Okey, so I've recieved my ndb on Party, arsenej sent me $25 on PokerStars so I've diceded to start my own blog. Perhaps this will stop me from turning on my "play 4 fun" mode, when I don't care about bankroll managment and I'm playing stupid spots and go broke within minutes
Few words about me: my name is David, I'm from Poland. I play poker for few years now, I know that I could be winning player on micros but earlier I've had problems with my mindset. I think now it's a whole lot better than year ago (lol, for sure, epsecially when you busted with $26 from Home Games freeroll in 2 days ). Now it's my try number 12598125 to get on the right track and start actually winning, not losing money.
When I'm not playing poker I'm a football (or when it comes to Americans - soccer) fan (I support Polish Wisla Krakow and Liverpool FC, I also like Sporting CP), I enjoy watching NHL (Red Wings FTW! We're going from 3:0 to 3:4!) & WWE. When it comes to video games I'm Football Manager (I'm still playing FM08, while 09 & 10 are tragic [espescially 09], and 11 is IMO way too easy) addict, so if some of you here on BRM also enjoy playing this game then perhaps we can start a thread
Well, so I'd say it's all about the less important things in my blog Now let's get to poker, my goals etc.
First of all - I don't want to go broke xD My goal on Party is to realease my whole bonus, and here I've got also question for you: would you play NL2 or $1 SNGs?
On SNGs there's a little bit to big rake, but it's also good for reaching my goal. More rake=more points. But is the field on single table SNGs so easy, that I can win there with such a rake (I think it's 25% on $1's!!!)? I could multitable them of course, that's no problem. I'm just wondering if I could "beat the rake"
Second step - I want to improve my HU game. Now PS offers $1 SNG with very small rake (it's 9% & 7% from what I've seen on this level), so I think with ~25 BI (well, after playing a couple of them I've got some profit now, but still it isn't big) I can play them, because opponent's don't think at all They were reacting slowly to my style, some of them tried to open 100% from button and couldn't stop it when I've re-raised them couple of times, they couldn't play according to effective stacks... Well, it takes just a little bit of knowledge to beat this stakes on PS and that's what I'll try to do.
Also when it comes to PS and HU I would like to play on PS & Party at the same time and I think I could do it better if I would play SNG on Party, because I'm palying only 1 HU at once, so I could play 5-6 SNGs or Party and that would be good, but I'll pay 5 buy ins for every 4 SNGs, so you can see that rake is just stupid at this level.
And last goal - when I'll build some decent bankroll I would like to start playing micro or low MTTs. I'm not an expert, I also don't like that reaching FT could take 8 hours of playing so I wasn't really paying attention to this tourneys (only some freerolls & satellites, where the game is way different than in cash MTTs), but I would like to play some cheap turbos with good payouts, because it could help my roll
Okey, that's all for now, I hope I'll get some feedback, even with such poor English I hope you could understand me and I've didn't said something stupid
Joined: Nov '09
Location: Canada
Age: 55 (M)
Posts: 2387
Hey LooseKiddie! You have become an active member of the forum since you joined, so I will definitely follow your blog. I find having a blog is good because it forces you to reflect on what you have been doing, and nobody wants to go busto! Don't worry about your English, it is actually quite good, and I have noticed a few forum members whose level of English has improved noticeably since they started posting.
Determining what to play is up to you, if you are better at cash table stick to that, or SNG if that is your thing. Just use good bankroll management. GL!
Posted by mahdrof: Hey LooseKiddie! You have become an active member of the forum since you joined, so I will definitely follow your blog. I find having a blog is good because it forces you to reflect on what you have been doing, and nobody wants to go busto! Don't worry about your English, it is actually quite good, and I have noticed a few forum members whose level of English has improved noticeably since they started posting.
Determining what to play is up to you, if you are better at cash table stick to that, or SNG if that is your thing. Just use good bankroll management. GL!
Thanks for replying I'd say it makes no difference for me if I play single table SNGs or cash games, I'm just wondering if I could show decent profit with 25% of rake, because it's huge as hell! But I'll try a few of those SNGs and see how good/bad the field is and then I'll make my decision.
