I know this is old hat, as it happened nearly 2 months ago, but obviously the FBI/DoJ have thrown a monkey wrench into the online poker world by banning PokerStars, FullTilt and Absolute Poker in the US (and shame on you if you play at Absolute anyway). Now, this sucks but isn't a big big deal for a casual part time player as myself, but this must really blow for the pros who make a living doing this. In case you live under a rock and don't know what happened, go to twoplustwo.com and read up.
I started this blog to document my bankroll builder project and my progress. Now since I can't play on the "grinder" sites, I was faced with 2 decisions. Quitting or continuing and I chose to continue. Last year I started with $50 and grinded (ground? lol) up to $157.16 (peaked at $181!) on Stars playing $2NL. Black Friday happened maybe a few weeks after graduating to $5NL. So this blog will still be a bankroll builder/manager blog geared torwards guys like me. I have a regular job, a wife and daughter whom I love very much and generally very little time to play. A fulltime player could do what I'm doing in a few months, but since I'm only able to play when my life dictates, it takes longer. No biggie!
Where do we go from here? Well I cashed out my stars bankroll and am taking a month or so off to study up some more (Thanks Melissa & Nick for the books!) and research some new sites that allow US players (stars/ftp are accused of bank fraud and money laundering, which is why they're in trouble, has nothing to do with online poker legality). The new direction from here will be grinding something out of nothing using bankroll management AND taking advantage of rakeback. We're gonna be "bonus whoring" from site to site and build a bankroll out of nothing! Now, the $157 from stars has been cashed out and I'm gonna put aside a little bit of money of my own (wouldve won it on stars eventually but oh well...) in order to deposit $250 on a smaller site. $250 will bankroll me for $10NL which will be my new starting point. Right now, some options are Bodog (no rakeback = no JonnyMoss..sorry), Cake Poker (33% rakeback and 110% depo bonus up to $600), Celsino (40%RB and 300% bonus up to $500), Minted (40%RB and 200% bonus up to $1000) and others like Carbon, Lock and True Poker all with their own rakeback offers and deposit bonuses.
I created an account on Cake but haven't deposited yet. Instead I had a friend ship me $5 to try it out. The games are incredibly soft and fishy, but theres very little traffic so dont expect to 6 table cash or SNGs and don't expect MTTs to have 5000+ people (10cent rebuy only gets like 100-120 ppl...), but this is the aftermath of the DoJ/Black Friday happening and we as poker players simply have to adjust just like we have to adjust AT the tables. I'll be sure to post again when I make my first deposit on a new site and then the project is back on!
One last thing, I changed my online handle from pwnurfaceoff (funny years ago, just lame now) to my real name and also that of a poker legend, Johnny Moss. So JonnyMoss is now the name I use on Cake Poker as well as any other new account I may open up. See you at the tables!
This blog is following my bankroll builder project. Starting with $50 on Pokerstars.com, the goal is just as the title states - 50 to 500 and beyond.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Monthly update
Been a little slow lately! I had some computer issues which are slowly being resolved, so that kept me from playing lately. However, I picked up Holdem Manager and NoteCaddy. After using both of them and playing around with them for a few days, I'd say it's absolutly foolish to even think about grinding cash games (especially on stars and FTP) without them. Currently the short term goal is the same, get to $200 and move to Cake Poker and grind out the deposit bonus. I'm still at $2NL, but only so I can play 12 tables at once and grind out a few VPP bonuses to help me get to 200 faster. I guess the goal after grinding Cake for all the bonuses and rakeback I can would be to redeposit it onto Bodog or some other super fishy site and grind out the same depo bonuses and rakebacks there.
Remember, this blog is following someone who wants to build a bankroll but who doesnt have all the time in the world to play. I'm a casual player at best, and the whole point of the project is to show you that you can grind a bankroll out of nothing with discipline and patience. Oh, my wife just got her own laptop so I'll be able to put in way more volume!
One more thing I just remembered for anyone who follows along with me. By this time, get rid of PokerScore if you already got it, if not, then just don't bother. It's a good little results tracking database to use in the beginning, but once you have HoldEm Manager, it becomes obsolete since HEM does what PS does and WAY more.
Remember, this blog is following someone who wants to build a bankroll but who doesnt have all the time in the world to play. I'm a casual player at best, and the whole point of the project is to show you that you can grind a bankroll out of nothing with discipline and patience. Oh, my wife just got her own laptop so I'll be able to put in way more volume!
