Poker Background

I have been playing NLHE for about 2.5 years live and online I am somewhere in between passionate and obsessed with the game. I was a 3ptbb/100 winner over the last 280k hands (5 months) playing micro stakes at Full Tilt and really made some breakthroughs in my game with the help of 2+2, pt3 and various poker publications. Since Black Friday, I have had to shift my focus to live 1/2. I am currently under-rolled for this stake but I feel I can be successful using good table and seat selection. I would like to move to Vegas because I like the weather, the living expenses will be lower than they are here in the SF bay area and obviously because it is a poker Mecca.

Goals

Play at least 160 hrs of live 1/2 per month
Build a 20 buy in bankroll as quickly as possible
Move to Vegas within a year

Plan

I have assigned 5 zones for my bankroll $0-1000, $1000-2000, $2000-3000, $3000-4000, $4000+

While in the red and orange zones I will be buying in for 50bb and changing tables when my stack is above 100bb unless the table conditions are exceptional. When I reach the blue and green zones I will buy in for 5% of my bankroll and switch tables when my stack is above 10% of my bankroll.

I will pay myself $1 an hour for each color level I climb ($1/hr in the red zone $2/hr in the orange zone and so on). I want to minimize my risk of ruin and increase my bankroll as quickly as possibly.

I will post my daily results and post interesting hands if they come up.

May 2011

Total hours played- 67.5
Average hourly winrate- -$5
Current bankroll- $1650

2011 YTD

Total hours played- 155.5
Average hourly winrate- $12
Winnings- $1802

gl yo!

I like this thread, stay tuned

GL!

Like the color "zones" idea. I'll def. follow.

GL!

Subscribed and gl OP, ambitious challenge.

I had a pretty good session today. I played 6.5 hrs and won $263. The 2 tables I played at were extremely soft. I played a hand where I got in a marginal spot and would like some opinions on. Villian is a maniacal LAG. He never limps and never flats an open. His standard opening raise is either 13 or 17, his standard 3bet is 100 on top, vpip approx 40. I'm not quite sure if he is a winner or a loser but I diffenitely respect his play. When I was first seated at the table I was on his immediate right so I took the first seat change I could to the opposite side of the table.

My stack is 180 and villian covers. Villian opens to 13 utg+1. I 3bet to 40 from mp with AQ. Tables folds around to villian who makes it 140. I study villian for 15 seconds and watch his chest for heavy breathing a generally reliable tell of a super premium, he looked normal. I ship, villian calls.

May 2011

Total hours played- 74
Average hourly winrate- -$1
Current bankroll- $1901

2011 YTD

Total hours played- 162
Average hourly winrate- $13
Winnings- $2065

I really like your set-up to this challenge, I'll be following.

good luck! sub'd

re: the AQs hand, were u 3 betting with a plan, i.e. are you raising to iso this lag and had you planned to stack off to this villain pf if he shipped coz u are so far ahead of his range then wp

is he positionally aware? have u seen him showdown crap from EP or is he more a maniac in position? whats your image like?

you say you are on a small roll though...may be best to stay out of high variance spots like this. that said, if he is a reg lag then you can use this in your favor next time you have a monster

PS love the color coding! keep it up!

Is this the money you are taking out of the bankroll towards living expenses?

Interesting read so far and I have subscribed to your thread.

Good Luck.

I'm interested in this thread and also in a similar situation. I don't think a 20 BI bankroll is substantial enough to move to vegas in chance you go on a bad run and the fact that it's now filled with more experienced players then ever before. Just my opinion but definitely watching. GL

imo just call AQs in pos bc it plays really well and dominates his range quite often

In the AQs hand when I 3bet it because villian was opening so wide. I think flatting here would have been better because it is a hand that would play better multi-way and perhaps not quite strong enough to 3bet. As played, I think I could have let go when I got 4bet. I had seen villian 4bet as light as 88+ and KQo for value. I pokerstoved it and I am just about 50/50 vs that range. Two factors I probably did not give enough weight when playing the hand was the fact that villan is very positionally aware and I had a TAG image so his range was probably somewhat tighter and there probably aren't that many bluffs in his range. He end up having AA leaving me with 12% equity. NH sir. He is very hard to read and rarely gives off any tells. He always puts chips in the pot the same way and always checks the same way. This something I am going to add to my game.
Yes that is the money I will be putting into my liferoll. I also will be paying $8 per session out of my bankroll for transportation costs.

Yes, I agree 20 buy ins is very thin and it is a short term goal.

