Hi everyone,

let's go BIG! The purpose of this blog is to document my growth as a poker player all the way to Vegas. I already have some online and offline experience but never made it very far and recently had to cash out my entire bankroll for personal reasons. Since I'm in love with this friggin game I decided to come back and this time I want to go all the way! One of my dreams is to compete at the World Series at some point in my life. But with that comes one rule: my entrance fee has to be paid entirely from poker winnings without completely crushing my BR. So you can see that my goals are set high! And I'm sure it will take a lot of time and effort to get there but I am willing to invest my limited free time to pursue this dream. Blogging will (hopefully) provide some necessary feedback, encouragement and company on the road ahead.
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Here is everything you need to know before we get started:

this is a completely fresh start ----> 0$ (Day 1)


until I build a decent BR, it will be PokerStars only

i will earn my starting bankroll through freerolls (PokerSchool, Hubble, regional ones)

once i make my first cash(es), I will initially use both NL cash games and SNG's and later tournaments as well to try to build my BR further

BRM is very imporant and will be used as soon as possible. Cash games 25 stacks, SNG's and tournaments 100BI each.

still trying to decide between PokerTracker and Hold'emManager. what would you guys suggest if I'm looking for a good HUD, integrated ICM calculator and detailed analysis tools?
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So without further ado, let's get our hands dirty and improve my account status. The first freeroll starts in an hour!


Milestones so far:
1st of 9241 in PokerSchool Freeroll for $5.52
1st of 360 in $0.10 SnG for $6.80

Played a couple of freerolls today but no cashes yet. Came close to the money once or twice but always ran into hands or missplayed somewhere. Here are some of the more interesting situations:


1) The BB can bet a lot of hands here (2x, some 3x, 4x, 5x, 6x, fd, gs). The UTG minraise looks stronger but i don't think that i get out of this hand against his stack, especially with my redraw. Shove ok?
Poker Stars Freeroll No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t30/t60 Blinds - 9 players
Hero (MP2): t1660 27.67 BBs
BB: t5350 89.17 BBs
UTG: t440 7.33 BBs

Pre Flop: (t90) Hero is MP2 with 7 7
UTG calls t60, 3 folds, Hero calls t60, 3 folds, BB checks

Flop: (t210) 4 3 5 (3 players)
BB bets t120, UTG raises to t240, Hero raises to t1600 all in, BB folds, UTG calls t140 all in

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2) No reads on both players. Both of them could either be strong or spewy (like many people in these freerolls). Do you fold here and wait for a better spot?
Poker Stars Freeroll No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t40/t80 Blinds - 9 players
UTG+2: t410 5.12 BBs
BTN: t8740 109.25 BBs
Hero (SB): t980 12.25 BBs

Pre Flop: (t120) Hero is SB with A J
2 folds, UTG+2 raises to t160, 3 folds, BTN raises to t560, Hero ?

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3) Wasn't quite sure how to play this hand. Preflop I isolate for value. On the flop my plan is b/f. Not sure if xc would be better here. As played, the turn is not great…i gain Qx as outs but Ax is not necessarily good anymore. Push or c/f here?
Poker Stars Freeroll No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t50/t100 Blinds - 9 players
UTG+1: t6360
Hero (SB): t1780

Pre Flop: (t150) Hero is SB with J A
1 fold, UTG+1 calls t100, 5 folds, Hero raises to t300, 1 fold, UTG+1 calls t200

Flop: (t700) 8 K J (2 players)
Hero bets t350, UTG+1 calls t350

Turn: (t1400) T (2 players)
Hero ?

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4) This btw is what I'm dealing with...

Poker Stars Freeroll No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t50/t100 Blinds - 9 players
UTG+1: t990 9.90 BBs
UTG+2: t4980 49.80 BBs
MP1: t2950 29.50 BBs
MP2: t10770 107.70 BBs
Hero (CO): t1070 10.70 BBs
BTN: t7770 77.70 BBs
SB: t3200 32 BBs
BB: t960 9.60 BBs
UTG: t1340 13.40 BBs

Pre Flop: (t150) Hero is CO with T 6
2 folds, UTG+2 calls t100, 1 fold, MP2 calls t100, 1 fold, BTN calls t100, SB calls t50, BB checks

