Start of February 2009 BR = $2256.24
End of February 2009 BR = $2361.96
Overall $108.72 Profit
Bankroll increase of 4.69 %
Where did the money come from?
Ring games = $168.08
SnG's = - $36.50
MTT's = - $25.86
Bonuses = $0
Frustrated, disappointed, and losing patience. These are just some of the words I feel as I’m writing this. I showed a profit this month unlike last month so there’s a positive but I was really hoping the numbers would have been a lot higher.
On the most positive note of the entire ring game has finally turned around for the better. I’ve put most of my time into this part of my game and I think it’s starting to take control of my overall game play.
The last 2 months I’ve had losses in my STT SnGs. These games were my biggest breadwinner last year and now I seem to have either lost my touch or lost my passion for them. I’m starting to see why the majority of the poker community doesn’t have that much time nor respect for people grinding out so many SnGs.
My MTT game really had no joy either. I had 9 games for 2 cashes although I suppose it’s better than Januarys results of 29 games and 2 cashes.
I don’t know. I was really hoping to have a BR of around 3K by this time going from last years results, but the one thing with poker is you never really know what’s around the corner.
My main focus for March is on my ring game. I’m really started to look forward to playing 200NL up within 12 months or so and I know that I’ll have a massive support network by so many people at CardsChat. I’ve even noticed more people reading this blog as I’m reporting on cash sessions, if you’re reading this now, thank you and please stay tuned. All the advice, comments and suggestions are welcomed and appreciated.
I was over the moon to have graduated from 5NL to 10NL in just over 6K hands. I’m currently just under 3K hands in at 10NL and achieving success just at about half the speed.
BB/100 @ 5NL was 18.26
BB/100 @ 10NL is 9.69
I assume this is the normal thing as I move up in stakes.
That’s it for February 2009. Bring on March!
Good luck all.
Custo
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
Goodbye 5NL, Hello 10NL
Wow! This didn’t take long at all. I started 5NL on Feb 1st and as of last night I’m covered for 10NL following my 30 buy-in rule.
Stats for 5NL are:
Playing days - 15
Hands – 6,271
Profit - $114.53
BB/100 – 18.26
$/HR - $4.83
That was unbelievably faster than I originally anticipated. I initially thought 4-8 weeks and I’d be able to move up.
Over the past 22 days I’ve found myself to become so much more comfortable playing cash games and enjoying them as well which is most important.
Question - Why did I fail for all of last year and all of a sudden I’m succeeding?
Answer – As crazy as this may sound I have found such a difference between 2NL and 5NL. 90-95% of my focus last year was on STT SnG’s. So when I played ring I was playing an approach I use in SnG’s, obviously didn’t work. I really convinced my self that the shockingness of 2NL would be the same at 5NL. There were still unbelievably bad plays and the stupidest people I’ve ever had misfortune or fortune to come across. But I felt I smashed the limit. I made solid plays and big lay-downs. I made a few AIPF calls with hands like AQ & JJ to drop a buy-in or 2 here and there, but nothing that couldn’t be recuperated within 30 minutes.
I had 2 sessions that I lost money from and fortunately I remember them and remember why I lost money.
1) I played for ~20 minutes and dropped about 3 buy-ins. I played incredibly impatiently and made the dumbest calls I’ve ever made. I deserved to lose that session.
2) My 1 and only attempt on 6 tabling. 4 tabling worked fine so for the time being I’m sticking to it.
Aside from this I couldn’t be happier with my results in this limit.
It’s also worth I mention that I still haven’t got the HUD turned on. Perhaps now that I’m going to 10NL it may become more necessary but I’m a massive believer in “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!” I’ll need a few sessions on 10NL until I make my decision.
First 10NL Session.
So excited about the level increase I had to play last night. I opened up 4 tables with the intention of playing super tight. I set myself a 1 hour time limit so win lose or draw, I’d be able to get used to playing the next limit up for that period of time, I certainly didn’t want to do a ‘hit & miss’ session.
What I found really strange was the lack of apprehension I had at the tables. All last year when I went from the $3-$6, $6-10, $10-15 games I played like crap for the start, sometimes weeks only due to fear of the higher limits. To be honest I was a little fearful to begin with but that passed after about 20 minutes. I remember I was about $7 down to start with but ended up with a healthy 1.5 buy-in profit after 1 hour. Not only was a win rate of $15/hr great but the hands below gave me taste of getting max value for a hand at this level.
