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

[wsorbust]

Ah, I see. Thanks Chris.

Yesterday's play started off the same as usual. Coming into an early deficit, then having to find my way back to even, then gaining an inch, quiting while ahead and being thankful.

Tonight I played for maybe 45 minutes after first observing tables and finding nothing of any interest. A half hour later I found three that were ok to take a seat. The stacks were too large at most tables, and usually buying in for less than half the max, I'm looking for tables with other players with short stacks, knowing they're more likely to give away their money. I think buying in for the max at these limits is useless because half, or more, of the players at the table usually don't buy in for max. If they do, they're looking to push the table around and other big stacks will sit in...etc. It doesn't seem to accommodate my style and the risk isn't worth the it imo.

Progress:

Day 31a: 332%
Day 32a: 334%
Day 33a: 340%

 

[SeanyJ]

I know with playing micro stakes, which is where I am at, it is almost impossible to come out at least even as far as Money won without showdown, due to the type of play needed to succeed at the level. I'm really wondering, at what level does $ won without showdown actually become profitable? Anyone?

Definitely 50NL making a profit in pots that don't go to showdown is pretty easy. Like Chris said, c-bets work a lot of the time and 2nd barrels work quite a bit too. 100NL I would say is where it becomes pretty crucial to be making quite a bit of your money without going to showdown. I don't have a huge sample, not much of a sample at all actually.. I played 331 hands at 100NL earlier this month and I actually lost $40 at showdown (due to one bad beat at the end, I was BE for the session before it) but I won about $100 without going to showdown and ended the session up $60.

So at 25NL and below I wouldn't worry about how much you win or lose without going to showdown, since all you have to do to win at those levels is wait for a big hand and value bet it.

 

[starfall]

X+21 : $684 (1368%) - well, that was a disaster of a session, dropping the entirety of the freebie at PokerRoom. And while I made virtually nothing better than a middling flush most of the session, I can also reasonably say I was run over by some of the other players at the short-handed Omaha table. Looks like High/Low is a much better game for me, and anything else still tends towards an expensive learning experience. Annoyingly I nearly quit a few dollars up. The final loss was attempting to spin up the remaining $15 on a Pot Limit Omaha table. I did get the money in pre-flop with the better hand heads-up, but got outdrawn, so that was that, really.
Back to Stars and Party, and focussing on Omaha High/Low again. Easy to fixate on it, when it's the 2nd biggest losing session I've had, but on the other hand it was money I wasn't likely to be able to cash any time soon, coming from a freebie, and I'm still up over the last couple of months.
I think I might have hit tilt... I'll blame that on losing one of my cats after he was attacked by foxes... not that excuses help the bankroll any.

 

[starfall]

X+23: $681 (1362%) - Placed in a Stage 2 Stars freeroll (PLO) for a tiny $0.80... had been playing great until I was trying to help put kids to bed and deal with the littlest one who'd been grisly all day. Then decided to try the min stakes PLO8 on Noble Poker, dropping $5. Not sure how much was me overvaluing hands, and how much was bad luck, although I'm still sure I'm not profitable at PLO or PLO8 yet... so back to Limit Omaha High/Low.
X+24: $685 (1370%) - a basic short-handed Omaha H/L $0.5/1 session on Party. Easily spotted the fish who'd raise with trips into a made straight and low without any low either, and while I missed with all my A2 hands, I came away ahead, so I'm reasonably happy... it's currently seeming like I'm doing fine on the sites I can cash the money at (Stars, Party), but having a hard time winning at the sites I'd have a harder time cashing the money (Room, Noble)... which I guess is good, because effectively more of the nominal total bankroll is readily cashable.

 

[wsorbust]

After a small gain in the afternoon session on Friday and hitting my previous high, I looked to make more $. The next session of play, two out of the three tables I had gained and the other had a minimal loss. Then, the poker gods cut off my internet connection as a fast moving thunderstorm came through moments after I had hit the river and people were showing/mucking their cards. I took down a nice pot as I was disconnected and decided it was a sign and I better not continue and upset the gods. I didn't play on Sat. or Sun. cyas.


Progress:

Day 32a: 334%
Day 33a: 340%
Day 34a: 348%

 

[wsorbust]

My strategy was pure and simple. I found 3 short-handed tables with short stacks and sat in the seat right of the player who was overly aggressive, attempting to steal most pots. About 10 minutes in, I gambled a bit with 1 hand by hitting all-in, probably when I shouldn't have, but coming out ahead. The cards wouldn't stop coming, I tripled my original stack, and closed out the other tables where I was slightly behind and and decided to call it a night. I must have saw AA twice, AK twice in a row, QQ, and KK (flopping a K and a pair of 2's) all within 15 minutes of sitting down, it was unbelievable. The only problem was, most of them, no one had any hands to call me with, and I was paid off on weaker starting hands. I tried slow-playing until the river, pushing all-in pre...bah. I did however tag a player with AQ with my AK. Then on the hand after, with AK, re-tagging the player who was semi-bluffing through. Good night folks.

