I am doing this for my own benefit so i can plot my journey from 2NL onwards. I have been playing poker for a living live and online for the last few years and have been doing well. I am doing this as a challenge to myself and a challenge between me and my friend to see if even if this tough climate that we can still move up in stakes.

I am going to use a very aggro bankroll strategy, i dont plan to re depo but if i go bust i will do.

I am going to use the same sort of BR strat as baalshin used for his challenge which is going to look like a 10bi limit. Will be 4 tabling 2NL at first but when i move up to higher limits, i will move down to 2 tabling.

Starting BR = $30

If i get to $50. I will take a two table shot at 5NL.


Will post a few hands in here with my analysis here.

I have tried doing this in the past but have moved onto other things but i am looking to taking this serious.

Thanks

Day 1

Session 1- Up $14.75 after 2191 hands

Session 1's Graph

Poker Stars $0.01/$0.02 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

BTN: $2.00
SB: $9.45
BB: $3.46
Hero (UTG): $2.73
MP: $2.17
CO: $0.85

Pre Flop: ($0.03) Hero is UTG with K K
Hero raises to $0.05, MP calls $0.05, 4 folds

Flop: ($0.13) 6 2 J (2 players)
Hero bets $0.08, MP raises to $0.26, Hero calls $0.18

Turn: ($0.65) 3 (2 players)
Hero checks, MP checks

River: ($0.65) 2 (2 players)
Hero bets $0.47, MP raises to $1.86 all in, Hero calls $1.39

this was a really interesting hand, i felt like i should just c/c river and i made the decision to b/f river but then i levelled myself into calling thinking villain would jam a hand such as AJ for value on river as played.

villain's stats over 15 hands sample are 100/12 with af of 10 so i really felt they could all be spewing off here.

I feel the rest of the hand is pretty standard. Any thoughts?

Poker Stars $0.01/$0.02 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

BTN: $1.75
SB: $2.45
BB: $2.59
Hero (UTG): $2.35
MP: $0.86
CO: $0.92

Pre Flop: ($0.03) Hero is UTG with A A
Hero raises to $0.05, 2 folds, BTN calls $0.05, 2 folds

Flop: ($0.13) Q J T (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $0.06, Hero calls $0.06

Turn: ($0.25) 5 (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $0.14, Hero calls $0.14

River: ($0.53) T (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $0.40, Hero folds

another interesting hand, i feel like i should be raising flop here sometimes. i wasnt really sure whether to play a more pot controlly approach or to go hell for leather. As i had no info on villain i felt like this was the best play. Maybe folding river is bad but i do not really know any hands that we beat which are betting this size for value on river.

Maybe a hand such as KQ? but i feel this is a hand that is going to bet a smaller size but i just feel that on this board and there calling range preflop, they just have alot of Tx / straights and flushs that are comfortable to vb.

Poker Stars $0.01/$0.02 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

BTN: $2.60
SB: $2.00
BB: $2.35
UTG: $2.03
MP: $2.00
Hero (CO): $2.02

Pre Flop: ($0.03) Hero is CO with 7 8
2 folds, Hero raises to $0.05, BTN raises to $0.14, 1 fold, BB calls $0.12, Hero calls $0.09

Flop: ($0.43) 6 5 3 (3 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $0.27, BTN calls $0.27, BB folds

Turn: ($0.97) 9 (2 players)
Hero bets $0.52, BTN calls $0.52

River: ($2.01) 9 (2 players)
Hero bets $1.09 all in, BTN calls $1.09


Villain seems like a reg playing 20/16 but with a 3bet percentage on 27.3 over 40 hands.

I am not happy with the way i played this hand...

First of all , i dont normally have a leading range and im not sure what me leading accomplishes. I feel like i just looked at the screen and saw that i was ip and automatically thought that i opened and got two callers.

Next thing, after i bet flop,turn. I think my river jam is too thin as i dont really know what i plan to get value from.

