Road to $10k

Life got in the way and basically stopped playing (I played about 20k hands in the past 3 months). Back in December I was still delusional and played another session at 100nl and got destroyed. Since then I played a few 25nl and 50nl sessions, which went better. The goal is to pick things back up as I expect to be rusty. I am starting again more or less from where I left off with the BR currently at $1,264, focusing on 25nl and later 50nl. 10k hands per week should be achievable as well as reviewing at least 10 hands per session as a starting point.

Here’s the graph for those 20k hands over the past 3 months.

Reaching 20% of the challenge by the end of March would be great. GLGL

Ur WWSF is low ,because ur a nit.Without knowing any stats i'd say for sure from that graph ur calling way too much not raising enough and not fighting for pots enough.Somewhat loose and passive.
Try to move away from 25nl ASAP and as soon as u get decent br just move to 50nl the difference of rake will be huge.25NL is deathtrap due to rake.

Another 2 months have passed with very low volume.

I still have huge problems with aggression. I feel over the last few weeks I have made more efforts in bluffing more however I noticed I often pick spots where I get shoved on, on either turn or river and I have to fold.

Most of the money actually came from 100NL where I ran well. Whenever I played 50NL I seem to have gotten more in tough spots, but it might be a mix of variance and the fact I would only play 100NL when the tables looked great.

Here's the graph from 100NL

Here's the graph from 50NL

The rest came from 25NL.

So for the past 2 months:

Starting BR $1,264 + Total profits $114 + Rakeback $224 = BR $1,602

My plan for May is to put at least 40k hands volume on 50NL, continue reviewing hands after each session and adding on at least 1 hour of study every day on top.

I have been playing with a calling pre-flop range in particular on the BTN, CO and SB, where before I was playing a 3b/fold strategy. Is that something I should abandon completely at the micros?
The rationale being to play more pots vs recs. What's everyone's take on this?

Things have been going really well this month so far so I thought I’d make a quick update. First of all I decided to degen and play some tournaments including a satellite into a $500 tourney where I made a decent cash for about $1800. Overall I made profits of about $1900 which was obviously a great boost to the BR.

Then decided to focus back on cash games and here’s the results from all the stakes for this month so far

50NL has been the best stake where things have been going smoothly

100nl has been a bit of a challenge, especially with one session where I was battling vs some regs and lost 5bi. I have been running below ev in all-ins but I haven’t been running horribly.

Played few hands of 200nl where I thought games were good but I don’t plan to play here very often as I want to focus on 100nl and achieve a good winrate first.

Here are also some fun hands:

H1: Not sure if this is good but I tried.

BTN: 119.6 BB
SB: 104.15 BB
Hero (BB): 547.38 BB
UTG: 366.8 BB
CO: 120.48 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has 4♥ A♥

fold, CO raises to 2 BB, fold, fold, Hero calls 1 BB

Flop: (4.5 BB, 2 players) K♣ K♥ A♣
Hero checks, CO bets 1.41 BB, Hero calls 1.41 BB

Turn: (7.32 BB, 2 players) 4♣
Hero checks, CO bets 2.29 BB, Hero calls 2.29 BB

River: (11.9 BB, 2 players) 7♣
Hero checks, CO bets 8.48 BB, Hero raises to 29 BB, CO calls 20.52 BB

H2: I don’t think I would have got it through but I was frustrated I missed the jam on the river

BTN: 113.18 BB
Hero (SB): 100 BB
BB: 300.58 BB
UTG: 95.31 BB
CO: 103.5 BB

Hero posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has 5♦ A♦

fold, CO raises to 2.3 BB, fold, Hero raises to 10.03 BB, fold, CO calls 7.73 BB

Flop: (21.06 BB, 2 players) 6♣ 9♠ Q♦
Hero bets 6 BB, CO calls 6 BB

Turn: (33.06 BB, 2 players) 2♥
Hero bets 20.73 BB, CO calls 20.73 BB

River: (74.52 BB, 2 players) K♥
Hero checks, CO bets 66.74 BB and is all-in, fold

H3: Standard cooler

BTN: 131.28 BB
SB: 63.72 BB
BB: 131.39 BB
UTG: 143.21 BB
MP: 103.75 BB
Hero (CO): 127.14 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has K♠ A♠

fold, MP raises to 2 BB, Hero raises to 6.5 BB, fold, SB raises to 22.5 BB, fold, fold, Hero raises to 127.14 BB and is all-in, SB calls 41.22 BB and is all-in

Flop: (130.44 BB, 2 players) A♥ 5♥ 6♥

Turn: (130.44 BB, 2 players) 8♣

River: (130.44 BB, 2 players) K♣

H4: ???

