Building a Bankroll for Live Poker

Best of luck, will be following!

Good luck, Tampa sounds like a great spot to be as a poker player, even though your challenge is online. Great to see the goals outside of poker too, I’d assume these will also help on the table!

Thank you!

Tampa is def a good spot for live poker. Ultimately, I would like to transition to mainly playing live instead of online - the games are obv much softer playing live as opposed to online. Also, I enjoy the environment of live poker.

& thank you - I think they will help keep my head on straight if/ when I go through the inevitable swings at the table. Especially early on when I think I will be playing w no edge vs population.

Just finished my first session of the challenge & needless to say, it is off to a very rough start. Alrdy down $57.25 (5.5 buy-ins) in 2,121 hands. Feels deflating & demoralizing to be stuck right out of the gate. I do not think I played well & did not run particularly well. Def misplayed a bunch of hands & completely butchered some spots. I assumed I would have some catching up to do early on in the challenge but did not expect to be this buried after the first session.

I played a few interesting hands. I will post them below this. For now, I will post the graph & stats from this session. Gonna take the rest of the night off & get back at it tmrw. On a side note, I think I might jump down in stakes if I have another session like today. Obv, I have a lot of work to do. Thanks to DeeKayBee & MrWhite412 for the comments on my earlier post. I appreciate you guys commenting. Talk soon. GLGL at the tables.

I think pre flop is standard. Versus UTG open A9s is a pure call. Nothing too exciting.

Flop :

In retrospect idk if I like my call here or not. Even tho we're facing 1/3 pot size our hand is not doing particularly well vs UTG cbet range on this board. Part of what played into my decision making was the bd flush draw. However, this might have been too lose of a float.

Turn :

On turn I think our only option is to play x/c whenever we hit our A. It is still a weird spot because UTG double barrel range on this board should contain mostly Ax hands vs which we are going to be behind a lot of them. I do not anticipate UTG to have hands like TT-KK here as those hands might find checks on this specific turn. Lastly, if we call flop idk how we find a fold whenever we turn top pair. Is this faulty reasoning?

River :

Something I noticed a lot of in my session today is the amount of overbets I faced. They are difficult to play against. It sucks to fold but, in general, I think we have better hands to call w in this spot (A7s, AT, AJ/AQ - I think I can have both in my range as I would be mainly flatting them pre flop vs UTG open). Seems like we can just fold our worse Ax hands like A9s. Also, I thought it would be tough for villain to have bluffs here. As played, I think it is hard for him to have TT-KK & I dont think he turns those hands into bluffs. I dont think he is gonna have broadway hands as those likely chk back the turn after not picking up equity. I think villain is mainly gonna have better Ax hands in this spot.

I think I am okay w how I played this hand. Maybe I can find folds on the flop instead of floating vs small cbet.

I think pre flop is standard. Im always opening AJo UTG. Nothing crazy.

Flop :

I did not know how to respond to villain donk betting pot into us. Is this a even a thing & Im just unaware of it? In theory, I should have range advantage on this board vs a BB flatting range. I have all the AA, AK, AQ,AJ, QQ, even 66 altho villain can have that in his BB flatting range. Idk - this was a weird spot. I did not want to 3b & get 4b & put in the blender so I decided to flat his pot size donk lead.

Turn :

Villain now checks 9x. This card doesnt rly change board dynamics - no draws get there aside from A9s but idk if villain donk leads for pot w that specific hand vs UTG range. When villain checks to me I think we can bet for value here - get called by worse Ax hands & even some Qx hands that are getting sticky. We bet half pot (I think Im okay w this size. Maybe we could size up to 2/3 pot?) & villain insta shoves all in. I legit have no idea what was going on at this point. Villain donk leads flop, checks turn on a brick, then snap shoves $9.11 into $2.45. Do I ever find a call here? Are we only calling hands like AA, QQ, AQ? Does that mean we're just folding all of our other hands (AK, AJ, ATs)? Also, idk if having the Jc is a good card as we block some of the turned flush draws/ straight draws that villain could have. Tbh, I was totally lost in this hand & decided to fold thinking I could find a better spot.

Any & all critiques & advice is welcome cause this hand is still bizarre to me even talking about it now.

