Hello hello.

This is a typical bankroll challenge in which I'm grinding up from a small deposit like most other people

A little background: I started playing Poker 3 years ago in University and learned a lot from this forum. I started with a freeroll, won a tourney for $100, blew it at cash games, then got serious with my first real deposit and managed to grind from 2nl to 50nl ($20 - $1k) within a few months. I then quit and withdrew my role to finish school with decent grades since I did **** that semester as my focus was completely on Poker. The summer after I graduated I managed to turn $20 into $1k again, and since I was searching for a full time job I decided to withdraw my money and have a fun summer.

I've really missed Poker the past several months and thinking back on my results from my previous attempts, I feel I should give it a full honest go and see how far I can take it . In the past two months I've gone from $20 to $360 playing NLHE, PLO, and MTTs. I will continue to play all of these formats throughout this challenge (but I want to learn every game). With this thread my goal is to keep track of my results, fun hand histories, and anything else that pops up in life worth sharing

I'll start off with a fun hand of PLO I played earlier:

Here's a lol hand for the thread. Had $400 today and start playing 20nl, I was running a few buyins under ev and then this donk wanted to play HU. Things were going well. I was losing a bit at first as this guy keeps berating me, but I played me game and started crush him. I guess he got fed up and thought that this was a great shove?

888 Poker - $0.20 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 2 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

Hero (BB): 411.35 BB
SB: 247.55 BB (VPIP: 45.49, PFR: 34.51, 3Bet Preflop: 23.76, Hands: 262)

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

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

SB raises to 247.55 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 246.55 BB

Flop: (495.1 BB, 2 players) 2 T 2

Turn: (495.1 BB, 2 players) 4

River: (495.1 BB, 2 players) Q

Hero shows J J (Two Pair, Jacks and Twos)
(Pre 88%, Flop 9%, Turn 5%)
SB shows 2 6 (Three of a Kind, Twos)
(Pre 12%, Flop 91%, Turn 95%)
SB wins 492.6 BB


Anyway, that hand crushed me and now I'm down to $270 so back to 10nl. Got a fun ev line out of the session though!

Celebrated my birthday today by grinding for a few hours. I had a good session at 10nl and ran up a few buy ins and then I won 20 buy ins at PLO10 lol. Started the session at $270 and finished up at $540. Great progress today considering I've had $100 swings the past few sessions

I was playing this table for hours specifically to get into a big pot with this villain. He ran good and built a nice stack then started to play supper aggro. In hindsight, I think this raise PF is too loose, especially when I'm super deep. It must suck to be all in with 1k BB and only be a 40% favorite with a made hand.

Hand Information
Pot Limit Omaha, 0.1 BB (9 handed).
Hand History converter courtesy of pokerhandreplays.com

Table Information
Seat: 1 Player 1 ($151.19)
Seat: 2 Player 2 ($25.5)
Seat: 3 Player 3 ($11.53) Dealer
Seat: 4 Player 4 ($10) Small Blind
Seat: 5 Player 5 ($3.05) Big Blind
Seat: 6 Player 6 ($8.83)
Seat: 7 Hero ($100.3)
Seat: 9 Player 9 ($10)
Seat: 10 Player 10 ($21.58)
Dealt to Hero
****

Preflop (Pot:0.15)
Player 6****FOLD
Hero****RAISE $0.35
Player 9****CALL $0.35
Player 10****FOLD
Player 1****CALL $0.35
Player 2****CALL $0.35
Player 3****FOLD
Player 4****FOLD
Player 5****CALL $0.25

Flop(Pot: $1.8)
***

Player 5****CHECK
Hero****BET $1.8
Player 9****FOLD
Player 1****CALL $1.8
Player 2****CALL $1.8
Player 5****FOLD

Turn(Pot: $7.2)
****

Hero****BET $7.2
Player 1****RAISE $28.8
Player 2****FOLD
Hero****RAISE $93.6
Player 1****ALL-IN
Hero****ALL-IN
Player 1****RETURN $50.89

River(Pot: $254.39)
*****

Showdown:
Player 1 SHOWS
****
Hero SHOWS
****
Hero**wins the pot: $254.39



Then people started going crazy...