So that’s where things are at. Graduation from 5NL to 10NL in 22 days. How long will it take to get to 25NL? I can’t wait to find out
Custo
Stats for 5NL are:
Playing days - 15
Hands – 6,271
Profit - $114.53
BB/100 – 18.26
$/HR - $4.83
That was unbelievably faster than I originally anticipated. I initially thought 4-8 weeks and I’d be able to move up.
Over the past 22 days I’ve found myself to become so much more comfortable playing cash games and enjoying them as well which is most important.
Question - Why did I fail for all of last year and all of a sudden I’m succeeding?
Answer – As crazy as this may sound I have found such a difference between 2NL and 5NL. 90-95% of my focus last year was on STT SnG’s. So when I played ring I was playing an approach I use in SnG’s, obviously didn’t work. I really convinced my self that the shockingness of 2NL would be the same at 5NL. There were still unbelievably bad plays and the stupidest people I’ve ever had misfortune or fortune to come across. But I felt I smashed the limit. I made solid plays and big lay-downs. I made a few AIPF calls with hands like AQ & JJ to drop a buy-in or 2 here and there, but nothing that couldn’t be recuperated within 30 minutes.
I had 2 sessions that I lost money from and fortunately I remember them and remember why I lost money.
1) I played for ~20 minutes and dropped about 3 buy-ins. I played incredibly impatiently and made the dumbest calls I’ve ever made. I deserved to lose that session.
2) My 1 and only attempt on 6 tabling. 4 tabling worked fine so for the time being I’m sticking to it.
Aside from this I couldn’t be happier with my results in this limit.
It’s also worth I mention that I still haven’t got the HUD turned on. Perhaps now that I’m going to 10NL it may become more necessary but I’m a massive believer in “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!” I’ll need a few sessions on 10NL until I make my decision.
First 10NL Session.
So excited about the level increase I had to play last night. I opened up 4 tables with the intention of playing super tight. I set myself a 1 hour time limit so win lose or draw, I’d be able to get used to playing the next limit up for that period of time, I certainly didn’t want to do a ‘hit & miss’ session.
What I found really strange was the lack of apprehension I had at the tables. All last year when I went from the $3-$6, $6-10, $10-15 games I played like crap for the start, sometimes weeks only due to fear of the higher limits. To be honest I was a little fearful to begin with but that passed after about 20 minutes. I remember I was about $7 down to start with but ended up with a healthy 1.5 buy-in profit after 1 hour. Not only was a win rate of $15/hr great but the hands below gave me taste of getting max value for a hand at this level.
So that’s where things are at. Graduation from 5NL to 10NL in 22 days. How long will it take to get to 25NL? I can’t wait to find out
Custo
Saturday, February 21, 2009
PokerStars Australian Bushfire Appeal Tournament Feb 22, 14:30AEST
I'm sure by now everyone all over the world has heard about this horrible disaster Victoria is going through at the moment. It has shaken us all very badly. We've not see anything like this since Ash Wedensday back in 1983.
Once I was notified about this tournament I registered. The game costs $20, $10 of which goes into the pool and the other $10 will go to the victims of the tragedy. I personally have already decided that if I make it in the money or final table or even win, I will be contacting poker stars and asking that they take back whatever I win and put it to the cause aswell.
I know that most of our members here are from all over the world, but if you are available, it would be great to see you at the tables.
Thank you for supporting this cause and if there is any member that has been directly affected by the disaster my thoughts are with you and your families.
Custo
Once I was notified about this tournament I registered. The game costs $20, $10 of which goes into the pool and the other $10 will go to the victims of the tragedy. I personally have already decided that if I make it in the money or final table or even win, I will be contacting poker stars and asking that they take back whatever I win and put it to the cause aswell.
I know that most of our members here are from all over the world, but if you are available, it would be great to see you at the tables.
Thank you for supporting this cause and if there is any member that has been directly affected by the disaster my thoughts are with you and your families.
Custo
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Failure at 6-tabling 5NL.
Just because there is a correlation that does not imply there is causation.
Thinking after last nights performance has made me really focus on the statement above.
Did I lose last night because I tried something different than I usually do?
Because I played more tables than usual does that mean that I will always lose?
Of course not! Yet during play last night I kept saying that to myself. “6 tables, I shouldn’t be doing this”. In turn this created a negative expectation and sense of desperation during play and with approaches to hands.
To be honest I took some beats last night. One incredible bad beat and a few unlucky hands as well. Does this mean that ever time I play 6 tables I destined to lose? Not even I’m that superstitious.