In my head i thought he had a hand such as TT/JJ but we gotta think, would they call on river? I have shown quite alot of strength and they turn into a bluff catcher on this runout.

somehow, he called with worst and had 98. so i am really confused here and maybe need to potentially, c/r flop, jam turn. Seems like a much better line to me long term imo.

Notes to self:

I need to ensure i have complete focus on the games and i am aware of position.

I have called off a few spots where i was like, i am not beating enough of his range but i am going to call anyway.

I am going to do use a much better brm as first thought. Will be moving up at around $75.

I feel this is more comfortable.

BR = $44.75.

Will do another session in around hour.

in :}

Graph at the end of day 1

BR after day 1 = $40.25

going to post a few hands here to see what went wrong at the end, maybe i got tired, maybe i got unlucky.

I lost a really big pot with set over set v over pair where i got 3outed for a $6 pot but it isnt the reason why this session didnt go great.

Here is session 2's graph

thanks bro and very good luck with ur challenge

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/17.../#post51585934

GL on your journey, last year i played a 'few' hands on NL2-6max and from an 'epic' 9BB/100 in first 10K hands i go down to 2BB/100 in about 30K hands.

ty man, really appreciated.

Notes to self:

understand when your not playing your best and have a break
stay focused as much as you can, understand that noone can play their A game always but try and get a solid b and c game instead of a f game.

i have looked over my hands and i am so upset with myself i dont want to post them here as some are bad so i am wanting to focus more on positives a move forward.

New day

Bankroll starts @ $40.25

gl me

glgl wish I could play. Playing differently than I theoretically know I you should's always a problem for me - but I think I've reduced it by playing a lot (i.e. practice) and also playing fewer tables. I always start with 2 tables and only add more if I'm 'in the zone'.

ahhh same practice is key and i think that is a good way to go very good idea

Day 2 Session 1



feeling much better this session, learnt alot more about my game. I stopped because i felt drained, was a long 3 hour session.

profit = $21.91 after 2860 hands

Going to have a couple hour break then going to do another session.

I have decided to do 3 hand reviews at the end of each day rather than after each session.

I think this is much more productive as i go through a decent amount of my hands at the end of the day anyway.

#feeling positive

BR = $62.16

Day 2 Session 2



played pretty well, 2.5k hands seems like my limit per session before i get tired.

finishing up $23.37 after 2335 hands

really happy with how this has gone.

Total 2NL Graph At the moment



currently over 10878 hands - $55.53 (25.52 bb/100)

$45.28 up for the day


Current BR = $85.23

After all i have said, i will consider whether i will take a shot at 5NL tomorrow or i choose to grind 2NL for another day as i want to get this consistency going.

Will post 2/3 hands later as am very tired and need to grab some food.

insane results lol, gl moving up

thanks man

Hand 1

Poker Stars $0.01/$0.02 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

BTN: $2.31
SB: $3.56
BB: $2.00
UTG: $2.37
MP: $2.03
Hero (CO): $2.97

Pre Flop: ($0.03) Hero is CO with 8 8
2 folds, Hero raises to $0.05, BTN calls $0.05, SB raises to $0.10, 1 fold, Hero calls $0.05, BTN calls $0.05

Flop: ($0.32) 3 5 4 (3 players)
SB bets $0.31, Hero calls $0.31, BTN folds

Turn: ($0.94) J (2 players)
SB bets $0.46, Hero calls $0.46

River: ($1.86) 6 (2 players)
SB bets $2.69 all in, Hero calls $2.10 all in


Very interesting hand, i had no info on villain (sb) except for that he was 1 tabling.
button is playing 57/0 over 15 hand sample so cant really look into this

Obviously standard open from the co and i like our just call, if we choose to 4bet in this spot, i dont think it really accomplishes much. I defo think we are ahead of both of their ranges, but i dont mind keeping ranges wide as we have their range crushed.

