I've been a 2+2er for years and have gone through the trials and tribulations that accompanies transitioning from super donk to winning player. I've been busto several times and built my roll up from scratch more times than I can remember.

I feel that I'm now ready to start transitioning to the higher limits of live play. My normal grind is 2/5nl and I've been supporting myself with that for the past couple of years. Now, I've decided to take a few calculated shots at the higher limits in the Bay Area:

There is an uncapped 1/2 NL game at the Palace, 10/20nl at Lucky Chances, 5/10nl at Bay 101 $3k max buy, and an uncapped 10/25nl at Matrix.

I also will be targeting the bigger $500 - $2,500 live MTTs and with the WSOP coming up thought it would be a good time to start this thread.

What are my conditions for taking a shot? How exactly can I take a shot but still adhere to some form of BRM?

In order to take a shot at a higher limit or buy in to a $500+ MTT, I must run good for that week: Specifically, I must be at least $3k up for that week. Then, the day before I take my shot or buy-in to the MTT I must start with my typical buy-in and run it up such that it will be the buy-in for the MTT or the high limit game.

So basically, I need to run like Jesus over water for that week and be way up for the week in order to splice off some of the profit for that week to take a shot. So no matter what, I'm up $3k for the week in the event that the worst happens and my shot ends up crashing and burning...

So, this thread will just be my documentation for my shot taking and hopefully I have an epic run.

May the rungood be with me

EDIT: For purposes of my challenge, my poker week starts on Sunday and Ends Saturday. So my shot taking will be either Fridays or Saturdays so my "end of week" is Thursdays/Fridays...

first
gogogogo

Week #1,
I ran pretty good all week, up about $4k come Thursday. So Thursday I bought in to my 2/5nl game for $500 with the condition that in order for me to take a shot at the 10/25nl at the Matrix on Friday, I had to grind that $500 up to $3k. My plan was to buy-in to the Matrix game for $3k.

The run good was with me and I was able to grind $500 up to $1.5k and then I headed to the "deep stack" 2/5nl game which has a $1.5k buy-in and was able to run it up to $4k. So, Game on for week #1

Session #1, Friday Matrix 10/25nl


(sorry for the stock photo, I didn't take any pics because I was focused on playing. Will take pics next time)

I bought into the game for $3.2k and was 7th in chips. Three players had $10k in front of them, another three had between $4k - $8k, and 2 players had $2.5k.

My plan was to just play my normal game and to think of the game as more or less the deep stacked 2/5nl game I routinely play in. I was to play very strict ABC poker for the first hour until I got a read on the villains and table dynamics. I was seated in the 2 seat.

After about 30 minutes, here was my assessment. Player #1 was an easily readable Old Man Coffee, #3 was a solid TAG but low on chips, #4 and #5 were easily readable ABC types that were a tad too stationy. #6 was a pro (probably the best at the table) but he was running bad and under $2k in chips. #7 was the table aggro driving all the action, raising and making moves with a VPIP of 35%. #8 was an overly aggressive thinking player a semi-aggro TAG, #9 was a decent TAG. Lastly, I was perceived as the newbie semi-nit and competent ABC that probably isn't going to make any moves since I'm new kid on the block.

Tables dynamics were pretty ideal. The bets and raises seemed pretty transparent and I felt very comfortable at the table.

I was patient and probably had a VPIP of about 10% and I raised about 50% of the hands I opened and took down majority of pots with a c-bet or double barrel.

My first big hand, I was in the CO with 76 and raised $100 (standard raise at the table was between $75 - $150. BB 3-bets to $275, I sorta give a tell that I want to 4-bet but then just call. Eff stacks $2.5k I cover.

Flop($550) K 8 5
V chks, I bet $350, V raises to $800, I ship it for $2k, V folds...

I felt pretty good here since my range should look like QQ+, AK based on my perceived image and relatively low VPIP plus the hands I had showdown were TPGK. I ranged V for 99-QQ type hands and noticed he hadn't really been raising AK/AQ. On that note, majority of the table was not raising AK/AQ. There was a lot of limp/calling with those particular hands which I found an interesting dynamic at this table. I'm not sure yet if that is indicative of 10/25nl as a whole or just this particular table. Anyways...