Overall I’m not over comfortable with 6 tables. Obviously the more tables I play means the more hands I see. To be honest 4-tabling so far has proved to be very profitable and I shouldn’t change what has proven to be so far a successful system. Even if I had a winning session last night, I’d still be dropping back. One of the main things I’ve learned in the past 14 months of this venture is that I need to be comfortable. If I have any fear or doubt in my mind whilst playing any type of game I’m not going to win.
Anyway for the record here are the hands that caused my demise yesterday.
Get your buckets ready becasue this hand will make you sick.
I forgot that Q6 is a great hand to call a raise with before a flop.
Biggest pot I lost and there was nothing I think I could have done better.
3 outer on the river, wonder if he hits?
Out flopped here, nothing else, still sucks
Good river for me, great river for him
Top pair top kicker vs goddam overpair
Thinking after last nights performance has made me really focus on the statement above.
Did I lose last night because I tried something different than I usually do?
Because I played more tables than usual does that mean that I will always lose?
Of course not! Yet during play last night I kept saying that to myself. “6 tables, I shouldn’t be doing this”. In turn this created a negative expectation and sense of desperation during play and with approaches to hands.
To be honest I took some beats last night. One incredible bad beat and a few unlucky hands as well. Does this mean that ever time I play 6 tables I destined to lose? Not even I’m that superstitious.
Overall I’m not over comfortable with 6 tables. Obviously the more tables I play means the more hands I see. To be honest 4-tabling so far has proved to be very profitable and I shouldn’t change what has proven to be so far a successful system. Even if I had a winning session last night, I’d still be dropping back. One of the main things I’ve learned in the past 14 months of this venture is that I need to be comfortable. If I have any fear or doubt in my mind whilst playing any type of game I’m not going to win.
Anyway for the record here are the hands that caused my demise yesterday.
Get your buckets ready becasue this hand will make you sick.
I forgot that Q6 is a great hand to call a raise with before a flop.
Biggest pot I lost and there was nothing I think I could have done better.
3 outer on the river, wonder if he hits?
Out flopped here, nothing else, still sucks
Good river for me, great river for him
Top pair top kicker vs goddam overpair
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
First shot at 10NL. (11 tables at once)
Funny story behind this. 6 tables are the most I’ve ever played at once. 95% of the time I play 4 tables simultaneously and everything runs smoothly. Last night after getting home from work I opened PokerStars to see who won the 25 billionth hand and to my absolute amazement they were minutes away from dealing hand number 24,998,000,000. I couldn’t believe it! I made it home to see the hand or potentially be in this milestone hand.
Now on a normal work night, I won’t open tables until I’ve done a usual routine, however, upon seeing this I went ballistic. I went straight to 5NL options to join as many tables as I could and everything was full. I saw that there were some seats available on some tables so I joined immediately on to realise that the games were 25NL, way beyond my BR at the moment. I quickly un-registered and saw some options on 10NL. Both 2NL & 5NL were fully booked with 10, 20 some had over 40 people on the waiting list. I was clicking join list everywhere. What was strange after hand number 24,998,000,000 seats starting becoming available. Before I knew what was going on I was suddenly playing 13 tables at once, 11 at 10NL and 2 at 5NL. I bought in for the $1 extra on 10NL that I usually do at 5NL so it was still within my BR.
Whilst having 13 tables open at once, other tables kept popping up for a seat available and I just had to say no. Even though I knew more tables meant I slightly higher chance of being in the monumental hand, I wouldn’t be able to cope with it. I had the timer warning going offer constantly simply due to not being able to keep up with some many tables. There was no point playing 30 tables if I’m timing out on half of them.
I played the tightest game I think I’ve ever played. What was amazing was how many monsters I got dealt. For memory at one stage I had something like, AA, AA, KK, QQ, AK, AQ all going at once. I managed to double up on both AA hands and better yet they were dealt on the 10NL table.
My stats for the particular session were:
Hands - 753
Profit - $18.11
BB/100 – 13.56
Unfortunately I wasn’t involved in the 25,000,000,000th hand. But 13-tabling was certainly an interesting experience. At least the big hand occurred on an Omaha Hi/Lo $1/$2 table, something I won’t be looking at for quite some time. In case you haven’t heard by now, they were 5 players in the hand on that table at the time. 3 people won $33,333 just for being there, and as the pot was split for a Hi and Lo winner, they got $50,000 each (plus the pot )
Last night was one of the most intense times I’ve spent on the virtual felt. I would never do it again in a single 19” monitor but I look forward to having 2 24” LCDs so I can do it again properly.
