Starting over from scratch!

Hey man, the last days for sure did not go easy on me. I dropped back to where I initially started with my bankroll last month.

As I want to rebuild my bankroll, the Challenge is kind of a starting point I set for myself. As I don't get any strategy points over full tilt atm (I think because I am still opted in for the stupid 'The Deal' program instead of Edge, so I don't get any points on my account), so I can need the status upgrade to gold or maybe platinum if I can make it to gold until then.
As my reallife is a bit of a disaster right now, I wanna see if I can build an alternative or additional income from Poker. Last time I tried, personal problems stopped me from developing further but I am in a better spot now and I wanna see how far I can get.

Also after a long break, I am really enjoying it to be back at the tables and it's nice to have a challenge with an additional reward. It keeps you going.

The last couple of days were going pretty much break even, with a slight tendency upwards (#power of mind).
My play got better considering the points I made. I might add a tighter stop loss limit to the list, I did not tilt like crazy in my downswing sessions but I payed way too much because I started to look some guys up because they kept hitting their top range. Most of the times I know what's going on and I am like "he can't again" but NL5 is not as brainless as it was 10 years ago.. So basically I am making some fish plays now and probaply I earned a green bar on a lot of the other regulars.
- So I guess leaving with 2 stacks stop loss is a good idea for now, just to prevent tilt.
- Trust my instincts. In about 90% when I am not sure what to do and I talk myself into acting against my inner voice, I feel the urge to hit myself afterwards..
- catch up to EV

he

I think 2 stacks is a little too less but it got to work for you.
I would do it something if I missplayed x hands or lost amount x with a missplay I go on a break.

"he can't again"

In about 90% when I am not sure what to do and I talk myself into acting against my inner voice, I feel the urge to hit myself afterwards..

Been there, done that ... sometimes still do. Good luck.

Alright, I hope I hit the bottom by now. Had some good games with fishes but did not get any spots where I could get their money, which was a bit frustrating and so I kept dropping in my bankroll. To avoid loosing all of my bankroll I had to go down to 2$NL games. But what can you do? Soon I'm gonna move up again switching back to tankroll.
Also I discussed some hands with aikira and we certainly did find some misplayed hands. I guess if I am running badly I start making moves at some point even if the spot is rather bad. It feels like I just keep loosing money on these days but it also does not help to burn even more money. Besides, I am still pretty confident that I am beating at least NL5 and NL2, but still I lost waaaay too much throughout my little downswing here. But I improved over the last days and today I even got a winning session with about 4 stacks (50bb on 888 Poker) up.

@chriskwns : thanks for the good luck man, I could really need some of that now.

@aikira : I think this is a good approach, too. Now back on 2$NL I don't really stick to the 2 stacks anymore, anyways. I think the advantage clearly is that you base your stop loss on your own game. The problem is that you might not be aware when you start to tilt or there is some bad dynamics at the table that is giving you too much trouble. I think especially when you have a crazy brm like tankroll a tight stop loss limit is safer.

By the way, you should really check out aikira's Blog , he's I great guy and he's also one of my real life friends. He's doing this a much longer time than I am and you can read about his ups and downs in his carreer and in his real life, so check it out and leave him a thumbs up if you like what you see.

Bankroll Challenge Update:
week 1
Start : 118$
Last week : 72$
Now : 28$
Net: - 44$
#Hands : 8000

Nothing to be proud of, but still I am running below EV and I could bring more excuses but tbh, what's the point? I should focus on the things that can improve my winnings even if I am running bad.
- I started overthinking my BU calling ranges against open raises from different positions.
Apparently I can play more hands as I thought, but I still need experience, although first results are promising
- I think I loose a lot at the end of sessions because I did not go on a break and drop down to C-game at the end of a session, so I need to work on that.
- Analyze 10 of my hands this week, post anything interesting

Full Tilt - $0.02 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

UTG: 69.5 BB (VPIP: 15.79, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 19)
MP: 267 BB (VPIP: 21.45, PFR: 18.01, 3Bet Preflop: 5.73, Hands: 653)
CO: 233.5 BB (VPIP: 39.13, PFR: 26.81, 3Bet Preflop: 8.79, Hands: 278)
BTN: 225.5 BB (VPIP: 45.45, PFR: 25.76, 3Bet Preflop: 9.09, Hands: 66)
Hero (SB): 113 BB
BB: 65 BB (VPIP: 28.79, PFR: 13.64, 3Bet Preflop: 10.34, Hands: 67)

Hero posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has K♦ A♣

fold, fold, CO raises to 2 BB, BTN calls 2 BB, Hero raises to 10 BB, fold, fold, BTN calls 8 BB

Flop: (23 BB, 2 players) 9♥ J♠ 5♥
Hero bets 11.5 BB, BTN calls 11.5 BB

Turn: (46 BB, 2 players) K♥
Hero bets 34.5 BB, BTN raises to 69 BB, fold

BTN wins 108 BB

At this point I knew that Villain calls 3-bets a lot with K9s-KQs type hands. Later I got a read on him that he is very spewy and is able to raise turn with air (although that was in single raised pots), but at this point I only knew he was on the loose agressive side preflop and did not really know about his postflop play.
I decided to make a tight rather tight fold, he's got me beat with a big portion of his range and the turn raise looks very strong. I am still not sure what to do here, but I'll keep this one marked and as soon as I got 5 of those I will run a deeper analysis.
So dear reader of my blog, please feel free to help me out here

Bankroll Challenge Update:
week 2
Start : 118$
Last week : 28$
Now : 25$
Net: - 3$
#Hands : 4600 + 3 or 4 MTTs

I think the fold was a good one.
Without going into deep detail about the ranges, I think that villains rarely here think: "oh, the flush arrived and a scary overcard came - so let's bluff". It is rather "oh, now i need to quickly get value because the river might destroy my hand/the action".

