Let's build some bankroll - who's with me?

Day 87.. 99.4%....
Day 88.. 99.6%....
Day 89.. 99.8%....
Day 90.. 99.5%....
Day 91.. 102.3%....

After a plateau, made a little today. Enough to pay the entry fees to CCoP tomorrow and then some. I am still hanging in the running for Silver Iron Man; a little easier since I went up a level of limit ring game. Clearing the first deposit bonus is also twice as fast.

yah i read about that it sounds cool i got $50 maybe ill try this cant hurt

Boy, are you in the wrong thread!

You seem to roughly break even very often. Do you generally buy in for a fairly small part of your bankroll (thus keeping swings at a minimum) or do you have bigger swings during the sessions?

Day 16: 200% (264.69)
Day 17: 205% (269.84)
Day 18: 211% (278,48)

Well, the irony of today is that it was yesterday in reverse! I got horribly rivered three times within the first 40 or so hands. Looking on the positive side, I avoided the “tilt temptation” so the gut shot chasers gave me my money back (eventually) with an appropriate amount of interest. I’ve only played about 5000 hands but I feel that my BR can stand it, so I’ll be playing the 50c / $1 limit tables tomorrow.

Boltneck

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Progress Update

Day 17: 217% ($4,345)
Day 18: 269% ($5,387)
Day 19: 303% ($6,061)

I'm so happy with my game at the moment. I suffered my fair share of suckouts today, especially at the beginning of the session, but they didn't bother me one bit. I just kept on playing my game and managed to end the day with quite a bit of profit.

Apart from a bunch of SNGs, I also played a few MTTs but didn't make it into the money. Scoring big in one of these would be really sweet. I'll keep playing them in between Sit and Gos and hopefully hit the jackpot at some point.

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graphs are looking good guys. Sorry about the lack of postage on my behalf. I have just started a new job and I have not quite managed to fit my life round my shifts quite yet. Should be back pretty soon though!

Day 17: 205% (269.84)
Day 18: 211% (278.48)
Day 19: 212% (279.07)

Today was my first day playing 50c / $1 limit since the rebirth of my poker playing experience a little over 2 weeks ago. Despite showing a miserly profit of 59 cents, I am delighted with the days play. The profit (or rather lack of it) can be largely attributed to the dismal rate of return on my premium hands. It was just one of those days when the flop just would not favour me. Twice I had pocket Q’s and the flop show both A and K and many similar stories with other good pre-flop raising hands. These days happen, you learn to live with it. I will be away from home for a couple of days, so probably won’t get to play (or post) until later in the week, but will be back soon.

Boltneck.

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Sorry for the long post guys and gals. I just wanted to update since I hadn't posted in a few days. Give me a heads up if I'm writing too much worthless stuff no one will care to read or look at. Thanks.

Everyone's graphs are definitely looking good. Though the $ setting on the left surely isn't right, I think I found a better setting for mine, which seems more accurate, and less skewed as before.
Two days ago, I played a sitngo that lasted almost an hour before 4 people were left standing. I ended of up in 3rd, so the streak continues. Four in a row ITM, sngo style. That was that.

Yesterday I decided not to play at all. I felt queezy, and in a slightly irritated mood, and didn't want to screw-up the great play and streak I had going, when I know better.

Finishing 230th in the Full Tilt CC Free Roll started my Sunday off. I was doing great until the squatter left of me was about to be blinded out. I have pocket kings, one person calls before me, I raise preflop to maybe 4 or 5 times the BB with pocket K's and get raised, which would put me all-in. The only other person in the hand was the massive stack who was catching everything with huge preflop raising after being caught bluffing. The guy would give away about half of his stack only to be come back stronger every time by going all in preflop with mediocre hands. In retrospect, I definitely should have folded, because his pocket rockets raped me. It was nearly perfect play on my part up to that point. It's dissapointing. Beware of the big stacks. *faints*

As for the $100k tourney at Poker Stars I satellited into. Oh boy. I expected nine, maybe ten-thousand entrants. 17.5k people came in for a ride. An hour in, about half were gone. Before the two hour marker, we were in the money. I limped into it and took a shot to trip or quad up by pushing in with a mediocre hand. I was getting eaten by the ante and blinds. Sorry to say, the cards didn't do anything for me, so I waved goodbye . It was a wretched two hours. At a certain point, since people were dropping like flies from 5k to 4k to 3k people, I decided I wouldn't play for the win and be happy to just make it in the money, finishing in at 2639th.

The really great news is, I'm a few FPP's closer to gettting that hat I want!
I don't play for prestige or the money. It's all about the free gear.

Day 13 : 116%
Day 14 : -%
Day 15 : -%
Day 16 : 180%

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wsorbust, this is great!

And don't feel bad about the KK in the freeroll. Just bad luck. You can't fold KK in a freeroll!