Flop: (t500) 2 A J (5 players)
SB bets t100, BB calls t100, UTG+2 calls t100, MP2 calls t100, BTN folds

Turn: (t900) J (4 players)
SB checks, BB checks, UTG+2 checks, MP2 checks

River: (t900) 8 (4 players)
SB bets t100, BB raises to t760 all in, UTG+2 raises to t1420, MP2 folds, SB calls t1320

Final Pot: t4500
UTG+2 shows K K (a flush, Ace high)
SB mucks K K
BB shows 2 2 (a full house, Deuces full of Jacks)
UTG+2 wins t1320
BB wins t3180

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So no $$ yet but the goal stays the same and motivation is as high as ever! To quote one of the good old Van Damme classics - "No Retreat, No Surrender!"

Many many freerolls later and still no luck
Today, literally every single time I came close to cashing I got it in with the best hand and lost or was unlucky flipping. Sure, I missplayed some hands as well but with so many donks I didn't expect to go this long without a single cash. On a day like this, it is the sheer ridiculousness of some hands that brings a smile on my face.

So let's play a game: for the next few hands, I added results in white font. try to guess what the players are holding. and be prepared for the "WTF??" moments! Enjoy!

1)
Poker Stars Freeroll No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t50/t100 Blinds - 9 players
UTG: t5420 54.20 BBs
UTG+1: t13514 135.14 BBs
MP2: t3110 31.10 BBs
Hero (BTN): t7310 73.10 BBs

Pre Flop: (t150) Hero is BTN with 7 8
UTG calls t100, UTG+1 raises to t200, 2 folds, MP2 calls t200, 1 fold, Hero calls t200, 2 folds, UTG calls t100

Flop: (t950) 8 4 Q (4 players)
UTG bets t100, UTG+1 calls t100, MP2 calls t100, Hero calls t100

Turn: (t1350) 4 (4 players)
UTG bets t100, UTG+1 raises to t1000, MP2 calls t1000, Hero folds, UTG raises to t1900, UTG+1 calls t900, MP2 calls t900

River: (t7050) T (3 players)
UTG bets t100, UTG+1 calls t100, MP2 calls t100

Final Pot: t7350
UTG shows 2h 5s (a pair of Fours)
UTG+1 shows Ks 9s (a pair of Fours - King kicker)
MP2 shows Qh 7d (two pair, Queens and Fours)
MP2 wins t7350

2)
Poker Stars Freeroll No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t20/t40 Blinds - 9 players
MP1: t3740 93.50 BBs
MP2: t1100 27.50 BBs
Hero (BB): t1500 37.50 BBs
UTG: t2680 67 BBs

Pre Flop: (t60) Hero is BB with T K
UTG calls t40, 1 fold, UTG+2 raises to t110, MP1 calls t110, MP2 raises to t1100 all in, 4 folds, UTG calls t1060, 1 fold, MP1 calls t990

Flop: (t3470) A 5 7 (3 players - 1 is all in)
UTG checks, MP1 checks

Turn: (t3470) Q (3 players - 1 is all in)
UTG bets t1580 all in, MP1 calls t1580

River: (t6630) 9 (3 players - 2 are all in)

Final Pot: t6630
MP1 shows 3c Tc (high card Ace)
MP2 shows Td Kd (high card Ace)
UTG shows Jd Js (a pair of Jacks)
UTG wins t3160
UTG wins t3470

3)
Poker Stars Freeroll No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t20/t40 Blinds - 8 players
CO: t1460 36.50 BBs
Hero (BB): t1500 37.50 BBs
UTG: t3080 77 BBs
UTG+1: t1500 37.50 BBs

Pre Flop: (t60) Hero is BB with 3 3
UTG calls t40, UTG+1 calls t40, 2 folds, CO calls t40, BTN calls t40, 1 fold, Hero checks

Flop: (t220) 6 2 4 (5 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets t40, UTG+1 raises to t80, CO calls t80, BTN folds, Hero folds, UTG calls t40

Turn: (t460) T (3 players)
UTG bets t460, UTG+1 raises to t1380 all in, CO calls t1340 all in, UTG folds

River: (t3600) 6 (2 players - 2 are all in)

Final Pot: t3600
CO shows 4h 5c (two pair, Sixes and Fours)
UTG+1 shows 4d 5h (two pair, Sixes and Fours)
UTG+1 wins t1800
CO wins t1800

Good luck OP!