Few hands later, #5 decided to put me to the test. He is on the BTN, I limp from MP/LP with T8 he raises to $175, I call, heads up action. Eff stacks $5k, he covers me.

Flop($350) 9 8 4
I chk, he bets $250, I call.

Turn($850) 4
I chk, he bets $600 (very rigid tight posture), I call

River($2,050) 7
I chk, he thinks about betting but then just checks back. I show T8s, he says nice hand and mucks

My second all-in of the day was vs #7 who I had beat in several smallish $400 pots with very strong hands. Every time I've shown down against him it was with TPGK, two pair, or a set. Eff stacks $4.5k, I cover.

UTG raises $125, V calls from MP, I call from CO w 74, BB calls, 4-way action.

Flop($500) Q 7 4
chks around to me and I bet $350, folds to V who c/r's to $1400, everyone folds, I call.

Turn($3200) 9
he chks, I go all-in, V tanks for 5 minutes and says, "Damn you have a set" and he folds his flush draw...

Overall, I felt I played good and was fairly comfortable. Didn't have any jitters and I had a friend and fellow 2+2er Dom80e railbird me and offer me support.

I set a winstop for myself of $10k and made $10k within about 4 hours. So I ran good and played good and once I hit $10k decided that was a good first session and I called it a day.

Hopefully, I run good next week allowing me to take another "shot". My goal would be to target the Friday 10/25nl since that seems to be the time when it is juiciest.

Oh, and next time I'll take pics of my chip stack

here are a couple of my favorite thread savers to tide you over till next week

Subbed.

You are actually my favorite poker player btw since I don't watch it on tv...

I've learned the most from your posts.

Keep crushing.

It's cool to know someone playing in the biggest game in the Bay Area. Keep the run good goin so we can get some more thread savers next week.

Great session! Keep Rockin Dgi!!

GLGL

would enjoy hearing rundowns of your "standard" low stakes sessions as well. Great first session!

Subbed! Awesome session, hope you keep it up. I see you in BQ all the time answering questions and I think it's great that you take the time to do that.

Wow I can't wait to follow this thread! Play well and run hot!

4-5 BI on your first shot!? Sounds boss, GL man!

I like your shot taking method, pretty much keeps the risk very low. I think you just given me enough inspiration to move down and approach shot taking in a similar way.

Awesome. Nosebleeds here we come. (You are our representative)

Well, this week is off to a bad start. I had a winning session Saturday (up $1k) and Sunday (up $500) but lost yesterday ($1.4k yesterday) and so am currently + $100 for the week. I elected to play 2/5nl deep stack yesterday.

First off, the 2/5nl deep stack game plays INCREDIBLY loose. There was a fellow 2+2er playing with me last night, Dionysus1, and it was hilarious watching the action on the table and then his reaction to the nonsensical plays being made. Villains love to c/r flops for double or triple pot with TPGK or over pairs and then show their hands as if they are Tom Dwan / Phil Ivey geniuses. They also love to talk big daddy poker as if they are experts on the game and yet in truth they are horrible.

Unfortunately, I just couldn't get any real traction last night and I made one big mistake in particular.

First decent hand I had, eff stacks $900, Villain covers.

I'm in the BB with TT, UTG raises to $30, V calls from MP, CO and BTN call, I call, 5-way action.

Flop($125) Q 6 7
I chk, UTG chks, V bets $65, folds to me, I call, UTG folds, heads up.

Turn(255) J
I chk, V chks

River(255) T
I bet $300, V tanks and shows me Q J and says, "You got AK huh? Okay I call"

I win and he says, "Damn, I let you get there..." LOLz

Throughout most of the game I was pretty card dead and basically stealing / semi-stealing a lot. But I did get one decent hand. I limped UTG with QQ, dionysus was UTG+2 and raised to 25, 6 callers by the time action got to me, I limp/re-raise to $135, dionysys folds, one aggro villain calls, heads up.

flop(305) T 7 3
I lead out $250, V tank folds...

