Well, Christmas came a few days late this year!
I (FINALLY) completed the challenge. Definitely a lot harder than I thought, though I would say I struggled more at the lower stakes, particularly 10NL, than the higher ones.
Here are the results from the last post:
Here are a few takeaways:
1. I've had some good coaching, but a lot of the balanced play I learned didn't come in handy until 50NL. I would recommend playing much more exploitative at the lower stakes (i.e. if Villain bets 2/3 pot on the river, he's probably not bluffing).
2. Having a goal helped a lot, as long as it doesn't make you TOO results-oriented. Some of my worst sessions were the ones where I was about to achieve a milestone like moving up in stakes, or posting to this forum. If you try and force your winnings, you'll definitely pay dearly. Looking back, I honestly feel like I could achieve these results in 1/2 to 2/3 the number of hands it took.
3. The microstakes are still very beatable. While I ran into a lot of brick walls, it never ceased to amaze me what hands fish would play or how overly-aggressive (particularly x/r flop cbets) players would be in such an unbalanced way. I would recommend playing a TAG strategy, but don't be too overly-aggressive with your play - other players will do that for you and you can rake in the $$.
Let me know if you guys have any questions/comments/advice. My bankroll is now at $1045, which DOES include rakeback of $100. I'm finding 50NL way less difficult than I thought it would be, so I plan to work my bankroll up to $2K before withdrawing some funds for vacations and stuff.
Thanks for those who followed/chipped in on hands, etc. Every bit helped.
Happy trails, run well!