One more thing I just remembered for anyone who follows along with me. By this time, get rid of PokerScore if you already got it, if not, then just don't bother. It's a good little results tracking database to use in the beginning, but once you have HoldEm Manager, it becomes obsolete since HEM does what PS does and WAY more.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Next Short Term Goal
So I've been playing the $5 full ring games instead of 6max because I refuse to play 6max without a HUD. At least I've played enough full ring hands to be comfortable playing a higher stake version of those for now. So far it's been good. The play here is, if anything, WEAKER than $2NL, plus I'm racking up the FPPs and VPPs on Pokerstars at twice the rate (FPPs are like comp points to use in the store for tshirts, hats, iPads, TVs and even a Porche for 3 MILLION points and VPPs basically track your volume and upgrade you to silverstar, goldstar etc).
Anyway...I figure this blog is about grinding a bankroll out of basically nothing, so I should take EVERY opportunity to get any kind of money into my bankroll without depositing any additional money (exception: say Pokerstars offers a 50% reload bonus, I will deposit what I can comfortably afford in order to unlock the bonus). So my next move is to get my bankroll to $200 (it's 167 as of right now) and move it to Cake Poker. Not only do they offer a 110% first time deposit bonus, but I signed up for Cake through progrinders.com and got 33% rakeback from them. Also 6 Tabling $4NL on Cake will allow me to unlock the 110% bonus faster for a free $220 increase. From a math standpoint, this makes sense for anyone to do unless you're a major losing player. Let's use my $2NL stats and assume I will have the same exact results at $4NL on Cake.
To estimate my income, I'm using the calculator found on bankrolltools.com. According to the calculator, with a win rate of 6.73 big blinds per 100 hands, 6 tabling for about 10 hours per week will have an expected income of $12.92/week. When you throw 33% rakeback into the mix, my expectation jumps to $23.38/week. Now, as I'm looking in the Cake lobby, I only see 4 or 5 games going at that level, so 4 tabling, the number changes to $19.08/week including rakeback. This number can be inflated by playing more games at once if available, or playing an extra hour per night, whatever. Now our $200 on cake essentially becomes about $650 at least by the end of 12 weeks. From there I have options. I can split it up $200 on 3 different sites and continue my trek through $5NL and $10NL. I can split it onto 2 sites, I can branch out and maybe get back into Fixed Limit Holdem, try something new like Razz, play tournaments again, who knows? Immediate goal is to hit $200 on Pokerstars then move to Cake and grind out the deposit bonus. If anyone wants to offer prop bets on unlocking my bonus I might take a few of them!
The downside here is that Cake doesnt allow tracking software and HUDS, but really it's a double edged sword. One side, I won't have my own HUD, but the other side is neither will anyone else. Cake is connected to a sportsbook which attracts naturally bad gamblers while at the same time keeping the grinders away, since they're all on FullTilt 16 tabling with full tracking software. From here on out I'll generally post updates once a month.
Anyway...I figure this blog is about grinding a bankroll out of basically nothing, so I should take EVERY opportunity to get any kind of money into my bankroll without depositing any additional money (exception: say Pokerstars offers a 50% reload bonus, I will deposit what I can comfortably afford in order to unlock the bonus). So my next move is to get my bankroll to $200 (it's 167 as of right now) and move it to Cake Poker. Not only do they offer a 110% first time deposit bonus, but I signed up for Cake through progrinders.com and got 33% rakeback from them. Also 6 Tabling $4NL on Cake will allow me to unlock the 110% bonus faster for a free $220 increase. From a math standpoint, this makes sense for anyone to do unless you're a major losing player. Let's use my $2NL stats and assume I will have the same exact results at $4NL on Cake.
To estimate my income, I'm using the calculator found on bankrolltools.com. According to the calculator, with a win rate of 6.73 big blinds per 100 hands, 6 tabling for about 10 hours per week will have an expected income of $12.92/week. When you throw 33% rakeback into the mix, my expectation jumps to $23.38/week. Now, as I'm looking in the Cake lobby, I only see 4 or 5 games going at that level, so 4 tabling, the number changes to $19.08/week including rakeback. This number can be inflated by playing more games at once if available, or playing an extra hour per night, whatever. Now our $200 on cake essentially becomes about $650 at least by the end of 12 weeks. From there I have options. I can split it up $200 on 3 different sites and continue my trek through $5NL and $10NL. I can split it onto 2 sites, I can branch out and maybe get back into Fixed Limit Holdem, try something new like Razz, play tournaments again, who knows? Immediate goal is to hit $200 on Pokerstars then move to Cake and grind out the deposit bonus. If anyone wants to offer prop bets on unlocking my bonus I might take a few of them!