Joined: Feb '11
Location: Germany
Age: 31 (M)
Posts: 1859
I dont think you can beat anything that has 25% Rake. Nowdays even @ $1 SNGs it's not such an easy task to get a ROI of a 2-digit-percentage,and the rake takes about 15% of your ROI away from what some other sites take. So you will probably have to play several hundreds (maybe even thousands) of $1 SNGs until you're roilled for $3 SNgs,and then you'll get the same problem again since rake percentage is the same there. Just play the cashgames and stick to a good bankroll and stick to a somewhat reasonable bankrollmanagement,this will mean less points,but the points in $ value,even with the bonus,are worth less than the total rake you pay,so it will just take longer to get the bonus,but overall you will even save money that way.
Joined: Apr '10
Location: Portugal
Age: 32 (M)
Posts: 14
Posted by LooseKiddie: Okey, so I've recieved my ndb on Party, arsenej sent me $25 on PokerStars so I've diceded to start my own blog. Perhaps this will stop me from turning on my "play 4 fun" mode, when I don't care about bankroll managment and I'm playing stupid spots and go broke within minutes
Few words about me: my name is David, I'm from Poland. I play poker for few years now, I know that I could be winning player on micros but earlier I've had problems with my mindset. I think now it's a whole lot better than year ago (lol, for sure, epsecially when you busted with $26 from Home Games freeroll in 2 days ). Now it's my try number 12598125 to get on the right track and start actually winning, not losing money.
When I'm not playing poker I'm a football (or when it comes to Americans - soccer) fan (I support Polish Wisla Krakow and Liverpool FC, I also like Sporting CP), I enjoy watching NHL (Red Wings FTW! We're going from 3:0 to 3:4!) & WWE. When it comes to video games I'm Football Manager (I'm still playing FM08, while 09 & 10 are tragic [espescially 09], and 11 is IMO way too easy) addict, so if some of you here on BRM also enjoy playing this game then perhaps we can start a thread
Well, so I'd say it's all about the less important things in my blog Now let's get to poker, my goals etc.
First of all - I don't want to go broke xD My goal on Party is to realease my whole bonus, and here I've got also question for you: would you play NL2 or $1 SNGs?
On SNGs there's a little bit to big rake, but it's also good for reaching my goal. More rake=more points. But is the field on single table SNGs so easy, that I can win there with such a rake (I think it's 25% on $1's!!!)? I could multitable them of course, that's no problem. I'm just wondering if I could "beat the rake"
Second step - I want to improve my HU game. Now PS offers $1 SNG with very small rake (it's 9% & 7% from what I've seen on this level), so I think with ~25 BI (well, after playing a couple of them I've got some profit now, but still it isn't big) I can play them, because opponent's don't think at all They were reacting slowly to my style, some of them tried to open 100% from button and couldn't stop it when I've re-raised them couple of times, they couldn't play according to effective stacks... Well, it takes just a little bit of knowledge to beat this stakes on PS and that's what I'll try to do.
Also when it comes to PS and HU I would like to play on PS & Party at the same time and I think I could do it better if I would play SNG on Party, because I'm palying only 1 HU at once, so I could play 5-6 SNGs or Party and that would be good, but I'll pay 5 buy ins for every 4 SNGs, so you can see that rake is just stupid at this level.
And last goal - when I'll build some decent bankroll I would like to start playing micro or low MTTs. I'm not an expert, I also don't like that reaching FT could take 8 hours of playing so I wasn't really paying attention to this tourneys (only some freerolls & satellites, where the game is way different than in cash MTTs), but I would like to play some cheap turbos with good payouts, because it could help my roll
Okey, that's all for now, I hope I'll get some feedback, even with such poor English I hope you could understand me and I've didn't said something stupid
Good luck on your quest!
P.S First Sporting fan i see from Poland (I am one myself, although from Portugal )
Joined: May '09
Location: India
Age: 37 (M)
Posts: 4873
nice blog regarding your goals - they are pretty achievable, you just need to play good poker and dont try to gamble and get lucky. rake at party is definitely too much, i wudna play them and your bankroll bit short to play NL2 unless you like to play shortstack. so its kinda bad choice in both cases, just go with what you are comfortable with. 1 more thing - dont concentrate on making points but winning money, cos in the end $$ has got more value
Thanks all of you for wishing me good luck. Also @SirCasm - well, I'm not surprised, there are few of us in Poland, we have our site, but still I think I know less than 20 Polish Sportinguistas, so it seems that you are lucky to know me lol.
