Backstory: I'm a mixed games specialist, mostly limit draw games and OFC. I don't know that I've played every variant ever spread online, but it's pretty close. I came up playing limit holdem and SnGs about the time Chris Moneymaker was donking over the dinosaurs; long enough ago that the poker room I started at didn't spread cash no limit. Pretty soon after that I discovered 2-7 and was hooked, and ended up splitting time between that and LHE until LHE went tits-up. Then, being American, I mostly just played a lot less.

I've dabbled in no-limit from time to time, and got decently OK at small stakes headsups and spins, but I've never taken it especially seriously. I think it's maybe time to do so. So I'm going to set out onto something a little more organized, and this thread is mostly for that.

Way back in the day we had something called the Open Internet Challenge, which involved playing LHE with aggressive, near-Kelly bankroll management to move up quickly and get experience at a lot of limits. Specifically, it had a 50-big-bet bankroll requirement for moving up to the next limit. (My first big mistake in poker was doing this, discovering that I could run over the 5/10 games at the time, and then chickening out because that was too much risk for my conservative upbringing. The hope is that thirteen years later I've become better at that.)

I'm going to do something similar for this challenge, using a ten-buyin rule for $4 and $10 NL and an eight-buyin rule above. I might modify this with experience, or if I end up increasing table count significantly. For the moment I'm playing two tables and it seems like a good method. For example, when I get to $100 I will move up to $10NL, and if I fall to $40 I will move back to $4NL. If instead I get to $160 I will move up to $20NL and have $100 and $40 as fallback points. In LHE this tended to lead to a lot of moving between limits and I expect this version will as well.

I feel like a lot of my general not getting there on NLHE cash in the past has been through trying to do too much at once, rather than focusing on individual parts and trying to build a foundation. So I'm going to do that this time - at the beginning I'm concentrating on value betting, blind stealing, and c-bets. I'll add more things as I feel more confident at those. For the moment those seem like plenty to beat $4NL badly.

This challenge is about my ninth priority, so I reserve the right to abandon it for short or long periods of time if I'm able to do actual productive work or get plenty of action in my normal games.

I started a couple of days ago with $63 I had in Global Poker, and have so far increased the challenge bankroll to $74.72. Global has no downloadable/convertible hand histories. I'll try to get hands and post them but I have to do it manually, so don't expect a ton.

Part of the motivation for this comes from yesterday having a moment of clarity on the limit -> no limit transition that was never explained in the various threads that happened when the LHE community moved en masse, or at least not in a way that I was able to understand.

In limit games, you're mostly playing for the money in the pot. In NL, you're mostly playing for the money that isn't in the pot yet. This is more than "implied odds are more important." I really think implied odds in the two forms are best treated as completely different concepts. In limit, most of the play, most of the value, takes place on the turn and the river, when the pot is very large compared to the bets. In NL there's still a lot of value in those big bets, but most of the play is taking place on the flop, when the money isn't in the pot yet, jockeying over how much of it everyone will be putting in. By the time you get to the turn perceptions of hand ranges tend to be established and players are following through on the preflop/flop information they've spread and gathered.

Just recognizing that in NL, the value of a hand (or a range) on the flop is more about how much money you can get the opponent to put in badly later in the hand made a lot of things about the game much clearer. This lets me get away from, or back off on aggression with, hands which seem to me as a limit player to have a lot of value but it's all tied to their current pot equity rather than their implied odds.

Played an hour and a half tonight. The first hour was pretty boring, but profitable - didn't flop much, but when I did I got paid off in very standard fashion. Last half hour got a bit interesting. I feel like I'm making, and thinking about, a good number of mistakes, but it's harder to learn here just because there aren't a ton of showdowns. (And I was playing an OFC table and not watching hands I wasn't in very well.)

Big but kind of boring hands:

Hero ($8.18) open limps in MP with 55, BTN ($9.83, playing 98/30 or so) raises to $0.18, SB ($6.85, playing 100/0) calls, Hero calls. Flop 753, checks through. Turn (pot $0.58) T, SB bets $0.32, Hero raises to $1.24, BTN coldcalls, SB calls. River K (Pot $4.0x) SB checks, Hero bets $2.85, BTN jams, Hero beats him into the pot, he has KT.

