Poker Bankroll Journey

So I got back from collecting my son from Scouts last night, was pretty late for my normal start time and normally I would just sack off playing but new mindset, I decided to play and try to break through the little downswing I am currently on. Managed to get ok volume for only a couple of hours but still running horribly at the moment.

I have the next 4 days to put my foot down and grind harder, unfortunately I may have to drop some games while the roll is lowering but staying positive and going to swing it around!

GL!

23/01/2025 Results

So after I had done everything I needed to for my family and bits round the house, I managed to start playing around 3pm UK time so I feel pretty proud of myself for getting the volume in that I did. Because the roll had dipped down to $121, I decided not to be stubborn and show my experience and filter in some smaller stakes until the variance came back into balance more.
I actually had fun playing the $0.50 On Demands on Stars, I mean the level obviously isn't the best but it is a good place to get your game in a better place in turbo games for sure.
The thing I miss the most about the 180 man days is how good some of the Pro vs Pro battles we had...I mean I was playing in the days Tonkaaaa was playing 180 mans all the way up to the time Stars changed it to On Demands and ruined it lol. Thankfully the OD's still load fast enough even with the low traffic these days....it is a shame GGpoker haven't got an actual SNG setup in place...It is all far too much variance driven on that site, I have played a lot of Mystery Battle Royale and it is too much variance!!!

Anyway plans for next few days, all afternoon/evening for the next 3 days are mine to grind so hopefully I can push 100 games a day for those and get the roll back to being able to play the $3PKO On Demands again properly. I do hate how the satties throw my earnings off as they are the Power Path freebies

Bankroll sitting at $150 again

Good luck to those playing.

So another good day volume wise in the books and results were decent, I still seem to have my Degen ways and can't stop playing the $3 On Demand PKO even though I am not rolled for it yet. If I hadn't played those since I started then my bankroll would be looking much healthier.
Anyway, Poker wise, I am feeling good, even when my emotions start coming out with the frustration of run bad at the wrong times. Unlike past me who would just make any excuse to end the session early because of negative variance or thinking if I stop now at least I have a winning day etc....I find myself pushing myself through to get the volume I know I can play.
Anyway enough babbling!! Results -

Current bankroll sitting at $190 - (I cashed a Bronze chest $10.50)
Almost back to what I started the year with, just got to try being more disciplined with game selection!
As for the budding Youtube vlogging I had planned, I still haven't started and find myself putting those plans off, probably due to fear of looking stupid lol.
Anyway good luck at the tables and the grind!

Cometh the weekend, cometh the degen...Sadly my brain and old ways came out a little more than I would have liked and I played Mtt's and more $3 On Demand pko's than I would have liked. This distracted me from playing decent volume and concentrating on my goals, Mtt's will always be my first love but time wise they just aren't worth it unless you finish top 3 in most micro versions. Saying that, having 2 Final Two tables was a pretty decent run, I think I messed up a couple of spots though and ultimately this cost me and made me regret the time and table space on the grind.
Anyway, line under it all, move on to Sunday Funday with a more positive mindset! I have to just remember, Poker in the micro's is a very very simple game and not to overthink spots!

Bankroll ending on the 25th = $171.37
I know I will probably still slot some Mtt's in due to being Sunday, hopefully I can run a little better if I get deep again.
I do need to remain focused though that this is a bankroll building journey and Mtt's can get me there but ultimately are much higher variance!

So a Sunday in the books and a winning day which back in the day was an anomaly for sure! Although winning, it was for sure a frustrating evening for myself, played well for 90% of the tournaments and then when it mattered in some deep spots I just made impatient decisions and kicked myself after.
One of my biggest leaks since I started playing Poker has always been not using my time bank, not slowing down and thinking about their range, just autopiloting and not focusing on the correct thought processes.
Still making a bunch of final 2 tables in the PKO On Demand's, I can't be too annoyed at myself, but I should have won the $1 one that I got HU with a passive guy (impatient!)

Bankroll end of 26th = $240
So pretty much back to starting roll for the year, just need to keep the volume up and the motivation. If I fail it is my own laziness that will beat me, not the game or players!

