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.

Ups and Downs

I've calculated out that I need to average 5 SnG's a night at the $4.10 Knockout level to be able to attain the first increment of the bonus. I've been doing just that, and I'm on track, with 90 out of 200 point accumulated so far.

This past weekend was wonderful - in the SnG's I managed to put myself up $20, plus I did reasonably well at cash too. My bankroll advanced to $156 overall! How fast it climbs!!

Last night though, I played 6 SnG's, and only placed 3rd in one... So the bankroll has retreated to $139. How fast it falls....

I wish I could play at a higher BI to accelerate the point accumulation, but already, a bankroll of $139 makes a $4.1 Buy in quite volotile as you can see. Going to the next level at $6.75 would really make it swing out of control.

If I were to follow Phil Shaw's advise, then I would have to have 60 buy-ins. That would mean I would need $246 to be playing at the level I'm playing now. By extension, I should be playing the lower level of $1.4.

Shaw's advise seems sound, as a $20 swing at $246 wouldn't impact me at all. However, if I experience another dip of $20 from my current BR of $139 down to $119, I have to seriously consider moving down. And unfortunately, that $20 downswing is currently just 5 buy-ins away.

The reason I'm going to continue playing at this level though is related to rake percentage. The rake rate at $4.1 is 8.5%, which is far more reasonable than the $1.4 rate of 10.7%. The next level of $6.75 has a rate of 7.4%, but as discussed, the variance at $6.75 is much too high for my bankroll to handle right now. Upper levels after this remain at 7.4%, so there is nothing gained in terms of rake rate by moving up further than this.

In conclusion then, I'll be a little fast and loose with the buy-ins for bankroll requirements at these lower levels just to get my win rate up, given the lower rake percentage. however, as I approach the $6.75 level, I will tighten up those bankroll requirements, and require a 60 buy-in rate for anything above that.

I think this is a reasonable way to approach building a bankroll, as I am confident that I have a long term positive win rate that exceeds the rate percentage.

A New Bonus

I cleared the last of the bonus, and my bankroll stood slightly higher than before, at about $140.

As of a few days ago, there is a new pokerstars bonus. Its 20% of your deposit, and you get $1 cleared per 20 VPP earned. Interestingly enough, there are only 20 days to clear it. That's pretty challenging at the micros. On the other hand, it releases incrementally every $10. Incremental release is a big positive for us micros... its just too bad it won't matter with only 20 days to complete it!

As a result, I just deposited $75.00 for a total bonus of $15. After 200 VPP, the first $10 of the deposit will clear - I believe this is achievable for me in 20 days. The extra $5 is in case I go crazy and finish the first $10 early, there is something more to achieve.

I will, of course, withdraw this money at the first opportunity to keep my bankroll "untainted". :-)

Of course, I'm playing deepstacked NL5 tonight($12.50 BI) and I end up down $10 because my KK runs into AA all-in and loses. So bankroll is now down to $122

On another note, a friend suggested contributing to my poker cause. I thought about it a little bit, but I don't want the bankroll "tainted" like I said. Perhaps I would save them up and use the money for special events - like a pokerstars "$225 Sunday Millions" or something. I'm mulling the idea of donations. As I don't provide many great ideas to those who read this (is there anyone who reads this but me?), and as I don't know if I can make something great out of this, I would call it "The Pity Fund".

If you pity me, please donate to the pity fund, and I will use it to enter a large tournament. :-) I will keep all winnings (should it come to that)... but I may feel guilty at the end of it all and donate some to charity or something. This is the happy ending. More likely, the ending will be that I lose the buy-in and move on.

In other related news, I'm reading Harrington on Cash for the first time - borrowed from a friend.

The Last Three Months

A lot has happened in the past few months.

To clear the bonus in January, I played in NL 25 and PL 25 - which is way above my BR level. I was successful, pulling off the bonus, and getting my BR up to the lofty peak of $330. But this was to be short-lived.

