Wasn't actually planning on playing today but I was bored after browsing the city and had nothing to do so I decided to get started today. Not immediately of course, I got back at around 7-ish and felt tired so I made dinner and thought I would just run through an episode of Micro No-Limit Grinder to get myself in the poker mood. That plan of course failed to materialise when I fired up SpadeEye to scan the tables while I was watching only to find my trial had expired. Sucks. I spent the next few minutes searching for... things... online only to no avail so I just thought, "Screw it, everyone at the micro stakes is shit anyway I don't really need a table selector to find the fish." And boy was I right.
I didn't get around to making a post I wanted to make before I started this project. Basically it was going to say how pensive I was at starting, the initial excitement of waiting for the deposit to come through was overwhelmed by uncertainty and fear which I guess caused me to want to delay the start of it to Monday. I realised that I had busted my previous (miniscule) roll while I was on a downswing and was afraid that the downswing would continue itself into my new roll. Well, that was the gist of it anyway. And I definitely thought that it was happening after dropping two+ buy-ins in my first 200 hands.
Thank god it didn't last too long and after 3.5 hours and 836 hands I've finished with an awesome return of $4.47. Sure it looks like a small win now but looking at the big picture if I manage to win just $2 everyday for a month I'm gonna double my bankroll. Really, I'm just pleased with booking the win and I have to say my first day got off to a good start. I probably will not do daily updates unlike last time because I think they do have a negative psychological influence and do make me a bit results-oriented. This first day report is an exception though.
As for multitabling, it did take a while for me to get used to, especially since I can't tile the tables on my tiny 14" screen laptop. In the end I opted for cascade but there were a few times I timed out and misclicked but I guess it's just a matter of getting used to. Also, I found it really hard to really get a read (aside from HEM stats of course) and make notes on opponents simply because there was always something that required my attention at other tables that I never really had the time to watch any interesting hands or think long enough about tough decisions. Most of the time I just felt I was playing my cards and position rather than my opponents, although that did start to change a bit towards the end of the session when I got more comfortable with it and pulled off a few double-barrell bluffs and squeeze plays based on opponent stats.
Oh and I think I just made a huge step forward in my cash game by putting "value bet, value bet, value bet" into practice. I wouldn't say I noticed anyone calling me down particularly light with any frequency but I did learn to bet my hands appropriately and stacked a few people through proper bet sizing and I am deifinitely calmer playing multiway raised pots and 3bet pots. I can't believe I never noticed it before but it seems that most people will seemingly tell you when you're beat by raising, otherwise they just call or fold. Definitely a lightbulb moment for me.
I guess that's about it for now. Will update this post tomorrow with hands and graph and some other observations I may have missed. There's some stuff I think I may have miscalculated in my previous post in regards to bonus clearing and rake but too lazy to go through it now. Need to get some sleep for football tomorrow at 10.
See how it goes man...
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Just Shipped the Cash
So I just deposited on $80 AUD (about $60 USD) on FTP through local bank transfer and am just waiting for it to clear. It should be done by Friday since account clearing happens daily but it would be great if somehow it managed to get through sometime around 9 or 10 tomorrow morning due to the awesome Champions League final / breakfast plan tomorrow. I'm planning to sleep really early tonight and wake up for the game then just stay up the rest of the day. Really have no plans whatsoever so it would be great if I had some funds to start this little project.
It's quite funny really how I applied for a credit card really just so I could deposit, but took the bank transfer route instead. I recieved my card earlier today only to realise it's a Master instead of a Visa. Of course me being me, I fully researched people's experiences depositing with MasterCard and it seems it's a bit hit and miss. Plus they put in all these little points about how your bank may charge you this fee and that fee. Ugh. The scary thing for me was how FTP said they wouldn't refund should the transaction get rejected which is totally possible as I read some banks reject transactions to online gambling sites. How bullshit is that? They refund Visa though.
So after trawling through 2+2 posts and google-bashing deposit options for Australians (not that I allude to being one), I got basically zero information on the best way. A lot of people were saying Neteller but I'm really hesitant to provide my personal details to such an unreputable site (at least in my eyes) plus they charge fees for withdrawal which sucks. Bank transfer seems the best/cheapest way to deposit but the only thing is they don't tell you what exchange rate they're gonna use so that kinda sucks though I don't think it'll be something ridiculous like 5% on top of the current rate. That's the reason I deposited $80 instead of the $76 XE told me $60 USD is worth. Though about shooting an email to FTP support but general consensus is they take an age to get back to you so I thought I would just risk it.
