[dfscott]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Now don't go forgetting the Micros when you're off and running wild at 2/4...


[/ QUOTE ]

Don't worry. I plan to move to the SS forum the same way I move to the higher limits -- very gradually. As bison and many others have said, this still feels like "home" to me so it'll be tough to leave and go off to "college" with the big boys. I'll definitely commute for while before moving on-campus. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

How quickly things can change...

Last Saturday, things were rocking along for me. I had been playing 2/4 full-time for about a week ago and had built a $1600 BR. My stats at that time were:

Hands: 25,600
VP$IP: 19.57
PFR%: 7.00
Post-flop Agr: 1.70
BB/100: 5.55

Life was good.

Then on Sunday, the wheels came off. Monday, the engine fell out. Tuesday, it burst into flames. And last night, the whole thing exploded. Here are the stats for that 4-day period:

Hands: 1,435
VP$IP: 16.52
PFR%: 6.06
Post-flop Agr: 1.68
BB/100: (-10.89)

Other than the BB/100 figure and the fact that I tightened up due to not having a lot of good starting hands, I wasn't aware of a change in my play style (and I posted several hands for confirmation). However, I lost over $500, or about 30% of my total BR. As my BR dropped, I moved down in limits, going from 3 2/4 tables, to 2 2/4 tables and 1 1/2 table, finally to 1 2/4 table and 2 1/2 tables. The net result is that I lost around 150BB.

Now I'm sitting at just under $1100 and trying to determine my next move. I thought about moving back down to 1/2 full-time, but I think I might be even more conservative and move to .50/1. Until I have a winning session, I'm not going to feel comfortable playing, and I want to prevent any further damage to my (irreplaceable) BR.

In addition, I don't have that many hands at .5/1 (3000) or 1/2 (5000), so I think building up some more experience at both of those levels would be a good thing. I was also a little shell-shocked by magnitude of the losses, since I moved all the way from playing .25/.50 to 2/4 in just over a month, so I hadn't really adjusted to the increased size of the swings.

I'm revising my goals as follows:

Step 1 - Take a break. No poker over the Labor Day weekend at all (an easy commitment since I'm going out of town). I still might do some poker reading, though. Since I just finshed SSH for the 2nd time, I might pick something a little more introspective such as PoP or Zen.

Step 2 - 3-table .5/1 until I either a) increase my BR to $1200 (approx. +100BB @ .5/1) or b) drop below $800. If it's b), the rest of this plan is trashed and I have to re-assess.

Step 3 - Start 3-tabling PP 1/2. If I drop back to $1000, go back to Step 2. When I hit $1400 (+100BB @ 1/2), I'll start slowly adding in 2/4 tables, one for each $200 earned.

Step 4 - At $1800, return to 3-tabling 2/4 full-time.

In any case, I'm back to the micro forums for a while, so you should definitely see more of me. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]