Crawling our way up again

BR Challenge Week 5

Goal: €1000
Starting Bankroll: €164.94
End Bankroll: €60.30
Limits: NL2 + €5 MTT's
Number of Games: 4K hands + 11 MTT's
Profit: -€104.64

Bad week where I couldn't finish in the money at the MTT's. I need to play less of these MTT's and focus on building my BR again. I'm tired of being hostage for 6 hours in a couple of MTT's to just finish close to the bubble. Didn't even make much mistakes but the terrible structure of these MTT's make it a push/shove game where you just need to be lucky. I feel there's really not much skill difference between the top 30-50 players and it's all luck the deciding factor. Very frustrating but not much to do about it.

Gold status is too difficult as a micro stakes player? I do not think so!
25 days 3 SP on the poker room = 75SP
25 x 10BP = 250 BP
30 days discussing one hand in the forum = 30x5 = 150BP
total: 525

Maybe we can do a small challenge because February is shorter? If you reach 400 SP, I will give the remaining 100 as a present on top !

Hi SvenBe, I don't get enough volume for 3SP a day at NL2, hell not even 1SP for 25 days a month at the moment. I simply don't have enough time and 2-4 tabling regular SH tables won't do it. Maybe when I finally can move up to NL5 it can be done. Appreciate the challenge offer, I certainly can use the extra motivation but I must decline for now. A little busy with other stuff in life. And finally I still need a lot of study time away from the tables too.

Here's another hand example of me losing a big pot with QQ again.

Seems like even at the lowest micro stakes players are just too solid and TIG going allin pre with QQ just isn't a profitable play (anymore). The ranges are too tight when getting action and in best case it's just a coinflip scenario which is not something we want.

PokerStars, Hold'em No Limit - $0.01/$0.02 - 6 players
Hand delivered by Upswing Poker

UTG: $2.63 (132 bb)
MP: $2.12 (106 bb)
CO: $3.64 (182 bb)
BU (Hero): $1.69 (85 bb)
SB: $1.69 (85 bb)
BB: $0.80 (40 bb)

Pre-Flop: ($0.03) Hero is BTN with Q♥ Q♣
UTG raises to $0.05, MP calls $0.05, CO 3-bets to $0.15, Hero 4-bets to $0.58, 4 players fold, CO 5-bets to $3.64 (all-in), Hero calls $1.11 (all-in)

Flop: ($3.51) 3♠ 8♠ J♥ (2 players, 2 all-in)

Turn: ($3.51) 9♣ (2 players, 2 all-in)

River: ($3.51) 8♦ (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: $3.51 (Rake: $0.12)

Showdown:
CO mucks
BU (Hero) mucks Q♥ Q♣ (two pair, Queens and Eights)
CO wins $3.39

BR Challenge Week 6

Goal: €1000
Starting Bankroll: €60.30
End Bankroll: €33.87
Limits: NL2 + €5 MTT's
Number of Games: 5K hands + 4 MTT's
Profit: -€26.13

The bad streak continues. I can't believe I'm almost broke again. I keep going broke with QQ vs AA and almost never get paid when I have the nuts. Playing super solid TIG but so does everybody else it seems.

Don't dispair - at one point your true winrate will show, just the samplesizes has to be big enough.
And with the number of games you play, it shall be rather quickly.
Speaking about the number of games - no update for the last two weeks?

Originally posted by FriskyArt
BR Challenge Week 6

Goal: €1000
Starting Bankroll: €60.30
End Bankroll: €33.87
Limits: NL2 + €5 MTT's
Number of Games: 5K hands + 4 MTT's
Profit: -€26.13

The bad streak continues. I can't believe I'm almost broke again. I keep going broke with QQ vs AA and almost never get paid when I have the nuts. Playing super solid TIG but so does everybody else it seems.

Which Poker site are you playing at?

If you are on Pokerstars play on regular tables only.

Play full ring not 6-max.

If you can't beat full ring on 'Stars then you need to go back to poker boot camp.

