The goal for this year is to make $5k. Which is a lot more modest than my goal from last year which was transitioning to a fulltime poker player. Started out 2015 crushing the Micros 10NL & 25NL and thinking I was well on my way to being a legit fulltime player. Then, I lost 1/3 of my bankroll in the span of a couple hours trying to move up too quick. This just so happened to coincide with the hottest girl I've ever dated breaking up with me. I mean



So, I took a few months off and came back and what do you know? I can hardly beat 10NL.

Now my thoughts are organized and my motivation is high. Time to get that $5k.

I'll be playing mostly 6max cash games with some sprinkling of HU SNGs and a little of other games just to keep my brain working.

Wish me luck

This is my lifetime cash graph:

YTD
$75.79

This was a pretty sick one

Merge - $0.10 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

Hero (CO): $33.40
BTN: $10.45
SB: $7.43
BB: $13.51
UTG: $11.39
MP: $14.35

SB posts SB $0.05, BB posts BB $0.10

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.15) Hero has 5 8

UTG raises to $0.20, MP raises to $0.61, Hero raises to $1.80, fold, fold, fold, fold, MP calls $1.19

Flop: ($3.95, 2 players) 7 2 3
MP checks, Hero bets $1.70, MP raises to $3.85, Hero raises to $31.60 and is all-in, fold

Thought process behind above hand? Tbh, I'm probably calling this rip with 95% of my 4bet calling range on this board.

I've played a ton of hands with villain. I mean UTG raised - UTG+1 3bet and I 4 bet UTG+2. Just figured with how strong I played pre flop that I essentially always have AA or KK in that spot. Then, on the flop, it just seemed like a weird board to CR (specially the sizing) given how I played PF. I feel like 10s through 8s would've check called hoping I shut down on turn. Plus, I felt good about my backdoors if worse came to worse

Not necessarily a standard play of mine

YTD
$103.66

Tourneys


Cash


Probably shouldve found a fold on the river. I'd imagine AK AQ are checking behind river and the only value hand im beating is JJ. Had just lost a stack before this hand and this was more of a tilt call. Was pretty certain he had the hand he had.

Merge - $0.10 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 5 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

CO: $17.92 (VPIP: 21.35, PFR: 19.10, 3Bet Preflop: 3.70, Hands: 92)
BTN: $3.80 (VPIP: 24.47, PFR: 15.96, 3Bet Preflop: 11.11, Hands: 97)
SB: $10.67 (VPIP: 23.84, PFR: 15.02, 3Bet Preflop: 5.08, Hands: 2,505)
BB: $21.55 (VPIP: 21.62, PFR: 13.51, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 38)
Hero (UTG): $12.61

SB posts SB $0.05, BB posts BB $0.10

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.15) Hero has Q Q

Hero raises to $0.30, CO raises to $1.00, fold, fold, fold, Hero calls $0.70

Flop: ($2.15, 2 players) 2 9 6
Hero checks, CO bets $1.50, Hero calls $1.50

Turn: ($5.15, 2 players) 9
Hero checks, CO checks

River: ($5.15, 2 players) T
Hero checks, CO bets $4.00, Hero calls $4.00

YTD
$216.43

Doing pretty well so far. Getting close to playing higher stakes NL $25 and $7 SNGs. Current bankroll is $284. Haven't played particularly well at 6max NLHE the game I'm most comfortable with but have ran well in 6max PLO and 3$ SNG are very soft.





Cash


Tourneys


Here's a pretty good spew hand. Was so confused by the CR on the turn, I feel like if villain had flopped a flush, straight or set type hands he was most likely going for a CR on the flop and would of led out all turns. The CR on the turn just seemed super sketchy so I called with top pair & Kc redraw and straight a straight blocker. I guess I should've found a fold on the river. Just was a weird hand and was super tilted villain showed down the hand he had.

Merge - $0.10 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 5 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BB: $10.00
UTG: $10.00 (VPIP: 25.28, PFR: 20.74, 3Bet Preflop: 5.79, Hands: 2,932)
CO: $17.56 (VPIP: 73.17, PFR: 58.54, 3Bet Preflop: 27.78, Hands: 45)
Hero (BTN): $10.26
SB: $10.00 (VPIP: 21.36, PFR: 16.20, 3Bet Preflop: 3.82, Hands: 437)

SB posts SB $0.05, BB posts BB $0.10

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.15) Hero has K 8

fold, fold, Hero raises to $0.30, SB calls $0.25, BB calls $0.20

Flop: ($0.90, 3 players) 7 5 T
SB checks, BB checks, Hero bets $0.60, fold, BB calls $0.60

Turn: ($2.10, 2 players) K
BB checks, Hero bets $1.40, BB raises to $2.80, Hero calls $1.40