The downside here is that Cake doesnt allow tracking software and HUDS, but really it's a double edged sword. One side, I won't have my own HUD, but the other side is neither will anyone else. Cake is connected to a sportsbook which attracts naturally bad gamblers while at the same time keeping the grinders away, since they're all on FullTilt 16 tabling with full tracking software. From here on out I'll generally post updates once a month.
Monday, January 10, 2011
$5NL trial session
So, I havent played at all this month up till tonight. I've been reading my new book Harrington On Online Cash Games (6max) and been perusing the forums on PXF. Tonight I fired up a small 2 table session of $5NL 6max which didn't go so well. I lost 2 buy ins which isn't so bad, really. I was expecting the aggression cranked up a notch, but man I was getting 3-bet all over the place! I think I definitly need HEM and Note Caddy if I want to continue in 6max (i do). Since I have to wait for tax returns to get the programs I need, I may just go back to 12 tabling $2NL full ring untill then, I don't know. I may even play $5NL full ring for a bit. Decisions decisions.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
About This Blog/Getting Started
Hi everyone! Thanks for checking out my Poker Project/Bankroll Building blog. This first entry will be a tad long, and will explain things on a pretty basic level so my friends who aren't card players can follow this and won't be lost entirely. So if you're already a solid card player, sorry, bear with it for the first entry!
The Story
About 3 years ago I had been crushing the $2-180 person tournaments on Pokerstars and had built up a decent bankroll. Then I unfortunatly had to cash out most of it (about $700 or so. damn bills...who needs electricity and heat anyway..), leaving myself with about $200. So I started playing games that I had been playing, but was now so under bankrolled for them, I was staring at $50 after a few months of that. I realized If I didn't get serious and start using proper bankroll management, I was going to go bust online and thats it. No more online poker since I don't have extra cash to deposit. So I reread a famous article written by one of my favorite poker players, Chris "Fox" Wallace, about bankroll management that can be found here. I'm following the "Protected" collumn since i can't replace a bankroll easily by depositing and im not a pro making my income from this. The best way to BUILD would be following the middle collumn. But what to play? Well around the time I almost went broke, my then newborn daughter stopped sleeping for 16 hours a day and I had less time to play. I would play at night when she went to bed, but when she'd wake in the middle of the night, I'd have to sit out of live tournaments to tend to her with my wife. That's where I lost a lot of money due to sitting out and folding key hands at middle to late stages of the tournament. I decided to rebuild using cash games since it better fit my lifestyle. I can set my own hours of play, sit out for a few hands if I need to (in cash games, if you sit out you just don't get dealt a hand, a tournament would still deal you in, then fold for you) and I like not having to worry about making a decision for my tournament life. In cash if you go all in and lose, you can just rebuy in and keep going.
Starting Out - $50 (April `10)
This blog was started for a few reasons. I want to show that 1) poker is a skill game with some elements of luck (mostly skill) and 2) managing your bankroll properly is one of the most important skills a serious card player can posess. Without this primary skill, a player can almost certainly go broke regardless of how good of a player they are. I started with $50 on Pokerstars, playing the absolute lowest stakes possible (.01/.02 No Limit Holdem) and the goal is to grow my bankroll and move up in stakes as I go. I buy in for $2 at each table, playing 4 tables at a time and the point is to gradually move up to more tables and bigger stakes/buy-ins. Currently, my bankroll has reached $142.05, while 9-12 tabling .01/.02 with $2 at each table. I was documenting my progress on facebook and decided to go to a blog. The program I'm keeping track of my win/loss with is called PokerScore and it's free. As far as other programs and HUDs (heads up display, they display stats on your opponents like how agressive they are, what percentage of hands they are playing, and how often they fold in certain situations), I'll have to buy those on my own when I'm able to. HoldEm Manager and NoteCaddy (takes detailed notes on your opponents for you) are both on my wish list...maybe even TableNinja. So...once I jump to .02/.05 (I'll be looking to play with about $150-175 in my account), I'll be sure to have Hold`Em Manager, Note Caddy, Poker Score, and Poker Stove (an expected value calculator). I also just got renewed (ty Ben!) to pokerxfactor.com, which is a goldmine of valuable poker information. Beating $2NL was fairly easy. Playing solid, fundamentally sound ABC poker is sufficient enough to show a profit at these games. $5 and $10NL I assume should be around the same. I don't plan on encountering any solid play untill $25NL, but to play that I'll need a bankroll of approximatly $650-$700.