No, I love reading stories of how everybody is doing. This is supposed to be a major part of the thread.
On that note, congrats on your bankroll boost, well done!

I do have a bit of a hard time figuring out how your graph relates to your percentage though.
Can you maybe set it up such that it starts at 100% (even if it reads $100 instead of % on the graph)?

Day 91.. 102.3%....
Day 92.. 102.7%....CCoP -$11
Day 93.. 98.6%....CCoP -$5.5
Day 94.. 102.8%....

Day 92 I made just enough to pay my CCoP entry. Good thing, too, because I didn't place then or next day. Pressed for time in day 93 (yesterday) I two tabled $0.50/$1 and took a beating to get my 50 Ironman points. Couldn't concentrate on either table enough and kept making dumb calls. Today I went up to a single $1/$2 table and made it back with a good run while getting my points. Still have to make 50 points every day left in the month to make Silver Ironman (should be Silverman, I guess). Perhaps some month I can make Gold, but I will have to go up another level because it takes all the time I can spare to make 50 points a day. Actually, my bankroll allows $2/$4 limit tables, but I am not ready to make that change right now.

Original BR - $118
Update 1 - $158 (134%)

Update 2 - Well, got my BR up to $199, only for it to fall to $174 and then I got it to $207.
However, just blew $10 in my first $10 SnG with this BR, 5 person SnG, when my opponent limped UTG (third hand) I raised with AQ and he called. I figured he was pretty weak so when 4A7 came on the flop, two hearts, I was loving the flop. Bet at it and got raised. At this point I put him on a weak ace or perhaps a flush draw. If it was A7 or A4, he sucked out a little but whatever. So i shove to 1400 odd and he calls and shows 4 7s to take down the pot. So sick.

Still, up to $196 (166%)

Going to start today

220 dollars and I am playing a 1 dollar sit and go..and I'm in the money still playing as we speak.

Progress Update

Day 19: 303% ($6,061)
Day 20: 294% ($5,885)
Day 21: 268% ($5,353)

I'm getting so sick of this. Every time I hit 6K I seem to get sucked out on left and right.

I went fairly deep in a $20+2 Rebuy today. I went broke when I flopped a straight draw, the nut flush draw and two overcards, going all-in as a 60% favorite against pocket nines.
I made 27th place and took down a measly $140. Why oh why does the better hand never win when I'm so close to the final table?

If I'm supposed to get busted then bust me right after the first break but not after I've spent 4 hours playing the frickin tournament.

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Day 18: 211% (278.48)
Day 19: 212% (279.07)
Day 20: 216% (284.07)

If ever a player deserved not to finish the day ahead, it was me – today. I don’t think that I played particularly badly, and that is precisely the problem – I should know whether I played badly or not!!! To explain, I received some particularly bad news this morning. Poker was pretty much the last thing on my mind. Yet, despite that, like the worst programmed robot, I played anyway. One of the golden rules of poker is (or damn well should be) if your mind is elsewhere, so should you be. I Guess I got lucky, and have learned a lesson (one that should have been obvious, and not needed learning). Apologies for the rant.

Boltneck

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Day 0: 100% ($2,000)
Day 1: 101% ($2,038)
Day 2: 103% ($2,078)
Day 3: 106% ($2,132.40)
Day 4: 121% ($2,429.40)
Day 5: 119% ($2,390.05)
Day 6: 117% ($2,346.05)
Day 7: 126% ($2,534.05)
Day 8: 124% ($2,486.05)
Day 9: 127% ($2,559.09)
Day 10: 125% ($2,504.09)
Day 11: 120% ($2,400.59)
Day 12: 116% ($2,333.59)

I have been reading this forum for the last week and really enjoy it. I just started a BR and decide to do it right and have been keeping good records. This is where I am at now. I can start from day 12 if you want. I actually started on Oct 24th, but I dont have the time to play everyday so I just counted each day I played as one day. Let me know if this is ok? I created a chart also.

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Welcome to the forum and to this thread.

I think starting from day 0 is better since you have actual data.

Regarding skipped days, you don't have to have sequential numbers. For example, if you look at Boltneck's graph, he is missing days 6 and 7. This will not affect the shape of the graph as those days are skipped. However, if sequential is easier for you, then why not.

Day 11: 120% ($2,400.59)
Day 12: 116% ($2,333.59)
Day 13: 123% ($2,468.89)

Got out of my red streak today. Played two $20 SnG and a $10 MTT. Lost the SnGs and finished 3rd in the MTT for $179.30. Ive been noticing that I can dominate the $10 SnGs but have only cash 2/10 in the 20 SnGs. The $10s are a little low for my BR but I guess I will just get a few at once going of those. I dont feel the players are much better in the 20s but it seems like I get alot of bad beats there. What do you think of the 2/10 record so far? You agree I should drop down?