River: ($7.70, 2 players) 9
BB bets $3.85, Hero calls $3.85

I think this hand was extremely bad and a major example of why you are not beating 10nl for a higher winrate. Against opponents at this level there is no need to make this kind of play and they are prone to call down light. This is essentially a no equity bluff versus MP reraising UTG, his range is insanely strong. AK, KK, AA, QQ are the majority of it. Depending on how weak the player is/if he is willing to 3 bet bluff vs UTG here we might be able to add AQ, KQ and JJ. He should never be folding AK, KK, AA, QQ, JJ or AQ here. Leaving you to fold out KQ? What are you trying to represent? The fact that you put in such a huge reraise is a huge signal of weakness when your nutted hands should never play that way. I think if you stick to the basics until you reach a higher limit you will find your winrate increase substantially.

YTD
$228.13

Yeah the more I think about that hand the more I realize how spewy it was but the line I took was ridiculously strong and I believe villain could've folded out 88-JJ and any non flush draw no pair hands given history w villain, 2,000 + hands. I doubt I have ever taken a line like this without AA or KK.

Must say I agree. That 5d8d hand is pure spew, nothing else.
Try and play solid ABC game first op. Also I don't think you should be playing 25NL if you only have about $300 bankroll. Anyone has 10BI swings...

Anyway good luck with your goal!

YTD
$311.81

Merge - $0.10 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 5 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

CO: $8.08 (VPIP: 17.20, PFR: 15.15, 3Bet Preflop: 4.44, Hands: 1,053)
BTN: $9.20 (VPIP: 39.58, PFR: 10.42, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 99)
Hero (SB): $21.99
BB: $16.31 (VPIP: 33.10, PFR: 16.55, 3Bet Preflop: 4.55, Hands: 147)
UTG: $7.25 (VPIP: 34.48, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 30)

Hero posts SB $0.05, BB posts BB $0.10

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.15) Hero has 9 9

fold, fold, BTN calls $0.10, Hero raises to $0.45, fold, BTN calls $0.35

Flop: ($1.00, 2 players) 9 2 J
Hero bets $0.70, BTN calls $0.70

Turn: ($2.40, 2 players) Q
Hero bets $1.60, BTN calls $1.60

River: ($5.60, 2 players) 7
Hero checks, BTN bets $2.80, fold

YTD
$364.28

Been playing on Merge/Carbon Poker this entire challenge but they recently changed their hand history setting to where you no longer can use a HUD which means I can no longer track my challenge, I believe. My question is if you can use a HUD on Bovada I'm pretty certain you can but I don't see any compatibility with PT4. Do I need to get Holdem Manager? Or is there some software that I can get to make PT4 compatible with Bovada?

Hopping back on this challenge. Stopped playing after Carbon banned HUDs. Made a $25 dollar deposit recently and saw that HUDs can be used again, thankfully. I've run that deposit up to $270.

Based on when I stopped this challenge, February 17th 2016, and when I redeposited August 12th 2017, I'm only 74 days into the challenge and up $567. I have 291 more days to complete this challenge.

278 days left

YTD
$765.12

Been on a bit of a heater although my win rate has started to slowdown a little bit. Making close to minimum wage at 10nl this month. Will start taking shots at 25nl with 20+ buyins

I think my biggest issue right now is finding folds. I've gotten a little too into hero calling. I also seem to start sessions losing and end up having to play catchup the rest of the way.

Cash


SNGs/Tx


B/F river? I guess you're running into chop most the time here. Any chance they bomb a set there?

Merge - $0.10 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

Hero (BB): 101.3 BB
UTG: 40 BB (VPIP: 63.06, PFR: 7.21, 3Bet Preflop: 2.44, Hands: 127)
MP: 133.9 BB (VPIP: 36.36, PFR: 4.55, 3Bet Preflop: 2.86, Hands: 91)
CO: 236.8 BB (VPIP: 20.47, PFR: 10.82, 3Bet Preflop: 1.83, Hands: 12,941)
BTN: 16 BB (VPIP: 79.59, PFR: 22.22, 3Bet Preflop: 0.67, Hands: 346)
SB: 144 BB (VPIP: 37.50, PFR: 17.50, 3Bet Preflop: 5.88, Hands: 40)

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB, UTG posts penalty blind 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.5 BB) Hero has 9 8

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

Flop: (5 BB, 5 players) 6 8 7
SB checks, Hero bets 3.3 BB, fold, MP calls 3.3 BB, BTN calls 3.3 BB, fold

Turn: (14.9 BB, 3 players) A
Hero checks, MP bets 6 BB, fold, Hero calls 6 BB

River: (26.9 BB, 2 players) 5
Hero bets 20 BB, MP raises to 100 BB, Hero calls 71 BB and is all-in