It would appear that my 3.5k hand downswing has ended in style - all thanks to the last 1k hands and an uber-upswing to leave me on a new highest total. Donks online on a Sunday night of course. Ended up going from $2 to $10+ on two separate tables in the last session before I realised I broke the br management rule i set about having more than 10% of my roll on any one table! Guess the effective stacks were lower though

On about 8.5k hands of 2NL now. With any luck I should hit 10k hands soon, and $100 soon after. I will post a graph at 10k so you can all see how things are going.

Current bankroll: $83.32

Hit 10k hands so here's the promised graph.



Current bankroll: $85.64

Nice going dude, good luck.

Need some advice regarding my setup and have a bit of news regarding the challenge.

News:

Current bankroll: 95.90

Will be playing a bit more tonight too if I can shift this headache, so could even make it there by tomorrow if I catch some cards like I did this afternoon.

Setup and questions:

• I play on a mac. This limits the software I can use.
• I do have parallels desktop with Windows XP on it (I know, I feel dirty).
• Parallels sucks a fair amount of processor power and I very much doubt that I'd be able to run 16+ tables with TableNinja on it wihtout glitches. So that's not gonna happen.
• The Mac equivalent of TN is, for all intents and purposes, useless to me. I prefer using an external mouse w/ scroll-wheel for betsizing.
• I currently stack up to 20 tables (recently moved from cascading to stacking and loving it).
• My plan is to move to 5NL when i hit $100 which is 20x buyin. I will move down if I drop below $80 (praying this won't happen lol, can't wait to see the back of 2NL tbh). I will start 4-tabling and play more as I feel comfortable.

So the questions are: -

• Any tips on multitabling on a Mac?
• How different is 5NL to 2NL? Not played this low cash games in a long time.
• Advice on max no. of tables at 5NL - should be there soon and am winning at 13ptBB/100 at 2NL.
• Advice on brm moving up and/or down as I described earlier.

Thanks all in advance

p.s. Newbie question - wtf does CL stand for? I keep seeing it in posts and it's grinding on me that I don't understand it.

Oh and I've not used a HUD yet. Advice on whether it's worth it at 5NL?

Also running 20.18/11.12/3.79 so far at 2NL FR. Comments/advice for 5NL?

A picture paints a thousand words:



Starting on 5NL tomorrow. Once I've won enough to feel confident I won't drop below $100 I'll post my full NL2, OM8PL2 and micro-tourney graphs i.e. everything that got me this far.

Very, very pleased with myself right now. Lets just hope for a heater now so I don't have to see 2NL ever again

Advice on the above topics much appreciated.

Thanks

I found at 2nl the vast majority of my win rate came from stacking idiots, at 5nl I found most of my profit came from ramping up the aggression, isoing, 3betting (light openers) and c-betting a tone but I went straight to rush which is unbelievably nitty before 8pm in the uk, so this may not be the case on ps or in normal games.

The max number of tables should be whatever your comfortable with, start with 2-3 and keep adding one every 10 minutes if you feel you can handle more. With bankroll considerations you may want to keep relatively few tables to start until you have a bit of a buffer as your win rate is going to be higher with less tables if you pay attention, and so hopefully reduce varance.

A hud will help your win rate but its not essential to be profitable, the more tables you use and so the less attention your paying to each table will affect how handy it is, but you can defiantly get by without it.

Your current bankroll plan looks good. Just take a few days off if you are unlucky enougth to drop bellow $80 coz moving back down sucks.

As for the other stuff I know FA about macs and would also really like to know what CL stands for


Gl, hope this helps, hope to see you at 10nl soon.

Oh and this

http://www.splitsuit.com/

This guy really knows the micros, on his site watch the LAG video at 25nl and after the flopzilla vid, its improved my game no end.

LOL at the boomswitching first day on 5NL. Played < 500 hands and stopped because I couldn't stop laughing at what I could get away with, and how many hands I was catching, and how pissed the other players were getting. Will play more later

Just using exactly the same strategy as 2NL but with a bit more thought in c-betting and positional play, won't bother going into details here but it's working funny-awesome. Playing 8 tables but will probably go up to 10-12 if I feel comfortable later on. Not bothering with the HUD, just table-selecting carefully and going fishing.