Mondays are generally not a day I play poker, I think this is probably the case for most old school guys who spent most of their weekends playing and then having Mon/Tues as days off. Seeing as the wife needs to go into Norwich (closest city) with the boy to see her parents today (Tues), I was persuaded to work Monday and have Tuesday off. My body and mind wasn't overly happy with this, I think doing more volume than I ever have has had a little knock on affect with a bit of burn out.

So a couple of final 2 tables again in the $1 PKO's, I seem to be able to make deep runs in these most days now, just the $3 ones still kicking my arse which is frustrating as hell as that is having a much larger knock on affect with my bankroll building. I am actually considering dropping these now as I am currently down $-153 which would of made the bankroll much more health with that. Now I know it is just variance and the numbers are pretty normal, but technically I am unrolled in those currently and this is a bankroll building journey, yes a win would spike the roll a lot but at the same time I am taking 1 step forward and 2 back every time I play these or Mtt's that I am not rolled for.

Rest of this week I think I need to try and be much more disciplined in the game choice until I have built my roll over 100bi of the chosen game at the very least.
I do wish that more sites, especially GG Poker had much better sng formats and brought back multi table sng's like the old days! I think this is a pretty big gap in the market that a lot of rec's and reg's a like loved playing.

End bankroll for the day = $233

Morning all,

So as the end of the first month of this new year approaches, I have mixed feelings on how it has gone so far. On the one hand, I have almost played 1k games, comparing that to previous years its very good but at the same time, with the volume I have managed to do in the past week or so, I feel like I could have done much more. This will be a motivation for myself to take into the upcoming months knowing it is possible for me to be a grinder and not make the excuses I have always had. On another hand though, I feel like I have played pretty well for the most part, had lots of deep runs in micro mtt's which aren't the easiest thing to navigate! I still know I have lots of little things to work on, bad habits and thought processes that have always been there....the annoying thing though and several of my old coaches will say the same....sometimes I make these mistakes and sometimes I don't...there is no consistency with it which is very annoying.

Anyway, goals for Feb, play a minimum of 1500 games and push the bankroll up to $750.

I didn't play on the 29th, just had family things coming up and decided just to have another day off like I did on the 28th.
Graph/results for yesterday
Tried playing an early morning session, didn't think about how hard it would be to get volume in and keep my eyes open lol. I did manage to win a micro mtt on Stars though for $90ish, played in the evening and was pretty breakeven, even though I had I think 3-4 final 2 table runs....frustrating when it comes down how well you run with key hands.

Just want to give a few words of advice to new players who are looking to build a roll at the micros playing sit & go's/mtt's, this comes after speaking to a UK guy at the tables who has been trying to do this for years. He asked me was it important to keep studying and getting coached etc to get better and improve results. I have played for 19-20 years, have probably had 5 coaches in that time, all have been while being staked and was part of the package. For me, they were good at pointing out all the things I was doing wrong and right but ultimately they can't make you play better, that has to come from yourself learning not to make the same mistakes.
How much do I study? Hardly at all in terms of using software like others, but I will always watch the better streamers and Youtube videos, this is something I have always done from the days of watching Late night poker on TV to WSOP coverage. Will I have to study and use software to get better in the future....Yes if I want to move up the stakes and be profitable but I think just having a solid understanding of the game you are playing and getting the volume in is the key to beating micros. Never fall for buying a training site package if you are playing micros....you will never truly see the value of what you have purchased until you are playing low to midstakes.
Hard work, motivation and determination will get you through the micros alone! Then when you want to make the next steps, try to get in group coaching so you can hear other players thoughts and struggles. I'm sure others will give you much differing advice but that's my 2 pennies on it.

Forgot to post bankroll update.
Currently at $301

So its been a few days since I last posted. It was my oldest child's weekend with me, I tend to spend time with her rather than play poker. Normally drop her off late so I miss the Sunday grind every other week but thankfully she had a party to go to early so I managed to get back and do a small session.
One of those build a stack in most mtt's and sng's and run deepish but either ran into monsters or ran bad. Thankfully a small winning day, which I will always take!

Bankroll end = $314

Having this Monday off to spend with the wife and then grind as much as I can this week.