If in doubt, play LOWER limits! ALWAYS!

I don't like it when you said "...Got out of my red streak today". This is results-oriented. You should strive to play the best poker you can and manage your bankroll in the best possible way. Ideally, the inevitable down-swings would not affect you. In reality, the less they affect you, the better it is for you.

Of course, the ideal is unachievable so we all have to live with our emotions when our bankroll dwindles despite our best game. This is what makes poker so difficult. We don't necessarily have a positive feedback when we play well. Sometimes we play our best game, and we are "punished". Other times, the opposite is true.

The reason I like this thread so much is that Chris(who started it), hit on a fundamental issue in poker which is about the skill required to survive the bad periods.

We can discuss poker strategies till the donks come home But ultimately, the execution of a winning strategy is the key.

In my view, most people don't even have a winning strategy. Of those who do, many stumble when they have to deal with the downswings. And of those who manage that, many lose anyway because of poor bankroll management.

I can help with bankroll management since I am working on this issue right now. The other issues, however, can only be resovled by ourselves individually. And hopefully, this thread helps a little.

-----------------------------

Since my reply got much more general than I intended, please reply to it you who are regular to this thread.

Been Playing MTTs, SNGs. I NEVER EVER PLAY ring...I just cannot play that type of poker.

Today, I played a 1 dollar MTT, made a little. the 50 cent Tourney, not ITM. ITM in the 25 cent tourney. Played 2 1 dollar SNGs didn't make the money in one, 3rd in the other, I believe that's how it went down today. I don't take notes but I should. Maybe this can be a good start to that.

day 0 100% 220.00
Day 1 100% 221.38


I've been getting to the money alot lately, I actually started with 237 dollars that I won by winning 1 dollar on the Negreanu tourney, then played a 50 cent and won that tourney. So, I'm actually behind, but, I didn't start until today!! LOL

Until Tomorrow!!

Tomorrow never begins before today

Please post your results. You will only get positive feedback from Chris(who started all this) and anyone else in this thread. Should that not be the case, leave it to me I have claws to scratch with

Since you have the data, just keep adding from here, this is perfectly alright. And thanks for joining in!

I've played a lot of SNGs to date, and sometimes I still have trouble accepting how swingy they can be. 10 tournaments means nothing. I've had streaks of losing 15 SNGs in a row.

In my experience, the players don't really get that much better as the buy-ins increase (just yesterday in a $100 SNG someone doubled me up in the second hand with Queen high vs. my trips).
If you're profitable in the $10 SNGs, then there's no reason why you won't be profitable in the $20 ones. Just make sure that you're comfortable with the buy-in, but considering your bankroll I don't think you have anything to worry about.
At the same time however, I don't know your bankroll management rules. NEVER VIOLATE THEM NO MATTER WHAT!

This is something I'm still working on very hard. By now, I have my play under control to a point where I don't "blow up" after a series of beats like I used to.
But while it doesn't affect my play anymore, it still tends to affect me emotionally i.e. gets me in a bad mood. I think that dealing with bad runs is the single most difficult thing in poker, and it's also the one hurdle a lot of players don't overcome.

I hope this thread is a help to anyone following it because it'll prove that bad runs can be overcome and that dips in the graph are not the end of the world.

Thanks for joining in!

I'm glad that the subject of dealing with downswings has cropped up. I've suffered them, which is why I decided to restart my poker playing experience to coincide with this thread. I have suffered any significant down turn yet since this thread started, but when it does I am not sure how well I will cope with it.

I can be as patient as a saint when sitting at a poker table - if I get dealt a horrendous series of crap hands, I never loose my patience and play at stuff that I know that I shouldn't. However, when 2 or 3 loosing sessions come my way, that saint like patience deserts me - big time. Stick around chaps - it's bound to happen soon!

Boltneck

Well, today I'm going to first play the 500 dollar 10 FPP point freeroll on PokerStars, I cashed there yesterday going to try to go deeper today.

Then I think I'll play a few SNGs while waiting for the Negreanu tourney, and then probably hit up the 50 cent tourney on PokerStars.

thats a good way to keep track of what is really going on it is a good idea

Day 19: 212% (279.07)
Day 20: 216% (284.07)
Day 21: 246% (324.09)

There can’t be too many more pleasant things than knowing you played your A game, and you didn’t get a single suckout of consequence. That said, neither did I get any outrageous good fortune. If only all days were this good (from a poker playing perspective) I would be a very happy guy!

Boltneck.

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Day 20: 216% (284.07)
Day 21: 246% (324.09)
Day 22: 249% (328.58)

Only had time for a few hands today. I don’t normally play unless I have at least a couple of hours to spare, but the situation was rather out of my hands. Pretty much a non event.

Boltneck

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