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.

How the NL2 plan is going

BR = -$330

So far, the NL2 plan is working out well. I can usually eke out 50 bb's
in about 100 hands. If I include all of the hands in my HEM, my NL2 win
rate is 30bb/100 hands for a sample of nearly 6000 hands.

I feel that winning at NL2 is not a challenge. I feel I'm at sufficient
skill at NL2 that I'm simply crushing most of my opponents. I'm actually
looking forward to giving NL5 (non-Rush) a try.

The only times that something bad happens is 1) when I get accustomed to
playing loose/bad opponents, and fail to give new opponents appropriate
credit/benefit of the doubt when I first see them and, 2) when I'm playing
deep stacked again super loose and aggressive opponents. They seem to
want to go in every other hand. Inevitably, the hand I pick to take to
battle loses to the one time they actually DO have a set, flush, or FH,
etc. either that or they draw out on me with 2 outs.

So, to mitigate, I think I'll keep things to normal 100bb BI's for now,
and try not to get involved in the deep stacked games. I think I can
probably beat a deep stacked game quite easily, but the my FT BR can't
take the variance right now. As for the other problem, I'll try to
tighten up against new opponents until my HUD registers at least 20 or so
hands.

Anyways, I only have a couple of dollars of bonus to clear before I get
$20 released, and the approx $10 in rakeback should be paid this Friday,
so my BR should be in fine fighting shape for the future soon. I just
have to play in a more disciplined fashion. And the first step towards
that discipline is resisting the urge to clear off that remaining bonus
release by playing higher stakes - the universal mistake I have repeatedly
made in the past.

More Bankroll Management Lessons

Current BR: -336

Let's just labelled that day or revelation I mentioned yesterday as "D-Day".

The NL2 plan worked, and I was gaining quite nicely, until I jumped in for
some quick Rush Poker action at NL5.

D-Day +1: +$9 on NL2 (+450 bb's)
D-Day +2: +$2 on NL2 (+100 bb's)
D-Day +3: +$2 on NL2 (+100 bb's), -$8.50 at NL5 (-170 bb's)

So, I'm above where I started, but thanks to a little NL5 Rush jaunt, I'm
not above by much. Overall, that's a positive 380 bb's.

I suppose that one thing I've noticed is that the jump in skill level is
remarkably high. I think I can beat NL5 rush, but marginally so, and at
this BR level, I cannot do that due to the increased variance when you're
a near-breakeven player. I hope this is just a Rush phenomenon, and not a
general ring game thing for when I move up from NL2 to NL5 ring.

So, long story short, NL5 is above my BR level. Rush seems to be at a
higher skill level, lowering my ROI significantly and thus increasing my
variance. Ergo: Rush is a no-no for now until I'm properly rolled.

I might have a new strategy for quick-launching the bankroll back up.
Since I'm so confident I can beat NL2, I believe I will implement it this
way:

Once I've reached 20 BI's for the level I'm playing at, once I earn one
excess BI at the next highest level, I will play at that level until I
drop to 20 BI's at the lower level again.

E.g. For NL2, a proper roll of 20 BI's is $40. Once I achieve 1 NL5 BI
above this ($45), I will play at NL5 until I drop to $40 again. This
should quick-launch the bankroll more quickly, assuming I can continue to
win at each level... which we will see. If I hit a wall at a certain
level, where I find myself frequently having to drop down, then I'll
increase the limits at which I can take shots.

In the meantime, I've incorporated Harrington's pre-flop ranges for 6-max
at NL2 and it seems to be going well enough. I'm raising/stealing off the
button much less than I use to. I'll abide by his strategy, until I see
opponent specific numbers in the HUD which warrant an increased stealing
range.

Massive 2 month Update! And its not pretty!

Bankroll: -332

Shocking. Simply shocking. There's no denying it. I have a bankroll management problem, which when combined with a little tilt, results in very bad news. I'm intent on fixing this problem once and for all and setting some limits.

Anyways, how did it get this way? Would you like to learn what NOT to do, from what I did? Its a long story. Essentially I started playing more cash games, and at levels I'm inadequately rolled for.

At pokerstars, I completed what I could of the bonus I mentioned in my last post. But afterwards, there was no other bonus to complete. I thought that during the lull, starting a bankroll on another site (full tilt) would make sense. At Full Tilt, they have a $600 first depositors bonus, plus they have rakeback, if you get approved by rakebackpros. I made my deposit and was approved for rakeback, thereby starting the next leg of this journey.

After reading a few books on cash, and 6-max games, I started playing mostly cash, and transitioned away from Sit and Go's. At Full Tilt (FTP), this started well enough, and I did okay even at the lowest buy-in for Rush Poker (NL5 - a $5 BI). Rush Poker is like regular cash games, except that once you fold out a hand, you are immediately placed in a random spot in a new table (with new players). My first impression of rush poker was that it was fairly easy compared to regular ring games. This assessment was flawed.