@Wh1teNorth
thanks, I appreciate it!

Finally the first cash
BR $0.02



Sadly I busted with KK preflop AI against JJ for 4th biggest chip stack. But after so many failed attempts, I am happy about a BR that is >$0.00

Now we have to use this immeasurable wealth to get rolling and (hopefully) not falling back to grinding freerolls. I already registered for the Common Cents Kick-Off later on today. So maybe we can turn 1 cent into 10k tonight. The other half of my BR will most likely go into a qualifier for the Common Cents Main Event. The cheapest SnG is sadly 1 cent to expensive...

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1) Was quite unsure how to best play turn&river here. I xc here on my straight/set/2p outs. Should I rather put in a second barrel? As played, can i fold to the weak riverbet?

Poker Stars Freeroll No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t50/t100 Blinds - 9 players

Hero (UTG+1): t3755 37.55 BBs
UTG+2: t3770 37.70 BBs

Pre Flop: (t150) Hero is UTG+1 with 3 A
1 fold, Hero raises to t240, UTG+2 calls t240, 6 folds

Flop: (t630) 4 7 3 (2 players)
Hero bets t300, UTG+2 calls t300

Turn: (t1230) 5 (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG+2 bets t600, Hero calls t600

River: (t2430) T (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG+2 bets t500, Hero calls t500

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2) Here again turn&river problematic. Donk turn or as played? The river is ugly. Bet/fold best here?

Poker Stars Freeroll No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 6 players

CO: t3300 110 BBs
BTN: t1540 51.33 BBs
Hero (BB): t1400 46.67 BBs

Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BB with T 5
2 folds, CO calls t30, BTN calls t30, 1 fold, Hero checks

Flop: (t105) 6 T 7 (3 players)
Hero checks, CO checks, BTN bets t90, Hero calls t90, CO calls t90

Turn: (t375) 5 (3 players)
Hero checks, CO checks, BTN bets t30, Hero raises to t270, CO folds, BTN calls t240

River: (t915) 9 (2 players)
Hero ?

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3) Last but not least...another example of the godlike calls that my oponents are capable of. I hope I am that good some day...

Poker Stars Freeroll No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t150/t300 Blinds + t25 - 9 players

MP2: t4237 M = 6.28
SB: t9998 M = 14.81

Pre Flop: (t665) Hero is CO with 9 6
4 folds, MP2 raises to t600, 2 folds, SB calls t450, 1 fold

Flop: (t1715) 3 T 2 (2 players)
SB checks, MP2 checks

Turn: (t1715) 3 (2 players)
SB checks, MP2 bets t300, SB calls t300

River: (t2315) K (2 players)
SB checks, MP2 bets t1500, SB calls t1500

Final Pot: t5315
MP2 shows 8 9 (a pair of Threes)
SB shows J Q (a pair of Threes - King+Queen kicker)
SB wins t5180
SB wins t135

Busted relatively early in the Common Cents Kick-Off and apparently all of the 1 cent qualifiers are promotional and require passwords. So back to freerolls and to increase my chances I registered for all types of freerolls this time (stud, razz, 8-game, draw). When I started I didn't even know the rules for most of them which made for a few hilarious hands.
But in some of them I was lucky enough to make deep runs. The first one below is the $10 PokerSchool freeroll which requires A LOT of patience haha! Pretty ridiculous payout after surviving 99.5% of the field but I'll take whatever I can get. Btw...the hand I busted with was A4s<ATo after blinding down to 5bb.



Apart from the small cash, I managed to win two tickets for finals. The first one is a weekly $2000 event. Funnily enough the qualifier was FL Hold'em...which I know nothing about. Lowest payout level for the final starts @$1, so I could finally get away from freerolls by making it ITM there. Since the event is on Saturday @4pm with 15min(!) blind levels, I might skip it this week. There is a great local band playing in town and I don't think that the tournament will be over in time.
The second one has a €3120 price pool with a trip to Prague for the winner (€1100 entry for a EPT side event + €1000 pocket money). That one is at the end of the month and should be very exciting! Even a mincash is >€3 but I am obviously going for the win!


