I know what you're probably thinking, "here we go again, another pointless bankroll challenge." God knows, I would be.

Let me tell you why this one will be different.

I. WILL. SUCCEED.

Now that we got that out of the way, maybe a little introduction is in order? My name is Jeremy, I'm 40 years old and have a full time job. I've been playing poker online as a hobby since around 2003 with pretty decent success. Started out playing online MTT's on Stars then all of the American sites after Black Friday. Switched to cash games after I got married and had kids (no more time to grind 10+ hours) and have been a slight winner up to $400nl. I was recently grinding $100nl on WPN, but cashed out my roll to pay for some home renovations/real life nonsense and so I figured this would be a good time to fire up a thread to motivate myself to start over and to also talk about my other big passions, craft beer and golf!

And here we are.

WHAT TO EXPECT:

As for poker it will likely be a long and slow climb to the top. Like I said, I play primarily cash games, but do sprinkle in the occasional MTT as well(they still are my favorite). I play on rakeback as I don't typically put in the necessary volume to make the Elite program a better option (I usually put in 25-30k hands per month), but play enough to cash in the Beast promo when I play higher limits. I'll post interesting hands and graphs throughout the month to document my journey. I'm sure there will be plenty of punts, but hopefully more winning than losing.

As for golf, I'll just toss in some random posts during the upcoming season. I've been playing since I was 6 years old and am around a 5-6 handicap and my goal this summer is to get down to a 2 or 3. Living in Michigan kind of sucks in that we only get to play about 6 months of the year. I play in a weekly league that starts in just over a month as well as some of the local amateur tournaments. Other than that, if you have any questions about the game or equipment questions, feel free to ask!

Finally, it wouldn't be a man's thread without a section devoted to craft beer! Living in Michigan may suck on the golf side of things, but it's beer culture is one of the best in the US. I'll post whatever I'm drinking on any given night, give my take on it and encourage others to do the same. My goal here is just to chat with other beer snobs and bring a little fun to the thread!

GOALS:

Simply put, I want to go from playing $2nl to $2kNL. I know that is a lofty goal, however my dream is to eventually install a full sized golf simulator in my house and I figure it will run me around $50-$60k to do it. Money isn't an issue for my wife and I, however there's no way in hell that she would let me drop that kind of money on a golf simulator with two kids under the age of 3. That being said, we do have an understanding that poker money is my money to spend, so in my mind, I've been given an out.

So as you can see, pretty straight forward. If it takes me 5+ years to accomplish, so be it. I just hope you decide to follow me on the journey!

That's it for now.

To be continued.....

Your thread looks like fun, sir. I will be following along for all of the aspects mentioned. I spent some extended time as a kid in Indian River Michigan, and really found the area to be great. Best of luck!

Thanks, man I really appreciate the follow! Indian River and anywhere else up there is amazing.

Going to put in some hands now. Heading to the Michigan State v Nebraska basketball game tonight so not sure how much I'll get to play later on. If anything, I might squeeze a few in when I get back.

More to come...

Good luck, looking forward to your thread

GL sir and I hope you invite us all to the house when you install this golf simulator thingy majig.

Appreciate it!

Now there’s an idea! Maybe we could get a small group together to break the thing in once up and running!

So like I said yesterday, didn’t have much time to play, but found enough time to drop 5 but ins. I’m about to head to the office now so can’t post much more. Not to worry, we’ll get em back and start moving in the right direction!

Hey don't get this thing off on the wrong foot... we can't be losing 5 buy-ins already.

BTW the only thing I'm worse at than poker is tennis and golf but count me in for the house warming golf party. LOL

Yeah, losing 5 buy ins was certainly not the start I was looking for. I think my issue is I'm having a somewhat difficult time shifting my mindset to $2nl as opposed to higher stakes. Pre and postflop ranges are just so much different, but I'm getting there.

Today's session has certainly been better....



Also, was able to play a couple of the $0.55 On Demand SNG's and cashed in one. Currently, roll sits at $53.07 so almost back to starting.

Finally, here are some of the bigger hands from the session...

Villain here was playing like a maniac...easy 4bet/get it in.

