Dear 2p2,

You've given me a lot of insight into poker and I feel starting this PGC thread will help keep me focused on the right plays at the table and maintain an online record of sessions and questions I might have about my play.

I work as a dealer and fund my roll with percentages of my tips. I feel I have a respectable and profitable (at least in my area) knowledge of Hold Em. I'm also taking baby steps in learning PLO, which I believe is going to be the future of poker.

My goal is to start, maintain, and most of all, grow a poker bankroll. I guess a specific limit goal is to become a profitable player in live $2/$5 NLHE with a bankroll that I build myself.This is only the first step, as I'm sure I will only want to improve and move up stakes once I do reach my initial goal.

To start out, I plan on playing mostly limit Omaha 8 and $1/$2 NLHE. I find that live limit games are absolutely fantastic bankroll builders. Those games allow you to make mistakes that rarely cost you all of your chips, and are largely soft, fishy, yet straightforward games.

I also believe playing once a weekwill be a reasonable start, but that will eventually increase soon. After building up a few buy ins, I'll use (and probably change) my current BR management spreadsheet.

Anyway, I can give more details in following posts/responses but to get things started I've already had a couple small winning sessions that have my current roll at $232.

Next session will likely be Thursday evening, playing $3/$6 Omaha 8 with a full kill.

good stuff man, i'll be with you on this. just work your ass off off the felt, and give it your all on the felt. hard work goes a long way in this game.

and prove me wrong. there is a recent quote from me saying that dealers are generally bad nlhe players

I would love to prove you wrong. I've been playing for some years, but I've never logged sessions like how I'm planning to.

When I first started "understanding" the game, I would say "making mistakes preflop, is better than making mistakes postflop" which has some truth, but is still very flawed. I would play "two-pair draw" and would either win big, or lose big.

If anyone has seen my posts on our forums, I've been saying to fold more often, and that's what I practice now. That has been one of my leaks, and also my bet sizing.

As basic as it sounds (this should be basic anyway being the lowest stakes to play at besides online) I need to fold more, and bet larger when I'm value betting. People will also call with everything, so bluffing isn't really part of my game. It's definitely there, just less than what might be optimal at higher stakes or against villains that have a fold button.

/endrant

Also curious as to what most people are comfortable with as far as stop-loss for NLHE games. I think a personal stop loss up until this point for me has been 2.5 Buy-Ins.

I have never kept a roll until now, so that may change, but I think that's a good starting point. As most of you would agree, I always buy in for at least $200 (100bb). Some games, like Soaring Eagle allow a $400 max buy in.

Any particular bankroll suggestions?

Added some funds to the roll via a percentage from tips and might be making a casino trip soon. Considering Motor City, possibly Soaring Eagle near the end of the month.

I'm still planning on playing in the local games and (hopefully) increasing my roll in the split game. Debating on playing $1/$2 NL anyway, been hearing about how fishy the game is.

With my roll being so small, it would easily be replenished if I were to lose a single buy in at $1/$2, but the return could be very good considering a "good session" might net me ~$400-$500

Roll: $252

Probably will add "things I hear at work" because it's pretty surprising. I don't mean bad beat stories because those are exactly the same every time.

I mean "a middle aged white lady asked what 'real n***a ****' was," and was completely serious. Or some off-the-wall comments/jokes like what whales say at the tables.

Curious how some people feel about playing and being up a buy-in or two and leaving only to return and play again in an hour, just to get a roll going.

I usually hate the "hit and run" type players, but I can see it's merits early. I would normally continue playing until I became tired or the room closed.

Thoughts?

Headed to play at the local room. Hoping that an Omaha split game is going, if not then I wouldn't mind playing $1/$2.

Yesterday I staked my brother in a tournament where I work, and he chopped top two and I got $232 in return. That money goes to the poker roll.

I'll update as I see fit

Edit: Bankroll ~$492 after adding tip percentage. I'll fix this when I update tonight/tmw

Finished a six hour session playing $3/$6 Omaha 8 with a full kill, won $120.

I have a few hands I'd like to post, but my phone freaked out and I couldn't continue noting them. I'll wade through those sometime soon and see how I could/should have played them better.

Bankroll: $612.50

if it helps you emotionally, and you begin to think about quitting while you are at the table, then you should probably quit. once you get emotionally attached to the money in front of you and want to leave, there is a good chance you will no longer be playing your A game

This is true, but the only reason I mention it is my bankroll is only at 3 full buy ins. I'd like to have more than that when I start sitting in NL games.

I don't mind having a few buy ins in front of me, just curious on getting my roll started. I'm very happy with how things are going, just would like to take better notes and improve my play.

From last night's limit Omaha 8 game:

Hand 1:
AKss K6hh Hero raises from EP and gets 4(?) callers.

Q2Tr

SB, who seems like a competent villain, leads and BB calls and Hero raises. Should Hero be calling/folding? Hero has backdoor flush draws and a gutshot to broadway. Not really concerned about backdoor low draw.

Hand 2: 4-5 callers, and Hero has KJT6 all spades and checks his option.

Flop K63 cc

SB bets, Hero ???

I feel like folding>raising>calling. Probably a huge gap between each decision there.

Hand 3: Another BB hand, table has been very loose passive minus one player that just has no idea what he's doing constantly asking the same questions and betting/raising postflop with garbage.

5 limps and Hero has 3467cccc. Checks.

Flop 5x8x5c

Hero checks and calls a bet from MP and there is one other caller in EP. Paired board makes me feel like this is a fold.

