Hey there

I have started playing cash in mid June last year from NL5 and put in decent volume all the way to NL10 only to get crushed at NL25 both times I tried. this destroyed my mindset and i started switching back and forth between MTTs and cash, thus failing to improve my game but breaking even in both more or less for 2 months before i ended up busting my roll the on the day of the huge Sunday Million. (I did run bad that day but that's obv not the point)

Luckily i managed to use some of my winnings to subscribe to a couple training sites so i spent the time since then watching a trillion videos and gradually going through my database analyzing my leaks.

I think i have improved a lot during that time so once again I am starting a challenge but this time I will not set myself many goals of monetary or volume nature. I will try to put in decent volume throughout the yar on no more than 6 tables focussing on things like reads and gameflow and this time i will be applying a bit more of an aggressive BR-management, starting with $200 at NL5. (however i will have plenty of time until mid-April so i think until then volume should be good)

i ll post the most interesting hands of my sessions too so lets hope this time something good will happen starting now


NL5 2011:



NL10 2011:



NL25 2011 hahaha:





and some threadsavers:








lets gogogoooooooooooo!!!

Update#1

hands played: 748
profit: $12

played my first session and it went fairly smoothly. found some soft tables and some good spots. pretty much all standard hands.

bankroll: $212

Update#1

hands played: 2041
profit: -$22

noteto self: average NL5 villain is not a good thinking player. they dont fold--> no need to bluff. was thinking way too far in a lot of pots so from now on i ll play a tighter game until i move up.



bankroll: $189

gl nice redline for micros :P

really really hate myself for my play here. UTG is ultraspewtard UTG+1 is the only other somewhat competent player. the lead of UTG+1 is aaaaaalways monsters cuz he d checkshove his fd's and c/c his one pair type hands (of which there are only a few given the action) i should take more breaks- my play postflop just sucks baaaaallllllsss

Grabbed by Holdem Manager
NL Holdem $0.05(BB) Replayer
SB ($5.98)
BB ($5)
UTG ($2)
UTG+1 ($5.26)
Hero ($14.20)
BTN ($4.34)

Dealt to Hero A K

UTG calls $0.05, UTG+1 raises to $0.15, Hero raises to $0.50, fold, fold, fold, UTG calls $0.45, UTG+1 calls $0.35

FLOP ($1.57) T J K

UTG checks, UTG+1 bets $1.05, Hero calls $1.05, UTG raises to $1.50 (AI), UTG+1 calls $0.45, Hero calls $0.45

TURN ($6.07) T J K 2

UTG+1 bets $3.26 (AI), Hero calls $3.26

RIVER ($12.59) T J K 2 4

UTG shows T K
(Pre 21%, Flop 13.5%, Turn 7.1%)

UTG+1 shows A Q
(Pre 24%, Flop 75.0%, Turn 89.3%)

Hero shows A K
(Pre 55%, Flop 11.5%, Turn 3.6%)

UTG+1 wins $11.98

the interesting part is the turn play. my thinking was purely about implied odds. i think he is very strong so i m getting his entire stack otr when i hit. so i m getting more than 5:1 odds on the turn.

Grabbed by Holdem Manager
NL Holdem $0.05(BB) Replayer
SB ($4.43)
BB ($5.55)
UTG ($5.06)
UTG+1 ($2.62)
CO ($2.01)
Hero ($9.14)

Dealt to Hero 8 J

fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to $0.15, fold, BB calls $0.10

FLOP ($0.32) 2 T 9

BB checks, Hero bets $0.25, BB raises to $0.65, Hero calls $0.40

TURN ($1.62) 2 T 9 4

BB bets $1.17, Hero calls $1.17

RIVER ($3.96) 2 T 9 4 7

BB bets $3.58 (AI), Hero calls $3.58

Hero shows 8 J
(Pre 40%, Flop 49.1%, Turn 25.0%)

BB shows A 5
(Pre 60%, Flop 50.9%, Turn 75.0%)

Hero wins $10.58

this is a very tricky spot and i think against his range i misplayed rather the turn than the flop and then just spewed the river which is an obvious fold. against many fish a raise-get it in on the flop would be fine- however this was a nit. so calling on the flop especially with the backdoor nut draw is fine. turn is one of the best in the whole deck and i decided to slowplay which is just bad. his draws are committed, there are many action killing crds agains his two pairs and now i have outs agains his sets as well. so raise turn or fold river as there is simply not a single hand that i beat on the river

Grabbed by Holdem Manager
NL Holdem $0.05(BB) Replayer
SB ($5)
BB ($8.55)
Hero ($5.92)
CO ($5)
BTN ($0.77)

