Rake is probably unbeatable at most stakes. Plus you are playing against people with databases collecting hand histories so if you aren't using one yourself you are already at a disadvantage.
I like playing online as I can do other things at the same time and kill time when I am bored. I would highly recommend PokerTracker to start tracking your hands as you can learn a lot from the information it tells you about how you play and where you leaks are. But you need A LOT of hands before you can do this. IE I'm at ~60K cash game hands. With this many hands you can start to get a picture of how you play. With that said am playing to improve my game and the only way is with more hands and getting put in more situations. This is why I started at 1c/2c people might laugh at these $2 buyins for 100BB but it's a cheap class. I have to use a certain service to get cash there from Canada but it is easy to sign up for or you can go to the post office and buy money grams to use on the site at no extra cost.
For me I use the following graph to decide when to move up and when to move down IMG_20200303_212917.jpg Start with $100 and it gives you 50 bullets at the 2NL stakes and you DO NOT move up till you are at $250. etc.. it's a math equation that you can keep applying as you go up.
I have my display set to BB values not cash as I play based on BB numbers and that way when I move up or down levels it's all the same thing.
Ask away if you need any help getting it all going!
I’m impressed. It’s very rare to find people these days that are willing to put in the hard work towards grinding through stakes properly.
I started at 1c/2c as well, on PokerStars, and worked my way up to $2/$4, but with a tighter BRM (50-100). It took me a couple of years. I also used PT! I’m currently 4-tabling 25nl zoom. Poker has been my 99% of my income for the past 13 years.
So, lots of similarities between us. I’d say the difference between 2004 and 2020 is massive though lol
Good luck, man. I’m genuinely curious to see how this works out for you.
Well it is not pretty but not bad for two years worth of work at $2NL ... I started off knowing Yahtzee better then poker. I didn't have a clue how poker really worked till about two years ago when I started to get serious about it. Understanding position, ranges, pot odds, odds of hitting your drawing hand etc.. The best way to learn is to play and keep looking at where you are losing the most money and patch your leaks. I would feel like I am still a beginner player but to get to play 36K hands for ~$110 is not a bad price for entertainment. I play sit and go's also a lot but I like cash more. Grinding is one of the hardest thing I have ever had to do! The commitment to it the bankroll management the urge to not play up a level. I love the game and I love playing poker which keeps me going but there are some days I swear PS is doing some funny business!! Here is my 2NL Graph
Its funny you can see in some places where i change a key factor in my game and the graph flattens out as i apply my knowledge but stupidity still gets me all the time.. Looking at a fish and assuming they never have anything because they are a fish.. you know the normal blinders when playing online! Always calling the All In River Jams! sigh....I will learn some day!
Obviously always room to improve but I wouldn't beat yourself up too much on that graph - trigs is correct that the rake at those stakes is likely a major factor there.
Online poker and tracking programs can be a great tool for improving. When I played online I never used a tracker but always felt I was at a disadvantage. Keep in mind some of the tools the tracker gives you when playing online, don't transition to live poker. Eg. Tracking bet frequency/sizing in live sessions are all reads/memory/feelings rather than tracker providing stats.
Remember poker is fun, enjoy the aspect social aspect of live poker. Keeping improving, have fun, and don't take too many of my $$$..
Yeah I have personally found that playing live is so much easier to get reads and information from users then online. I much prefer live play to online play but being able to play 2-3 tables at the same times and watch Netflix makes it more interesting.
I have been grinding the lower stakes forever and got nowhere but slowly drained and a lot of learning. The learning is really really important part of grinding for me. I have moved also to 5c/10c NL and I'm killing it for some reason. I'm not sure if I am on a lucky streak but over my career on PS I'm down -$400 USD but since I moved to the better stakes I'm only -$250 and bank roll is just about to break $300 USD. It took me a while to also realize that I needed to budget my bank roll and keep adding to it. Bank roll does not have to be 100% profits! It lets me play higher stakes quicker if I keep adding to it. Hopefully the money goes in faster than out and sometimes I don't play for two weeks but I keep adding the money. I have been working on my basement all summer so we can get back to poker in the fall I hope and I can host cash games!
Oh my goodness, someone just won The Deal jackpot. Typically I play at the beginning of poker session just in case for a piece of the pie but forgot today...
Today when I logged in I noticed an extra $9.56. Maybe from winning the half of The Deal pot that divided up between anybody that's played within past twelve hours. Before signing out yesterday I noticed the Deal Jackpot over $150k so I played once to take a chance. And it payed...
