My run from the Micros to Mid Stakes!

End of day update

Played
1 session, 6 tourneys on Stars

• 3 $0.25 45 man SNG
• 2 $0.25 90 man SNG
• 1 $1 180 man SNG

Cashes

• 2nd in 45 man SNG

I played well today, I made a few minor errors. When I got it in good, I held up and when I got it in bad, I got lucky a few times too. All in all I feel like today was a good day. I'm taking tomorrow and Tuesday off and will be doing as much studying as I can. I plan to replay a few tourneys, read through the Beginner MTT couching thread, take in a video or 2 and work out some more hand ranges.

Until Wednesday,
Nate

Get Rich of Die Trying Report

Week 2

• 27 tournament played
• -$3.07
• Bankroll = $37.91

Tuesday's Update

Played

• 225 hands of $0.02/$0.04 FLH on 888 and Stars

Results

• -$0.45

Yesterday was supposed to be a day off for study, but couldn't find the time to focus on replaying a couple tourneys. I was just to busy taking care of a few customers (2 appointments and several phone calls/emails). Monday I did take the time to read a few articles on Poker news and one talked about at the micros/low limits there is still a lot value for a skilled player. Since the closest casino to me only offers FLH and regular MTTs, I thought it's a good idea to keep up my skills. I decided to play 1 table while I was sitting in the living room last night. I started on 888 and had a couple calling stations get there on me. Once I got in the flow of the game and started to apply what I have been learning lately playing MTTs, things started to go a bit better. The game on 888 dead and the table emptied, so I switched over to Stars and things changed. I picked up JJ+ around 6 times in 2 hours and I stopped betting/raising unless I had value in the pot. Got some of my earlier losses back and was feeling great for my decision to play some FL cash.

I'm going to add this game into my regular play schedule. It will fit in well, as I'm getting busier doing remote computer services, so having time to play tourneys will become more unlikely, playing cash games will allow me to get table time in. I plan to play for a while today.

Until later,
Nate

Yesterday's Update

Played

• 592 hand of $0.02-$0.04 FLH on Stars

Results

• +$0.46

Not much to really say about yesterday. Felt like I played well. Got to play for about 3 hours. 2 tabled for most of the session, but 3 tabled for about an hour. I feel like I have a lot of edge in these games. When I get to play today I'm going to move up and take a shot at $0.05-$0.10 as I'm very close to $40 in my BR and I'm going to still have a lot of edge at that level.

Until I write again,
Nate

Yesterday's Update

Played

• 15 hands at $0.02-$0.04 FR FLH on 888
• 60 hands at $0.02-$0.04 6max FLH on Stars
• 216 hands at $0.05-$0.10 6max FLH on Stars

Results

• +$0.15 on 888
• -$3.88 on Stars

Yesterday didn't go that well for me. I decided to take a shot at $0.05-$0.10 and it didn't go well. I think I made my losses greater by allowing tilt to get to me. Which I'm learning is a reason I'm not seeing the success that I want at poker, thanks to Blackrain79's blog. I have to be pleased with myself that I quit before I hit my stop loss (-3BI), because I recognized that I was on tilt and it was affecting my decisions.

I'm going to drop back down and play $0.02-$0.04 today. I really am enjoying playing FLH for the time being, and I will return to playing tourneys again, when I feel like it. I believe that as long as I'm playing, no matter what variant, I will get to my bankroll goal and my ultimate goal of being a mid stakes pro.

Until I write again,
Nate

Get Rich or Die Trying Report

Week 3

• 2964 hands played
• -$5.66
• Bankroll = $32.25

Last 2 day Update

Played

• 923 hand at $0.02-$0.04 FR FLH on 888
• 402 hands at $0.02-$0.04 6max FLH on Stars

Results

• +$0.51 on 888
• -$1.46 on Stars

Not sure what to say about the last 2 days. Its par for the course, I seem to be having a hard time playing 6max on Stars. I think its a combination of 2 things, bad players are getting there from behind and I'm calling OTR when they do. Also, I'm finding the players on Star are far more aggro and willing to bluff a lot wider. Which is why I'm flatting a lot more. I'm playing really well and showed some good results on 888. I'm gonna put in some more volume today, probably on Stars to try to get a handle on the games there.

