Hello-
This is a repost of my challenge/goal thread but im on a different account.
I guess I need to start this out with a bit of my background and such to make this more interesting.
I am a 24yr old part time college student who has failed at alot of things in life so far(hence still being in college @ 24) and am dead broke as well as unemployed. Right now i am living back at home with my parents which is both a good and bad thing; good in that i have very few expenses bad in that im 24 and back at home Anyways Ive been through alot of bad **** in my life including losing two of my best friends before i turned 24 and led to many negative things in my life including battling drug addiction and other stuff but i'm not going to focus on that in this thread; just want you guys to know where i'm coming from.

Anyways moving on to poker now, I got my start in poker when i was in my first year of college at like age 18 or 19 when i would get high, drink beers and me and my friends would play for like $20 buy in. i was always winning when i played these but its pretty much irrelevant except that it was my first experience with poker. fast forward to last year around this time, and i was watching ESPN when the WSOP ME final table was airing and of course i was bombarded by all the pokerstars/full tilt commercials which did their job...i ended up making a small deposit on full tilt. like most, i had no clue what BRM was and quickly lost my $50 deposit in a matter of hours playing 25NL or something. i kind of got a bad taste in my mouth and didnt play for a few months until i played another game before work with some coworkers where i ended up winning like $50 or something. so i decided to redeposit and once again i played way above my bankroll, although this time my deposit lasted a week or so. i quit playing for a while until i had quit my job late this summer and in my free time i was playing some play money poker....i decided to make another small deposit($30) but this time i was determined not to lose it.

i played at the penny tables(2NL) for a few months and managed to run my bankroll up to a couple hundred dollars but i had to cash some out for various expenses. I also would try and take shots here and there but without improving my game it usually ended up in a loss of large percentage of my 'roll. this cycle continued for the last couple months although i have made efforts to improve my game...unfortunately i battled tilt and some pretty bad variance which leads to more tilt so my bankroll has been on a rollercoaster ride. i grind it up at 2nl...move up to 5 or 10NL and then i'd take a few beats and start tilting. my lowpoint was when i managed to tilt hundreds of dollars off in a single day leaving my bankroll right around what it had started at; $30.

so fastforward to now......ive built it back up a bit but ran pretty horrible last week so i'm down again...was all the way to around $70 but i finally started holding in some 5PLO and had a nice run to get it back up over $100. i then went back to 5NL and decided to take this **** serious and i would play alot of tables and play disciplined and if necessary, simple ABC poker. anyways ive played well the last few days and won 8 buy ins at 5NL.

I play on pokerstars exclusively right now and this is what i have to work with:

Bankroll: $142.87 (As of 11/30)
VIP STATUS: Silverstar 2,458fpp & 37% of $50 reward

Goals
-Beat 5NL at a decent rate
-Build a $1k bankroll in a decent timeframe
-Achieve Goldstar or better next month

a few other things...

i play 6max only and usually multi table between 8-14 tables. i play much better when i have more tables open...i think i get into less marginal situations and i can find the fold button ALOT easier when i have five other tables blinking and beeping at me! i use the free HUD program called FPDB which u can find on here so i do have a HUD. i also like PLO so i will sometimes throw in an omaha session for fun....

i will be posting hands where i get raped or where i feel like i miss out on value....i feel like one of my biggest leaks is not getting enough value out of hands in certain situations.

thanks good luck to you too....if u make a thread don't hesitate to post the link in here...that way we can follow eachothers progress and help keep eachother focused and stuff.

just played a quick session running 14 tables @ 5NL....

had to stop because a couple of my favorite shows are coming on and i dont want to play without my full attention being dedicated to the tables....
anyways, i feel like i played really well....i ended the session up about 2buy ins and would have been up about 4 buy ins but TWICE i got it in against a fish as a huge favorite and they hit running cards which actually ended up making us split the pot....could have been worse but its annoying when it happened twice in a row.

anyways i will post a few hands in a sec after i find them....