So you had someone in middle position flat infront of you so Naw in the pot you have 10c . You have the BEST starting hand preflop in Texas hold'em so you can not be priced out of a your hand. By priced out I mean no one can make a bet that would force you to fold. So you are solid. so you have a few choices now.. show you have a strong hand and raise it up, play it slow and disguise your AA with just a call. or fold.. we're not folding jokes aside. so you decided to raise but you raised it to 8c so understanding pot odds there is now a 18c pot and it folds all the way around to the original flatter they now are looking at this decision: all I have to do is put 4c into a pot to with 18c that's like 1:4.5 or 22% which means he can lose 78% of the time and still be profitable making this call. this opens his rage to call with a large range of cards.
The whole point of your bet should do a few things. You should want to get information from your bet. let's pretend you shove all in and he folds.. well you got information from that but it's a little too late. In that scenario the only hand that will call that is KK QQ or AK because you are screaming my hand is huge, yours better be also if you want to call me. Or you're on tilt.. So just shoving is not the best option here. a small raise as we saw before gets you no information because the play is going to call with any 2 cards because the price is right. if you just cold called like he did then you would have even less information also the possibility of other users coming into the hand that are fishing. So the only real option here is to raise it a considerable amount, like 3x to 5x their bet. The reason is in the math. let's assume you did this so you would have raised to 16c now the pot is 26c now anyone that has action after you has to look at their hand and think is it worth calling 16c, nope they are priced out. Comes back to original flatter and this is the section they have to make. I have to call 12c more to win 26c, now all of a sudden he has to win 54% of the time to make this call profitable.. this now narrows his range to a lot and they have to start think how well does this hand play postflop if I just CALL. You want to make a bet that will keep in pairs and suited connectors and evaluate the flop.. what could he have possibly called my raise with.. Narrow their range down.
I feel like you gave them too good of a price to not call. I would have done 4x there IMO only . I know you want to get paid off for AA but it's not worth letting any 2 cards into the hand because then it is impossible for you to evaluate their hand. you are playing blind at that point.
Also all this assumes your opponent playing $2NL understands pot odds, position, range etc.. Sometimes they are learning and will call you with anything no matter what the bet was!! This can even happen in a $200NL game that you assume everyone there has a grasp on the game.. they don't!!!
I played a AA hand in last night's cash game and I had to play it different as the flop determined.. it was 8max 7 at the table I was felt AA in middle position. I opened by raising it to 3x the BB I had the dealer raise me and I had not player a hand in like 30 hands so I just checked. If I had raised I was going to get a fold because made me look too much like an OMC only playing premium hands. the flop came down all clubs (I didn't have the A of clubs) and I shoved. the dealer scratched his head. After the hand he asked why I did that. Did I have a flush, a set. I said no I had AA and I had to protect it.. At that point the chances of someone having flush was less than 1% and the cards were not connected so no straight was there (yet) and if he flipped a set (12%) then so be it. I could not allow his to draw another card with out it costing him his stack. was it the right move.. debatable, I was a bit bored at the time. Did I get the most value for my AA, nope. But you have to always be re-evaluating even with AA
Comments
Seriously though, cash or tournaments?
Stick with play money
Also, live is more fun anyway.
For me I use the following graph to decide when to move up and when to move down
IMG_20200303_212917.jpg Start with $100 and it gives you 50 bullets at the 2NL stakes and you DO NOT move up till you are at $250. etc.. it's a math equation that you can keep applying as you go up.
I have my display set to BB values not cash as I play based on BB numbers and that way when I move up or down levels it's all the same thing.
Ask away if you need any help getting it all going!
I started at 1c/2c as well, on PokerStars, and worked my way up to $2/$4, but with a tighter BRM (50-100). It took me a couple of years. I also used PT! I’m currently 4-tabling 25nl zoom. Poker has been my 99% of my income for the past 13 years.
So, lots of similarities between us. I’d say the difference between 2004 and 2020 is massive though lol
Good luck, man. I’m genuinely curious to see how this works out for you.
2020.03.12 - 000015.png
Remember poker is fun, enjoy the aspect social aspect of live poker. Keeping improving, have fun, and don't take too many of my $$$..
Are the Woog Dollars worth more?
YES... Yes they are
Miss you guys!
bring the wife down to Aruba at the end of the month...... get away from this damm covid virus.
hope you all are doing well and Stella is enjoying her new land.
I was thinking small stakes ca$sh games and maybe the odd tournament
Prolly the best advice...
I often take the game too seriously. I should start cracking more lewd n crude jokes...
