From Recreational to Regular (Challenge Completed $37 to $1000)

This past week was a slow week in gameplay and profit too, I didn't managed to play as much I wanted. I played only 39 tournaments this last week.:( A lot of thinks happened at work that didn't left me enough time to play and I do not want to play poker tired or not being able to fully focus at the tables.

So here is the report for the last week: 31.01.2022 - 06.02.2022

Challenge Starting Bankroll: $36.48
Last Week Bankroll: $61.47
Current Bankroll: $64.28

Profit Last Week: +$2.81

Goal: $1000

The last week i managed to play 106 tournaments and 49 $0.25 Spin & Go's, had some good gameplay and bad gameplay, what i realized is that i need to study my game more.... I need to improve my opponent range riding and try to not bluff that much. So for this week i plan to study at least 3 hours and reflect on my past tournaments. I will review my played tournaments in HM3 and post a lot more hands in the Tournaments Hand discussions forum and also i need to eliminate distractions when i play ( any advice on that one is greatly appreciated ). I usually listen to Lex Veldhuis stream when i am playing, or if some football game is on i put it on one of the other monitors and i let it play.
So for this coming week my gameplay will not be that high in terms of tournaments played.

Last week report: Played from 07.02.2022 - 13.02.2022

Challenge Starting Bankroll: $36.48
Last Week Bankroll: $64.28
Current Bankroll: $33.62

Profit Last Week: - $30.66

Goal: $1000

Like I said last week, this past week was a review of my gameplay and study focus week. I made some sessions reviews of the tournaments hands played until now and posted the majority of them key hands in the Tournaments Hand discussions forum. On the Sunday I took a time of from the tables to disconnect and to recharge. The past week I studied a lot more, watched some strategy and gameplay videos, and also gone to the basics of poker. I also made and account on Raise Your Edge and took the Tournament Masterclass Starter course, thank you for that by the way Pokerstrategy:D .
For games i played only some freerolls (31).
This week I am back at the tables grinding, but I will still read poker articles and watch at least 3 videos a week ( plus one a motivational/ mental video a day before i start my session ).
I want to thank everyone that have left a comment on my posted hands, it really does helped me a lot.

Last week report: Played from 14.02.2022 - 20.02.2022 only Freerolls

Challenge Starting Bankroll : $36.48
Last Week Bankroll: $33.62
Current Bankroll: $35.40

Profit last week: $1.78

Goal: $1000

The past week was a short one played only until Friday, because I had to leave town. I managed to play 37 tournaments and 55 spin $ go, made a profit of $7.90 but I still studied every day for about 2 hours. I re-watched this past weekend the full Tournament Masterclass Starter course as a study away from the tables.

Last week report: Played From 21.02.2022 - 27.02.2022

Challenge Starting Bankroll: $36.48
Last Week Bankroll: $35.40
Current Bankroll: $43.30

Profit last week: $7.90

Goal: $1000

Thank you for your help on this journey and have a good time at the tables.

This is a hand that I played on a bounty tournament against 2 fish players.

PokerStars - 25/50 Ante 5 NL - Holdem - 8 players
Hand converted by Holdem Manager 3

MP+1: 3,067 (61.3 bb)
CO: 4,777 (95.5 bb)
BTN: 1,878 (37.6 bb)
SB: 1,559 (31.2 bb)
BB: 1,897 (37.9 bb)
UTG: 3,688 (73.8 bb)
UTG+1: 1,995 (39.9 bb)
Hero (MP): 3,232 (64.6 bb)

8 players post ante of 5, SB posts 25, BB posts 50

Pre Flop: (pot: 115) Hero has A♠: Q♠:
fold, UTG+1 calls 50, Hero raises to 200, MP+1 raises to 3,062 and is all-in, 3 folds, BB calls 1,842 and is all-in, fold, Hero calls 2,862

Flop: (8,131, 3 players) 4♣: T♦: Q♦:

Turn: (8,131, 3 players) 8♣:

River: (8,131, 3 players) K♥:

Results: 8,131 pot (0 rake)
Final Board: 4♣: T♦: Q♦: 8♣: K♥:

MP+1 shows K♣: A♦:: (One Pair, Kings)
Main Pot: [5,791]: (Pre 35%, Flop 17%, Turn 7%)
Side Pot: [2,340]: (Pre 69%, Flop 29%, Turn 14%)

BB shows A♥: K♠:: (One Pair, Kings)
Main Pot: [5,791]: (Pre 34%, Flop 12%, Turn 7%)

