 80% of the hands dealt with the quick-fold
button. My only issue with Rush Poker? It starts at NL5. I really
wish there was an NL2 Rush Poker table. Its also challenging to learn
to play your opponents properly when you're not sitting at the same
table as them over long periods of time.

2) Full Tilt has a greater range of buy-ins at the micros. This is
more a problem with Pokerstars than anything else. At Pokerstars, the
NL2 buy-in is $5, and the NL5 buy-in is $12.50. That's 250 big blinds.
Oddly enough, the standard 100 bb buy-in starts at NL10. So a
standard buy-in at NL10 is $10... which is less than a standard buy-in
at NL5 of $12.50. Something's wrong there. I wish pokerstars would be
more like Full Tilt here. Full Tilt has short-stacked, standard, and
deep-stacked buy-ins at EVERY stake level, including NL2.

So which site will I play at?

I will play at both right now, and leave it to pacing. Right now, a
standard buy-in at NL2 is a bit low. I've got enough accumulated to play
NL5. But at a standard buy-in table.

So, I will play NL2 at Pokerstars (with a $5 buy-in) when I feel like a
properly paced, slower game where I can analyse my opponents properly.

I will play RUSH NL5 at Full Tilt when I feel more focused, or have less
than 30 minutes to play.

This seems like a good compromise for now.

Anyways, total Bankroll at Stars and Full Tilt leaves me at -$328. This
puts me back to where I was at the end of July, but at least it is on an
upward trend now. My goal is to see this number at breakeven or better by
Christmas.

Whoa! A Donation!

Now that's something completely unexpected. I've received my first donation to the tune of $5. I suppose I had better find the time to play an MTT to spend it on. I'll play a $5.00+$0.50, and I will kick in the rake portion myself.

I will keep you posted on how it goes. No charity was specified, so I will donate 1/2 of proceeds to the Humane Society if I win.

Up from the Gutter

The fluctuations to my bankroll have been challenging.

I played Rush NL5, and lost just over 4 BI's a few weeks ago. Down to $20
left in my FTP account, I attempted to play $2.25 SnG's, where I can
usually eke out a small, but reasonable profit. With less than 10 BI's, I
was in rough shape when I failed to cash in 5 in a row. The fact that my
EV line was climbing was cold comfort.

With just over $8 left, I was forced to play NL2, and a few beats later I
was down to $2. Yes, $2.

I stopped. I read more Harrington, and I decided to tighten up -- a lot.
I was not playing LAG well - my Won $ at Showdown % was 40%, which is not
enough to win.

And then I started to play at NL2 short-stacked tables ($0.80 max buy-in).
I built the $2 up to $10. I then played NL2 for full Buy-ins, and
continued winning. The tighter play has been working.

When I hit a $20 bankroll, I had a tough decision. I had $7 of bonus left
to clear a full $20 worth, and I have a deadline of 2 weeks. I determined
that I wouldn't be able to clear the amount at NL2 in that amount of time,
so I decided to play NL5 Rush again - faster clearing rate at higher
stakes. Again, a bankroll issue, but in this case a bit of a necessity
with a $20 carrot at the end - $20 which would represents a very
significant increase in my current bankroll.

Thus far, it has been going very well with the tighter approach. I'm up
to $36, and I feel I can beat this now. I have only $4 left to clear for
the rest of the $20 bonus. After that, I will likely drop down to NL2
again until I can get to a "safe" bankroll level to play NL5 again (at
say, $100).

I am purposely trying to keep the pot smaller. I'm keeping a lot of the
reraising shenanigans I used to participate in to a minimum, especially
with unpaired high cards (like AQ), and waiting for a flop. This
weaker/less aggressive approach seems to be safer and involve a lot less
variance.

I will keep you posted on how this evolves. I never thought I could climb
from $2 to $36 in cash games though. Its amazing what a tighter approach
can do!

Up to NL5 - but for how long?

Anyways, I've moved up to NL5. Over 7 sessions and 700 hands, I am about even. But, I've also been paid about $7 in rakeback, and another $20 worth of bonus cleared, so my FTP account is getting a good start on the long road to recovery.

Anyways, why do hands like this happen?! My big chance for the night. I flop the nuts and get two players willing to go all-in, and THIS happens.

Full Tilt Poker $0.02/$0.05 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 838246

The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter



SB: $10.19

BB: $5.00

UTG: $10.53

MP: $5.00

Hero (CO): $6.28

BTN: $5.00



Pre Flop: ($0.07) Hero is CO with K J

UTG raises to $0.15, MP calls $0.15, Hero calls $0.15, 1 fold, SB calls $0.13, 1 fold



Flop: ($0.65) Q T 9 (4 players)

SB checks, UTG bets $0.55, MP calls $0.55, Hero raises to $2.85, SB folds, UTG calls $2.30, MP raises to $4.85 all in, Hero requests TIME, Hero calls $2, UTG calls $2



Turn: ($15.20) 6 (3 players - 1 is all in)

UTG bets $1.92, Hero calls $1.28 all in



River: ($17.76) K (3 players - 2 are all in)



Final Pot: $17.76

UTG shows Q A (a pair of Queens)

MP shows J A (a straight, Ace high)

Hero shows K J (a straight, King high)

Hero wins $2.39

MP wins $14.19

(Rake: $1.18)

Still moving along nicely

Bankroll: -327

Tonight was another great night. I'm trying to limit myself to 2 tables, and only a couple of hours a night. I had some wonderful hands tonight. I'll post a few of the gems here now, and I'll try to fully analyze them tomorrow to see if I played them as well as I thought.