Hand 4: Hero raised KdQs9d8s after one limper in EP. Probably not the best play here, but maybe fold>raise>call? three calls, including the BB.

Flop: QdTd2c

Check, Hero bets, call, call, fold. I think I should bet this flop a high % of the time now that I'm here.

Turn: 6d

I made my hand, albeit the second nut. I think betting is the right decision in this game. Hero bets, gets a call and a raise from the button. Hero?

Looking forward to some input here. I know this is a new thread, but hopefully I can get responses. I am definitely VERY new to Omaha 8, but these spots are what concerned me.

Playing at Soaring Eagle in a few minutes. Undecided in which game I'll play, but considering $1/$2 NL. Will update as I see fit.

Played in a $1/$2 game last night. Not very pleased with my play. I think I was pretty weak-tight. I think it's been too long since I last played in a NL game, but overall I'd say I'd

Edit: Sorry for the double post. Cannot remove the previous one.

Played in a $1/$2 game last night. Not very pleased with my play. I think I was pretty weak-tight. I think it's been too long since I last played in a NL game, but overall I'd say I'd grade my play at a B-

A few hands to post.

Hand 1:

Effective stacks $200, villain covers. Third hand in, I'm UTG and have no reads against villains yet. Hero dealt QcQh and raises to $15. One caller in MP.

Flop: Kd 6d 3s ($30)

Hero bets $20, Villain raises to $45

Hero ???

No reads here. All possibilities could be Kx, FD, sets, SD. I think based on the "unknown" here, raising, calling and folding are all logical. I think that weighing his range to Kx type hands is probably best.

Hand 2:

(probably should have played this different, felt bad about my play after)

Hero dealt JsJc in MP. Effective stacks $90. Hero ~$170

Limp from EP, Hero limps(awful, vs unknowns I should be opening this pot instead of playing it like a small pair) BTN (~$90) raises to $10, SB calls, BB calls, EP folds.

Hero raises to $75, BTN ships, all fold and hero calls.

Hand 3: Hero in BB with AJo. $~150(I have $300 into this game and topped up earlier in the session, probably should have gotten up after making the decision to not top up again)

EP (~$600) raises to $12, two calls including the BTN, SB folds, Hero ???

I feel that this should be fold> raise> call. OOP vs 3 opponents with a marginal hand

I think if I raised, sizing should be ~$45-50. Setting up for a flop shove should it go HU. Up until this point I have been very card dead other than the few hands I posted, it had been hours between Hand 2 and 3.

-$300 for the session over 3 hours.

When I'm card dead for that long I think I need to break and/or ask for a table change.

Hey buddy, don't have any input on Omaha but I can give you my $.02 (that's all it's worth honestly) on these.

Hand 1: Agreed that villain's range it weighted towards a strong king and sets, hard to say without any reads but I think a general rule at this level is that this is rarely a bluff. Fold.

Hand 2: Really don't like the limp, and really don't like the bet sizing for the raise. You can raise to $35 for basically the same effect, except if V shoves, you can likely get away from it since, as they say, a 4-bet live is basically always AA or KK.

I'd raise pre as you mentioned, and if he 3-bets big you can probably get away from it too, depending on the raise size.

Now that I think about it, his 'weak' bet sizing (assuming the standard raise is closer to $12 or $15) would not indicate QQ+, of course there are tons of exceptions, but from what I've seen so many weak players will scale their pre-flop raises based on hand strength. As played you obviously have no choice but to call.

Hand 3: If you have a losing image, and are in the mind-set of minimizing losses, the fold pre, for all the reasons you metioned.

Hang in there man, you seem to be doing alright. What area of the country do you play in?

Thanks for the input, any and all is appreciated.

I'm playing in Michigan, played for years and this is the first time I've ever tracked each session and kept a separate bankroll for just poker and poker related activities, like staking (I usually stake my brother in tournaments locally).

Do you feel like being a dealer is ultimately beneficial to your game? It's gotta be tough to be motivated to go to the casino when you work at one.

To be honest, I am not working in a casino, but I think the question still has merit. I've always thought dealing would be beneficial. I get to see what my typical player pool plays like, and get reads based on majority.

Not saying it's you, but most dealers I've played with turn out to be very fishy players. They see a couple fish get lucky each night by gambling it up, and think they can follow suit. They see bad play get rewarded quite often, this is my .02. Could be wrong though.

Hand 1 easy fold, hand 2, open raise yourself of course, hand 3, 3bet if you don't have a losing image and the original opener can fold or play postflop very straightforwardly. Otherwise easy laydown pre.

I see people gambling it up, but I think it's awful play and always have it always send yo come down to "I haz frush draw, I cawl" no matter the price.

I've been reading books, studying 2p2 and tracking my sessions. I just want to reach some minor goals and see where this takes me. If I turn out to be a winner, then great, if not, then I'll probably just continue recreationally because I enjoy the game.

You will definitley win at 1/2 if you work hard and take ownership and initiative for your mistakes

Sent from my SPH-D710 using 2+2 Forums

$1/$2 is definitely beatable. I've had many winning sessions, but there were still plenty of losing sessions. So when those sessions happen, hopefully I'll get some feedback and see what went wrong and how to improve. That's the plan anyway. Thanks for showing your support

At some of the home games I play the dealers know the tendencies of most of the regs, and when hands go to show down will often (somewhat annoyingly) call out players' hands with a surprising amount of accuracy.

So if you play vs. people you deal to often, you may gain a slight advantage of being able to get really good reads on them by observing their tendencies over a long period of time. Of course there is the notion of not *****ting where you eat, so perhaps best to avoid those players, especially if they tip well