CURRENT BANKROLL: $151.85 (As of 12/1)

ok guys just got through another short session.
first of all i was really considering avoiding 5NL tables during these morning hours, and instead playing a bunch of 2NL to continue padding my bankroll.....reason being is that at this time of the day i have noticed alot more regs and worse, an absolutely ridiculous number of russians/eastern europeans at nearly every table. i just do not feel comfortable playing at tables where two or more of my opponents often have the same obscure Russian town listed as their location.
i know i sound paranoid, but i've been the victim of collusion before(although i admit it was exclusively in micro STT sngs) and i have actually received refunds for a couple bucks in the past...however the only reason pokerstars did anything is because i bombarded them with e-mails and in these cases the ****ers had the audacity to be completely obvious about it.

i'm not going to go off into a rant about collusion on pokerstars, but it certainly exists and i'm thinking i'm going to try to put in most of my sessions at 5NL after 4pm EST unless i find good tables. i dont like wasting my time playing Russian teams and/or bots....

so anyways, the quick session went pretty good...i played a few less tables partially because of what i talked about above, but also to focus a bit more on specific parts of my game; particularly value betting thinner/better and postflop play when OOP.
i finished up another 2 buy ins and didnt feel like i made any big mistakes. i will post another hand or two for discussion/criticism in a bit....

BANKROLL: $161.16 (12/1)

UPDATE:

alright so ive continued to stick with playing alot of 5NL 6max tables; between 12-16....its really helped to play with this many tables as it seems to allow me to control my tilt and sharpen my fundamentals.
i should also add that it makes it seem like i am hitting tons of sets and lol who knows i might even be on a bit of heater!! although id have to looked at some stats or graphs though.

anyways i still havent played as many hands as i'd like to, but overall i'm up another 8 buy in.


BANKROLL: $202.68

i dont think i played this hand well....villain runs 28/20 over 270+ hands. oh and i have history with him through a big hand i think i overplayed jacks on on a 10 high board and he stacked me with kings.

Poker Stars $0.02/$0.05 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players
The Official 2+2 Hand Converter By DeucesCracked Poker Videos

CO: $9.29
BTN: $6.46
SB: $5.00
BB: $4.78
UTG: $6.02
Hero (MP): $5.71

Pre Flop: ($0.07) Hero is MP with K A
1 fold, Hero raises to $0.15, CO raises to $0.40, 3 folds, Hero calls $0.25

Flop: ($0.87) 8 2 A (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $0.40, Hero raises to $1.62, CO calls $1.22

Turn: ($4.11) 4 (2 players)
Hero bets $3.69 all in, CO calls $3.69

River: ($11.49) J (2 players - 1 is all in)



BANKROLL: $209.22

well reality has set in....i'm running like complete **** again. just a summary of hands ive lost lately:
-Pocket JJ flop comes AAJ then blank on turn i ship it he insta calls and turns over A J
-Turn nut flush raise guy all in for 400bb pot and he calls with bottom set and the river pairs board giving him a boat.
-AA all in preflop lost three times, twice to underpairs and once to KQs...
-Three times i run my flush into a larger flush all three times there were only 3 of the suit on the board so it wasnt me overplaying a counterfeited flush or something.
-pocket 88 board comes 8 10 10 and i get it all in on the turn the guy flips over 10 6 and the 6 hits on river
-plus alot more

not sure if this can be done if i continue to run like this, i just cant seem to shrug it off.

need some encouraging words or something lol heres an example of how ive been running:
Poker Stars $0.02/$0.05 No Limit Hold'em - 5 players
The Official 2+2 Hand Converter By DeucesCracked Poker Videos

BB: $10.69
UTG: $4.91
Hero (CO): $5.05
BTN: $2.97
SB: $5.52

Pre Flop: ($0.07) Hero is CO with 8 7
1 fold, Hero raises to $0.10, BTN calls $0.10, 1 fold, BB calls $0.05

