Crawling our way up again

Originally posted by SvenBe

Originally posted by Mizzzzz
Dont underestimate the number of members reading this...
its sometimes hard to give a good answer.

Ii hope you find a way out of this cycle of failures and resulting bad feelings!

Wishing u better luck!

I can confirm that - sometimes it seems like you talk to yourself. But in the times when everything gets done by likes or passive actions, it is pretty hard to get personal interaction. The bankroll challenge for sure encourages users to post, and to be honest this is also one of the reasons why I am surfing here...

I understand. Thank you for your reply.

Originally posted by jiffybag
Dude, I think you spend more time focusing on chasing your losses and end up jumping to 5nl way before you BR can handle it. Everyone has a different BR strat that works for them, mine is very very strict BR management. I have to as I have tilt issues and it stops me from taking shots at higher levels earlier. Fixing my tilt issues is a lot harder than fixing mistakes I make during pre flop and post flop play. But it has helped, a losing day for me now is close to or break even.
Focus on fixing tilt issues that you may not think you have. IMHO

I think you are right about the chasing your losses note and there definitely is still tilt involved. I should keep my calm, take a step back and get my focus back. Get back to that positive flow. Thank you for the support!

You can have aggressive BRM if redeposit is not issue but as said for mental game it can be tougher. I quickly read that you went for NL5 with 80€ so only 16bin which is super aggressive.

Very important thing in aggro BRM is to follow it strictly. So when taking shots at higher buyin you have to be ready to come down after losing certain amount. If you have tilt issues combined to aggro BRM it will create very good foundation for losing whole bankroll.

You don't want to go super conservative BRM in general on micro or small stakes as rake is big villain on it own. But I would advice something on the middle ground. Like play NL2 to have 30 bins for NL5. If you lose 10bin there drop down again. Or something like that.

Less mental stress makes it easier to keep you A-game on more often. I also often say don't focus on volume. Quality over quantity and playing is also more fun imo

Well of course it depends. If you start to focus on other stuff than tables then it's probably good idea to add tables. But one point is when you don't have hands to play you should focus on what other players are doing in other hands. Good way to pick up reads. That's for non zoom tables mainly though.

Less mental stress makes it easier to keep you A-game on more often. I also often say don't focus on volume. Quality over quantity and playing is also more fun imo

This is true.

I forgot to mention one other thing about the mental side of things, its ego. We all can sometimes get carried away thinking we are invincible, it happened to me today during my first session (HU no less ) and it cost me a lot. Ego seems to affect me the same way that tilt does, I am not thinking through the hand and instead of feeling like a victim I am shit talking my screen and bragging and basically feeling like my opponent can't touch me A good ass kicking is sobering But I am aware of this problem and before my second session I wrote down what went wrong with the first one. This tiny thing of being aware is helping me, it helped me right all the wrongs I caused during the first session and this is a WIN for me, not the money.

1 advice "the mental game of poker".

I believe you’re in the same boat as I was previously. You have the ability to crush NL2 and 5 but you’re held back taking hands too personally

As soon as I recognised I was in a downswing and what it felt like then you know it will eventually pass and all yiu can do is laugh at donk calls and minimise the damage.

It’s like taking shelter from a storm haha

You’ll get there bud, I’m always in discord if ya need me

Thank you all appreciate the support! It really helps me out a lot! No time for big update now will follow soon.

BR Challenge Week 7
Start BR: €280
Last Update BR: €50
Current BR: €69.88
Result: + $19.88
Target: €2000

Finally we see some green again. Thanks to randomly playing a satellite, first place was a ticket, second place was cash. Happy with the cash at this point

Originally posted by FriskyArt
BR Challenge Week 7
Start BR: €280
Last Update BR: €50
Current BR: €69.88
Result: + $19.88
Target: €2000

Finally we see some green again. Thanks to randomly playing a satellite, first place was a ticket, second place was cash. Happy with the cash at this point

Winning is nice

Originally posted by ghaleon
You can have aggressive BRM if redeposit is not issue but as said for mental game it can be tougher. I quickly read that you went for NL5 with 80€ so only 16bin which is super aggressive.

Very important thing in aggro BRM is to follow it strictly. So when taking shots at higher buyin you have to be ready to come down after losing certain amount. If you have tilt issues combined to aggro BRM it will create very good foundation for losing whole bankroll.

You don't want to go super conservative BRM in general on micro or small stakes as rake is big villain on it own. But I would advice something on the middle ground. Like play NL2 to have 30 bins for NL5. If you lose 10bin there drop down again. Or something like that.

Less mental stress makes it easier to keep you A-game on more often. I also often say don't focus on volume. Quality over quantity and playing is also more fun imo

Well of course it depends. If you start to focus on other stuff than tables then it's probably good idea to add tables. But one point is when you don't have hands to play you should focus on what other players are doing in other hands. Good way to pick up reads. That's for non zoom tables mainly though.

That is so spot on and exactly what happened in fact! Just for this I have a new BRM strat ready and going to follow it as if it where the holy bible (couldn't come up with an English expression to state my words but you get the point) Also back to 2-tabling with better quality of play, more focus, less tilt.. Very solid advice.

Originally posted by jiffybag

Less mental stress makes it easier to keep you A-game on more often. I also often say don't focus on volume. Quality over quantity and playing is also more fun imo

This is true.

