PokerPhilosopher Starting anew at NL2, Goal #1 is $10k profit
04-26-2017
, 10:12 PM
Weeks 8-14 (Mar. 8 - Apr. 25):
NL2: 19.25 hours
Total: 19.25 hours
Hands Played (NL2): 18,619
Profit (NL2): +$57.49
NL2 (this week):
Ok, so I spent way more time on Breath of the Wild than I had anticipated. I enjoyed every minute of it though, and it was nice to take some time off and enjoy videogames again. Time to get back to the grind though, and to focus on putting the hours back into poker and having weekly updates again.
Getting close to finishing Step 2 of my BRM plan, and moving up to nl5. Continuing to 12-table, should take me roughly about 25 more hours to hit the 100k hands mark for nl2.
One more note, some of you might remember that time a few months ago where I played around a bit at nl10, trying stuff out. Lost about $100 there, and earlier, I had included that in my profits. But I decided to treat it differently. That wasn't a part of my BRM plan, and the style I played there wasn't what I've been using with BPC Academy. It was just me playing around.
So I've decided to treat that as me cashing out that money and then spending it on playing poker at (slightly) higher stakes on the side for fun. Because that's really what it was. So that won't be part of my records anymore here, and I've re-adjusted my current profit totals to reflect that.
NL2 (from the start):
Totals:
Current Step: 2
Current Bankroll: $414.20
+ Total Cashed Out: $112.55
- Starting Bankroll: $300.00
= Total Profit: +$226.75
NL2: 19.25 hours
Total: 19.25 hours
Hands Played (NL2): 18,619
Profit (NL2): +$57.49
NL2 (this week):
Ok, so I spent way more time on Breath of the Wild than I had anticipated. I enjoyed every minute of it though, and it was nice to take some time off and enjoy videogames again. Time to get back to the grind though, and to focus on putting the hours back into poker and having weekly updates again.
Getting close to finishing Step 2 of my BRM plan, and moving up to nl5. Continuing to 12-table, should take me roughly about 25 more hours to hit the 100k hands mark for nl2.
One more note, some of you might remember that time a few months ago where I played around a bit at nl10, trying stuff out. Lost about $100 there, and earlier, I had included that in my profits. But I decided to treat it differently. That wasn't a part of my BRM plan, and the style I played there wasn't what I've been using with BPC Academy. It was just me playing around.
So I've decided to treat that as me cashing out that money and then spending it on playing poker at (slightly) higher stakes on the side for fun. Because that's really what it was. So that won't be part of my records anymore here, and I've re-adjusted my current profit totals to reflect that.
NL2 (from the start):
Totals:
Current Step: 2
Current Bankroll: $414.20
+ Total Cashed Out: $112.55
- Starting Bankroll: $300.00
= Total Profit: +$226.75
04-27-2017
, 05:14 AM
05-04-2017
, 03:33 AM
Thank you tehgrizzly.
Week 15 (Apr. 26 - May. 2):
NL2: 14 hours
Study: 4 hours
Total: 18 hours
Hands Played (NL2): 15,455
Profit (NL2): +$26.17
Kind of a messy graph this week lol. Spent some time studying near the end of the week to try and find ways to improve my winrate, as I'm close to moving up. I may try to speed up my BRM plan.. I would like to reduce my hours at work as soon as possible, as I would prefer to work quite a bit less than 50-55 hours a week lol. Will see how things go over the next week or two.
NL2 (this week):
NL2 (from the start):
Totals:
Current Step: 2
Current Bankroll: $441.57
+ Total Cashed Out: $112.55
- Starting Bankroll: $300.00
= Total Profit: +$254.12
Week 15 (Apr. 26 - May. 2):
NL2: 14 hours
Study: 4 hours
Total: 18 hours
Hands Played (NL2): 15,455
Profit (NL2): +$26.17
Kind of a messy graph this week lol. Spent some time studying near the end of the week to try and find ways to improve my winrate, as I'm close to moving up. I may try to speed up my BRM plan.. I would like to reduce my hours at work as soon as possible, as I would prefer to work quite a bit less than 50-55 hours a week lol. Will see how things go over the next week or two.
NL2 (this week):
NL2 (from the start):
Totals:
Current Step: 2
Current Bankroll: $441.57
+ Total Cashed Out: $112.55
- Starting Bankroll: $300.00
= Total Profit: +$254.12
05-12-2017
, 02:10 AM
Week 16 (May 3 - 9):
NL2: 1.75 hours
NL5: 1 hour
NL10: 8.25 hours
Study: Probably around 4-5 hours
Total: 15.5 hours
Hands Played (NL2): 1,566
Profit (NL2): -$8.43
Hands Played (NL5): 965
Profit (NL5): +$6.72
Hands Played (NL10): 3,474
Profit (NL10): -$20.86
Total Profit: -$22.57
Sorry, no graphs this week. More of a quicker update.