Current bankroll: $127.94

Not looking forwards to the inevitable downswings though. That's gonna hurt.

So now I need to lose 8+ buyins at 5NL to drop back to 2NL - know thats totally possible but the games are so fishy if I drop much I'll just tighten up and remove all the variance plays from my strategy. As such I will compile my graphs and a few stats from my freeroll/2NLHE/2PLOM8/micro-sng adventure to $100 and post them for people to see how I did it.

Target 1: $100 (5NL freedom) - COMPLETED
Target 2: $250 (10NL freedom) - IN PROGRESS

@statue thanks buddy, great stuff as always. the videos aren't working for me but I'll try again on another computer. Might invest in flopzilla - looks pretty useful.

My journey so far - $0 to $100

The freerolls, $0.02, $0.10 and $0.25 tourneys which got me going.



The $0.01/$0.02 PLO8 which I learned while playing helped me along the way.



And the $0.01/$0.02 NLHE which did most of the hard work.

Ran: 20.2 VPIP/11.1 PRF/3.8 3B/3.4 AF with 14.5ptBB/100

Thought process:

"Lets go, lets win some moolah."
"Come on lets hit some hands."
"Seriously lets hit some hands."
"They always seem to bet when I check to them."
"They can't seriously have it every time, I'll go for a check-raise bluff."
"Sh*t."
"Okay solid values only then."
"They raise me every hand, they can't seriously have it every time."
"I just need to flop something then I'll stack these donks."
"HOW DID YOU GO TO THE RIVER WITH THAT YOU STUPID MUTHERF****IN DONK IM GONNA SLICE OFF YOUR MANHOOD WITH A FRIKKIN HAMMER."
"I need to calm down, time for a break."
"Right back in action, lets do this. 1k hands before I break again, lets make it happen."
"They still raise me every street and I can't flop so much as fekin bottom pair."
"This guy's been raising me every street of every hand. He can't have it every time, it's a low flop, I'll get him off his high cards."
"It appears he does, in fact, have it every time."
"Awesome my KK vs JJ vs QQ!"
"Sh*t"
"Awesome, flopped broadway with AQ. And he's betting into me. Lets take it slow and value-town this donk."
"Turn A, river Q with 3 allins. I need to break something."

Hope you enjoyed that. Cos I didn't. Will play more later when I'm less tilted.

Current bankroll: $109.38

I think every player knows the feelings described above - when you can only seem to get action when you are behind. Stick in there - it will pass....

lol, Ive been there, think I may have said 80% of those quotes word for word at some point.

I've just have the exact same thing happen to me at 10nl, bankroll went from $210->$160 in two sessions, I very stupidly refused to move back down but luckily started to run good but I wouldn't recommend it. Currently on $205.

Gl, remember to take a few days off if you need.

Cheers guys. I took a break for a couple of hours and then went back to it and found a pretty solid streak for a few thousand hands. I'm really enjoying playing around 12-16 tables and just putting in the volume at the moment, now that I'm out of my downswing for the moment at least. I have worked out a couple of things which I think have saved me a LOT of chips in my last couple of sessions:

- If you're OOP with nothing on the flop then check calling the flop is much better than check raising if you put him on nothing too. These guys will call out of spite every time and you have no idea still where you are in the hand.

- Aggressive post-flop play is a must, but stick all but the nuts (or close to it) in the muck if you get reraised on the flop, turn or river. At 5NL people ONLY reraise with what they consider to be the best hand. For example, I played this hand like this:


Poker Stars $0.02/$0.05 No Limit Hold'em - 8 players
The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked.com

BB: $12.50
Hero (UTG): $6.86
UTG+1: $12.58
MP1: $12.50
MP2: $7.33
CO: $5.03
BTN: $2.54
SB: $5.72

Pre Flop: ($0.07) Hero is UTG with Q Q
Hero raises to $0.20, UTG+1 calls $0.20, 4 folds, SB calls $0.18, 1 fold