-Now onto the biggest mistake I've made all week.
I was on the BTN with AK and a new player I don't recognize comes to the table and posts in between the blinds, so he is effectively the small blind. It's five way limp fest to me and I make it $30. Now, here is where warning bells go off in my head, new player raises to $125. He bought in for $700. One of the aggros calls, and I seriously consider folding because I don't know this new player and he looks noobish. Noobish players don't 3-bet like this with AQ or even JJ/QQ. But at the same time I have no history with this guy, never seen him before and folding AK seems weak... So, I guess I go into typical rec player mode and just call. .

Flop(400) K 6 J
V leads out $205, Aggro folds, Hero.... This is where I completely spazzed out. I almost folded preflop and then when he leads out on flop I know he doesn't have AQ or QQ. So, the only hands in his range are AK, AA, KK, JJ. So this is a clear fold. But, I decided to focus on V having AK and some weird aggro donk thought bubbled up to the surface of my mind and said, "Well, if he has AK its a chop and maybe you can fold out his AK " and before the rest of my brain could counter that ridiculous thought I shoved. He paused for a second and then checked his card to make sure that he did in fact have me crushed and then he called and turned over AA.

This had to have been the worst play I've made in the last week. Ugghhh... Its inexcusable and just a bad bad play. Why is it a bad play?

Well, when I shove I ensure that the only hands that call me are hands that beat me. He's never calling with KQ or AQ or QQ. Plus, his story is pretty consistent. New player raises big and then leads out big on a K J 6 flop... The absolute bottom of his range in this spot is AK. Ugghhh I really hate that I made such a bad play arrgghhh!!!!!

So, I take that hit and drop down to like $400 in chips, so I top up back to $900 - $1,000 ish.

Then I lost about $300-ish with standard raising/3-betting preflop with QQ/JJ hands getting 3 callers and the flop hits A K 5 type flops so its an easy fold.

I got back to being card dead but was able to steal some pots with post flop play. One hand in particular, I had Q J in the HJ. 4 limpers, I raise to $30, 2 callers.

flop(90) 4 9 8
chks to me, I bet $55, V calls, other folds, heads up. V is an okay TAG we have history, he likes to call me down light if my betting isn't strong. Once he calls, I know he has 9x or 8x or possibly a FD.

Turn(200) 4
he chks, I bet $175, he tank calls. Okay, when he tank calls, I know he has 9x or 8x and he's never drawing to a flush here, he doesn't draw when he doesn't have the odds. So, he is in Hero call mode putting me on AK/KQ/AQ or possible the flush draw because he knows I'm aggressive with FDs in position. So, I know I need a scare card on the river: a , A or K or I need to hit a Q or J or T. So I have tons of outs and phantom outs. Almost half the deck

River(500) K
he chks, I tank bet $400, he tank folds.

Now onto my last hand of the night. I had taken a few hits and was at about $700-ish when this hand happened.

I was in the BB with T8, UTG+1 raises to $25, 4 callers, I call.

Flop(125) T 7 4
I lead out $65, UTG+1 calls, folds to BTN (very aggro spewy player that loves to draw) he raises to $165, I call, UTG+1 folds. When UTG+1 folds, I feel pretty good I'm ahead. I also have a ton of history with BTN and he overplays his draws all the time and TPGK is the nuts against him. Even though i have TPWK its a strong hand against him. FWIW, he wouldn't raise here with QT/KT type hands he'd just flat most times.

Turn(455) 7
I felt this was a good card for me to shove. If V has Top pair then there is a half way decent chance river is an overcard and we chop. There is also a chance that my shove folds him off his top pair (there is "some" fold equity with him as I routinely own him), lastly, there is a really good chance he is on the FD and if he is on the FD he is calling (he never folds his flush draws no matter how insane the raising/betting is). So I shove, and V snap calls.