BTN from hand above opens to $0.14 UTG, folds to me in the BB and I smoothcall AA. From 832 two-tone, I check, he bets $0.15, I raise to $0.60 and he calls. Turn 3, I bet half-pot $0.88 and he calls. River 9s and I jam for pot-ish, he calls.

I open 3x on the button with T9s, both blinds call. Flop KT9, checked to me and I pot, both call. Turn 6, checked to me and I pot again, SB calls. River A, check and I bet a little less than 1/3 pot, he calls.

Hands I think I might have played badly:

I raise QJ to 3bb in CO with the same guys from hand 1 in BTN and SB and they both call. Flop 942 with one diamond, we check to button and he bets 5bb, I decide to peel. Turn 4, check check. River T, I bet 10bb and he snaps me off with AK.

Hands I know I played badly:

UTG (100/0 SB from hand 1) minraises, MP and CO call so I figure what the hell, button, and throw in two chips with KT. Flop K45 with two hearts, UTG bets $0.32 and only I call. Turn a lovely black T, UTG bets $0.64, and I call again, more or less knowing I should raise. River 9 and he deeply underbets $0.44. I call again. Kinda yuck. He never has hearts here and almost never has me beat, but I felt like that card really hurt my chances of getting paid off. probably should have raised anyway, but definitely should have on the turn.

Hands that are just amusing:

I open T9 for 3bb UTG, CO (98/30 guy again) and SB call. Flop Q87 with one diamond, check, I bet 5bb, both call. Turn a black 8, checked to CO who bets 10bb, I decide I might as well peel. River 3, I check, he checks back and tables 62.

I loosely complete the SB after a limper with J9, 98/30 guy raises 3x, limper calls so why not. The board checks down and I have the best hand unimproved, but chop with limper's J2s.

+$19.14 today, challenge bankroll up to $93.86.

That brought back good memories, Tapirboy!

Here's an old TwoPlusTwo thread about one of the OICs: http://archives2.twoplustwo.com/show...0&fpart=1&vc=1

Good luck with your own challenge!

Thanks, Mike. I think I stumbled onto that thread in early 2005 and just went on and did one by myself; I remember I did it at Stars, which almost has to have been extracurricular.

Played 3 hours tonight, I don't think there was anything even resembling an interesting hand. Got paid off by short stacks a couple of times, got sucked out on by short stacks a couple of times, spent most of the time hovering between +$1 and +$3. Then in the last few minutes I flopped quads and top set and got paid off on both.

Challenge bankroll $103.24 and I'll start $10NL tomorrow.

Very short (83 hand) session of runhot at $10 before my tables broke and I decided to take a break. Not as many free flops here, nor as much peeling. Not sure if I might have cost myself money by being overaggro in some of these.

First hand, two limps, SB raises to .35, I call BB with 55, limpers. Flop T53 twotone, SB checks and I bet $1.10 into $1.40, everyone folds.

I open hijack 3x with KK, cutoff, button, and bb call. Flop AKJ twotone, I bet $1 into $1.20 and everyone folds.

Three-handed, I open button 3x with AK, BB calls. Flop KT4 rainbow, he checks, I pot, he folds.

Deep UTG opens for .25, I have 135 bb and raise to .9 with AK, he calls. Flop KJ3 twotone, he checks, I bet $1.2 into $1.95, he calls. Turn offsuit A, he checks, I bet $3.1 into $3.55, he jams, I call another $6.41. I'm not sure what I can ever have that AJ is happy with here, but thanks for the money.

Second table, fifth hand, UTG (23bb) limps, I raise to .4 with KK, button (89bb) raises to .72, UTG calls, I raise to $2.5, button calls, UTG calls all in. Flop 742 twotone, I jam, button folds.

Aggro opener opens to 3x in the cutoff, I call in the BB with AQ. Flop KQ2r, I check, he bets .32 into .65, I call. Turn 8, check-check. River 3, check-check.

Button openlimps, SB completes, I check KJ. Flop T97 twotone, everyone checks. Turn Q, check, I bet .3, fold fold.

Challenge bankroll $118.93. I might play more tonight, we'll see if I can get started on anything more productive.