Anyway, hopefully tomorrow turns out to be an awesome day with United completing the quadruple inMoscow Rome, enjoying an awesomely awesome breakfast and being pleasantly surprised by the numbers being $60 instead of $0.00 when I click the Cashier button.
See how it goes man...
It's quite funny really how I applied for a credit card really just so I could deposit, but took the bank transfer route instead. I recieved my card earlier today only to realise it's a Master instead of a Visa. Of course me being me, I fully researched people's experiences depositing with MasterCard and it seems it's a bit hit and miss. Plus they put in all these little points about how your bank may charge you this fee and that fee. Ugh. The scary thing for me was how FTP said they wouldn't refund should the transaction get rejected which is totally possible as I read some banks reject transactions to online gambling sites. How bullshit is that? They refund Visa though.
So after trawling through 2+2 posts and google-bashing deposit options for Australians (not that I allude to being one), I got basically zero information on the best way. A lot of people were saying Neteller but I'm really hesitant to provide my personal details to such an unreputable site (at least in my eyes) plus they charge fees for withdrawal which sucks. Bank transfer seems the best/cheapest way to deposit but the only thing is they don't tell you what exchange rate they're gonna use so that kinda sucks though I don't think it'll be something ridiculous like 5% on top of the current rate. That's the reason I deposited $80 instead of the $76 XE told me $60 USD is worth. Though about shooting an email to FTP support but general consensus is they take an age to get back to you so I thought I would just risk it.
Anyway, hopefully tomorrow turns out to be an awesome day with United completing the quadruple in
See how it goes man...
A few sums
Probably endeavoring to play 1000 hands or more per day 4 tabling. What does that mean?
60 hands/table/hour X 4 tables = 240 hands/hour
240 hands/hour X 5 hours = 1200 hands/day
1200 hands/day X 7 days = 8400 hands/week
8400 hands/week X 4 weeks = 33 600 hands/month
If I run at 4bb/100 @ 1c/2c:
$0.04 X 4 X 336 = $53.76 per month
So that's the plan. Will be hard though, considering I have never played 4 tables before and the 4bb/100 winrate is really just an arbitrary figure I pulled out based on stuff I've read. Hell, I've read its possible to pull out as much as 10bb/100 at these stakes although I'm pretty damn sure I won't get close to that. I would be very happy with 4, ecstatic with 5.
On another note, I researched a bit on the deposit bonus I think I would be eligible for on FTP - the 100% up to $600. Planning on depositing $60 so that would be awesome to get to easily double the bankroll. But I'm not so sure about how to calculate the bonus points though. From the bonuswhores.com site:
So I checked the rake structure at 1c/2c 6-max which is 1c/15c pot. If I'm understanding this right, I would need 1000 points to get the full $60 bonus since 1 point = $0.06. So assuming the average pot I play is only 15c
1000 points / 0.01 bonus points per hand = 100 000 hands
100 000 hands / 33 600 hands per month = 2.98 months
Which... is a while. Hopefully the average pot of 15c I'm assuming here is a bit low. Here's the catch though - the bonus is only valid for 120 days ie. 4 months. Basically, I have to maintain that target volume for 3 months in to get the full bonus (luckily they release it in increments of 10% ie. $6 ie. 10 000 hands) which may be hard what with the whole beijing thing coming up. So the extra month helps but I'm not too sure if I can make up my expected decreased volume during beijing in that extra month.
Also, I emailed my rakeback affiliate to get them to move me back to them seeing as how last time they told me that FTP moved me off their list because I failed to have more than $25 in my account anytime soon after I signed up. In an earlier email I sent them when I started playing cash again they said they could easily move me back once I had $25 in my account to which I replied ok I will let you know if I do. Now I'm planning to deposit $60 so hopefully they were true to their word that they can easily move me back. Hopefully. I think rakeback may be a dealbreaker for me playing at FTP despite it being my preferred site (I hesitate to say favourite since I've really only dabbled with Stars and very very very very briefly Absolute Poker pre-scandal).
So that's the plan. I'm not gonna mention moving up to 2c/5c eventhough I sort of have done the sums and stuff because I think it's absurd to even consider it seeing as I haven't even played a hand yet in my comeback to poker. The credit card confirmation came through today and I'm hoping to recieve it in the mail tomorrow, activate it and deposit before the end of the week so I can start. I am actually quite anxious about it seeing as all the preparation I've put in and I think the possibility of me busting is probably significantly more than the possibility of me being a winner right now. But that talk is for the next post.
See how it goes man...
