Snakes will smoke

Originally posted by lkdr9494
Can you play 45-manners at ladbrokes?

Theoretically yes, but their SNG traffic is terrible, even single table tournaments take way too long to fill up for me. I think you could easily open up two 45-manners on Pokerstars in the time it takes to start one STSNG at iPoker.

I don't know for sure how long it takes to generate 7 SP on NL5, but it isn't tough at all. I'd get 5 SP for every $1 rake, and I play with EUR, so it's even faster.

Originally posted by Lazza61
Sign up for a MicroGaming room. Their fast fold poker (Blaze) starts at NL10 and the traffic is comparable to NL5 at iPoker (maybe a little less).

Thanks for telling me, I'll look into it.

Do they offer USD games? If that's the case, I'd only have to grind my Ladbrokes bankroll up to $250 before I cash out, which shouldn't be too tough.
The downside would be, of course, that I'd have nowhere to fall back to if I fail to beat NL10.

I was just looking over the Poker Rooms section, it seems like the only two MicroGaming rooms are 24hPoker and Poker Heaven. Is that true?
I was amazed to see how many rooms belong to the iPoker network...

Originally posted by Lazza61
Sign up for a MicroGaming room. Their fast fold poker (Blaze) starts at NL10 and the traffic is comparable to NL5 at iPoker (maybe a little less).

How much less traffic than NL5 at iPoker exactly, Laz?

I was looking over the 24hPoker forum, and the threads I found on this topic were not promising. Then again, they're about half a year old.

Also, how is the traffic for the other Speed Poker limits (higher than NL10)? I suppose there is not much point to go out of my way to play NL10 somewhere else if I'd be stuck in another dead end once I do move past NL10.

As I said earlier today, iPoker's traffic at NL5 is just barely acceptable. I keep running into a lot of the same names when I'm 4-tabling, and there are quite a few tables with only five or even four players after midnight. If the traffic at MPN's NL10 games is even lower, that might be enough to be a deal-breaker.

Okay, I'm still a little skeptical about this microgaming thing.
Meanwhile, I'm keeping up my normal grind.

There was one set of eight 45-manners where I ended up breaking even. NL5 at Ladbrokes is going pretty well in the meantime, with my bankroll now reaching $258.
There was one frustrating session yesterday where I went up by almost 4 BIs early on, but somehow managed to lose it all before the end. The biggest loss was a KK hand on a board with three J's and no ace. Turns out my opponent did have the fourth Jack, but I believed that he might also be willing to push weaker full houses, so I went for the call on the river. Not sure if that was correct.

I probably should have posted that hand for discussion, but I don't have it anymore.

Hey Harrier88,

I'll let you know about MG when I can get online during a peak period and check numbers. I know that I have seen more than 100 at NL10, but when I checked late Sunday night (according to GMT), it was pretty dead.

Regards

Laz

I played at 24h poker this year, Blaze (their speed/zoom) is running only in peak hours for NL50, but I think NL10 has some action to offer. Reg tables shluld not be a problem for NL10, there should be enough of action around..

Originally posted by Lazza61
I'll let you know about MG when I can get online during a peak period and check numbers. I know that I have seen more than 100 at NL10, but when I checked late Sunday night (according to GMT), it was pretty dead.

All right, thanks!

Make sure to also check the traffic at the next higher limits, please. Contrary to what I have said before, NL20 traffic at iPoker is actually pretty much identical to NL5, so it would be a little excessive to move my entire bankroll just to play one limit.

I already made a plan on what to do if I stay at Ladbrokes, so no worries.

Didn't play any 45-manners recently, but I'll get back to them.
We made some steady progress at NL5 in the meantime. That is, until this night.

I started the session on a hot streak and was up $10-$15 early on despite a bad beat. Then I lost a few big pots, and saw that my profit for the session was suddenly at -$20, and ended up at -$25...
I somehow lost over six buy-ins in a short time, and didn't even remember how. Seriously, I was checking my hand history to see if I accidentally called some all-ins without knowing it, but that was not the case. Did the US dollar just lose half its value in the middle of my session?

Anyhow, I was stunned for a while, but eventually played another session where I was able to run well enough to win around two buy-ins, so my bankroll is back at around $250. Also, I'm currently running $80 above my all-in adjusted EV for this month. Lovely...

I need some rest, this day was crazy.

I know that feeling when 5-6 bi's seem like diminish in seconds, and I hate it obv

Getting some rest, yeh that's a good idea, I think I'll do the same.

Cheers!

Originally posted by FFRRAANNKKIIEE
I know that feeling when 5-6 bi's seem like diminish in seconds, and I hate it obv

I toyed with the idea of excluding the information about current winnings from my HUD in the past. The reason for that would be that I suspect that I'm more careless with my chips when I'm 3BI's up than when I'm 3BI's down, for example, and I also might have ended some of my sessions early when I had good results, even though there still might have been some value in them.