[Edit:] Sorry, I lied lol, here's a graph of all stakes combined up to and including this past week.
I mentioned last week that I want to speed up my BRM. So I took some steps in that direction the past week. Got off to a rough start at nl10, but things are looking more positive. I want to build more of a sample at nl10, and hopefully start building my bankroll more there. And if things go well, might start taking shots at nl25 reasonably soon (maybe after 40-50k hands at nl10).
At some point, will resume the previous BRM plan. Probably either once I've made some ground at nl25, or if I do terrible and have to go back to nl2/nl5. The whole point of that conservative route was to consistently be able to cash out money playing stakes I've proven I can beat, while spending less time on the side trying to move up. I'm willing to sacrifice that in the short term to try and move out of the nanostakes quicker.
Totals:
Current Step: ?
Current Bankroll: $420.71
+ Total Cashed Out: $112.55
- Starting Bankroll: $300.00
= Total Profit: +$233.26
NL2: 1.75 hours
NL5: 1 hour
NL10: 8.25 hours
Study: Probably around 4-5 hours
Total: 15.5 hours
Hands Played (NL2): 1,566
Profit (NL2): -$8.43
Hands Played (NL5): 965
Profit (NL5): +$6.72
Hands Played (NL10): 3,474
Profit (NL10): -$20.86
Total Profit: -$22.57
Sorry, no graphs this week. More of a quicker update.
[Edit:] Sorry, I lied lol, here's a graph of all stakes combined up to and including this past week.
I mentioned last week that I want to speed up my BRM. So I took some steps in that direction the past week. Got off to a rough start at nl10, but things are looking more positive. I want to build more of a sample at nl10, and hopefully start building my bankroll more there. And if things go well, might start taking shots at nl25 reasonably soon (maybe after 40-50k hands at nl10).
At some point, will resume the previous BRM plan. Probably either once I've made some ground at nl25, or if I do terrible and have to go back to nl2/nl5. The whole point of that conservative route was to consistently be able to cash out money playing stakes I've proven I can beat, while spending less time on the side trying to move up. I'm willing to sacrifice that in the short term to try and move out of the nanostakes quicker.
Totals:
Current Step: ?
Current Bankroll: $420.71
+ Total Cashed Out: $112.55
- Starting Bankroll: $300.00
= Total Profit: +$233.26
05-17-2017
, 05:05 AM
Week 17 (May 10 - 16):
NL10: 22 hours
Total: 22 hours
Hands Played (NL10): 12,592
Profit (NL10): +$2.98
StarsCoins Bonus: $50.00
Total Profit: +$52.98
NL10 (this week):
So I continued playing NL10 this week, and managed to get the hours up above 20, which is good. Will try and get that even higher this week. Still working 50-55 hours a week though.
The studying I did last week was in creating new preflop ranges. I created some ranges that are a bit looser (for the most part), and in which I can't be exploited as easily, especially against 3bets. My VPIP/PFR was around 24/20 before, I think. Right now, it's up to about 28/23. Postflop, I started out trying something else initially, but then I went back and started using the same postflop lines I was using at nl2 and nl5.
After stumbling around, I was able to start settling down and playing better poker. But once I started going back to the old postflop lines (about the last 9300 hands), my luck with completing draws/hitting sets just started going downhill very fast, as you can see by the following graph. I don't know how to feel, as I was running above EV. But I think my luck with draws overpowered my running above EV.
Happy how the week went overall. The last 9300 hands (where I reverted to my old postflop lines), I was winning at about 4bb/100. I think I can bring that up more. Of course, my sample size is way too small to draw any conclusions from anyway. But I made some bad plays in there (postflop) that cost me a few stacks.
I will continue trying to use some of my time to study. The next step is to create more balanced and unexploitable postflop lines, which I'll try to do a little at a time. I feel like there's a lot of room for improvement. One of those areas is creating betting ranges with bigger bet sizes, in order to get stacks in by the river, with both strong value hands, and weaker bluffs. So that means splitting my betting ranges. I think the biggest improvement can be made by adding river bluffs. I'm getting folds over 70% of the time on my river cbets, so I think I'm leaving a lot of money off the table by not bluffing there. But will add in bluffs slowly, as I work out my ranges and figure out how to add more balance.
Since I'm deviating from the plan (for the first part), I feel like I should go back and include the loss from the time spent fooling around at nl10 earlier on in the thread. I had treated that before as if I had cashed out and used that money to play some nl10 for fun. But will now treat it as a failed nl10 attempt. So my updated results will show (and continue to show) everything online-poker related.
Totals:
Current Step: ? [Going outside the BRM plan temporarily]
Current Bankroll: $460.66
+ Total Cashed Out: $0
- Starting Bankroll: $300.00
= Total Profit: +$160.66
NL10: 22 hours
Total: 22 hours
Hands Played (NL10): 12,592
Profit (NL10): +$2.98
StarsCoins Bonus: $50.00
Total Profit: +$52.98
NL10 (this week):
So I continued playing NL10 this week, and managed to get the hours up above 20, which is good. Will try and get that even higher this week. Still working 50-55 hours a week though.