Hero (BTN): 101.5 BB
SB: 244.37 BB
BB: 138.51 BB
UTG: 95.79 BB
CO: 101.5 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has Q♠ Q♣

fold, fold, Hero raises to 2.25 BB, fold, BB calls 1.25 BB

Flop: (5 BB, 2 players) T♠ 9♣ 3♣
BB checks, Hero bets 2.38 BB, BB raises to 8 BB, Hero calls 5.62 BB

Turn: (21 BB, 2 players) 2♠
BB bets 15 BB, Hero calls 15 BB

River: (51 BB, 2 players) 2♦
BB checks, Hero bets 76.25 BB and is all-in, BB calls 76.25 BB

H5: I did not believe

BTN: 51.38 BB
SB: 121.54 BB
Hero (BB): 173.48 BB
UTG: 122.47 BB
MP: 122.63 BB
CO: 137.81 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has 3♦ 5♦

fold, fold, fold, fold, SB raises to 3 BB, Hero raises to 10.5 BB, SB calls 7.5 BB

Flop: (21 BB, 2 players) 8♥ 6♥ 4♦
SB checks, Hero checks

Turn: (21 BB, 2 players) 6♠
SB bets 6.58 BB, Hero raises to 19.64 BB, SB raises to 35 BB, Hero raises to 162.98 BB and is all-in, fold

H6: This is my favourite one vs aggro reg

BTN: 100 BB
SB: 233.34 BB
Hero (BB): 226.06 BB
UTG: 103.56 BB
MP: 45.8 BB
CO: 100 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has A♥ K♦

fold, fold, CO raises to 2.5 BB, fold, SB raises to 11 BB, Hero raises to 24.5 BB, fold, SB calls 13.5 BB

Flop: (51.5 BB, 2 players) 8♥ 4♣ T♠
SB checks, Hero bets 14.68 BB, SB calls 14.68 BB

Turn: (80.86 BB, 2 players) 7♥
SB checks, Hero bets 38.44 BB, SB calls 38.44 BB

River: (157.74 BB, 2 players) 9♦
SB bets 155.72 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 148.44 BB and is all-in

Current BR is at $4,572 (including rakeback).

Goal for the rest of the month is to reach 40k hands and I also got a RIO elite subs so will be focusing on watching videos to improve my game - really like psek1, luke johnson, francesco lacriola, callum ross and tyler forrester but if anyone got any other recs then please let me know (I already watched all sauce videos)

The rest of the month hasn’t gone as well as I’d hoped for.

As things were going well I decided to start taking shots at 200nl. I realise this is a very aggressive BR strategy but I really wanted to push my way up the stakes as much as I can. I immediately got punished for it lool but regardless it was a great opportunity to play with some tough regs that are better than me and get used to the stake.

I also think that playing 200nl has helped me get very comfortable with 100nl, which has gone well this month.

I played a few more hands at 50NL, where I ran a bit below ev but I can say I am very comfortable there.

Although cash game results for this month have been bad mainly due to the 200nl shots, it was still a positive month because of the tournament winnings’ boost to my BR. Overall I still about 2x’d my BR this month and I am at about 36% of my goal.

There was not much tilt on my part, but I definitely played some hands where I called the river or overbluffed in certain spots, which I later checked on GTOW and found were not good plays. Despite the poor results I still feel good about poker and excited to see what the next month brings on the tables. One thing I will be focusing on this month is volume. It has improved from previous months but it is still poor. I will try by scheduling times for playing hands so that by the end of the month I reach my goal of 40k hands.

To recap this month BR ended on $3,595 including RB, tournament and cash game results.

Decided to do a mid month update. First two weeks of the month have gone pretty bad.

Still played 200nl but got absolutely crushed by variance.

Obviously I am going to stop playing 200nl for a while now.

The bad part is that I also lost a bunch at 100nl. I did a review of all the hands I have played and there are definitely a lot of hands where I tilt/punted hard on top of not running great. There are a lot of spots where the pool is very tight and yet I struggle to find folds pre and post to exploit this. The results speak for themselves. I played badly and really need to rethink my game.

50nl has been going well and will probably be the focus of my volume for the rest of the month, until I regain confidence I can beat 100nl.

The good part is that I decided to play PLO when it got to a point I did not want to play NLH anymore and made ~$540. I also made ~$625 in rakeback this month.

This brings my BR to ~$2100.

HereÂ’s some fun hands so far this month.

