Nov 26

I’m up to 8,456 hands of 25nl on Stars now since Sept 1, playing a paltry total of 23.4 hours, running a ridiculous 20 bbs/100 and averaging $18.66 per hour. Last three one hour sessions I was up $77, $34, $55, and that’s with a couple tables from Tilt mixed in (which finally had an up session), meaning only 6 or 7 tables are counting toward this Stars total.

Add in the brief stint at $50nl and it’s 10,000 hands, and up just over $500 in total, over 29 hours of playing over the past two and a half months.

Maybe I’ve finally figured out $25nl FR?

In the process I also cleared a small re-deposit bonus at Stars putting my total poker bankroll (all sites together, plus cash-out winnings which sit in a separate bank account) over $2K. A little over-rolled for $25nl, but it’s this whole thing of grinding, getting comfortable, moving up in stakes, then getting distracted or tired of grinding and going off and doing things. Last summer I tried to start a new roll on a new site, and before that I switched to 6 max for while. Most recently it was getting distracted with the Full Tilt holiday promotion bonus which started me playing some $25nl on Tilt. I keep starting at $10nl or $25nl, working my way to $50nl and then veering off.

But I’ve never run this well at $25nl in previous attempts, nor with as many as 8 tables as I’m doing now. Each time I get off the horse and then come back to it, maybe I do a little better.

20 bb/100, or 10 BB/100, is supposedly the maximum sustainable win rate. If I had the time and inclination it would be interesting to see how long I could maintain it. I saw a player’s graph somewhere of someone playing 0.01/0.02 over thousands and thousands of hands over a looong period of time. He had a few thousand dollars in total winnings at that level but for some reason apparently never moved up. Or maybe he continued to play at that level as well as at other levels just for the heck of it. I don’t know if that’s the direction that I want to go.

Nov 4

I’m not sure who reads these posts in the Daily Grind section; I don’t know that there’s much of value for an outside person?

The other day I ran across an opponent again that I remember very well from the first time I was playing 25nl on a regular basis, Daw****. I have a lot of stats on him as a weak/passive player. He always played 4 tables, buying in full. Not a particularly good player, but he must be in my time zone, or he plays many hours as I played him often.

And this history must date back to 2 years ago? Back when I first played 25nl.

Two things come out of this. One, the first time I came back to 25nl I saw him again and thought, wow, he still hasn’t moved up. Actually, I think I may have played him at 10nl and then we both moved up to 25nl at about the same time? So he’s been playing at 25nl for two years, and recently I’ve noticed that he only buys in for $10, implying that he’s running out of funds since this is not a short stack buyin size.

At the same time, I’m still playing 25nl. Now, maybe he did something similar to me; wandering away from cash games for a while, or taking a break. Maybe like me he started at 25nl underrolled and is now playing more tables and playing overrolled, though that part seems unlikely given that he’s sitting down with $10 at table now.

And some people stay at comfortable levels because they cash out regularly and no longer consider their cashed out money as bankroll. I cash out but still consider the funds part of my bankroll as it has no other purpose and is there to be ready for redeposit bonus opportunities.

So I’m currently playing with something over $1800 as a bankroll, meaning that I have like ~ 75 buyins for $25nl, or getting close to 40 buyins for $50nl.

It’s not that I’m a bankroll nit overall. I like the idea of using a tight stop-loss and taking shots at higher levels when you get over 15 buyins. For me currently I’ve passed that already for taking shots at $100nl.

Oct 22

Finally played a session today, for the first time in 4 days. And a tough one, if only for the bad tables that filled up with shortstackers. Ran slightly lower than my EV for once but still 10 bb/100. 15.2/8.7, 464 hands or so. I couldn’t find good tables so I ended up only playing 4 after closing down 4 but found that boring and started browsing the internet while playing those 4. W$SD is still high at 57 overall so I think I’m folding a bit too often yet, but I can’t complain about continually winning.

Had one interesting player, tight, two to my left, with an even tighter player in between. I think I was stealing quite a bit on that table from various late positions and didn’t really notice until he 3 bet me and I folded. Later I opened AKs from UTG and he 3 bet me. First thought was to 4 bet, but I wasn’t sure how tight his range was so I just flatted. Flop came AJx, I checked, he bet, I check-raised and he folded. The later I opened 98s and he 3 bet from the blinds. Because I had folded the first time I flatted this one and the flop came K high with a flush draw for me. He bet, I considered raising and probably should have, but just flatted. The turn was a brick, he checked, so I make a 1/2 pot value bet size bet and he folded.

Below is an example of not paying attention to your cards. I raise to steal, get called by a loose player. Then I play the flop and his loose stats instead of my cards ….

Replayer at http://www.anon-poker-blog.com/daily/2009/10/513