Okey, so now some update on my blog. A part of my #1 goal failed, but not because of my weak game or tilt I think. I played few hands in NL2, I won few dollars but I realised that I don't like playing on Party. I don't know why. I even tried to play with playmoney to get used to software but I still hate it lol. Rake on micros, IMO bad interface... I just wasn't feeling comfortable playing there, so now I can say that I won't release my NDB. I just can't play there and when I play poker I want to have fun, so I'm dropping this goal.
As for other goals. I've earned couple of $ on PokerStars, I've played 20-30 turbo HU SNGs at $1 level and I think that opponents on this level are quite weak. I'd say very weak. I think I haven't played with someone who is thinking yet They are too lose or to tight, too aggressive or to passive. I've played some stupid hands, but I've also played some very good hands. I'll analyse my game tomorrow and I hope that in few weeks I'll reach my "A game" on HU SNGs I don't have too much time on weekdays and also I won't play 10 hours per day on weekends so my progress can be slow and perhaps that's why I've played just a few of those HU SNGs.
Probably I'll also play some $1 Fifty50 turbo tourneys from time to time, as they can be profitable without paying very much attention to the game at all, but I'll focus on HU SNGs and like I said - I'll play just a few Fifty50.
Also like I said in my first post I'll try to play some micro MTTs, but when it comes to MTTs I've a loooooooooooot to learn so first of all I have to learn some forum topics & articles about MTTs and then I'll give it a try
[of course I would love to hear some advices from Mobsters about micro turbo MTTs, I think I'll start on $1 or $0.55 level so feel free to help me if you think you can and you're reading this!]
Another update, this time small. Well, so I'm still playing HU SNGs on $1 level. I won't post my graph yet, as I've played about 40 tourneys, but I'll just say that in most of them I'm playing EV+, my ROI is small at this moment, but I'm still not playing even my "C game" I've few dollars of profit, I've played against few moaners (including one who lost 95o vs. my AK and the other time 96o vs. some medium pair and said that PS is rigged ), the level on $1's is even worst that I thought it was, many players are limping from BTN, many players are too tight or too loose.
During the weekend I'll try to learn as much as I can about MTTs and perhaps I'll try to play in one with small buy in.
Well, that's all for today I hope I'll meet some of you at the tables.
Another small update: today I've had downswing on HU SNGs and now I'm thinking that I'll stop playing them for a while, because HU has huge swings and my bankroll is not 100% ready for big swings, so probably I'll play single table SNGs (I'll start with 4 tables). I've tried few 45 man $0.5 SNGs and I've cashed first of them (I think it was 3rd place), in one I finished 9th but I don't think it's my type of game It can be considered as small MTT and I've a lot to learn when it comes to MTTs, also I hate huge swings and I like the type of games with huge swings xD My goals are changing very fast, I don't think that it's good, but well... it's beggining of my poker "career" and I have to find my type of game.
Today I've lost on HUs about 1/3 of my bankroll, but I've cashed a lot of the single table SNGs with some 1st and 2nd places and now my bankroll is back to about 90% of what I've had this morning, so it's not that bad. I've had busy day today, so tomorrow I'll try to play more (first of all I have to refresh my ICM knowledge, as I've made some mistakes in push or fold stages of 1-table SNGs [perhaps someone knows some good push/fold charts? I used to play with some of them, but I don't know which one and where I've downloaded them ]) and win some good cash, wish me luck
Joined: Nov '10
Location: Serbia
Age: 37 (M)
Posts: 2087
Good luck to you! I hope you will soon build bankroll for small stakes and make some nice Just always try to play good poker! Even when you see donkeys winning tell to yourself: they will lose all that in long run cause they play bad. Play good and yours results will be good too
Joined: May '09
Location: India
Age: 37 (M)
Posts: 4873
good move to take a break after you were having a downswing in HU. you need a good bankroll management to take care of variance or all your hard work might go in vain. single table sng are less swingy and wud be good idea to build a bankroll playing them. gl and dnt try to gamble and get lucky
I think I'm now back with my bankroll at the point where I was before this downswing on HU, but Holdem Manager confuses me little bit. I've played a few very good, and I mean VERY DAMN good 1-table SNGs and in some of them my $EV is small as hell! Once I've finished 2nd for $2.7 where I think the only hand where I was huge underdog was final hand when my K9 push was called by KJ and guess my $EV there... $0.4. I'll start another thread about that, because I really need a word from some regulars
Joined: Apr '11
Location: Romania
Age: 35 (M)
Posts: 6669
Nice blog, i really like it. It's very hard to start with a 25 dollars bankroll on party poker, their heads up sng are from 6 dollars and up as buy ins, pot limit omaha cash tables start at the limit of 10/25 cents which means you basically have just one buy in for such a table. The only possible way to start is to play sngs or tournaments with a 2 dollars buy in or no limit holdem cash tables at 1/2 cents, which i would highly recommend. Now if we talk about pokerstars i think there are a lot of other possibilities to start building your bankroll. On pokerstars i actually started with 30 dollars and i started a 4 tabeling grind at pot limit omaha at 1/2 cents stakes, and after a week i was up 20 dollars. I played around 3 hours daily for 7 days. Good luck both on pokerstars and party poker and keep us posted with your evolution!
