Hi!
i will try to keep this short lol

i'm a 24 years old college student in Actuary, love poker a lot (started when i was like 16 with couple of friends). I never played much online, more live, learned by myself, i knew poker was a strategy game but never knew there was much into it except being better than the other. I started going to the casino at 18 here in Montreal, was stressed a lot at first, fast enough i developed a style to win at that place, spending the money at the restaurants, clothes, never saw that easy money at the time as that important, was too stupid. At the same time, i developed a tendency to play my winnings from poker at the blackjack tables to increase my winnings and i told myself if i lost it, i never had it before getting there, which was a bad habit. I then started to play online at full tilt, was really agressive without knowing a thing about position, size bets, etc (i was pretty much agressive like isildur or tom dwan but i knew nothing about them ) and it really worked at the time. Right after, black friday, so i stopped poker in general focused on my studies, my music producing hobbies, friends and sometimes poker at casino.

Fast forward to last year, i wanted to start playing online poker unstead of working a student job for 10$ an hour, while i still live at my parents (so no financial pressure for me). Game changed drastically, i learned a lot during the past years about position, c-betting, everything about poker really. I used to be a reg at 2-5$ live game and was crushing it so when i came online and realized that online poker had more hands per hour, you can't see your opponent, i often deposited 40$ and turned it into 100-150$ just to quickly lose it due to tilt in higher limits or blackjack online tables. I'm confident in my poker skills, i readed Gordon' book 6 max no b**** and followed hansthegreat challenge , some stuff in the book i didn't agree with that i found to be too agressive for micros when it's filled with maniacs sometimes. I also readed Blackrain micros book which i also found pretty basic, but still opened my eyes into one common thing: at micros, keep it simple.

I decided to deposit today 150$ and start directly from 5 nl, grind it up and my main focus is to control tilt and patience. I also never realized in the course of the last year that there was a thing called hud, that gives you stats, so i just got it today also to help me with this challenge, i will learn to use it at the same time (i got poker tracker 4 for mac).
I used to play at 888, but their rake was ridiculous. So i saw hansthegreat was doing fine with a rakeback program, so i decided to look into that too, and i signed in with American card room. The 27% rakeback will count in my challenge and i have 43$ bonus with them from my first deposit that will also count.

I will use for NOW a rule of 25 buy in before going up the stakes, and go back down if i lose 5 buy in.

This threat and challenge is really more for me to keep track of everything and help me control my tilt, and also if some people have some tips along the way or just simply want to join their opinion, they're free to do

GL to me and to all of you at the tables!

This is my bankroll now, from which i will start this challenge. I will be playing 6 max.




Couple of hands i played for practice at 2 nl these past 2 weeks pt4 just opened them while i downloaded the software for the first time, i will try to understand what everything means.




This is some stats that i will also try to understand from these previous 2 weeks.




Here is my remaining bonus that i will be clearing along free cards for jackpot poker because i'm a new player there since 2 weeks that i will clear everyday that i login.







Thank you ACR (lol :P) If you have any tips, i'll gladly take them.

So i had a little session to test the hud and get the feels of it, also to get used to 5 nl and the player pool a bit. No weird hand, except this one that i got uncomfortable, i didn't know the range of my opponent and that board didn't help much.

Winning Poker Network (Yatahay) - $0.05 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

UTG: 197.2 BB (VPIP: 19.72, PFR: 18.35, 3Bet Preflop: 13.04, Hands: 226)
MP: 117.8 BB (VPIP: 26.51, PFR: 18.07, 3Bet Preflop: 8.00, Hands: 85)
Hero (CO): 236.2 BB
BTN: 180.2 BB (VPIP: 37.84, PFR: 24.32, 3Bet Preflop: 5.26, Hands: 38)
SB: 106.2 BB (VPIP: 16.16, PFR: 12.27, 3Bet Preflop: 2.34, Hands: 339)
BB: 147.4 BB (VPIP: 20.78, PFR: 16.88, 3Bet Preflop: 9.84, Hands: 158)

SB posts SB 0.4 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has T T

UTG raises to 3 BB, fold, Hero raises to 9 BB, BTN calls 9 BB, fold, fold, fold

Flop: (22.4 BB, 2 players) 6 6 3
Hero bets 13 BB, BTN calls 13 BB

Turn: (48.4 BB, 2 players) 5
Hero bets 25 BB, fold

Hero wins 46 BB


Here's the summary of my first session: (I redeemed a 1$ bonus).

