Last Two Weeks

Well it's the start of a new week, and last week was my best week to date (within these past two months that is). My FTP bankroll is currently at $8.2k+, and the last time I checked, my rakeback for June was at $1.5k+. This is getting dangerously close to $10k, and winning the $6k portion of the bet (the other $1k portion is if and when I hit $11k).

I guess now it's time to start thinking about the $200NL game, since when I have $10k I'll have 50 buyins. I DEFINITELY learned my lesson when trying to move up to the $100NL game, and I'll definitely wait until my rakeback money gets into FTP (I just feel that much more comfortable). I haven't done much research on the $200NL game yet, but my guess is that there are more regular players there, but who knows. I'm not rushing to get to the next level because the level I'm currently at is in my comfort zone now. I've been at the $100NL game for 3 weeks now and am very comfortable here.

Anyway, I've posted a graph of the past two weeks, dating back to June 15th. I played 24.3k hands during the first week on the graph, and you can see the difference in profit from before and after that point. The first week was not horrible at all, but was a losing week: -$405 @ -$11.35/hr (for 35.75 hours). The following week was, as I've been saying, very good: +$3,049.05 @ $99.16/hr (for 30.75 hours).

One thing the graph shows, is that during the second week, I ran above expectation--in other words, I can be "accused" of running good. That is definitely something to think about from this point on and to stay humble and not expect, but hope, for good sessions/weeks/months. All the while, I have to constantly keep concentrating and do my best to play the best I can. I actually expect the worst, and when good things happen, they'll be appreciated more.

On a Tear

I'm not sure exactly what it is, but this week is going extremely well. So well, in fact, I think I just might make the #1 spot on the 2p2 earners board at the $100NL 6max game. I'm up approximately $2.9k so far this week and my FTP bankroll is now $7.7k! If I keep this kind of rate up, I'll definitely be done with the bet sometime in July, well ahead of schedule. There is definitely no need to force anything or change anything up right now. I'm taking down unwanted pots. And I believe the result of that is people trying to show more bluff resistance. Also, I've been doing an "alright" job of catching weird lines bluffing and have been running fairly well. This week's graph is going to be good to see, and I look forward to comparing actual and expected winnings. Long, sleepless hours are paying off more than ever. I'm just on a very good streak and don't expect every session to be a winning one, let alone nearly this good. I haven't had the "stuck" feeling in a long time.

Oh, and one thing that has really helped me out is actually rooting for the opponent to draw out. If I win, hey of course I'm happy. If I lose, I've put myself in a better mood of seeing the underdog win. Of course it isn't what I want, but not tilting is extremely important, and rooting for the other guy helps me avoid getting aggravated.

Played Like Crap

I'm going to go over a few hands, and talk about just how horribly I played the hands. This session was definitely a badly played one.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2811812

Ok, the preflop play was standard w/ 3betting QQ on the button. Flop brings JJ7 and IN POSITION I check. This is definitely not the way I usually play this hand on the flop, especially in position, but for some stupid reason I checked behind. The turn brings a 5, essentially nothing much to be scared of, and the villain leads for $19. These hands where the board has a paired broadway card usually cause me to want to play smaller pots (unless of course I hold said card). This is a "safety" measure I sometimes use, but I feel like I'm starting to get into the habit of checking these. What's my reasoning? I guess there's that feeling of both not getting any value because of showing so much strength and not wanting to be bluffed off my hand. This kind of hand is sometimes leaky, and I think I have to go over some strategies to play these flops better. And HOLY SHIT, did I just CHECK BACK the river??? That was 5x worse than the flop check! What checks on the river here that beats me? Basically nothing, and I check behind?