Hero shows A♠: Q♠:: (One Pair, Queens)
Main Pot: [5,791]: (Pre 31%, Flop 71%, Turn 86%)
Side Pot: [2,340]: (Pre 31%, Flop 71%, Turn 86%)

MP+1 wins 2,340
BB wins 2,896

I wanted to share with you guys 2 hands that I played yesterday in a $1.10 tournament that really shocked me

PokerStars - 1200/2400 Ante 240 NL - Holdem - 8 players
Hand converted by Holdem Manager 3

UTG: 55,496 (23.1 bb)
UTG+1: 179,418 (74.8 bb)
MP: 398,855 (166.2 bb)
MP+1: 240,190 (100.1 bb)
CO: 658,706 (274.5 bb)
Hero (BTN): 278,703 (116.1 bb)
SB: 73,900 (30.8 bb)
BB: 192,300 (80.1 bb)

8 players post ante of 240, SB posts 1,200, BB posts 2,400

Pre Flop: (pot: 5,520) Hero has Q♥: 5♥:
UTG calls 2,400, UTG+1 calls 2,400, MP calls 2,400, 2 folds, Hero calls 2,400, fold, BB checks

Flop: (15,120, 5 players) T♥: 3♦: J♠:
BB checks, UTG checks, UTG+1 checks, MP checks, Hero checks

Turn: (15,120, 5 players) K♦:
BB checks, UTG bets 2,400, UTG+1 calls 2,400, MP calls 2,400, Hero calls 2,400, BB calls 2,400

River: (27,120, 5 players) A♠:
BB checks, UTG checks, UTG+1 bets 9,600, fold, Hero raises to 273,663 and is all-in, 2 folds, UTG+1 calls 164,778 and is all-in

Results: 375,876 pot (0 rake)
Final Board: T♥: 3♦: J♠: K♦: A♠:

Hero shows Q♥: 5♥:: (Straight, Ace High)
(Pre 43%, Flop 29%, Turn 23%)

UTG+1 shows 3♠: A♣:: (Two Pair, Aces and Threes)
(Pre 57%, Flop 71%, Turn 77%)

Hero wins 375,876

The second hand I don't like how I played the hand on the turn, but this time I was the one that got lucky on the river.

PokerStars - 1200/2400 Ante 240 NL - Holdem - 9 players
Hand converted by Holdem Manager 3

UTG+1: 32,216 (13.4 bb)
MP: 66,599 (27.7 bb)
MP+1: 344,375 (143.5 bb)
MP+2: 226,030 (94.2 bb)
CO: 783,506 (326.5 bb)
Hero (BTN): 467,721 (194.9 bb)
SB: 189,760 (79.1 bb)
BB: 52,060 (21.7 bb)
UTG: 66,940 (27.9 bb)

9 players post ante of 240, SB posts 1,200, BB posts 2,400

Pre Flop: (pot: 5,760) Hero has A♠: A♦:
4 folds, MP+2 calls 2,400, CO calls 2,400, Hero raises to 15,360, 2 folds, MP+2 calls 12,960, CO calls 12,960

Flop: (51,840, 3 players) 6♠: 9♥: 5♥:
MP+2 bets 4,800, CO calls 4,800, Hero raises to 27,984, MP+2 calls 23,184, CO calls 23,184

Turn: (135,792, 3 players) 9♠:
MP+2 checks, CO checks, Hero checks

River: (135,792, 3 players) A♣:
MP+2 checks, CO bets 135,792, Hero raises to 424,137 and is all-in, fold, CO calls 288,345

Results: 984,066 pot (0 rake)
Final Board: 6♠: 9♥: 5♥: 9♠: A♣:

Hero shows A♠: A♦:: (Full House, Aces full of Nines)
(Pre 83%, Flop 79%, Turn 5%)

CO shows 2♣: 9♣:: (Three of a Kind, Nines)
(Pre 17%, Flop 21%, Turn 95%)

Hero wins 984,066

Originally posted by mariussica88
I wanted to share with you guys 2 hands that I played yesterday in a $1.10 tournament that really shocked me

I could use more shocks like those.

Last week was study intensive, I managed to read again everything (that I have access - silver level ) in the strategy section of the site, starting with Poker Basics moving to MTTs, Psychology and Sit& Go's also I watched a lot of videos from @bencb on the YouTube channel. Played only 29 MTTs and 5 freerolls. On one of the freerolls I managed to finish 4th wining a $11 Sunday Storm ticket.