If you play exploitative on 2nl full ring, you can expect a 10bb/100 win rate. I am running at 13bb/100 over last 120k hands played.

Just because 'regs' play 6-max doesn't mean you have to!

Sadly as you can see I haven't played for a long period. However, I am happy to announce that I am back and looking forward to continue my journey with you!

True, I only lasted about 6 weeks in my last attempt in the bankroll challenge but they where very intense weeks and even though I tried so hard I only lost time and money in the process. Not the result I was hoping for. Then things happened, life happened and I stopped playing for a while. I lost my motivation to pick up where I left and had to fix some real life issues first. Poker was no longer a priority. I had to step back to move forward again, just like the inchworm I am.

There are a variety of reasons why I want to keep investing my time and effort in a game that seems to be far from profitable - at least in my case. It is beneficial for my mental and just a nice escape from my daytime job and everyday life. With enough effort I really believe I can turn things around. Even though I realize getting a decent hourly win rate is probably never going to happen. (I know never say never but let's face reality) But it's a hobby and I love the game and the more I learn about it's complexity, the more I love it and maybe just maybe I will end up at the final table of a major tournament which will make this all worth it. But even if that never happens I still love learning more about the game, playing the game and being part of the community

So next up is my updated game plan how I plan to continue my bankroll challenge for the rest of this year:

Here is my newly updated gameplan as for today (2022-09-05):

My daily goals:

+ Play 30 minutes NLHE cash (2-4 tables)
+ Study poker 30 minutes (including this forum, podcasts, books,...)
+ Evaluate one hand (mine or somen else's) in the poker discussion forum (which i double benefit from with bonus SP)

My weekly goals:

+ I will get a minimum of 7+ hours of poker every week (play + study) probably even more
+ Update poker blog at least once a week and review my progress (also update the bankroll challenge)

My monthly goals:

+ Play at least 1 MTT/SNG/Satelite (some can take more then 6 hours so i need to plan ahead)
+ Stats and graph update
+ Evaluation of progress, what went good, what needs more work, etc

Long term goal:

+ Grow/improve as a player and have a bankroll of €2000 after cashing out my initial deposits.

The time has come to reset my bankroll challenge. Armed with new study material a fresh deposit. And we're ready to go.

I start with week 0 that include previous losses. Challenge will start at week 1 which will be on Sunday.

BR Challenge Week 0 (2022-09-05)

Start BR: €165
Last Update BR: €0
Current BR: €54.75
Result: -€110.25
Target: €2000

(2022-09-11) Week 1 finished, these are the results:

BR Challenge Week 1

Start BR: €165
Last Update BR: €54.75
Current BR: €73.24
Result: +€18.49
Target: €2000

Week 1 evaluation:

+ Play 8h33m
+ Study every day
+ Evaluate one hand in the poker discussion forum

Needs more focus:

- Tilt control
- Folding more when beat
- Prepare better for session

We started the week at FR NL2 until we got our BR back at €60 and then decided to move up to SH NL5 Zoom. My reads where pretty strong, still having some mental game issues that needs work. Overal things went decent.

Because you all like to see the giraffe:

nice graph!
haha, the beat you took at between 1.5k and 2k and shortly after giving someone else a bad beat 😂
looks like you were all in with almost 200b as the underdog

@MonteCarlol: Thanks! Yeah if we only got a suckout for every bad beat Btw these where the hands:

PokerStars Zoom, Hold'em No Limit - $0.02/$0.05 - 6 players
Hand delivered by Upswing Poker

UTG: $4.27 (85 bb)
MP: $5.00 (100 bb)
CO (Hero): $6.25 (125 bb)
BU: $13.00 (260 bb)
SB: $6.56 (131 bb)
BB: $5.00 (100 bb)

Pre-Flop: ($0.07) Hero is CO with Q♣ Q♠
2 players fold, Hero raises to $0.15, BTN 3-bets to $0.50, 2 players fold, Hero 4-bets to $1.60, BTN calls $1.10

