I've been reading a number of microstakes challenges and they've encouraged me to attempt to build a bankroll from the very bottom. I'm a student who really doesn't have the money to have a proper stab so I'm attempting to begin with around $10. I know this far from ideal but I'll have a go. I want to start off on the 2NL tables at FTP, playing two tables at a time.

My background
I've played the vast majority of my poker in a live environment and I've played rarely online. When I have, it's been with mixed results.

My first experience was playing $2.25 SnGs on FTP when I managed to run hot for about two weeks of very recreational playing. Back then I had no idea what BR management was so I just withdrew it all, scared I'd hit a downswing. I've had a few attempts to redeposit and continue on this form but I've been frustrated by breaking even over long stretches or bad beats causing me to chase my losses. This time round, I want to switch to the cash tables to make a more consistent profit and avoid the larger swings of SnGs played on a small BR.

On the cash game tables, I've usually had early small success, followed by tilt which has seen me blow whatever good start I've had in building a BR. Sometimes I've been frustrated at making so little progress at 2NL or I've idiotically moved up to 10NL and taken shots there, playing way over my roll. This time round, I want to play two tables at a time of 2NL and try to slowly build my roll.

I hope the discipline of writing in this blog will help me stay off tilt and give me somewhere to write about this challenge.

My goals
- First off, I have rakeback. Good stuff.
- To play poker in sessions of 1 hour. No hit and runs.
- To immediately quit for the day if I feel the slighest tilt.
- To not force the action with marginal hands if I feel frustrated I'm not making enough money in the session.
- To play only when I'm in the best frame of mind to do so. When I want to play poker, I'll play. If I'm stressed or I've had an argument with friends, gf, family etc, I won't play.
- To play only two tables of NLHE, full ring.
- To not move up limit until I have 50 buy ins (long way away right now).
- Obviously, to make clear, +EV decisions in each hand I play.
- To blog in this thread how I played so I can review my own thoughts on sessions and recieve any feedback you guys are willing to offer. I'll also post hands where I'd like some advice or if they're remotely interesting.

Just finished my first session of 2 table, FR NLHE. I'll post in this kind of format.

Session time: 1 hour
Profit/Loss $0.86
BR: $10.86

If variance doesn't kill me early on, hopefully I can continue on this line upwards Thanks for reading, if you managed to get through it all.

CRUSH IT

GL HF

DON'T CHEAT

50 bi ? its too much for a bankroll building .
i'd try 30

I agree only because you're playing 2 tables at a time only.

GL TopCat on the challange.
I also agree with the above posters, 50bi is too high for the micro's. You'll be OK taking 2 table shots between 20 and 30buyins for the next level. I read somewhere 50buyin rule should be applied at 50NL and above.

Also, try to add in another table and overtime, increase your mutli-tabling capabilities. You will show the same profit but over a shorter timeframe (in the longrun of course) I can only play for 1hr sessions atm, but 6 tabling gets the job done nicely. Then at the weekends I grind my life away

Thanks for the advice, I'll aim for about 25. I had no idea so I just put 50 down.

2nd session this morning done and in the books.

Session Time: 50 minutes
Profit/Loss: +$2.81
BR: $13.67

Played well in the short time I was at the tables. Raising often from LP and folding marginal hands in EP, I'm trying to cut the dominated hands out of my range. Left a bit early from my session because I felt myself getting bored and watching TV more than the tables. Will definitely play more sessions later in the day but right now I think I should do something with my day, I've sat about.

I won a three-way pot after with KK. A player UTG raised it to $0.06 and a player who had just lost a big pot shoved for $0.40. I re-raised all in trying to isolate (in no mood for a bad beat) and the UTG player called with QQ. The tilting player had 66 and I managed to skip all the bad cards in the deck and double up

Good luck. 50 buyins is alot for the micros but it mostly depends on your comfort level and is perfectly fine if you feel you are playing more confidently with the 50 instead of 20 or 30.

Thanks. I'm not too sure where my comfort level is. I've had problems dealing with downswings in the past so I may need a bigger cushion then some.

3rd Session. First buy in dropped as well

Time: 47 minutes
Profit/Loss: - $2.56
BR: $11.11

Had a player on the button who kept raising my blind. It's folded to him and he makes it $0.10 to go. I make what I think is a standard 3bet to $0.30 from the SB with AK. He 4bets back to $1.10 and I don't think I have much choice but to go all in at the micros. He has AA and I lose a big pot by micro-level standards. Shame because I think I'd been playing well upto that point.

