Hi. My name is Chris. I had a previous challenge on this thread 600 to 10,000, unfortunately, that wasn't possible. Ended up clearing most of my BR out because of a ticket I got almost a year ago (lawyer fees) plus the fees it cost me to trade my funds to get them off of Lock. Didn't want to have to start back at 4nl but will be. I want to make it to at least 100nl by the end of the year. Not sure how possible this is since I'm starting at the bottom but we'll see. I will be using strict BRM but will be taking risky but managed risks to get through 25nl. I finally got my HM working again so I will be posting graphs and HH and am posting this thread as a way to track my play. I would love to get as many people as possible to subscribe and give input on HH and graphs I post!

Poker background:
I've been playing for around 4 years or so pretty recreational. Have been mostly a MTT player. My biggest cash was last July in the Sunday 100k on Lock for 5k, most of which went to lawyer fees . I am a college student-athlete and will be reporting for camp on Aug 13th. Once I get back in school I will have limited time to play which is why I want to make the almost permanent transition to cash games, preferably 6max.

Bankroll Management:
4nl--->$200.00 (5BI shot at 10nl, drop to 4nl at $150.00)
10nl--->$500.00 (5BI shot at 25nl, drop to 10nl at $375.00)
25nl--->$1000.00 (5BI shot at 50nl, drop to 25nl at $750.00)
50nl--->$2500.00 (5BI shot at 100nl, drop to 50nl at $2000.00)
100nl--->$5000.00 (5BI shot at 200nl, drop to 100nl at $4000.00)
200nl---> ???

Obviously this is kind of risky but I think will be okay as long as I make sure I move down if I don't do good on the jump up. May be adding a little more BIs before moving up past 50nl.

Primary goals:
-Be a reg at 100nl by the end of the year
-Find some good players to review my play and each others HH
-Practice precise BRM
-Play strictly cash, only play tourneys with points earned from cash

Goals outside of poker:
-I am a college athlete and have been working hard all summer in the weight room but I'm home for about another month and a half so I need to run atleast 1 mile everyday as well as hill sprints (progress my way from 10 to hopefully 40 by Aug 10th or so)
-Continue to push weight in the gym and work on maxes
-Stay on top of taking supplements everyday and at prime times (Protein, creatine (started loading today), GAT pre workout, GNC vitapack, Scivation Xtend)
-Drop down to 230 before Aug 10th. I am at about 265 right now but got moved from O line (never played there before until last semester) to D line (where I'm def more comfortable)

I'm not the one to come to about poker related advice because I, myself am trying to learn the cash game grind. But if anyone is interested in exercise or nutrition help let me know. I don't know everything but I am pretty knowledgeable about most subjects in that area!

Edit: This is the same post as my last challenge. I had to withdrawal everything but $80.00 to help my parents pay my next semester of college. Sucks to have to start over but since I have money in the bank now maybe I can grind up to 50nl before withdrawing anything! And btw if this challenge doesn't work out I will be quitting poker atleast until I graduate college, mark my words!

GL and see you at the tables!
Bankroll: $80.00

BTW, normally don't go to the gym on Sundays but made it there today for a Chest workout plus 10 mins of cardio since they'll be closed Wed. for the 4th. Going to run now! I might start this challenge when I get back!

Played some 4nl and drop 1 1/2 BIs. Decided to dabble in some PLO cuz frankly I'm kind of bored of holdem. Played .02/.05 plo and won 4 BIs! Fun Game, lost 2 or 3 huge pots where I got it in great but it just wouldn't hold. Don't know why but I don't believe my HEM picked up my Omaha hands... I'll check tomorrow. Heading to bed, workouts in the am!

Bankroll: $90.27

Played quite a few hands of 4plo. Was running pretty good. But unfortuanately I have the holdem version of HEM. Did however get my winnings out of the negative at 4nl. Probably done for the night, gotta cook up some food for the rest of the week and have a date at midnight to see the new Spiderman movie!

Bankroll: 105.46

Since the start of the challenge. The big upswing at the end is 10 tabling 4nl FR.

Obviously there are not near enough hands but how do my stats look for each game as of now?

6max stats look very tight imo. 23/20 would be more profitable if you can play decently post flop.