Winning Poker Network (Yatahay) - $0.02 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 4 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 186 BB (VPIP: 23.38, PFR: 20.78, 3Bet Preflop: 22.22, Hands: 81)
Hero (SB): 111.5 BB
BB: 40 BB (VPIP: 5.77, PFR: 3.85, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 54)
CO: 194.5 BB (VPIP: 25.20, PFR: 21.34, 3Bet Preflop: 5.75, Hands: 264)

Hero posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

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

CO raises to 2.5 BB, BTN raises to 10 BB, Hero raises to 32 BB, fold, fold, BTN raises to 186 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 79.5 BB and is all-in

Flop: (226.5 BB, 2 players) Q 2 3

Turn: (226.5 BB, 2 players) 6

River: (226.5 BB, 2 players) 2

BTN shows K A (One Pair, Twos)
(Pre 43%, Flop 26%, Turn 14%)
Hero shows T T (Two Pair, Tens and Twos)
(Pre 57%, Flop 74%, Turn 86%)
Hero wins 215.5 BB

3 BB was deducted from the pot for the jackpot.

Who says poker is dead!?!?

Winning Poker Network (Yatahay) - $0.02 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 5 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 50.5 BB (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 8)
SB: 146.5 BB (VPIP: 46.67, PFR: 33.33, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 47)
BB: 109 BB (VPIP: 13.33, PFR: 6.67, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 15)
UTG: 64.5 BB (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 8)
Hero (CO): 118.5 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

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

UTG calls 1 BB, Hero raises to 4.5 BB, fold, fold, BB calls 3.5 BB, UTG calls 3.5 BB

Flop: (14 BB, 3 players) 4 K A
BB bets 7 BB, fold, Hero calls 7 BB

Turn: (28 BB, 2 players) J
BB bets 13.5 BB, Hero calls 13.5 BB

River: (55 BB, 2 players) 2
BB checks, Hero bets 39 BB, BB raises to 84 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 45 BB

BB shows 5 A (One Pair, Aces)
(Pre 31%, Flop 2%, Turn 0%)
Hero shows A K (Two Pair, Aces and Kings)
(Pre 69%, Flop 98%, Turn 100%)
Hero wins 212 BB

3 BB was deducted from the pot for the jackpot.

I just closed my eyes and clicked call...

Winning Poker Network (Yatahay) - $0.02 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 4 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

CO: 197 BB (VPIP: 28.57, PFR: 21.43, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 14)
BTN: 201 BB (VPIP: 19.30, PFR: 14.04, 3Bet Preflop: 14.29, Hands: 58)
Hero (SB): 101.5 BB
BB: 124.5 BB (VPIP: 25.24, PFR: 20.39, 3Bet Preflop: 2.78, Hands: 105)

Hero posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

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

CO raises to 3.5 BB, BTN calls 3.5 BB, Hero raises to 15 BB, fold, CO calls 11.5 BB, fold

Flop: (34.5 BB, 2 players) 7 7 8
Hero bets 11 BB, CO calls 11 BB

Turn: (56.5 BB, 2 players) Q
Hero bets 27 BB, CO raises to 135 BB, Hero calls 48.5 BB and is all-in

River: (207.5 BB, 2 players) 2

CO shows J Q (Two Pair, Queens and Sevens)
(Pre 25%, Flop 15%, Turn 15%)
Hero shows Q K (Two Pair, Queens and Sevens)
(Pre 75%, Flop 85%, Turn 85%)
Hero wins 197.5 BB

3 BB was deducted from the pot for the jackpot.

Again, villain was just super aggro post.

Winning Poker Network (Yatahay) - $0.02 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 5 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

CO: 143 BB (VPIP: 37.50, PFR: 25.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 8)
Hero (BTN): 130 BB
SB: 119 BB (VPIP: 16.67, PFR: 9.52, 3Bet Preflop: 11.76, Hands: 42)
BB: 100 BB (VPIP: 29.21, PFR: 23.60, 3Bet Preflop: 3.13, Hands: 91)
UTG: 96.5 BB (VPIP: 50.00, PFR: 16.67, 3Bet Preflop: 50.00, Hands: 7)

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

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

UTG calls 1 BB, CO raises to 4.5 BB, Hero raises to 13.5 BB, fold, fold, UTG calls 12.5 BB, CO calls 9 BB

Flop: (42 BB, 3 players) 6 9 5
UTG bets 10 BB, fold, Hero calls 10 BB

Turn: (62 BB, 2 players) 6
UTG bets 14.5 BB, Hero raises to 106.5 BB and is all-in, fold

Hero wins 86.5 BB

1 BB was deducted from the pot for the jackpot.

Still trying to learn how to navigate PT4 and my database. For some reason I'm not able to locate marked hands or find my big losing hands so that I can wallow in my punts. If anyone can help, it would be greatly appreciated!

I'm still learning how to use it as well but what I do is select the Results tab or the Statistics tab. Then I set my filters (located on the left):

Report: (Summary)
Group by: (Session)
Game: (Holdem)
Date: Today or Yesterday (or whatever date you want to review)
Stakes: (pick whatever stakes you want to review)

So on the top half it will show all your stats.
on the bottom half it will show your (Hands For Session or the Graph).

