About this blog
I’ve been a member of PS since I started playing poker and this is actually my 2nd attempt in trying to keep an updated blog! In my first one I wanted to write about my performance in HU SnG (you can find that post somewhere around here…), I didn’t manage to dominate the game but at least I didn’t bust, I actually turned my $100 investment in $265, basically thanks to rakeback and the 100% first time deposit bonus at Full Tilt, as my HU game was basically at 3% ROI.
When I was done clearing my first deposit bonus at Full Tilt I invested $25 in learning material for HU games, I transferred $90 to PokerStars and I left $150 at Full Tilt. My idea was to focus in HU SnG again, but I didn’t felt comfortable playing $2 games with a bank of just $90, after some badbeats and consequent tilting I dropped quickly to $60,07.
Going back to the ring
This 33% drop in my cashier at PokerStars made me stop to think. I know that my HU game is improving but I know I can’t afford to loose more. Although the majority of HU SnGoers feel comfortable with a 20BI (or less…) to play these games, when I played at Full Tilt I sticked with a 100BI BRM and at least I felt comfortable with that. So I decided I won’t play HU SnG again until I have $220. How do I intend to do this? I intend to go back to the NL2 “aquarium”, it’s a limit I once beat and now, with improved HU skills, I know that my cash game probably improved as well, mainly concerning reading flop textures, putting villains in ranges, spotting bluffs or traps. With these new skills I learned at HU SnG I hope I’m able to grind my way up…
My plan
With a $60.07 BR I will start playing at NL2 FR. I’ll use a 25BI BRM for these microlimits, which means I’ll only play NL5 once I reach $125 and NL10 when I got to $250. Once I reach this mark I’ll then decide whether I’ll go back to HU SnG or stick with cash games, or probably do both. Money earned from bonus will be put aside and therefore will not be used to climb the limits faster, the reason is simple, I want to beat the limits with my own skills only, if I can’t do that I’ll probably loose that bonus money fast. Once my $90 deposit bonus is clear I might move my remaining $150 at Full Tilt to get the most out of the bonus but for now I’ll leave it there.
My goals
I feel comfortable playing up to 20 tables at the same time, which means I expect a volume of 600 hands per hour. For NL2 I intend to beat this limit at least at 5BB/100 (I won’t be more optimistic due to high volume of hands, which means less reads) so in order to make the remaining $65 that will take me to NL5 I’ll need to grind 65k hands at NL2, which sounds some crazy 108 hrs of play. I prefer to stick with realistic goals, I have no rush I going up the limits, I intend to learn (again) cash games in the process.
What can you expect from this blog
As I said earlier, this is the second time I try to write a blog, but this time I’ll demand more commitment from myself. In the end of the day I plan on posting a couple of hands for debate, and this is where I expect PS community to participate. I hope I can learn from experienced cash players and I also wish that players that are new to the game could learn something from this debate. In the meanwhile you’ll follow my progress through graphs and updated data, hopefully in a daily basis.
NL2, here I am…