Dealt to Hero T A

Hero raises to $0.20, fold, fold, SB calls $0.18, fold

FLOP ($0.45) T 4 8

SB checks, Hero bets $0.30, SB raises to $0.80, Hero calls $0.50

TURN ($2.05) T 4 8 A

SB bets $1.40, Hero calls $1.40

RIVER ($4.85) T 4 8 A Q

SB bets $2.60 (AI), Hero calls $2.60

SB shows 8 8
(Pre 55%, Flop 94.7%, Turn 90.9%)

Hero shows T A
(Pre 45%, Flop 5.3%, Turn 9.1%)

SB wins $9.56

i think my sizing should be bigger on the flop as i give fd's actualy the right odds to draw. i dont even mind a shove. turn is just standard

Grabbed by Holdem Manager
NL Holdem $0.05(BB) Replayer
SB ($0.67)
BB ($5)
UTG ($5.07)
Hero ($9.87)
CO ($0.32)
BTN ($7.02)

Dealt to Hero 8 8

UTG calls $0.05, Hero raises to $0.20, fold, BTN raises to $0.75, fold, fold, fold, Hero calls $0.55

FLOP ($1.62) Q K 8

Hero checks, BTN bets $1.15, Hero raises to $2.85, BTN calls $1.70

TURN ($7.32) Q K 8 T

Hero bets $6.27 (AI), BTN calls $3.42 (AI)

RIVER ($14.16) Q K 8 T A

Hero shows 8 8
(Pre 55%, Flop 87.2%, Turn 43.2%)

BTN shows J A
(Pre 45%, Flop 12.8%, Turn 56.8%)

BTN wins $13.47

villain is 24/18 reg

i think the only way to play this is to slowplay. if he has a bluff there is no way he continues when i raise turn, if he happens to have jj or 22 its going in anyway and this way i dont scare the aces that remain in his range. weird spot for him to bluff this big tho
actually i m not sure what would be the best play if he bet river again.. calling or raising- hed fold his bluffs and call with AJ 22 JJ and Ax. i have approx 46% against his estimated callingrange so i thinka call would be best

Grabbed by Holdem Manager
NL Holdem $0.05(BB) Replayer
SB ($5.01)
BB ($3.02)
UTG ($14.14)
UTG+1 ($5)
CO ($10.59)
Hero ($8.26)

Dealt to Hero A K

UTG raises to $0.14, fold, fold, Hero raises to $0.45, fold, fold, UTG calls $0.31

FLOP ($0.97) J A 2

UTG bets $0.69, Hero calls $0.69

TURN ($2.35) J A 2 A

UTG bets $1.14, Hero calls $1.14

RIVER ($4.63) J A 2 A 4

UTG checks, Hero bets $5.98 (AI), UTG folds

Hero shows A K

Hero wins $4.41

last hand:
most interesting hand imo:

initial raiser was new at the table hat somewhat reggish stats. 3bet just to create a dynamic that i can exploit later. caller seems to be a nl2 fish that just luckboxed a couple bucks and wants to gambool. range is wide to saythe least.
i think the only way i give myself some fold equity is to overbetshove. if he ends up folding half hispairs, his ace highs and better draws this is very profitable. a smaller bet is getting called 90% of the time imo

Grabbed by Holdem Manager
NL Holdem $0.05(BB) Replayer
SB ($12.26)
BB ($6)
UTG ($13.18)
UTG+1 ($5)
CO ($5)
Hero ($10.53)

Dealt to Hero 7 5

fold, UTG+1 raises to $0.18, fold, Hero raises to $0.60, fold, BB calls $0.55, fold

FLOP ($1.40) 4 6 6

BB bets $0.05, Hero raises to $0.70, BB calls $0.65

TURN ($2.80) 4 6 6 J

BB bets $0.30, Hero raises to $9.23 (AI), BB folds

Hero shows 7 5

Hero wins $3.24

update#3

hands played:: 3574
profit: $31

ran insanely bad today its sick. spent the majority of the day rostucko-ing from the bad starti had where i just kept getting crushed. nice heater in the end but still

switched to playing a larger amount of tables as i adjusted my playing style slightly to my opponents that all have one thing in common: they do not fold. gonna stick to abc style poker for now and get a lot of hands in. hofe to hit $400 soon to move up to NL10

graph today:



bankroll: $220

interesting spot- at the time i had 55 hands on villain and every single time he had been faced with a cbet he had raised. i thought this was a perfect spot to go for Phil Galfond's 'root beer'. also, i have many of his draws in pretty bad shape and likely a bunch of outs should he happen to have a hand

Grabbed by Holdem Manager
NL Holdem $0.05(BB) Replayer
Hero ($5.02)
BB ($2)
UTG ($6.61)
UTG+1 ($5)
CO ($4.97)
BTN ($5.43)