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2811815

This hand just stuck out as one I almost NEVER play like this. I posted it up here just because the line I took looks so horribly weak and nitty. In my defense, I think this guy's preflop raise was around 5% or so. If that was the case, I must have put him on AK at worst (MAYBE AQs, but I thought AQs would cbet to end on flop), esp from UTG+1, in essense playing my JJ to set in a family pot instead of my usual line of trying to get it heads up against a weaker hand/player. Just goes to show, even people w/ very nitty stats have strokes of genius and raise w/ 54s from early.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2811819

This one ALMOST takes the cake and tilted me. Wow, so many mistakes. Family pot, I'm deep, I DON'T MIND the call preflop at all. Some might say folding pre is good, and of course that wouldn't be bad at all, but deep, screw it, "one time." Now on the flop is where I feel I made the biggest mistake: I led out in this pot, hoping for a raise? Looking back, the damn preflop raiser was on my left, meaning I would be the one to close out the action on the flop after his cbet!!! Horrible! After I lead for pot the preflop raiser calls. The turn is a T, giving me the effective nuts (if he had QQ then chalk one up to the coolers and I wouldn't mind), so what do I do? I check like a new player! I got zero value on the turn! I mean, I could have at least done some kind of weak bet. The turn check was bad, but that was the result of leading the flop like an idiot. The river is the A (AA/AT now win, but AA definitely doesn't check on turn, and AT I would not mind losing to). At this point I consider a check/raise, but was just WAY too scared to see him check behind w/ a good hand and risk feeling ABSOLUTELY stupid. I value bet the river for $35 into $48. He calls the river w/ the nut straight, and I'm definitely steaming. I won so very little from a hand I should have won much more from. These are the types of hands that tilt me, not getting setted on or 3/2/1 outted, etc. Nothing pisses me off more than seeing that I could have easily won much more, but lost so much value. The obvious mistake in this hand was leading into that pot, no question about that. (Now if the flop would have checked around, eh I don't even want to think about it.)

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2811821

This one takes the cake! It's self explanatory. Playing this way and seeing this hand on showdown. Playing my hand like this makes me feel like I pissed my pants in front of strangers.

So all these horribly played hands, and the bankroll suffers. This doesn't mean I didn't have a winning, it just means I lost value and my winrate was lower than it could/should have been. I played a shade under 4.1k hands in 6 hours, with a profit of $568.55 @ $94.76/hr. My FTP bankroll is at $6955.66, and I hope to get over $7k by the end of the month. But I need to exercise a little more common sense and slow down my thought process more. There's no way I should have checked back on the river..... eh, forget it.

Quick Update

As far as my computer goes, it WORKS, but I know there is still traces of the virus that need to be removed/cleaned. I've actually been working with someone at bleepingcomputer.com to help me fix it. (Basically a computer forum where you can post different problems and logs so someone w/ experience can evaluate and help.)

As far as poker is going, it's going well. I had a very loose guy on my right who was one of those "I called this much so I'm gonna call that to see the flop" guys. So I got the limp/reraising w/ big hands pre. I ended up getting into a 400BB pot with him when I limped UTG w/ AA. UTG+1 raised and there were callers, including the loose guy on my right. I got my reraise in there and he of course called. I was lucky enough to have a "dream" flop versus this guy w/ all baby cards. He ended up betting the pot on the flop, which was somewhere in the vicinity of $60, and he called my push w/ 99--ship it...

Anyway, my current FTP bankroll is now a shade under $6.4k. I'm doing very well so far this week and I hope I can keep it up. Hey, now I can aim for $7k by the end of the month (but won't be disappointed if I end up falling short). As for the rakeback for June, it hasn't really updated itself. I can estimate that I'm around $1.25k for the month, give or take.

At the end of the week, I'll see about posting up two graphs: one for last week (not good) and the comparison for this week (hopefully stays good). Also I can post up my daily log for the month of June when it's said and done.

So right now I'm feeling good about where I'm at and can't wait to hit $7k soon.

Playing Through

I've STILL be trying to get the computer to work right and give it a thorough cleaning. Even though it's fairly stable, I haven't completely wiped out the problem. I finally resorted to asking for help on a forum, and I'm confident these smart guys will help and get the computer right. Seems very nice of these computer geeks to just lend their time and go over a stranger's log files and steer them in the right direction to get their computers running right. Hey, not everyone is an asshole right?

Well, since the computer is basically stable enough, I've been playing a little bit. My FTP roll is a bit above $5.4k and I haven't been on the rakeback site this past week to know where I'm at with that. I am disappointed because that number is not going to be where I had hoped it would be. This computer problem consumed all my time and I'm still not finished fixing it; however, I did get to relax and not think about poker for a while. I think that helped my game a little bit and so far I'm feeling "alright" about my game this week.

I'll be sure to have a more detailed update in the coming days when my computer is working more smoothly....