I went back to playing $3.4 SnG's over the next few months; but, I continued to play a smattering of NL 25 and PL 25 as well. Unfortunately, I hit a downturn in the $3.4's. At the same time, my luck changed in NL 25 as well - and unfortunately, a $330 bankroll does not whether a downturn all that well. What makes things worse is when you can't seem to win the game you've consistently made money at!

It took exactly one month - from late January to late February - for my bankroll to fall off a cliff. $79.97 was the bottom of the chasm. Since then, it has been a jagged up and down struggle in an attempt to achieve some degree of respectability.

Currently, I stand at $123.33 clear. I had lowered the stakes on the cash tables to an appropriate level, and I started winning at the $3.4 SnG's.

Now, all of a sudden Pokerstars makes two important changes to me.

The first is a change to the cash tables. Short stacks cannot Buy-In to the same games as medium or deep Buy-In's. This is mostly positive. There are far too many short stacks at some of these tables, simply waiting for 77+ so that they can shove. It hasn't been very long, but already, I feel the poker feels a bit easier, as everyone at the table is playing the same game.

The second change is a new format called a Knockout Sit and Go. Basically, it’s a standard Sit and Go, but every player stakes a bounty. If you eliminate someone, you get to claim their bounty. The fee structure for a $3 Buy-In Knockout SnG is $3 + $0.35 in rake + $0.75 in bounty. From a rake perspective, this are a far superior game for me than the $3 + $0.40 in rake Turbo SnG's I'm playing currently. I'll get to why this makes so much more sense during my next post.

In the meantime, there is another hiccup to deal with. My old computer went on the fritz. A new computer has arrived, and I've got to decide whether to try to import my Hold'em Manager hand histories. But maybe it's just too much hassle, and I should simply start afresh! Considering my play now is dramatically different than when I started out, there is much to be said for starting out new in terms of the management portion of the app (ROI, ITM%, BI type of numbers). The only thing I would be missing would be the hand histories of players I've played with… but to be honest, its rare to see the same people over and over again at my level. And when it happens, it won't take long to figure out where they are coming and get them back in the DB. So I'm more or less leaning to starting again from scratch.

Stars Bonus Shenanigans

Bankroll: $295.12 (but really, its $265.12)


This weekend, I deposited $30 for a new reload bonus at Pokerstars. Due to the strange way in which reload bonuses at Stars work, I will need to keep that money in the account for the next 2 months.

The full story is that you're allowed up to 3 separate deposits. The 2nd and 3rd need to be made within 60 days of the first. Each deposit has its own expiry to clear which is 90 days after the deposit date.

Therefore, it behoofs you to deposit a small amount first, then deposit the 2nd and 3rd deposit exactly 60 days after the first. This extends your expiry for the bulk of the bonus from what would normally be 90 days to 150 days.

Concurrent with that deposit, I decided to take a shot at the $6+0.50 turbo Sit and Gos, up from the $3+0.4 level.

I played in 6 of the $6.5's. I had a 2nd place finish, a third place finish, and 4 losses. So, for 6 SnG's, I am down by $12, or just short of two buy-ins.

My initial impression is that playing at the $6.5 level feels different. Very different. I'm sure some of it has to do with the higher buy-in level; but, I suspect the majority of the feeling has to do with the fact that these are only 9 player Sit and Go's at this level, rather than the 10 player Sit and Go's I'm used to at the lower level.

So, for now, I will move back down to $3.4's for awhile and stick with the original plan of waiting until I've got another 100 or 200 buy-ins first.

After that, I might consider playing a few dozen 9-man Sit and Go's at the ultra-low $1+0.2 level - just to get used to the differences in preparation for the move back to $6+0.5.

In other news, I cleared the 2nd portion of my earlier reload bonus - which amounted to $12.50 into my account. How I cleared the last of this bonus was utterly reckless, and I'm thankful I made it without incident. Stay tuned for that story!

2009 Year in Review

Bankroll Starts Jun 27 2009: $50.00
Bankroll End on Dec 31 2009: $233.35

Expenses: HEM Small Stakes $55
Books =~ $150

Here is the 2009 graph. It includes the first few days of January 2010 as well.