Put in a little over five hours this morning while also playing OFC and printing some photos I hope to sell at a tapir conservation convention in November. I'm not thrilled with my play in this one, particularly discipline. I got out of my limited, valuebetting mindset and that resulted in some spew. Played a bunch of shorthanded in the middle and that largely got me back straight again. Fortunately it was a very good day for people slowplaying their hands until I was ahead.

Many hands of some interest:

Second orbit, CO opens 3x, I make it 9x with AJ and he calls. Flop K86 rainbow and we both check. Turn K, he checks, I bet $1.2. River jack, check-check. What he hell am I even doing here? I'm not sure any of these actions made sense.

Hijack openlimps, button makes it .45, SB calls and I overcall in the BB with ATs. Flop KT3r none of my suit, everyone checks. Turn 4, SB bets half-pot and I fold. I think the fold is fine with two players behind me but preflop was probably optimistic.

Three-handed I 3x button with black AT and BB calls. Flop Q52, he checks, I c-bet .4 and he calls. Turn A he checks and I bet $1, he folds. This is probably fine I guess, but I'm not confident in it.

Button limps and I check Q8. Flop KJ6 with two clubs, I bet .2, he raises pot to .85 and I call. Turn 8, he bets .97 and I call. River 4, I bet $2.5 and he folds. This seems like it's just a mess caused by my flop lead.

Four-handed I open CO with QJ, get three calls. Flop A62, checked to me and I c-bet .6, two calls, and I'm done with the hand. Is this c-bet too optimistic? Seems like if there's ever a flop for three coldcallers to miss it's this one.

Three-handed, button minraises, SB calls, I call BB with A5. Flop A54 twotone, everyone checks. Turn 4, SB minbets, I raise to .6, he calls. River jack, he checks, I bet $1.1, he calls. Not sure how I feel about sizing here, and about checking the flop.

Button minraises and I call BB with T9. Board 834A2, we check all the way down and I lose to Q6. These are the hands that frost my limit-playing soul but there seems like no upside to ever trying to take this pot.

Hijack minraises, CO calls, and I overcall the button with QT, BB comes along. Flop AQ6r, checks to me and I bet .5, only BB calls. Turn 8, he checks and I bet .9, he calls. River 9, he bets 1.82 and I fold. Sometimes NL just puts up hands that I feel like I have to accept not understanding, fold and move on.

113 effective, SB limps into me, I raise to .4 with 76, he calls. Flop KT6 with two hearts, check, I bet .6 and he calls. Turn 2, check, I bet $1.2 and he calls. River K, he leads $2.2, I raise to $5.4 and he folds.

Hijack minraises, I defend with A3. Flop A52r, check-check. Turn 2, I lead .2, he clicks back to .4, I call. River 9, check-check. I got free-showdowned lol.

I 3x UTG with black nines, CO calls and so does BB. Flop J64 all hearts, I c-bet .4, CO clicks back and I run away. This is a very standard flop to c-bet in limit, not sure how happy I am with it in NL.

UTG minraises, CO calls, I overcall button with AJ. Flop A52tt, checked to me and I bet pot .6. UTG folds, CO clicks back and I call. Turn K, check-check. River A making the flush, he bets $3.15 and I call. I don't like this call at all, he's likely trying to get value out of my exact hand.

87 effective since I didn't rebuy fast enough after the last one. Hijack openlimps, SB completes, I check T7 and flop the nuts on 986tt. SB checks, I bet .3, HJ clicks back, SB clicks back a second time, I raise to 3.9, HJ realizes his mistake and folds, SB calls. Turn A, SB jams and I call. Not sure if I played this too fast and should have tried to keep HJ in.

I 3x UTG black nines again with 170bb. Button (195) calls, BB (110) raises to $1.25, we both call. Flop a luscious but dangerous JT9tt, BB bets $3.8 and I jam.

Hijack minraises, I raise to .7 on the button with AK, he calls. Flop J65, he checks and I bet .8, he calls. Turn 4, river Q, and we check down. I feel like it's 2005 all over again when I'm learning how to play AK UI.

I 3x SB with 99, BB makes it .9, I call. Flop 843tt, check-check. Turn Q, I check, he bets $1, I call. River 3 check-check. This is another hand that my limit bones hate.

