Microlimits Progress Quest: Post plans/updates/setbacks here.

[detruncate]

I've just finished my first month at 2/4. The only .5/1 I played was while clearing bonuses. This is an important milestone for me.

My online poker career began with an ill-advised debut at the 2/4 tables... and nearly ended there. Luckily I saved enough to drop down to .5/1, though I was well underfunded and an extended bad run could have finished me off. An important lesson in bankroll management. One I've taken to heart.

Being back at 2/4 means a lot to me. Not so much that I'm unwilling to drop down again if need be, but I'm going to do my best to avoid it.

Badness excepted, this marks the end of my microquest. It's been a rewarding experience in more ways than I can begin to explain. Though I haven't been very involved in the forum for a while, it's never very far from my thoughts. I'll have to make the effort to post more. I may not have all that much to offer, but I have picked up a few things along the way.

Thanks to all who have helped me make these baby steps forward. Whether or not you were aware of it. My accomplishments may be modest, but they're mine... and I'm satisfied with where I am. A few months ago this was a wild notion, after all.

Best of luck to all. Happy pokering.

[sin808]

congrats...hopefully be there one day soon myself.

[droolie]

My goal is to be able to pay for daycare for my two children off poker earnings. This will mean cashing out roughly $1200/ month. I have no idea what limit or game for that matter this will have me playing but that's my goal. Lofty but I think achievable if I get good enough.

I've been playing cards my entire life. My family is a card playing family. Cribbage is my favorite game and I've literally been playing since I learned to add and subtract in first grade. I went to prep school in high school and played tons of card with my friends in the dorms. Spades, hearts and cribbage mostly. I tell you this because I think it has helped my poker game to be a card player in general. All those games help with poker because you begin to learn to read tendencies and tells of you opponents. The, "He knows I know he knows I know this about his game," thinking is second nature. I hope this will help as I go up in limits and see more of the same players all the time.

I started playing online poker early this summer. I had never played hold'em before but fell in love with the no limit game on TV. The idea that you could get rich playing cards was very intriguing. I quickly realized that the way to poker stardom was to start at micro limits online.

I followed Chris Moneymaker to Pokerstars and after playing a few thousand free and .05/.1, played roughly 25,000 hands at the .25/.50 building an original $50 deposit into $400 or so. My wife has hated this project all along and I had to promise her that after the initial $50 deposit I would never deposit money from our account into the poker account again. I had one chance and thankfully I didn't blow it. I think this ultimatum has affected my play and my progress as I am very conservative due to fear of busting out.

I moved to Party Poker in early September and logged 13,000+ hands at 7.24BB/100. I felt like I was not running hot with good cards but running hot with good tables. I was coming up against terrible players so regularly that the cards didn't matter. I only had one downswing of over 100BB during that time and the rest of the way showed steady progress. I earned 980BB at .50/1 and with bonus whoring cashed out a total of $1000 to keep my wife happy and make some home improvements. I don't include any of my bonus whoring in my bankroll as I don't think it counts as won $$. I withdraw all bonuses and evaluate my bankroll progress on its own merits.

I recently moved up to 1/2 and through 2300+ hands I'm up 100BB and am winning at a 4.34BB/100 clip. I want to play 10,000+ hands at this level and if I'm still winning and have at least 400BB's I'll move up to 2/4.

There are three primary reasons why I feel my game has improved...

1) Reading poker books. I started getting good enough to beat .25/5 at pokerstars after reading Lee Jones WLLH. I read a slew of other books but the most important one was without question SSH. I went through a long breakeven phase at .25/5 while learning the concepts outlined in that book adjusting from the "I'm looking for a reason to dump this hand" Lee Jones mentality to the, "the pot is big how can I win it?" Miller philosophy. Without those books I'd still be a VP$IP of over 30% playing .25/50 at Pokerstars.

2)Radek dragging me to this messageboard here after a particularly troubling pokerstars session we were both at. (thx dude) He dropped the brown trout line and I had no idea what it meant. I had been 2+2 a few times thanks to the inviatation on the back cover of SSH but wasn't that into the messageboard. People seemed rude and hostile. When Radek dropped the trout line I figured it was a code so I googled it and 2+2 came up I figured it out. I said "2+2?" in the dialogue and he PM'd me here. I haven't left since. This messageboard has been invaluable to me. Almost everything I am as a poker player right now is thanks to the ideas and posts of the other members here. I still have tons to learn and my game is growing every week. It's very exciting. I really want to thank all of you guys who have challenged me and made me think. Hopefully I can pay it forward to the next generation of 2+2ers.