The studying I did last week was in creating new preflop ranges. I created some ranges that are a bit looser (for the most part), and in which I can't be exploited as easily, especially against 3bets. My VPIP/PFR was around 24/20 before, I think. Right now, it's up to about 28/23. Postflop, I started out trying something else initially, but then I went back and started using the same postflop lines I was using at nl2 and nl5.
After stumbling around, I was able to start settling down and playing better poker. But once I started going back to the old postflop lines (about the last 9300 hands), my luck with completing draws/hitting sets just started going downhill very fast, as you can see by the following graph. I don't know how to feel, as I was running above EV. But I think my luck with draws overpowered my running above EV.
Happy how the week went overall. The last 9300 hands (where I reverted to my old postflop lines), I was winning at about 4bb/100. I think I can bring that up more. Of course, my sample size is way too small to draw any conclusions from anyway. But I made some bad plays in there (postflop) that cost me a few stacks.
I will continue trying to use some of my time to study. The next step is to create more balanced and unexploitable postflop lines, which I'll try to do a little at a time. I feel like there's a lot of room for improvement. One of those areas is creating betting ranges with bigger bet sizes, in order to get stacks in by the river, with both strong value hands, and weaker bluffs. So that means splitting my betting ranges. I think the biggest improvement can be made by adding river bluffs. I'm getting folds over 70% of the time on my river cbets, so I think I'm leaving a lot of money off the table by not bluffing there. But will add in bluffs slowly, as I work out my ranges and figure out how to add more balance.
Since I'm deviating from the plan (for the first part), I feel like I should go back and include the loss from the time spent fooling around at nl10 earlier on in the thread. I had treated that before as if I had cashed out and used that money to play some nl10 for fun. But will now treat it as a failed nl10 attempt. So my updated results will show (and continue to show) everything online-poker related.
Totals:
Current Step: ? [Going outside the BRM plan temporarily]
Current Bankroll: $460.66
+ Total Cashed Out: $0
- Starting Bankroll: $300.00
= Total Profit: +$160.66
05-24-2017
, 05:02 AM
Week 18 (May 17 - 23):
NL10: 14.25 hours
Study: 14 hours
Total: 28.25 hours
Hands Played (NL10): 11,752
Profit (NL10): -$31.62
StarsCoins Bonus: $30.00
Total Profit: +$1.23 (won a tiny bit from PokerStars' Card Match promotion)
NL10 (this week):
Not a great week, except for the hours put in. I cut down my hours at work a bit (starting this upcoming week), so only working around 46-48 hours a week now. Goal is to put 40 hours a week into poker. Did a little calculation with how many hours there are in a week, and how long all my other commitments take up (such as sleep, work, travel to work, etc.). 40 hours should be doable, but we'll see.
As far as playing goes, I'm thinking I may have opened up my ranges too much. May have to tighten up a bit, as I'm not sure I'm headed in the right direction. Will continue to spend some time studying my database.
Totals:
Current Step: ? [Going outside the BRM plan temporarily]
Current Bankroll: $461.89
+ Total Cashed Out: $0
- Starting Bankroll: $300.00
= Total Profit: +$161.89
NL10: 14.25 hours
Study: 14 hours
Total: 28.25 hours
Hands Played (NL10): 11,752
Profit (NL10): -$31.62
StarsCoins Bonus: $30.00
Total Profit: +$1.23 (won a tiny bit from PokerStars' Card Match promotion)
NL10 (this week):
Not a great week, except for the hours put in. I cut down my hours at work a bit (starting this upcoming week), so only working around 46-48 hours a week now. Goal is to put 40 hours a week into poker. Did a little calculation with how many hours there are in a week, and how long all my other commitments take up (such as sleep, work, travel to work, etc.). 40 hours should be doable, but we'll see.
As far as playing goes, I'm thinking I may have opened up my ranges too much. May have to tighten up a bit, as I'm not sure I'm headed in the right direction. Will continue to spend some time studying my database.
Totals:
Current Step: ? [Going outside the BRM plan temporarily]
Current Bankroll: $461.89
+ Total Cashed Out: $0
- Starting Bankroll: $300.00
= Total Profit: +$161.89
05-31-2017
, 04:33 AM
Week 19 (May 24 - 30):
Study: ?
Total: ?
Hands Played: 0
Total Profit: $0
Lost track of how many hours I spent studying this week, but spent all my poker time studying. I wasn't happy with how the last 10k hands or so were going at nl10, so I went back to the pen and paper. I had been slightly winning over the last 20k hand sample, but I started feeling my strategy wasn't as good as I was hoping it was.
