Verre's Pokerstrategy Starting Capital Challenge!

For my first actual post I'd like to talk about NL2 and the strategy I will be using in general.

I believe NL2 is a completely different animal from all the small stakes games around. The videos and strategies here, in my humble opinion, do not compute into a winning strategy at this level.

Where do I think the issues come in? Mainly with the notion that you can play weaker hands in position and your superior post flop skills will help you win. This is most simply not true when you are dealing with opponents who do not recognize aggression, board textures, initiative, ranges, ect.... Example.

Poker Stars $2.00 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 2129681
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

SB: $4.71
BB: $1.00
UTG: $5.98
MP: $2.74
CO: $0.59
Hero (BTN): $2.02

Pre Flop: ($0.03) Hero is BTN with 5 5
UTG raises to $0.04, 2 folds, Hero calls $0.04, 1 fold, BB calls $0.02

Flop: ($0.13) T 6 5 (3 players)
BB checks, UTG bets $0.06, Hero raises to $0.18, BB folds, UTG calls $0.12

Turn: ($0.49) 6 (2 players)
UTG bets $0.32, Hero raises to $0.80, UTG calls $0.48

River: ($2.09) Q (2 players)
UTG bets $0.44, Hero raises to $1, UTG calls $0.56

Final Pot: $4.09
UTG shows T 3
Hero shows 5 5
Hero wins $3.95
(Rake: $0.14)

Now imagine I was trying to get a fold on this wet board with my "superior post flop skills and position". I'm getting called down anyways. This is the vast majority of opponents at this level. And this is the first issue I see with the strategies/videos.

The second issue. 2.5x opens. Expanded to 3x as well. Opponents do not adjust to your open sizes unless you start getting ridiculous with it. I will be using 4x opens from all positions except the button, which I will be using 3x. The reason for this is that with my superior preflop ranges I want to get as much money in preflop as I can. I'm getting calls anyways. Why would I want to give discounts if I am going to get the full value anyways?

Third. Opening up our range. I believe this is essential at higher stakes, but detrimental at NL2. As I said in the last issue, we are getting calls no matter what. Why would I want to open my range and go in with weak ranges when I can avoid the volatile nature of opening my range and still make a solid profit.

Anyways this is tldr territory. Time to play a session.

gl mate

Hi Verre.

First I would like to wish you best of luck with your challenge and to share feeling regarding playing poker without enjoying it.
Now I play poker only when I wish to, after putting volume and grinding last year. It become so boring, and it completely lost its charm. I play more live than online now, because of that.

Second, I would use different, more aggressive BRM, simply because rake is big issue. Not something insane, but taking shots with 5BI or something like that. If you have good mindset, you will be able to move up and down according to the plan. 30BI for NL5 is to tight BRM imo.

Is your plan to play regular tables only, or Zoom as well?

Thank you ♦

After those posts I forgot to mention another part of the plan. Due to Pokerstrategys vast affiliation base I will start switching sites when the bankroll is big enough to take advantage. Up until this point I have basically always played on stars and FTP. I stopped playing at FTP due to its terminated relationship with PS. So the challenge will start on stars and will most likely finish there depending on how quickly I clear bonuses.

Something else I did to enhance the "new player" feel was to delete all my notes from the past. This might seem like a -ev move on my part but in the past I have never been a good note taker and the ones I have are old. One of my goals is to enhance my note taking of fishes tendencies, and at nl2 not worry too much about taking notes on compotent players as I'm not gaining/losing much value there anyways. With marking the fish properly I will not only be able to narrow thier ranges but also table select efficiently.

The last thing I did was remake my playing area. Everything is now gone and I have a laptop, 22" screen attached to it, a mouse and a keyboard. It's clean and non tilting. This should prove valuable.

cool idea! i'll be following this for sure. but you should move up to nl5 w/25BI imo ♦

Originally posted by doctorkgb
Hi Verre.

First I would like to wish you best of luck with your challenge and to share feeling regarding playing poker without enjoying it.
Now I play poker only when I wish to, after putting volume and grinding last year. It become so boring, and it completely lost its charm. I play more live than online now, because of that.