In the end, I always decided against it, because I really need to know where I'm standing when I'm at the tables. I remember some situations from back when I didn't use any tracking software. Sometimes I would have ended my sessions believing that I lost one or two stacks, only to realize afterwards that I dropped about eight buy-ins. Those situations were even more devastating.

Yeh I agree, I used to check every here and there 'active seesion' in HM2, but now, just few days ago, i just included it in hero hud, so i always know
How many $$ I'm up or down..

Today went really well, and my bankroll increased to $308, which is almost as much as my Pokerstars bankroll.

I guess that would be a good moment to talk about my alternative plans, in case I don't move to a Microgaming room. As always, feel free to add your own small blind (two cents).

My original plan was to continue playing NL5 for StrategyPoints and withdraw at the end of each month, keeping $200 in my bankroll every time. Depending on the situation, I'd then either bag the money or move it to my Pokerstars bankroll.
I haven't withdrawn anything in ages, so it would be pretty nice to get something in return for once.

Another option would be to aim for NL20. Someone on the forum recently pointed out that this limit might be a little softer than usual, since there is effectively no NL10. I would be really interested in trying it out, but I need at least $600 for that, which means that I'd still have a long way to go. I'd be ready to move a part of my Pokerstars bankroll, but preferably not more than $100, considering that the highest cash game limit I've played so far is NL10, and it is questionable whether I'd even be able to beat NL20, so I shouldn't risk too much.

When I set my goals for this month, I mentioned something about withdrawing $50. The reason for that is that I originally deposited $50 at Ladbrokes to get my account going. If I were to withdraw that money, all of my poker accounts would be entirely funded by winnings, which would be pretty nice.
Right now, I'd be ready to make that withdrawal, but if I decided to go for the second plan (shoot for NL20), it would make more sense to keep the extra $50 for the time being.

I guess I'll just keep playing for a while longer and see how it goes. I can still withdraw as much as I want if I decide to go for the first plan.

I was feeling a little down this week, and the fact that I got into a dispute with my folks at home the other day didn't help matters. I can't really blame them too much, though... I'm 25 years old, I guess I shouldn't even be living here anymore.
In any case, I didn't play that much poker this week because there were quite a few days where I simply wasn't in the mood to play decently.
Additionally, I'm currently suffering from some kind of anal eczema, but I'll do you guys a favor and avoid going into further detail on that.

Things are looking up right now, though... apart from today's poker sessions, I guess, which were kinda meh. I do still have around $300 at Ladbrokes, though, so I'm still pretty happy with how the month was going.

I decided to shoot for NL20, for which I'd need at least $600 in my account, so I won't withdraw my $50 yet. It will take some grinding, but considering that I made $100 in each of the last two months (which didn't even go THAT well, there's a lot of room for improvement), and that I still have the option to withdraw from my Pokerstars account or to bag a $25 instant cash bonus from Ladbrokes (or even $50, if I keep grinding for a while), it shouldn't take too long. I expect, or at least hope, that I'll be there in 1-2 months.
For this month, I'd like to make a profit of at least $100 to stay on track.

And in case you're wondering why I got demoted to silver status, it's not because I didn't play enough last month. It seems like there are still some technical difficulties at Ladbrokes, which is why I only got around 250 StrategyPoints after about one week, but none after that. Our support team is on the case, and I'm sure the issue will be resolved in no time.

Good luck at the tables!

Watch me trying to operate a computer with my fat, clumsy fingers:

iPoker - €0.05 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BB: €1.49 (VPIP: 25.00, PFR: 7.81, 3Bet Preflop: 5.71, Hands: 66)
UTG: €4.66 (VPIP: 50.00, PFR: 40.00, 3Bet Preflop: 40.00, Hands: 11)
MP: €1.84 (VPIP: 29.09, PFR: 23.64, 3Bet Preflop: 10.00, Hands: 57)
CO: €6.13 (VPIP: 18.85, PFR: 13.61, 3Bet Preflop: 4.83, Hands: 395)
Hero (BTN): €7.10
SB: €4.99 (VPIP: 75.00, PFR: 75.00, 3Bet Preflop: -, Hands: 4)

SB posts SB €0.02, BB posts BB €0.05

Pre Flop: (pot: €0.07) Hero has 6♠ A♠

fold, fold, CO raises to €0.15, Hero calls €0.15, fold, BB calls €0.10

Flop: (€0.47, 3 players) A♣ T♣ 8♣
BB checks, CO checks, Hero bets €4.00, fold, fold

Hero mucks 6♠ A♠ (One Pair, Aces)
Hero wins €4.44

Yeah, I was trying to bet $0.40 there, but luckily, the bet worked out nonetheless.
Unfortunately, I wasn't that lucky throughout most of the rest of the session, and finished with almost 4BI under my All-in EV. My bankroll is now down to $282.

At least our customer support was able to solve the issue I mentioned the other day and upgraded my status back to gold. Thanks guys!

WTF!?!

