What is necessary to take the next step?

[ThunderEagle]

Let me provide some background. Back in December we made plans for a Vegas trip in Feburary. Since I didn't think I would enjoy myself playing just Slots, blackjack and craps, I wanted to play poker, that way at least I would have *some* say on if I lost my money. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

So, now begins the research. Play Money at PokerStars, this and other web sites, etc. Finally take a plunge and make the whopping $30 deposit to Stars. After donking around with some $1 SNG's and some general bad play, I find myself around $17 left. Buy and read GSIH and SSH. Play improves, slowly start to make headway in my bankroll. Work my way into .05/.10 limit, I'm around $40 by the time we go to Vegas.

Vegas was a blast, only played 2/4. Started out poorly, down about $220 first two days, but I tightened up some and hit a hot streak. Ended the vacation up $100 (well at least gambling, still had the cost of the vacation). In a lot of ways mission accomplished as my original intent was to play in Vegas and after tips/drinks break about even.

Now I'm back home and I have the bug. Back to micro's on PokerStars, .05/.10 seems like a let down, so I streach the BR and start some .10/.20 action. Do really well at first, have the BR up to ~$73 bucks and thinking I'll streach into .25/.50 in no time.... Then it seems like I run into every suckout in the world. Find myself down to around $38 bucks.

So, regroup, study SSH concepts closer, read more here, drop back down in limits again. Things pick back up. I'm currently hovering at the $60 BR range and just keep yo-yo'ing around. Back to playing mainly .10/.20 with some .05/.10 still thrown in. I seem to crush the .05/.10 game, so obviously there is a skill issue with me and moving up.

Now, back to what is necessary. I don't currently use PokerTracker, mainly because I haven't wanted to spend the money on it yet. The other aspect is that I don't really want to become dependant on live stat "reads" on players as I found live play to be so much more satisfying that I want to be able to move my game to that without feeling lost without 3 numbers hovering over my opponents. This may be naive since other players are using it and that may just be the way it is done online. Of course there is a lot more to PokerTracker other than the stats it feeds to the various HUDs. I think that my lack of session review and breaking down my biggest money looser hands is something that is holding me back somewhat, but is there a way to take the next step without tools like this? I fully plan on getting PT at somepoint, I just was hoping to purchase it out of my BR when I can more "afford" it. I've looked into the promos where you can get it for free, but the limits I'm currently playing at, hitting the raked hand reqs looks to be a little challenging. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

So, other than the analysis software, what do I need to do to take the next step? Is this just a time/experience/# of hands kind of thing? I read several of the threads here, reply to some of them and I feel like I understand them, but I'm not sure that I make the same conclusions when I'm playing live.

[lucksack]

I'm pretty sure you can just move up in limits after playing that much, at least if you'd play on other sites than Stars. You can do some signup bonuses to make sure you're not losing money even if you happen to lose in games. Boss Media sites (like Casino.net) offer good bonuses that can be cleared in microlimit, and so does Party (in beginners room). Other than that, just keep reading this forum and maybe the other quality books. And make sure to check the save handhistory to file option at Stars to be able to look at your stats after you get Tracker (or Office).