So here's the new setup:



In it I've got:


AtS FSBS FBBS

VPIP WTSD
PFR W@SD
TAgg

CCPF CB% FCB CR


Now that I've got used to the stats over the past month, I think that it's time I start effectively using them to gain whatever edge I can.

The BR is still sitting comfortably around the $1k mark so I'm going to be playing lots of NL25. I'm trying to tweak various parts of my play especially my blind play, and in doing so my radar is bound to be a little be off to start with. Therefore at NL25 I can play and not fear losing.

I'm also not going to be CCPF for a little while. Except with 88+ and only when I'm in position.

This is something I'm eager to experiment with to see if it improves my w/r.

So tactics for the next month will be: (where I'm also participating in a uNL competition at 2+2)

- Raise aggressively from the CO and BTN
- Raise almost ATC from the BTN in limped pots
- Raise from the BB everytime the SB limps
- Selectively play back at steals from the BB
- Selectively raise multi limed pots from the BB
- 3Bet aggressively with QQ+ in position

Obviously these are not hard and fast rules; I'll certainly be flexible enough to change my style to suit the table. But as guidelines I think they'll help me stay focused and all be well, really improve my w/r.

At NL25 I'm currently sitting at 3.7ptBB/100 over 18k hands. I'm aiming to have that figure over 5 in 1 months time.

I don't need to rush to play NL50. I've still got lots to learn and neither Rome nor my Bankroll was built in a day, so I've got lots of time :p

Won a few step 4 tickets earlier in the week so I used one for the Sunday Million.

Lost two big pots, both times I got my money in good with AA (one 80/20 and one 60/40) and lost both on the river.

Poker sucks sometimes.

But I played really well. Cash game poker really helps with tourney play.

Watching High Stakes Poker as I write this. Gonna go grind some more at NL25.

Check out this sick ass piece of variance from today:



I'm not even going to talk about the amount of times I got sucked out on today and how many times my Kings got killed (down 3BI's with KK alone today).

So after possibly getting my head in the clouds a bit and thinking it'll not be long before I'm playing NL100 I'm heading back to NL25 to rebuild! I've still got 20BI's for NL50 but after todays swing I really want to get some wins again and I like to be overrolled.

And to all those idiot donks who creamed me today:

I love you all I really do, because you give me all my monies, but sometimes you piss me off so bad I wanna eat my own face. Yes that was a nice play calling two of my PSBs and hitting your flush on the river after commiting virtually all of your stack.

*sigh* I'll forgive you...

See you at NL25. And NL50, in the immortal words of the great Arnie: I'll be back.

Thoughts:

I obviously have lots still to learn. I'm not arrogant nor ignorant enough to blame the whole slide on variance. I need to define the concept of value and 'why we bet' much more clearly in my head. I'm definitely getting there and I'm much improved on where I was at last month when I made the transition from SnGs to Cash Games. Now there's certainly a much better 'why' reasoning behind my actions i.e. Am I 3betting here for value or for a bluff?

Playing NL25 I need to play very straight forward. I'm beating it at just under 6PTBB/100 at the minute. I WAS beating NL50 at 5PTBB/100 for my 1st 7k hands or so, and then something changed. I'm not sure if it was my play; did I try to get trickier in situations where I didn't need to be? did I try beat my opponents out of pots when a fold would have been a much more +EV?, or a bad run of cards?

Probably a combination of both. With a little bit of tilt thrown in there.

So the BR is just under $1100, which is still good. I'm glad I've dropped down now to get some wins and restore a bit of confidence, and I should never ever be afraid to drop down and admit that I have to learn something new.

And to be honest its not even about the $$$ at this stage. It's nice to tell people that I've made a few thousand dollars playing poker in the past few years but I really want to get good! And money and my BR is the barometer of that progress. Just like nailing a Joe Satriani tune is a good barometer of my guitar playing progress (which, incidentally is coming along very nicely).

And on another positive, I'm using my FPPs to play the step system. I've already got a Step 4 ticket, which I'm going to use to play in the Sunday Million, and I HAD another Step 4 ticket which I played and came 6th (meaning I drop down to Step 2 again).

Playing in the Step 4 stage I'm playing against some very well known online players like Octavian_C, spacegravy (who donked me with Q4 v AKs earlier :p), etc, etc, so it's really good fun to play with these guys. And who knows, I could get lucky!!

Thats all for now. More grinding for tomorrow and some guitar playing and teaching.

Peace,

Paul

Hello to all at Two Rags.

Since the beginning of April I had been blogging on my experiment of building a poker BR through playing SnGs and cash games, starting at the micro levels.

All of my previous entries up to this date can be found here:

MyPokerExperiment

I've decided to move to TwoRags in the hope that a few more people will read my posts and I'll be able to participate in good healthy discussion about anything poler related.

A brief summary so far:

I began in April with $350 on Pokerstars. I've been playing poker on and off for the last 3 years and have been a small winner during this time. However I am now determined to dedicate my time to learning and profiting from the game.

The first month went really really well; much better than I could have hope for, and at the End of April I was sitting with about $1500 in my BR. Very nice indeed. This was all won through playing 9, 18, 27 and 180 people SnGs.

"Great," I thought, "now I can try cash games and hopefully increase my winrate even more!".

I soon learned that cash game strategy is a lot different than tourney strategy. Whereas before I was all too eager to get my chips in with TPTK, this isn't always the most profitable play in cash games where I am sitting 100BB deep.

So long story short, I lost. And lost and lost and lost (the blog entries during this period are a good read :p). And I ended up halving my BR from $1500 to $700. I was a bit gutted to say the least, but me being me, I was even more determined to learn and change my game.

And that's what I've been doing for the past month. After experimenting with playing anywhere from 4 tables to 24 tables I've found that my best winrate is 6 tabling, and playing FR as opposed to 6Max. So for the past few weeks I've grinded and grinded and managed to get over a 5PTBB/100 winrate for both NL25 and NL50.

This has resulted in my BR doubling in the past 7 days, which I am very very pleased about.

From week to week I'll post PT graphs, stats, hand histories and just general thoughts as I learn the game and, hopefully, make my way up through the levels from micro to low.

I am posting and keeping this blog because it really helps me to focus and stay motivated when I'm playing, and I figure it will be an interesting read for anyone in a similar position to myself.

So please feel free to contribute your thoughts and suggestions as I document my journey through the highs and lows, brags and beats of online poker.

Here is where I am as of today:







I also regularly post and contribute on the 2+2 micro forums as jamez_kerry.