Last week report: Played From 28.02.2022 - 06.03.2022

Challenge Starting Bankroll: $36.48
Last Week Bankroll: $43.30
Current Bankroll: $57.88

Profit last week: $14.58

Goal : $1000

Good luck at the tables guys.

Hello guys,

This past week something new got into the Pokerstars lobby, for Romanian players (not sure how long this was on Stars for, but for me only this week appeared ) the Neymar Jr Kick-Off tournaments so I decided to try it. I really like the format, I decided to play some tournaments with $1 buy-in and see how it is. At the start it was good, I managed to win $9.57 but after that I lost some and won some. At the end I was down $27 so the conclusion of this week is that DO NOT GAMBLE YOUR BANKROLL !!!

On another topic I find that GGPoker is available for Romanian players, so I made an account ( unfortunately I could not use the link from the Pokerstrategy site because it is a different domain so no strategy points for me ), I also managed to get verify on GGPoker so now I can play with the daily gifts received for log in daily.
I want to ask you guys if you think that I should add the Bankroll from GGPoker (at this time is $0 and I will not deposit ) into this Challenge?

Last week report: Played From 07.03.2022 - 13.03.2022

Challenge Starting Bankroll: $36.48
Last week Bankroll: $57.88
Current Bankroll: $34.87

Profit last week: - $23.01

Goal: $1000

This weekend I will not play any poker because I have some family business and I will be gone from Friday until Sunday afternoon. I hope you guys take care and have a good time at the poker tables.

Originally posted by mariussica88
On another topic I find that GGPoker is available for Romanian players, so I made an account ( unfortunately I could not use the link from the Pokerstrategy site because it is a different domain so no strategy points for me ), I also managed to get verify on GGPoker so now I can play with the daily gifts received for log in daily.
I want to ask you guys if you think that I should add the Bankroll from GGPoker (at this time is $0 and I will not deposit ) into this Challenge?

Hi mariussica88
I just checked the conditions for the challenge in the original post: https://forums.pokerstrategy.com/forum/thread.php?postid=3255945#post3255945
It does not mention that the challenge needs to include only one room.

So since your GG bankroll is 0, why not include the winnings from the freebies in your challenge?

Best of luck :gl:,
VS

Originally posted by VorpalF2F

Hi mariussica88
I just checked the conditions for the challenge in the original post: https://forums.pokerstrategy.com/forum/thread.php?postid=3255945#post3255945
It does not mention that the challenge needs to include only one room.

So since your GG bankroll is 0, why not include the winnings from the freebies in your challenge?

Best of luck :gl:,
VS

Thank you for your reply :f_biggrin:, I will add that account to this challenge since it's a fresh new account and I don't want to deposit. The promotions on GGPoker are nice and can help a lot with building a bankroll.

Originally posted by mariussica88

Thank you for your reply :f_biggrin:, I will add that account to this challenge since it's a fresh new account and I don't want to deposit. The promotions on GGPoker are nice and can help a lot with building a bankroll.
They sure are — especially the daily freebies

Hello guys,

Like I said in the previous weekly update, I didn't play any poker since Thursday ( 17.03.2022 ). That being said this past week I tried to qualify to the 16th Sunday Million by playing the $0.50 Spin & Go's and some MTT. Unfortunately I didn't qualified, but I managed to make a small profit. I played some $1.50 sit & go's (step 2) with the tickets received for wining $0.50 Spin & Go's, then I played 7 $5 sit & go's (step 3) and I managed to win one of the $5 sit & go for a $20 ticket. On the $20 tournament I was automatically registered and got at the tables with around 9BB and busted early after registered
Also on Tuesday ( 15.03.2022 ) I played the Romanian special tournament and finished 5th and won a $11 Sunday Storm ticket, didn't played it this week because on Sunday I arrived back home pretty tired. Probably I will play this week Sunday Storm

On the GGPoker I played only the daily freebies and the freerolls with tickets to the GG Masters Overlay. I haven't qualify to the Masters but I managed to win a daily Spin and Gold and get some bounty's in the Battle Royal with the tickets that I received daily for login in.