Second, I would use different, more aggressive BRM, simply because rake is big issue. Not something insane, but taking shots with 5BI or something like that. If you have good mindset, you will be able to move up and down according to the plan. 30BI for NL5 is to tight BRM imo.

Is your plan to play regular tables only, or Zoom as well?

Your definately correct with me being conservative. I'm doing this for three reasons.

1. Someone just starting fresh with basic knowledge should use a conservative bankroll to avoid ruin. Although I have experience the idea is to replicate someone just starting out here at ps.

2. In the past when I have allowed myself to take shots I tended to go a bit crazy. And then I could always justify it by saying "Well I was allowed to take shots so this bankroll imploding move was just bad luck."

3. If I want to actually stick with my moving up at defined times strategy, it mise well be at safe levels.

As for the games. It's NL 6 max 10-12 regular tables. Most of the time it will be 12 at NL2 since the games are obviously so juicy but I'm sure as I move up it will become less. I have had stabs at zoom and rush that would resemble Hiroshima in 1945. I'd like to avoid that again.

Played my first session with my strategy. It went pretty well. Its a relatively easy strategy to play when it comes down to it. Avoid high variance spots, value bet big, bluff very little.

This is reflected in my 16% VPIP. I'm very well aware this strategy will not work at NL10 and above, but for now its the right strategy to use at the nanos.

10 BI start is pretty good. Sustainable? Who knows. I felt pretty in control of my game, even when I was relatively card dead at the end of the session.

Looks interesting :). Good luck!

What brm are you using for moving down when the shots don't go so well?

It will be quite simple. If at the beginning of my session I have the required but ins for the limit that is what I will play.

I do not check my results during a session but do have a vague idea of how I am doing. If I start a session on the borderline and I have the idea I'm getting crushed I may check just to make sure I'm not losing too much. I have an issue with making myself play more than an hour or so at a time so the window for me to lose a lot in a single session isn't really there.

I will try and play 1-1.5k hands a day on any day I do not work a 16 hour shift. I usually work 1-2 of these a week but might start working more as each 16 hour day is worth about $550. This may make my poker volume lower on certain days.

Hi Verre, this should be a good one!

I particularly like youridea of a 'fresh start' so to speak, with even the desk getting a clean up. This is something I've only recently employed myself and it certainly works for me. It helps me to look at the PC with no clutter to distract my poker thinking, aids focus a lot.
I slao disable browsers and suchlike when playing longer sessions with more tables.

I do think you could manage a more agressive brm but that is your comfort choice and I am quite nitty myself.

Good luck with the challenge and stay focused, you'll eat this one for breakfast I think.

Mal.

I think I'm going to move to normal tables as well, got tired of Zoom variance, which is quite ridiculous, you can run +$200 in just less than a week starting from NL2 to NL5 and then never win again. ♦

Lol yeah regular tables are the nuts right now. All the good players at nanos tend to play fast poker because they can get so much volume in. At least that is what I can gather fr te competition I have seen so far. 8x opens are commonplace, 8x cold calls are almost as normal.

As for disabling browsers and other distractions. I tend to play at the limits of my multitasking capabilities and barely have time to table select let alone browse. I wish I had that kind of talent. When I get more than 12 tables open it feels like time is spreading up. Unfortunately this is probubly causing some of the diminishing returns in my session lengths.

Hey!

I recently started this myself, started with $50 and working my way up, I flew through NL2 but I was playing a completely different style than I had ever played before, so I totally agree with you where NL2 is a different animal.
I tried to play the same at NL5 and I got hammered, so a bit of advice when you move up is to take it slow and post your hand for Eval straight away to make sure you're not going to blow it like I did.

Think I'll have to favorite this one ♦

You seem similar to myself, so sent you a request through com Tool.

Yeah I definately have a plan on how I am going to change my preflop opening range and bet sizing. I'll keep cbet ting 75% as I think Im finding universally good spots and checking universally good spots.

I have always been decent at nl25 and higher but always terrible lower. It has taken me a long time to realize that what might be slowing me down is playing too sophisticated. A lot of this is yet to proven but I feel I have a good grasp on what I need to do now and as I move up.

