Step 2: Failed

Moving back down.

After playing 1 big long session, which I think was a mistake, I am now forced to move back down after dropping -28.90 in 2 sessions.

The competition was much stiffer than $0.01/$0.02. I guess a lot of other people are grinding out their BR's as well. While there were still quite a few bad players, there were quite a few good players as well.

I'm not going to blame anybody as I got it in bad a lot of the time, and was forced to make difficult decisions by my opponents. I got coolered more than a few times, with people catching that extra card in the river.

I thought I don't tilt as much, but apparently I still do. It was a roller coaster session, I was down $10, then up $2, then when I think I'm getting something going I make a stupid bluff.

Then I'm down again, and again. And next thing you know. I've dropped my 5 buyins.
I think I may have gotten to fancy trying to make plays. I got to tighten it up just a bit.

Also, of course it didn't help that that was the longest session that I've ever played.

Back to grinding the $0.01/$0.02, then hopefully I can make it back to the $0.02/$0.05 soon.

I'll be back.

Brian

Step 1 Crushing $0.01/$0.02 NL Accomplished

I have finally built my bankroll up to $127.47, which means I have 25 buyins for the $0.02/$0.05 6 Max NL.

I thought it was going to take me 20k hands to do this but it only took me around ~14k.
Here is my updated graph at this limit, hopefully it will be the last time I ever play these super micro limits again.











I ended up beating the game for slightly over 20PTBB/100. I think that this is a very good number at these limits, and I feel I could keep beating the game like this over the long haul.

I was really comfortable 6 tabling this limit, and it shows, as the last half of the graph was almost all 6 tables. I think this prevents me from getting bored and making stupid plays.

I also notice that I'm not tilting anymore. When I lose a buyin, I shrug it off, reload (if its a juicy table) or leave...since my table image is ruined.

I have only had 1 losing session since posting the last graph, and it was just a small -4.11.

Also, I have also been running better with Sklansky bucks as my EV graph has improved slightly. Instead of being -$27.31, now I'm only -$15.87. I have noticed a big difference and my hands are holding up to flush draws etc. I can only imagine how it would be to run +EV over a long period of time.











I am also proud that I didn't cheat at all, I stuck to only playing $0.01/0.02. Although I played a little bit of PLO for fun. I was still playing $0.01/$0.02. I played a few $2, $1 MTT and about broke even. I want to take a few shots at the MTT as the guarantees are huge for the buyin. Definitely want to take one down to pad the BR.

So, onto the next part of the challenge. If I lose 5 buyins, I will have to move back down and grind until I have 25 buyins for this level again.

I think it will be a smooth transition as the $0.02/$0.05 6 Max games should be just as soft as the $0.01/$0.02.

I'm ready for the next step.
Step 2: To reach $250.

See you at the tables.

Brian

6 Tables!

I was feeling good and decided to play 6 tables of 0.01/0.02 and had an amazing session.
I made a couple of poor plays but overall played very well. I played 858 hands and won $21.51 at a whopping 62.67 PTBB/100.

If I can keep this up, I should be moving up to 0.02/0.05 very soon!

Brian

Challenge Update: 10k hands

My first update in the new challenge. No cheating like in the last challenge. Playing 10k hands has taken me a while as I only play 4 tables because my laptop resolution is low and I like to see all tables at once when playing. I tried playing a few times with 6-8 tables but didn't feel in total control. I guess I need to buy a new laptop or computer before I increase the number of tables I play simultaneously.

So here are my stats through 23 sessions in April.

Here are my positional statistics:
Here is my first PT3 Graph!


10K Hands Analysis:

So, my longest session was 3 hours. I usually don't play very long sessions as I get bored or tired easily. I normally play longer sessions when I'm stuck, which is not good. Anybody have any tips on how to stay focused for longer periods of time?

I'm beating the 0.01/0.02 6 max games at a steady 13.52 PTBB/100. I am happy with this but I know I could do better. I made a few huge mistakes and lost a few large pots in sticky situations that I will update about in the next post.

If you look in my positional statistics, I seem to be losing quite a bit in the cutoff. -10.22. Hmm...I have to analyze this further to see what my leak is and fix it. It could just be a coincidence, or I could be overvaluing hands OOP.

So my first poker graph shows me doing really well for the first 3 thousand hands, then I go on a downswing. Is it variance or am I playing bad? Let's see using everybody's favourite graph.

All-in EV using Holdem Luck:



So if you look carefully, it is approximately around this time that my expected EV starts to separate from my Actual EV. It is frustrating when you play well and get kicked in the face by the deck. With all things equal, I should be up another $27.31 and be well on my way to $125. Imagine if I was actually lucky...
I always knew I was slightly unlucky in poker but this proves it. Hopefully things will start to even out.

Overall, I'm really happy with my play through 10k hands. I expect to moving up in limits after another 10k hands or so. Like Ivey always says, "just make good decisions". I'll just continue to make good decisions and let everything else take care of itself.

See ya at the tables!

Brian

New Challenge Rules!

Challenge Part 1 - $10 to $1000
Rules
1) Starting with $10, I will play $0.01-$0.02 NL (6 Max) until I have enough to move to the next level.
2) I can only move up in limits when I have 25 buy-ins (100BB) of the next level.
So in order to move up to $0.02-$0.05, I would need $125 before I move to that limit.
3) When starting at a new limit, I must move down to the previous level if I lose 5 buy-ins at the new level.
4) I will stop playing if I lose 5 buy-ins, and not play for at least 3 hours.
5) If I don't follow this rule, I will suspend myself for 24 hours, then 7 days for the next infraction.
6) I will set up limit restrictions, when playing so I do not get tempted to move up to higher limits without reaching the appropriate bankroll, or when tilting.
7) I will track every single hand with Poker Tracker 3, using HUD.
8) I will post monthly graphs of my results using PT3.
9) I will try to play 15000 hands a month.
10) Once I reach $1000, I will start part 2 of the challenge.

I will add new rules as I see fit, but I think I've covered everything.

See ya at the tables!

Update.

I've been away for a while.
So, to pick off where I left off, I think I donked off most of my remaining $209. I think I ended up cashing out $70 to $100 bucks. Leaving a few bucks to play around with.

Life has been good. School, work.

But my passion for poker has never died. I've always kept up with the poker world, reading Highstakesreport, Pokerroad radio, etc.

So, I decided I'm going to restart my poker challenge. And follow in the footsteps of Negreanu.