3) Poker Tracker. This tool is so powerful I can't begin to describe how great it is now that I feel like I'm getting the most out of it. It really feels like cheating! Being able to scout my opponents before moving up to 1/2 helped my confidence immeasurably. I now open tables an hour or so before playing so I have good stats on the tables I'm considering playing. 1/2 is tougher than .50/1 but there are still many bad players there. If you think you're good but are intimidated that the competition is too good for you, dont be. Get a good BR and get in there!

As of today my initial $50 stake has grown into $1800 in earnings through winning and mild whoring. I feel like I'm understanding the game better everyday and can't wait to see where this journey takes me. WPT? Divorce court? Who knows...

[radek2166]

[ QUOTE ]
2)Radek dragging me to this messageboard here after a particularly troubling pokerstars session we were both at.

[/ QUOTE ] [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

I still have a few of them. Thanks to the guys and gals here that help me keep my head up.

I am glad that we are both here.

[Lurker4]

I've been lurking at 2+2 for a long time and just recently started posting, and will be posting more in the future. First, a bit about my poker history. I started playing online poker on Prima starting about Jan or Feb 04, and went up around $300 playing mostly micro NL/PL ($.10, $.20, and $.50 blinds) from 2/04 - 5/04. Looking back now I realize I ran really well; I didn't even play that many hands and didn't play NL/PL all that well. Starting in June 04, I started playing Party NL25 (6 max) (just one table - something I wouldn't even think of doing now, [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]). I pretty much did that over the summer, and also did the Empire500 bonus. Even though I did alright (+$1500 or so including Empire500 bonus and a Party reload bonus), after reading the NL forum for awhile I realized I didn't really know how to play real NL (somewhat deepstacked) all that well. Also, I really didn't enjoy single-tabling NL25 6 max that much. I'd usually play scared and left after I accumulated a decent stack.

So at the end of the summer, wanting to try out limit, I decided to set aside $150 to start my limit quest. My goal was to start at Party $.5/1, and move up the limits, with an eventual goal of 4-tabling $3/6. I wanted all of my limit HE bankroll to come from LHE, so I didn't use the profit I had made from NL from before. I'd take a stab at higher limits when I was comfortable and had at least 200BBs for it, and make a full move up when I have 300BBs+. I've done pretty well this past semester (3-4 months), running crazy good through around 16-17k hands (around 5.5BB/100 at .5/1 8k hands and 1/2 8k hands, obviously unsustainable). Also, I enjoy 4-tabling limit more than playing NL 6 max. At the 16-17k hands mark is when I hit my first 100BB downswing (I know, not a big deal to most but since I had only had two separate 50BB downswings before this and it was while I was taking a stab at $2/4, it hurt). I'm now in the negative (-$80) at $2/4 through 1.8k hands, but from the play I've seen I know I am able to beat this level.

So now my regular game is 4-tabling Party/PokerNow $1/2 (3 tables) and $2/4 (1 table), increasing the number of $2/4 tables when I have more confidence/bankroll at that level. In addition to this I've been bonus whoring Party and skins, and some other sites as well. My overall goal is to make it to 4-tabling $3/6 by around May 05 (I don't think its all that ambitious, but I also don't have the time to play as many hands as most), as well as getting started at $1/2 6 max after I'm comfortable 4-tabling $2/4. I'd also like to try more tables at a low level, i.e. 6 or 8-tabling $.5/1. Lastly I'd like to learn/get experience at other games, such as NLHE ring games (full and short), NLHE MTTs, and maybe PLO.

[buffett]

Wow, what a helpful thread this has been. Excellent!

Operation: Down Payment for a House

Limit: 0.50/1.00, Oct 01, 2004 - Oct 17, 2004
Hands: 5,000
Winnings: +155 BB
3.10 BB/100

Limit: 1/2, Oct 18, 2004 - Jan 25, 2005
Hands: 28,000
Winnings: +151 BB
0.54 BB/100

January 15, 2005 is the date I stopped being a crappy player, based on 2+2 web and book readings.
Limit: 2/4, Jan 26, 2005 - present
Hands: 6,000
Winnings: +289 BB
4.81 BB/100

Big Downswings
One 180BB, one 182BB, and one 100BB.

All stats are full-ring. Does anyone recommend me to move up to 3/6? The main reasons I haven't so far are:
1) not enough experience at 2/4
2) great win rate at 2/4, might not win as much at 3/6
3) 2/4 winrate possibly inflated from good run

Status: So far I'm up $7,600 ($2,400 from play (not all of which is accounted for in the numbers above) and $5,200 from bonii), so I have my work cut out for me to get to my down payment (in the neighborhood of $50K), but I'm getting a little bit better every day. Woo hoo!

By the way, I'm up $7,600, but I only have a $3,000 "bankroll". At the end of each month I withdraw anything over $3k and put it in my ING savings account. (March's withdrawal should be in the neighborhood of $2,600.)

-web