Where I'm At Now - $168 (Jan `10)
I started the journey playing $2NL (I will refer to the no limit poker games by their general buy in of 100 big blinds, In this case, .01/.02 has a 100 big blind (BB) buy in of $2 and .02/.05 will be referred to as $5NL, and so on) and am now ready to go through $5NL. The profit graph at the top represents all my playing through $2NL. Each "game" was an average 60-90 minute session 4-12 tabling. I won't be 12 tabling as I did with $2NL, just 2 or 3 to start, gradually working up to 6. I won't play any more than that because I'm also transitioning from full ring (9 players) to 6max (6 players obv). This will create more hands per hour and a much faster pace. I'd get BURIED playing more than 6 tables! I'll also take most of January as a study break. Sure I'll play a table or 2 here and there to get my feet wet at 6max (the dynamics change drastically from full ring), but for the most part I'll be reading my new book Harrington On Online Cash Games by Dan Harrington. This book is geared specifically for micro/low stakes 6max NLHE, so it should be a huge help. I just read the section on fundamentals (always ALWAYS a good refresher, I can't stress enough) and now reading the section on tracking software and note taking. This is by far the best book I've read concerning online poker! I'll also be watching some of the 6max cash videos on pokerxfactor.com. When tax returns come in, I'll be using about $100 to purchase HoldEm Manager and Note Caddy since they work together. Once I aquire these programs, it's back to the grind! I'll post updates at the end of every month!
If anyone is interested in bankroll building along with me, or just improving their game in general, I strongly suggest reading a few books, join a forum (I reccomend twoplustwo.com) and absolutly join a training site (I reccomend pokerxfactor.com or cardrunners.com). You can also follow along in this blog, post hands to discuss with each other and just talk poker. The internet is LOADED with information how to better improve your poker game, so why not take advantage? To date, my poker learnings are as follows -
Books I've read -
Harrington On Holdem Vol 1-3 and Harrington On Cash Games Vol 1 all by Dan Harrington
Sit N Go Strategy by Colin Moshman
Theory Of Poker by David Sklansky
52 Tips (Limit Holdem) by Barry Shulman
Currently I'm reading Harrington on Online Cash Games (6max NLHE) and next on my list are No Limits by Chris "Fox" Wallace and No Limit Hold Em Theory & Practice by David Sklansky
See you at the tables!
Oh by the way, if anyone can help me shrink down my profit graph pic at the top of the screen I'll love you forever!
The Story
About 3 years ago I had been crushing the $2-180 person tournaments on Pokerstars and had built up a decent bankroll. Then I unfortunatly had to cash out most of it (about $700 or so. damn bills...who needs electricity and heat anyway..), leaving myself with about $200. So I started playing games that I had been playing, but was now so under bankrolled for them, I was staring at $50 after a few months of that. I realized If I didn't get serious and start using proper bankroll management, I was going to go bust online and thats it. No more online poker since I don't have extra cash to deposit. So I reread a famous article written by one of my favorite poker players, Chris "Fox" Wallace, about bankroll management that can be found here. I'm following the "Protected" collumn since i can't replace a bankroll easily by depositing and im not a pro making my income from this. The best way to BUILD would be following the middle collumn. But what to play? Well around the time I almost went broke, my then newborn daughter stopped sleeping for 16 hours a day and I had less time to play. I would play at night when she went to bed, but when she'd wake in the middle of the night, I'd have to sit out of live tournaments to tend to her with my wife. That's where I lost a lot of money due to sitting out and folding key hands at middle to late stages of the tournament. I decided to rebuild using cash games since it better fit my lifestyle. I can set my own hours of play, sit out for a few hands if I need to (in cash games, if you sit out you just don't get dealt a hand, a tournament would still deal you in, then fold for you) and I like not having to worry about making a decision for my tournament life. In cash if you go all in and lose, you can just rebuy in and keep going.