Day 33a: 340%
Day 34a: 348%
Day 35a: 354%

 

[wsorbust]

I've played 3 sessions today (Tuesday). Much of them were a blur. Nothing big to speak of until the last session where I caught set after set and gained a bit more than the usual for a day's work. To make the month more of a success, I was looking to make substantial gains 1 or 2 of the remaining days. Hopefully this is signs of good things to come.

Well I had off Wednesday from work and played a bit. I was slightly ahead until the 3rd session where I fell behind, and then came even, only to have someone call my large stack and flopped straight, all-in on the turn, and catch their flush. Call me with one card to go with the bottom end of the s-draw and a f-draw? It's not like I gave it to him on the flop. If anything, calling with crap there was the biggest surprise. F'n A. That's all I've got to say. I haven't seen that kind of beat in a while. I came in behind for the evening because I busted out at a few tables and made substantial gains at a few, and was at about even when my larger stack got flushed out. So...I can't say it was tilt or bad play.

I played 3 short sessions Thursday and solid play paid off. I'm finding it helpful that I have about half the field tagged with notes and know some of the steady, solid, competitors, who I can sit down next to and know what they're basically going to do. I basically work-around the known steady player and try to make gains on the small stack kiddies. Most of the time it works well. Today it did, resulting in a nice rebound from my previous downfall in BR. Good Morning, Goodnight, and Good Afternoon fellow felt addicts. CIAO

Progress:

Day 35a: 354%
Day 36a: 374%
Day 37a: 350%
Day 38a: 378%

 

[starfall]

X+28: $685 (1370%) - in the previous few days had a loss (lunchtime poker), then a smaller win, a very small win (which I was never-the-less pleased with since I'd started out heads-up and just missed every hand but 1 to lose a lot and actually then did quite well when others joined the table and I was able to play more solid poker), and then a small quick win this lunchtime to bring things back to the same total as I'd previously posted.
Lessons learned: Lunchtime poker is possibly harder than evening poker (in the evening I'm more likely to see an obvious fish to take money off, and at lunchtime more likely to see those who will do positional betting to steal pots). And some hands I was too likely to play (especially when on the blinds) - hands which are too likely to only make 2nd-best hands. Analysing things using PokerTracker, I see A2XX hands have been good to me, as have the better high hands, but hands like 23XX have been leaks for me. Sticking with Omaha High/Low for the moment.

 

[wsorbust]

I started play during the "after school special" on Friday. The kiddies were betting on their draws and catching, grinding away at me at each table. I was being out flushed, out boated, it was a sight, believe me. Eh, well, not really. But, I obviously couldn't catch anything and stuck with it in hopes the kids would give some back not being too far behind for the day, and came out making a slight gain after a few hours of sitting back, and griding back.

I actually looked for decent tables to sit at a half dozen times on Saturday and found nothing. The big stacks came to battle it out.
On Sunday afternoon I made a tiny gain and later in the night I found 3 decent tables. Given some good hole cards and trips on the flop several times made the hour or so of play very enjoyable.lol Ciao Guys and Gals.

Day 38a: 378%
Day 39a: 382%
Day 40a: 400%

 

[starfall]

X+31: $690 (1380%) - another short lunchtime session, and a few dollars profit. My fully cashable 'profit-only' bankroll is now at a new high, having cracked $600, since the big loss recently was mostly a freebie amount that I couldn't cash without accruing 500 PokerRoom points, with the remainder of the $690 being $50 cashed out and some small amounts in a few other sites.

 

[starfall]

X+31 pt 2: $617 (1234%). $73 loss at a single $1/2 table as nothing hits. Decide to cash out $106 to ensure I've taken out noticeably more than I put in, and move the rest into Full Tilt to get a deposit bonus and rakeback...
I'll end this one as 312% cashed out ($56 profit) and still working on getting more profits out with a 844% ($422) bankroll at one site mainly, plus a few odds and ends... rather than looking to move up the stakes yet, I'll look to take some profits out, and if I happen to go bust I'll revert to freerolls or freebies to start a balance again.

 

[wsorbust]

Well, yesterday (Monday) I found some decent tables to sit at in terms of stack sizes and took a seat at the usual 3 tables. I usually avoid a table a if someone is trying to steal every pot and I can't get a seat or two to the right of that person. One table I somehow took the opposite approach (by mistake) and it turned out fairly well. I doubled up at 2 out of the 3 tables, then A's came, I checked having been a seat left of the big blind. The table was aggressive and I was expecting a raise, but I was caught with a table full of limpers. To make a horribly played hand story short, it ended well, and I tripled my original stack on the table.

Today all I was, and am still seeing, is big stacks at almost every table trying to take out smalls. I'm comfortable with a big stack and a few halfs, so I couldn't find anything until around 1030EST. The three tables I found were no prime tables imo, but do-able if I was going to attempt to "play" today.

