Hi all, I'm a mid-30s Canadian, starting at nl2 6max on Stars, and trying to move up as high as possible, as quickly as possible. Quick disclaimer, I've started a couple PGC threads in the past, and ended up getting lazy about updating them after a while. One of my main focuses here is in continuously updating and keeping this going.

I currently work 1.5 jobs (one full-time, one part-time), but I still will try to get sufficient hours in. I have been playing poker, both live and online (but mostly online), for several years. I have done a lot of studying of the game through books, and through off-the-table theoretical analysis (on my own). I have recently devised a system of play that I would like to use to start this new journey.

I spent some time designing preflop ranges that satisfy two conditions. Firstly, I want them to be as unexploitable as possible in as many situations as possible. Secondly, I want to select the hands for my preflop ranges in a way which will allow me to win the most postflop. I believe I've done a decent job of that now. So far, nothing too crazy. Postflop is where most of my unconventional play is. I designed my postflop play/ranges to use a lot of underbetting and overbetting, while still trying to be somewhat balanced and unexploitable. Of course, if I find something not working well as I progress, I will continue to try and improve.

So now for my BRM. My current BR is $93.59. Anytime I am below $100, I will play nl2. That gives me a "base" of 50BI at nl2. This should be plenty to minimize any risk of ruin. From there, I will be trying to move up quickly. Here are my guidelines for the first few levels:

-----------------------------BRM--------------------------------------
NL2: $000-120
NL5: $120-160 (drop down to nl2 when below $100)
NL10: $160-400 (drop down to nl5 when below $120)
NL25: $400-? (drop down to nl10 when below $300)
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So it's not super-agro, but still is fairly aggressive when compared to most. Over the last few days, I've played about 7600 hands while using my new system. Over that time, I've been tweaking my postflop lines a little here and there. I'm now ready to begin the journey. I will not count these hands for this challenge, but will start from now. Well, heading to work now, but will start when I get back lol. But I'll post my graph from those hands, and some hand histories just to get this thread started.




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Biggest winning hand:




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Biggest losing hand:




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So now my journey begins. I appreciate any and all replies! Would especially like to know how often you like updates, and what types of things you like to see during updates. And of course, ask away any other questions you might have!

Current (Starting) Bankroll: $93.59
Current Stakes: NL2
Total Profit: $0

Got back from work, played a couple hours. Got off to a good start for the challenge, after misplaying a couple hands early on.

Hands: 1060
Profit: +$8.09
Bankroll: $101.67



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Biggest winning hand:



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Biggest losing hand (actually misplayed the river, I normally wouldn't bet in this situation):



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You don't scare me

Just updating cause I want to get in the habit of updating every day. Because of my work schedule, didn't have any time to play yesterday.

Hands: 0
Profit: $0
Bankroll: $101.67

I'm thinking daily updates will just be quick results. Three times a month (about once a week, except for the last week), I will do weekly summaries, including hand histories and a graph or two. And the last week of every month (or beginning of the next month), I will do a more detailed summary for the month. So for today:

Hands: 1592
Profit: +$9.29
Bankroll: $110.90
Currently Playing: NL2 (move to nl5 at $120)

Am running well, but also feeling confident in my game. And looking forward to moving up soon. I feel like I have a gameplan that will work all the way through the micros (at the least). Much of that due to what I feel is a very solid preflop plan. Only time will tell though.. we'll see. It wouldn't be the first time I was trying stuff out with great results at first, only to see it fall apart later lol.

Hands: 2750
Profit: +$0.56
Bankroll: $111.28
Currently Playing: NL2 (move to nl5 at $120)

Not the greatest day, but ended up on the positive side, so I'll take it.

Gl man. Take shots at nl5 asap.

Thank you ExpectedV; shot at nl5 coming soon. Gonna stick to the BRM plan for now though, so will wait until the bankroll hits $120 (which shouldn't take too much longer anyway).

Bit of a short day today, due to work schedules again. Full weekly update coming most likely tomorrow.

Hands: 561
Profit: -$1.17
Bankroll: $110.11
Currently Playing: NL2 (move to nl5 at $120)

Hands: 0
Profit: $0
Bankroll: $110.11
Currently Playing: NL2 (move to nl5 at $120)

So no playing time yesterday. Spent time with family after work, and doing a bit of work on my postflop game. I was thinking that the same philosophy that I designed my preflop play around, should apply postflop as well. So I'm working on new postflop lines/ranges based on that philosophy.