Another day of grind behind, today has been some ups and downs, lost 2$ off bankroll because of a couple of bad decisions on shoves but managed to keep it healthy with some good plays too.

Here's where i'm standing now:

Day 2:

Interesting approach Poker is ALOT tougher than it used to be. So just beware of the fact that you need to give it all to achieve something nice!!!

Im totally confident after reading everything that you will make it, just remember to work REALLY hard.

I took time off everything and imagined myself being at Harvard studying to become a lawyer, but i was actually just sitting at home studying and playing.

It DID pay off

Best of luck man

Thanks a lot mate it appreciate it, and i'm glad that you were successful after working a lot on what you believed in, keeps me motivated to work hard too cheers

Today was a rough day, tables were filled with maniacs and calling stations, so i had to tighten up a bit, but got sucked out like 3 hand in a row, which tilted me and got me playing bad, went on an over 8 buy in downswing in like an hour.

I decided to close my mac, go to the gym relax a bit, came back, and went back up so overall today i'm not down much anymore, and i'm quite happy with the play.

Ps: I realized today that i suck vs calling stations and maniacs but i crush the other regs pretty bad, they're too predictable, and i loosen up a bit on the late positions so they don't really have me on a range and it's easy to beat them. I have to study to find a way to beat the donks since they're too crazy to handle lol. (for me at least)

Day 3:








It seems that i'm loosing a lot from the BB: (probably because all of the suck outs happened there but i don't know i gotta see)

I seem to lose a lot of money from the BB again, i really don't understand why :/. Today been a day with a lot of suck outs and plays against maniacs, but i managed to go up a bit, i'm happy that i'm still focused on my long term goal. So here it is:

Day 4:

Good luck man. Tighten up your bb/sb range. Especially in micros--and even more so in 5nl. The way you're going to make money is value betting the crap out of those players. Don't defend your sc in the bb just because you think you have to. Be playing premiums and look to re-steal with a 3bet for value unless BTN is particularly agro-donky and will hang himself after the flop.

I don't use HUD because I play on Bovada, but on ACR almost all regs use HUD. So you can expect games to get pretty tough. Just play smart and don't bluff catch. Give up on flops more when you can't extract value.

The most important thing I've learned (actually from Sklanky's rather outdated Theory of Poker is that poker is about winning BETS, not pots. If there are only 7bb in a pot you can't win, let it go. Get the most bets you can into every pot you are sure you have the best hand, and try to put in as few as possible when you are marginal. Don't try to bully around microstakes players because they mostly aren't smart enough to make tough folds.

As an aside, I see you are mostly winning at SD and losing before SD. This could mean that you are playing your hands too passively. Play tight and decisively.

'' The most important thing I've learned (actually from Sklanky's rather outdated Theory of Poker is that poker is about winning BETS, not pots. If there are only 7bb in a pot you can't win, let it go. Get the most bets you can into every pot you are sure you have the best hand, and try to put in as few as possible when you are marginal. ''

DEFINITELY a piece of advice that you just gave me that i will read and reread so it sticks in my brain. I appreciate the support and the tips mate. Good luck at the tables!

Awesome! Glad I can actually help You will often hear commentators on TV poker say like "Ivey got value from his middle pair on the river there. That separates the pros from the amateurs." It's really true--it's all about knowing when you're good enough to bet/be called, knowing when you're not about to be blown off a hand by a raise, etc. All the pieces start to fall into the puzzle. Good luck to you too man, I'll be keeping an eye on your thread!

Today was a day that tilted me a little bit. Started great, tables were filled with fishs and regs that tried to bluff me in different spots but failed, bankroll went up to 196$ then couple of hands after i kept running on regs with nitty stats making weird calls on my raise pre flop or crazy maniacs shoving with random rands (5-2 vs my premium hand) hitting while i don't.Lost all this morning earnings. So meh.

I feel like i've developed anxiety lol, every time i'm having a monster hand i start thinking negatively that i'm going to lose the hand / get cracked. I gotta stay focused and keep the motivation to get me going for my challenge.