So in summary: BR - $0.02 (+2 tickets)
Next step: using my 2 cents for one of the hyper turbo SnG's and hoping for the best. Otherwise, back to freerolls!
Also, no hands today. Since there is not much feedback yet, I'll wait for some more readers first. =)

GL in your hyper turbo SnG - this is probably the best use of that size of prize.

Good luck, I remember doing something similar to this and I actually took down the open skill league for 5 bucks!

It's not easy but mass respect to everyone that tries it!

@Matt Crocker
Totally agree. Not much choice in the matter with only 2 cents...sadly I didn't really get that far before bleeding out.

@Labax
Let's just say I was inspired by your story...



And it really didn’t look that great at the start. Not even 15 hands in I am down to 7bb after making a pretty silly rivercall with midpair. Two flips and a juicy 99>QQ suckout keep me alive during the next few levels. At 80/160 blinds, I wake up with QQ after one player limps UTG. I raise in the CO, the BU calls and the BB pushes AI for 20bb. When the limper pushes as well, it feels like Christmas has come early this year! My QQ hold against AKo and QTs and I suddenly sit at 80bb. Seems like all my luck is used up…I don’t really see a playable hand for the next 5 levels and slowly blind down to 15bb again. And then this happens:

Pre Flop: (t1920) Hero is MP2 with 8 8
UTG calls t800, UTG+1 raises to t1600, UTG+2 calls t1600, 1 fold, Hero raises to t11857 all in, 3 folds, BB calls t11057, UTG calls t11057, UTG+1 calls t10257, 1 fold

Mentally, I'm already prepared to close the table. Then the flop comes down 4 5 8
No help for the others on turn and river (A5s, KJo, UTG+1 folds on the flop) and I take a massive pot of 60bb home. This hand was some kind of trigger because now I get hand after hand after hand:

someone tries to isolate a shorty and pushes 30bb with 44 into my KK --> 90bb
two hands later, I hit my Ace with AKo in a 3b pot and get paid off by midpair after the second Ace hits on the turn --> 130bb
a few hands after this, I push my TT as the BB against a big CO-r and get a call from ATo for 35bb --> 150bb

At this point ~350 players are left (90 ITM) and my stack just entered the top10 with that last hand. A blind steal here and there keep me around 100bb for the next 30mins until I pick up KJs one off the CO. I raise first-in and get a call from the BU. Flop 5 3 5 rainbow. My conti gets called and I check a 9 on the turn. BU checks behind. River is a King and BU has roughly potsize left. I bet 1/3 and he shoves the remaining 20k. I snapcall and feel really stupid when he shows A5o. I do get 3:1 but what does he shove here that I can beat with top pair?? Easy fold imo. Well...shrug it off! Still 50bb left!
With 120 players remaining, my openraise with QQ in middle position is min3bet by the SB (<---fish) and BB pushes over the top with 20bb. One of them could have me beat but the pot is already huge...and it is a freeroll after all. So all my chips go in the middle, SB calls and they turn over 66 and AQo. My hand holds and I sit comfortably back at 110bb. Only 5 hands later someone raises to 4bb UTG, gets one caller and I have the biggest smile on my face after my AA gobble up the KK of the UTG raiser. The bubble is about to hit and I am now top dog with my 120bb.
I was taking some notes here and there but now I start to pay closer attention to my table and let me say this: there are plenty of reasons why most of these players don't get out of freerolls! Many have no idea about position, bet sizing, odds or relative hand strength. So I quickly have notes on everyone which definitely makes my decisions in certain situations easier. But first it's time to sit back for 30min+ and wait for hands. The blinds are already 6k/12k when I get a free flop in the BB with 83o. It comes down 8 Q 3 . With 5 players in the hand, I raise the SB bet for protection. AQo goes over to top with 10bb left, everyone else folds and I can add another 20bb to my stack --> 70bb overall.
As players bust, the tables become more and more shorthanded. We are down to 31 and 7-handed play when I raise KsJs in middle position and see 3 callers behind me. Flop 8 2 4, 2 spades. Alright, let's do this! One caller on the flop and I hit a King on the turn. SWEET! Bet turn, push river and I get paid off by QQ. Wait...what? Great slowplay!
Either way, with the win I am back at 100bb with 1.6mio chips. And with some blindsteals my stack size stays the same all the way to the final table bubble. A shorty on the other table busts and we made it - FINAL TABLE, BOIS!!