On a side note, I pondered moving my money off of Stars to Party or 888 because the games will most likely be easier, but because my BR is so small I have to play small tourneys or FLH, making it hard to find enough action to build my roll up to $60 so that I can play NLH. It will be impossible on Party and I can get 2 sometimes 3 tables open on 888, but by 8pm the games dry up and on days when I have remote tech support work to do, I only have time to play after dinner.

If anyone want to trade $30 and change on Stars>888 let me know, otherwise I will have to do the whole withdraw thing.

Until later,
Nate

I'm at Caesar's Windsor

So my in laws come here all the time to play the slots and of course they get compt rooms, so my wife and I are here for a couple days. We arrived yesterday and will be leaving tomorrow. Yesterday I spent a lot of time in the room playing online and intend to do the same today. Was up early, hit Tim Hortons, been to the pool/hot tub/sauna and I'm getting ready to play online.

I don't have a bankroll to play live down stairs but I would like to throw an idea out. There is a $65 + $10 add on turbo NLH tourney tonight at 8:15pm EDT, I'm willing to give a great staking deal just so I can play some live poker while I'm here.

The ask
90/10 to the backer
Live updates during breaks on FB or this blog
Willing to do make up online

I'm not even sure if anyone can get me the money before the game starts. Hell I don't even know if anyone is going to read this post, but the way I see it, if I don't ask it won't happen. Pm me on here of message me through my Tech Helper Nate page on FB if you would like to put me into the tourney tonight.

Thanks for your consideration,
Nate

Hi Nate,

good luck at the tables!

Best regards,
Sendrafreak

Get Rich or Die Trying Report

Week 4

• 2421 hands played
• +$0.35
• Bankroll = $33.24

Hey everybody,

I haven't been writing much the last week, just because I haven't felt like it. I had 1 great day, (Friday) where I booked a 5BI win playing $0.02-$0.04 FLH. I also moved all my money from Stars over to 888, because there is going to be way less regs to compete with. I have decided that I'm going to stick to playing cash as a rule, jumping into tourneys when I have a ticket or if I'm looking for a change. I've spent most of my time in the past playing cash as a rule and I find it just more enjoyable.

I'm planning to stick with $0.02-$0.04 FLH as I have over 40 BI in that game. I will be looking to take a 5BI shot at NL2 6max when my BR reaches $40, dropping back FLH $0.80 in the event my BR falls to $30.

I've been reading a lot of blog posts from BlackRain79 and I realized I've been playing way too loose PF for a lot of years. His advice has been a great help this last week. I know the profit for the week is small, but I did have one of the best days in a long time, because I played tight and my hands held up. Long term, the ground work I'm doing now is going to pay off huge. I haven't been posting any hands this last week either, because I'm taking my time thinking out the best line when I do a session review. I can see my mistakes and its getting me to think more in depth about my game.

I look forward to getting on the table this week and getting to take my shot a NL$2.

Take care,
Nate

Get Rich or Die Trying Report

Week 5

• 4134 hands played
• -$3.11
• Bankroll = $30.11

Weekly Update

Well, this was an up and down week for me. I had a few winning days and a few losing days. I've been working hard at refining my microstakes game, ie. learning to fold a lot. My positional ranges are very tight, especially at full ring games, and when everyone at the table is a fish or calling station, you have fold all your single pair hands when they bet/raise OTT & OTR. I manage to get almost double the volume this week, which is great and I aim to keep it up, with a goal of 5000 hands/week while I'm playing FLH.

I've been very eager to get my bankroll up to the point where I can take a 5BI shot at NL2. Which is possibly getting in my way because I'm being results focused. I seem to be checking my progress mid session, mostly because I'm checking to see if I'm getting close to my stop loss of 5BI/day. I now realize that I'm doing it, so now I have to make an effort to stop doing it. I'm also get distracted by my wife texting, checking FB and whatever else I look at my phone for mid session. I think I will keeping my ringer off from now on and setting a 2 hour timer to signal me to take a five minute break. It's at that point I can check email, texts and FB.

I'm also not blogging after each session. I haven't felt like it the last 2 weeks. My wife, whose an astrologer, would say it's because I started the blog when mercury was retrograde and now that it's moving direct again, the blog will not be continued. Since she's usually right about this stuff, I'm making an effort to write at least 1 post a week, when I do my GRODT report.

