Hi guys,

Dutch guy looking to document his journey out of the microstakes onto the tables where actual money is made. This thread will be mainly used as a platform to track my own progress(both numbers and personal development) and possibly entertain the people who enjoy these kinds of challenges and wish to follow.

I very recently got back my itch for poker which has resulted in the making of a 2+2 account and some toetipping in mainly the strategy section

Backstory

Started playing in '05. 5 Card Draw at the kitchentable. It didn't take long for me and my friends to discover online poker and within days we were all convinced we were the next big thing in poker.

Fast forward a couple of years, 2012, and I'm actually playing professionally. I wasn't raking in the millions like I thought I was going to when I started in 2005, but I was making enough to live comfortably during my college years withouth having to go into debt. I could pay my tuition, pay my rent, eat out 3 times a week. Good times. I guess it goes for most people, but playing tournament poker as a job isn't as fun when you're obligated to play. In 2017 I quit and got an actual job.

I was never a true risktaker. I never dared to take the shots at the big boy stakes (to be fair I wasn't good enough anyway) I always stuck to the games I know I beat and with that mindset I must say getting a regular job really improved my life. Nothing like a steady income deposited into your bankaccount at the end of every month. And having a job meant poker got shoved to the back seat.

I've never lost the love for the game, which is why I've decided to pick it up again. World's in crisis, hours at the job are being cut, and there's nothing to do with your free time. What better thing to do than play online poker. Tournaments have lost their appeal for me after getting a job so we will be focussing on cash

The challenge

I guess the challenge is to grind up to the point where I can comfortably play 6max 100NL and have a nice addition to my salary while doing what I love.
There will be no pressure since me and my girlfriend (no pics, don't ask) live together and we both have jobs and will manage without poker income just fine.

Because everyone loves a challenge We're starting at the bottom at 5NL zoom. I won't hesitate to deposit extra, but at this moment I have $20 in my account so that will be the starting roll for this PGC. The shortterm goal will be to run it up to a $1000 using aggressive BRM (no risk of ruin anyway)

In general I'll be looking to move up at 20bi for the next stake, and drop down again at 17bi. But there's a good chance I can't bare playing 5NL for too long and move up sooner. But as it stands:

$20 -$200 --> 5NL
$200 -$320 --> 10NL
$320 -$500 -->16NL
$500 -$1000 --> 25NL
$1000+ --> evaluation time

I will update this thread whenever I've played, which for the foreseeable future should be pretty much daily, but when regular life picks up again it will be less frequent.

Extra info and cliffs

What site will you play? - Pokerstars

What software do you use? - HM2 and Pokersnowie

What's your stars nick? - not sharing


tldr - Ex semipro does BR challenge after being homebound by Corona virus

1st session

Just finished up a 4 table 5NL zoom session. Surprisingly didn't have to deposit. Won a buyin in the first 3 minutes, Reset my stack on that table and didn't lose 100bb's across all 4 tables during the remainder of the session. We did cooler a bunch of people for stacks and ran about 2.5 buyins over EV so that helps establishing a solid start.
That said, it appears that every drooler with an account is currently playing and randomly clicking buttons. I'm seeing people do **** that you wouldn't expect at even 2nl. Might play more in the evening, but also might not. Weather is really nice and I might fancy a long solo run and chill after.


Session numbers

Hands: 2552
Time played: 2 hours 21 minutes
Results: + $32.55
BB/100: 25.51

Total numbers

Sessions: 1
Hands: 2552
Time played: 2 hours 21 minutes
Results: +$32.55
BB/100: 25.51

Running Challenge roll:
$52.55

Did go for a run AND played another session. Have to admit I halfassed the session chatting with a friend and having Netflix on a second screen (part 4 of La Casa de Papel available since yday ). Volume was great because of that though.

I've found a randomizer I'll maybe start using. It's not really relevant at the stakes I play at, but as we plan on moving up asap, it's good to at least look into. I know Snowie loves its frequencies and as I'm currently just 'going with the flow' having some fresh charts should help keeping me in check.
It will be impossible to emulate exactly what Snowie wants you to do and even more impossible to even remotely memorize that, so I plan on just shortcutting my way to a decent open and vsopen chart and find somewhat appropriate frequencies. Will update on what I've come up with later.