Flop: ($0.65) 5 6 J (3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $0.45, UTG+1 raises to $0.90, SB folds, Hero calls $0.45

Turn: ($2.45) 3 (2 players)
Hero bets $0.90, UTG+1 raises to $2.95, Hero folds

Final Pot: $4.25
UTG+1 wins $4.05
(Rake: $0.20)

Because theres nothing he does this with that I have beat. The only thing even remotely likely that I could beat is AJ, but they usually just call this turn as I raised preflop and have been aggressive. They have a set or better here imo. I used to stack off with these overpairs, but not anymore. Looks REALLY nitty I know, but I'm 90% certain I was beat there.

Also, I'm nearing my 750VPP Stellar Award ($10 ~ 25% rakeback which is nice). Also wondering if anyone has any advice regarding FPPs and the most profitable way to use them.

Have you considered dropping down to play only a few tables? I find playing 12-16 absolutely mind boggling and I can't really focus on improving my game on anything more than 3 tables, preferably 2. I'm in a slightly different position to you in that I'm a fairly mediocre 100NL player who is probably rolled to play 400NL but lack of skill is holding me back.

It's just a thought that really working on your game for a couple of weeks playing only a couple of tables may pay dividends when you go back to the multi table grind...

maybe c-r for value with a wider range if your finding this. I can see their point though, very few people c-r for value at-all so your range is super polarised when you do this, though I highly doubt that's their though process.

btw how much attention do you pay to each table? are you going through the hand history's making notes etc??

I used to play pretty high too (as discussed in the OP), so I think my strategy level is pretty good. At 2NL and 5NL however, people can play so randomly that it's often difficult to put them on a hand and figure out where you're at in a particular spot. As such, I think it is more profitable at these stakes to simply play a solid strategy, raising with the best hand , folding when their actions tell you you're beat. For me, its $/hour that count at the moment as I'm a busy guy, so for the purposes of this challenge, as I think massively-multi-tabling 5NL is faster profit than concentrating on a couple of tables, I'm gonna stick with it.

At the current rate I should be at my next milestone within another 25k hands. 10NL is a different kettle of fish to 5NL I am told, and I will have to rethink my strategy for these - working on my game may well be the first step.

My time I can dedicate to this challenge is about to be cut short - my girlfriend arrives from Peru tomorrow, so will spending most of my free time with her. Will play while she's at her part-time job, but apart form that it's gonna be pretty sparse around here . I'll stick with it though, as tbh I'm making minimum wage grinding 5NL at the moment (downswings included), so until I get a proper job (one in the pipeline) this will be my recreational timefiller


It does work for value quite well tbh, have started doing it more. But LOL at saying my range is polarised - it is very true, however I doubt 95% of 5NL players even know the meanings of the words "range" and "polarised" in a poker context, so it's a bit of a moot point I think. Plus the fact that they call when I c/r with the nuts supports this theory.

When multitabling I usually keep track mentally of certain moves done by players to me like attacking my blind or check-raising me. It usually amounts up to 10-15 players I have my eye on out of the 130 or so I'm at the tables with. The rest I just play my normal game with. I do analyze things in PT3 after a session, but not too heavily as quite simply it's too random at 5NL imo for much data to actually be useful. Also I don't have a large enough sample for stats to mean anything atm.

I have got used to a few of the 5NL regs and tend to avoid them as best I can. Check-raising all-in on a bluff against a reg and watching him fold is one of the best feelings ever though . They tend to be more aggressive, especially with other regs which is pretty standard. I just keep out of their way unless I have a hand or I think they're out of line.

Hi Magicman,

I've been following your challenge the last couple of days.
I found it because i myself have a similar story...

I've played all kinds of stakes online and B&M, and got most experience playing B&M where the avg skill is about the same as 10nl i guess (where i'm from anyways).
I used to make a nice profit on a weekly basis and started playing some more online, mostly tourneys. Now i started playing cash games "seriously" the last couple of days and i play about 2k-2.5K hands a day but I keep breaking even. I know that this is because i prolly didnt get my range right. Could u please post your hand ranges from EP,MP and LP? I'd like to see if i'm headed in the right direction seeing as how i can't seem to beat 2NL (yet).