I didn't play today. Poker does not provide an income and is by far not a priority, and I will not let myself forget that.

Instead I worked. Came home. And then spent time with my family for 7 solid hours. This is very rewarding when I forget poker exists for a day and just think about how lucky I am to have the people I have. I think in the long run remembering this will be very ev for my poker game as well as it always keeps it in perspective.

Originally posted by Verre
I didn't play today. Poker does not provide an income and is by far not a priority, and I will not let myself forget that.

Instead I worked. Came home. And then spent time with my family for 7 solid hours. This is very rewarding when I forget poker exists for a day and just think about how lucky I am to have the people I have. I think in the long run remembering this will be very ev for my poker game as well as it always keeps it in perspective.

So true! We must have balance!

Great blog btw! Just got back from a small period of inactivity so will be following!

Back to the tables today. I played average at best today. I'm not pleased with a lot of the moves I made. I ran into a lot of boats when I'm holding crap and didn't fold when I had a feeling something was fishy. I also ran pretty card dead today but thats not much excuse.

I also made one of the biggest blunders of my poker career. There is a super fish who overvalues very badly. I had TP second best kicker. There was also another player in the pot that was terrible and we were both kind of playing for his stack. Terrible player folded and super fish shoved 300 big blinds. I had a feeling he was super weak. I've seen him do this before with tpwk (not 300bb but 200bb+) and draws. I called and got out pipped by tptk. Massive mistake and I deserved to lose.

Heres one of the hands I managed to screw up against a boat.

Hand converted with online PokerStrategy.com hand converter:

Play hand

$0.01/$0.02 No-Limit Hold'em (6 handed)

Known players:
[tg]SB (Hero)$3.39:///////;BB$5.00:///////;MP2$2.00:///////;MP3$6.37:///////;CO$4.00:///////;BU$1.10:///////;[/tg]

Preflop: Hero is SB with K:h, K:c.
4 folds, Hero raises to $0.08, BB calls $0.06.

Flop: ($0.16) J:c, 5:s, 4:d (2 players)
Hero bets $0.10, BB calls $0.10.

Turn: ($0.36) J:d (2 players)
Hero checks, BB bets $0.19, Hero calls $0.19.

River: ($0.74) 4:s (2 players)
Hero checks, BB bets $0.40, Hero calls $0.40.

Final Pot: $1.54.
Results follow:

Hero shows two pairs, kings and jacks(K:h K:c).
BB shows a full-house, fours full of jacks(4:h A:d).

BB wins with a full-house, fours full of jacks(4:h A:d).

As you can see I made a faily huge mistake in hindsight with not betting the turn. If I'm not going to bet the turn I mise well not call the river as I think its a strong possibility he has a J. I think I should have played bet/fold on the turn and if he calls check/fold or check/call depending on bet sizing.

I may play some more today but I'd like to spend some more time with the family so if we do something I wont be playing anymore.

When you are growing up everyone older than you talks about responsibilities. You cannot fully grasp the concept.

You become a teenager. You think you are grown up and have responsibilities. Homework, school. What you don't realize is that these can be blown off with very little impact in the overall scheme of life.

You become an adult. A job, and rent. You think it is tough. What happens if you don't go to work or pay rent? You will get a new job and get a new place to rent. Not very stressful.

You become a parent and income for a family. If you miss work your family has no food. If you miss mortgage payments your family has no home. Without you even realizing it you are a slave to the financial system. There is no going from this step backwards. This is stressful. Others are depending on you.

Don't get me wrong. I wouldn't trade my life for anything else (well I'd trade it or the same life with no financial burdens) but it means things like poker and free time are luxuries that are not often given to me. In the last 4 days I have worked 56 hours. Factor in that I sleep 6 hours and that is 80 of the availible 96 hours. Travel time is 8 hours and all of a sudden I have had 8 hours to myself.

The money is fantastic but the job is physical and takes a toll on body and mind. I am a railroader and we had a wreck on our railway yesterday. I spent 16 hours with no breaks and no food moving shredded pieces of rail cars by hand and getting them out of the way. It's a cool experience.