The most important thing is to come up with a strategy that will be unexploitable by the average player. To that extent, the strategy I'm developing will (hopefully) be hard to exploit, but will be able to profit (quite a bit) by opponents making mistakes. Especially bluffing and calling mistakes. If my opponents are bluffing too much, or calling too much, my strategy will make a lot of profit. And specifically for postflop, I have an idea for a system that is simple (but effective) in practice, with most of the work done beforehand. I'm delving a lot into the math, and doing a ton of number crunching. Hopefully the results will be worth it.
I'm anticipating great things for the future of this thread (haven't really had anything exciting so far). If that doesn't happen, then it's back to the drawing board lol. If anything, I can say that I love working on the theory side and then trying to see how that does in practice. Having said that, my long term goal is to make money, and not spend all my time working on theoretical aspects.
Not sure if I'll get this done before the next update, but we'll see how it goes.
Totals:
Current Step: ? [Going outside the BRM plan temporarily]
Current Bankroll: $461.89
+ Total Cashed Out: $0
- Starting Bankroll: $300.00
= Total Profit: +$161.89
Study: ?
Total: ?
Hands Played: 0
Total Profit: $0
Lost track of how many hours I spent studying this week, but spent all my poker time studying. I wasn't happy with how the last 10k hands or so were going at nl10, so I went back to the pen and paper. I had been slightly winning over the last 20k hand sample, but I started feeling my strategy wasn't as good as I was hoping it was.
The most important thing is to come up with a strategy that will be unexploitable by the average player. To that extent, the strategy I'm developing will (hopefully) be hard to exploit, but will be able to profit (quite a bit) by opponents making mistakes. Especially bluffing and calling mistakes. If my opponents are bluffing too much, or calling too much, my strategy will make a lot of profit. And specifically for postflop, I have an idea for a system that is simple (but effective) in practice, with most of the work done beforehand. I'm delving a lot into the math, and doing a ton of number crunching. Hopefully the results will be worth it.
I'm anticipating great things for the future of this thread (haven't really had anything exciting so far). If that doesn't happen, then it's back to the drawing board lol. If anything, I can say that I love working on the theory side and then trying to see how that does in practice. Having said that, my long term goal is to make money, and not spend all my time working on theoretical aspects.
Not sure if I'll get this done before the next update, but we'll see how it goes. Totals:
Current Step: ? [Going outside the BRM plan temporarily]
Current Bankroll: $461.89
+ Total Cashed Out: $0
- Starting Bankroll: $300.00
= Total Profit: +$161.89
06-22-2017
, 04:43 AM
Ok, posting here with PT4's version of the hand history converter.
-----------------------------
Hand 1:
No information on villain. Is the river fold too nitty? Considering the size of the raise, I don't think he should be shoving with sets or 2pair here. And I don't think most people are shoving enough here with a bluff to justify calling. Anyone have any different thoughts on this hand?
PokerStars - $0.10 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4
BTN: $22.07 (VPIP: 17.65, PFR: 5.88, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 17)
SB: $33.71 (VPIP: 27.50, PFR: 20.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 41)
BB: $10.71 (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: -, Hands: 1)
UTG: $10.64 (VPIP: 12.00, PFR: 12.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 25)
MP: $8.89
Hero (CO): $19.49
SB posts SB $0.05, BB posts BB $0.10
Pre Flop: (pot: $0.15) Hero has 9
K
fold, fold, Hero raises to $0.25, fold, fold, BB calls $0.15
Flop: ($0.55, 2 players) T
J 5
BB checks, Hero bets $0.29, BB calls $0.29
Turn: ($1.13, 2 players) Q
BB checks, Hero bets $0.81, BB calls $0.81
River: ($2.75, 2 players) 3
BB checks, Hero bets $1.42, BB raises to $9.36 and is all-in, fold,
---------------------------
Hand 2:
How would you play the river in this hand? Would you call down?
PokerStars - $0.10 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4
BTN: $10.00 (VPIP: 14.29, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 7)
Hero (SB): $34.57
BB: $27.41 (VPIP: 22.22, PFR: 11.11, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 19)
UTG: $6.17 (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: -, Hands: 5)
MP: $10.00
CO: $14.13 (VPIP: 12.50, PFR: 12.50, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 8)
Hero posts SB $0.05, BB posts BB $0.10
Pre Flop: (pot: $0.15) Hero has K Q
fold, fold, fold, BTN raises to $0.25, Hero calls $0.20, fold
Flop: ($0.60, 2 players) 6 Q J
Hero checks, BTN bets $0.30, Hero calls $0.30
Turn: ($1.20, 2 players) 4
Hero checks, BTN bets $0.60, Hero calls $0.60
River: ($2.40, 2 players) A
Hero checks, BTN bets $1.50, Hero ???
-----------------------------
Hand 3:
Not sure about the preflop call. With so many players, I don't know if I should be calling Kxs. Good preflop odds, but horrible reverse implied odds if someone has Axs (same suit). Haven't worked on my preflop ranges yet for this situation.