Flop: ($0.32) 7 2 8 (3 players)
BB bets $0.24, Hero raises to $0.83, BTN folds, BB calls $0.59

Turn: ($1.98) A (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $1.62, BB raises to $5.20, Hero calls $2.50 all in

River: ($10.22) A (2 players - 1 is all in)

summary of my day need advice too
Poker Stars $0.02/$0.05 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players
The Official 2+2 Hand Converter By DeucesCracked Poker Videos

UTG: $3.29
Hero (MP): $4.64
CO: $6.60
BTN: $4.27
SB: $7.68
BB: $13.17

Pre Flop: ($0.07) Hero is MP with 2 2
UTG raises to $0.15, Hero calls $0.15, 3 folds, BB calls $0.10

Flop: ($0.47) K 2 6 (3 players)
BB checks, UTG checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($0.47) A (3 players)
BB checks, UTG bets $0.22, Hero raises to $0.94, BB folds, UTG calls $0.72

River: ($2.35) Q (2 players)
UTG bets $1.12, Hero calls $1.12

win some pots get up then boom:


Poker Stars $0.02/$0.05 No Limit Hold'em - 5 players
The Official 2+2 Hand Converter By DeucesCracked Poker Videos

SB: $2.95
Hero (BB): $10.69
UTG: $5.02
CO: $4.45
BTN: $6.20

Pre Flop: ($0.07) Hero is BB with 7 6
UTG raises to $0.15, CO calls $0.15, BTN calls $0.15, 1 fold, Hero calls $0.10

Flop: ($0.62) Q T 9 (4 players)
Hero bets $0.45, UTG folds, CO folds, BTN calls $0.45

Turn: ($1.52) 4 (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $0.35, Hero calls $0.35

River: ($2.22) 3 (2 players)
Hero bets $2.12, BTN raises to $5.25 all in, Hero calls $3.13

just ran KK into AA two more times and i never suck out

just another example of the types of hands i see...i know this isnt for alot of money but u get the idea....
Poker Stars $0.02/$0.05 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players
The Official 2+2 Hand Converter By DeucesCracked Poker Videos

Hero (CO): $5.78
BTN: $3.10
SB: $5.19
BB: $1.44
UTG: $0.68
MP: $5.36

Pre Flop: ($0.07) Hero is CO with 2 Q
UTG raises to $0.15, 1 fold, Hero calls $0.15, 3 folds

Flop: ($0.37) 7 2 Q (2 players)
UTG bets $0.15, Hero raises to $5.63 all in, UTG calls $0.38 all in

Turn: ($1.43) K (2 players - 2 are all in)

River: ($1.43) K (2 players - 2 are all in)

game is just unplayable for me...all the way down to $119.

i literally cannot win with a big hand postflop....i'm really just going to click autofold from now on with AA and KK if i do not win preflop. even when i do get it in preflop, i get sucked out on. i think i lost 8/10 times with AA when it went to flop. i just cant shake it off, i hit set they hit a set...i make huge overbets on the turn since i know i run bad and people still call my $3 bet into a $2 pot with a jack high flush and hit on the river. i literally cannot win. i ****ing hate my life

$109

another 2 buy ins gone to ******** rivers.

If you can't talk about the game without using obscenities, you probably shouldn't be playing. I understand that you have likely been running bad, but you should probably take a break, as you are probably not thinking clearly.

why do people get so angry playing poker. "**** my life" lol its a few bucks man relax

its frustration.
i literally ran DECENT(at or above EV) for 2 days and had almost doubled my bankroll. was feeling good about this and then boom it starts again. im just never on the good side of ****, i flop a flush and my opponent flops a str8 flush; been that way for months. its just pretty damn horrible when you realize that either the site is rigged or that poker is more luck than skill(even over long term). i consistently get my money in good or make the "right play" yet i never see these results that everyone promises will come.

well i guess if i ever want to complete this challenge i'm gonna need to stop playing on pokerstars.