So Tuesday grind wasn't quite as long as I wanted or as much volume, very much falling down the Mtt rabbit hole which ultimately takes up time and table space. Micro Mtt's are such a hard grind to do because they are so top heavy, you can play for 5-6 hours and still not be near the final table and bust for only a few $ making it feel like a complete waste of time. I mean the games are and have always been pretty soft on most sites but it is just getting through the shear amount of players and the time it takes. Also everything most people use to improve their poker like knowing ranges and how people tend to bet etc just goes completely out of the window in micros because a guy can play KK completely passively and 48o like he has AA.
I think I need to keep reminding myself the best way for me to build a roll to get to low/med stakes is to just grind the "on demand" games that I am profitable in and fill with 18 mans. Volume at these stakes is key really and getting up to being able to play $5 games comfortably should be the focus.
Mtt's can wait until the roll is better and for days like Sunday when the prizepools are bigger.

So today is a lot of family/daddy duties so I won't get many hours to play, Thurs to Sun are going to need to be 100+ days to catch up on the volume I should be knocking out.

Bankroll = $272

Results from Wednesday's grind.....Just so you know I hate Wednesday's, mainly because my son goes to Beavers (young scouts) and it completely disrupts my day as its early evening time. So I attempted to play a small session before we went, this was a winning session. We then came back and I started playing around 8pm UK time and lets say it was a struggle to get in the groove and ride the variance train. At one point I had lost all the previous profit and seemed down a bit, this always seems to happen when I play a split session during the day.
Anyway thankfully I got through it and done ok volume considering I played about 4 hours.

On the plus side, I managed to steer clear of the Mtt's although I am still persisting with the $3 PKO On Demands that this year I am running terribly in at the moment.

Bankroll = $275

Over the next 4 days I want to get close to 400 games played so hard work cap on!

I have noticed a few guys with 6 max spin challenges on GG. Starting with a br of $10 and multi table 25c. One guy is over $1000 @ around think 18 days or so and is now 4 tabling $5.

Might be worth thinking about when you only have 30 min here and there, kinda fun challenge.

But have enjoyed reading your thread.

Yeah I think this guy streams it online right? I have caught him a few times and another who plays spins on there. I just wish GG had a normal SNG format to play as I would go over there in a heartbeat.
Thank you very much for following, I really appreciate it and the input!

Yesterday was supposed to be the start of a 4 day big grind for myself, getting back to decent volume and pushing the bankroll to finally get over the $3 mark onwards.
I had started it nice and early, roughly around 3pm UK, as the grind got underway, I found myself feeling very frustrated very quickly, losing hands getting to me and mentally just feeling like variance was completely against me. In reality I had only played maybe 15 games which is nothing at all and wasn't actually losing everything at all. I got to 2 hours in and I started to make the excuses of old to reduce the game count and looking back, finding a way out of the grind for the day. I then pretty much 2-3 tabled the $1 PKO on demand games until I busted the last one around 7ish. I spoke to my wife and said mentally I was not in the right place and had to stop.
I then spent the next 3 hours or so just hating myself and feeling guilty for making excuses not to play and just making mistakes of the past that have held me back all these years.

I did manage to avoid playing any Mtt's as well as I dropped the $3 PKO's until my roll is much higher.
Now I have to concentrate on working harder this weekend.
With my volume dropping I think doing 400 just isn't likely at all, I will give myself a 200 games over the next 3 days instead.

Bankroll = $276

Might be worth looking at the MTTs on unibet/ party and to a lesser extent 888. The usually have a lot less entrants than PS/GG so probably similar to your 180 man sit and gos. 888 has a ton of freerolls and is relatively easy to build a bankroll. GG too gives you a free ticket every day usually 25c, but $1 on Saturdays.

When your BR is on the smaller side you definitely want to take any opportunity to grow it - my br is pretty much the same

I think Unibet is one of the only older Poker Sites I have never signed up to! Not sure why so maybe I will take a look later this year. But yeah I agree, smaller fields are definitely the way to building a bankroll easier. Any Ipoker skin is pretty good as well for low stake Mtt's too.
I don't always bother with the GG freebies but they are definitely a good idea, especially if you have a very low roll. Any freerolls to be honest, I have scored a few dollars in the past on Party's free ones although I believe these were T$.

My plan is to get the roll upto around $2k before bringing Mtt's back into the mix. Think it will be better for my mental stability to handle the deep run fails that way lol.
All good advice Amatola and tbh anyone else who is reading this!