PokerStars Bankroll : $39.05 and $11 Sunday Storm ticket
GGPoker Bankroll: $0.87

Last week report: Played from 14.03.2022 - 20.03.2022

Challenge Starting Bankroll: $36.48
Last week Bankroll: $34.87
Current Bankroll: $39.92

Profit Last Week: + $ 5.05

Goal: $1000

Have a nice week guys and good luck at the tables.

hey fellow BR challanger - read a bit through your blog - amazing work. very detailed reports on your progress. just came to say i wish you good luck at the tables and stick to your guns, don't experiment too much ♦
I know from my own mtt days, its tempting to try and make the big shots and ofc even a mincash in something like sunday million would give you a big leap, but the chances to get there from small sats are still slim due to big fields.
can highly recommend the smaller mtt fields on sites like ipoker to build a br. very weak fields and much less players which reduces variance greatly and you also have cheap sattelites into the 5-50$ mtts where the chance of cashing is greatly improved.
Ofc you cannot win 100k there in 1 shot which is the major downside ♦
Anyhow best of luck, i will keep following your progress

Originally posted by naDanje
hey fellow BR challanger - read a bit through your blog - amazing work. very detailed reports on your progress. just came to say i wish you good luck at the tables and stick to your guns, don't experiment too much ♦
I know from my own mtt days, its tempting to try and make the big shots and ofc even a mincash in something like sunday million would give you a big leap, but the chances to get there from small sats are still slim due to big fields.
can highly recommend the smaller mtt fields on sites like ipoker to build a br. very weak fields and much less players which reduces variance greatly and you also have cheap sattelites into the 5-50$ mtts where the chance of cashing is greatly improved.
Ofc you cannot win 100k there in 1 shot which is the major downside ♦
Anyhow best of luck, i will keep following your progress

Thank you very much for this nice words, unfortunately I can not play on iPoker anymore since they don't have license in Romania anymore. The only platforms that I play are Pokerstars, GGPoker and 888Poker. For this challenge however I am playing only on the first 2 platforms.
Best of luck to you too.

Originally posted by mariussica88

Thank you very much for this nice words, unfortunately I can not play on iPoker anymore since they don't have license in Romania anymore.

oh that i didnt know ^^

Hi mariussica88

I enjoyed reading up on your journey so far.

This quote rly stuck out as wise words i can relate to

Originally posted by mariussica88

Now i don't play just for the thought that i can get a big win cash tournament, i play for the enjoyment for the game and the feeling that i have when i sit at a table and to push myself to become better doing something that i really enjoy (besides my regular job ).

Best of luck on your poker journey ♠_cool:

Originally posted by AlcopopDK
Hi mariussica88

I enjoyed reading up on your journey so far.

Best of luck on your poker journey ♠_cool:

Thank you so much for your kind worlds =). Best of luck in your Challenge too

Hello guys,

This last week I played a "lot of poker", but I studied too. Every day before playing I review my tournaments played in the previews day and after that I watch 2 strategy videos and at least one metal game videos. On Pokerstars I managed to play only 17 tournaments but I managed to win one tournament and cash in Sunday Storm too. :f_biggrin:. I decided to adopt a more strict bankroll management given the fact that since I started this challenge I was focused on results more than playing the right tournaments and my bankroll was moving up and down a lot. So from now on I am going to be more selective with the tournaments that I play and with the numbers of tournaments played.
This is the tournament that I won on Thursday, a deal was made between top 3 players:

I played the Sunday Storm ticket that I managed to win last week and finished 1149th

On GGPoker I played the daily freebies and managed to win some. I saw that on this platform are a lot of players and mostly beginners so I managed to play 60 X $0.25 Spin & Gold's and 8 x $1.00 Spin & Gold's. I saw that there is a daily leaderboard for this kind of games and I finished at the $0.25 buy-in on 235th for a min prize of $0.50 that is given into 2 Spin & Gold tickets. So I will be playing some Spin & Gold's since my bankroll is not that big for tournaments yet and try to climb the leaderboard.
I hope to boost my bankroll this way, the 6-max Spin & Gold is really nice for me to play.

So the Bankrolls are :
Pokerstars: $81.58
GGPoker : $1.89 and 2 x $0.25 Spin & Gold tickets*

*the tickets I will not add to the Current Bankroll

Last week report: Played from 21.03.2022 - 27.03.2022

Challenge Starting Bankroll : $36.48
Last week Bankroll: $39.92
Current Bankroll : $83.47

Profit Last Week: + $ 43.55

Goal: $1000

Have a nice week guys and good luck at the tables.

HUGE! a great example how focus and studying pay off - thats more than 100% bankroll grwoth - proud of you!