I have not posted in a few days, partially because I am embarrassed and confused. It has become apparent that I need to figure out some daily limits or limits to the games I play. I used to play PP just for fun, cashing out here and there but mostly playing whatever game seemed like a good idea at the time. Fun stuff, but not how you build a bankroll. I tilted/stupided (I think I just made that word up, but it is appropriate) all of my money off on UB. Upon reflection, I moved up my limits too fast and did not have the bankroll to cover the variance, got into the mindset of playing for fun (not that I don't think I can have fun doing this, but there is no discipline when playing for fun), and worst of all started chasing. If I lost 10 playing at a .10/.25 table, I would sit down at a 10 NL HU table to try and win it right back. This worked sometimes, but is not the approach that will get my bankroll growing.
Before I load any money back on UB (and after payday!) I am going to have to create my limits and the structure I obviously need. I am thinking about playing for bankroll on UB and fun on PP until I get this more figured out. I loaded $50 on PP and have been working on getting all of my Poker Tracker stats into the green. This has been fun, productive, and I have turned the $50 into $117 as I type this. Empirical evidence that I would do well with some defined goals and limits? Perhaps, but it is also a weekend on PP!!
I am very open to any comments on bankroll size and corresponding limits. I am going to look through some of doubleas early posts to see what his limits/games were before he allowed himself to "move up". I still believe in myself and feel that I have had some poker breakthroughs since starting this blog and my continued play. I am more likely to trust my read and capture some pots that I would have let go in the past. I am also getting better in short handed games because of my increased aggressiveness. I need to work on my aggressiveness still, Poker Tracker has me listed as Loose-Aggressive/Passive after ~2,000 hands. I flirted with LAA for awhile but it has now been solid LAP the past few days.
Amazingly, a link appeared to my blog from doubleas!
Bittersweet.... sweet because he inspired me to do this and I consider his example a good one to follow. Bitter because anyone that checks this blog out this week will see my loss of my UB stake. Such is life
Lastly, I hosted the neighborhood poker game at my house last night and my wife was the big winner! She even bluffed me out of a big pot towards the end of the night. I was pretty impressed and still think she had made her hand, but she swears she didn't and gives me that damn wife smirk. You know the one - the
"she one upped me at something I think I am good at and that makes her happy" look. Go Stephanie. Final results were Stephanie +17 and me -1 for the night. I am proud of my little poker hustling wife. She was even trash talking a few of the neighborhood guys that were playing!! Gotta love her.
Bottom line, I will be creating my strategy for my limits on UB and will have some fun with the cash I loaded on PP. See you out there.
3 comments:
Sorry to hear about your loss. I've recently been working on increasing my bankroll, as I had the same situation as you (playing for 'fun', and raising my games too quickly, thus destroying my bankroll).
While I'm no expert, let me offer this advice, which has worked for me. When you play a table, try to have at least 20 times the small plus big blinds. I have heard that if you have 10 times the small plus big, you are short stacked. I like to sit with 30 times, if possible. Also, I do my best only to have 1/4 to 1/3 of my bankroll in play at any time. This is often hard to accomplish, but its a noble goal to attempt.
Finally, I am going to add your link to my blog, as I've been reading your blog for a while now and find it a solid read. I would not complain if you returned the link, but regardless, I still plan to add yours. Good luck. And beware the variance.
Josh,
I started playing penny tables, then quarter tables, etc. I moved up really slowly only putting 1/20th of my bankroll on the line in any given night.
I'd recommend moving up faster than I did if you feel that you can beat the game, but only moving up when you can afford to lose the full buy-in and perhaps a bit more after you reload a little bit.
You'll get it all-in preflop with aces and lose. Don't let that destroy your bankroll. Also, if you're willing to put more money into poker, then be more willing to take chances. The smaller the bankroll, the less conservative you have to be because it is relatively easy to replace and start over.
To expand on what highonpoker had to say, I would first agree with him. Also, first and foremost, I too am no expert, we all have our own unique style. But, I also like to sit down at tables in which I am 20 to 30 times the small plus big.
The difference would be that I will have no more than 25% of my bankroll in play at one time. Or, a better method that has seemed to work for me is this: I will sometimes play with 75% or more of my bankroll (and by doing this, I am obviously way over the 20-30x small/big quoted above). But the catch is, I am only willing to lose 25% of it, then leave the table and call it quits for the night when I am down to 50% of my bankroll. This takes very tight discipline, but I find that the advantage to this sometimes is that you get somewhat higher table "respect" from others if you have a high bankroll out there. The downside is that you won't want to play that style in NL.
Have fun!
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