Hand Information
Pot Limit Omaha, 0.1 BB (8 handed).
Hand History converter courtesy of pokerhandreplays.com

Table Information
Seat: 1 Player 1 ($50.89)
Seat: 2 Player 2 ($23.35)
Seat: 4 Player 4 ($10) Dealer
Seat: 5 Player 5 ($2.7) Small Blind
Seat: 6 Player 6 ($8.83) Big Blind
Seat: 7 Hero ($203.4)
Seat: 9 Player 9 ($10)
Seat: 10 Player 10 ($21.58)
Dealt to Hero
****

Preflop (Pot:0.15)
Hero****RAISE $0.35
Player 9****CALL $0.35
Player 10****RAISE $1.55
Player 1****CALL $1.55
Player 2****FOLD
Player 4****FOLD
Player 5****CALL $1.5
Player 6****CALL $1.45
Hero****CALL $1.2
Player 9****CALL $1.2

Flop(Pot: $9.3)
***

Player 5****CHECK
Player 6****CHECK
Hero****CHECK
Player 9****CHECK
Player 10****BET $9.3
Player 1****CALL $9.3
Player 5****ALL-IN
Player 6****FOLD
Hero****RAISE $47.65
Player 9****ALL-IN
Player 10****ALL-IN
Player 1****FOLD
Player 10****RETURN $11.58

Turn(Pot: $95.88)
****


River(Pot: $95.88)
*****

Showdown:
Player 5 SHOWS
****
Hero SHOWS
****
Player 9 SHOWS
****
Player 10 SHOWS
****
Hero**wins the pot: $73.98





This session was great, but I feel guilty to be feeling so happy about winning. Last week when I got to $400 I was so happy and then I had that big down swing where I ran well under ev. I feel guilty because winning like this in Poker doesn't last very long. Yesterday afternoon I had a $100 upswing directly followed by a $100 downswing all in the same session. I don't know if I should be happy about winning in Poker because the money comes and go, it's enjoying the process that counts.

Been running pretty bad recently - running under ev in important spots and having swingy sessions. Overall 20nl has been going poorly over about 7k hands. I'm down 12 buy ins and 10 of them are under ev. PLO is going pretty well, I'm making a lot more money there but I'm also running quite a bit under ev there.

The site I play on has people shooting off stacks all over the place on the PLO tables.

$0.20 PL Hi (6 max) - Omaha Hi - 3 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

SB: 159.55 BB (VPIP: 87.34, PFR: 13.92, 3Bet Preflop: 2.04, Hands: 79)
BB: 159.8 BB (VPIP: 82.39, PFR: 32.39, 3Bet Preflop: 5.88, Hands: 287)
Hero (BTN): 480.85 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has J 2 J 8

Hero raises to 3.5 BB, SB calls 3 BB, BB calls 2.5 BB

Flop: (10.5 BB, 3 players) 5 K 6
SB checks, BB bets 10.5 BB, Hero calls 10.5 BB, fold

Turn: (31.5 BB, 2 players) J
BB bets 31.5 BB, Hero raises to 126 BB, BB raises to 145.8 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 19.8 BB

River: (323.1 BB, 2 players) A

BB shows 2 7 3 8 (High Card, Ace)
(Pre 40%, Flop 28%, Turn 28%)
Hero shows J 2 J 8 (Three of a Kind, Jacks)
(Pre 60%, Flop 72%, Turn 73%)
Hero wins 322.35 BB



$0.20 PL Hi (6 max) - Omaha Hi - 3 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

SB: 100 BB (VPIP: 61.18, PFR: 25.88, 3Bet Preflop: 20.41, Hands: 85)
Hero (BB): 457.65 BB
BTN: 331.45 BB (VPIP: 91.31, PFR: 42.93, 3Bet Preflop: 18.02, Hands: 1,024)

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has 2 9 A A

BTN raises to 3.5 BB, SB raises to 11.5 BB, Hero raises to 38 BB, fold, SB raises to 100 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 62 BB

Flop: (203.5 BB, 2 players) 4 T 5

Turn: (203.5 BB, 2 players) 3

River: (203.5 BB, 2 players) 4

SB shows 3 7 A K (Flush, King High)
(Pre 37%, Flop 56%, Turn 100%)
Hero shows 2 9 A A (Straight, Five High)
(Pre 63%, Flop 44%, Turn 0%)
SB wins 202.75 BB




$0.20 PL Hi (6 max) - Omaha Hi - 3 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 101.7 BB (VPIP: 81.53, PFR: 28.51, 3Bet Preflop: 5.50, Hands: 252)
Hero (SB): 113.6 BB
BB: 332.45 BB (VPIP: 91.45, PFR: 42.21, 3Bet Preflop: 18.29, Hands: 955)

Hero posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has Q K 7 Q

BTN raises to 2 BB, Hero raises to 7 BB, fold, BTN calls 5 BB

Flop: (15 BB, 2 players) Q 2 6
Hero bets 15 BB, BTN calls 15 BB

Turn: (45 BB, 2 players) 8
Hero bets 33.75 BB, BTN raises to 79.7 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 45.95 BB

River: (204.4 BB, 2 players) K

BTN shows 5 3 8 6 (Flush, King High)
(Pre 44%, Flop 37%, Turn 28%)
Hero shows Q K 7 Q (Three of a Kind, Queens)
(Pre 56%, Flop 63%, Turn 73%)
BTN wins 203.65 BB

Still running -ev in big crucial pots in both PLO and NLHE. I'll post some graphs soon to show my progress. Yesterdays session started well with me winning 4 BIs and then I proceed to drop 3 BIs. Still very motivated to play. I start my first job out of school as a programmer this week so I'm not sure how much I will get to play on the weekdays. Going to start hitting the gym again. I'll be working 9-5 and then concentrating on the gym after and hopefully I'll be able to put in good volume after.