River($1k+) 4
V shows 87 FML

I muck my hand and just decide to call it a day. Down $1.4k ish for the day

Even though I ran into the top of his range on this turn, I felt good with the shove. I shove spots like that on him all the time and he snap calls with his draws without even a moment's thought. Its just that this time I ran into him turning trips. Yuck.

In any event, this week is off to a bad start shot taking wise. Hopefully, I run hotter than the sun rest of the week so I can take another shot Friday.

i love the way you write your sessions

very interested in reading about more of your shot taking

why not play in bigger games in vegas?

Awesome post. very insightful to get inside your head during a standard session. I also recall that you said when you reached 8K posts or something that you'd give a "how I got into poker" narrative. Maybe this thread would offer you the opportunity?!

With the aggros flat, is there any merit to shoving here to get him to hero fold JJ (if he makes that play) or whatever spazz he limp/rr with? Or is this KK/AA like every time?

Looking forward to the next session report.

I'm so excited for you. Your first session was clearly run good. Yu are not going to get lucky like that everytime. 76s hand fold pre, 74s hand fold pre. Good luck though. I know you are going to do well. You know what they say though "mo money, mo problems".

Two of my favorite posters now in this thread.

DGI,

Keep posting session reports.

Just reading your thought processes helps me grow as a player.

Just curious, you don't balance or mix up your play when you play super deep vs competent villains who aren't typical rec fish or donks?

Do yYou think I can beat the nosebleeds by just nitting it up, raising top ten hands and set mining?

To be clear I'm not splashing around, I told you my VPIP was 10%. I get the feeling you have a hard time accepting that its possible for others who play differently than you to also be winning players.

But I do appreciate the support. Hopefully I will be able to represent LLSNL and do us proud.

In any event, I felt good about the session because I grinded up $10k without having flopped or turned any gin monster hands or sets. Anyways, anyone can have a winning session. I agree. Only Time will tell if I have what it takes.

DGI,

I agree that you're going to have to play outside of "perceived range" to crush at that level.

Even at $2/$5, I think it's important to establish a solid "perceived range"... then look for the right spots to operate outside of it to max value/winnings.

At $1/$2, I have extreme confidence and can do that no problem. At $2/$5, I am hesitant because my confidence is still growing at that level.

I like that you went in and straight hossed it with no fear.

ILCD, i respect your game and knowledge, but i dont agree with this

not to sound cliche, but do you think dwan would be where he is now if he just played ABC in bigger games and never mixed up his range?

your "mixing it up" the wrong way.

idk how you can have a vpip of 10% and cc 74s?

Easy, live poker deals slowww so my sample size for this session is too small to accurately reflect my true VPIP. In the live game, you can be 100% card dead for an hour or two easy.

I do agree with what you infer though. It's just with those two hands the way the situation evolved I felt it was a good use of my image. Ideally I'd like better hands but I also like to take advantage of situations that present themselves (if that makes any sense) . And when you are super deep, you can profitably play a wide range of hands you'd fold 100bb or even 200bb deep depending on the situation of course...

subbed. GLGL!

WEEK #2, Day 4:
Week #2 mini bankroll as of Day 4: +$3,600
mini BR needed for taking a shot Friday: $6,000

Well, today I was able to recover my losses and cash out $4k (bought into the game for $500).

I bought into the normal 2/5nl game for $500, ran it up to $800 and then transferred over to the 2/5nl deep stack $1.5k max buy-in game.

The deep stack game today was okay. I was in seat #6, and the break down was as follows. #1 was a semi-passive ABC, #2 was action TAG, #3 was aggro donkish, #4 was aggro donkish, #5 was ABC competent, #7 was tight TAG, #8 was bad TAG, #9 was stationy TAG.