Now on a normal work night, I won’t open tables until I’ve done a usual routine, however, upon seeing this I went ballistic. I went straight to 5NL options to join as many tables as I could and everything was full. I saw that there were some seats available on some tables so I joined immediately on to realise that the games were 25NL, way beyond my BR at the moment. I quickly un-registered and saw some options on 10NL. Both 2NL & 5NL were fully booked with 10, 20 some had over 40 people on the waiting list. I was clicking join list everywhere. What was strange after hand number 24,998,000,000 seats starting becoming available. Before I knew what was going on I was suddenly playing 13 tables at once, 11 at 10NL and 2 at 5NL. I bought in for the $1 extra on 10NL that I usually do at 5NL so it was still within my BR.
Whilst having 13 tables open at once, other tables kept popping up for a seat available and I just had to say no. Even though I knew more tables meant I slightly higher chance of being in the monumental hand, I wouldn’t be able to cope with it. I had the timer warning going offer constantly simply due to not being able to keep up with some many tables. There was no point playing 30 tables if I’m timing out on half of them.
I played the tightest game I think I’ve ever played. What was amazing was how many monsters I got dealt. For memory at one stage I had something like, AA, AA, KK, QQ, AK, AQ all going at once. I managed to double up on both AA hands and better yet they were dealt on the 10NL table.
My stats for the particular session were:
Hands - 753
Profit - $18.11
BB/100 – 13.56
Unfortunately I wasn’t involved in the 25,000,000,000th hand. But 13-tabling was certainly an interesting experience. At least the big hand occurred on an Omaha Hi/Lo $1/$2 table, something I won’t be looking at for quite some time. In case you haven’t heard by now, they were 5 players in the hand on that table at the time. 3 people won $33,333 just for being there, and as the pot was split for a Hi and Lo winner, they got $50,000 each (plus the pot )
Last night was one of the most intense times I’ve spent on the virtual felt. I would never do it again in a single 19” monitor but I look forward to having 2 24” LCDs so I can do it again properly.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Slowing down to move forwards.
So far so good, the cash games are showing success, slow success granted but success none the less. Playing cash is proving to be a little frustrating simply because I’m on such a lower limit on these games opposed to SnGs and even MTTs. I’ve been 4 tabling since the start of the month on 5NL and so far I’ve only had 1 losing session out of 9. The losing session, completely my fault I played very impatiently and made some unbelievably stupid calls with no implied odds at all.
Overall the cash game BR is growing which is a good thing and I’m really hoping to be on 10NL but the start of April. I’m probably most happy about the 8 out of 9 winnings sessions. All sessions are generally 60-90 minutes of 4 tables and net profit anywhere from $2 - $10. The finalised BRM system for cash games is below. I haven’t yet envisioned what it will be like playing beyond 200NL but will probably re-assess when the time comes.
2NL 20 Buy-Ins
5NL 25 Buy-Ins
10NL 30 Buy-Ins
25NL 35 Buy-Ins
50NL 40 Buy-Ins
100NL 45 Buy-Ins
200NL + 50 Buy-Ins
Cash games aside, a massive accomplishment is the last 2 180 player SnGs I’ve played I’ve finished 3rd in each one! The only thing I’m kicking myself for is the first game was $12 netting me around $250, the 2nd game was only $2 netting me around $45. I was only playing the $2 for some fun and ended up doing really well in it. The new MTT strategy is proving to work much better so far.
The only area left is STT SnGs. Not much movement here at all to be honest. With so much time and focus going onto cash games the amount of SnGs played has dropped. I think I’m completely over all types of double or nothing SnGs, these games have become utterly boring with not the greatest pay-off potential. Unless I was winning a minimum of 3 out of 4 they are hardly worth the time. There is so much more potential in the 9 player ones so I’m back on them.
So that’s it so far, no massive news to report. I haven’t reconciled the month and won’t be doing so until the 28th. Main objective is a month in the black unlike last month.
Custo
Overall the cash game BR is growing which is a good thing and I’m really hoping to be on 10NL but the start of April. I’m probably most happy about the 8 out of 9 winnings sessions. All sessions are generally 60-90 minutes of 4 tables and net profit anywhere from $2 - $10. The finalised BRM system for cash games is below. I haven’t yet envisioned what it will be like playing beyond 200NL but will probably re-assess when the time comes.