I do still like the min-betting/overbetting I was experimenting with as well though. So will see how my new approach to postflop play compares with that, and decide which direction to go moving forward. I think the main thing is to have a solid preflop approach. Then no matter how I design my lines postflop, as long as they are fundamentally decent, I should be ok at these stakes. But I still want to continue to work on my game and improve.

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Weekly Summary:
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NL2:
Hands: 5,963
Profit: +$16.77 [+14.06 bb/100]

Weekly Totals:
Total Hands: 5,963
Total Profit: +$16.77

NL2:


------Hands-----

Big pot won. Villain was 20/17 over small sample; not a fish or anything (it seems). Maybe he was tilted by how I was playing?



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Vs a fish.



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Preflop raising battle vs LAG-type opponent.



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Big pot lost; bluffs picked off.



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I think the call on the river is ok, although not sure. Good bluff-catcher, but villain's stats suggest he doesn't get out of line too often. But he doesn't represent an ace that well with his betting line..

Minbetting and overbetting is something I've tried too. It's certainly unconventional, so it keeps the game interesting.
Subbing now. GL!

Thanks Arty. Yeah, I've noticed you like to overbet as well. I'm not sure how often you minbet/overbet, but it definitely keeps things interesting. In fact, I dedicated one of my hands down below to you.

Hands: 2105
Profit: +$8.01
Bankroll: $118.09
Currently Playing: NL2 (move to nl5 at $120)

I haven't been posting hands before with the daily updates, but might start doing that a bit more.

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Trapped!



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This one's for you Arty! Granted, it's a cooler for him (or maybe not, considering the SPR with 3rd nut flush). But how do you get 200bb stacks in, in a limped pot?



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When at first you don't succeed...



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From bluffing to bluff-catching

^^this is important, so take heed.

Much of what you are doing will work at 2nl, because pretty much anything works at 2nl if you put a little bit of thought into it.

By the time you get to 25nl, balance becomes ever more important and FPS (fancy play syndrome) needs to give way to sound theoretical poker, unless of course you have access to a continuing fishpool...which is kinda hard to find consistently online these days.

Anyways GL.

Move up sooner imo. Probably my biggest poker regret is that I was a bankroll nit at 2NL. I played way too many hands at that level, and developed a playing style (and some bad habits) that I had to unlearn at 10NL.

I loved the K2s hand, btw. Overbetting twice in one hand is quite a thrill. I think I would have check-raised the turn though.
P.S. With the AJ OOP on Axx, a check on the flop is often better than a bet. When you make the "standard" c-bet there, some bad things can happen, like getting over-called and/or check-raised, and suddenly you're in a much bigger pot than your hand strength warrants, and you have no idea which are good/bad turns and rivers if it's still multiway on the later streets. The river is a check-call too. If villain was bluffing on the flop, you need to give him one last chance to make a suicidal bet, because he's not calling the river with a hand you beat.

Thanks Fatboy. I get your point about moving up ASAP. I gave myself strict BRM requirements though, and I intend to stick to them unless an important reason arises for me to change them.

I don't think of my unconventional play as FPS though, but I guess that depends on how you define FPS. I'm just experimenting with this style of play, but I did try and incorporate somewhat balanced ranges.

I do appreciate the advice. I also have a competing idea for designing my postflop lines around, which I'm currently working on a little bit at a time. You might consider it more "theoretically sound". Still not sure which style I'll try to build my game around in the long run.

Either way, my play will still be some degree of unconventional.

Hands: 861
Profit: +$2.79
Bankroll: $120.82
Currently Playing: NL2 (next session will start at nl5)

Just a short session before heading to sleep. Reached $120, so I will move up to nl5 starting next session.

EDIT (in response to Arty's post):

I just wanted to hit $120 as a formality, to stick to my plan. It's not like I still had a long way to go. An extra session or two won't hurt anything in the long run. But I do get your point. From this point on though, my shots will be taken more aggressively. For example, I will shot-take nl10 at $160.

For the AJ hand, I think I agree mostly. My main worry was in trying to fold out some of their equity, because the combined equity of 3 opponents vs my hand weakens my hand considerably. But it probably isn't strong enough in the first place to even worry about that.

Hands: 1824
Profit: +$22.30
Bankroll: $143.03
Currently Playing: NL5 (move up to nl10 at $160, drop to nl2 at $100)

Good start to nl5, halfway to nl10 already. Will hopefully have more time tomorrow to post a few hands.. just a short update today.