River raise a bit on the small side, but trying to get value from straights, sets, or even possibly from a stubborn two pair. Maybe I should be raising bigger? Or maybe only raise bigger with the nut flush?
PokerStars - $0.10 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4
Hero (BTN): $22.43
SB: $13.02 (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 2)
BB: $10.00 (VPIP: 100.00, PFR: 100.00, 3Bet Preflop: -, Hands: 1)
UTG: $19.27 (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 6)
MP: $6.22 (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 1)
CO: $12.49 (VPIP: 29.41, PFR: 23.53, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 17)
SB posts SB $0.05, BB posts BB $0.10
Pre Flop: (pot: $0.15) Hero has K 8
UTG raises to $0.21, MP calls $0.21, CO calls $0.21, Hero calls $0.21, fold, BB calls $0.11
Flop: ($1.10, 5 players) Q T 4
BB checks, UTG bets $0.63, MP calls $0.63, fold, Hero calls $0.63, fold
Turn: ($2.99, 3 players) 8
UTG bets $1.72, fold, Hero calls $1.72
River: ($6.43, 2 players) 9
UTG bets $2.46, Hero raises to $5.80, UTG calls $3.34
villain had 7 5 for the lower flush
-----------------------------
Hand 1:
No information on villain. Is the river fold too nitty? Considering the size of the raise, I don't think he should be shoving with sets or 2pair here. And I don't think most people are shoving enough here with a bluff to justify calling. Anyone have any different thoughts on this hand?
PokerStars - $0.10 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4
BTN: $22.07 (VPIP: 17.65, PFR: 5.88, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 17)
SB: $33.71 (VPIP: 27.50, PFR: 20.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 41)
BB: $10.71 (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: -, Hands: 1)
UTG: $10.64 (VPIP: 12.00, PFR: 12.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 25)
MP: $8.89
Hero (CO): $19.49
SB posts SB $0.05, BB posts BB $0.10
Pre Flop: (pot: $0.15) Hero has 9
K fold, fold, Hero raises to $0.25, fold, fold, BB calls $0.15
Flop: ($0.55, 2 players) T
J 5 BB checks, Hero bets $0.29, BB calls $0.29
Turn: ($1.13, 2 players) Q
BB checks, Hero bets $0.81, BB calls $0.81
River: ($2.75, 2 players) 3
BB checks, Hero bets $1.42, BB raises to $9.36 and is all-in, fold,
---------------------------
Hand 2:
How would you play the river in this hand? Would you call down?
PokerStars - $0.10 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4
BTN: $10.00 (VPIP: 14.29, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 7)
Hero (SB): $34.57
BB: $27.41 (VPIP: 22.22, PFR: 11.11, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 19)
UTG: $6.17 (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: -, Hands: 5)
MP: $10.00
CO: $14.13 (VPIP: 12.50, PFR: 12.50, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 8)
Hero posts SB $0.05, BB posts BB $0.10
Pre Flop: (pot: $0.15) Hero has K
Q fold, fold, fold, BTN raises to $0.25, Hero calls $0.20, fold
Flop: ($0.60, 2 players) 6
Q J Hero checks, BTN bets $0.30, Hero calls $0.30
Turn: ($1.20, 2 players) 4
Hero checks, BTN bets $0.60, Hero calls $0.60
River: ($2.40, 2 players) A
Hero checks, BTN bets $1.50, Hero ???
-----------------------------
Hand 3:
Not sure about the preflop call. With so many players, I don't know if I should be calling Kxs. Good preflop odds, but horrible reverse implied odds if someone has Axs (same suit). Haven't worked on my preflop ranges yet for this situation.
River raise a bit on the small side, but trying to get value from straights, sets, or even possibly from a stubborn two pair. Maybe I should be raising bigger? Or maybe only raise bigger with the nut flush?
PokerStars - $0.10 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4
Hero (BTN): $22.43
SB: $13.02 (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 2)
BB: $10.00 (VPIP: 100.00, PFR: 100.00, 3Bet Preflop: -, Hands: 1)
UTG: $19.27 (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 6)
MP: $6.22 (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 1)
CO: $12.49 (VPIP: 29.41, PFR: 23.53, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 17)
SB posts SB $0.05, BB posts BB $0.10
Pre Flop: (pot: $0.15) Hero has K
8 UTG raises to $0.21, MP calls $0.21, CO calls $0.21, Hero calls $0.21, fold, BB calls $0.11
Flop: ($1.10, 5 players) Q
T 4 BB checks, UTG bets $0.63, MP calls $0.63, fold, Hero calls $0.63, fold
Turn: ($2.99, 3 players) 8
UTG bets $1.72, fold, Hero calls $1.72
River: ($6.43, 2 players) 9
UTG bets $2.46, Hero raises to $5.80, UTG calls $3.34
villain had 7
5 for the lower flush
06-28-2017
, 04:24 AM
Week 23 (Jun 21 - Jun 27):
NL10: 6.75 hours
NL25: 6.75 hours
Total Playing Time: 13.5 hours
Hands Played (NL10): 2,022
Profit (NL10): -$14.29
Hands Played (NL25): 1,701
Profit (NL25): -$59.49
StarsCoins Bonus: +$10.00
Total Profit: -$58.43
NL10 (this week):
NL25 (this week):
Played some nl10 and nl25 this week. I think I learned a lot from spending some time playing nl25. Mostly, that I don't think I'm that far away from being a winning player at nl25. I didn't play that great at the start, but near the end I was playing a lot more solid. So, my overall profit is now in the negative, but I feel the experience was worth it. Now, I have to decide whether to keep playing at nl25 a bit more, or to move back down.