So in my last post I mentioned how my old habits crept back in and my volume was low and I spent most of the evening feeling really disappointed with myself...... Fast track to Friday and I start around 2PM UK time and I think I finished around 10ish. Pushed myself through a couple of points where I let the table count drop down to 2, this mainly so I could get some food and help with the kids for bedtime but I forced myself to reload tables back up to 12 and push on to the magic mark!
I just want you to think about this, apart from variance which is always a factor in our Poker lives, the most of us fail because of ourselves, because we don't work hard enough, being your own boss and your own time keeper isn't easy for most of us. You have to remind yourselves that the only way you will truly accomplish your goals in life is to push yourself through the comfort zone you keep yourself in.
Now I know I will never be like most of the crushers out there simply because I don't enjoy the study/coaching side of Poker, for me it has gotten too in depth and it just takes all the love and fun out of the reason I started Poker in the first place. With my last backer, I got to a point that it completely killed my love of Poker and it has taken a lot to get back. The one thing I know I can do though is use what knowledge and ability I have gained over 18+ years and just play as many games as possible. Will I need to get another coach if I want to beat midstake Mtt's....Yes I will but I will cross that bridge when it eventually comes. I will probably have to trial a few different ones because I'll need someone whose information won't change my style and I'll absorb his help.

Anyway graph time -

So yeah I felt very proud of myself last night. Still a bit of frustration tilt crept in last night, I need to learn not to type in chat at times, it's not a good look at my age!

Bankroll = $324 ( $10.50 from my last Bronze chest....will be a while now for a Silver one lol)

So after a very productive and hardworking grind on Friday, Saturday comes around and a lot of disruption due to my family having things planned that I had to taxi them around. This kind of resulted in excuses in my mind and basically sacking Saturday's grind off and switching my normal Monday off with it. I did play a few games but with the wife nagging me for time I just switched off and thought I probably wouldn't play my best game.

Sunday rolls around and my mind like many others goes straight to glory and playing Mtt's....even though I have decided previously to just focus on SNG's....I failed, I mixed some Mtt's into the mix....I don't feel terrible about it though so won't beat myself up over it.
So very mixed emotions and ultimately a what if kind of Sunday Funday. I pretty much stuck within my 100bi rule for myself with the exception of the $4 Deep Stack PKO...being deep I kind of let myself a little room.
So I hit a final table finally in a $3 PKO On Demand, came in short and busted in 7th rejamming 5bbs from BB with 4s into the big stack UTG raise.
Then had a $1 PKO OD FT and again didn't go to plan, sadly couldn't get going and ended up busting in a standard BvB spot with A3o in BB with 7bigs calling off SB big stack, also 7th.
I also FT'd a $2 Deep Stack on Stars, it was full of losing fish and 1 very very agro German who was something like 70/40 with a 3bet around 25%. It got 4 handed, dealt AQo while in 2nd place, he 3bets me to 7x and vs his range it was an easy shove for 31bbs. He snapped me off with AJo and flopped trips...Happy with how I played, variance kicked my arse but doing the right things is the main thing in the long run.
Also had a deep run in the $4 deep PKO, think I eventually busted in 40th or something, guy defended T3s vs my KJs we both flopped our top pair and he turned trips. I had around 18bbs.
Mixed in SNG's and had a couple scores for a nice winning day, sadly what could have been but we keep going and dust it off.

I did play a couple of micro mtt's on Ipoker as well, FT'd a 0.50e rebuy and came 3rd for like 18 euros...it was a bit of fun. I don't include this in the bankroll building journey though.

Stars Bankroll = $363

I don't generally play Monday's and as such I decided to play just a very chilled out night of Poker. Played a small mix of games on Stars and fired up a few small micro rebuys on Ipoker.
Managed a 4th on a Hyper $2 PKO on Stars, I missed a couple of spots on the final table that cost me bounties and big pots, stupidly overthinking the spots! I should always go with my first instinct because that is my experience speaking and not all the mixed information giving from coaches over the years with the overthinking!
Also a 4th and a 13th run on Ipoker which I was pretty happy with. The 4th was just a sick bust out vs a fish who snap called me with Q8s for 25bbs.
Anyway I guess I will be including my Ipoker bankroll separate now which will be purely micro Mtt's only and also free spins/slot bonuses from Betfair account on there.

Stars roll = $371
Ipoker = £46.91