This hand seems standard to me, I think that with 2 overs and the BDFD it’s fine to float here as 722 shouldn’t hit UTGs range that much either. I think a lot of 10nl players c-bet far too often and he may have just picked up TP on the turn and continued to barrel. Seems like a disciplined lay down as this line probably isn’t going to be a bluff for three streets.

On the second hand I’m kind of confused as well. If I had to range the villain he’s saying either 2pair+ or maybe some KTcc, QTcc. I am having trouble ranging the villain but it’s maybe harder to find bluffs than it is value that is just trying to fast play and scared of the draws coming in

It sucks to just fold cause it feels like if we are folding AJo in this spot then we are over folding & can be exploited easily vs hands that turn equity like the ones you mentioned. Just such a massive jam that I almost feel like its okay to fold anything but top of our range (AA,AQ,QQ, maybe AKo altho that hand functions similarly to AJo in this specific spot as I dont think villain is taking this line w AJ himself). Rly weird line by villain - maybe he just took me to the cleaners & I dont even know it lol ohwell

Thx for the response! I appreciate your insight!

I wanted to post this hand as playing from SB is BY FAR my biggest leak imo. Obv, playing OOP isnt easy & more mistakes will be made by default acting first on every street.

Preflop :

I think 4b is the optimal play here. Obv, we arent folding & I dont like to play a flatting range in the SB - prefer to play 3b or fold. Im wondering if my sizing was good? We started the hand 116 bb's effective so thought sizing up would be fine - particularly vs BTN who is sitting w 169 bb's. Anyone got any thoughts or insight regarding my sizing pre flop?

Flop :

This is where I find myself struggling in a lot of spots. We have range advantage vs BTN as he flatted our 4b pre flop - we have AA, AK & he cant rly have those hands. BTN can have AQ, AJs, ATs so he will have some top pair hands on this flop. I decided to bet 1/3 - if we are going to bet here I do like going small on this board. In general, I like to play these spots as checks. It protects our checking range whenever we do have specific hands like TT-KK, A4s, A5s, etc & also whenever smash these boards w hands like AA, ATs - AK. Does this line of reasoning make sense or should I be mainly betting these flops (particularly since its HU & we have such a range advantage)?

Turn :

I think checking here is standard after we get called on flop. If villain bets it gets kinda weird - depending on sizing would dictate whether I call or fold turn should we face a bet from villain.

River :

When I went back & looked at this hand after my session I thought maybe I couldve used a block bet here? Something like $1.50 or so into $7.21. If we balance our range using strong hands & weaker hands using this sizing I think it is actually kinda effective. Obv, in this specific spot we would use the block bet to hopefully save us from getting bluffed or having to call a larger bet should we check. As played, I think we fold easily vs an overbet shove from villain. My question that I am still trying to figure out is : what is villain trying to rep w this line? He isnt gonna have AA often as that hand mainly 5b pre flop (although I know flatting AA is a think especially IP). I dont think he should have a ton of hands like A6s, A3s, A2s, (A5s might play this hand this way & feel comfortable jamming river as villain knows it is hard for me to have a better hand). & maybe villain can have A4s here as well that hits straight on river. So, A4s, A5s make sense. Idk what bluffs villain could have. As played, seems like his Ax hands wouldnt mind getting to show down. If he has hands like TT, QQ they would prob take their showdown as well.

I think I played this hand okay? I think checking flop isnt bad but betting seems fine too. Maybe on river I could be using a block bet?

Another hand where I am playing in a 3b pot OOP from SB. I rly gotta improve my approach from this spot.

Pre flop :

Facing a CO open & BTN flat I think AQo functions well as a 3b. I dont like folding here & dont play a flatting range from SB. In terms of sizing, we are 100 bb's effective. I actually like my sizing here. Dont want to size up much larger as CO can jam & we have to fold.

Flop :

Multiway I like checking here. Referencing to aforementioned post, I like playing a check range OOP multiway as it allows us to protect our range when we have hands like KK-TT, A4s, A5s, & allows us to have hands like AA, AK-ATs. Is this reasonable thinking? Obv, I dont think betting here is horrible as we have range advantage on this board & have a strong hand. If we decide to play a betting range here what hands do we bet & what hands do we check? I think it would be tricky for me trying to balance a checking/ betting range properly w/out utilizing strong hands into bet range & weaker hands into checking range. I kinda prefer to just simplify. Im open to critiques & advice as this spot is one that I am far from confident in. As played, we check & BTN bets 2/3 pot. I think we play this as a pure call. If villain is bluffing w straight/ flush draws we dont mind letting him realize equity & potentially blast off if he bricks. We get to pot control as well but idk if that is necessarily something we should be taken into consideration as pot is alrdy bloated.

