Hi there and welcome to (another) poker challenge. Starting with a single BI, I will start growing my BR playing live NLH.

Background:

I have been playing poker pretty much my entire life with family and friends. From NLH to Stud to H/L Omaha to obscure games -- poker has always been present. I have dabbled in online NLH and small BR challenges with micro-stakes, but that never has really kept my attention for prolonged amounts of time and I always ended up shipping my BR off on MTTs. This time will hopefully be different for 2 reasons: 1. Live 1/2 is way different than online micros 2. I will actually use some BR management to keep a handle on things.

Goal

I have a full-time job, but I will try to get 3-4 sessions in per week (usually 3-4 hr sessions after work). I’ll be keeping progress here, along with a mobile poker tracker, and report after each session. I have 9 sessions logged so far (38 hrs total).

Started with $200

Session 1 : +500
Session 2 : -39
Session 3 : +300
Session 4 : -300
Session 5 : +42
Session 6 : +200
Session 7 : +100

Goal 1 ($1000) hit!

Session 8: +200
Session 9: +274

Current BR: $1477 (+$1277)
$/hr: $33.76
$/100 hands: $135

Current goal: $2500


Thanks

-E

Hand from a 1/2 session last night:

Hero (~$400)
Villian (~$1200) -- mid 30s, loose aggressive player, huge run-good with winning hands at showdown and by pushing people out by severely over betting, I've been trying to avoid pots with him

Hero (BB): JQdd -- limps around table and I raise to $12
Villian (SB): only caller in SB
Pot (~$40)
Flop: 2d6dAs
Villian bets $65
I think about it for a bit...end up calling -- I have him on Ax, decide to call and shoot for the flush
Turn: 3c (blegh)
Pot: (~$172)
Villian bets $175
I end up folding -- too much to pay off to aim for the flush

Thoughts?

Session 10: -36
Time: 5:35

Rough session...had a few decent wins right at the start..but that quickly came crashing down. Missed open-ended/ nut flushes TWICE by missing both the turn and the river. Missed 3 other nut flushes, while having either top or second-best pair by someone catching a set on the river. Just totally card-dead/ crap luck.

Barely climbed back to (almost) even after 5 hours. Oh well. On to the next....

Overall: $1441 (+$1241)
$/hr: $28.59
$/100 hands: $114

Finally, a 1/2 live cash player!
Tired of seeking an interesting pg&c thread to follow and always landing on micro internet/ sng/ mtt baloney!
Good luck!
Any more info? Town, casino?

Thanks!! I'll try to keep it interesting.
I'm playing in the Northeast US. Usually Twin River, RI. Sometimes Foxwoods in CT, or MGM Springfield in MA.

Session 11: -391

Sorry for the brief hiatus, work/life was hectic and I couldn't get a chance to escape to the tables. However, I played yesterday.....and what a BRUTAL session. For around 5 hours I was completely card dead, and pretty much busted through 2 BIs.

There were two very loose-aggressive guys directly to my left that I could've capitalized on, but I couldn't pick up a hand AT ALL. Hate to see it.


Overall: $1050 (+$850)
$/hr: $17.65
$/100 hands: $70.60

Question for the crowd:

When playing live 1/2, what do your prefer buying in with and why? I usually just do a standard 100 BI ($200), but what are people's opinions about short-stacking with 50 BI, or other ranges? Strategy?

-E

Awesome!!! Glad to see a new thread. I look forward to following your heroic journey. One thing, I noticed that even though it’s your introductory post you have already completed 7 sessions... hurtful. Is there any specific reason you chose not to include us? Waiting for the “I had already logged those before I posted excuse even though it will do nothing to dry my tears...

“Hand from 1-2 last night”
QdJd- I think you should either reraise all in on the flop or fold. I think his bet is rarely an A, if so it’s a very weak one, mostly a 6. You are murdering a 6, live against an A and if he has Axdd then you are SOL. I would shove but I think you should fold the flop. Having said that-
If you see him showing down huge hands/the nuts every time I would pry just move tables and not deal with it, why try to slug it out against a big stack when you could just move 7 feet to a better game? Think of it this way, if you were going to fight someone for $10,000 and you had to choose between Brok Lesner or Gary Coleman who would you pick? If I did decide to try to take him on I would definitely pick a much stronger hand, be in position and try to get in cheap. I would mostly not chase unless it was a huge draw at an excellent price. Hands like QQ-AA, AKs- I’d play 88-JJ for cheap in position and I’d be looking for mostly nutted hands, too two and sets on dry boards. Let him do the betting and put myself in spots where I can safely shove the river. I would also be watching every single thing this person does so I have maximum info to use in these spots. Again, I would just avoid the whole situation though...

