Ch4nc3's Bankroll and Playing Progress

Originally I started this thread to talk about my bankroll, but soon realized that more importantly than my bankroll is my playing progress, understanding progress, and strategy progress. Add all those together and I think the Bankroll progress should increase in relation to the others.

My bankroll is still fairly small, but I thought I would start this thread because I hit one of my bankroll milestones. I broke the 30 dollar wall.

A little history first. I started playing cash games around the middle of March. I deposited 25.00 (the minimum for Neteller) and immediately lost that. I played in too high of games buying in with 10.00 and not being that experienced of a player I would lose that and then start scrambling trying to make it back.

This pattern went on through the rest of March and April. Every payday I would deposit 25.00 and the following week I would be broke. Counting it up, my ignorance on playing and bankroll management cost me 150.00 from March through the end of April.

Thanks to this forum and everyone here, especially Nick, I was awarded "Best Newbie on the Forum" along with Lo-Dog, I believe. This included a deposit into my neteller account that kept me from dipping into my bank account. I was down to 5.00 on Pokerstars.

So for the month of May I started out with 35.00. Through some very foolish playing, my 35.00 became 8 dollars and some change (I learned to never play while sleep deprived). I then took a mini-sabbatical (1 week) without playing. Then came back to the game, won second in a 1 +.20 SnG and my bankroll went back up to 18.00. Then I played in some .1/.2 NLH ring games and got my banroll back up to 25 and some change.

The past couple of nights I have played in the .5/.10 games because the .1/.2 and the .2/.5 games were all full. My bankroll is back up to a promising, but modest 45 dollars.

So that is what I meant about the 30 dollar wall, or quicksand (I'd get stuck in it and just sink from there). I've been up to 39.00 a few times and would play and play just trying to etch out that extra dollar with no luck. So last night was a turing point, I hope.

I believe I have improved my strategy (from zero strategy to "There's a strategy to poker?" realization).

I take things into account now like position, chip stack, betting patterns. I'm understanding the value of check-raise, pre-flop betting, premium hands, bluffing, etc.
I'm also learning some of the terminology such as check-calling, +EV, UTG, MP, etc.
I've also taken advantage of some of the criticism given in rooms by getting past the rudeness and crudeness of the tone and used them as learning tools, if I felt they had a point. I've been the donkey that I hear about from others in this forum (keyword "been"). I still have my donk moments, but I'm getting better.
I still have to wrap my mind around "result-oriented" playing. I think I'm still a results oriented player, but as my understanding for the game increases I hope this changes.

I gain a lot of benefit from hitting the "Hand Analysis" thread and seeing how different people play hands and some of the comments and advice given. I compare what I would do to what other, more experienced, players would do. Sometimes the right answer is not always obvious.

Anyway, I tend to get very wordy when I write so I will close this post now.

lol. Nice post Ch4nc3. Even though as my fellow newbie of the month you have more rep than me I am giving you another one. Seems you are really analyzing your game and are determined to improve, which of course is excellent. I have to agree that this site is a great help and if I can ever get back to playing more often(the weather is so nice here!) I might soon get my bankroll high enough to get off the 5c/10c tables. Keep up the good work and keep posting your progress.

Thanks Lo-Dog, much appreciated! :-)

Well, I'm done for the night. Down 1.50. Played somewhat tight, did get impatient and played some hands I normally wouldn't. Too bad I wasn't getting any cards, there were some very loose players giving money away.

I believe part of my problem is that I wasn't in the zone. Didn't have the concentration or insight that I had the past couple of nights.


I am calling it a night with 43.50 in my BR.

I'm a firm believer in the zone. Some days you KNOW how good your opponents hands are - you can spot the bluffs a mile off, and know just when you can steal a pot, other days you just don't know.
I find caffeine can be one of the factors for whether I'm in the zone or not, but when you do learn to spot it, make the most of it... I'd also tend to play more Limit when not in the zone (because a bad call isn't so bad), and more Pot Limit or No Limit when I'm in the zone.

Great Info David. I never thought about that approach, moving to a limit game when not in the zone.

So does caffiene help you get into the zone? Do I need to drink a double shot latte before I sit down at a table? How about sugar? Does sugar help too? :-D

Just a quick update. I kinda cheated on my bankroll. Through CC I signed up on to Titan poker last night. I transferred 25.00 from PS over to Titan. This, of course, got me a 20 dollar immediate bonus, plus a pending 25 dollar which I qualify for if I get 2000 points by August or something like that.