Session numbers

Hands: 3744
Time played: 3 hours 20 minutes
Results: + $14.17
BB/100: 7.57


Totals

Sessions: 2
Hands: 6296
Time played: 5 hours 41 minutes
Results: + $46.72
BB/100: 14.84


Running Challenge roll:
$66.72

Good luck from a fellow Dutchman.

Would be great if you are able to reach at least 25NL by the end of the Month.

Cheers!

Cheers dude, Much appreciated!

I found some time today to actually create some new charts and get in some hands. Broke even pretty much. Will play more later today. It will be the first time using these new charts.

My charts all use a default 100bb v 100bb. When it comes to frequencies I've decided on the following shortcuts.
- Advised frequency <15% - Never do it
- Advised frequency > 85% - always do it
- Advised frequency 15%-85% - use 50/50

When there's a couple of similar hands, all with a very low frequency I've bundled them in a single hand and applied the rules mentioned above. E.G. I don't think it's going to really matter whether I 3! A3s,A4s,A5s at 20% each, or just pick A5 at 50% and fold the rest always. It's not perfect, but GL picking up on this in a large zoompool.
If people think I'm going way out of line with this, I'd be interested in some reasoning.


All in all pretty happy with the thing. Will take some time getting used to for sure as it takes up 5 tabs. But I think it will be worth it to follow this ruleset. Easy to add on mistakes after making a preflop error. This chart should help me play better in the most common preflop situations.

Session Numbers

Hands: 1114
Time played: 58 minutes
Results: + $1.44
BB/100: 2.59


Totals

Sessions: 3
hands: 7410
Time played: 6 hours 39 minutes
Results: + $48.16
BB/100: 13.00


Running Challenge roll
$68.16

good luck! Micros should be pretty beatable, look forward to your progress. Just got to 20nl myself so happy to give my thoughts on any hands or anything, cheers

Thanks for the well wishes James

Moving up to 10nl

So, as was foreshadowed in my opening post, I've come to the conclusion that I'd rather watch paint dry than grind another 20 something buyins at 5NL. It feels to small and to be honest it feels like it's beneath me. As we move up I will be stricter in maintaining BRM, but as there's no pressure to not go broke I'm just going to try and skate through the low stakes quicker. The tougher the games get, the quicker the improvement should be too.

Did play 5NL late yesterday. Turns out it is indeed difficult to simultaneously 4 table zoom and scroll through my charts. Besides that I don't doubt the "correct" move as often as I should so I'm not checking my chart as often as I should. We'll get there slowly.

I found an additional $30 in starscoins in my account (my rakeback for the past 2 years probably ) So i've added that to the roll to have the littlest cushion. If 10NL starts badly I will be moving down again, but let's pray it won't be necessary.


Session Numbers

Hands: 1598
Time played: 1 hour 26 minutes
Results: + $12.42
BB/100: 15.54


Totals

Sessions: 4
hands: 9.008
Time played: 8 hours 5 minutes
Results: + $60.58

Profit 5NL: + $60.58
BB/100 5NL: 13.5
Profit 10NL: -
BB/100 10NL: -


Running Challenge roll
$110.58 (as of now including the starcoins I cashed)

I've screenshotted my graph. Once I figure out how to post it I'll add it to the thread. Any assistance sparing me the time of having to figure it out myself is appreciated

Use gyazo and then copy paste the shareable link into the "insert Image" button when you post

First 10NL "session"

Started a session yesterday evening but it was brutally put to a halt by wanting to watch a movie. So I did. Was up a bit upon quitting and will report it but it's pretty much a non-session and it's not worth evaluating.
I do have the whole day off today so I plan on playing a massive session and make it a good friday (cwidt?)

Session Numbers

Hands: 355
Time played: 19 minutes
Results: + $7.18
BB/100: 20.23


Totals

Sessions: 5
hands: 9.363
Time played: 8 hours 24 minutes
Results: + $67.76

Profit 5NL (9008 hands): + $60.58
BB/100 5NL: 13.5
Profit 10NL (355 hands): + $7.18
BB/100 10NL: 20.23


Running Challenge roll
$117.76

Seems like a nice start, did you consider any other rooms apart from stars?