just played some HU sngs to try and clear my mind and i ran like complete **** again, got two opponents down to 400 chips or less than they hit god mode and came back.
lost 5 races in a row so im down to $90.

how do you know your making right plays?
don't feel bad about abandoning the thread, 95% of micro goals don't get completed. you are not a failure.

i get my money in good.
or
i get a big PP, 3bet original raiser preflop he flats, flop comes percect x x x rainbow, i make standard raise get flatted, turn x stack size means i ship or fold. they always have it or manage to hit it. i get coolered at a ****ing scary rate, i mean KK vs AA if someone can tell me how to filter the stats in PT3 i promise i am running into aces wayyyy more than 1 in 221.

if you believe your making good plays and are running into coolers then just keep playing...

yea thats what everyone keeps telling me but i simply never see the results. i put in volume and for just 2 days i ran DECENT...not great JUST DECENT and i had doubled my bankroll(ie. i was actually hitting flushes sets and they were actually holding up).

all of a sudden i run 2nd nuts into the nuts every ****ing hand for 3 days straight. that or i get KK against some idiot with 40/12 stats and i get it in preflop they show up with aces or better yet they flop a set.

i have horrible EV graphs for nearly every situation.....

lol dude you've probably run bad over 5K hands, that's nothing

btw KK/AA happens more like 1/20, not 1/221, that's HU (and even then it happens a bit more often due to card removal)

just let it go man. i used to be like that. now i just cut down to 4 tables and not think about results. i just think of poker as an alternative to my gaming back in the day. something to just pass the time.

the sooner you get over the im running like crap i never win they always suck out on me attitude. the faster you can improve on your game.

Just my 2cents:

You seem to be a little negative, probably because of what you just explained. Look at poker in this way:
You probably know it is not just about luck since we take decisions and we see cards, hence we've got partial information. Hence there is at least some skill. Every time you lose, tell yourself you might have done something bad and realize that if you find it out you are going to improve. In other words, see losing money as an investment in your future skills. You will feel depressed if you believe you are playing well and then lose. So do the opposite.

lol come on man i'm not a complete idiot

as far as the other advice, thanks. i understand not being results oriented but for how long can i sustain this? if i literally never get results, what is my motivation? i guess its time to accept that like everything in my life, ive managed to fail.

everytime. every river. same ******** every day on this site.
Poker Stars $0.02/$0.05 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players
The Official 2+2 Hand Converter By DeucesCracked Poker Videos

CO: $5.00
Hero (BTN): $5.25
SB: $6.35
BB: $3.82
UTG: $5.00
MP: $4.50

Pre Flop: ($0.07) Hero is BTN with 9 T
3 folds, Hero raises to $0.12, SB calls $0.10, BB calls $0.07

Flop: ($0.36) 9 A 9 (3 players)
SB checks, BB checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($0.36) 6 (3 players)
SB checks, BB checks, Hero bets $0.15, SB calls $0.15, BB folds

River: ($0.66) J (2 players)
SB bets $0.35, Hero raises to $1.18, SB raises to $6.08 all in, Hero calls $3.80 all in



i know i should bet more on turn but its not hte point...the point is how these people hit with such accuracy.

of course every body will come in here and tell me how i played this bad.

while typing:

SIGH


Poker Stars $0.02/$0.05 No Limit Hold'em - 5 players
The Official 2+2 Hand Converter By DeucesCracked Poker Videos

UTG: $6.96
CO: $5.26
BTN: $6.72
Hero (SB): $5.46
BB: $7.12

Pre Flop: ($0.07) Hero is SB with A K
3 folds, Hero raises to $0.15, BB calls $0.10

Flop: ($0.30) K 8 9 (2 players)
Hero bets $0.15, BB raises to $0.42, Hero raises to $1.55, BB raises to $6.97 all in, Hero calls $3.76 all in

Turn: ($10.92) J (2 players - 2 are all in)

River: ($10.92) 7 (2 players - 2 are all in)