So my new bankroll total:

PS = 22.00
Titan 23.00 (lost 2 dollars at a game)
Titan Bonus 20.00
Pending 25.00

Total: 90.00

I signed up for Titan in hopes of getting in on some of the CC games. Don't know if I'm quite ready yet skill wise, but what the heck.

Whoops one more thing. For those observant readers. You may have noticed that from my initial post last night I had 43 and some change. Moving 25 over to Titan would have left me with 18 and some change on PS. So how can I be reporting 22 on PS. Well, I signed back on to PS last night in one of the .2/.5 ring games with 4.00 and doubled up.

My wife keeps telling me I always leave something when I explain something to her. I'm trying to work on that. :-) (Leaving more out that is, must keep her guessing ;-) )

Whatever works to get you in the zone is good... apart from illegal drugs, of course... caffeine, music, sleep, it's all got its place. Sleep's possibly the best one, it's hard to focus well when you haven't slept properly, no matter how strong your coffee.

+= The Zone
Maybe not the best zone for poker but a zone none the less. lol

LOL Lo-Dog. True that is a zone, and I believe I have played against some people who are in that zone.

David, so true. Sleep is vital. I found that one out the hard way. Lost most of my bankroll once because I was too tired to play and too dumb to quit.

Aha!


BTW keep it going there ch4nc3.

Okay, this has been a helluva night. I now know the true definition of "calling station".

I had a great run tonight. I got into the .2/.5 ring game on PS. I wasn't playing too tight, the table was fairly loose with people calling and calling with nothing so I was a little more liberal with my hand selections than normal.

I bought in for 4.00 and walked away with 36 and some change.

I played during lunch today and lost my 4.00 there so I started tonight with a little over 18 dollar bankroll. I now have 50.70 on PS.

I was going to play on Titan tonight but this table was just too good to leave so my bank roll is still the same there. 43 and some change.

So my total bankroll is

Titan 43
PS 50
Total 93 dollars.

I am making an adjustment and not counting the 25 bonus from Titan yet since I haven't earned it yet. So the 93 is the cash I have in the games.

I'm going to post some of the better summaries of my game from tonight.

*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $7.73 | Rake $0.35
Board [Qh Qd 9h 3d As]
Seat 1: N_O_Saintfan (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: nick*civic (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 3: OandA_202 (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 4: sodapoppa folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: Ch4nc3 showed [Qs 3s] and won ($7.38) with a full house, Queens full of Threes
Seat 7: lukedaddy folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: tveiga mucked [Qc 6h]
Seat 9: JMAGS555 folded on the Turn

*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $7.08 | Rake $0.35
Board [7c 3d 4d 6h 7s]
Seat 1: N_O_Saintfan (big blind) showed [9h Ah] and lost with a pair of Sevens
Seat 2: nick*civic folded on the River
Seat 3: OandA_202 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: dableu folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: MrBaiseMan folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: Ch4nc3 showed [5s 5c] and won ($6.73) with a straight, Three to Seven
Seat 7: lukedaddy (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: JMAGS555 (small blind) folded on the River

*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $6.37 | Rake $0.30
Board [Kd 5h Jh Kc 7c]
Seat 1: theengel666 mucked [Jd Qh]
Seat 2: nick*civic folded on the Flop
Seat 3: OandA_202 folded on the Flop
Seat 4: glockfortysw showed [Js 5s] and lost with two pair, Kings and Jacks
Seat 6: Ch4nc3 (button) showed [Ts Kh] and won ($6.07) with three of a kind, Kings
Seat 7: lukedaddy (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 8: dalby,burke (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 9: Sully77 folded on the Flop

*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $12.87 Main pot $10.37. Side pot $1.90. | Rake $0.60
Board [5c 9d Ac 3d 5h]
Seat 1: Dhighroller folded on the Flop
Seat 2: acesfulmike folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: scoop273 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: glockfortysw folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: MrBaiseMan showed [As 3c] and lost with two pair, Aces and Fives
Seat 6: Ch4nc3 showed [Ah 9c] and won ($12.27) with two pair, Aces and Nines
Seat 7: lukedaddy (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: Dapowa (small blind) showed [Ad Jh] and lost with two pair, Aces and Fives
Seat 9: Sully77 (big blind) folded on the Flop