MP1: t909066 M = 6.31
MP2: t952268 M = 6.61
CO: t1494654 M = 10.38
BTN: t1841602 M = 12.79
SB: t2460378 M = 17.09
Hero (BB): t1566546 M = 10.88
UTG: t299984 M = 2.08
UTG+1: t2204574 M = 15.31
UTG+2: t2132428 M = 14.81

Blinds are at 30k/60k and with nobody >40bb there is not much room for error. The difference in payout is quite significant. 9th goes home with only 7 cents whereas 2nd pays over $1. The biggest jump is between 2nd and 1st though. 5.5x as much as 2nd is huge compared to normal tournament structures. So I have my eyes firmly set on the big prize! 4 hands in I find QQ with the chipleader as limper in front of me. I isolate him and he shoves his 40bb with TT. Instacall and my QQ hold up. Who's the bigstack now, biatch?
My position is not the greatest though: the other two bigstacks are directly to my left. Makes it a bit trickier to pressure the table. But why should i do all the work when they put enough pressure on themselves? E.g. one of the shorties makes the genius move to call a raise in the BB for half his stack, just to fold the other half on the flop - GG! Another shortstack folds his BB with 2bb just to find KK in the SB and stay alive...for now. It's madness here!
I keep up the pressure, raising KTs in early position and get a call from one of the shortstacks with AJo. Flop K, turn A, and then I river my flush and kick the first one out. The second one follows when someone decides to check/raise his oesd on the turn against AA. The hand right after I raise QQ early and get two callers. Flop 2 5 3 and JJ call me down. Again, just one hand after I find A7o in the BB and the shorty in 1st position shoves with 13bb. Ingame, I was not sure whether a call here is +EV. But since it's only for 4% of my stack and I want to win the whole thing, I make the call and have his A6o dominated. Welcome to 5-handed. That was quick!
I ran the calculations afterwards and ICM tells me to call 100% there...didn't expect that one. Obviously ICM gives him too wide of a range but apparently I can easily call here with a halfway decent hand. My lesson for the day! The next few rounds are pretty frustrating because the fish to my right always limp/calls my raises and donks the flop. And I hit literally nothing. I sometimes float with overcards but can't really call the second bet and have to fold every single time. He then takes out a shortstack K9s>88 and gets even more annoying as 2nd in chips. One of the players is sitting out and blinds down to finish 4th and we go into 3-handed play with 50% of the chips. Let's ship it!
Straight away I lose my chiplead with the next hand. I'm curious what you guys think about it:

Poker Stars Freeroll No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t90000/t180000 Blinds + t18000 - 3 players

BTN: t3823234 M = 11.80
Hero (SB): t6402064 M = 19.76
BB: t3636202 M = 11.22

Pre Flop: (t324000) Hero is SB with T Q
1 fold, Hero raises to t388000, BB calls t208000

Flop: (t830000) 5 Q K (2 players)
Hero checks, BB bets t430000, Hero calls t430000

Turn: (t1690000) 3 (2 players)
Hero checks, BB bets t500000, Hero calls t500000

River: (t2690000) 9 (2 players)
Hero checks, BB bets t550000, Hero calls t550000

He had K6o btw. On the flop I should probably bet myself. I'm always hesitant with midpair and view too many situations as wa/wb and thus switch to xc. But as played, do you guys fold the turn/river? Especially on the river, I get great odds to call. No particular reads on his postflop play at that point. Let me know what you think! Then I finally get a hand against the donk to my right. I raise K8o as BU and he calls. Flop 5 K 3 rainbow. He makes his standard donk and I call him down turn&river....to split the pot with his K8s 3-handed play drags on for quite a while longer, chips going back and forth. By now the blinds are 120k/240k with everyone <25bb. And then it finally happens...the other two clash: BU raises, my donk friend pushes 20bb and his A9o loses the flip against 77. HEADS-UP FOR STACKS!