I was planning to use the next month to keep up the aggressive shot-taking. But I'm thinking I might just design a new BRM plan based on withdrawing enough income each month (or each 2 weeks) in order to cover the costs of working less hours. So that I can be more relaxed in knowing that I can work less and have the extra income coming in from poker to cover that.
If my sole income was from work, I would need to work about 55 hours a week. So, say, if I worked 40 hours a week, I would need $150/week from poker. That would obviously come from playing the highest stakes that I know I can beat. After earning my required income for the month (or 2 weeks), I can spend the rest of the time either building my BR for my next shot, or taking a shot at a higher level (and trying to establish myself at a higher level so I can earn more money and lower my work hours even more).
So need to do a bit more thinking about how (and when) I want to go about this.
Totals:
Current Step: ? [Going outside the BRM plan temporarily]
Current Bankroll: $286.53
+ Total Cashed Out: $0
- Starting Bankroll: $300.00
= Total Profit: -$13.47
NL10: 6.75 hours
NL25: 6.75 hours
Total Playing Time: 13.5 hours
Hands Played (NL10): 2,022
Profit (NL10): -$14.29
Hands Played (NL25): 1,701
Profit (NL25): -$59.49
StarsCoins Bonus: +$10.00
Total Profit: -$58.43
NL10 (this week):
NL25 (this week):
Played some nl10 and nl25 this week. I think I learned a lot from spending some time playing nl25. Mostly, that I don't think I'm that far away from being a winning player at nl25. I didn't play that great at the start, but near the end I was playing a lot more solid. So, my overall profit is now in the negative, but I feel the experience was worth it. Now, I have to decide whether to keep playing at nl25 a bit more, or to move back down.
I was planning to use the next month to keep up the aggressive shot-taking. But I'm thinking I might just design a new BRM plan based on withdrawing enough income each month (or each 2 weeks) in order to cover the costs of working less hours. So that I can be more relaxed in knowing that I can work less and have the extra income coming in from poker to cover that.
If my sole income was from work, I would need to work about 55 hours a week. So, say, if I worked 40 hours a week, I would need $150/week from poker. That would obviously come from playing the highest stakes that I know I can beat. After earning my required income for the month (or 2 weeks), I can spend the rest of the time either building my BR for my next shot, or taking a shot at a higher level (and trying to establish myself at a higher level so I can earn more money and lower my work hours even more).
So need to do a bit more thinking about how (and when) I want to go about this.
Totals:
Current Step: ? [Going outside the BRM plan temporarily]
Current Bankroll: $286.53
+ Total Cashed Out: $0
- Starting Bankroll: $300.00
= Total Profit: -$13.47
06-28-2017
, 04:32 AM
Some hands:
Overbetting for value it seems lol
PokerStars - $0.25 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4
BTN: $76.99 (VPIP: 31.25, PFR: 25.00, 3Bet Preflop: 12.50, Hands: 16)
Hero (SB): $29.07
BB: $28.85 (VPIP: 100.00, PFR: 50.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 2)
UTG: $21.28 (VPIP: 50.00, PFR: 50.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 2)
MP: $28.43 (VPIP: 16.67, PFR: 8.33, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 12)
CO: $17.03
Hero posts SB $0.10, BB posts BB $0.25
Pre Flop: (pot: $0.35) Hero has K 6
fold, fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to $0.75, BB calls $0.50
Flop: ($1.50, 2 players) 7 9 5
Hero bets $1.60, BB calls $1.60
Turn: ($4.70, 2 players) 2
Hero bets $5.03, BB calls $5.03
River: ($14.76, 2 players) K
Hero checks, BB bets $5.00, Hero calls $5.00
Villain had 4 3
----------------------
Given that villain is most likely a rec player, do you call both bets? Or do you fold turn or river?