It has only been half a year of playing for me, as I only started at Pokerstars in late June. In that time, I've played part time in the evenings - for generally a couple of hours a night.

I did my best to accumulate a bankroll starting with a $50 deposit. No additional deposits were made, except those required by reload bonuses, which I withdrew once the terms and conditions of the bonus were met.

During this time, I've learned a tremendous amount, and I realize I still have an even greater amount still to learn! I look back at some of the comments and questions I asked, either to friends, or on twoplustwo.com, and some of them look ridiculously elementary now. At the end of July, I'd played my first 5 $5.2 Double or Nothing tournaments (10 players, top 5 get double the buy-in). I was so impressed with myself for having won all 5!

My goals for 2010 include:
1) moving up in stakes
a) SnG's: I should be moving to $6.5 turbos soon. I'll make the move when I feel I have enough buy-ins at $3.4 to assure myself that I'm consistently beating the buy-in. Here's the graph of all my SnG's and Tounies for 2009 and the start of 2010 - this is since the end of September when I bought HEM:


b) Cash Games: I had a great deal of trouble with cash when I first started. It essentially eroded the money I'd made playing the DoN's, and almost caused me to lose my entire first deposit. Since then, I think I know how to beat NL2, but so far I've only posted a 2.5 BI profit. Very inadequate. Ironically, my NL10 shots have a greater profit posted than entire NL2 history. Once I've played to 20K hands in NL2, if I'm still ahead and bankroll allows, I'll move to either NL5 or NL10 (both have a $10 Buy In). Here is the graph of my NL2 history for 2009 and the start of 2010 (same caveat - this only covers hands since my purchase of HEM at the end of Sept):



2) build my bankroll enough to withdraw my initial capital of $50, as well as the expenses I've incurred (the HEM and the books). Poker should pay for Poker!! I may do this should my bankroll hit around $600.00


If you're reading this, have a great New Year! Best wishes for 2010.

New Years Eve - not my night!

Happy New Year's everyone!

But not for me so far!

2 more 5th place finishes. Seems I'm always hitting fifth. This time, I get blown away on 2 tables by the most unlikely of hands... oh well, here you go. Enjoy the BBV:

Poker Stars $3.00+$0.40 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t100/t200 Blinds - 5 players - View hand 450341

The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter



Hero (SB): t2815 M = 9.38

BB: t4495 M = 14.98

UTG: t1745 M = 5.82

CO: t2070 M = 6.90

BTN: t3875 M = 12.92



Pre Flop: (t300) Hero is SB with K 9

2 folds, BTN calls t200, Hero calls t100, BB checks



Flop: (t600) 9 3 7 (3 players)

Hero bets t2615 all in, BB folds, BTN calls t2615



Turn: (t5830) 7 (2 players - 1 is all in)



River: (t5830) J (2 players - 1 is all in)



Final Pot: t5830

Hero shows K 9 (two pair, Nines and Sevens)

BTN shows 7 9 (a full house, Sevens full of Nines)

BTN wins t5830







and this one is even better!!!

Poker Stars $3.00+$0.40 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t100/t200 Blinds - 5 players - View hand 450342

The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter



UTG: t1175 M = 3.92

CO: t2445 M = 8.15

Hero (BTN): t845 M = 2.82

SB: t6183 M = 20.61

BB: t4352 M = 14.51



Pre Flop: (t300) Hero is BTN with A A

2 folds, Hero calls t200, SB calls t100, BB checks



Flop: (t600) 2 J 7 (3 players)

SB bets t200, BB folds, Hero raises to t645 all in, SB calls t445



Turn: (t1890) 7 (2 players - 1 is all in)



River: (t1890) 2 (2 players - 1 is all in)



Final Pot: t1890

Hero shows A A (two pair, Aces and Sevens)

SB shows 3 7 (a full house, Sevens full of Deuces)

SB wins t1890