I start HU as a 4:1 dog with 8bb left in desperate need of a double-up. And it comes soon: I push A5o and get a call from 33, flop K 5 A. Hitbox activated! The next big pot comes my way when I hit my 2pair with 85s on a 8 2 3 K 5 board against his T8o. He's down to 12bb now. The finishing blow follows shortly after with K7o vs QTo. Flop T 2 K, turn 2, river 6. And after 6 long hours, I hoist my trophy and wave towards the many fans that have gathered

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Bankroll $5.52 (+ $5.50) + 2 tickets (see last post)

Next step: freeroll days are finally over! I will start with $0.10 turbo SnG's (360 players). I know that 55 buy-ins are usually not enough but I'll give it a shot anyway. If my BR drops below $4.00, I will switch to the $0.02 hyper turbos.

Only had time for a few SnG's last week. Went down ~15 BI and was close to dropping below $4.00 (and thus switching to $0.02 hyper turbos) but then turned it around



Since the blind structure is similar to the hyper turbos, there are not many hands with interesting postflop action to highlight. However, I'd like to get some feedback on these two hands:

1) Anyone folding here? Sure, he could have a flush. But as soon as I include hands like AJ, AT and some hands like pair+fd and combo-draws in his range, I should have enough equity.

Poker Stars $0.09+$0.01 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t50/t100 Blinds - 9 players

UTG: t3440 34.40 BBs
MP1: t4605 46.05 BBs
Hero (MP2): t3425 34.25 BBs

Pre Flop: (t150) Hero is MP2 with K Q
UTG calls t100, 2 folds, MP1 calls t100, Hero raises to t440, 4 folds, UTG calls t340, MP1 calls t340

Flop: (t1470) J T A (3 players)
UTG checks, MP1 checks, Hero bets t800, UTG calls t800, MP1 calls t800

Turn: (t3870) 5 (3 players)
UTG checks, MP1 bets t3365 all in, Hero calls t2185 all in

2) This was imo a pretty interesting HU hand. The other guy was quite passive and had completed the SB a few times before. This is the first time that I raise his complete, so he has to give me somewhat of a hand. Flop conti is standard with the range that I am trying to rep. Turn is a complete blank and my plan is xf here. Since he checks back, I put him on a draw or a weak made hand, e.g. 7x. The river only helps 98 and busts all other draws and it will be hard for him to call another bet with anything less than Tx. Also...i can't win a showdown. Do you guys like the bet and the line in general?

Poker Stars $0.09+$0.01 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t6000/t12000 Blinds + t1200 - 2 players

Hero (BB): t239336 M = 11.73
BTN/SB: t300664 M = 14.74

Pre Flop: (t20400) Hero is BB with 2 3
BTN/SB calls t6000, Hero raises to t36000, BTN/SB calls t24000

Flop: (t74400) 7 T K (2 players)
Hero bets t28000, BTN/SB calls t28000

Turn: (t130400) 5 (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN/SB checks

River: (t130400) 6 (2 players)
Hero bets t45000, BTN/SB folds

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Summary:
27 SnG's played ($0.10 BI, 360 player) - 5x ITM, $5.39 profit (ROI 200%)

• 1st for $6.80 (last hand: A8s>53s)
• 4 minor cashes ( 10th for $0.51, 21st/26th for $0.27 each, 35th for $0.24)

-$0.11 for the $400 Gtd, AKs<QQ
used my ticket for the Weekly $2k and busted with AK<J8s

Bankroll: $10.80 ( +$5.28) + ticket to "Dream Trip to Prague" qualifier on the 28th

subbed.. good luck man!! sick to start with freeroll
I am starting with 100$ with the same goal : pm me if you and to chat on skype

@slouma28
glad to hear that! and good luck with your own challenge

Summary:
MTT's ($0.11) --> 8 played, 3 ITM (0.65/0.54/0.14) --> +$0.45
SnG's ($0.10, 360 players) --> 39 played, 5 ITM (4th for 2.75/7th for 1.13/0.43/0.27/0.24) --> +$0.92
SnG's ($0.02 hyper) --> 2 played --> -$0.04

Bankroll: $12.13 ( +$1.33) + ticket to "Dream Trip to Prague" qualifier this weekend

I REALLY wanna play some cashgames! The lowest limit on Stars is 1c/2c which means that I only have 6 full stacks - so BSS would be BR suicide. That's why instead of buying in with the max amount, I will use my own version of midstack strategy. What does that mean? I will sit down at the tables with minimum BI (40bb) and leave the table as soon as I hit 80bb. Let's see how it goes. If I fall below $10.00, I'm going back to SnG's. Also, I will play the qualifier this weekend. So wish me luck!
Since there's a chance that I will not go back to the 360 player SnG's, here is my overall graph (ROI 95.6%)



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Poker Stars $0.09+$0.01 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t125/t250 Blinds + t25 - 8 players

BTN: t5337 M = 9.28
Hero (BB): t1326 M = 2.31
UTG: t765 M = 1.33

Pre Flop: (t575) Hero is BB with K 8
UTG raises to t740 all in, 4 folds, BTN calls t740, 1 fold, Hero ?