Hijack (194) opens 3x, I have him covered and call 98 on the button, BB comes along. Flop JT3. HJ bets .6, I raise to $1.8, he calls. Turn A, he checks, I bet $3.3, he jams for $14 more and I call. Action flop. He shows AA and the river's a blank.

Four-handed, button opens 3x and I defend AT. Flop AQ9tt, check-check. Turn 3, I bet .5 and he calls. River 5 completing the flush, check-check. Feel like I missed value on this one.

I open KJs UTG, HJ, CO, and SB all call. Flop J76r with one of my suit, I bet $1.1, CO calls, SB jams to $6.1, I think about it for a minute and call. Very unsure about this one.

I 3x the button with QT and both blinds call. Flop KT2tt, checked to me, I bet .6 and both call. Tun K, checked to me, I bet $1.4 and both call. River Q, SB leads .5, BB folds, and I call. Wat.

Different table now, not superdeep: I 3x CO with AK, SB calls. Flop A22, he checks, I bet .4, he clicks back and I call. Turn Q, he bets $2.3 and I call. River 4, he checks, I jam $6.15 and he folds. With no real draws I don't think raising earlier makes much sense, but this didn't work, so.

Button limps, SB completes, and I check J2s. Flop 882, I bet .2 and button calls. Turn 6, I bet .4 and he folds. This just feels spewy.

I 3x hijack with nines, BB calls. Flop Q42 of a suit I don't have, check, I bet .4, and he calls. Turn J, check-check. River J, he bets $1.45 and I fold. I feel like this is a spot I would have shown down and almost always lost in previous forays into NL. I'm still iffy on it.

Button limps, SB minraises, I call Q3, Button calls. Flop 542, I bet .4, Button folds, SB jams for $3.97 and I call. In retrospect this isn't an interesting hand it's just a bad beat story, so nevermind.

I 3x open SB with 77, BB calls. Flop J42 tt, I bet .4 and he calls. Turn A, I bet .8 and he calls. River flushing 9, check-check and he has a bad jack. Meh.

Tilty shortstack jams 38bb from HJ and I call in SB with 99. I mostly include this because 99 loved me today. He had A4 and the flop came 9-high.

I 3x CO with 98s, Button and BB call. Flop 764tt none of mine, I bet .6 and Button calls. Turn A and I put him all in for $1.28, he calls and I suck out.

SB minraises and I defend KT. Flop Q32tt, he minbets and I peel. Turn Q, he minbets again, I raise to .6 and he calls. River 5, he checks, I bet $1, and he calls. Each decision makes sense in a vacuum but I feel like everything I did here led me into more trouble.

Co limps, SB completes, I check 33. Flop 932r, check, I minbet, Button calls. Turn T, I bet .3, button calls. River J, I check hoping most of his one pairs will bet, but he checks back QT. Too fancy?

I 3x open the CO with JJ, SB calls. Flop A99, check-check. Turn Q, check-check. River J, he overbets $1.7, I raise to $5, he jams to $11.55 and I call. Don't play your A9 this way kids.

3-handed, Button minraises, SB calls, I make it $1.1 with AK and only Button calls. Flop Q32tt, I check, he bets $2.4, and I fold. This feels so weak.

Anyway, all's well that ends well. Challenge bankroll: $157.41.

Short session tonight, about 90 minutes. I'm not going to post any hands, cause they're dumb. I got owned multiple times with big aces that missed, got it in bad with overpairs a couple times and sucked out once, made a couple of hands on cheap buttons or blinds and got paid off. Overall just a little profit.

Challenge bankroll $161.53. Initial plan was to move to $25NL at $200 and switch to 8 buyins, but Global doesn't have $25NL, they have $20. I decided I'm going to stay with the $200 level and go from 10 to 8 at the bigger 50NL jump.

Put in another two hours, and some of the hands were actually interesting in the value betting sense at least. Really interested if anyone wants to comment on my sizing on these especially.

Hijack minraises, CO and Button call, I call 45 in the SB, BB folds. Flop KJA, I check, HJ bets .45, CO and Button call, I call. Turn Q, checks around. River 2, I bet $1.9.

Poster checks, SB (253) completes, and I check T6 in the BB. Flop JT6, SB minbets, I raise to .5, he calls. Turn A, check, I bet $1.2, he calls. River T, check, I bet $3.1. Try to get more here maybe?