Turn :

Obv we check & BTN jams. I remember specifically thinking : we lose to ATs, TT (I didnt think villain had AK given his flat pre flop & didnt think he had 22 as that hand would fold pre flop). Didnt think villain had 77 as that hand would bomb the flop. So, reduced his value hands to ATs, TT only & thought he could have all the flush draws & broadway draws that we are still ahead of. We have less than 1 SBR so I thought this was just a sigh call. I did not expect to see 22 from villain in this spot. I thought that hand would mainly fold pre flop. Is this a punt from me or just a spot where we lose our money & move on to the next hand?

Wanted to post this hand & get opinions/ insights.

Pre flop : Seems standard. We open Q9s in CO. BTN & BB call. One thing I have noticed is a lot of players playing a flatting range OTB. Is that a thing? In theory, if youre gonna play a flatting range it makes sense to play flats OTB w hands like 55-99, suited connectors, & some of the suited Ax hands that we arent 3b (A2s, A3s, A6s, A7s-A9s).

Flop : We bet $.28 into $.80. I like using a small size here multiway (even tho I could see the logic in sizing up given board texture & a lot of bad turn cards for our specific hand). BTN folds, BB raises to $1.15. Given our specific hand - we block a ton of value hands that villain can have here. He nvr has QQ as that hand doesnt flat pre. There is one combo of 99 left. He can have 33 here. Apart from that he can have a ton of combo draw hands (flush draw, straight draw). Idk how I feel about our 4b on flop. When I think of hands we lose to the only one that makes sense is 33. Seems like we're ahead of enough of villains range that getting the money in on the flop seems okay? I could be way off & this is just a gigantic punt. However, villain can have a ton of hands that we are ahead of that have enough equity where villain will get all the money in : JTs, Axhh (any flush draw), KJcc/KTcc (maybe?), AhQx which are all hands we are okay w getting the money in against vs 33 which even tho it sucks we are behind, we still have equity against. Would be interested to see what others think of this spot cause I am not entirely sure I played this correctly.

I wouldn't personally say this is a huge punt but I do not think I've seen anyone at 10nl raise/4-bet jam with the draws you mentioned. I think some good players could definitely have this in range and therefor the logic makes sense but I would say in general this is not the case at online micros.

I actually had a very very similar hand recently where I had AKo and the flop came AK4 rainbow. I bet, got raised, then jammed and got shown 44. Still seems like a bad beat but my thought immediately after was "on a rainbow board that I block top two, what am I hoping calls a jam after raising me? Am I just isolating myself against sets or occasionally cooler someone who has A4s?" I think this hand is very similar but there was a FD on the board so I would say your play is better. Also, now that I'm thinking about it you might get some people that completely overplay KK or AA in this spot after they raise and you call from the BB, just hoping to get it in with draws especially since he opened from EP. I think a hand like AQ flats your 3-bet OTF and probably doesn't come over the top again.

Regardless, tough hand and probably just a cooler

I am trying to implement that line of reasoning into more of my plays after getting a few sessions under my belt (in particular big pots as population tendency weighs more towards playing their draws cautiously rather than getting all the money in. More likely than not, whenever we face MASSIVE overbets (I have seen 5x jams into a SRP on the flop lol) & 4b its been heavily weighted towards value hands. Funny you mentioned the AKo hand you played - during my session last night, I opened AKo from LJ, folds around to BB who flats. Pot has $.55. Flop : A53r. BB checks, i bet $.18, BB snap jams ~10. In my head, similar to you - i thought, this is so nutted. However, I had this thought of, "if I am folding here w top of range what hands am I calling?" Eventually, I talked myself into calling & sure enough BB had 53o lol something I want to work on is not being so adamant on trying to play balanced & GTO. Sometimes, like in my above AKo example, it is okay to exploitatively fold knowing population tendencies are a thing.

I appreciate your insight! Def nice to hear a different perspective. Was a weird hand for sure but I think I am okay w how we played it. W the Q9s hand I took AA/KK out of villains range cause he was in BB & only flatted my CO open. Basically narrowed his value range down to 33, AhQx that he is overplaying - still called & paid him off... FeelsBadMan