Flop: ($3.27) 3♠ Q♦ 8♠ (2 players)
Hero bets $3.13, BTN raises to $6.26, Hero calls $1.52 (all-in)

Turn: ($12.57) 7♥ (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($12.57) A♦ (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $12.57 (Rake: $0.52)

Showdown:
BU shows A♠ A♥ (three of a kind, Aces)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 81%, Flop: 12%, Turn: 5%, River: 100%)

CO (Hero) shows Q♣ Q♠ (three of a kind, Queens)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 19%, Flop: 88%, Turn: 95%, River: 0%)

BU wins $12.05

PokerStars Zoom, Hold'em No Limit - $0.02/$0.05 - 6 players
Hand delivered by Upswing Poker

UTG: $5.00 (100 bb)
MP: $10.30 (206 bb)
CO: $5.79 (116 bb)
BU: $5.25 (105 bb)
SB (Hero): $4.95 (99 bb)
BB: $6.15 (123 bb)

Pre-Flop: ($0.07) Hero is SB with A♠ A♣
UTG raises to $0.12, 3 players fold, Hero 3-bets to $0.40, 1 fold, UTG calls $0.28

Flop: ($0.85) 6♣ 4♣ 7♣ (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets $0.47, Hero raises to $4.55 (all-in), UTG calls $4.08

Turn: ($9.95) K♣ (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($9.95) T♥ (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $9.95 (Rake: $0.41)

Showdown:
SB (Hero) shows A♠ A♣ (a flush, Ace high)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 80%, Flop: 35%, Turn: 77%, River: 100%)

UTG shows 7♥ 7♦ (three of a kind, Sevens)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 20%, Flop: 65%, Turn: 23%, River: 0%)

SB (Hero) wins $9.54

@nsavov: not sure what the meme stands for

(2022-09-19) Week 2 finished, these are the results:

BR Challenge Week 2

Start BR: €165 + 65 = €230
Last Update BR: €73.24
Current BR: €81.51
Result: -€55.91
Target: €2000

Week 2 evaluation:

+ Play 8+ hours
+ Study every day
+ Evaluate one hand in the poker discussion forum

Needs more focus:

- Tilt control !!
- Folding more when beat (especially on river)
- Prepare better for session
- Stop Loss limit (urgent)

What a rough week! How well things started out in week 1, week 2 has been the exact opposite. On the one hand I played some more then decent poker for a while and at the same time I had a very terrible downswing My $EV Diff was $48.05 total and that's only counting the times we got allin to showdown, I'm not sure if there's a way to show it but it feels like I got sucked out on the turn and or river possible even more. I got a share of luck too but the imbalance was really special. I'm not even kidding: sett over sett, hitting their 2-outer, all the fun stuff. But that allin EV diff though...that literally says I should have been up $48 statistically speaken. That's brutal!! Is this bad luck or not but somehow the players at my table seem to know this because 90% of the time (if not more) I never get payed off when I have a monster. Maybe I must try value betting with much smaller bet sizes but I always learned when you hit big you bet big. Very frustrating when everybody keeps folding your big bets... The average Pokerstars microstakes player has just become so good or I'm missing out on things and I'm the big fish. Saddest moment is when I realize I would still have losses (rake) even without all the bad beats. All that leads to tilt and then mistakes happen which in turn leads to more bad results. And so Initial I was going to move down playing NL2 again but instead I chose to deposit some more $$ again to keep playing NL5 because it will take ages to get those losses back at NL2 and that's too much to handle at the moment. I guess not all stories are a big success maybe I should try to change my name to Chris Moneymaker or something. But in all seriousness I'm really frustrated with the results and the overwhelming amount of solid recs at my tables. Maybe I should move away from pokerstars due to the high regs-to-fish ratio. Either way things HAVE to change real fast because losing at this rate is not something I can afford to do. So fingers crossed for what this week brings...:pcuser:

Don't give up Frisky. Personally I just read the poker strategy guides and the material has been only source of learning - apart maybe diving into a book of Dan Harrington as well actually but yeah that's it. If you sign up to 888 poker you can get Holdem Manager 3 for free when you play for $100 rake, always good to remember. The HUD has helped me considerably; even at micros.