Really curious what you guys think about this hand. Do you push here? I can asume that BU calls me if I do, so that brings the pot to 2615 with 1050 for me to call. That's rougly 2.5:1 or 28.6% to call. Now I did some calculations with possible ranges and it seems that not even KJo would be good enough to call here
Equity Win Tie
MP2 27.91% 26.02% 1.89% { KdJc }
MP3 33.95% 32.40% 1.54% { 22+, A2s+, K8s+, Q9s+, J9s+, T9s, A2o+, K9o+, QTo+, JTo }
CO 38.14% 35.98% 2.16% { 55+, A7s+, K9s+, QTs+, JTs, ATo+, KTo+, QJo }
That was very surprising to me since I would normally instacall here with KJ. Is this a spot where you just have to make an unprofitable call since you are already so low?

Summary:
NL2 --> 877 hands, 28bb/100 --> +$4.91
MTT’s ($0.11) --> 1 played --> -$0.11

Bankroll: $16.93 ( +$4.80) + 1 ticket

Had a pretty good start on NL2 with my midstack strategy but I cannot play much of it without running into problems. Stars seems to be cracking down on people who buy in as shortstack/midstack and quickly leave the table after winning a few hands. So if you switch tables a couple of times, they force you to buy in with more than the minimum. That means that I can only play a certain amount of hands per day before it becomes too risky.

Solution: I will give the smallest ST-SnG’s a go. Buy-in is $0.50, so I only have 34 (don’t try this at home, kids!). I realize that there are $0.25 SnG’s but all of them have 10min blind levels and even the smaller ones (45man) take 2h to complete. That’s a bit too long imo, so I’m going for STT‘s. I will play some cash game as well whenever I’m able to buy in with the minimum. Should I drop below $12.00, i’ll go back to the 360 player SnG’s.

Once I hit $40 I can start cash game proper. At that point, I need some kind of software to track my sessions. Which one would you guys recommend and why? PT or HM?

Summary:
NL2 FR --> 139 hands --> +$2.35
SnG's ($0.50) --> 27 played, 13 ITM (4x1st/4x2nd/5*3rd) --> +$3.13
Ticket to Prague --> mincash, €3 converted to $ --> +$3.29
MTT's ($0.11) --> 5 played, 2 ITM (0.28, 0.11) --> -$0.16

Bankroll: $25.54 ( +$8.61)

The BR building is going well. Guess who's upswinging pretty hard? The best example for how I'm running right now is how sick my RNG was in one of the SnG's that I played yesterday:

The whole thing was over in 35(!) hands. 8 of mine were top 2.6% (AA, 2*KK, QQ, JJ*2, TT and AKs). As if that wasn't enough already, my KK won a huge 220bb pot against AA and AQo in one of the first hands. From bubble to finish took only 3 hands: as the bigstack 4handed I push 64s into AKs and hit a 4. Next hand I push AKs and win the flip against 55. Final hand: JJ>JTo. That was pretty disgusting!

I'm a bit sad about the mincash in the Prague qualifier b/c the field was so soft. I spectated the final table 5h and let me tell you... it had quite a few #facepalm moments. So if you're a live tourney reg reading this...go to Prague. Easy money! But with my roll even the mincash is a nice boost and with $25 I can now comfortably play the $0.50 SnG's. What comes next? I will continue with SnG's until I hit $40. At that point, I'll switch back to NL2 using BSS this time.