Immediately next, same guy from above (204 now) limps button, I 5x AK in SB, he calls. Bingo flop QJT, I bet .8, he calls. Turn 9, I bet $1.6, he calls. River blanks, I bet $4. More here somewhere as well?

This one's ugly. CO limps, I raise to .5 on the button with KK, he calls. Flop 974tt, I bet .9, he calls. Turn 5, he leads $2.95 and I call. River 5, he jams for $7.65 and I think and fold. This seems like it's all I can really do. I kind of want to fold the turn even.

Three limps to me in the BB with K9. Flop J95, SB minbets, I call, so do the other two. Turn K, SB bets .2, I raise to .9, only SB calls. River A, he checks, I bet $1.5.

Two limps to me in the BB with J9. Flop 972tt, check, I bet .2, fold, SB calls. Turn 3, I bet .6, he calls. River 3, check, I bet .9.

Hijack limps, I raise to .4 in the SB with AQ, BB and HJ call. Flop Q75r, I bet pot $1.2, HJ calls. Turn J, I check, he bets $1.5, I jam for $8.72 more. This strikes me as FPSy.

I open 3x in the cutoff with KQs, Button minraises, SB minraises again, I call and so does Button. Flop K94tt with my backdoor. SB minbets, I raise to $1.10, Button folds, SB calls. Turn 3, check check. River flushing 3, he bets $1.5 and I call. This is probably FPSy as well and I should just bet the turn.

Co limps, I 4x A9 on the button, he calls. Flop 954tt, I bet pot .95, he calls. Turn 3, he bets $2.85, I jam for $6.05 more.

Fortunately I won a bunch of these. Challenge bankroll now $181.96. I'm running ridiculously hot in free flops.

Played a half hour tonight and made it to my $20NL threshold, mostly on one ridiculous hand. I chipped up a ways on starting hand runhot and then bet $17 into a $2 pot on JJ777 with AJ and got called.

Challenge bankroll $203.47

Meanwhile, had my first four-digit swings in a while in my regular games. Unfortunately it was +$1050 followed by -$1100, but eh. I feel like I'm getting back into the swing of things. Feels pretty much like no big deal just like it used to.

3:15 of essentially breakeven session, mostly due to me playing really bad at the beginning. Lots of limit-mindset calling that I'm really unhappy with. I might post some hands later, but I don't think they're interesting, just dumb. I also overcomplicated a bit, and while my bluffs were mostly good, I really should be concentrating on the value game until it's stronger.

I'm getting three-bet light a bit now that I'm at $20, so I need to start thinking about how to deal with that.

Challenge bankroll $200.88

Came back, played another 2:30, won a buyin. I should really review hands from these two sessions but I don't know if I will.

Challenge Bankroll $220.32.

OK, I really feel like I should review key hands from those two sessions and the 1:15 I played today. Probably my ev is better if I work on something non-poker, but what the hell. It occurs to me that unlike most activities I can hand review and drink at the same time, so let's.

The way that Global does their histories means that I basically have no reads in hand review. That doesn't necessarily reflect the state of things in play, but I am usually playing at least one table of something else while I'm doing this. I'm basically labeling guys who limp in terrible spots or I notice doing something else way off and otherwise not paying a ton of attention.

First session, table Cincinnati:

This must be a very loose passive table, or else I misclicked, because I openlimp QT in the CO, Button and SB call, BB checks. Flop KT4tt, checked to me, I bet .6, Button and BB call. Turn Q, check, I bet $1.6 and they fold.

UTG limps, I 4x in the co with T8s, BB and limper call. Flop J86tt with my backdoor, checks, I bet 1.6, BB calls. Turn 3, check, I bet 3.6, call. River 7 and I check back.

UTG and Button limp, I complete the SB with J9, BB checks. Flop QT3, I check, BB minbets, UTG calls, Button folds, I call. Tun K, I check, BB minbets, Button raises to $1, I call, BB folds. River K, I check, Button bet $1.8, and I fold. This feels really weak but it's so hard for him to bet something I beat again here. I definitely call off on a blank.

I open 3x in the hijack with JJ, very deep Button and BB call. Flop QJ8r, BB bets $1.4, I call, Button clicks back, SB folds, I think about it for a minute and decide I might as well jam for $18.87 more. These overbets have been working pretty well for me at these stakes, and he calls off with AQ.

