Yeah, I suspect my leak is opening my game up too much in the daytime. I have no problem playing tight and grinding out the night games. I suspect that loose and bluffy isn't the right way to go in the day games.

It is and it isn't. You have to pump the brakes and keep in control, but you do have to hit the gas a little more. Most llsnl villains go into calldown mode once they think you're loose, so you have to recognize when that happens and shift gears.

Another win, 214 last night. I should've left with 150 more than I did, but when the game dwindled to 3 players, I let myself get caught up in a button straddling frenzy. All three of us straddled the button every time, so there was $7 in the pot before any non-blind bets...and I didn't properly adjust to 3-player action.

One hand, I raised AsJs on the button after SB and BB limped, 15 on top of the straddle. SB called, BB folded. SB checked flop in dark, flop K96 two diamonds, I checked. Turn 6, SB bet 20, I folded. Atrocious play 3-handed, and I lost 80 dollars in 20 minutes playing like that, getting sucked into the whirlwind but never really being willing to pull the trigger myself.

Hopefully I've learned a lesson.

How many buyins do you think you need for a 200xbb game?

I generally think that 2000bb poker roll is sufficient for low-stakes no limit up to 2/5 NL.

Basically, a 10k poker bankroll is fine for 2/5 NL regardless if deep buy-ins. More than 10k is necessary if the 2/5 NL game is frequently straddled (playing more like 2/5/10 NL instead of 2/5 NL).

Unless you play a LAG style where 200bbs go in frequently, I don't think that having 10 buy-ins of 200bb is much different than having 20 buy-ins of 100bbs. Often, a good player can reduce variance by buying in deeper because he is less likely to lose 100bbs with medium strength hands hands when he is sitting with a 200bb stack.

Regardless, 2000bb is a large enough poker roll for a solidly winning 2/5 NL grinder.

What about 5/10 when most buy in 200bb?

You aren't required to play 200 bb deep...I think a bit bigger is required to play 5/10 just due to the generally more aggro nature of 5/10. I play 5/10 shorter but I have a "real" job so BRM not as much of an issue for me.

yeah 5/T is often times much tougher than 2/5 so I'd say you'd want a roll magnitudes larger (2x to 3x larger than what you'd want for 2/5).

What about the case of the game all filled with 3/5 donks?

Think this is right

Still playing bigger stakes so you certainly need a bigger roll.

I do think shot taking is a very underrated learning tool. I think it was Galfond (though I think I have that wrong) who says that if he had it to do all over again he would be even more aggressive with his shot taking. I see friends all the time that were better than me in 1/2 days 2 or 3 years ago still playing there. Now they come up to 2/5 or 5/10 and try and play the same way they did at lower stakes and get murdered.

If the line up looks good, take 2 or 3 buy ins and take a shot. At worst it is a HUGE learning tool IMO.

Well naturally the roll needs to be bigger in the absolute sense. I was asking whether 20BI is sufficient in such game.

I am not concerned of my skill level relative to these players, just the variance aspect. If most of these players are buying in 200bb, I feel that the variance would be higher for me at 100bb.

So I have finally made graph, and it is almost, but not quite, the format I'm looking for.

http://i.imgur.com/l1eNz9D.png

What I really want, instead of merely changing the x-axis *labels* to being the hour counts, is to make the x-axis *itself* the hour counts, so that instead of a 5 hour session being the same length on the x-axis as as 1-hour session, it would take up 5 times as much space on the x-axis. As far as I know, I can't do this in excel.

The graph as it stands looks quite a bit less dramatic than the actual data. I've been totally running a hot streak lately, combined with playing stronger.

Sure you can.

I'm going to assume that you have a column with "hours played" in each session, and a column with "$won/lost" right?

Make a new column with the running total of hours played to date. First row is just the hours played in that session, each subsequent row is the hours played in that session + the entry in the row above. Plot cumulative winnings vs cumulative hours played.

I already did that-- if you look at my graph, the hours listed on the x-axis are cumulative. However, the distances on the x-axis are still based on sessions, not hours. There appears to be no way to make the *dimension* of the x-axis dependent on data as opposed to the number of entries.

[edit] I figured it out! The answer is to NOT make a "line graph" but to make an "XY scatter" graph with connecting lines. And it has some pretty kickass options for style! I love the graph now:

http://i.imgur.com/sAfLHpS.png

Hey all,

I'm pretty new to the site, trying to make my way as a part time grinder. Ive decided to take a break from Tourneys since they have been a leak from my roll (there are infinite amount to play live in California) and I can't afford to play the 100-300 buy ins regularly.

My plan is to play 2/3 consistently, and take some shots at tourneys here and there when the roll is healthier.

I've allotted a 4k starter roll and I'd like some thoughts on this:

I want to play twice a week at Hollywood Park at the 2/3 for 100, about 3-5 hours per session.

On Sundays I want to go to the Bicycle to sit deep at the 2/3 with 300 and play all day or until I churn a decent profit (200+)

If I lose consistently for the first 2 weeks (6 sessions) then I'll be down 1k and would need to take a break/re-evaluate my play.

I've been working out a lot of kinks, reading, forums, and I've decided to take the grind seriously this time instead of spazzing at different higher level tables (200 and 500) and playing scared money each time since I'm underolled for them.

Any thoughts/ advice on this gameplan would be appreciated.

Just win and you'll be fine.

$4k is plenty for a casual winning player, but I think your biggest question right now is probably whether you're a winning player.

$100 for 2/3 seems like it can't be very profitable. Don't underestimate the effect of rake at low stakes.

If that's the max buyin I would avoid that game completely.

Also bankrolls are for winners. If you don't have enough data to know if you win or not, use a budget instead.

How many hours do you need live to figure out whether you're a winner? Assume 25 hands per hour average. At 176 hours that would put me at 4400 hands. I know that the more you're winning, the more you can reliably say that you are a winner in general, even if the current winrate is not "correct".

[edit] lol in b4 somebody says "I think there's a thread on that" and links me to this thread.

trying to make the transition from recreational to pro i have a full time job and a self renewing ability to play with 500$ available every 2 weeks... ive evolved alot lately but have questions on how to proceed a good example is this week i take 200$ a single 1/2 buy in and over two nights turn it into 950$ profit ... my girlfriend is one of my obsticles im trying to over come she doesnt get it ... i hand over everything and she sends me next day with 200$ ... how many successful pros are ever showing up with one single BI ? and what should i be taking ? 1?2? maybe 2.5 BI's ?

Really?
Get a new girlfriend

until your girlfriend gets it, you're just going to be a rec player.

i hardly ever go with just one buyin. usually 2-3, sometimes more, but i don't think having a limit of 2 BI loss is a bad idea.

you're never allowing yourself to build a roll if you keep handing over all winnings to the GF. set up a bank account if you have to and deposit on the way home ... give her some of the winnings if you must, but keep the rest secret.

Oh and to answer your question before they lock you.
0 pros bring one bullet.
I would bring atleast 5 (@ 1-2)

500 is a good start, 1k hours is pretty reliable imo. But games are always changing, also inflation and dollar values go down by the day.

I take 4 BI's