I’m not a fan of short stacking. I want to give myself the best chance to win the most money. Playing short stacked makes you decisions easier but also is very constricting and confines you to a very basic and in my opinion very fave up style of play. I really do not see any benefit....maybe if you wanted to jump into a new limit or different game so you could see how it played....

Yeah, I have to settle with "I just happened to play those before I posted" excuse. I was on the fence between actually doing a constructed BR challenge vs Rec-playing, but I feel the "challenge" is more interesting and keeps me honest. And since I was tracking progress anyways, might as well have others watch on and see me win or lose.

Per the hand...I agree with your take. If I wanted to stay in the pot, I should've just shoved and not just toss him the free $65. Especially being such a loose player having a 6 is totally in that range, but seeing him lay down a few monsters and his overall run-good it had me tilted to guessing an Ax combo.

Overall hindsight/observation -- I don't move tables often enough. Or, really at all. Even the past two sessions when I was card-dead for hours, I just stayed put and expected things to change. Probably a good idea in the future to be more lenient with seat changes. Especially to grab position on certain players.

Thanks for your feedback!

I have the same mindset. It makes much more straight-forward decision making, but you don't have the ability or "safety net" of trying to make a move in some interesting spots. Using short-stacking explore a new limit, like when/if I move up to 2/5 is a good idea.

“Make a move in interesting spots” Not something I think you should be doing in 1-2/1-3. You don’t need to play fancy or try to skid it out for thin value at these stakes. It just loses you money but more difficultly. Just play solid ABC poker and accept that you will occasionally get sucked out on.

Update:


I have been insanely busy with work and unable to head to the tables. I’m going to try to go on Sunday and Monday to log some hours/sessions, but in the meantime….

*Online grinding*

To improve my game, and to keep people’s interest, I’m going to start grinding some microstakes to build a roll online as well. I’ll be using Ignition to play and keep track with PT4. I’ll post updates and interesting hands/spots as they come up (mostly big wins and big losses). I’ll be starting with whatever was left in the account (~$20) and start with NL10.

After two days of post-work playing, here is the status with an insanely small sample size and a bit of luck:



LIVE

Overall: $1050 (+$850)
$/hr: $17.65
$/100 hands: $70.60

ONLINE (NL10)

Overall: $42.20 (+$22.20)
BB/100: 60.33


-E

BB with KQo

PokerStars - $0.10 NL - Holdem - 8 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

CO: 125.4 BB (VPIP: 41.67, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 24)
BTN: 112.5 BB (VPIP: 38.10, PFR: 4.76, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 21)
SB: 92 BB (VPIP: 14.29, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 7)
Hero (BB): 36.7 BB
UTG: 105.2 BB (VPIP: 29.17, PFR: 20.83, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 24)
UTG+1: 216.2 BB (VPIP: 62.50, PFR: 16.67, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 24)
MP: 84.1 BB (VPIP: 27.27, PFR: 13.64, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 22)
MP+1: 40.2 BB (VPIP: 52.63, PFR: 5.26, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 19)

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has K Q

fold, fold, MP raises to 3 BB, MP+1 calls 3 BB, fold, fold, fold, Hero calls 2 BB

Flop: (9.5 BB, 3 players) Q K 7
Hero checks, MP bets 6 BB, MP+1 calls 6 BB, Hero calls 6 BB

Turn: (27.5 BB, 3 players) Q
Hero checks, MP checks, MP+1 bets 5.1 BB, Hero calls 5.1 BB, fold

River: (37.7 BB, 2 players) 9
Hero bets 22.6 BB and is all-in, MP+1 calls 22.6 BB