At one table I ran into trip J's where I eventually doubled up after adding a few more $ to the table. Another table I was being gang-banged, but only took a small loss, not really having gotten involved in any pots or given the chance. The third table gave me a boat early on against a straight. The two tables I made more or less early ground on, I took in some decent small hands and called it a night. The tables were useless unless I would get cards (which is more or less the case at these stakes, but more-so with a table full of short-stack pre-raisers), otherwise I would be calling pre-raise after pre-raise only to likely be crapped on and eat away any chance of gain in the day. I took a shot and hit. That's good enough for now...b/c there are other things to do.

Progress:

Day 40a: 400%
Day 41a: 418%
Day 42a: 430%

 

[Chris_TC]

Guys, I think I will stop updating this thread. It seems that there are only two players posting updates anymore, so the thread is slowly dying.

I think my game has improved considerably over the last weeks. Watching a lot of high stakes videos ($10/$20 NL mostly) has opened up my eyes as far as proper post flop strategy goes.
I feel like I have quite an edge even against the regulars at my current limits, and there's no doubt in my mind that I can grow my bankroll back to its previous heights and beyond. I don't really want everybody to know the size of my bankroll once it grows beyond a certain amount, so that's definitely a concern of mine.

I'll post a graph of my last 20K hands, which represents fairly well how I've been playing and will hopefully continue to play. Most of this is 50NL/100NL with some 200NL towards the end.


I just won't feel comfortable posting updates once my bankroll grows past a certain amount. I could still update atm, but I don't think I won't. Anyway, thanks to everyone who posted in the thread, and I sure wouldn't mind seeing it keep going!

 

[wsorbust]

That's understandable Chris.
It's nice to see you've gained back some confidence as well as some $

I think I'm going to officially stop right here also, effectively letting the thread die, since it seems I'm more or less the only remaining poster. Frankly my posts seem to be old hat after a while, which become unreadable imo.

Keep up the grind everyone. CIAO Amigos.

 

[hbkmad]

Day 0- 100%(79)
Day 1-97%(77.38)
-------------------
Play at .5/.10 limit ring did crappy there, and the fact i couldn't catch a hand to save my life. THen went to low stakes sng and place first but game took way to long so i going to get some shut eye and see i can grind it out today.

 

[hbkmad]

Day 0- 100%(79)
Day 1-97%(77.38)
Day 2-96%(75.88)
------------
Not a good day at the ring games. Two hands in a row my trips lost to a higher kicker, just sick. And how come when someone new sits down at the table they feel they have to raise anything they have and jam the pot all the way to the river.

 

[hbkmad]

Day 0- 100%(79)
Day 1-97%(77.38)
Day 2-96%(75.88)
Week 1-90%(70.99)
--------------
Boy it has been a pretty bad run for me, mostly playing limit hold em. Went to my local library and got a couple books on poker. Right now i'm reading Tournment Poker by Tom McEvoy and his section on limit hold em has helped a lot. Had a nice 2 hour session at .05/.10 today. Realize i was trying to bluff way to much for a limit game. On another note sad as it looks like no one is going to be posting in this thread come on people.
------------

 

[vanpampus]

I'm doing the REAL! Ferguson

I'll join, as soon as i have my $50

Started from $0 five months ago, cashed in a 2700 entrants in FT....(3rd)

Now i have $30, maybe in a couple of months i'll get to $50, so if its not too late I'll join this thread

 

[hbkmad]

i think it's ok to join now vanpampus. Nice job on building something from nothing

 

[naruto_miu]

Guys, I think I will stop updating this thread. It seems that there are only two players posting updates anymore, so the thread is slowly dying.

I think my game has improved considerably over the last weeks. Watching a lot of high stakes videos ($10/$20 NL mostly) has opened up my eyes as far as proper post flop strategy goes.
I feel like I have quite an edge even against the regulars at my current limits, and there's no doubt in my mind that I can grow my bankroll back to its previous heights and beyond. I don't really want everybody to know the size of my bankroll once it grows beyond a certain amount, so that's definitely a concern of mine.

I'll post a graph of my last 20K hands, which represents fairly well how I've been playing and will hopefully continue to play. Most of this is 50NL/100NL with some 200NL towards the end.


I just won't feel comfortable posting updates once my bankroll grows past a certain amount. I could still update atm, but I don't think I won't. Anyway, thanks to everyone who posted in the thread, and I sure wouldn't mind seeing it keep going!

I really was enjoying reading everything you had to say, not to mention everyone elses . I understand that you don't feel comfortable posting your results as your BR grows, but was wondering if you could post a Video, with your thoughts as the hand progresses, and your preflop play and things of that nature, as Chuckts, Zack, Bw, IceMonkey, and many others have done. If you don't mind, the only reason i'm not posting on here (seriously), is because i'm to embrassed with my BR to even really take it as serious as some of the ppl on here have done, don't get me wrong. I'm qualified to do this posting thing, I'm just not a quick earner like the rest of you's .

Well once again it was a pleasure reading your posts, and everyone elses

 

[Chris_TC]

Guys, I hope you realize that this post was made half a year ago
I may record a video with commentary at some point to get input from others but not at the moment.

 

[Debi]

I will go ahead and close this.