Next week, I hope more of the luck goes my way, because I will be making far less calls when I'm obviously behind.

Until next time,
Nate

Get Rich or Die Trying Report

Week 6

• 7312 hands played
• +$3.25
• $33.36

Weekly Update

Some big changes happened this week! I'm playing NL2 6max now. I was reading a blog post from Blackrain79 about what to do with a small BR, and he had suggested halfstacking, so I thought ok, I will give that a shot. When I logged into 888 I realized that the NL2 table are 50bb buyins anyway. So that's perfect, because my BR is around 30BI.

Love being back at the NL tables, the games are so soft and as soon as I can train myself not to call the fish's bets/raises with a pair OTT & OTR I will have a much better winrate. Not much to say this week really. Feeling motivated, playing well for the most part and I just need to keep that momentum going.

Until next week,
Nate

Get Rich or Die Trying Report

Week 7

• 7059 hands
• -$18.67
• Bankroll = $14.69

Weekly Update

What can I really say, I had an epic downswing this week. I hit my 5BI stop loss on 3 days. After doing session review of my bad days I didn't play that bad, mistakes were made, but for the most part it just wasn't my week. My confidence faltered late in the week. Its tough, but I got control of my mental state and I'm ready to keep pushing forward. I have to bust this bankroll before I will reload. 14 BI is a tough spot to be in, but I can't really move down when I'm playing NL2. Not much else to say, I'm not going to dwell on my misfortune. Gonna get my steps in for the day and get to grinding. Positive mentality = Positive Results!

Quick Update

So after the horrid downswing I've experienced the last week, and the fact the I don't really want to reload right now, I've come to the decision to make a change in order to protect the small roll I have left. As of today, I'm going to start playing $0.10 FR Turbo STT, which will give of current BR of 120+ BI. I will move to next level of STT when I have 50 BI ($0.40 * 50 = $20), allowing for a 10 BI shot. I will move back to NL2 cash when I have 30 BI. On 888 the max BI for non camera tables if 50bb or $1, so I will take a 10BI shot at $30. I'm also going to try to write more often, at least 2-3 times a week.

Well it's time to start grinding, until next time,
Nate

Yesterday's Play

• 39 Tournaments Played
• 16 Cashes
• 7 Wins

Well my luck has obviously turned around and my good hands are holding up. The TAG strategy that I'd been employing at the cash games translates well to STT's, with the proper adjustments being made closer to the bubble, based on stack size and ICM considerations. I'm not using ICM too much in offensive plays as I assume most of the players aren't that knowledgeable, but it's very useful when facing shoves. Really I'm just more focused more on their possible ranges and how my holdings look to fair against them. Everyone seem super fishy so it shouldn't take me long before I move up to the $0.40 game and then back to the NL2 tables.

It's time to grind,
Nate

Play Update

Sorry I didn't take the time to write on Thursday or Friday, so here is a quick update on the last 2 days of play.

Thursday

• 24 Tournaments
• 14 Cashes
• 5 Wins

Thursday was awesome session for me, I had hit my play goal of 24 tournaments and I thought I was feeling a little tired when I finished the last set of tourneys, so I quit for the day. Now I think that was a mistake honestly. I was playing well, the cards were cooperating and I just should have pushed through and played more. More about this later.

Friday

• 24 Tournaments
• 7 Cashes
• 1 Win

Not such a good day. I hit my stop loss of 10BI when I hit my play goal so I had to quit for the day. Yeah I set a stop loss of 10 BI for STT, where my stop loss for cash is 5BI. One of those days where variance wasn't in my favor. Not much else to say that wouldn't sound whiny.

After my session yesterday, I got thinking about the last 2 days and came to the conclusion that I had set my daily play goal too low. If I had set the goal higher then I think I would have played longer on Thursday and hence had a more profitable day. Instead, I easily hit my goal and quit, even though I could have played more. Having a larger goal wouldn't have made any difference to yesterday's session because I hit my stop loss. So hence forth I will have a goal of 4 tabling x 10 sets = 40 tournaments. Obviously on days when I have other obligations I won't hit that but when I have an open schedule I will give myself the best chance to make the biggest possible profits.

Btw, my steps/day goal has been moved up to 10k and I have to say it has been hard to hit. I get there very often but not every day. It's all positive moves.

Until next time,
Nate