Hero shows K Q (Full House, Queens full of Kings)
(Pre 83%, Flop 96%, Turn 100%)

MP+1 mucks J K (Two Pair, Kings and Queens)
(Pre 17%, Flop 4%, Turn 0%)

Hero wins 78.8 BB

Set over Set

PokerStars - $0.10 NL - Holdem - 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

MP: 73.5 BB (VPIP: 32.26, PFR: 22.58, 3Bet Preflop: 9.09, Hands: 32)
Hero (MP+1): 31.7 BB
MP+2: 121 BB (VPIP: 55.56, PFR: 11.11, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 9)
CO: 81.6 BB (VPIP: 26.67, PFR: 13.33, 3Bet Preflop: 6.67, Hands: 31)
BTN: 82.3 BB (VPIP: 13.04, PFR: 8.70, 3Bet Preflop: 20.00, Hands: 23)
SB: 106.5 BB (VPIP: 4.17, PFR: 4.17, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 24)
BB: 88.9 BB (VPIP: 15.63, PFR: 9.38, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 32)
UTG: 101.8 BB (VPIP: 13.33, PFR: 13.33, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 31)
UTG+1: 78.1 BB (VPIP: 16.13, PFR: 6.45, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 31)

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has 9 9

fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to 2 BB, MP+2 calls 2 BB, fold, fold, SB calls 1.5 BB, BB calls 1 BB

Flop: (8 BB, 4 players) A 2 T
SB checks, BB checks, Hero checks, MP+2 checks

Turn: (8 BB, 4 players) 9
SB bets 5.5 BB, fold, Hero calls 5.5 BB, fold

River: (19 BB, 2 players) 6
SB bets 11 BB, Hero raises to 24.2 BB and is all-in, SB calls 13.2 BB

Hero shows 9 9 (Three of a Kind, Nines)
(Pre 86%, Flop 11%, Turn 100%)

SB shows 2 2 (Three of a Kind, Twos)
(Pre 14%, Flop 89%, Turn 0%)


Hero wins 64.1 BB

Lucky K on the river

PokerStars - $0.10 NL - Holdem - 7 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

Hero (BB): 110.5 BB
UTG: 50 BB (VPIP: 29.63, PFR: 25.93, 3Bet Preflop: 16.67, Hands: 27)
UTG+1: 85.2 BB (VPIP: 17.86, PFR: 7.14, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 28)
MP: 43.5 BB (VPIP: 50.00, PFR: 15.00, 3Bet Preflop: 14.29, Hands: 21)
CO: 97 BB (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 10)
BTN: 112.6 BB (VPIP: 22.22, PFR: 3.70, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 28)
SB: 28 BB (VPIP: 11.11, PFR: 11.11, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 9)

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has K K

fold, fold, fold, CO raises to 3 BB, fold, SB calls 2.5 BB, Hero raises to 5 BB, CO calls 2 BB, SB calls 2 BB

Flop: (15 BB, 3 players) Q T 6
SB checks, Hero bets 16.9 BB, CO calls 16.9 BB, SB calls 16.9 BB

Turn: (65.7 BB, 3 players) 3
SB bets 6.1 BB and is all-in, Hero raises to 88.6 BB and is all-in, CO calls 75.1 BB and is all-in

River: (222 BB, 3 players) K

Hero shows K K (Three of a Kind, Kings)

CO shows Q T (Two Pair, Queens and Tens)

SB shows K Q (Two Pair, Kings and Queens)

Hero wins 210.9 BB


PHEW!

PokerStars - $0.10 NL - Holdem - 8 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

UTG: 26.9 BB (VPIP: 16.67, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 12)
UTG+1: 601.7 BB (VPIP: 57.14, PFR: 28.57, 3Bet Preflop: 33.33, Hands: 14)
MP: 122.5 BB (VPIP: 20.00, PFR: 6.67, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 15)
MP+1: 119.7 BB (VPIP: 52.94, PFR: 5.88, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 17)
CO: 25.4 BB (VPIP: 17.65, PFR: 5.88, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 17)
BTN: 35.7 BB (VPIP: 29.41, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 17)
Hero (SB): 65.1 BB
BB: 33 BB (VPIP: 23.53, PFR: 11.76, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 17)