Account currently holds $44.84 [USD] but down ~$300 [CAN]
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PokerStars Hand #222183146456: Hold'em No Limit ($0.01/$0.02 USD) - 2021/01/03 11:11:02 ET
Table 'Concordia III' 9-max Seat #8 is the button
Seat 1: bojnice21 ($2.01 in chips)
Seat 2: Szendi58 ($1.96 in chips)
Seat 3: LeTr4p ($2.08 in chips)
Seat 4: Br0ketoker ($2 in chips)
Seat 5: alexis68141 ($2.02 in chips)
Seat 6: ThisOrThat2001 ($1.39 in chips)
Seat 7: azot97 ($0.90 in chips)
Seat 8: rauloc ($1.43 in chips)
Seat 9: cerber@6 ($0.39 in chips)
cerber@6: posts small blind $0.01
bojnice21: posts big blind $0.02
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to ThisOrThat2001 [Ah Ad]
Szendi58: raises $0.02 to $0.04
LeTr4p: folds
Br0ketoker: folds
alexis68141: calls $0.04
ThisOrThat2001: raises $0.04 to $0.08
azot97: folds
rauloc: folds
cerber@6: folds
bojnice21: calls $0.06
Szendi58: calls $0.04
alexis68141: calls $0.04
*** FLOP *** [Js 2c 7d]
bojnice21: checks
Szendi58: checks
alexis68141: checks
ThisOrThat2001: bets $0.16
bojnice21: calls $0.16
Szendi58: folds
alexis68141: calls $0.16
*** TURN *** [Js 2c 7d] [5d]
bojnice21: checks
alexis68141: checks
ThisOrThat2001: bets $0.39
bojnice21: folds
alexis68141: calls $0.39
*** RIVER *** [Js 2c 7d 5d] [9s]
alexis68141: bets $1.39 and is all-in
ThisOrThat2001: calls $0.76 and is all-in
Uncalled bet ($0.63) returned to alexis68141
*** SHOW DOWN ***
alexis68141: shows [8d 6d] (a straight, Five to Nine)
ThisOrThat2001: shows [Ah Ad] (a pair of Aces)
alexis68141 collected $3 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $3.11 | Rake $0.11
Board [Js 2c 7d 5d 9s]
Seat 1: bojnice21 (big blind) folded on the Turn
Seat 2: Szendi58 folded on the Flop
Seat 3: LeTr4p folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: Br0ketoker folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: alexis68141 showed [8d 6d] and won ($3) with a straight, Five to Nine
Seat 6: ThisOrThat2001 showed [Ah Ad] and lost with a pair of Aces
Seat 7: azot97 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: rauloc (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: cerber@6 (small blind) folded before Flop
The whole point of your bet should do a few things. You should want to get information from your bet. let's pretend you shove all in and he folds.. well you got information from that but it's a little too late. In that scenario the only hand that will call that is KK QQ or AK because you are screaming my hand is huge, yours better be also if you want to call me. Or you're on tilt.. So just shoving is not the best option here. a small raise as we saw before gets you no information because the play is going to call with any 2 cards because the price is right. if you just cold called like he did then you would have even less information also the possibility of other users coming into the hand that are fishing. So the only real option here is to raise it a considerable amount, like 3x to 5x their bet. The reason is in the math. let's assume you did this so you would have raised to 16c now the pot is 26c now anyone that has action after you has to look at their hand and think is it worth calling 16c, nope they are priced out. Comes back to original flatter and this is the section they have to make. I have to call 12c more to win 26c, now all of a sudden he has to win 54% of the time to make this call profitable.. this now narrows his range to a lot and they have to start think how well does this hand play postflop if I just CALL. You want to make a bet that will keep in pairs and suited connectors and evaluate the flop.. what could he have possibly called my raise with.. Narrow their range down.
I feel like you gave them too good of a price to not call. I would have done 4x there IMO only . I know you want to get paid off for AA but it's not worth letting any 2 cards into the hand because then it is impossible for you to evaluate their hand. you are playing blind at that point.
Also all this assumes your opponent playing $2NL understands pot odds, position, range etc.. Sometimes they are learning and will call you with anything no matter what the bet was!! This can even happen in a $200NL game that you assume everyone there has a grasp on the game.. they don't!!!
I played a AA hand in last night's cash game and I had to play it different as the flop determined.. it was 8max 7 at the table I was felt AA in middle position. I opened by raising it to 3x the BB I had the dealer raise me and I had not player a hand in like 30 hands so I just checked. If I had raised I was going to get a fold because made me look too much like an OMC only playing premium hands. the flop came down all clubs (I didn't have the A of clubs) and I shoved. the dealer scratched his head. After the hand he asked why I did that. Did I have a flush, a set. I said no I had AA and I had to protect it.. At that point the chances of someone having flush was less than 1% and the cards were not connected so no straight was there (yet) and if he flipped a set (12%) then so be it. I could not allow his to draw another card with out it costing him his stack. was it the right move.. debatable, I was a bit bored at the time. Did I get the most value for my AA, nope. But you have to always be re-evaluating even with AA