Full Tilt Poker $0.01/$0.02 No Limit Hold'em - 5 players - View hand 829600

The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter



CO: $2.09

BTN: $1.87

SB: $1.75

BB: $1.96

Hero (UTG): $2.34



Pre Flop: ($0.03) Hero is UTG with 8 8

Hero raises to $0.07, 1 fold, BTN raises to $0.14, 2 folds, Hero calls $0.07



Flop: ($0.31) J 8 8 (2 players)

Hero checks, BTN bets $0.20, Hero calls $0.20



Turn: ($0.71) 6 (2 players)

Hero checks, BTN bets $0.40, Hero calls $0.40



River: ($1.51) 3 (2 players)

Hero requests TIME, Hero bets $0.77, BTN raises to $1.13 all in, Hero calls $0.36



Final Pot: $3.77

BTN shows A J (two pair, Jacks and Eights)

Hero shows 8 8 (four of a kind, Eights)

Hero wins $3.52

(Rake: $0.25)




Here, my opponent has been playing a 20/8 game over 60 hands. When he 3-bets my UTG raise, I know he's got something decent, but he min-3-bets it. Given that he has a full stack, I'm going to call at 3:1 odds and hope to hit an 8.

When I flop TWO Eights, I can only hope he hit his hand. I'm not concerned about flush draws here, so I check and hope he leads out. He obliges and I call. Same with the turn. At the river, I'm fairly certain by the way he's betting that he has either one or two jacks in his hand, which means he's dead in the water. If he's got 2 jacks, he'll put it in. If he only has one, then I need to simply milk as much as I can, given that by now he must suspect that I have one eight in my hand (or at least a jack). I lead out with a half pot size bet hoping that he'll call. He was nice enough to push, and I scoop after he shows AJ. I'm surprised he allowed things to get this far out of hand, and I was lucky enough to flop the nuts while an opponent hit a strong (but not monster) hand.

On the next hand, I flop a monster draw and hit. With some unusual betting, I manage to eeke out almost a full stack once I hit my flush.

Full Tilt Poker $0.01/$0.02 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 829605

The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter



MP: $2.03

CO: $2.05

BTN: $1.47

SB: $2.02

Hero (BB): $5.24

UTG: $2.75



Pre Flop: ($0.03) Hero is BB with 8 7

3 folds, BTN calls $0.02, 1 fold, Hero checks



Flop: ($0.05) 4 T 9 (2 players)

Hero bets $0.04, BTN calls $0.04



Turn: ($0.13) K (2 players)

Hero bets $0.02, BTN raises to $0.19, Hero calls $0.17



River: ($0.51) 9 (2 players)

Hero bets $0.04, BTN raises to $0.20, Hero raises to $1.11, BTN raises to $1.22 all in, Hero calls $0.11



Final Pot: $2.95

BTN shows K T (two pair, Kings and Tens)

Hero shows 8 7 (a flush, King high)

Hero wins $2.76

(Rake: $0.19)




Here, I don't have a lot of history on my opponent. Just 6 hands, and he's called in 4 of them... so maybe loose, but can't be sure at this stage. I flop a draw to an open ended straight and a flush (or a straight-flush). I bet out, and hope he'll call.

I hit my straight, and now the issue is how to extract as much as possible. I want to seem like I'm betting weakly, in an effort to draw him in. The danger here is that another heart could drop on the river, and then I've got some hard choices. After I lead out for 0.02, he decides I'm bluffing and bets the pot. I will either raise or call. If I raise, I think he'll see the flush and fold, so I simply call, and hope to make more money on the river.

A second nine falls, but not another flush card. I no longer hold the nuts any longer. If he's got a pair of 4's, 9's, T's, or K's, I've lost. Same with any number of better flushes. Given his betting so far, any of those hands is possible, but so are a multitude of other one-pair or two pair hand. I'm still trying to get some more money into the pot.

To be consistent with the turn, I bet 0.04. I'm afraid a larger bet may wake him up to the possibility that I actually hold the flush. Luckily, he takes the bait and reraises. His reraise is only 40% of the pot, so I don't think he's got one of the monster hands I described. I reraise nearly his whole stack, he puts in the rest, and shows me two pair, losing the hand.

My whole night has been like this and its been wondeful.

Anyways, my bankroll at Full Tilt has grown to $46. That covers the 20 Buy In's at NL2 I need, plus an extra $6. $6 is more than I need for an NL5 Buy In, so I will take a shot at NL5 next time I play. Wish me luck.