With a fresh $600 I had deposited at Full Tilt, and my early success at NL5 Rush, I decided to give NL25 a try (technically, I was bankrolled for it on a deposit basis, but the $600 was really just seed money, and not "made" money). Unfortunately, I suffered from a few bad swings, and lost about 5 BI's after a few hundred hands. Many were bad beats, but the last BI or two was purely steaming tilt... Well, to continue chasing the money, I made the error of moving up to try to get it back quicker. I tried NL100, lost 2 buy-ins, then moved down to NL50, and lost a few buy-ins there too. My bankroll on FTP was a complete disaster.

Time to regroup and pledge to get out of this mess.

Where we stand:

My FTP bankroll is at $32.50 (from $600). I have about $10 in rakeback that should be deposited this Friday, as well as a $20 portion of the bonus that will clear soon. Its very bad, but its recoverable.

My PS bankroll is at $235.25 (free and clear!). I have been doing well at Pokerstars.

Currently, I have bonus and rakeback at FTP, so that is where I should play, just at a proper bankroll point. I will play cash games, 6-max, and I will play standard ring games at NL2.

It might be better from a bankroll rebuilding point of view to switch back to sit and go's where I have been relatively successful in the past, but I really want to learn the cash game properly. In fact, I think that although I have lost money at higher BI levels, I have learned a lot and improved my game as a result. Last couple of nights playing at NL2 6-max have been very successful, winning multiple buy-ins, and I feel like I'm playing against people much worse than me.

I will continue to build my roll at FTP at NL2 until I achieve $100, at which point, I will move to NL5. At $200, I will graduate to NL10. At $500, I will play NL25. If I start to lose at any of these points, I will move back down, and continue playing until I have paid off the shortfall in funds. I want to get to the point at FTP where the bankroll is free and clear money, just as it is at pokerstars.

So, that is the plan. I just received a copy of Harrington's 6-max Online book. It looks like it contains a lot of valuable information - on setting up HUD's, taking notes, etc. If its good advice, this stuff will end up being very good for my game, as I rarely take notes now, and my HUD certainly isn't optimized.

Anyways, the remainder of this year's goal is to climb outta the gutter once again. I've done it before and I will do it again. And this compounds the need for me to stay within my bankroll. If I cannot stay at the limits I can win, it means that as a losing player, I will need a hobby budget, not a bankroll. Having a budget is anathema to my point of view on poker though. I feel that what I hold in my account is not really in terms of money... to me it is more in terms of "points"... and the person with the most points is the better player.

To take this point of view to an analogy, to me, reloading a poker account is kind of like playing a game of basketball with someone, finding myself down by a score of 80-50, and then offering to give my opponent $30 if he'll make the score 80-80 - and that's just not right. So to me, my bankroll is a score, and the higher my score, the better I did. You can't buy a score, and doing so makes me feel like I cheated. I don't cheat at games, because that's not what its about for me personally.

Proper bankroll management will ensure my score never reaches zero (unless I can't beat the very worst games, which I doubt). I just have to begin being very strict with implementating these rules.

Anyways, to pique anyone's appetite for what I've been going through. This was the final hand I lost before my full tilt bankroll dipped to almost nothing, and I slammed on the breaks and decided to regroup.

Full Tilt Poker: Table Afterburner (6 max) - $0.50/$1 - No Limit Hold'em -

UTG : ($126.85)
MP : ($124.80)
CO : ($70.80)
Button: Hero ($90.10)
SB : ($71.75)
BB : ($105.35)

SB posts the small blind of $0.50
BB posts the big blind of $1

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero [Qs Qh]
UTG folds
MP raises to $3
CO folds
Hero raises to $10.50
SB folds
BB folds
MP calls $7.50

*** FLOP *** [Jh 9h 2c]
MP bets $20
Hero calls $20

*** TURN *** [Jh 9h 2c] [Th]
MP bets $36
Hero raises to $59.60, and is all in
MP calls $23.60
Hero shows [Qs Qh]
MP shows [Jd Js]

*** RIVER *** [Jh 9h 2c Th] [Ad]
Hero shows a pair of Queens
MP shows three of a kind, Jacks
MP wins the pot ($178.70) with three of a kind, Jacks

*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $181.70 | Rake $3
Board: [Jh 9h 2c Th Ad]


The challenge I had here on this hand is that the QQ's are well worth the reraise. Once called, the leadout by the MP (middle position) player could be anything. With an overpair to the board, I felt a call was necessary.

Once the turn hit, not only did I have an overpair, but a straight-flush draw. At this point, I had 17 cards which could improve me to best hand (any of the 9 remaining hearts for a flush, any 8 or K for a straight, and any of the 2 remaining Q's for the best 3 of a kind). Even if I discount two of these cards in case my opponent had made the nut flush or straight (with say, KQ, or Ahxh, for instance), that's still 15 cards, and about 30% chance to win the pot.

The problem is that he value bet the turn as well, and the cards could have hit any of his possible holdings as well. So, without the next card to come, I'm confident that either I'm way ahead or way behind. Given the betting and the limit, I'm probably way behind, but factor in the odds of hitting the winning hand on the river, figure a small chance that he's bluffing, and I thought I should shove. As a poker friend pointed out, this play is probably marginally positive, but that I should not have committed my stack given my current bankroll situation.

And now I have to recover $332. That's 161 Buy Ins at NL2.