And finally, some omnomnom to increase my viewership

You'll see time and time again that I put up a plan for myself, e.g. "Play xx SnG's this week", just to completely disregard it due to a lack of motivation/time. I don't see it as a problem though...I mean, in the end poker is a (hopefully lucrative) hobby and a hobby should be fun. If I force myself to play a certain amount of hands/SnG's and there is no motivation behind it, I won't enjoy it and probably don't play my A-game either.
And that's what happened the last two weeks: although the first couple of SnG's went really well, I was not really motivated. So I didn't play at all for a couple of days and then decided to switch to cashgame. Since I had some issues with midstack play, I just played regular bigstack. Pretty dangerous with my bankroll (~15BI when I started) but I was able to counterbalance some of the variance with the money that came in from the Spin&Go promotions. Here's the graph for my first stab at NL2 FR as a bigstack:



Summary:
NL2 FR BSS --> 1692 hands --> -$2.21
SnG's ($0.50) --> 21 played, 10 ITM (5x1st/3x2nd/2*3rd) --> +$4.56
MTT's ($0.11) --> 2 played --> -$0.22
Spin&Go ($0.50) --> 10 played, 4 ITM (3x$1/1x$2) --> +$5.00
Freerolls --> +2 tickets (Dream Trip Prague, Let's Play Poker - both on the 22nd)

Bankroll: $32.65 ( +$7.11) + 2 tickets

Running great

Poker Stars $0.01/$0.02 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players

MP1: $1.85 - 32/14 (38h)
MP2: $2.34
CO: $2.00
BTN: $1.45
SB: $2.07
Hero (BB): $2.00
UTG: $2.02 - 13/13 (16h)
UTG+1: $2.29 - 38/23 (13h)
UTG+2: $4.15

Pre Flop: ($0.03) Hero is BB with A K
UTG raises to $0.06, UTG+1 raises to $0.12, 1 fold, MP1 calls $0.12, 4 folds, Hero calls $0.10, 1 fold

Flop: ($0.43) K 6 7 (3 players)
Hero checks, UTG+1 bets $0.30, MP1 calls $0.30, Hero calls $0.30

Turn: ($1.33) K (3 players)
Hero checks, UTG+1 bets $1.06, MP1 raises to $1.43 all in, Hero calls $1.43, UTG+1 calls $0.37

River: ($5.62) 3 (3 players - 1 is all in)
Hero bets $0.15 all in, UTG+1 calls $0.15

Final Pot: $5.92
MP1 shows 6 6 (a full house, Sixes full of Kings)
Hero shows A K (three of a kind, Kings)
UTG+1 shows Q Q (two pair, Kings and Queens)
Hero wins $0.29
MP1 wins $5.42

Here's my summary for the rest of November:
NL2 FR BSS --> 767 hands --> $2.73
SnG's ($0.50) --> 18 played, 9 ITM (5x1st/2x2nd/2*3rd) --> +$2.90

Bankroll: $38.28 ( +$5.63)

Both cashgame and SnG's went well and I'm really happy with most of my decisions. I am doing A LOT of theory and reviewing of hands right now with a special focus on bubble play. Some of the pushes and folds you're supposed to make there (according to ICM) are pretty sick! On the 22nd, I used my freeroll tickets (Dream Trip Prague, Let's Play Poker) but busted in both of them before it got interesting. This month, I want to surpass $50 BR and get a decent winrate @NL2. Right now it's at 1bb/100 which is pretty sad.

'Nuff said...i'll make my way to the kitchen now to check up on condiments!

December started poorly for me: by the 6th, I was down to $33 but slowly managed to get back on track in week 2. I tried to clear the daily promotions which usually favoured cash game, so that was the main focus this time around. I made a small deposit (which is not counted towards my BR!) to get some free Spin&Go tickets (T$2.50) and got $3 out of it. On top of that, a few SnG's here and there and also some freerolls. I did, however, decide to not waste any more of my time on freerolls that only award tickets. Here's a rundown of the first two weeks for you:

Summary:
NL2 FR BSS --> 1199 hands --> +$5.18
SnG's ($0.50) --> 16 played, 6 ITM (1x1st/4x2nd/1*3rd) --> -$0.50
Spin&Go ($0.25) --> 10 played, 4 ITM (2x$1/2x$0.50) --> +$3.00
Freerolls --> +$0.30 (mincash in EPTlive) + 1 ticket

Bankroll: $46.26 ( +$7.98) + 1 ticket

That means I only need another 4 bucks to meet my self-proclaimed goal of $50 by the end of the year. I'll continue to play around promotions and see how far I can get until then. Since my next update will most likely be in 2016, Happy Holidays everyone!