Lost Time

Computer seems to finally be working the right way (hopefully stays this way). I will try my best to "catch up." Here goes....

While I Can

Some might be wondering where I've been for the past few days. Well, my computer got infested with things that do bad things. I've spent the past few days trying to go through the registry and scanning the hard drive for viruses. Shout out to AVG, Ad-Aware, RegCleaner, and HijackThis for helping. I recommend these programs to clean your system and keep it that way, but it does take a little googling to find problems.

On the poker note, my FTP roll is at $4.8k and I haven't been able to play as much as I should have this week. My current rakeback for June is approximately $1.2k. I plan on doing my best to get as many hands as I possibly can starting Monday/Tuesday if the computer is functioning properly. Not being able to play actually feels like a good thing though--the weather's been nice, got to get my mind off/on certain things, and feel relaxed. Basically, I feel refreshed and ready to go at it again. HOPEFULLY, I can get my FTP roll up to $6k by the end of the month. That would really be nice, but even ending the month at $5k would be fine with me. I feel ahead of the pace for $10k, and I'm now shooting for $16k. More updates to come.....

Doing Bad Isn't Bad

Ever since I hit $5.2k, I've slowed down and the sessions seem/feel like I'm not doing good. I can't say I'm playing my best right now, and it shows. I'll make a nice move and then "spew" it back with a move on someone else. The roll is at approximately $4.8k.

My goal last week was to get into the top players list on twoplustwo.com (2p2). They basically have a datamined list of the winnings of the players for the week. I had a fairly good two sessions during last week, and it showed up on the list. I ended up at the 16th spot, with a recorded $1460.80 made for the week. 1st spot made a little over $3k, and 2nd turned in $1.8k. I hope I can get my name back up on that list for the week, and hopefully improve.

We'll see what this week brings, but I need to concentrate a little more while playing.... That seems to be a recurring problem. Maybe I can download some new music instead of what I've been doing....

Another Day

The session before last went very well at the 100s--I had made over $800 at $146/hr. I just got through with another session and it actually went even better--$1040 at $181/hr!!! I broke the $5k mark and my FTP bankroll is currently at $5204.41. I knew I'd be comfortable and profitable at the 100s, but I didn't think I'd be doing this well so fast. I finally looked at my PT stats and I'm in the black in the $100NL game after being down so much (started off down 17 buyins I think). So things are going alright, and I'm going to try to keep this up. I don't exactly expect to keep up a pace of $150/hr, but "just" making around $40/hr right now would be highly welcomed.

Comfort Level

I guess I can say that I proved to myself today just how comfortable I am at the 100s. I played another 5.5 hour session of 3591 hands. I don't know exactly what it was today that prompted such a nice session--maybe because it was Thursday, school is out, or whatever. My latest session consisted of netting a little over $800 at $146.05/hr. This is my largest winrate so far and I really feel like I'm rolling along now. I feel the same way about the 100s as I did the 50s now, and playing 8 tables isn't just a factor, it's THE factor. I'm paying attention and not doing other things when I'm 8-tabling. This also helps me play more hands-per-hour, which increases my rakeback per session. I've already accumulated well over $500 in rakeback this month, and I haven't even been playing as much as I feel I should be (in my last four sessions, I never played for more than 5.5 hours).

My FTP bankroll is at $4163.51, and from now on I won't talk about my rakeback money as included in my whole bankroll until it's actually in my FTP account (it makes me feel like I have more money coming and it jinxes me).

I still see missed opportunities to make money, and need to concentrate more on what my opponent might think I have. At the 50s (and for the most part at the 100s) opponents aren't exactly always thinking about what I'm holding and just looking at their own cards. But as I move up in the future, I need to be aware of what my opponent is aware of, especially what my bet-sizing might mean.

So, I'm comfortable now and I just had a good session that lifted my spirits a little. I hope to be one of the players that crushes this level, and then I'll be on the way to the 200s. I'll probably wait until I have about 35-40 buyins before attempting the 200s, but that's a long way away. I guess the biggest chunk of the $10k will be made at the level I'm at now.

I feel that days like this don't have to be so scarce and winning at a consistent $50+/hr is definitely possible over a larger sample. My first two tries at the 100s were daunting, but since then I've become just as comfortable at the 100s as the 50s. I haven't played the 100s long enough to talk, so I'll just be content with this session and work harder at the next one.