Button limps, I complete JT, BB checks. Flop Q98 monotone and I have none. I bet .6 and BB calls. Turn 9, I bet $1.6, BB jams for $9.9, and I call. This strikes me as a pretty dumb limit-y call knowing the results, but in retrospect (and after another 6hrs in this game) I think he has Qx or 9x quite often here. Still probably bad given the odds but not as bad as it feels.

I get in trouble bvb, opening 3x with J8s. BB calls and we see KT7 with one of my suit, I bet .6 and he calls. Turn 8, I check-call .8. River T, I bet 2.4, he clicks back, and I run away.

Hijack limps and I check K5 in the BB. Flo K92tt, I check, he minbets, and I call. Turn 2, check-check. River T, I check-call .9. Still no idea how to play these spots as a regular thing.

First session, table Daly City:

Button minraises, I call SB with K4s, BB folds. Flop J86, I check-raise and he folds. I shouldn't be spending my mental energy on this right now, but free money and all.

Hijack limps, I 4x KQ in the SB, BB and limper call. Flop Q54tt, I bet $2, both call. Turn K, I bet 7, both call. (limper allin tiny.) River 7, I jam for $10, BB calls and shows 55. This strikes me as just a cooler I'm never getting away from.

UTG limps, I 4x with AQ, CO, BB and limper call. Flop QJJ, BB checks, limper jams $4.43 into $3.20 and I call. Don't really see any way around this even with two guys behind me, but this might be a spot I'm very wrong?

Two limps and I check A3. Flop 247tt, I check, HJ checks, Button openfolds. Turn 5, I bet .8, call. River flushing J, I bet $1.4, call. Sizing here?

First session, table Birmingham:

Four-handed, CO limps, Button make it .6, I call SB with Q9s, BB and limper fold. Flop Q62r, I check-call .8. River 5, checks through. Turn T, I bet $1.6

Three-handed, SB completes and I make it .6 with QJ. Flop T84r, check, I bet .6, he calls. River K, check, I bet $1.2, he folds. This seems boring but it's so limit-y I feel like I should post it. I've been taking free cards in these spots in NL but this seems like it calls out for the second c-bet.

I 3x in HJ with KTs, Button calls. Flop KJ3tt, I bet 1, he calls. Turn flushing K, I bet $2.2, he raises to $5, and I call. River 6 check-check.

I 2x Button with red kings, BB calls. Flop 974 with two hearts, he checks, I bet $1, he clicks back and I call. Turn T, he bets $2 and I call. River 2c, he checks, I bet $2.6. I'm ok with the small size since it's pretty hard for him to pay off many one pair hands here.

I 3x A6 on the button, SB min-threebets and I call. Flop JT2r, checks. Turn T, checks. River Kh, check and I bet .8. I post this mostly because I'm unclear how to handle these sorts of minimum 3-bets. Seems like I can't fold much but I don't have a good population range for doing it yet. I get called by A2 so the bluff was obviously no good.

Second session, table Birmingham: (Second session but less than an hour later; I bought in for $47.xx.)

Button minraises, I call SB with 99, BB raises to $1.2, Button calls, I think about resqueezing but call. Flop T75tt, I check, BB bets $1, Button calls and so do I. Turn 2, we check to Button who bets $1.2, I call, BB folds. River 2, I check, Button bets $2 and I call. This is maybe the most interesting hand of the bunch. I feel like I've underplayed a bit here and have a nice bluff-catcher.

I 3x HJ with AJ, CO min-threebets and I call. Flop AT8tt, I check, he minbets, and I call. Turn 9, I check, he bets $3.8 into $2.7 and I call. River J and we both check. This strikes me as another interesting one.

All at 150 bets, CO opens 3x, SB calls and I call BB with 99. Flop Q95tt, SB checks, I check, CO bets .8, SB clicks back. I call knowing it's super-strong but not sure how else to go about it. SB calls too. Turn 3c, SB checks, I bet pot $6.6 and they both fold. This might be the first hand I've played too face-up even for these stakes. I wanted more value here, but how? Raise flop Smaller turn bet?