H1: at 200nl

BTN: 100 BB
SB: 112.47 BB
BB: 100 BB
Hero (UTG): 106.26 BB
MP: 81.02 BB
CO: 238.15 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has K♣ A♥

Hero raises to 2.25 BB, MP calls 2.25 BB, CO calls 2.25 BB, BTN raises to 11 BB, fold, fold, Hero raises to 106.26 BB and is all-in, MP calls 78.77 BB and is all-in, fold, fold

Flop: (176.78 BB, 2 players) A♦ J♦ T♣

Turn: (176.78 BB, 2 players) 9♦

River: (176.78 BB, 2 players) 7♥

H2: how I have been running

BTN: 59.85 BB
SB: 102.77 BB
BB: 100.6 BB
UTG: 101 BB
Hero (MP): 100 BB
CO: 121.19 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has A♦ 2♦

fold, Hero raises to 2.25 BB, fold, BTN calls 2.25 BB, fold, fold

Flop: (6 BB, 2 players) 5♦ Q♦ 6♦
Hero bets 1.71 BB, BTN calls 1.71 BB

Turn: (9.42 BB, 2 players) 7♥
Hero checks, BTN bets 2.95 BB, Hero raises to 12.75 BB, BTN calls 9.8 BB

River: (34.92 BB, 2 players) Q♣
Hero bets 83.29 BB and is all-in, BTN calls 43.14 BB and is all-in

H3: failed bluff 1

BTN: 382.28 BB
SB: 104.39 BB
Hero (BB): 113.5 BB
UTG: 440.37 BB
CO: 404.47 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has K♠ J♦

fold, fold, fold, SB raises to 2.85 BB, Hero calls 1.85 BB

Flop: (5.7 BB, 2 players) 8♠ Q♦ 7♠
SB bets 1.63 BB, Hero raises to 8 BB, SB calls 6.37 BB

Turn: (21.7 BB, 2 players) 3♦
SB checks, Hero bets 24.46 BB, SB calls 24.46 BB

River: (70.62 BB, 2 players) 2♠
SB checks, Hero bets 78.19 BB and is all-in, SB calls 69.08 BB and is all-in

H4: failed bluff 2

Hero (BTN): 125.91 BB
SB: 103.4 BB
BB: 126.88 BB
UTG: 112.23 BB
MP: 110.45 BB
CO: 308.83 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has A♦ Q♠

fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to 2.25 BB, SB raises to 10 BB, fold, Hero calls 7.75 BB

Flop: (21 BB, 2 players) J♦ 6♥ 8♠
SB bets 11 BB, Hero calls 11 BB

Turn: (43 BB, 2 players) 9♥
SB checks, Hero bets 19.2 BB, SB calls 19.2 BB

River: (81.4 BB, 2 players) 9♠
SB checks, Hero bets 85.71 BB and is all-in, SB calls 63.2 BB and is all-in

H5: failed bluff 3

Hero (BTN): 114.23 BB
SB: 111.54 BB
BB: 100.5 BB
UTG: 101.83 BB
MP: 100 BB
CO: 117.39 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has K♦ A♥

UTG raises to 3.5 BB, fold, fold, Hero raises to 10.5 BB, fold, fold, UTG calls 7 BB

Flop: (22.5 BB, 2 players) T♥ Q♠ 6♠
UTG checks, Hero bets 6.41 BB, UTG calls 6.41 BB

Turn: (35.32 BB, 2 players) 4♥
UTG checks, Hero bets 26.17 BB, UTG calls 26.17 BB

River: (87.66 BB, 2 players) 3♣
UTG checks, Hero bets 71.15 BB and is all-in, UTG calls 58.75 BB and is all-in

H6: I swear to God I am done bluffing

Hero (BTN): 101.68 BB
SB: 118.36 BB
BB: 103.62 BB
UTG: 100 BB
MP: 100 BB
CO: 107.5 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has A♦ 3♦

fold, fold, CO raises to 2.5 BB, Hero raises to 7 BB, fold, fold, CO calls 4.5 BB

Flop: (15.5 BB, 2 players) T♦ Q♣ 7♠
CO checks, Hero bets 4.42 BB, CO calls 4.42 BB

Turn: (24.34 BB, 2 players) 2♣
CO checks, Hero bets 25.5 BB, CO calls 25.5 BB

River: (75.34 BB, 2 players) 8♠
CO checks, Hero bets 64.76 BB and is all-in, CO calls 64.76 BB

H7: Ok last one - I am done bluffing for real now

BTN: 98.16 BB
SB: 207.24 BB
BB: 235.4 BB
UTG: 143.94 BB
Hero (MP): 108.58 BB
CO: 128.84 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has 9♣ 8♣

fold, Hero raises to 2 BB, fold, BTN raises to 6 BB, fold, fold, Hero calls 4 BB

Flop: (13.5 BB, 2 players) 5♦ A♣ 7♥
Hero checks, BTN bets 6.42 BB, Hero raises to 16.3 BB, BTN calls 9.88 BB

Turn: (46.1 BB, 2 players) 4♠
Hero bets 13.14 BB, BTN calls 13.14 BB

River: (72.38 BB, 2 players) J♠
Hero bets 73.14 BB and is all-in, BTN calls 62.72 BB and is all-in

H8: can I win a hand pls?

