My NL venture, the story so far and recent development

[akak]

Several of your rules above have to do with taking unimproved AK and AQ too far. Calling a donk or calling a raise to your c-bet when you just have overcards is usually wrong.

I used to do this all the time. I think it has to do with carrying the thought "yes! I got AK" to the flop even when you miss. If you miss and face resistance stop and think, "I can't really call here" and fold.

While I do disagree with several of the rules you set for yourself, I don't have a problem with setting rules to follow while you are in the beginning stages of learning the game.

For example, I've set a rule for myself that I don't even consider pure bluffs (except for c-bets of course). I used to get in a lot of trouble bluff-raising rivers that I thought the guy would surely fold.

I've decided that this is too complex a topic for me to focus on for the time being, and given the stakes I play, I know I'm not giving up too much value by completely eliminating plays like this from my game.