Oh and thanks to the guy who called every pot bet I made (from preflop to the river) and put me allin on the river holding AJhigh to my quads, I appreciate it.

Three Sessions

I've played three separate sessions at the 100NL game. First session was -$212.55 in 5.25 hours (-$40.49/hr), the second session was +$77.75 in 4 hours ($19.44/hr), and I just played a session at +$316.35 in 5.5 hours ($57.52/hr).

There's good news and bad news. The good news is I'm comfortable with all aspects of the $100NL game. I'm playing my game and starting to adjust accordingly. Also, I'm seeing decent winrates. The bad news is that I hated that last $57.52/hr session. I REALLY shouldn't even be feeling that way, but I didn't adjust properly to a fish I was focusing on. I would win money off him and tilt some back, win some off him and tilt some back. I ended up only playing on his tables and got off my game. The whole point is for me to play 8 tables so that I don't focus too much and try to do too much--which is exactly what I ended up doing.

I'm still very much in the red at the 100s, but that should change as time goes on and as I play more hands. My current bankroll is at $3360.26, but I will need to get back to normal before my next session--the last session was definitely me not playing my best even though it was a decent winrate....

Rakeback Successful

I logged on to FTP and it seems the rakeback was automatically transferred to my account. My FTP roll is now $3178.71, exactly as expected. I am very pleased with that, and am even more encouraged to play more hands.

Just over a month....

Ok it's June 10th and it's been a month and five days. My FTP bankroll is $2348.30 and I earned $830.41 in rakeback for the month of May. That brings my bankroll to $3178.71. That's not bad. I'm not exactly sure how I feel about making that much. Well, I guess I can say I'm happy. I'm winning; I'm putting in a "decent" amount of hands--85.3k hands in the month of May. Also, thinking I should have more money is just going to cause me to play worse. Forget that, I'm happy to be where I'm at. I'm at $2.3k, and this is after LOSING $1.6k on my two shots at $100NL. Saying that makes me feel a lot better. After playing 85.3k hands, you can officially estimate that "running" either bad or good has, for the most part, evened out; I can't sit here and whine about this or that.

Over the last 62k+ hands at $50NL (6max) I've earned over $2.1k at 3.48ptbb/100. Over the last 318 hands at $50NL (heads-up) I've earned almost $800 at 249ptbb/100 (I only play fish w/ money and I run good as you can see.) Over the last 7.2k hands at $100NL (6max) I've lost over $1.6k at -11.29ptbb/100 (not good obviously.) Over the last 69.7k hands at all levels, I've earned $1.25k at 2.99ptbb/100.

How I'm looking at the previous month is that I learned a LOT! Looking back at my daily poker spreadsheet, you can see how each day went, and how things turned around after making certain adjustments. If I didn't adjust and humble myself early on, I would probably be sitting at something closer to $1.5k and probably wanting to DDT someone off the top rope. So, again, I'm happy at where I'm at--basically I'm at where I'm at and it is what it is.

What is next is obviously the $100NL game. Again, a few adjustments need to be made. Not getting discouraged is important. Putting in the time is important. Constantly reassessing the plan for each hand and asking myself why I played certain hands incorrectly is VERY important. Not messing around online is crucial to observing the temperament and texture of the table. Basically I need to take the $100NL game seriously and not feel like it owns me. I've previously had two separate $2k profit sessions at this level (it was a while back, but it counts). Lately, I've gotten crushed at this level, but it's VERY VERY VERY beatable, and I'm 100% positive I'll be looking back and seeing just how easy the $100NL game has turned out to be.

So as of now, I'm trying to be patient while I'm waiting to move my $830 into my FTP account. I would be that much more comfortable playing at the next level, with the money more liquid and consolidated on FTP. 30 buyins is "safe" to many people; however, there are those that might say 30 buyins might be a little borderline as I'm playing 8 tables at once. I honestly think playing 8 tables at the 100s is going to keep me more even-keeled and less creative. (I mean that in the best possible sense as I'll still keep some creativity, but I won't feel pressured to play a hand just because it's the best thing I've seen in 15 minutes.)

Enjoy observing the month of May......