I open 4x in HJ with black AK, CO (110bb) threebets to $2.7 and I call. Flop KQ2, check, check. Turn T, I check, he bets $7.6 into $5.7 and I fold. FPSy but it's hard to see what I beat here. This is a spot I still have trouble with pre, I feel like we're too deep to jam but I don't want to 3bet, get called, and have to play a flop with one bet.

UTG opens 3x, I raise to $2 in CO with AK, he calls. Flop QQ2, he checks and I check back. Turn 2, he bets .6, I call. River 8, he bets $2.75, I fold. Ech. C-bet? Don't peel?

Button limps, I check 63. Flp J98, I minbet, he minraises, and I call. Turn 5, I bet $1.3, he clicks back again, and I call. River 7, I check, he bets $3.25 and I call. Is this MUBS or reasonable?

Second session, table Rochester:

Three-handed, I minraise 87s, BB who has 8bb calls. He jams Q97r and I feel obliged to call. I should probably tighten up my steals in these spots, SB only had 58bb. This table didn't live very long.

Second session, table El Paso:

Another spot I get the worst of it bvb: I 3x SB with A9, BB calls. Flop A87tt, I bet .8, he clicks back and I call. Turn 5, I check-call $4.4. River 8, I check-call $6.6. I just don't see where I get away from this, given the draws available and that I now beat A7 and A5. He has quads.

Third session, table Ft. Lauderdale:

I start off the day really well by getting in preflop with AK against JJ and 99. 99 (who cold-overcalled) wins, but if I could get hand histories and make a graph my ev line would thank me.

HJ limps, I 4x button with KJ, BB and limper call. Flop KQ2tt, check, HJ bets $2.5, I call, BB folds. Turn 5, CO bets $3.75, I put him in for another $1.47. He has K5 but the river is a Q.

I 3x CO with AQ, CO and BB call. Flop 842, check, I bet $1.2, Co folds, BB calls. Turn 2, check, I bet $3 and he calls. River 7, check, I put him in for $8.6 and he calls.

Three-handed I'm 191bb deep and BB covers. Button limps, I complete A7, BB checks. Flop 865, I bet .6 and BB calls. Turn 4, I check, he bets $1.8, I click back and he calls. River 8, I bet $6.2 and he folds. In retrospect it seems like a larger raise on the turn or a much smaller bet on the river is called for here. I may have gotten max value out of something like K6 though.

Four-handed, CO who has been wild opens 5x, Button calls, I make it $3.4 in the SB with AQs and they both call. Flop J93r with one of mine, I check, CO bets $5.5, Button folds, and I decide to peel. Turn A, I check, CO jams for $13.55 and I call. I have no idea if this was good, but he wasn't even drawing live, so.

I 3x HJ with A6s, only Button calls. Flop A42r, I bet .6 and he calls. Turn 7 completing the rainbow, I check and he checks back. River 8, I bet .8 and he calls. I feel like it's hard to get more value than this here.

Third session, table Redding:

First hand of the session, Button (37bb) makes it .7 and I call KK in the BB. Flop AK2, I check and he checks back. Turn 6, I check, he bets 1.5, I click back, and he calls. River 9, I put him in for $3.7 and he calls. He berates me for not protecting my hand.

Button limps, I make it $1.2 in the SB with QQ, he calls. Flop 883, I bet $2, he calls. Turn 3, I bet $4.4, he calls. River 9, check-check. Not sure how much I should be betting to get value from A-high and lower pairs here, but inducing probably isn't happening.

HJ (Villain from the KK hand, 38bb now) opens to .7, I defend 87s. Flop A65 with one of mine, I bet .8, he raises to $3.9 and I have to fold. I guess I should have listened to what he thought of protecting his hand. I didn't expect a bet this big and probably shouldn't have led. Semibluffing in this game still something of a mystery to me. Eventually I'll get it.

I open 4x in the CO with AK, BB calls. Flop A99tt and I check back. Turn 7, he bets .95 and I call. River 7, he bets $3.8 and I call. This feels weak and like there's more value from Ax to be had somewhere. (Although in this case he had K high and was betting, um, for some reason. Bluffing against my 66?)

Another clickback-three, I open button 3x with KT, get minraised by SB who has 12bb, and I call. Flop K63tt and we check, I bet the turn when he checks again and he calls with jacks. Even with the tiny stack folding to this tiny raise seems impossible.