Well, I'd also like to play cash games, but I need safe bankroll. 25 BI for BSS at NL2 is absoluetly minimum, I think I'll need few more. Now I'm doing fine on 1-table SNGs and I'll see how things will go. If I'll show decent profit on 1-table SNGs I'll still play them, maybe I'll add few tables of NL2, but I'll need to get back on track with multitabling, I think in few weeks I'll be able to play some good amount of tables. I think the good thing about cash games is that game is almost constant. I just play my game and on SNGs there are couple of stages and when you have few tables in early stage, few on bubble and some already ITM you may be a little bit confused because on every table you have to play other range and make other decisions Of course with some experiance you can easily adjust, but it takes hundreds of SNGs played.
Okey, another small update. The thing is back once again, now a little bit harder, as I'm alomost back to my starting bankroll. Today and perhaps in next couple of days I'll have a little bit less time for poker (school, I'm also doing my driving licence, so I'll need to learn a bit ) but I think I'll play some small sessions and see how things will go. I'm ready to drop to the lower stakes (which means 45 man SNGs) when I'll have to do so, but I also hope I won't need to do that, I'm thinking about doing so right now, because the rake is smaller (11% vs. 15%, regular 1-tables on $1 have 18% and hyper turbos 8%, but 2 min. blinds aren't for me I think ) and I can win 5 BI when I'll finish 4th and almost 13 when I'll win, of course I'll have to play longer, but I'm sure that I don't want to go broke
Joined: Nov '09
Location: Canada
Age: 55 (M)
Posts: 2387
I have been in that situation as well when trying to build a bankroll. You go up for a while and then variance kicks in and brings you back to the starting line. The main thing is don’t lose your cool, play only when you have your “A” game and go back up. Good for you to focus on school, I do a lot of the hiring in my company and believe me, I look at what level of education the person has achieved, and fairly often grades too. Your education is with you for life.
Joined: May '09
Location: India
Age: 37 (M)
Posts: 4873
sad to knw you had another downswing, maybe you should take a break and see what mistakes you made. and most important dont lose patience and dont play just for the sake of it, play only when u feel confident and focused. gl
I wouldn't say it's "another", because in HU such swings like this one that I had are normal, it happens almost every session (and that's why I decided to stop playing HUs now ). But now it's variance for sure, because I've got some aces cracked or spots like JJ vs. QQ on the bubble. I cashed few tournaments, but I think all on 3rd place, so it's $1.8 at $1.15 buy in. Of course I made some mistakes, I think I could avoid few coinflips, I've analysed my game already and I haven't played for like 2 days now (I didn't had enough time and also I'm doing just what you said - I'm taking break).
I'll see if I'll have some more time in the next 2 days, but if I won't I'll play a little bit over the weekend and see how things will go. Thanks for feedback and tips once again
Now let's get to 
They were reacting slowly to my style, some of them tried to open 100% from button and couldn't stop it when I've re-raised them couple of times, they couldn't play according to effective stacks... Well, it takes just a little bit of knowledge to beat this stakes on PS and that's what I'll try to do.
But I'll try a few of those SNGs and see how good/bad the field is and then I'll make my decision.
]) and win some good cash, wish me luck 