When villain bets out pot on the flop, i really had to think, i didnt think they would click back A2/76 preflop unless they were suited but i think its really hard. I was expecting them to have a hand like XXhh/ 22/33/44/55/66 so because i feel we are overfolding if we fold this and this hand is definitely ahead a decent amount of the time. i like a call, i dont really think a raise accomplishes much except maybe we get it in flipping or dominating at best or we fold out a worst hand.

The turn is where this hand gets interesting,

when the villain chooses to bet a smaller size of half pot, i was so happy, i was very sure he was drawing. Yes i could be losing to a hand like AJ/KJ/QJ/JThh but i feel much more confident he was trying to see a turn for cheap.

I think we make an easy call and lets move onto the river.

This is where things get interesting where they overbet jams otr and i had to think, what 7x/2x combos do they have?

A7hh/A2hh/ but i am not sure they click this back preflop and 78hh we block and 67hh ( i think they would play this differently).

so i went with the call and they showed us A4hh for a pair of fours and missed flush draw.

The really sad thing is that i think i call in this spot with 22 so that would of been a pretty sad moment for me.

i dont normally do hand analyse like this but i felt like it was a really important hand for me to go through.

Poker Stars $0.01/$0.02 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

Hero (BTN): $3.14
SB: $3.25
BB: $2.06
UTG: $0.16
MP: $2.38
CO: $2.03

Pre Flop: ($0.03) Hero is BTN with A 8
2 folds, CO raises to $0.05, Hero calls $0.05, 2 folds

Flop: ($0.13) 8 J 5 (2 players)
CO bets $0.10, Hero calls $0.10

Turn: ($0.33) 8 (2 players)
CO bets $0.24, Hero calls $0.24

River: ($0.81) 2 (2 players)
CO bets $0.61, Hero raises to $2.75 all in, CO calls $1.03 all in

ok so this hand starts really standard,(no info on villain) with a call on the button with A8dd against a co open, i think like 3betting in this spot is ok, but i just feel Axs plays much better in multiway pots than hu 3bet pots and its a nasty spot to get 4 bet in.

anyway its hu to the flop they choose to bet a big size, i like flatting here as i dont really understand what raising accomplishes, we just get it in here against sets/two pairs and potentially dominated combo flush draws but thats it.

on the turn they are continuing to bet a big size which scares me a bit, we have more 8x in our range, we would expect them to bet checking overpairs ott imo or at least betting turn and checking river.

so as i think again raising accomplishes nothing and we have a hand really high up in our range, dont think we would ever consider folding, we have such a really strong hand.

river they choose to size down and bet 0.61 into 0.81 so i felt like they had a flush like T9dd/QTdd which they chose to kept on barrelling, we block 8x so its really hard for them to have a boat. they can have j8/55/jj so we chose to go for the jam.

Maybe this is thin without the 8 but i think with it, its fine even though thinking about it now, it doesnt really change much.

If i dont have the 8 of diamonds. They can have hands such as 68/78/89/t8dd which they picked up trips on the turn which would make alot of sense in this hand and now they dont have those hands.

anyway we jam and get snapped by J8cc. rip us

Poker Stars $0.01/$0.02 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

Hero (BTN): $2.75
SB: $5.23
BB: $0.34
UTG: $2.16
MP: $2.07
CO: $2.92

Pre Flop: ($0.03) Hero is BTN with Q A
UTG calls $0.02, 2 folds, Hero raises to $0.09, 2 folds, UTG calls $0.07

Flop: ($0.21) 6 J 9 (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($0.21) K (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero checks

River: ($0.21) T (2 players)
UTG bets $0.52, Hero raises to $2.66 all in, UTG calls $1.55 all in

this has gotta be my favourite hand of the day and this is showing you that 2nl can be beat.

this is more of a hand to show you than to analyze.

But lets ship to the river play where this gets interesting.

so our villain (no info) has 78o here and goes for the 2.6x pot overbet on the river even though qx on its own beats them and i swear snapped the jam off so quick.

All i can say is thanks for the $2. #pokerisnotdead