I played 6.5 hours today and lost -$1. Didn't play any interesting hands spent most of the session card dead. I'm a little behind pace to hit 160 hours for this month. I'm not going to be able to play Thursday or Saturday. I'm going to try and put in a monster session on Sunday and grind hard the rest of the week to catch up.

May 2011

Total hours played- 82.5
Average hourly winrate- -$1
Current bankroll- $1879

2011 YTD

Total hours played- 168.5
Average hourly winrate- $12
Winnings- $2064

I played 5.5 hours yesterday and lost -$92. I think played alright just made some second best hands and paid off the minimum. My band is playing a gig today. Going to try and put in a 12 hour day tomorrow.

May 2011

Total hours played- 88
Average hourly winrate- -$2
Current bankroll- $1769

2011 YTD

Total hours played- 174
Average hourly winrate- $11
Winnings- $1966

If I ever get a sufficient amount of BR, I'm thinking of moving to Vegas too, hopefully by next year. I will be following your thread. GOOD LUCK!

I played an 11 hour session and won $216. I was up and down all day. Nice to be in positive column for the first time this month. I'm going to hit the tables again tomorrow.

May 2011

Total hours played- 99
Average hourly winrate- $1
Current bankroll- $1957

2011 YTD

Total hours played- 185
Average hourly winrate- $12
Winnings- $2182

I played 2.5 hours today and won $171. I played well and won a couple flips and laid down an over pair. Most opponents are not good at hiding their tells. I can easily sense if they hit the flop just by looking at their eyes. If they missed they keep staring at the flop, if the hit it their eyes start darting all over the place or they look away from the table. My bankroll has reached the blue zone so I will start buying in for 5% of it and switching tables if my stack goes above 10% of it.

May 2011

Total hours played- 101.5
Average hourly winrate- $2
Current bankroll- $2116

2011 YTD

Total hours played- 187.5
Average hourly winrate- $13
Winnings- $2353

Goodluck man!

Solid first post

Lol, yeah I'm new to this site and thought your thread was interesting enough to get my first post. I plan to start to from the a minimal bank roll very soon as well and am just interested in seeing how it works out for other people. i'll be following to see how it goes for ya!

I played 3 hours today and won $228. I am playing well and running good, didn't feel like playing that long. The tables were pretty terrible today. For the first hour I was at a short handed table with 2 props. One thing you can be sure of is that props are winning players so I made sure they were on my left.

Here is a hand from a couple days ago. My stack is 100 and everyone covers except UTG who has 70. Four villians limp in and I complete from the small blind with A7.

Flop comes A76. I felt the flop was dry enough to go for a c/r. MP bet 10 into an 8 dollar pot. I meant to raise 15 but missed a chip so I ended up only raising 10. UTG calls and MP calls the rest fold.

Turn is a 3. Seems likes relatively safe card, but makes a straight possible. I lead for 30 into a 68 dollar pot. UTG goes all in for 18 more, MP goes all in and covers. I put UTG on possibly a low 2 pair and I felt MP had an AK or AQ type hand. It is 48 to call and the pot is 224. I'm pretty sure I'm ahead most of the time. If I am up against a straight or a set I still have for 4 boat outs. I tank for a couple secs and ask "45?" don't get a reaction and make the call.

May 2011

Total hours played- 104.5
Average hourly winrate- $4
Current bankroll- $2323

2011 YTD

Total hours played- 190.5
Average hourly winrate- $14
Winnings- $2581

I really think you need to buy in for a minimum of $200 or 100 BB to maximize your winning potential. If you want to 'go pro' you need to maximize wins. You have $2000 ... Go with 10 percent for a few sessions and see how you do. Moving zones has not changed anything here. 5 percent of $2000 is $100, same as you were buying in for before.

I'm subscribing. Good luck.

I put in 4 hours yesterday and won $332. So far this is the most profitable week I've had this year. Won a nice pot with TT vs AKo, AKo, A3s AIPF. The tables were still not that great so I didn't feel compelled to play that long. I agree with ibelieveinkolb that my earning potential will go up when I buy in for the max which is 200 where I play. I am taking a conservative approach because I am trying to minimize my risk of ruin while on a short roll. I will be buying in for 130 today.

In the last hand I posted UTG ending up having a set of 7s and MP had 45s for the straight. The river came an A giving me the nut boat. Nice 2 outer, thanks poker gods.

May 2011

Total hours played- 108.5
Average hourly winrate- $7
Current bankroll- $2635

2011 YTD

Total hours played- 194.5
Average hourly winrate- $15
Winnings- $2913

the hand when you had a7 i assume you won , but what did the other people have?? good luck with everything but your currant bank roll is $2635 what happens when you have to pay bills etc or wnat a night out?? will it dip below 2k??