Fun hand I played yesterday. Idk about villains play but I guess you're not getting away from the hand on the turn following this line. Personally, nearly 300bb, I think it's better to c/x flop and turn to play rivers with this hand. Not sure what hands he thinks are 4betting the flop and committing the turn that he beats unless he thinks I'm going crazy with AA and a nut flush draw. Nut low and weak flush is not much fun to play when you're deep.

$0.10 PL Hi - Omaha Hi - 4 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BB: 286.4 BB (VPIP: 39.02, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 164)
CO: 448.5 BB (VPIP: 45.14, PFR: 5.04, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 557)
Hero (BTN): 293.8 BB
SB: 337.1 BB (VPIP: 84.45, PFR: 29.00, 3Bet Preflop: 8.67, Hands: 1,104)

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has 9 Q T J

fold, Hero raises to 3.5 BB, SB calls 3 BB, fold

Flop: (8 BB, 2 players) 6 7 8
SB checks, Hero bets 6 BB, SB raises to 21 BB, Hero raises to 71 BB, SB calls 50 BB

Turn: (150 BB, 2 players) 2
SB checks, Hero bets 112.5 BB, SB raises to 262.6 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 106.8 BB and is all-in

River: (588.6 BB, 2 players) 7

Hero shows 9 Q T J (Straight, Ten High)
(Pre 57%, Flop 59%, Turn 75%)
SB shows 5 7 4 7 (Four of a Kind, Sevens)
(Pre 43%, Flop 41%, Turn 25%)
SB wins 587.6 BB

Had a great session tonight. Won 10 buy ins between 20nl and 20PLO. PLO is much much more profitable than NLHE so far. Only 1 buy in was made in nl and the rest I made playing PLO - it's the same people donating stacks. Bankroll is currently up to $710 - 97% up since I started the thread

This was by far my favorite hand I played tonight:

$0.20 PL Hi (6 max) - Omaha Hi - 4 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 579.25 BB (VPIP: 83.74, PFR: 27.60, 3Bet Preflop: 7.94, Hands: 1,160)
SB: 270.8 BB (VPIP: 92.13, PFR: 46.29, 3Bet Preflop: 19.36, Hands: 1,349)
BB: 183 BB (VPIP: 44.60, PFR: 5.04, 3Bet Preflop: 0.27, Hands: 696)
Hero (CO): 657.85 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

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

Hero raises to 3.5 BB, BTN calls 3.5 BB, SB raises to 15 BB, fold, Hero raises to 40.85 BB, fold, SB calls 25.85 BB

Flop: (86.2 BB, 2 players) 8 9 A
SB checks, Hero bets 64.65 BB, SB calls 64.65 BB

Turn: (215.5 BB, 2 players) K
SB checks, Hero checks

River: (215.5 BB, 2 players) K
SB bets 117.85 BB, Hero calls 117.85 BB

SB shows 7 T 9 7 (Two Pair, Kings and Nines)
(Pre 29%, Flop 30%, Turn 20%)
Hero shows T T J J (Two Pair, Kings and Jacks)
(Pre 71%, Flop 70%, Turn 80%)
Hero wins 450.45 BB

So I had a very good past week. I started my new job as a programmer and it's gone great. The environment is a very good one to work in, I'm learning very quickly, and I've even started to make some contributions to code. I'm very excited about the future at my new workplace and it's really nice to have a good schedule to follow. I've been waking up at 5:00 am in the morning, getting a good breakfast and study time, then I get to work around 8:00am and leave at 4:00pm.

I tried to grind a little during the week, but after a full day of work I'm a little mentally exhausted to play. I can still get a good session in on a good day.

As far as Poker goes, I'm finally starting to break out of my 20nl downswing. Had a very great upswing today winning quite a few buy ins at 20nl and I won a few at PLO as usual. PLO still remains far more profitable but I can only one table it on my site because no one really plays.

So as of today my bankroll stands at $945. So I'm right at $1000! I'm very excited about this and I hope to things continue to go well. Over 73k hands I'm winning at 14bb/100, I think that's pretty good.

I'll post a graph for the first time in the thread.