Would say definitely loosen up your 6max stats. I don't play FR so I can't speak for those, but try and look for profitable spots to open up your 3bet range and take down some pots. Look to defend your position and blinds, and 3bet when you know they have a wide pfr range. CO vs BTN, SB/BB vs BTN, etc. Once you get a solid sample size, you'll find opponents who are trying to steal with a wide range from CO and the BTN but aren't adjusting to being 3bet and folding too often. Look to exploit these guys not only to take down pots, but also to have a more aggressive table image so you get paid off with the value 3bets. Subbed BTW, GL!

Thanks guys for the input! Will be putting some volume in this week so hope to have around 5k hands by Friday. Will def try to loosen up my game a bit at 6m!

Hit me up on skype if you wanna sweat/talk hands/etc. I'm getting off for the night, but I should be on tomorrow. Just dropped 3bi's tonight in a horrible session, had to end it early before I tilted =P. GL man

Played short PLO session after I got home from the movie. Got $3 in RB and won 1 BI in PLO session!

Bankroll: $113.53

Title change? #JourneyToMSPLO?

LOL, good point. Just play PLO when I get bored of Holdem... 98% of my play is at NLH

Smalls stakes PLO is a gold mine! Really wish I would have bought the complete version of Holdem manager so I could post my stats. Have no clue if I'm doing good or just on a super heater LOL! Can't find action like this at any NLH table...

Get the trail version of pt3 for 60 days includes an omaha tracker. That way you can post some hands and actually let experienced PLO'ers tell you how your doing etc.

Finished my session for tonight! Outstanding turnout! If I keep this up, 10nl will come in no time! Almost +10 BIs! Have officially doubled my bankroll!

Bankroll: $161.78

Sounds like a plan. Will do that right now!

Played a couple sessions today. A short PLO session with pretty good results then took a 2 BI shot at 10nl. Went great at first, was up almost 3 BIs. Got tired and kept playing, should have logged off. Made some bad plays and dropped most of it. Did end up in the + though so I guess I can't complain!



Bankroll: $179.66

-This is an example of a hand later in my session. Looking back, this is obv a fold. I did actually almost run the timebank out so atleast it wasn't an autoshove. Looking back, don't believe I ever put him on JT. More so, on 88 or 99. Def should have folded. Thoughts?

This challenge is called JourneytoMSNL but sadly after looking at my Holdem Manager all my profit has come from PLO minus 1.88 from Holdem and the little bit of RB I've recieved. I really do want to improve as a NLHE player and would also like to get better at PLO. PLO is a fun game and seems to have a ton of action every time I log on! Well, going to bed. Getting back in the gym tomorrow, was closed today for the 4th. Ready to pump some iron! Might grind a little tomorrow night.

You already acknowledged that this is a fold, so that's good. As a newer player myself, I also struggle with these types of situations. One thing you can do here is look at the hand from his perspective. The fact that you raised preflop, then fired at 2 streets shows strength in his eyes. Looking at it that way, what is he raising here that you're ever ahead of? Like you mentioned, a set is very possible. He may also be a bad enough player that he actually has TJ in this situation, especially considering he just flatted your pfr. I didn't put him on AA here, considering he didn't 3bet you pre, but the fact of the matter is, he still have you crushed and he's not raising that turn with anything worse. Hope that made sense bro, gl at the tables!

Another great session! This time strictly 10nl 6max. Made ~2 BIs! Biggest pot lost was only -$1.19, so I def feel great about that!



Graph from 7/5! Hopefully I won't have to move back down below 10nl, but will be dropping if I go below $150!
Bankroll: $199.86

Couple interesting hands from todays session:



-Can I bet turn for value since I did turn nut flush draw with my top two or do I take too much risk getting c/r? And also looking back a 3bet probably would have been better than a flat pf, but I am a little more cautious w/ UTG raises in front of me. Thoughts?



-Thoughts?



-Just wanted what you guys thought about this hand. I folded because he 2 barreled so I'm assuming my ace was crushed. I think it was a standard fold and probably should have been a fold PF.

I had an AKs hand that was interesting but for some reason it seems my Holdem Manager missed it. Sucks to know now that my Holdem Manager is missing hands. Anyone else ever had this problem?

Small session (410 hands), small win ~20bbs. Here's the overall graph since the challenge started. Actually have won ~$122.00 since challenge started counting the PLO.



Broke the $200 mark!

Bankroll: $202.70