PokerStars - $0.25 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4
Hero (BTN): $40.69
SB: $36.14 (VPIP: 9.09, PFR: 9.09, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 11)
BB: $25.28 (VPIP: 25.85, PFR: 18.54, 3Bet Preflop: 6.67, Hands: 209)
UTG: $9.97 (VPIP: 100.00, PFR: 100.00, 3Bet Preflop: 100.00, Hands: 1)
MP: $23.94
CO: $15.40 (VPIP: 66.67, PFR: 33.33, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 3)
SB posts SB $0.10, BB posts BB $0.25
Pre Flop: (pot: $0.35) Hero has T T
UTG raises to $0.50, fold, fold, Hero calls $0.50, fold, fold
Flop: ($1.35, 2 players) 8 7 Q
UTG checks, Hero checks
Turn: ($1.35, 2 players) 4
UTG bets $1.00, Hero calls $1.00
River: ($3.35, 2 players) 7
UTG bets $3.25, Hero ???
Overbetting for value it seems lol
PokerStars - $0.25 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4
BTN: $76.99 (VPIP: 31.25, PFR: 25.00, 3Bet Preflop: 12.50, Hands: 16)
Hero (SB): $29.07
BB: $28.85 (VPIP: 100.00, PFR: 50.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 2)
UTG: $21.28 (VPIP: 50.00, PFR: 50.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 2)
MP: $28.43 (VPIP: 16.67, PFR: 8.33, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 12)
CO: $17.03
Hero posts SB $0.10, BB posts BB $0.25
Pre Flop: (pot: $0.35) Hero has K
6 fold, fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to $0.75, BB calls $0.50
Flop: ($1.50, 2 players) 7
9 5 Hero bets $1.60, BB calls $1.60
Turn: ($4.70, 2 players) 2
Hero bets $5.03, BB calls $5.03
River: ($14.76, 2 players) K
Hero checks, BB bets $5.00, Hero calls $5.00
Villain had 4
3----------------------
Given that villain is most likely a rec player, do you call both bets? Or do you fold turn or river?
PokerStars - $0.25 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4
Hero (BTN): $40.69
SB: $36.14 (VPIP: 9.09, PFR: 9.09, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 11)
BB: $25.28 (VPIP: 25.85, PFR: 18.54, 3Bet Preflop: 6.67, Hands: 209)
UTG: $9.97 (VPIP: 100.00, PFR: 100.00, 3Bet Preflop: 100.00, Hands: 1)
MP: $23.94
CO: $15.40 (VPIP: 66.67, PFR: 33.33, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 3)
SB posts SB $0.10, BB posts BB $0.25
Pre Flop: (pot: $0.35) Hero has T
T UTG raises to $0.50, fold, fold, Hero calls $0.50, fold, fold
Flop: ($1.35, 2 players) 8
7 Q UTG checks, Hero checks
Turn: ($1.35, 2 players) 4
UTG bets $1.00, Hero calls $1.00
River: ($3.35, 2 players) 7
UTG bets $3.25, Hero ???
06-29-2017
, 04:26 AM
H1: I probably give up, and hope to showdown against a (worse) busted draw lol. Maybe if I had the K (or maybe even the T), I might shove the river when the flush comes in.
H2: I ended up calling, and won the hand. He had 8 4. Wasn't sure if calling there is good in the long run.
(or maybe even the T), I might shove the river when the flush comes in.H2: I ended up calling, and won the hand. He had 8 4. Wasn't sure if calling there is good in the long run.
07-11-2017
, 10:26 AM
Thanks FB, will take a look at that soon.
Weeks 24 - 25 (Jun 28 - Jul 11):
NL10: 9.75 hours
NL5: 5.5 hours
NL2: 24.25 hours
Total Playing Time: 39.5 hours
Hands Played (NL10): 4,469
Profit (NL10): -$54.13
Hands Played (NL5): 5,737
Profit (NL5): -$8.05
Hands Played (NL2): 15,262
Profit (NL2): +$18.95
StarsCoins Bonus: +$20.00
Total Profit: -$23.23
Ok, so the theme of the last two weeks is... I suck at poker. I thought I was doing well at nl10, but then things turned around and I lost all confidence in my game. A lot of that has to do with the fact that I was trying out my new game plan at stakes that I don't have a history of beating. When things don't go well (like this past couple weeks), doubt starts creeping in when you don't have that trust in your game that you're good enough. And because I haven't been winning at nl10 over a sufficient sample, that trust in my game is not there.
I stopped playing nl10, and was feeling very frustrated, seriously questioning whether or not I'll ever be good enough to beat it. I'm not one to give up though. I don't care how much I fail, I'll fight to get there. And I have a fair amount of knowledge about the game, I just am finding ways to apply it incorrectly.
Anyway, went back to the drawing board. Created basic preflop ranges yet again. I looked at a sample from my database, and looked at spots where I was leaking the most preflop. The biggest one was calling 3bets. So I created my ranges to minimize that damage. Another area of focus was on play from the blinds, as I wanted to minimize the losses there.