Winning Poker Network (Yatahay) - $0.05 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 4 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BB: 111.6 BB (VPIP: 20.74, PFR: 17.29, 3Bet Preflop: 4.93, Hands: 383)
CO: 90.2 BB (VPIP: 25.00, PFR: 21.05, 3Bet Preflop: 6.25, Hands: 78)
Hero (BTN): 153 BB
SB: 93.4 BB (VPIP: 48.72, PFR: 15.38, 3Bet Preflop: 5.00, Hands: 41)

SB posts SB 0.4 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has K A

CO raises to 3 BB, Hero raises to 9 BB, fold, fold, CO calls 6 BB

Flop: (19.4 BB, 2 players) 6 9 7
CO bets 9.2 BB, Hero calls 9.2 BB

Turn: (37.8 BB, 2 players) K
CO bets 24 BB, Hero calls 24 BB

River: (85.8 BB, 2 players) 7
CO bets 48 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 48 BB




Winning Poker Network (Yatahay) - $0.05 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

CO: 109 BB (VPIP: 20.60, PFR: 11.99, 3Bet Preflop: 1.94, Hands: 282)
BTN: 112.2 BB (VPIP: 16.67, PFR: 16.67, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 6)
Hero (SB): 100 BB
BB: 99 BB (VPIP: 31.91, PFR: 10.64, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 49)
UTG: 112.8 BB (VPIP: 36.73, PFR: 30.61, 3Bet Preflop: 20.00, Hands: 50)
MP: 117.2 BB (VPIP: 50.00, PFR: 33.33, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 6)

Hero posts SB 0.4 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has T 8

fold, fold, fold, BTN raises to 3 BB, Hero calls 2.6 BB, BB calls 2 BB

Flop: (9 BB, 3 players) Q 8 T
Hero bets 6.4 BB, fold, BTN raises to 109.2 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 90.6 BB and is all-in

Turn: (203 BB, 2 players) T

River: (203 BB, 2 players) Q




Winning Poker Network (Yatahay) - $0.05 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 5 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

Hero (SB): 108.6 BB
BB: 121.4 BB (VPIP: 25.00, PFR: 20.45, 3Bet Preflop: 15.00, Hands: 46)
UTG: 138 BB (VPIP: 22.18, PFR: 18.31, 3Bet Preflop: 9.09, Hands: 296)
CO: 128 BB (VPIP: 22.18, PFR: 16.46, 3Bet Preflop: 7.83, Hands: 572)
BTN: 96.6 BB (VPIP: 53.85, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 13)

Hero posts SB 0.4 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has T 8

fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to 2 BB, BB calls 1 BB

Flop: (4 BB, 2 players) Q A 2
Hero bets 2.8 BB, BB raises to 9 BB, Hero calls 6.2 BB

Turn: (22 BB, 2 players) 6
Hero checks, BB bets 10.4 BB, Hero raises to 97.6 BB and is all-in, BB calls 87.2 BB

River: (217.2 BB, 2 players) 8




Day 5:

Hola
It's been a decent day, i feel like i played good, didn't run well but chillos. I unlocked some of my FDbonus and some rakeback and i'm up a bit. So far, i'm not happy with the results i'm getting at 5 nl because in the last 2 days tilt go the best of me and i'm better than this, so i'm going to start to study more about discipline and mental aspect of the game and less the hands and spots. So here it is:

Day 6:

gl

Tips:

Never slap a man that is chewing tobacco.

Raise larger as SB vs BB, to 3bbs.

Get off ACR and go play somewheres else. Even with 27% RB, you're paying rake + bbj rake. When you get to 10nl+ you will also be paying rake for beast race. I think you'd be better off playing at a different site with softer games.

Why switch software..? 27% rakeback is good..
i played at 888 before and rake is huge at micros and my pokerstars account got froze because i had problems with full tilt back in black friday and when pokerstars bought it they linked both account together.

As for the beast, i think the same rake you pay a part goes to the beast, so you don't pay extra for it.

but anyways i stopped the challenge for a bit to deposit more and start higher micros are too boring and useless

True, also ACR is reg infested

GL, sub'd.
Actuary study should benefit poker skills.
Being in USA, ACR is best option here with the RB. Many regs to face though.

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