Hero posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has Q A

fold, UTG+1 raises to 8.2 BB, fold, MP+1 calls 8.2 BB, fold, fold, Hero calls 7.7 BB, fold

Flop: (25.6 BB, 3 players) Q 6 6
Hero checks, UTG+1 checks, MP+1 checks

Turn: (25.6 BB, 3 players) 6
Hero bets 25.6 BB, UTG+1 calls 25.6 BB, fold

River: (76.8 BB, 2 players) 2
Hero bets 31.3 BB and is all-in, UTG+1 calls 31.3 BB

Hero shows Q A (Full House, Sixes full of Queens)
(Pre 46%, Flop 88%, Turn 100%)

UTG+1 mucks 4 4 (Full House, Sixes full of Fours)
(Pre 54%, Flop 12%, Turn 0%)


Hero wins 132.5 BB

------------------------------------------------------------------

PokerStars - $0.10 NL - Holdem - 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

UTG+1: 99.4 BB (VPIP: 15.00, PFR: 15.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 20)
MP: 124.1 BB (VPIP: 61.90, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 22)
Hero (MP+1): 39.8 BB
MP+2: 83 BB (VPIP: 19.05, PFR: 4.76, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 21)
CO: 135.8 BB (VPIP: 31.82, PFR: 22.73, 3Bet Preflop: 25.00, Hands: 22)
BTN: 93.3 BB (VPIP: 31.82, PFR: 4.55, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 22)
SB: 29.4 BB (VPIP: 69.23, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 13)
BB: 32.8 BB (VPIP: 50.00, PFR: 13.64, 3Bet Preflop: 20.00, Hands: 22)
UTG: 96 BB (VPIP: 11.11, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 9)

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has K T

fold, UTG+1 calls 1 BB, MP calls 1 BB, Hero calls 1 BB, fold, fold, fold, SB calls 0.5 BB, BB checks

Flop: (5 BB, 5 players) J 6 K
SB checks, BB checks, UTG+1 checks, MP checks, Hero bets 2.5 BB, SB calls 2.5 BB, fold, UTG+1 calls 2.5 BB, MP calls 2.5 BB

Turn: (15 BB, 4 players) Q
SB checks, UTG+1 checks, MP checks, Hero bets 15 BB, SB calls 15 BB, UTG+1 calls 15 BB, MP calls 15 BB

River: (75 BB, 4 players) A
SB checks, UTG+1 checks, MP checks, Hero bets 21.3 BB and is all-in, fold, fold, MP calls 21.3 BB

Hero shows K T (Straight, Ace High)
(Pre 43%, Flop 62%, Turn 80%)

MP mucks A 2 (One Pair, Aces)
(Pre 57%, Flop 38%, Turn 20%)


Hero wins 111.8 BB

Session 12: -200
Session 13: +100


------------------------
LIVE

Overall: $950 (+$750)
$/hr: $13.98
$/100 hands: $55.91

Annnnd back from a hiatus. Work became waaaaaay more busy than expected so I had to take some time off from poker. That, plus a string of losing sessions, gave me time to study my game and go over past hands/ strategy.

Well, here's the update:

Back from Nov.:
Session 14: +1
Session 15:-260
Session 16: -300

And then the hiatus began in Dec. and ended yesterday with:

Session 17: +339

Nice winning session with some interesting spots. Snagged a straight flush against a K high flush and got paid off, which is always nice.

---------------------------------

LIVE

Overall: $730 (+$530)
$/hr: $6.87
$/100 hands: $27.47

Worth the shove?

End of a long session..table of 8 people, all relatively short stacked.
I'm on the button with ~70 and get KQhh.
Five people limp around to me, I raise to 12 with four callers
Flop 10c,9s,2c
V1 (Effective ~100) bets 25, fold, V2 shoves his remaining 40.
Pot ~115 at this point and I have ~50 left with two over cards and a gutshot straight draw..I shove and V1 calls.

Turn, 3h. River, 7c.
V1 shows a medium flush, V2 has two pair -- 10 and 9.

Blegh.

Update! Been logging more sessions and slowly building back.

-300
0
+54
0
+23
+284
+21

Slowly....
Overall: $812 (+612)