*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $8.71 | Rake $0.40
Board [Qs Qh 2s Jd 2d]
Seat 1: Dhighroller folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: acesfulmike folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: scoop273 (button) folded on the Turn
Seat 4: glockfortysw (small blind) folded on the Turn
Seat 5: MrBaiseMan (big blind) folded on the Turn
Seat 6: Ch4nc3 showed [7c Qc] and won ($8.31) with a full house, Queens full of Deuces
Seat 7: wpb1973 showed [5h 9c] and lost with two pair, Queens and Deuces
Seat 8: XxShefxX folded on the River
Seat 9: Sully77 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Ch4nc3 it seems to me like you could possibly be doing too much at once. you can only become an expert poker player through experiencing it to its fullest. learning too much too quick is not a good thing in my book.

you have to be prepared to lose alot to win alot. i feel that playing lower stakes poker is only detrimental to your skills - simply because, there aren't ANY good players at that level. therefore the skills you are trying to learn, aren't relevant whilst you play.

i consider myself a successful experienced player. i currently play at $1 / $2 cash games and any decent MTT i can find. i can easily make alot of money at these levels but i know for a fact i would probably lose if i played lower levels.

how many times has a donk knocked you out of a $5 MTT? countless times probably!

i've never won a $5 buy in MTT but won countless $20, $50 and $100 buy in's.

so after all that ranting i have a few bits of advice for you to help you in your goal to becoming a successful poker player.

1. right now, while you enjoy poker - play for fun. dont take it too seriously.

2. dont consider your bankroll that important, be prepared to lose it. $90 is not alot in poker, espiecially at low levels where its like tap dancing in a minefield at times.

3. concentrate on learning the different aspects of the game. its better to learn in an MTT where there are a wide variety of skills on show. rather than to play at 0.05c / 0.10c cash games with pure gamblers and fish.

all i think i'm saying is. dont try to run before you can walk mate and you'll turn out to be an amazing poker player in the end. its great to take on board advice. but the best poker players eventually are able to dispense their OWN advice. this comes from making mistakes and losing! hell i've had my fair share of that!

Bank roll = 86.00

Well back to reality. In my last post, as you all know, I had a helluva luck streak and in retrospect that is exactly what it was. I made some foolish plays and got paid for them.

Tonight, no such luck.

First of all, I wasn't in the zone as I had been last night.
Second, I played much tighter than I did last night and just wasn't getting any hands. I'd be dealt AK, for instance, and the board would be all undercards and someone would win with a pair of 3's.

I started playing tonight on Titan in a 2 dollar SnG. I had an Ace high flush and got knocked out by a straight flush. That was different. LOL.

I immediately left and went to PS and tripled up and then lost it with a bad run of cards and draws.

I then went into a 5 dollar tourney and came in 5th (right under the bubble :-( )

Allsop, thanks for the information. I know in the lower stake games I'm not playing against good players.

I consider my time spent in the lower stake rooms as my "training wheels". Just like T-ball isn't real baseball, micro limits isn't real poker, but as I'm sure some of the great baseball players started out in peewee leagure, some of the good poker players started out micro limits.

An believe me, I know where my skill level is poker wise. On a scale of 1 to 10. I'm about a 3, unless I'm sleep deprived and then I don't even register.

What I believe I am learning is valuable though. As I mentioned in previous posts, my understanding has increased greatly.

Not being someone who I would consider a "gamer", I have found that I enjoy poker. I look on it as a puzzle to be solved. In each hand I try and put players on hands depending on their aggressiveness, tightness, and betting style.

I try to figure out if it would be more profitable to raise, call, check or fold. These are the things I enjoy about the game, and I do enjoy it. I don't want to make a career out of poker, but when I like something I want to understand everything there is about it.

If my bankroll goes down then that's all right. It already has and I won't lose sleep over it tonight. The money I have invested in poker would have been spent on something irrelevent anyway I'm sure. If I have to deposit 50.00/month I would. Now with that being said, there would come a point when I would realize that I'm just throwing money away and I would either stop playing or read more and try to play better.

Luckily for me, recently I have had to do less depositing and have gotten to play longer. If the free games weren't so crazy then I may have never deposited money, but even the micro limit games and cash tournements are a thousand times better than the free games so I'm satisified for now.

I'm not trying to rush into poker as much as I'm trying to evolve into it. My transition from lower limit to higher limit should be seamless. The amount I put in or lose shouldn't affect me that much.

I started this thread more as a progress journal for me and the cash as a way of keeping score. I should probably have started a blog instead of keeping it here, but I enjoy it here and I like the input I get.

I'm getting wordy again so I will close for now. I do appreciate the input Allsop, and everyone else. I'll try and keep the game in perspective, the other night was just a crazy now, but tonight was back to normal.

Jim