I think tilt control was the only factor when I was a losing all the time. Anyone can play tight and aggressive but its a true art to control your emotions. Keep those calm relaxing music you posted on the first days and deep breaths and keep saying to yourself they are just holding your money for next time!

I look forward to seeing you breaking out of micros in the future

Hey LiamXii thank you for the support! Really appreciate as things aren't going well. The poker strategy section here is good stuff and is where I learn a lot from too. I just like to add some more content to increase my knowledge. Maybe I'm adding too much new things at once at the moment. Should be slowing down and focussing more back to the basics. And yes tilt control is one of the most costly mistakes I make. I'll remember your words next time

Good to see you do well on those full ring games

Unfortunately 888 poker is not an option in the country I live but I'm not even sure HM3 is worth it at least for now when HM2 lifetime license still works fine apart from receiving new updates. As long as it's secure and safe to use that must do it for now.

My personal opinion for you is this. You seem like you tilt and that’s where your losing are coming from. Sometimes you have to accept defeat and live to fight another day and what I’m saying is that I think maybe 6 max zoom isn’t for you.

I know this because I was in your position.

1. Zoom isn’t the place to learn, the best place to learn is sitting down with the same players and learn their betting patterns, their behaviours & most importantly table selection and this will allow you to get a feel for the table, this will be very important in making your profit. You know within the first 10 minutes if a table will be a good one (well you should).

2. 6 max is fast paced and not for the light hearted. It’s an AMAZING game mode for fast profit and I think it’s the type of gamemode where you morph into it, once you have the basics done right with 9 max and only allow yourself to play 20% - 25% of hands (depending on your position and cards). Get your range sorted out.

3. Use the HUD and always keep an eye on your VPIP and PFR and constantly hammer yourself into not adrift because sometimes I do it without even realising!

If you decide to carry on with 6 max then you should be playing with a 25% range roughly

This article really helped me understand
https://upswingpoker.com/poker-hud-stats/amp/

The thing is I feel totally exploited on the NL5 6 max zoom tables while at the same time I'm not often get to cash a big pot with my monsters which combined with the fast pace of the game (faster swings in the graph) all leads to tilt. And we all know what tilt does. I do like the zoom format to be able to play more hands per hour which but simultaneously seems like it attracts even more sharks to the party for the same reason. I recently tried playing them a large amount of time analyzing carefully every spot and it's pretty insane. I'm sure there's a lot to improve but I think of everything I can when I'm in the hand: position, table image, HUD stats (VPIP/PFR/3BET), hand ranges, pot odds, outs, bet sizing, blockers, steal rate, skill advantage, etc... I'm actively trying to work out as many and as fast as possible. Yet it's still not a perfect (or good enough) execution and not an easy thing to do (that's what the really great players get separated from the average player i guess) and I still get exploited by weaknesses I may not be aware of. I have a vague idea of what it might be but it's probably multiple things that need work on.

The way how I picture myself at the moment is this: I'm not a fish, but I'm not a shark either, I saw someone call this type of player a barracuda which I found make sense. Just like sharks I feed on fish but sharks still feed on me too. I need to get to a stage where I'm not easy pray for dangerous sharks. I won't be able to beat them and don't have to but I need to be able to swim along without constantly risking my life. That would also lead to less tilt and less tilt leaves more room to focus on other aspects (exploitative tendencies). Sometimes it feels as if I'm really close to the next stage and other times I feels so far away which can be very harsh. Without feeling strong and confident playing in the zone is not going to happen. I'm pretty sure you know exactly what I'm talking about.

I did already read the article you shared and understand it's concept but it's not a bad thing to rehearse that info. Even though those numbers are not the most important thing to me especially during a session, but if they deviate too much in the longer term there is probably some leak to be fixed.

P.S. if you want to talk poker sometime feel free to add me on discord (PM me)