I still didn't really have a solid strategy for postflop yet. But, I went back to nl2 and just played with those preflop ranges. Wasn't doing great, so went back and came up with a basic, (somewhat) solid foundation for postflop play. Then played around 9k hands, which brings us to now.
Sample size is still tiny, but I looked at my winrates from the blinds so far. There's been a huge difference; I'm actually winning (all-in adjusted bb/100) from both the SB and BB. +3.65bb/100 from the SB, and +5.88bb/100 from the BB. I don't know if it's reasonable to expect those to remain positive, but at least there's some improvement. Here's an overall graph for those last ~9k hands:
NL2 (after turning things around):
The New Plan:
So my plan going forward is changing somewhat. I will slightly revise my original BRM plan, but will go back to something similar. I will continue at nl2 for now, and try to put in 100k hands. I still like the idea of spending most of my time playing for income at the highest stakes I know I can beat, and then spending the rest of the time studying and building/taking shots at the next highest stakes. Study (for now) will mostly be comprised of continuing to build my preflop ranges, and database analysis to look for areas that need improving.
I will post the new BRM plan once I get the details down. One thing I know is that I need to work 60 hours/week at my job to pay bills and slowly grow my life roll. I find that too tiring though, so I will (for now) be working closer to 45 hours. That means, each week, I will need to cover the difference with money earned through poker. About $10 CAD (or about $8 US) for each hour short of 60. Will have my work cut out for me. At the end of each week, I will cashout this money from my BR, and the spend the rest of the week following the steps in my new BRM plan. Will post the details later.
Totals:
Current Step: ? [Will be revising this]
Current Bankroll: $269.73
+ Total Cashed Out: $0
- Starting Bankroll: $300.00
= Total Profit: -$30.27
Will post some hands shortly.
Weeks 24 - 25 (Jun 28 - Jul 11):
NL10: 9.75 hours
NL5: 5.5 hours
NL2: 24.25 hours
Total Playing Time: 39.5 hours
Hands Played (NL10): 4,469
Profit (NL10): -$54.13
Hands Played (NL5): 5,737
Profit (NL5): -$8.05
Hands Played (NL2): 15,262
Profit (NL2): +$18.95
StarsCoins Bonus: +$20.00
Total Profit: -$23.23
Ok, so the theme of the last two weeks is... I suck at poker. I thought I was doing well at nl10, but then things turned around and I lost all confidence in my game. A lot of that has to do with the fact that I was trying out my new game plan at stakes that I don't have a history of beating. When things don't go well (like this past couple weeks), doubt starts creeping in when you don't have that trust in your game that you're good enough. And because I haven't been winning at nl10 over a sufficient sample, that trust in my game is not there.
I stopped playing nl10, and was feeling very frustrated, seriously questioning whether or not I'll ever be good enough to beat it. I'm not one to give up though. I don't care how much I fail, I'll fight to get there. And I have a fair amount of knowledge about the game, I just am finding ways to apply it incorrectly.
Anyway, went back to the drawing board. Created basic preflop ranges yet again. I looked at a sample from my database, and looked at spots where I was leaking the most preflop. The biggest one was calling 3bets. So I created my ranges to minimize that damage. Another area of focus was on play from the blinds, as I wanted to minimize the losses there.
I still didn't really have a solid strategy for postflop yet. But, I went back to nl2 and just played with those preflop ranges. Wasn't doing great, so went back and came up with a basic, (somewhat) solid foundation for postflop play. Then played around 9k hands, which brings us to now.
Sample size is still tiny, but I looked at my winrates from the blinds so far. There's been a huge difference; I'm actually winning (all-in adjusted bb/100) from both the SB and BB. +3.65bb/100 from the SB, and +5.88bb/100 from the BB. I don't know if it's reasonable to expect those to remain positive, but at least there's some improvement. Here's an overall graph for those last ~9k hands:
NL2 (after turning things around):
The New Plan:
So my plan going forward is changing somewhat. I will slightly revise my original BRM plan, but will go back to something similar. I will continue at nl2 for now, and try to put in 100k hands. I still like the idea of spending most of my time playing for income at the highest stakes I know I can beat, and then spending the rest of the time studying and building/taking shots at the next highest stakes. Study (for now) will mostly be comprised of continuing to build my preflop ranges, and database analysis to look for areas that need improving.
I will post the new BRM plan once I get the details down. One thing I know is that I need to work 60 hours/week at my job to pay bills and slowly grow my life roll. I find that too tiring though, so I will (for now) be working closer to 45 hours. That means, each week, I will need to cover the difference with money earned through poker. About $10 CAD (or about $8 US) for each hour short of 60. Will have my work cut out for me. At the end of each week, I will cashout this money from my BR, and the spend the rest of the week following the steps in my new BRM plan. Will post the details later.
Totals:
Current Step: ? [Will be revising this]
Current Bankroll: $269.73
+ Total Cashed Out: $0
- Starting Bankroll: $300.00
= Total Profit: -$30.27
Will post some hands shortly.