I get to the table and within 5 hands I get JJ on the BTN. I raise $30, get 2 callers. eff stacks $800

Flop(90) Q J 3
chks to me, I bet $55, two callers

Turn(275) 4
chks to me, I bet $200, 1 caller

River(675) 7
chks to me, I bet $400, V tanks then calls. I show JJ, V mucks,

The thing which seems crazy about the deep stack game is it is just a super loose freaking game. Its hard to describe. I guess the best way to think about it is if you have a bunch of donks who think they are good at poker splashing around a lot, however intermixed with that you have 2-3 really decent thinking TAGs and the occasional pro. So it makes for very interesting dynamics which when I post hands will seem spewy and just donkish when compared to the more typical ABC 2/5nl normal games...

45 minutes later we pick up a very aggro player in seat #8. He straddles constantly (we have a Mississippi straddle where you can straddle in any position). He straddles from the CO, 3 limpers, I limp from MP with QT CO makes it $50, #4 calls, I call.

flop($170) K K 9
V4 checks, I chk, CO chks.

Turn($170) J
V4 checks, I chk, CO bets $115, V4 calls $115, I min-raise to $230, CO folds, V4 tank calls (he has $130 behind. I sized my min-raise because I was sure CO would call and V4 would shove his remaining $130 and then I would be able to raise again. But ,it didn't work out that way ).

River($745) 9
V4 chks, I chk and show the straight, he says nice hand and mucks . Yuck talk about a horrible river card...

Here is a hand that I want to post and talk about. We had some villain shuffling go on and the strict ABC player is now in seat #3. He is very paint-by-numbers ABC and competent but very by-the-book.

5 way pot, I'm in the BB with K5o, I chk my option. V is in the HJ
Flop(30) K 8 3r
I chk, chks around to V who bets $25, I call. Everyone else folds. When he bets, I know that since he didn't raise preflop he has KT, KJ, and KQ majority of the time. So I call him with the expressed purpose of bluffing him on turn.

Turn(80) 7
I chk, He bets $55, I check raise to $135, he folds KJ face up and says, "Your set is good sir"

I had been doing this to him all night and by the 5th time he started to suspect something

But my session wasn't all sunshine and roses. I took a decent sized hit vs a very aggro player with a wide range

I'm on the BTN with A9o, eff stacks $550, I cover.
V raises $20 from MP, LP calls, I call on BTN, BB calls, 4-way action

Flop(80) 9 8 6r
chks to V he bets $50, I call, everyone else folds heads up.

Turn(180) 6
V grabs a stack of chips and slams them down hard on the table for a bet of $100. I tank then I put V all-in for his remaining $400 behind, V tank calls

River(1k+) T
V shows A7 for the rivered straight (no, he didn't have a flush draw to go with his straight draw). Yuck.

I was 100% shoving turn for value since I know he calls with a wide range to include any 9 and any 7. Of course, villains like this will occasionally have the nuts or the six, but most of the time TPTK vs them are the stone cold nuts. But meh, its poker. This suck out means he will continue to play the same way. FWIW, I got this back from him later.

I was able to flop a couple of sets in this session for fat value and then I stacked a V when I flopped TPMK + nut flush draw and value towned him the whole way...

All in all, I had a great session



All I need is $2,400 in the next two days in order to take a shot in Friday's big game

May the run good be with me

Thread saver

Whenever we bet we need to ask ourselves what are we hoping to accomplish with our bet.

It is unlikely that the aggro who flatted has JJ. If he had JJ he would have raised initially. So raising with AK "hoping" to fold out JJ isn't really a good objective.

Also, 3-betting ranges in 2/5nl are heavily weighted towards JJ+, AK with majority weight being AA/KK. So 4-betting here especially against the unknown villain is spewy. Granted, I would be hard pressed to play the hand worse than I did...

I understand live dynamics are different, but we still play the same game i just dont see how playing 74s like this is good for an overall strategy.

Saying we can play this profitably, multi-way, is wrong. your underestimating reverse implied odds, also its very unlikely ud need to balance anything vs the players you've described thus far. sure we can go card-dead for hours but grabbing junk from your range and trying to create some sort of ev from it by limping behind multi-way is going to lose you money. it just seems like a "feel" play with not much thought behind it.