60 hands/table/hour X 4 tables = 240 hands/hour
240 hands/hour X 5 hours = 1200 hands/day
1200 hands/day X 7 days = 8400 hands/week
8400 hands/week X 4 weeks = 33 600 hands/month
If I run at 4bb/100 @ 1c/2c:
$0.04 X 4 X 336 = $53.76 per month
So that's the plan. Will be hard though, considering I have never played 4 tables before and the 4bb/100 winrate is really just an arbitrary figure I pulled out based on stuff I've read. Hell, I've read its possible to pull out as much as 10bb/100 at these stakes although I'm pretty damn sure I won't get close to that. I would be very happy with 4, ecstatic with 5.
On another note, I researched a bit on the deposit bonus I think I would be eligible for on FTP - the 100% up to $600. Planning on depositing $60 so that would be awesome to get to easily double the bankroll. But I'm not so sure about how to calculate the bonus points though. From the bonuswhores.com site:
For each dollar raked from the pot, you will earn one point. You can earn partial points if less than one dollar is raked, and you can earn up to three points per hand. Basically, the amount that is raked is equal to the amount of points you will get per hand (a hand raked at $0.50 would give you 0.50 points). Each point is worth $0.06, so you can earn up to $18 per hundred hands.
So I checked the rake structure at 1c/2c 6-max which is 1c/15c pot. If I'm understanding this right, I would need 1000 points to get the full $60 bonus since 1 point = $0.06. So assuming the average pot I play is only 15c
1000 points / 0.01 bonus points per hand = 100 000 hands
100 000 hands / 33 600 hands per month = 2.98 months
Which... is a while. Hopefully the average pot of 15c I'm assuming here is a bit low. Here's the catch though - the bonus is only valid for 120 days ie. 4 months. Basically, I have to maintain that target volume for 3 months in to get the full bonus (luckily they release it in increments of 10% ie. $6 ie. 10 000 hands) which may be hard what with the whole beijing thing coming up. So the extra month helps but I'm not too sure if I can make up my expected decreased volume during beijing in that extra month.
Also, I emailed my rakeback affiliate to get them to move me back to them seeing as how last time they told me that FTP moved me off their list because I failed to have more than $25 in my account anytime soon after I signed up. In an earlier email I sent them when I started playing cash again they said they could easily move me back once I had $25 in my account to which I replied ok I will let you know if I do. Now I'm planning to deposit $60 so hopefully they were true to their word that they can easily move me back. Hopefully. I think rakeback may be a dealbreaker for me playing at FTP despite it being my preferred site (I hesitate to say favourite since I've really only dabbled with Stars and very very very very briefly Absolute Poker pre-scandal).
So that's the plan. I'm not gonna mention moving up to 2c/5c eventhough I sort of have done the sums and stuff because I think it's absurd to even consider it seeing as I haven't even played a hand yet in my comeback to poker. The credit card confirmation came through today and I'm hoping to recieve it in the mail tomorrow, activate it and deposit before the end of the week so I can start. I am actually quite anxious about it seeing as all the preparation I've put in and I think the possibility of me busting is probably significantly more than the possibility of me being a winner right now. But that talk is for the next post.
See how it goes man...
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Saddling up
Wow it's been more than 2 months since I last played a cash hand online. After that hand I kinda forgot about poker for a while, didn't really have an urge to play or really miss it all that much. Then slowly played a couple of home cash games with the usual, got back into playing some of the cardschat freerolls until I'm at the point now where all I can really think about is poker again. Oy...
I've decided this time that if I'm gonna do it I'm gonna do it right. I have applied for a credit card which hopefully gets approved (since I am considered by them to be a full time student (heh, heh) and thus have no income) so I can make my first ever deposit. Probably gonna deposit $60 so I get my full 30 buy-in bankroll thing. Doing the sums in my head it is fully possible to more than double that in a month and a half if I play 4-tables @ 60 hands/hour for 5 hours a day with a winrate of about 4ptbb/100. Here's the shit thing though - with going to Beijing on the 22nd(?) of June I probably will miss at least a week of poker time, so if I'm up to it, I really need to grind more during my time I have here now.
What did I say about doing it right again? Oh yea, I've downloaded some deucescracked vids and have been going through their Real Life Micro No-Limit Grinder series and there's just so much good stuff to be learnt there. I can't say enough about it just watching and listening to the discussion and coaching is really helpful and made me realise just how much I really don't know about playing cash at the micro levels. I never really understood what value-betting was until I saw these vids and just the way that the coach WiltOnTilt teaches you how to think and put opponents on hands is really eye-opening. I can really see how membership to such training sites are a great investment for people and I imagine that if I manage to grind up to let's say 10c/25c I would be willing to pay for membership and that's a big compliment coming from me.