As you can see, as of late, I've been making good strides in my winrates. It is more consistent in the green. The week before last I averaged $16.62/hr which is decent. And the last week was looking to be even better until I walked down the wrong alley the last day of the month. I had three $50ish/hr and a $30/hr sessions in the last week, but I screwed it up when I took a shot at the 100s. So, other than the 100s, my winrate was a steady improvement. You can see some session notes ont he side.....

Here's to the month of June.

New Toy

First thing's first. The FTP bankroll is at a little over $1900. I will stop talking about rakeback money, most importantly because it's making me feel like I have more money than I actually have. I'll talk about how much rake I've earned once in a while, like at the end of months. I took another shot at the 100s and did good at first, then did bad again. So, of course, I'm back at the 50s trying to follow a strict buyin guideline. I will go strictly to 100s again when my FTP bankroll is at $3k. At that point, I shouldn't have to go back down to the 50s unless I get hammered badly. From that point, things should start to get a little exciting.

Anyway, I had to give Zook back his monitor I was borrowing. I pulled my old CRT out and just played 4 100s. And what I've noticed is that I don't like playing only 4 tables anymore. I used to do it to focus on how the fish play to get their money, but I think I can do it just the same on 8 tables. Also, when I only play four tables, I tend to want to get too involved. I get overly involved to the point where I want to see my opponents' cards at a steep price. Playing 8 tables keeps me more even-keeled.

Back to what I was saying. I had to return the monitor I was using, so I put a 22" Dell on credit. I had it delivered 2-day shipping (it was worth it obviously). I had to update the drivers for my video card to use the 1680x1050 resolution so I can comfortably get 8-9 tables up w/ minimal overlap. However, on the monitor I was borrowing, I got 9 tables on w/ ZERO overlap before. Maybe his was 24", I don't know. Anyway, I'm still happy with the new monitor. I put in 8.5 hours just now and over 5600 hands. I DID NOT play well at all today. I did however run into someone I played heads-up. And he forked over a good chunk of change, considering it was a 50NL table--$575. He was open-pushing his stack so much that I just had to wait for something solid enough. When I got deeper, I obviously tightened up, but still got to catch him when I flopped good. So, today's session was -2 buyins, but the heads up match ended up helping me to net $464.

Oh, this is a PS to Justin, I know tourneys are off limits, but remember, bonuses are NOT off limits. If I have a freeroll and win some dough, IT COUNTS.... I mean, the chances of me winning any sizeable money from a freeroll tourney is slimmer than Amy Winehouse, but it could happen.....

It Wasn't Over Till It Was Over

Well well now....

I was riding really high on how well I was doing at the 50NL game. As you might have read the last time, my FTP roll was at $2.3k. That would have been an 18buyin week, but I decided to give 100NL a shot and hit the wall. My roll went from 2.3k to 1.3k in one session--a 10buyin downswing. I could tell I wasn't being as aggressive and trying to just hit big flops instead of taking them down. I ran into some players that will prove to be very profitable for me in the future, but that night was their night. A lot of things went wrong, but the main thing that went wrong was my comfort level. I am VERY comfortable at the 50NL game, but playing the 100NL, well, I was playing to cautiously to be profitable. Then my monsters started getting involved w/ sets and it got all bad. So I ended the week with a FTP roll of $1563.90. Today I played 8 tables of 50NL, and crushed it fairly well at $58/hr for 8hours. So NOW my FTP roll is sitting at $1994.05.

It's a new month, it's a new week, things are looking good. I checked my PT and saw that over the past 44k hands I've been running at over 4ptbb/100. I'll be playing 8 tables instead of 6 on the 50s to get even more rake, and besides, I don't think it's affecting my winrate.

My rakeback for the month of May isn't official, but it's sligtly over $750 that last time I checked. So, I think I'll be playing the 50NL game (8 tabling) until I get $3k in my FTP account. It'll make me that much more comfortable playing the 100NL tables, and I'm not having a problem making at least $20/hr on the 50s now. And on a positive note, I've been reading some 2p2 and many people are saying how the 50NL game is tougher than the 100NL game. If this is true, I really can't wait to get to experience this and get more comfortable on the 100s......

In summary,
Took a shot at 100NL and it didn't make me smile.
Went back to the 50NL and I'm doing very well.
Total roll is $2000+$750= $2.75k (approximate)