Dealt to Hero A K

fold, fold, CO raises to $0.15, fold, Hero raises to $0.50, fold, CO calls $0.35

FLOP ($1.05) Q 4 T

Hero bets $0.45, CO raises to $0.90, Hero raises to $4.52 (AI), CO folds

Hero shows A K

Hero wins $2.71

villain is a typical calling station monkey which means his bet means strength and rarely/never a draw.

call on turn is maybe kinda spewy but i figured villain is on a top pair or much rather on a two pair kind of hand that he would neccesarily call a medium sized bet on the river with so including my iplied odds i think the call can be made. if i made my straight with one of the nonflush cards i think he would pay off a shove as well making a call->bet/shove line profitable imo

Grabbed by Holdem Manager
NL Holdem $0.05(BB) Replayer
Hero ($10.91)
BB ($11.51)
UTG ($11.14)
UTG+1 ($2.14)
CO ($8.06)
BTN ($4.93)

Dealt to Hero J T

UTG calls $0.05, fold, fold, fold, Hero calls $0.03, BB raises to $0.20, UTG calls $0.15, Hero calls $0.15

FLOP ($0.60) 8 9 A

Hero checks, BB bets $0.25, UTG raises to $1.50, Hero calls $1.50, BB calls $1.25

TURN ($5.10) 8 9 A 4

Hero checks, BB checks, UTG bets $1.40, Hero calls $1.40, BB folds

RIVER ($7.90) 8 9 A 4 7

Hero bets $3.30, UTG calls $3.30

Hero shows J T
(Pre 66%, Flop 34.9%, Turn 18.2%)

UTG shows 9 8
(Pre 34%, Flop 65.1%, Turn 81.8%)

Hero wins $13.80

haha thx turns out i ve been focussing too much on bluffing which is why my session yesterday turned out the way it did.
theres some truth to the saying 'never bluff a calling station' haha gotta learn the hard way

Update#4

played two sessions today and...

sick sick heaattttt!
not much more to say....

voila:




hands played: 5791
profit: $62
bankroll: $282

y this redline no down??? haha nice job
Similar goals to mine will be fallowing
GL!

haha i just never fold

i m about to make a prop bet with a friend of mine who doesnt think i can put in 175k hands in a month. 800 bucks if i do lets gogogogogooooooooo

boo he pussied out

gotta do it the old fashioned way

gl with your challenge pal

thx bro, gl with urs too!

lets cru$$h

Update#5

very nice session. playd cuz i messed up my sleeping schedule-started at 4am lol
surprisingly the tables were even fuller (is that even a word?) of fish than usual. probably luck of the random table draw. (i dont really table select at nl5 cuz pretty much every table is full of random droolers)
a lot of interesting hands happened against regs, gonna post em later
also made $10 from the stellar rewards

hand: 3435
profit: $37



br: $320

month so far:



pretty happy with both volume and results. NL10 @ $400 vamoooooos

bleh, i actually felt very smart when i got called there, then saw his pair of 6's lol.
perfect example of iducing a float and raise just happened to have a pair as well here

Grabbed by Holdem Manager
NL Holdem $0.05(BB) Replayer
Hero ($5.71)
BB ($4.74)
UTG ($9.45)
CO ($3.69)
BTN ($5.27)

Dealt to Hero T A

fold, fold, BTN raises to $0.15, Hero raises to $0.50, fold, BTN calls $0.35

FLOP ($1.05) 6 7 Q

Hero bets $0.40, BTN calls $0.40

TURN ($1.85) 6 7 Q 8

Hero bets $0.55, BTN raises to $1.45, Hero raises to $4.81 (AI), BTN calls $2.92 (AI)

RIVER ($10.59) 6 7 Q 8 7

Hero shows T A
(Pre 62%, Flop 55.3%, Turn 40.9%)

BTN shows 5 6
(Pre 38%, Flop 44.7%, Turn 59.1%)

BTN wins $10.07

was gonna go for a checkraise-fold on the river but his overbet cancelled that plan, he will do that with flushes often enough but since the board is paired he will fold all of those and shove the boats so i called. cooler meh

Grabbed by Holdem Manager
NL Holdem $0.05(BB) Replayer
Hero ($12.08)
BB ($5.45)
BTN ($12.72)

Dealt to Hero A 8

BTN raises to $0.15, Hero calls $0.13, fold

FLOP ($0.35) K T T

Hero checks, BTN checks

TURN ($0.35) K T T 4

Hero bets $0.25, BTN raises to $0.70, Hero calls $0.45

RIVER ($1.75) K T T 4 2

Hero checks, BTN bets $2.50, Hero calls $2.50

BTN shows 4 4
(Pre 52%, Flop 40.9%, Turn 100.0%)

Hero shows A 8
(Pre 48%, Flop 59.1%, Turn 0.0%)

BTN wins $6.42