I just checked my Skrill account, there have been four mysterious transactions to "GlobalCollect BV" at the end of last month, which amount to over $1,000!

What the hell is going on here??

Originally posted by Harrier88
WTF!?!

I just checked my Skrill account, there have been four mysterious transactions to "GlobalCollect BV" at the end of last month, which amount to over $1,000!

What the hell is going on here??

Judging after your reaction, most probably your Skrill account was compromised. GlobalCollect BV is some kind of payment processor in Netherlands. "GlobalCollect BV provides payment solutions to industries in the Netherlands and internationally. The company offers financial reconciliation, reporting, invoicing, multi-currency handling, and risk management services." You should check with Skrill support about it but if it is as I predicted you need to think on the posibility of you not seeing the money again.

hellos

i guess everyone has their challenges, my family also places high expectations on me and expects me to take up a large part of the family expenses and also many other things and we just have to adjust in order to live happily together. most likely they are not going to change so... thats left with us to make some changes to our mindset to think of it as a good thing i guess.

keep posting hands at the hand evaluations to get valuable feedback to improve on your game!

Originally posted by PandoraMode
Judging after your reaction, most probably your Skrill account was compromised. GlobalCollect BV is some kind of payment processor in Netherlands. "GlobalCollect BV provides payment solutions to industries in the Netherlands and internationally. The company offers financial reconciliation, reporting, invoicing, multi-currency handling, and risk management services." You should check with Skrill support about it but if it is as I predicted you need to think on the posibility of you not seeing the money again.

Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of. I already contacted Skrill last night to inform them about the incident and ask them if they could verify whether a third party had access to my account. No response so far. I also changed my password and did a virus scan on my pc.

I really hope I can get the money back. Without going into to much detail of my financial situation, $1k is actually a quite significant chunk of my entire net worth. If it all fails, at least I need to take the necessary steps to prevent these things from happening in the future.

Originally posted by cutegoldfish
hellos

i guess everyone has their challenges, my family also places high expectations on me and expects me to take up a large part of the family expenses and also many other things and we just have to adjust in order to live happily together. most likely they are not going to change so... thats left with us to make some changes to our mindset to think of it as a good thing i guess.

keep posting hands at the hand evaluations to get valuable feedback to improve on your game!

Thanks for the support, but running bad at poker is currently the least of my worries. I don't think I'll be able to focus on playing for a couple of cents when people are apparently stealing thousands of dollars from me at the same time.

Originally posted by Harrier88
I already contacted Skrill last night to inform them about the incident and ask them if they could verify whether a third party had access to my account. No response so far.

Nevermind, they did respond. They have now blocked my account and will investigate further. I will hear from them again in two business days, when they will hopefully be able to give me a few more details on this incident and inform me about what we can do to rectify the situation.

Originally posted by Harrier88

Originally posted by Harrier88
I already contacted Skrill last night to inform them about the incident and ask them if they could verify whether a third party had access to my account. No response so far.

Nevermind, they did respond. They have now blocked my account and will investigate further. I will hear from them again in two business days, when they will hopefully be able to give me a few more details on this incident and inform me about what we can do to rectify the situation.

If the entity that hacked your account had access to a Skrill debit card you're basically screwed. Skrill will not get your money back unless they can get hold of it in their system
(maybe I am wrong on this but I can speak from experience with other payment processors). As long as the money left the system into a bank account (possibility being quite low because it takes between 2 and 5 days to withdraw so the money will still be there) or through a Skrill debit card then they will not give the money back.

Did you found any virus in your computer during the scan? If you did not, another reason for your account being hacked can be the Heartbleed exploit on the HTTPS system. Skrill was affected as well and they patched it but if you did not changed your pasword before it could be easely decripted by someone listening to the data in the HTTPS encription. In order for it not to happen again you can try to invest into a good antikeylogger software. These are very effective because even when your security is compromised hackers cannot easely read your data if the antikeylogger software uses deep encription. These kind of softwares come with a lot of features that will keep you protected from multiple attacks. Some examples can be Zemana or Spyshelter Premium. Do your research and see if it is worth it. And my advice is not to keep a lot of money in Skrill. A bank account is way more suited for big sums of money.

I did not find any virus on my desktop.

Maybe Skrill will be able to give me some info on whoever it was who got access to my account. I could imagine that this Heartbleed thing had something to do with it, but let's see.

I've never heard about antikeylogger software. What's your opinion on freeware antikeyloggers, by the way, are they any good?

Originally posted by PandoraMode
And my advice is not to keep a lot of money in Skrill. A bank account is way more suited for big sums of money.

Actually, my Skrill account was completely empty, the money came from my bank account and was withdrawn via Skrill.
The weird thing about this is that my bank account was only charged for two of the four transactions. I have no idea where the money for the other two was coming from. Maybe it didn't show up yet because my bank account was not even able to cover the expenses, and it would be debited as soon as I have enough. I should probably contact my bank about this next Monday.