You will want to select Hands For Session (located on the right just below the stats. Just below that you will want to select the pull down tab and select All Hands. This will load all your hands played on that date for that game and stakes... whatever you have your filters set at (steps we did earlier).

From here what I do is in the Hand For Session that you see once you sellect All Hands is click on "Won" tab. If you click it once it should put all your winnings in order from most to least... now click that Won tab again and it will put your winnings from least to most... this is where you can see what hands you lost the most money on during that session... I'm looking at mine and it was -$1.03 when my hole cards were AA from here you can review and such.

Now if you want to review the hands you marked right next to the pull down where you selected "All Hands" is a box you can check that says "Show Marked Hands Only". Pretty much says it all so no need for me to explain. LOL

There might be an easier way to filter this but it's how I review my last session. Hope I didn't completely confuse you on this but maybe you can muddle thru it and get what you are looking for.

Hey all, I know I’ve been MIA for a few days, but forgot to mention that I was coming to Vegas for 4 days with the Mrs. while she was here for a work conference. I’ll post more in the coming days, but I’ll say it was good on the poker front. Shipped a small tourney at Mirage (where we’re staying), shipped the $140 daily at Aria and just busted in 13th of Event #1 at the Venetian Deepstack Series (ran super card dead in the late stages) busting with a flopped flush BvB to a rivered nut flush. Gonna finish up with some cash before heading home tomorrow. Not going to load any of these winnings online and will just keep pushing forward with the challenge starting Friday.

Until then...

Hey everyone!

Just wanted to pop in and post a quick update. Haven't been playing too much since returning from Vegas, but I promise things will start picking up. Since getting back last Friday, I have put in just under 4k of break even poker at $2nl. Here's the graph since coming home...



However, I have had a lot of success in my MTT/SNG with around $30 in profit. Currently, bankroll sits around $90 so only $10 more until we get to move up to $5nl. LET'S GO!!!!!

$100!!!!

I have officially hit a $100 bankroll and that means it's time to shot take $5nl and I will play any MTT up to $1 buy in! This probably doesn't sound like much, but baby steps, right?

Anyway, things went pretty well since my post yesterday, evidenced by this...



To be fair, a chunk of it was earned by this hand...

Winning Poker Network (Yatahay) - $0.02 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 4 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 215 BB (VPIP: 58.33, PFR: 29.17, 3Bet Preflop: 25.00, Hands: 25)
SB: 122.5 BB (VPIP: 8.33, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 25)
BB: 151 BB (VPIP: 20.39, PFR: 9.87, 3Bet Preflop: 4.41, Hands: 156)
Hero (CO): 218.5 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

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

Hero raises to 3 BB, BTN raises to 5 BB, fold, BB calls 4 BB, Hero calls 2 BB

Flop: (15.5 BB, 3 players) 9 9 K
BB checks, Hero checks, BTN bets 15 BB, fold, Hero calls 15 BB

Turn: (45.5 BB, 2 players) T
Hero checks, BTN checks

River: (45.5 BB, 2 players) 3
Hero bets 32.5 BB, BTN raises to 195 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 162.5 BB



Villain was a super aggro rec player. Wasn't happy on the river, but just closed my eyes and clicked 'call'.

So super excited to jump up in limits and to help against the new level run bad and kick off the NCAA basketball tournament, I decided to crack open one of these...



So that's it. Will try and post more tonight if I can get online. Until then everyone!

HAPPY NCAA TOURNAMENT DAY!!!!

I know it's been a few days since my last post, but things have been pretty busy around here with the kiddos and work schedules. Wanted to come on here and give a little update as I'm finishing up a $1 On-Demand MTT (currently 1 of 9) and watching the end of the late night games.

First things first, my jump to $5nl hasn't really gone to plan....



As you can see, I'm up about a buy-in after around 2,500 hands, but have been pretty unlucky. Happy with my overall play though, so will just keep plugging along and working to the $200 bankroll/$10nl shot take.

On another note, my MTT game has been on POINT!!! My volume has been almost entirely the $0.55 and $1.10 turbo On-Demands as they don't require a huge time commitment and I have been able to ship a few of them the past few days and the roll is currently sitting at $130.52 (plus whatever I earn in this last tourney). Fingers crossed that I'm able to close this out as the huge $14.50 score up top would be a nice bonus to end the night.

Not sure how much volume I'll put in this weekend with basketball going on and everything else, but I'll definitely report on any significant developments.

Finally, it wouldn't be a NCAA Thursday without some adult beverages....