So while waiting for credit card approval I've decided to finish watching that season 1 of that series then *maybe* if I'm not feeling too lazy go over the whole season again and make notes because as much as I've learnt and remembered I'm sure there's tons more stuff which I didn't catch or forgot. Of course, I may be super lazy (which is a very distinct possibility) and just move on to season 2.
Oh yea, also downloaded Hold'em Manager yesterday. I think I'm 95% sure I'm gonna make the switch over from PokerTracker. HEM just seems to run much smoother and I like the look of their HUD more. Of course it also helps that the deucescracked vids all use HEM and I wanna be able to follow them more closely. Awesome marketing strategy I have to say. Also started datamining the 6-max tables (which are the ones I'm pretty sure I'm gonna play again due to the DC vids instead of full ring) with SpadeEye. Just hoping to be able to log as many hands on as many players as possible so I don't just jump right in blind. Already come across a few regulars and some people I may want to target. Have to say there is distinct lack of preflop raising at these levels though which is surprising, I've rarely seen a player with a PFR of more than 9.
So that's my preparation for getting back into the game. Pretty intense I have to say for 1c/2c limits but hey, if it's all free and I got time to kill then why not. Of course this could all come to nought and I'll just piss away $60. Guess I won't know till I start playing. Still need to check up about bonuses and stuff I'm eligible for with my deposit at FT and also get in touch with my rakeback affiliate to reactivate my account. Hopefully all this stuff pays off. I reckon I'm more prepared now than I ever have been for poker.
See how it goes man...
I've decided this time that if I'm gonna do it I'm gonna do it right. I have applied for a credit card which hopefully gets approved (since I am considered by them to be a full time student (heh, heh) and thus have no income) so I can make my first ever deposit. Probably gonna deposit $60 so I get my full 30 buy-in bankroll thing. Doing the sums in my head it is fully possible to more than double that in a month and a half if I play 4-tables @ 60 hands/hour for 5 hours a day with a winrate of about 4ptbb/100. Here's the shit thing though - with going to Beijing on the 22nd(?) of June I probably will miss at least a week of poker time, so if I'm up to it, I really need to grind more during my time I have here now.
What did I say about doing it right again? Oh yea, I've downloaded some deucescracked vids and have been going through their Real Life Micro No-Limit Grinder series and there's just so much good stuff to be learnt there. I can't say enough about it just watching and listening to the discussion and coaching is really helpful and made me realise just how much I really don't know about playing cash at the micro levels. I never really understood what value-betting was until I saw these vids and just the way that the coach WiltOnTilt teaches you how to think and put opponents on hands is really eye-opening. I can really see how membership to such training sites are a great investment for people and I imagine that if I manage to grind up to let's say 10c/25c I would be willing to pay for membership and that's a big compliment coming from me.
So while waiting for credit card approval I've decided to finish watching that season 1 of that series then *maybe* if I'm not feeling too lazy go over the whole season again and make notes because as much as I've learnt and remembered I'm sure there's tons more stuff which I didn't catch or forgot. Of course, I may be super lazy (which is a very distinct possibility) and just move on to season 2.
Oh yea, also downloaded Hold'em Manager yesterday. I think I'm 95% sure I'm gonna make the switch over from PokerTracker. HEM just seems to run much smoother and I like the look of their HUD more. Of course it also helps that the deucescracked vids all use HEM and I wanna be able to follow them more closely. Awesome marketing strategy I have to say. Also started datamining the 6-max tables (which are the ones I'm pretty sure I'm gonna play again due to the DC vids instead of full ring) with SpadeEye. Just hoping to be able to log as many hands on as many players as possible so I don't just jump right in blind. Already come across a few regulars and some people I may want to target. Have to say there is distinct lack of preflop raising at these levels though which is surprising, I've rarely seen a player with a PFR of more than 9.
So that's my preparation for getting back into the game. Pretty intense I have to say for 1c/2c limits but hey, if it's all free and I got time to kill then why not. Of course this could all come to nought and I'll just piss away $60. Guess I won't know till I start playing. Still need to check up about bonuses and stuff I'm eligible for with my deposit at FT and also get in touch with my rakeback affiliate to reactivate my account. Hopefully all this stuff pays off. I reckon I'm more prepared now than I ever have been for poker.
See how it goes man...
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