I have played on other rooms before but ultimately decided against it. I have an account on most of the bigger rooms. I don't plan on playing the smaller rooms because of low traffic and more importantly trust issues.
That pretty much left Party and stars to pick from. Don't have a GG account, and 888 has unplayable software.

Party is a very decent option, but I dislike the fact that all their zoom games have antes. Rakeback sure is a lot better but at cheeseburger stakes I really shouldn't care about this. I still migh move my action to party, but besides the ante games, traffic is meh.

Stars despite all the **** they get in regard to not favouring grinders has the best software, the biggest pool and very soft games.

Rakeback is actually pretty crucial at cheeseburger stakes since the rake is so much more detrimental in terms of big blinds. But if you can win at a high level without it, more power to you

yeah agree rb is perhaps mroe important and if you don't have a GG account that is a good opportunity fro nice deposit bonus

I definitely see its importance maybe the phrasing was poor, but what I mean to say is it seems more relevant at a low winrate. And as my expected winrate will go down as I move up, I will definitely have a look to widen my horizon.
I'll be honest I've never really looked into how much rake I'm actually paying but I think at these stakes it's sth like 5-6bb/100? If we're winning at a hypothetical 10bb/100, getting a possible 1bb/100 ($0.10 at this moment) extra rakeback by switching to a skin i'm less comfortable with doesnt sound appealing.
But like I said, when winrates drop and the absolute rakeback becomes significant in regard to the amount of reallife cheeseburgers I can purchase I will definitely have a look. Will keep GG in my mind as it looks decent. I've also heard rakeback is amazing but that games get raked extremely heavy too so not sure how that looks at the bottom of the line.

Anyway, as promised, a big session today and I am thrilled about the numbers that follow. Did run about 2 buyins over EV so that's always fun. overall I think I played well. I pride myself in my autopilot game. Can't really prevent autopiloting a fast format like zoom over 4 tables for hours on end. Seems like to crush 10NL all you need is to do is play ok and restrain yourself from being very creative. Maybe we fall hard later but today was fun . Tempting to just continue w/ 16NL and drop down if it starts of badly but I'll try to control myself.


Session Numbers

Hands: 6009
Time played: 6 hours 37 minutes
Results: + $117.19
BB/100: 19.5


Totals

Sessions: 6
hands: 15.372
Time played: 15 hours 1 minutes
Results: + $184.95

Profit 5NL (9008 hands): + $60.58
BB/100 5NL: 13.5
Profit 10NL (6364 hands): + $124.37
BB/100 10NL: 19.54


Running Challenge roll
$ 234.95

Good luck sir. Subbed

Moving up once more

Given that we're trying to leave the micro's I'm just going to do whatever I'm comfortable with. Using a strict stoploss I've figured I'm just going to give 16NL a shot and see if we can continue to grow the bankroll.

Played some yesterday evening. won a literal couple of BB. It's fine. Yet to have a losing session. Ran 2 buyins below EV. Mainly because we got in KK pre for 150bb eff v AK and did not win either of the 2 runouts. Had fun anyway and feel confident in moving up.

Session Numbers

Hands: 3650
Time played: 3 hours 4 minutes
Results: + $1.48
BB/100: 0.40


Totals

Sessions: 7
hands: 19.022
Time played: 18 hours 5 minutes
Results: + $186.43

Profit 5NL (9008 hands): + $60.58
BB/100 5NL: 13.5
Profit 10NL (10.014 hands): + $125.85
BB/100 10NL: 12.57


Running Challenge roll
$ 236.43

16NL is a weird stake. Every bet and every raise looks bigger for some reason. Anyway, just a small update of the most recent results. Was a fun and succesful session. Found a lot of punters who seemed happy to part with their money.

Session Numbers

Hands: 1798
Time played: 1 hour 57 minutes
Results: + $50.73
BB/100: 17.63


Totals

Sessions: 8
hands: 20.820
Time played: 20 hours 2 minutes
Results: + $237.16

Profit 5NL (9008 hands): + $60.58
BB/100 5NL: 13.5

Profit 10NL (10.014 hands): + $125.85
BB/100 10NL: 12.57

Profit 16NL (1798 hands): + $50.73
BB/100 16NL: 17.63


Running Challenge roll
$ 287.16

Everyone says 16nlz is full of donators. :-D

Good luck will be following!