Hero (BTN): 105.32 BB
SB: 103.89 BB
BB: 238.56 BB
UTG: 100 BB
MP: 147.11 BB
CO: 150.97 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has 5♠ A♠

fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to 2.25 BB, fold, BB raises to 10.1 BB, Hero calls 7.85 BB

Flop: (20.7 BB, 2 players) 3♠ 8♥ 6♠
BB bets 15.14 BB, Hero calls 15.14 BB

Turn: (50.98 BB, 2 players) 6♥
BB bets 81.93 BB, Hero calls 80.08 BB and is all-in

River: (211.14 BB, 2 players) J♥

H9: only called because of villain's stats

Hero (BTN): 172.2 BB
SB: 199.08 BB
BB: 122.98 BB
UTG: 105.74 BB
CO: 102.02 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has Q♠ Q♣

fold, fold, Hero raises to 2.24 BB, SB raises to 12 BB, fold, Hero raises to 28 BB, SB raises to 199.08 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 144.2 BB and is all-in

Flop: (345.4 BB, 2 players) A♥ K♠ 6♠

Turn: (345.4 BB, 2 players) 9♥

River: (345.4 BB, 2 players) 3♥

H10: poker is not dead 1

BTN: 100 BB
SB: 130.68 BB
BB: 61.44 BB
UTG: 164.48 BB
Hero (MP): 122.88 BB
CO: 100.28 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has T♦ T♣

UTG raises to 3 BB, Hero raises to 9 BB, fold, fold, fold, fold, UTG calls 6 BB

Flop: (19.5 BB, 2 players) 5♠ 2♦ T♥
UTG bets 9.26 BB, Hero calls 9.26 BB

Turn: (38.02 BB, 2 players) A♣
UTG bets 18.06 BB, Hero calls 18.06 BB

River: (74.14 BB, 2 players) J♠
UTG bets 40.22 BB, Hero raises to 86.56 BB and is all-in, UTG calls 46.34 BB

H11: literally next hand vs the same guy in H10

BTN: 47.62 BB
SB: 102.5 BB
Hero (BB): 112.22 BB
UTG: 122.68 BB
MP: 222.8 BB
CO: 100 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has A♣ A♠

fold, fold, fold, BTN raises to 3.5 BB, fold, Hero raises to 9.5 BB, BTN calls 6 BB

Flop: (19.5 BB, 2 players) 6♣ 4♠ A♦
Hero bets 3.7 BB, BTN calls 3.7 BB

Turn: (26.9 BB, 2 players) 7♥
Hero checks, BTN bets 12.78 BB, Hero calls 12.78 BB

River: (52.46 BB, 2 players) 8♠
Hero checks, BTN bets 21.64 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 21.64 BB

H12: poker is not dead 2

Hero (BTN): 112.04 BB
SB: 199.14 BB
BB: 108.22 BB
UTG: 100 BB
MP: 30.9 BB
CO: 266.64 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has Q♦ Q♠

fold, MP raises to 3.5 BB, fold, Hero raises to 8 BB, fold, BB calls 7 BB, MP raises to 30.9 BB and is all-in, Hero raises to 112.04 BB and is all-in, BB calls 100.22 BB and is all-in

Flop: (247.84 BB, 3 players) 6♥ 8♥ 4♣

Turn: (247.84 BB, 3 players) J♠

River: (247.84 BB, 3 players) 9♦

H13: I did not believe

BTN: 146.42 BB
SB: 251.98 BB
BB: 123.36 BB
UTG: 78.9 BB
Hero (MP): 139.88 BB
CO: 120.4 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has J♥ T♥

UTG calls 1 BB, Hero raises to 2.24 BB, fold, fold, fold, BB raises to 13 BB, fold, Hero calls 10.76 BB

Flop: (27.5 BB, 2 players) 2♥ 8♦ 5♠
BB checks, Hero checks

Turn: (27.5 BB, 2 players) 5♣
BB checks, Hero checks

River: (27.5 BB, 2 players) 9♦
BB checks, Hero bets 7.84 BB, BB raises to 32 BB, Hero raises to 126.88 BB and is all-in, fold