Hi All
Not been on for some time but been playing on PS throughout last year. Had a very nice 2nd in March in a $1.35 rebuy MTT from which I collected $1,135!!! Unfortunately, my wife was watching and so 80% of this went on a holiday to Zante (I did need it tbh!).
Trashed $100 by playing badly on Zoom and spent the rest of the year drip feeding the remaining br away on micro MTTs. (Looking back I was playing way to passive on the bubble and so was very rarely making final tables).
So there I was at the beginning of December with around $15 br and no plan or idea of what to do. 
"OK!" I said to myself "let's see what I can do with this on Zoom nl2 playing textbook TAG"
I started playing 2 tables expecting to get busted out within a hour (funny how are brains can be our worst enemy!!). I played Rock folding 90% of my hands and before I knew it I was 200% up!
"This is good" I told myself. Then in pops my brain with it's usual " Don't worry D.B...You'll trash it all soon!!!"
Ignoring my pessimistic head, I continued to played TAG and was soon playing 4 tables. My only real target at this stage was to get my 750 points so I could get an extra $10 before the end of the year. Was very pleased with myself when I reached my target late on Boxing Day and got the added bonus of moving up to Silver Status.
By the end of December I had turned my $15 br into over $200.
So along came the end of 2013, (Happy NY all) and we drifted into 2014. "What's your new years resolution?" A work colleague asked me. "I have no idea!" I replied.
This bugged me for all of 1st Jan. Nothing seemed right then I thought about my poker. I was happy chugging along on nl2 but it was not challenging me. So I decided to look at what I need to do to move up to nl5 and what I want to achieve by doing this.
I decided I would move up to nl5 with the following targets:
Reach gold status by March (works out at 80points per day).
Achieve +10bb/100 over 100k hands.
Right a blog at least once a week.
READ & STUDY STRATEGY every day.
And so today I have started on my quest for quarter 1, 2014....
It's funny how nervous I felt moving my mouse 2 bars down on the Zoom Menu. Hovering over the 'ok' button as I realise I am putting $20 up for grabs (as opposed to the $8 I had previously been investing).
I launch my first 4 tables on Zoom nl5 and wonder how long I will wait until I get into a hand... 30 minutes, an hour... never!!!??
5 minutes in and I get my answer.
Poker Stars, $0.02/$0.05 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 9 Players
Poker Tools Powered By Holdem Manager - The Ultimate Poker Software Suite.
BTN: $2.25 (45 bb)
SB: $5.27 (105.4 bb)
BB: $6.21 (124.2 bb)
UTG+1: $5.09 (101.8 bb)
UTG+2: $2.18 (43.6 bb)
MP1: $3.96 (79.2 bb)
MP2: $4.88 (97.6 bb)
MP3: $3.64 (72.8 bb)
Hero (CO): $7.69 (153.8 bb)
Preflop: Hero is CO with Q
Q
4 folds, MP3 raises to $0.20, Hero calls $0.20, BTN calls $0.20, SB calls $0.18, BB folds
Flop: ($0.85) 4 J
2 (4 players)
SB checks, MP3 checks, Hero checks, BTN checks
Turn: ($0.85) 9 (4 players)
SB checks, MP3 checks, Hero bets $0.60, BTN calls $0.60, 2 folds
River: ($2.05) 3 (2 players)
Hero bets $0.60, BTN raises to $1.45 and is all-in, Hero calls $0.85
Results:
Spoiler
$4.95 pot ($0.21 rake)
Final Board: 4 J 2 9 3
BTN showed 9 K and lost (-$2.25 net)
Hero showed Q Q and won $4.74 ($2.49 net)
Looking at this hand I have to admit it is not my best played hand and I really deserved to be spanked for it. I remember that when he pushed I was pot committed and had to call what I expected would be some horrid flush and was amazed to see his rag pair. This made me realise that there is not any difference between the payers on nl5 and nl2 so I relaxed, told myself to play the way I know I can and enjoy it!!!
And that's what I have done. Hardly played any hands (1,301) can you guess my bb/100hands? It's 88. That's over 1000bb up!!! I had one cooler where my pockets Kings turned into trips against Pocket Aces but everything else has been massive +ev.
And so I move on with my game. I have read some strategy today, written my blog and moved 100 points along my status line. Things are going well.
Well the most important thing is not exactly the winrate. Winrate is just a consequence of hard work and dedication. Some variance also can make some crazy things in poker. So i wish all good luck at achieving your goals. It looks like you are on the right path. Keep us updated and i hope we will see many of happy posts. I am subscribed and i will follow your progress for sure. Good luck again and see you around.
K