Long story short I'm having problems getting volume in. I'm going to have to pick it up to make my goal this month. I guess the bottom line is a lot of things are more important. I should be able to put in some volume over the next couple of days though.

I guess this turned out to be one incoherent rant. Such is life.

How to have a "good day" 101. Run 8 BI under EV.

Hand converted with online PokerStrategy.com hand converter:

Play hand

$0.01/$0.02 No-Limit Hold'em (6 handed)

Known players:
[tg]BU$1.61:///////;SB (Hero)$2.00:///////;BB$2.08:///////;MP2$2.05:///////;MP3$8.67:///////;CO$5.00:///////;[/tg]

Preflop: Hero is SB with T:d, T:s.
MP2 raises to $0.10, 3 folds, Hero raises to $0.40, BB folds, MP2 calls $0.30.

Flop: ($0.82) 5:d, 7:s, 6:c (2 players)
Hero bets $0.58, MP2 raises to $1.65, Hero calls $1.02.

Turn: ($4.07) 8:h (2 players)

River: ($4.07) 6:h (2 players)

Final Pot: $4.07.
Results follow:

Hero shows two pairs, tens and sixes(T:d T:s).
MP2 shows a straight, nine high(9:s J:s).

MP2 wins with a straight, nine high(9:s J:s).

Hand converted with online PokerStrategy.com hand converter:

Play hand

$0.01/$0.02 No-Limit Hold'em (4 handed)

Known players:
[tg]BU$2.21:///////;SB (Hero)$2.36:///////;BB$8.90:///////;CO$5.26:///////;[/tg]

Preflop: Hero is SB with Q:h, Q:s.
CO raises to $0.08, BU calls $0.08, Hero raises to $0.30, 2 folds, BU calls $0.22.

Flop: ($0.7) 6:c, 7:h, 4:d (2 players)
Hero bets $0.50, BU calls $0.50.

Turn: ($1.7) 9:c (2 players)
Hero bets $1.56, BU calls $1.41(All-In).

River: ($4.67) 8:c (2 players)

Final Pot: $4.67.
Results follow:

Hero shows a pair of queens(Q:h Q:s).
BU shows two pairs, nines and eights(8:d 9:s).

Hero wins with a pair of queens(Q:h Q:s).
BU wins with two pairs, nines and eights(8:d 9:s).

Hand converted with online PokerStrategy.com hand converter:

Play hand

$0.01/$0.02 No-Limit Hold'em (6 handed)

Known players:
[tg]MP3$1.61:///////;CO (Hero)$2.00:///////;BU$2.05:///////;SB$3.94:///////;BB$8.67:///////;MP2$5.00:///////;[/tg]

Preflop: Hero is CO with A:h, Q:s.
MP2 raises to $0.10, MP3 folds, Hero raises to $0.30, 3 folds, MP2 raises to $0.60, Hero raises to $2.00, MP2 calls $1.40.

Flop: ($4.03) 2:h, 2:d, J:h (2 players)

Turn: ($4.03) 8:d (2 players)

River: ($4.03) K:c (2 players)

Final Pot: $4.03.
Results follow:

Hero shows a pair of twos(A:h Q:s).
MP2 shows two pairs, jacks and twos(J:c A:s).

MP2 wins with two pairs, jacks and twos(J:c A:s).

Hand converted with online PokerStrategy.com hand converter:

Play hand

$0.01/$0.02 No-Limit Hold'em (6 handed)

Known players:
[tg]MP3$5.99:///////;CO$6.33:///////;BU$0.64:///////;SB$2.36:///////;BB$0.43:///////;MP2 (Hero)$2.13:///////;[/tg]

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with K:c, K:d.
Hero raises to $0.08, 4 folds, BB calls $0.06.

Flop: ($0.17) 7:s, 2:d, 4:c (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $0.14, BB raises to $0.35(All-In), Hero calls $0.21.

Turn: ($0.87) 9:c (2 players)

River: ($0.87) Q:d (2 players)

Final Pot: $0.87.
Results follow:

Hero shows a pair of kings(K:c K:d).
BB shows two pairs, fours and twos(2:c 4:h).

BB wins with two pairs, fours and twos(2:c 4:h).