Pooh-Bah post (long, boring, not much of a point)

[numeri]

Hola Micros,

I know most of you don’t know me, but I began my 2+2 career here in the Micros before migrating to SSSH after the split. I apologize to those who have may have appreciated my contributions in the past, (both of you [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]) but I haven’t had much time to post at all lately. (Hence the 2-week gap between post #1599 and post #1600. That, and I didn’t want a lame ‘bet/fold the river’ post for my Pooh-Bah post.)

For those grinders out there, I may as well be your mascot. I started out just for fun at UB after reading Phil Hellmuth’s horrible book and thinking that this sounded like fun. At first, I just played at the play money table, but anyone who’s tried that knows that it gets old fairly quickly.

Like a lot of players, I lost my first real money deposit. I deposited just $30 at first, lost it, and then deposited another $30. I’d played some 1+0.10 sit-n-go’s, and also the 0.01/0.02 limit games. I was down quite a bit (in BB’s) on my second deposit before I figured out some strategy and started 4-tabling those games. I remember being excited about winning $1 in a night. Man, that was lame. It wasn’t the money, of course, but just the feeling that I could be successful. But seriously, how can you NOT be successful in that game?

Anyway, I kept winning $1 a night and realized that I needed to move up. Somewhere along the lines, I found 2+2 and saw that there were 0.02/0.04 games on Stars, so I withdrew my $34 (with $4 of winnings!) and deposited there. I actually met another 2+2er – NateDog – at the tables there. We were so easy to pick out, because we were the only ones folding!

Rather than take one of the free offers from Party, I wanted to follow the goal of 10k hands at each level. I’m a very conservative person by nature, so this plan fit me well. You can see that I was fairly close to that target at first, but strayed from it a bit as I moved up. I’d encourage everyone to have a guideline, but if you want to take a shot, just take it. As long as you have a big enough bankroll the drop back down, why grind it away at a lower limit? It worked out for me, but only because it wasn’t really about the money for me.



(FWIW, all but ~1k hands of 1/2+ are 6-max.)



So you can see my progression. This is all over about a year and a half. If I remember correctly, I started in November of 2004 for real money. I’ve only had a couple downswings so far, and the biggest was – of course – during my first shot at 2/4. I find it interesting that regardless of the stakes, the transition is always tricky for me. Bet sizes double, (usually) and the money in the pot gets to me. After a few hundred hands, though, they just become normal. I rarely even think about actual money until I’m done playing for the night.

I'm sure a real downswing will come eventually, but I'm fine with that. I'm in no rush, and I'm always over-rolled for the level I'm at. FWIW, after that first shot at 2/4 on Absolute, (very tough, IMO) I dropped back down to 1/2 and took another shot over at Stars and stuck. My second shot is going much better so far.

So anyway, I really have no point here. I’m a sporadic contributor to 2+2, but the community has helped me immensely. If there’s one message I’d like to give here, it’s that it is possible to grind up from very low limits. It takes patience, a willingness to study and work on your game, and patience. It’s tough looking at people at higher limits making so much money and want to be there yourself. My eventual goal is the 5/10 games. I think anything higher than that would be too stressful for me. I’m fairly confident that I can get there in a year or so if the games stay as they are. If not, that’s cool too. I’m enjoying the challenge of the 2/4 games. I know I definitely still have a lot to learn.

Many thanks to all those who've helped me to this point.
~Dan

[HouseCalls]

Dan -
Congrats and nice to see you back! For those who don't know Numeri and Nomadtla were the originators of the Session Reviews which started toward the end of last year.

PS - I still find your win rates at .25/.50 and below to be pretty amazing no matter what the sample size [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[milesdyson]

how many of those 2/4 hands were at absolute? i agree that it's a tough game. a lot tougher than the 3/6 there.

i definitely second your opinion on moving up. get the bankroll up and do it. just move up. i was overconservative when i first started, too. the change between levels is mostly in our minds. the bets get bigger and thus the swings in $$ get larger. the players change a little bit, but a winning player at 1/2 can go to 2/4. he'll have to adjust a bit, but it doesn't take long. the same can be said for 2/4-->3/6, 3/6-->5/10, and so on.

btw don't fold your BB to steals too often [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[nuts]

Thanks for the post, congratulations on your sucess.

What would you say was the most useful thing you did to improve as you moved up? (books, posting in micros, playing hands, reviewing sessions?).

[numeri]

Hey Miles,

Here are the hands from Absolute:


And from Stars:


I know the aggression just kicked me in the ass at Absolute. I just wasn't prepared. I'm sure I'd do better now. I've since learned that it's OK to check and call sometimes. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

And you're absolutely right - I'm working on defending more. Also, sample size... [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[numeri]

[ QUOTE ]
What would you say was the most useful thing you did to improve as you moved up? (books, posting in micros, playing hands, reviewing sessions?).

[/ QUOTE ]
For me, the biggest overall factor was Small Stakes Hold'em, by the illustrious authors Miller, Sklansky, and Malmuth. Stuff like betting for value without a made hand hadn't even occurred to me. I remember the first time I capped the flop 4-handed with the nut flush draw and it came in - somebody at the table makes a comment about my crappy play, and all I can think of is "Thank you SSHE!"

In general, I'd say studying SSHE, reading the strategy forums at 2+2, (damn you BBV and OOT!) and reviewing my own play in Poker Tracker. The review sessions started late in my career, and have been helpful, but not as helpful as studying on my own.

Also, it's nice to have a community. I enjoyed moving up with Nate. We're still in contact, and it's nice to have a group of people you're familiar with who you can bounce ideas off of when you're struggling.

Hope that helps.
~Dan

EDIT: Forgot perhaps the most important learning tool - replying to hands with my thoughts. There's nothing like looking like a complete ass to help you remember a concept! [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[Buzz-cp]

Good post, numeri, and good job grinding. I have a lot of respect for folks who start out at .02/.04 (let alone .01/.02!!). I can see why you have not been posting lately. BTW, did you play in KOTKP?

Here is a nOOb question for you tho. How did you get PT to display the summary with that many game levels? All I see in General Info tab is 3 levels, and I have to scroll up and down to see the others. I can't figure out how to expand this to show more levels.

Cheers,
Buzz

[numeri]

Hey Buzz,

Thanks for the reply. No KOTKP for me. They're usually at a bad time, and I didn't even see the last one.

As far as the image - I cheated. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] I had to do two separate screen shots and put the together with Fireworks (image editing software). I think if you had a higher resolution, it might let you show more.

~Dan

[McNeese72]

Another PT tracker question.

I've been working my up in a similar progression to you but about a year behind you. I'm up to 1/2 full ring now. When I get to 10,000 hands there, I'm planning on dropping down to .5/1 six max and work on my shorthanded game (especially my aggressiveness shorthanded). My question is how did you get your six max 1/2 statistics to show separate from your full ring 1/2 statistices? Is there a setting in PT to separate them? Probably a [censored] question.

Thanks,
Doc

[Buzz-cp]

If the session is not indicated as a 6-max session, you can use the menu Utilities->Database Maintenance and Options..., then click "6 Max Sessions" to convert existing sessions to 6-max. Then they will fall into a separate checkbox under prefs. This is now necessary with the new party, and most other sites.