Cheers shipnickle. Have been following your pgc. Very interesting en enlightening read. Kudos

First losing Session

Pretty uninteresting session tonight. Ran slighly more than a buyin >EV. Mainly because the coolers my way went in pre or on the flop, and the coolers against me went in on the river. Annoyed myself by absolutely butchering a hand costing me over a buyin instead of just a small blind. All in all the result of the session is fine with me being slightly unlucky and slightly an idiot.

Preflop charts are working out. At least Snowie seems to like what I'm doing. Steadily grinding down my errorrate every session I play. Errorrate preflop hangs around .5 atm. Errorrate for the other streets are all between 2.4 and 2.9. Currently usually balancing on the border of "expert"/"worldclass" level. Occasionally we drop to "advanced" when trying to exploit a fish and get like - 80.00 on the hand. It's a fun stat and its importance grows as we encounter better players, but at this moment I dont care too much.

Session Numbers

Hands: 2175
Time played: 2 hour 9 minutes
Results: - $40.13
BB/100: - 11.53


Totals

Sessions: 9
hands: 22.995
Time played: 22 hours 11 minutes
Results: + $197.03

Profit 5NL (9008 hands): + $60.58
BB/100 5NL: 13.5

Profit 10NL (10.014 hands): + $125.85
BB/100 10NL: 12.57

Profit 16NL (3973 hands): + $10.60
BB/100 16NL: 1.67


Running Challenge roll
$ 247.03

Short update. Won money. played well. Was supposed to win 20 something bucks more, but lost some favourites vs shortstacks of whom you see a ton at 16NL for some reason.

Session Numbers

Hands: 1739
Time played: 1 hour 36 minutes
Results: + 62.14
BB/100: 22.33


Totals

Sessions: 10
hands: 24.734
Time played: 23 hours 47 minutes
Results: + $259.17

Profit 5NL (9008 hands): + $60.58
BB/100 5NL: 13.5

Profit 10NL (10.014 hands): + $125.85
BB/100 10NL: 12.57

Profit 16NL (5712 hands): + $72.74
BB/100 16NL: 7.96


Running Challenge roll
$ 309.17

GL

25NL looming

Decent session today. Enjoying the 16NL grind, but running well brings a hard to resist itch for moving to 25nl. If i do well tomorrow I'm just gonna. Haven't done any hand review past 2 days, so no new epiphanies.

Session Numbers

Hands: 2291
Time played: 2 hours 20 minutes
Results: + 60.44
BB/100: 16.49


Totals

Sessions: 11
hands: 27.025
Time played: 26 hours 7 minutes
Results: + $319.61

Profit 5NL (9008 hands): + $60.58
BB/100 5NL: 13.5

Profit 10NL (10.014 hands): + $125.85
BB/100 10NL: 12.57

Profit 16NL (8003 hands): + $133.18
BB/100 16NL: 10.04


Running Challenge roll
$ 369.61

Session from the heavens

Can't remember ever running as pure as this hour and a half . Could say I played brilliant, but it was basically smashing every flop and when I didn't they'd fold. So that's that, moving to 25NL next session.

My recollections in regard to 25NL is that it's not super tough, but rather stiff nonetheless. A bunch of ok regs and even more nits will make a high bb/100 tough. Besides that we've been quite lucky during the early parts of this challenge so not too sure what winrate would be considered good. Let's just hope I can get a headstart so i don't have to drop down after 3 buyins.

Session Numbers

Hands: 1505
Time played: 1 hour 25 minutes
Results: + 153.92
BB/100: 63.92


Totals

Sessions: 12
hands: 28.530
Time played: 27 hours 32 minutes
Results: + $473.53

Profit 5NL (9008 hands): + $60.58
BB/100 5NL: 13.5

Profit 10NL (10.014 hands): + $125.85
BB/100 10NL: 12.57

Profit 16NL (9508 hands): + $287.10
BB/100 16NL: 18.87


Running Challenge roll
$ 523.53

You’re killing it well played sir.