But they are probably not 3-betting the top 7% of hands though ... it's very player dependent and situationally dependent. Basically if you know someone is 3-betting 7% of hands you know that they are def 3-betting light in quite a few spots.

Random question for Verneer. Not sure if this has been addressed yet, but where does your screen name come from? You mentioned in your bio that you coach cross country, is that where the XC comes from?

Great posts, keep it up

That's it

Stalker ITT

I dont know how i missed this thread before. This is pure gold. Thanks a lot.

nah, verneers a christian it stands for the cross for christ

Update ... meh

I've run/played really poorly at 50NL and my bankroll has taken a serious hit. I haven't had much motivation to play because of this and will go back to playing 25NL for a bit. There were clear times to drop down and I should have done it way sooner than I actually did. Because of both of those things, I also haven't had the motivation to post/write much. I'm disappointed in myself, and needed the few days to clear my head, etc.

Bankroll is at $1,455, but I don't feel good about playing 50NL at this time bankroll wise. The aggression at the higher limit leads to more variance, bigger swings, and thus if I'm not ready to play my A-game there (which I'm not ATM), I shouldn't play - even if my bankroll has x number of buy-ins.

wtf why are those 2 girls so hot yet so ****ing annoying

Time for a sweat imo

FYP

That + watching some select videos is the plan. This will remind me that I'm still doing tons of things right AND make some general adjustments to my game in spots where I feel I'm doing poorly.

they are standard high school girls. every 16 year old girl looks like that now. go to a house party. and they are beyond annoying. at least get the ones that want to act mature and will impress you with bjs and such.

Just fk a bitch in the ass imo

I thought you were a winning player before at NL100+? Does NL50 really play that differently from NL25 and NL100?

the gap between 50NL and 100NL is as close as it's ever been imo. the gap between 25NL and 50NL may be as wide as its ever been. some of it has to do with the global economy and some of it has to do with a slew of formerly marginal 100NL winners moving down to sustain themselves.

I'm not sure this is the line I would take. Has the bitch washed his ass?

Pretty depressing fact.

are u gay????????????

verneer, im sure u have the midset and skill to bet nl50!!!!! good luck!

I have a question about 4bet bluffing. I was always under the implication that 4bet/folding preflop is a bad play. However, if we 4bet to 26BB is it cheap enough to fold to a 5bet shove? What types hands should we be 4bet bluffing with? Should we be pure 4bet bluffing random cards, or cards that have equity like 98s or blockers like A5s? What do we do when faced with a 5bet shove with hands like 98s and A5s?

Thanks in advance.

4bet(bluffing i guess) 77-TT seems like a bad idea for me, i suspesct I can get more EV by flatting

Great thread!!!!

There is a lot of truth in what Stack has said. I find that the gap between 25NL and 50NL is very significant in terms of aggressive players. It's totally standard for a table to have 2-3 players with a VPIP of over 26, a PFR of over 20, and a 3-bet of over 8. Tables like this are just going to be tough to play and will cause your variance to shoot up due to getting it in lighter and lighter. This is just not the case at 25NL at this point (at least on FTP).

That said, I think I simply made a lot of bad decisions when I moved up to 50NL.

1. First of all, I was really excited about my progress and tried to win more and sooner than I could have. My own impatience led me away from taking the right steps and grinding +EV situations.

2. When variance was killing me, I didn't stop playing soon enough. We all know it's impossible to play your A-game when you are losing and I didn't cut my losses when I should have.

3. Playing HU is not the same as riding a bike ... I played very poorly in many spots.

4. I am still not comfortable playing an aggressive style with 30 BI's and even though taking a shot would have been ok, making the jump to 50NL would not have been. I think as you move up, the games become more aggressive and you need more BI's to play your A-game. So ... saying that you need x # of BI's to play any level is silly. I think playing 5NL with 20 BI's should be fine due to the passive nature of the limit, whereas playing 5/10 with 20 BI's is probably a bad idea due to the variance.

5. I've played pretty much every day for the last two months and I was starting to really dread poker. Breaks are really +EV and I didn't take one to re-focus. Thus, I often played anxious and didn't have fun.

The bottom line is that I should have decide to take a 4 BI shot and then extend that shot as long as possible. What I mean by that is ... put myself in the lowest variance situations and slowly ease into the limit. That's going to be my plan for my next shot.

I will play fewer tables and try to put myself in fewer marginal situations. If I end up losing 4 BI's, I will go back to 25NL and grind it out till I get those 4 BI's back. Then I will continue doing this until I finally break through.

My head will be much more clear as I move up to 50NL next time as well. I'm going to approach it with a detached attitude and just focus on getting in as many hands as possible in the 4 BI's I'm going to allow myself. If I lose, that's fine - I won't think of it as failure, but instead will work to create another opportunity to take a 4 BI shot at the lower level where my risk of ruin is pretty much zero.

Cliff Notes: I'm embarrassed to say that my head simply wasn't right when I moved up to 50NL the first time. I'm determined to fix that for next time.

Curious to see how you approach 50nl when you feel comfortable playing there again. I've passed through 25nl 3 times only to get absolutely destroyed at 50nl every time. I'm hoping to take another shot at 50 next month sometime, once I regain the confidence from running under EV for so long and add a bit more to my BR.

In 2010 I've been playing pretty well at 25nl, although getting crushed by variance whenever I get it all in, but I'm still curious to see certain spots where you make adjustments based on playing the more aggressive players at 50nl compared to 25nl.

you are not in high school amirite?
btw ul verneer kinda scary that you cant crush 50NL

can't run good all the time, or rather this challenge would be almost boring if all you had to do was move up when you reached X buy-ins. Bankroll management and a controlled change in levels seem to be the most important parts of these types of challenges. Really good poker players have failed at them before. So verneer I offer some encouragement, I believe you have been approaching this challenge with a good mindset and are capable of completing it.

But to continue it successfully, your motivation must improve. You must answer to yourself why you play poker, and more specifically why are you doing this challenge? Don't be afraid to realign your motivations. What started you on this path may not be the same motivation that keeps you on it.

I'm confident that I can. It might not happen as quickly as I would like though. (I am confident I can beat 100NL as well, but playing it right now is a bad idea due to bankroll issues).
Thanks Dave. I agree - I do need to re-examine my motivation for doing it, but I feel it's still very strong - both from an educational standpoint (for me and others) and from a personal challenge one. The task is 100% doable, I just can't hurry some things.