At 2NL I was pretty LAGy which might not work for you. A few tips that worked for me at 2NL are

A rough OPENING range:

EP: Raise TT-AA, AK, AQ, AJs (to 4BB w/ pairs, 5BB w/ Ax) Limp all other PPs, KQs
MP: Raise all PPs and All Ax, KQ, KJs, QJs to 4BB (amazing how often you steal the blinds in MP). Never open limp.
LP: Raise anything suited and vaguely connected, All pairs, Ax, K8+, Q9+ to 4BB. Never limp.

Always c-bet ~1/2-2/3 pot, even OOP against up to 3 opponents. It's amazing what people call with and fold.

Setmine like a b1tch. If you have 25/1 implied odds its worth it.

Turn and river: ALWAYS bet 1/2 pot if it's checked to you in last position. Especially on the river. If people have something at 2NL they are betting it on the river. Most of the time you can take a pot down if you miss your draw just by betting. this is where the majority of my profit came from. People say dont bluff at micros, but my opponents all seemed loose passive freflop and tight passive postflop.

Give it up if youre raised. You are beat unless you have the nuts or close to it. End of.

Hope that helps.

Thanks a bunch!
It really is different from my range, i used to limp 22-99 from MP and never( or hardly ever) raised KQ KJ QJ from MP either. I had a feeling that i was playing a bit too tight, although i think it's the safe way to go at 2NL. I did pot,pot,pot my monsters but i see now that i dont open enough hands. I'll def try this approach and see where it takes me.

Diff question, just curious.
Are you using software? I'm using HoldemManager myself.

Yeah I never potted my monsters it makes people fold lol - 1/2-1/3 pot it like you c-bet and draw people in. If you want a call make it smaller on a clean board. Make it bigger on a drawy board or if they've been calling you a lot and you have the nuts. Bet bigger on a low board when you have top-pair too, to discourage people from peeling one off with overcards.

Open limping in MP is bad... just raise it all and see where that gets you. Most people behind you will fold, but the blinds often call because they say "Im getting priced in here, even with 94o", so you have position on them for the rest of the hand which is uber-useful.

This strat takes time to get used to, and is very swingy (see above graphs) but it's definitely better than BE in the long run. Let me know how you get on

I use PT3 as it's available on Mac. I like it. Never tried HEM though, people say it's better. Other than that I use flopzilla (thanks to statue) and SnG wiz and PokerStove.

Lol, I thought $15/$30 in your OP meant 15NL/30NL not blinds of $15/$30

Also, I think people exaggerate the different between levels. Generally there are just fewer fish and slightly improved regs when you move up a level, nothing dramatically changes. Obviously the difference between 200NL and 4NL (where I started) is massive, but I never noticed much of a difference when I moved up individual levels. I think people just tend to say the level above their current level involves a huge skill leap when in reality they just ran bad while taking a shot...

Hi Magic,

ill def keep u posted. Ill be checking ur updates too.
If u would like to get HEM i could help u with that, just let me know.
I have the new version including Tablescanner, although i can't seem to get that part to work.

Gl on the Felt.

Yeah well I was probably only rolled for NL15/NL30, but did play NL3000 once. Crapped myself about 12 hands in when I saw a 5k pot and left about $45 up as I remember . I am officially a winner at NL3000 This was all years ago though, when poker was just booming and there were still fish at higher limit tables (this was on PKR too - fissshhhyyy).

I agree about the levels, however there are some distinct differences. NL2 to NL5 players are just generally better, and they know how to bluff. I hear that NL50 to NL100 is tough as NL100 players 3bet waaay more than NL50. Other than that, you're right, players just get better, and fish get fewer.

More light 3-betting is definitely a significant difference between 50NL and 100NL, although it does happen at 50NL. For some reason when I moved from 20NL to 50NL, the play seemed a bit fishier at 50NL. I think that was just a peculiarity of the site I was playing at the time...