I forgot to mention one other thing about the mental side of things, its ego. We all can sometimes get carried away thinking we are invincible, it happened to me today during my first session (HU no less ) and it cost me a lot. Ego seems to affect me the same way that tilt does, I am not thinking through the hand and instead of feeling like a victim I am shit talking my screen and bragging and basically feeling like my opponent can't touch me A good ass kicking is sobering But I am aware of this problem and before my second session I wrote down what went wrong with the first one. This tiny thing of being aware is helping me, it helped me right all the wrongs I caused during the first session and this is a WIN for me, not the money.

I feel you. Self awareness is an important skill for every poker player.

Originally posted by Fredjen
1 advice "the mental game of poker".

It might be a good time to start rereading that indeed!

Originally posted by LiamXii
I believe you’re in the same boat as I was previously. You have the ability to crush NL2 and 5 but you’re held back taking hands too personally

As soon as I recognised I was in a downswing and what it felt like then you know it will eventually pass and all yiu can do is laugh at donk calls and minimise the damage.

It’s like taking shelter from a storm haha

You’ll get there bud, I’m always in discord if ya need me

Thanks man, you help me out a ton here!

Originally posted by jiffybag

Originally posted by FriskyArt
BR Challenge Week 7
Start BR: €280
Last Update BR: €50
Current BR: €69.88
Result: + $19.88
Target: €2000

Finally we see some green again. Thanks to randomly playing a satellite, first place was a ticket, second place was cash. Happy with the cash at this point

Winning is nice

It sure is thanks for the support!

My updated BRM strategy. Doesn't include MTT/SNG strategy but in general I would never invest more then 1%
Apparently NL16 is not very active so we might skip that and instead stick to NL10 a bit longer until we can start taking shots at NL25. But obviously that's still a long road to go.

Main focus is 6-max NLHE games.

Move up = have when we reach checkpoint
Move down = when we lose 5 BI after taking shot at that level

Set a stop loss as well, and stick to it. Maybe something like 2 buy ins if you feel you are playing really bad and 3 to 4 if you are getting unlucky. But you need to be very aware of your mental state, sticking to a stop loss is easier said than done. I punted off $50 in one session back in the day on PS @2nl.

Good advice, I almost forgot to implement that too

So I'll also quit session if I end up losing 2 BI as a stop loss limit or at least take a break.

BR Challenge Week 8
Start BR: €280
Last Update BR: €69.88
Current BR: €66.05
Result: - $3.83
Target: €2000

Was doing great all week but yesterday had a bad session where I lost all this weeks profits.

Today I also installed both trials of HM3 and PT4. Since I'm still using HM2 and sometimes is buggy I might need to consider upgrading. Sad to see that they both come with an annual subscription as for my HM2 was supposed to be a lifetime license Luckily they promise the program still fully function without annual subscription. But if you ever need some important updates you need to pay up again. Sure there's a lot of work put into but it's not our only expense for a serious grinder. But I also realize in today's games you can't play hudless at the major rooms. HM3 seems disappointing. Main reason is PT4 runs smoother feels fresh and clean and I like the HUD more. Biggest con is that it seems less detailed. Haven't discovered everything yet but still like HM2 too. HM3 trial is already slow and not showing my stats properly? Not sure why or what's up with that but it seems like parts are missing from imported hand history as well as for recent session.

Then there's are some others like Hand2Note which seems to be a real nice alternative which I'm definitely going to give a try and basic features are free which is always nice. Seems like it's so powerful use of it is limited on Stars, which I think is a good thing. I like poker to be poker and not playing stats only. Things are bad enough already in some ways.

Not sure if I'm missing that much by not upgrading as HM2 still does the trick and never even fully utilized it's potential. So chances are I'm sticking with HM2 for a longer period. Unless I find a convincing edge I might go for the upgrade but it's not cheap for a micro stakes grinder. And what's even more I also play on Unibet where it's not even allowed to use and considering to join GG poker at some point and they have their own built-in HUD system so it's only for pokerstars. But that's still remains the most important room. So yeah, we'll see what future brings.

BR Challenge Week 9
Start BR: €280
Last Update BR: €66
Current BR: €49
Result: - $17
Target: €2000

Another losing week but I actually feel like a win. I made good decisions and more importantly I know I'm improved and fixed some leaks. That is of much more value then the profits at this point. My mental game also got improved, but still needs active work. The main focus remains: keep working hard on both mental game and strategy. Still struggling without the results I was hoping for, but success must come eventually right?

How many tables are you playing?

Hey Jiffybag, how are you doing? Currently I reduced the number to just 2 tables. I find it hard to get a good read on opponents when I add more tables even with a HUD and I just play much more solid in general. When I play FR tables I might add some tables because it's just so boring and much more ABC poker but SH I definitely stick to 2 tables for now.

BR Challenge Week 10+11
Start BR: €280
Last Update BR: €66
Current BR: €66
Result: $0
Target: €2000

A much needed poker break this week. Not only did I have other things to do but also frustration was rising after all the lost time and $$. I hope to continue soon enough with more desirable results.

Oh no

If I see this right, you tried for more than a year now and some posts show quite the same analysis of what might be wrong or how to improve. Maybe a super honest and more in-depth analysis and possibly establishing a routine for a bullet-proof discipline for your game would help?

Anyway, best of luck and a great end of 2022 for you

f I see this right, you tried for more than a year now and some posts show quite the same analysis of what might be wrong or how to improve. Maybe a super honest and more in-depth analysis and possibly establishing a routine for a bul

Was thinking the same.

FriskyArt cmon man. You struggle to beat nl2. This limit could be beat in a month, less if you are lucky. This should ring some bells. You are doing something very wrong and it's up to you to deduce what is it. The most common and likely reason is that you are lazy and not dedicated enough to the game.

but success must come eventually right?

Without effort you wont achieve much.