Hands: 1684
Profit: -$12.76
Bankroll: $131.22
Currently Playing: NL5 (move up to nl10 at $160, drop to nl2 at $100)

Another quick update, as I'm about to head to work. Will do some more theory work after.

Clown!!! �� underbetting and overbetting at nl 2. Drugs can kill u mate. Learn the basic stuff get to nl 200 showing u understand THE basics and the you can get creative and aproxímate the game in a strategy way, im a NL 50 player stars see u there

Hahaha, you must be the clown-hater. "Basics" is such a broad term, and could mean any number of things with respect to poker. So it's hard for me to respond to that. There's a lot that I already know, but there's a lot that I don't know.

What's wrong with under/overbetting at nl2? I have a few reasons for developing such a postflop approach:
- Most people are unprepared for defending against such an approach
- It can be more effective in inducing tilt in my opponents
- It allows me to see cheap turn cards more often (where hands are more "defined"), but can still get stacks in by the river
- I enjoy being creative and playing in a way different from the norm (if doing so is profitable)

I'm still refining this approach, and trying to improve upon it. My main goal is to make money and move up the stakes though, so if I need to change this at some point, I will. But so far, it's doing fairly well, so I'll stick with it.

Hopefully I'll see you at nl50 in the near future

Hands: 0
Profit: $0
Bankroll: $131.22
Currently Playing: NL5 (move up to nl10 at $160, drop to nl2 at $100)

Day off from playing. Doing more off-the-table work for my postflop game to resemble my preflop game. May not get much time tonight either for playing, but hopefully will have a bit of time.

Hands: 0
Profit: $0
Bankroll: $131.22
Currently Playing: NL5 (move up to nl10 at $160, drop to nl2 at $100)

Took some more time off. Totally re-doing all my postflop lines, which also means in some cases slightly adjusting my preflop ranges. So hopefully I'll get back to playing in 1 or 2 days. So that means I'm putting aside the min-betting and overbetting for now, as I put my preflop philosophy into play postflop. My main goal is to shoot through the micros as quickly as possible. I was planning to do this work a little at a time as I go, but decided to just do it all now.

In the meantime, some hands from nl5 from the last couple of sessions.

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Biggest winning hand:



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A non-believer?



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Biggest losing hand.



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A fun hand

Haven't updated for a couple days, cause I haven't played any hands. Still working on my game off the tables. I already feel I have a solid preflop strategy. But, I want to do the same work on my postflop game. Progress has been slower than I would have liked, but it's coming along. Should start playing again in a couple days.

Normally, I would do my monthly summary on the first day of the new month, but since I'm not going to be playing tonight, I'll do it now.

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Monthly Summary:
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NL2:
Hands: 8,929
Profit: +$27.57 [+15.44 bb/100]

NL5:
Hands: 3,508
Profit: +$9.54 [+5.44 bb/100]

Monthly Totals:
Total Hands: 12,437
Total Profit: +$37.63

Totals From Start of Challenge:
Nl2: 8,929 hands -> +$27.57 (+15.44 bb/100)
NL5: 3,508 hands -> +$9.54 (+5.44 bb/100)
Total Hands: 12,437
Total Profit: +$37.63
Total Time Since Start of Challenge: 15 days


NL2 (This Month):



NL5 (This Month):



Total (All Stakes, Since the Start of Challenge):

Nice results for the month. That redline at 2NL is a surprise! Confirmed: Nanostakes aren't full of calling stations.

Nice start bud, keep it up. What are your goals for June? Moar volume?

Thanks Arty, yeah, some of them can fold lol.

Thanks EV. Of course, more volume is a goal. I work a lot, but I still want to get more hours of playing in. First couple days of the month, as I mentioned, will be spent on the theory side. But then, will try to play as much as possible. Would like to be sufficiently rolled for (and winning at) nl10 this month.

Nice results man, hope june brings green figures for you too!

Thank you nibor. I wasn't able to get all the theory work done that I wanted to, but will start playing again tonight (heading to work now). I did enough on the standard spots for now, and will do a bit of quick work on 3bet pots after work. And then will start playing again, because I miss playing lol.

Also considering depositing a little more money into my PS account so that I'm rolled for nl10. Thinking about starting up there, as PS has that pyramid challenge thing, but only for nl10 and up. And I think I can do alright there. I think it's maybe worth a shot anyway. Will decide later.