So I've played poker a few times with friends before and I've played online a few times before but nothing serious or expecting to win as I didn't really know the game that well nor did I take any time to study.

I have taken an interest in poker again and hope to actually improve my game this time and perhaps beat some games at microstakes on Pokerstars, I'm going to keeping this thread to help my motivation and keep me on track.

I've put in a few hours of study and played a couple of hours of free money games but now I've made my first deposit of $40 so I have 20 buyin's for 100bb's at 0.01/0.02 6max Zoom and I've got a HEM2 from a friend so I'm ready to begin.

I will be playing 2 tables of 2NL 6max zoom for 30 minute sessions for the first 10k hands before adding 10 minutes to each session every 10k hands if I'm making money still until I can profitably play 2 hour sessions then using a similar rule I will add tables until play four zoom tables.

My goals:

Play roughly 1000-1500 hands a day.

Study poker for at least an hour a day.

Move up to 5NL within 25k hands (25 buy-ins $125).




Results for Day 1:

Day 2:

So far so good...I guess.

Similar story to yesterday made some pretty bad calls when I was behind also I seem to have tendency to make those crying calls way too often. Another problem I seem to be having is losing too much on bluffs, I think I might only make flop c-bets (unless exceptional circumstances) from now on until I get better understanding of the game.

Biggest loss hand, where did I go wrong?

Poker Stars, $0.01/$0.02 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 6 Players
Poker Tools Powered By Holdem Manager - The Ultimate Poker Software Suite.

BTN: $3.89 (194.5 bb)
SB: $3.09 (154.5 bb)
Hero (BB): $2.87 (143.5 bb)
UTG: $2.21 (110.5 bb) (Unknown)
MP: $1.04 (52 bb)
CO: $6.86 (343 bb)

Preflop: Hero is BB with Kd Qc
UTG calls $0.02, 4 folds, Hero raises to $0.10, UTG calls $0.08

Flop: ($0.21) Qh Kh 7c (2 players)
Hero bets $0.16, UTG calls $0.16

Turn: ($0.53) Jc (2 players)
Hero bets $0.40, UTG raises to $1.20, Hero raises to $2.61 and is all-in, UTG calls $0.75 and is all-in

River: ($4.43) 4h (2 players, 2 are all-in)



Results Day 2(includes previous days hands):

Great start GL! Try not to bluff at this micros you just going to called down too much.
The KQ hand turn raises by fish seem to be nuts by weaker player a lot of the time so I think he has a set or straight there.

Yeah I made that mistake of assuming he wouldn't call flop with gutshot however the more I review the hand the more I see I should of folded since a few other options out there have me beat and not that many hands I'm beating would call.

Yeah I agree.

Day 3:

Managed to put it some more volume today and it seems to have paid off...Looks like I'm running pretty hot so far.

Avoided making the costly mistakes of yesterday in terms of making big bluffs and also did a much better job of keeping pot size related to hand strength. Still feel like I'm making too many crying calls... Just can't help my self.

Can't think of any real problem hands right now.

On a study related note I just finished reading Harrington's book on 6-Max online cash games... Anyone have some suggestions for what to read next?

Day 3 Results(including previous hands):

So I found two hands I have some questions on.

Hand 1: Did I make the right call on the turn? I think I had I was 1:4 to win and he was giving me roughly 5:1. Then 0.02 into that pot well I just had to.

Poker Stars, $0.01/$0.02 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 6 Players
Poker Tools Powered By Holdem Manager - The Ultimate Poker Software Suite.

Hero (BTN): $1.97 (98.5 bb)
SB: $2.88 (144 bb)
BB: $4.26 (213 bb)
UTG: $3.10 (155 bb)
MP: $2.19 (109.5 bb)
CO: $2.66 (133 bb) Unkown

Preflop: Hero is BTN with Th Td
UTG folds, MP raises to $0.06, CO raises to $0.10, Hero calls $0.10, SB folds, BB calls $0.08, MP calls $0.04

Flop: ($0.41) Tc 8c Jc (4 players)
BB folds, MP checks, CO bets $0.06, Hero raises to $0.42, MP folds, CO calls $0.36

Turn: ($1.25) Kc (2 players)
CO bets $0.30, Hero calls $0.30

River: ($1.85) 9h (2 players)
CO bets $0.02, Hero calls $0.02



Hand 2: Not sure if the fold was right, It felt to me that I was beat. What is the standard line here?

Poker Stars, $0.01/$0.02 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 6 Players
Poker Tools Powered By Holdem Manager - The Ultimate Poker Software Suite.

Hero (BTN): $4.83 (241.5 bb)
SB: $0.84 (42 bb)
BB: $1.78 (89 bb)
UTG: $2.02 (101 bb)
MP: $3.17 (158.5 bb)
CO: $2.70 (135 bb)

Preflop: Hero is BTN with Jh Ac
UTG raises to $0.05, 2 folds, Hero calls $0.05, SB folds, BB calls $0.03

Flop: ($0.16) Js 8c 3c (3 players)
BB checks, UTG bets $0.08, Hero raises to $0.20, BB folds, UTG calls $0.12

Turn: ($0.56) 2s (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $0.38, UTG raises to $1.77 and is all-in, Hero folds

Hand 1. Played fine but wouldn't call the turn too often unless read.

Hand 2. I would just call the flop he isn't calling a raise with worse as played fold the turn raise.

So I'm nearing my first 10k milestone getting ready to decide if I should play for 10 minutes longer each session.

Here are my results so far:



As you can see since I last I posted I lost a large amount which I will admit was not a downswing but I was playing like ****, made some very bad calls and then I learned what it means to be playing on tilt and donked off a good chunk of my hard work. Now that I've had that experience I will be doing my up most to avoid it happening again.

After taking a day break from playing (I did some study), I was ready to play proper poker again. I felt confident again and felt in the zone making the correct calls and folding when I was behind.

All in all the first 10k hands have been a bit of roller coaster ride but I've learned a lot and look forward to the next 10k.

A bit of good news is I am about to clear a bonus in the next few sessions.

Goal: $125 Current Total: $70.79 bb/100: 16.05