new low-limit (2/2) live cash game player

J

jms

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Hi guys, I'm new to this forum.
Let me introduce my experience in poker so far. I first played real money poker in the back in 2011 when I hit the casino with 2 of my friends. The cash games in the casinos where I live offers 2/2, 2/4, and 5/5, but I only play the 2/2 game so far. At that time I knew what poker was about, but I didn't really know what kind of strategy to play. So in the end I went stuck for couple hundred euros (also on blackjack for couple of times).
After this I found out pokerstars and played there as well (also losing some money), but I started learning by looking at forums, videos, and other stuffs about strategies. I would say I am a much better player now than I was, although I'm still stuck online, because in the beginning I did not realize that online play is WAY MORE DIFFICULT than in live. But yeah, now I'm only playing online for the low stakes sit and gos.

In mid-February 2015 I hit the casino again after about 3 years (last time I went there was in 2012). I thought I was just gonna have some fun and relax. I played NLHE 2/2 and bought in for 200 euros. I played for about 3.5 hours and went home with a profit of 100. Not only did I think that the profit was nice, I realized that the players here pretty soft and exploitable. So I came again another day and bought in with my 300 euros. And although I lost it all when I got it in good with QQ against AT offsuit (ofcourse he rivered an A), I realized that I could beat the game. So I bought in again 200 euros, and on this 2nd session I recouped my first buy in plus another 300 profit. So after two sessions I had 700 (my total 400 buy in plus 300 profit).

After this, I started hitting the casinos regularly in the weekend, and sometimes in the weekdays too. And now I have about 3350 in my pocket only from the winnings. So I had a profit for about 3000 euros from I think about 20 sessions now. Unfortunately I did not record my winrates until the last 4 sessions that I had.

But now comes the questions that I did not know where to ask before I come to this forum.
1. Is it possible that I have been running really hot from all my sessions, or do I actually have what it takes to beat the game consistently?
2. Now that I have a bankroll of 3350 that I build from the winnings from 400, should I keep this bankroll solely on playing poker? Or should I save some for my "outside life" just to be careful not to lose anything that I have won so far?

I still have a lot of questions to ask, but this would be the first to come, and I would really appreciate any comments that you guys have. If you would like to know the rates for my last 4 sessions (the only ones that I kept record so far), than I would be happy to share.
Thanks in advance guys, and have a nice day!! :)
 
No Brainer

No Brainer

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Hey mate, welcome to the forum!

It is possible that you have been running well, hard for anyone to know without seeing how you play etc but you have obviously been doing something right. Just remember that a 3000 euro profit is only about 15 buyins for 2/2 and it is not uncommon to have swings of 10 buyins+.

What you do with the money you win is totally up to you. If you are going to look at moving up in stakes it would be nice to have as much of a buffer in place as you can, in case you don't run as well when you move up. On the other hand it is a good thing to occasionally use your winnings to buy something for yourself so you can see that your profits are rewarding you, not just sitting in your poker account.
 
J

jms

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Hey man, thanks for the reply! I know it is hard to tell because I did not post any hand or even my "style of play" so to say. But I would say I play mostly tight preflop, and I am usually selective on picking which guys to play. I can tell who the good regs are and who are the ones who don't seem to have little knowledge about what's going on, and mostly I would not mess around too much with the regs without much of a hand.
In the future will try to note some hands that I'm gonna be involved in, and post it here. But for now I have one big pot that I remembered from last week session.

I am up against a reg (20-30ish of age), which I actually remembered from the past. We played against each other about a year ago, but I don't think he remembered this. Anyway, just before this hand I busted my short stack of chips so I reloaded to a maximum (400). Villain has about 400 as well, as he just sat for not too long and did not get involved in too many pots.

:kc4: :kh4:
Blinds posted 2 2, UTG limps, UTG+1 (Villain) limps, folded around to me in the CO, I raised to 16, and it is folded around to the UTG and Villain which both called my raise.

Flop (52)
:9d4: :6d4: :3h4:
It is checked to me, and I make a continuation bet (24) to protect my hand and hopefully go heads up. UTG folds, Villain calls and we go to the turn heads up.

Turn (100)
:4h4:
Villain checks. at this point I'm thinking that he either might have a 9 or a flush draw in this hand. I decided to bet here again to protect my hand. I bet about pot size (98), and he calls. After the hand I actually thought that this bet might have been too large, but during the hand I was looking for more information on his hand. My thought process was that if he had a 9, he would've folded to this big bet considering my tight image. Unless he had like 9hxh which would give him a flush draw on this turn card. But I would not like to see the river to complete any of the flush draws there now on the board.

River (296)
:9h4:
He leads to me for 200, and leaving himself about 30ish behind. At this point, I really put him on a busted diamond draw. I think the only 9 he would have when he called my turn bet would be 9hxh which would give him combo draws, but the 9h is already on the board! It's unlikely that he had a set and completed a boat because I think he would've already made that raise on the flop or at least the turn. So I called his 200 bet, and he showed Kd5d.
He said good call and I took down the pot.

Please let me know what you think on this hand. I will try to note more hands in the future so I can post them here too!
 
G

GWU73

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Played pretty well overall. I would pot that flop. I like the pot sized turn bet, on a brick; Your hand strength has not changed, plus the big bet gives the draws really bad odds, even when you consider implied odds. The river call is tough, you just gotta go with your gut there. Clearly you were right.
 
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