Is there any way I can fold AK to a button raiser at 2NL? I don't have a great read on the player but he's raised my blinds a few times.

Cut the session short so I don't chase the losses back. Will play again later.

I think you played it fine. Just got unlucky cause he had the goods.

Most micro players that 4 bet in this spot i find have AK beat alot of the time, there's very little chance they are 4 betting light with AQ, and probably at best your a flip, at the end of the day in this spot there's more hands that are ahead of you. If you feel like your a better player there's no need to gamble in this spot you can get your money in alot better.

Good luck!

I really like your goals, its the best way to improve, with the right mindset and routine you will be playing highstakes in a mather of time!!

Hmm I thought something like this. Thanks for the advice. I'll have another crack later

So frustrating at the micros! Good to follow up dropping a buy in with a little profit though.

Time: 1 hour
Profit/Loss: + $0.93
BR: $12.04

I feel like I'm playing quite well but the slow progress is really frustrated. I wanted to be winning more than this. I had one hand which could have gone another way and gave me pretty big profit for a session. With 4 limpers ahead of me I call in the CO with K2. The flop comes AA2 giving me the nut flush draw. UTG leads out for the pot on the flop and on the turn. UTG+1 calls each bet, as do I getting odds for my flush on the turn and what I reckon are huge implied odds on the river since it's so likely he has trip aces, more so given the $5 in his stack.

The diamond doesn't come, I fold to a river bet and sure enough the guy shoves all in with trips aces to stack the other player who a pocket pair he couldn't let go of.

It's very possible I'm overrating my own ability but I think my fundamentals are quite sound. I'm playing a primarily TAG style but I'm opening up my range a lot in the BTN and CO. I've won plenty of pots with c-bets in position so I think I'm improving that side of my game.

Time: 70 minutes
Profit/Loss: - $1.19
BR: $10.85

Taken an annoying hit when I lost with AA, not sure what I can do differently.

In EP, I raise to $0.07 (my standard raise) and the SB calls. The flop comes 8 J 5 and he donk bets into me the pot $0.15. I raise him to $0.60 and he shoves. I call and he shows 88 for three-of-a-kind. No idea how I avoid getting the money in here. Him donking into me with a set is weird to me. Why wouldn't he check and let me c-bet? Ah well.

Really frustrated, pratically back to square one.

Just a standard cooler, money goes in no matter how good you are here i believe, don't let coolers frustrate you. You will build your bankroll up at these stakes using ABC poker and letting your opponents make mistakes.

Thanks for encouragement, helps me focus!

I have a confession, I cheated like a complete idiot and went against proper BRM. I was bored one night and played some hands at 10NL having become frustrated with 2NL. Every table ay 2NL seemed to be full of multi-tabling nits and I was down and struggling to find any hands. I wanted to know where all these 'fish' were everyone is talking about!

I played at 10NL and I've managed to jump my BR after getting a guy with JJ to stack off with his overpair when I had AA. I picked up some small pots here and there as well. In a way, I sort of feel more comfortable at 10NL but I know I'm underolled so I'm going back down to 2NL to try and maintain my discipline. At 10NL it feels like I can nit up, play nothing OOP and raise and take the blinds or win with a c-bet. This seems harder at 2NL. It could also be that the progress at 2NL is too slow and frustrating and I'm just breaking even or losing a cooler.

I got the HUD going as well with PT3, seemed to help. Anyway, I'll get back to 2NL and see how it goes.

BR: $25.07

Stategy Questions

1. Is AK suited good enough to stack off with pre-flop at 2NL?
2. You constantly hear "don't bluff" at 2NL. Does this include c-bets? If I raise with KQ suited and I miss the flop completely, is it bluffing to bet this? When at the micros they can call with any two, analysing what flops are good to c-bet seems very difficult.
3. Is blind-stealing at 2NL even with it? They don't seem to want to fold to the BTN raise, or the c-bet when they check to me on the flop.
4. Linked to question 1, if you're in the blinds with AKo and it's raised before you, do you re-raise? This is without any real read on the player. Are we just calling to try and hit an Ace or King or do we want to re-raise OOP?

Thanks!