Just bumped into your blog, really nice! You grow fast. I'll sub here

Thanks for stopping bye guys, I'll keep you updated!

This is another hand I played yesterday. The limp/call makes him look fishy (50bb stacks).

888 Poker - $0.02 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 4 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

CO: 50 BB (VPIP: 25.00, PFR: 16.67, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 13)
Hero (BTN): 48.5 BB
SB: 173 BB (VPIP: 22.47, PFR: 16.85, 3Bet Preflop: 9.23, Hands: 188)
BB: 57.5 BB (VPIP: 47.37, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 39)

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has A♣ J♣

CO calls 1 BB, Hero raises to 4 BB, fold, BB calls 3 BB, CO calls 3 BB

Flop: (12.5 BB, 3 players) A♦ K♥ 2♦
BB checks, CO bets 9 BB, Hero calls 9 BB, fold

Turn: (30.5 BB, 2 players) Q♠
CO bets 15 BB, Hero calls 15 BB

River: (60.5 BB, 2 players) 6♠
CO bets 22 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 20.5 BB and is all-in

Yesterday I posted this hand which I am not so sure about

iPoker - €0.04 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BB: 53.75 BB (VPIP: 33.33, PFR: 11.11, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 9)
Hero (UTG): 100 BB
MP: 96.5 BB (VPIP: 37.50, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 9)
CO: 100 BB (VPIP: 50.00, PFR: 37.50, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 9)
BTN: 99 BB (VPIP: 37.50, PFR: 25.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 9)
SB: 99 BB (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 1)

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has J♦ J♣

Hero raises to 3 BB, fold, fold, fold, fold, BB calls 2 BB

Flop: (6.5 BB, 2 players) T♠ 6♥ 9♥
BB checks, Hero bets 5 BB, BB calls 5 BB

Turn: (16.5 BB, 2 players) 3♦
BB checks, Hero bets 92 BB, BB calls 45.75 BB

Although everyone said this was bad, I was still wondering how bad and what range he will be calling me with so I tried to figure out the numbers:

I would argue about the range you gave him la55i. At first you assume that he would defend with offsuite gappers like T6o which I don't think is the case, I assume offsuite connectors like 56o+ is as low as his range goes preflop (which is already pretty loose). Also I think he might have hands like TPGK+ he will stack off with which you excluded from your range.

Board: 9♥ 6♥ T♠ 3♦
Equity Win Tie
MP2 33.69% 33.69% 0.00% { JdJc }
MP3 66.31% 66.31% 0.00% { TT-99, 66, ATs, KTs, T9s, T6s, 87s, QhJh, QhTh, JhTh, Ah9h, Kh9h, Qh9h, Jh9h, Jh8h, Th8h, 9h8h, Th7h, 9h7h, Ah6h, ATo, T9o, 87o }

Its still looking bad but if he calls me, but I should also get a lot of fold equity (I get about 112 combinations he will call the flop with but only 80-90 combinations he will not fold to my turn shove so we would have 20-30% FE)

EV = 0,2 x 16,5bb + 0,8 x (0,34 x 108bb - 0,66 x 45,75bb) = + 8,25bb

Lets say he only calls me with TPTK+ fd and better, my Fold equity will go way up (as he would fold 50% of his combinations he calls the flop with) and I get about 16% equity.

EV = 0,5 x 16,5 + 0,5 x (0,16 x 108bb - 0,84 x 45,75bb) = -2,3 bb

so even in the worst case scenario, it's not that bad (and I assume that he will be calling me lighter)

Is my EV calculation correct here? It would be nice if someone could take the time to check this.

I am not saying that it was the best play, I am just wondering how bad it was and if I did the math right. If I did I suppose the truth will be somewhere in between and the turn shove might be about break even.
I would love to hear your thoughts on this one, my idea was to give him the opportunity to make a big mistake on the turn, also making it look like a (semi-)bluff with something like AhKh. (My assumption was that fishy guys especially with only 50bb behind stack off too light with TP (+draw) type of hands here)

Until then, have a nice sunday

I think there is no such thing as 'good' or 'bad'. These terms aren't nearly go far enough to me. I think this is the bottom line and I wouldn't be discouraged because of what was being said on the forum.

To comment a bit about that hand, I do say there are elements in a play that could be altered. This might be a GTO play at NL50+ but NL2 I wouldn't bother for sure about overbetting on such board with JJ

Hope this helps. GL at the tables!

Cheers,

Hesticus:f_drink:

Bankroll Challenge Update:
week 3
Start : 118$
Last week : 25$
Now : 47$
Net: +22$
#Hands : 2700

Thanks for the advice and the good wishes, Hesticus. I appreciate it and I hope you're running well yourself.

Besides cashing in some free money from Ladbrokes, I was also running ok and finally turned some profit this week, although it was only a couple of buy-ins. Luckily I was able to turn some of the SNG tokens into money, which was a nice boost on my new Ladbrokes account. (I thought I go for the double or nothing SNGs but I got banned from those and HU SNGs after winning one double or nothing SNG:f_mad: but also cashed a normal one after that) .

Bankroll Challenge Update:
week 4 & 5
Start : 118$
Last week : 47$
Now : 47$
Net: +0$
#Hands : 0

Hi LeSavant,

as silver user I see you remain active on the tables, but do you also have an update for us here in the forum? How is it going with your challenge or are you enjoying the summer outside?

greetings, SvenBe