And then, finally, we're done with that. This session went well, plus I won back the Pineapple money I lost the other day. Challenge bankroll is $270.19.

Played a few hours of treading water. Down a couple of buyins, mostly just on missing flops, then made them back again. Challenge bankroll $269.36.

I'm beginning to settle into the rhythm of this silly game.

Played a bunch, made some money. We're hitting the point where my previous attempts at NL have died - I've hit a point where it's not really interesting to me and I'm just grinding value. Which I guess is fine. I can do it while playing Pineapple and add a bit to my hourly. Playing mid-late morning I had a lot more c-bets work than the early morning sessions earlier.

Not sure what I should do with my AMOE money. It's only $6/wk but I've been leaving it out of the roll because I didn't want the first $6 to get me out of $4nl too fast. Thinking about adding it now; since there's no rakeback/bonus it's really the only extracurricular money available. Not sure if it would be a good idea to add RB if I were doing that, though. I'm pretty sure I didn't include bonus in the original OIC, not like that matters now, but it's sort of precedent even if a silly one.

Challenge Bankroll: $305.83

I played pretty badly today but the results didn't back it up. Ended up at full ring tables, which was strange, and despite that I really didn't have the attention to play well at two/three tables and my Pineapple game. Concentrated on doing well in that and so donked it up a bit at NLHE but the deck helped me.

Challenge bankroll: $356.89

Lost a couple buyins, then a long, long stretch of marginal chipping-up, made about half back. Was hoping to get to $50 today, but I guess not. Ran pretty bad in terms of opponents never having anything when I did.

Challenge Bankroll: $340.06

Yup, made it today. People just wanted to hand me their money. Also I'm clearly getting better at handreading and figuring out when to call river bets.

Challenge Bankroll: $403.92. Moving to $50 next session.

Bleh. First few hands at 50nl went really well, people just giving me their money, and then I couldn't get a blank on the river in a $200 pot or I might have been to 100nl really fast. Then things went downhill, I was on the bad side of set over set for 200bb, lost JJ to QQ to a 40bb stack, and got stuck in a multiway pot with the nfd in a pot I maybe played really badly because I was on too many other tables.

Challenge bankroll $310.53. Time for some regroupaments. Back at it tomorrow.

Took a couple of days off while running terribly at my normal games. for some reason holiday weekends are never a good thing for me. Put in a short session this afternoon, and I'm clearly into the paying for experience portion of the challenge at this point. 50nl is clearly where the players start thinking a little at Global. Way more hands are ending preflop, and light three- and four-betting is becoming a thing. I definitely feel out of my league but like I'm learning quickly.

I started writing this when I hit sit out next blind thinking it was going to be a moderate loss, then won two hands at the end of the session to end more or less where I started.

Challenge Bankroll: $303.79

Played a bit of an evening session, and the players were notably worse. My ev line is happy because I got it in on the flop twice with TT against a lag opponent with one overcard, but my bankroll is unhappy because he hit the turn both times. I did at least make a buyin on the other table while this was happening so I don't have to move down yet.

Challenge bankroll: $244.45

Very short session before dinner, put a little more distance between me and having to drop down again, mostly on two hands vs fish, one where we got it in pre with AJ vs A7, and one where he limped the button into my Q2, the flop came J22, and he paid off four bets somehow.

This sort of hand I'm less clear on whether I'm costing myself money. CO hasn't been out of line much early but openlimps. Big fish in the BB so maybe that's why. I make it 4x on the button with JT, only CO calls. Flop A29, he checks, I bet $2 into $2.75 and he calls. Turn K, he checks, I bet $5 into $6.75 and he folds.

I guess I'm never getting more money out of a bare nine here anyway. So it's really about whether he'll call down with an ace, and so far a lot of people have been doing similar things around here. So it's probably fine? And if I don't bet then he doesn't get to raise the times he has 22 or K9 or something, which can make up for a lot of marginal folds.

Anyway. Challenge Bankroll $290.66.

Had a half hour, ground out half a buyin value betting. Not really anything notable, hand-wise. 50nl not really feeling intimidating at this point. Looking to find some time to grind at it; mixed games were running good until today, and tonight I get access to the print studio back so there will be more time spent on art and less on poker in the near term.

Challenge Bankroll: $314.28