Starting Out - $50 (April `10)
This blog was started for a few reasons. I want to show that 1) poker is a skill game with some elements of luck (mostly skill) and 2) managing your bankroll properly is one of the most important skills a serious card player can posess. Without this primary skill, a player can almost certainly go broke regardless of how good of a player they are. I started with $50 on Pokerstars, playing the absolute lowest stakes possible (.01/.02 No Limit Holdem) and the goal is to grow my bankroll and move up in stakes as I go. I buy in for $2 at each table, playing 4 tables at a time and the point is to gradually move up to more tables and bigger stakes/buy-ins. Currently, my bankroll has reached $142.05, while 9-12 tabling .01/.02 with $2 at each table. I was documenting my progress on facebook and decided to go to a blog. The program I'm keeping track of my win/loss with is called PokerScore and it's free. As far as other programs and HUDs (heads up display, they display stats on your opponents like how agressive they are, what percentage of hands they are playing, and how often they fold in certain situations), I'll have to buy those on my own when I'm able to. HoldEm Manager and NoteCaddy (takes detailed notes on your opponents for you) are both on my wish list...maybe even TableNinja. So...once I jump to .02/.05 (I'll be looking to play with about $150-175 in my account), I'll be sure to have Hold`Em Manager, Note Caddy, Poker Score, and Poker Stove (an expected value calculator). I also just got renewed (ty Ben!) to pokerxfactor.com, which is a goldmine of valuable poker information. Beating $2NL was fairly easy. Playing solid, fundamentally sound ABC poker is sufficient enough to show a profit at these games. $5 and $10NL I assume should be around the same. I don't plan on encountering any solid play untill $25NL, but to play that I'll need a bankroll of approximatly $650-$700.
Where I'm At Now - $168 (Jan `10)
I started the journey playing $2NL (I will refer to the no limit poker games by their general buy in of 100 big blinds, In this case, .01/.02 has a 100 big blind (BB) buy in of $2 and .02/.05 will be referred to as $5NL, and so on) and am now ready to go through $5NL. The profit graph at the top represents all my playing through $2NL. Each "game" was an average 60-90 minute session 4-12 tabling. I won't be 12 tabling as I did with $2NL, just 2 or 3 to start, gradually working up to 6. I won't play any more than that because I'm also transitioning from full ring (9 players) to 6max (6 players obv). This will create more hands per hour and a much faster pace. I'd get BURIED playing more than 6 tables! I'll also take most of January as a study break. Sure I'll play a table or 2 here and there to get my feet wet at 6max (the dynamics change drastically from full ring), but for the most part I'll be reading my new book Harrington On Online Cash Games by Dan Harrington. This book is geared specifically for micro/low stakes 6max NLHE, so it should be a huge help. I just read the section on fundamentals (always ALWAYS a good refresher, I can't stress enough) and now reading the section on tracking software and note taking. This is by far the best book I've read concerning online poker! I'll also be watching some of the 6max cash videos on pokerxfactor.com. When tax returns come in, I'll be using about $100 to purchase HoldEm Manager and Note Caddy since they work together. Once I aquire these programs, it's back to the grind! I'll post updates at the end of every month!
If anyone is interested in bankroll building along with me, or just improving their game in general, I strongly suggest reading a few books, join a forum (I reccomend twoplustwo.com) and absolutly join a training site (I reccomend pokerxfactor.com or cardrunners.com). You can also follow along in this blog, post hands to discuss with each other and just talk poker. The internet is LOADED with information how to better improve your poker game, so why not take advantage? To date, my poker learnings are as follows -
Books I've read -
Harrington On Holdem Vol 1-3 and Harrington On Cash Games Vol 1 all by Dan Harrington
Sit N Go Strategy by Colin Moshman
Theory Of Poker by David Sklansky
52 Tips (Limit Holdem) by Barry Shulman
Currently I'm reading Harrington on Online Cash Games (6max NLHE) and next on my list are No Limits by Chris "Fox" Wallace and No Limit Hold Em Theory & Practice by David Sklansky
See you at the tables!
Oh by the way, if anyone can help me shrink down my profit graph pic at the top of the screen I'll love you forever!
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