I normally don't play cash games, but most people at micro stakes don't really think or have any idea of basic strats like check raising, cbetting etc... They don't think "Nice, I hit my set, I will check raise his cbet and stack him, easy money!", they think "What the!!! I have two eights, there is an eight on the flop, now I have 3 eights! Bam, I bet the pot!"

Of course they would play any overpair or Jx the same way, so there is nothing you can do here, but in marginal situations, maybe if "weak players" seem very interested and aggressive in a hand, they often have something and maybe you can just let it go and wait for a better spot to get their money.

At least that are my observations in the few cash games I have played.

Good luck to you, take care!

I've been playing on and off today and surprisingly I'm exactly where I was at the start of the session. I'll bank that as a rakeback session then.

So I've been trying to test out this 'table selection' everyone has been talking about. Usually I just sit down wherever like the common fish (as I am one) and then play but now I've tried to start searching some of the players at my table. At one point I was playing against 4/5 players multi-tabling between 6-16 tables. I take it these are the people to avoid? I've been noting them down on FTP as well players tendencies when I can pick them up.

I've also begun doing the opposite obviously, noting down players playing one table, what they bought in for and how I think they played. Already this has helped. I joined a table with a guy I'd labelled fish and I've profited from this one or two times. I think it's really helped me colour-coordinate it all and I've found myself leaving a table when I think the fish are gone - this is all part of my attempt to become a better player.

As for players to the flop and average pot size, I'm finding that I play better on slightly nittier tables than on the mad ones with 4betting everywhere. I love playing on tables with plenty of limpers and I'm starting to value that stat. I just seem to play a better game against passive players rather the generic aggrofish that gives me an annoying decision on every street. I feel like this is the wrong way around, I should be stacking the aggro guy but more often than not it's the passive player I take more chunks out of.

Really want to play more hands at 10NL but BRM and the rules in this blog say NO! Must try and stick with it. Thanks if you read

BR: $25.07

Good session today, only 119 hands but I ran so good! I think I played well also to get maximum value but there was definitely some good fortune involved in my last session. I should have known I'd do this well when I accidently posted my blind at a pot-limit table that had attractive stats. Nevermind, I pick up AA and managed to win a nice pot in the first hand. Off to a good start!

Carrying on from my post on table selection, I have a perfect example for me of how note-taking and better table selection won me about $2.50 in two hands. As I sat down I noted this player called a player's all in with just a gutshot. I made the note on FT and later I flopped two sets and got all the money in. One time he called with overcards the other he called with a gutshot. I then searched for him on other tables and went and sat down in position on him. Won a few more cents there, good stuff. I also noted the nit regs that never played anything and stayed out of their way. Really happy with myself. It's not much but I think I'm starting to act a bit more like somebody who wants to maximise my win rate and play good poker.

While the other day I was complaining about the all the regs, no complaints today. I found a ton of fish and I've noted them down so hopefully I can search for them again. It's really helpful noting stuff here in this blog, motivates me to actually grind.

Session: 2 tables, 2NL, 119 hands
Profit/loss: +$3.81
BR: $28.88

keep it up

cheers bud, hopefully get a session in later.

Got another session in tonight. Thought I played well and I managed to find the best table ever, the only reason I'm leaving it is because it's 02:53am here in the UK and I need sleep! Everyone was limping, pre-flop raising was rare and there was one guy at the table playing 92/2/30 and he was so great to be in pots with. I could raise in position, get him heads up and win with a c-bet on any dry flop. Pre-flop he'd call with ATC but post-flop he would fold regularly. I'll search him next time!

Had two hands which hurt my profit though. One I had the nut straight with KQ but my opponent rivered the nut flush with AK he'd check-called down the flop and turn. He min-raised me on the river when I value bet what I thought was the best hand. I just called and lost the minimum so I'm happy with how I played it, old me would have shoved that before.

Another hand I limped in the CO after 4 limpers before me with 78 and flopped a 7 8 A board. I value bet the flop and turn thinking I had the best hand but then the river put a 6 out there and villain donk-shoved. I folded what I'm pretty sure was the worst hand, either Aces up slow-played, a set slowplayed or a completed straight the most likely. Happy with that decision anyway.

Small profit but I'm happy since the session started with a loss early on. Managed to take some more notes. It's really helping me to avoid the regs and find the fish. Onwards and upwards slowly but surely.

Session: 276 hands
Profit/Loss: +$0.58
BR: $29.46