2NL 20 Buy-Ins
5NL 25 Buy-Ins
10NL 30 Buy-Ins
25NL 35 Buy-Ins
50NL 40 Buy-Ins
100NL 45 Buy-Ins
200NL + 50 Buy-Ins
Cash games aside, a massive accomplishment is the last 2 180 player SnGs I’ve played I’ve finished 3rd in each one! The only thing I’m kicking myself for is the first game was $12 netting me around $250, the 2nd game was only $2 netting me around $45. I was only playing the $2 for some fun and ended up doing really well in it. The new MTT strategy is proving to work much better so far.
The only area left is STT SnGs. Not much movement here at all to be honest. With so much time and focus going onto cash games the amount of SnGs played has dropped. I think I’m completely over all types of double or nothing SnGs, these games have become utterly boring with not the greatest pay-off potential. Unless I was winning a minimum of 3 out of 4 they are hardly worth the time. There is so much more potential in the 9 player ones so I’m back on them.
So that’s it so far, no massive news to report. I haven’t reconciled the month and won’t be doing so until the 28th. Main objective is a month in the black unlike last month.
Custo
Sunday, February 1, 2009
My first cash session. (In the Black)
I just completed my first cash session of 4 tabling FR 5NL. Ended up $6.31 59 minute session. I’ll put some stats below that I see most cash players talk about but I still have no clue what they mean, hopefully they are good.
Here's the graph.
I'm looking forward to now going over this with some CC colleagues so I can find out whether I'm doing well or I'm the luckiest donk online.
I have 6 hands below that I really need analyzed. After each vid I will explain my actions so I can learn for the future.
Hand #1
I was trying to bluff but it went wrong and I ended up sucking out majorly on the river. I tried to bluff on the flop, then use the A on the turn so scare opponent, when the river came I figured opponent has come this far surely I'll get called on the river if I shove. Bad play by me I know. Should I have just folded the flop? At least I admit I sucked out I suppose :)
Hand #2
Should I have folded the flop with 2 overs? Did I get lucky here again?
Hand #3
I only overbet the flop & turn cause the board gave a possible draw and let's face it I got a very lucky flop. But once again, did I play this correctly?
Hand #4
I only raised the flop big cause he was a short stack and tried to take it there. Once he checked the flop I figured I'm getting 3:1 and if he hasn't got the A it's mine, if he does oh well, but the odds are in my favor of him not having it, otherwise why didn't he shove the flop?
Hand #5
No word of a lie, I hit the time button after his raise on the flop and almost folded. I had to call, I don't know why but I had to see the turn. I clearly chickened out on the turn but was sure he had either 2 pair or a set, I'll never know. Should I have shoved him after his re-raise on the flop?
Hand #6
Before I justify this hand you need to know that this hand was the very next hand on the same table as hand 5 so my image may have come across like I'm on tilt.
I know I should have re-raised it pre-flop and probably bet harder on the flop. The question is did I chicken out for the right reasons?
Thanks in advance for reading and all commments, criticism, feedback and advice is welcomed, if it wasn't I wouldn't have put such goddam embarrsing hands up lol.
Custo
Here's the graph.
I'm looking forward to now going over this with some CC colleagues so I can find out whether I'm doing well or I'm the luckiest donk online.
I have 6 hands below that I really need analyzed. After each vid I will explain my actions so I can learn for the future.
Hand #1
I was trying to bluff but it went wrong and I ended up sucking out majorly on the river. I tried to bluff on the flop, then use the A on the turn so scare opponent, when the river came I figured opponent has come this far surely I'll get called on the river if I shove. Bad play by me I know. Should I have just folded the flop? At least I admit I sucked out I suppose :)
Hand #2
Should I have folded the flop with 2 overs? Did I get lucky here again?
Hand #3
I only overbet the flop & turn cause the board gave a possible draw and let's face it I got a very lucky flop. But once again, did I play this correctly?
Hand #4
I only raised the flop big cause he was a short stack and tried to take it there. Once he checked the flop I figured I'm getting 3:1 and if he hasn't got the A it's mine, if he does oh well, but the odds are in my favor of him not having it, otherwise why didn't he shove the flop?
Hand #5
No word of a lie, I hit the time button after his raise on the flop and almost folded. I had to call, I don't know why but I had to see the turn. I clearly chickened out on the turn but was sure he had either 2 pair or a set, I'll never know. Should I have shoved him after his re-raise on the flop?
Hand #6
Before I justify this hand you need to know that this hand was the very next hand on the same table as hand 5 so my image may have come across like I'm on tilt.
I know I should have re-raised it pre-flop and probably bet harder on the flop. The question is did I chicken out for the right reasons?
Thanks in advance for reading and all commments, criticism, feedback and advice is welcomed, if it wasn't I wouldn't have put such goddam embarrsing hands up lol.
Custo
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