2005 Microquests Thread -- Post Your Progress, Setbacks

[detruncate]

Was just thinking about bumping this thread. Noticing a fair number of new faces again. I dig that... though I'm less thrilled by all you monsters showing up at my 2/4 tables.

I'm gearing up for a move to 3/6 -- I'm bankrolled for it as of March 1, and have started datamining. Not quite happy with where my game is, but I'm working on it. Big fan of baby steps.

Have started to think more seriously about where I want to go. My initial plan was to simply find a comfortable way to meet my minimum income requirements so I can focus all my attention on writing and living and such. Now I'm starting to think I'd like to be able to do a little better than "minimum income requirements". It'll take a lot of hard work, but I'm ok with that -- it's nothing new.

A year ago, I'd never played a serious hand of poker, and it wasn't much more than 2 years ago that I played in my first home game -- had to be reminded that my beautiful jacks full of kings was a loser to a much less impressive seeming queens full of 3s. Can't be too frustrated with my progress, even if it often feels like running hard to stay in place.

The bottom line is the bottom line: I'm hitting my financial goals, and it's great to have some regularity in that area for a change. People always think it's funny that I had to take up poker before managing to achieve the (relatively) stable income I've been after for a while. It it gives me a lot of satisfaction to know that one of those late night "[censored] it" moments became a reality. Too many don't.

Great to see so many people doing well. Best of luck to all.

[davelin]

Some of my goals -

1) Continue to get comfortable at the 2/4 level, I'm finally at the point where I'm satisfied with my level of play and not as concerned with the swings.

2) Extend multi-tabling from 4 to 6 or possibly 8.

3) Multi-table and play 3/6 at a comfortable level by mid-year.

4) Try to enhance my NL skills.

[Emmitt2222]

Yay, this is fun to look at progress. This has definitly been going about 20x faster then I ever dreamed. In my first projection a long time ago I was hoping to be at 2/4 by 2006, then I was hoping for 3/6, maybe 5/10.
As it stands now I already am four tabling 2/4 with my 2001fp and have about 7k hands logged. I plan on putting in about 25k total and then making the move to 3/6 in May. I already have a 300BB bankroll for 3/6 [would have about 800BB if I didnt keep cashing out for fun stuff]. I put in 15k at .5/1 and 14k at 1/2 6 max which both went only OK, but I definitly feel like I am finally starting to get a decent grasp of the game and be able to adjest more. by 2006 I should easily be a regular at 5/10 6max and possibly be approaching 10/20 6max. So far its all been going so much better than planned. Swwet.

[Isura]

I missed the first run through of this thread, so here goes.

Immediate Goals (3 months):
-Continue to improve at 1/2 full ring and build up 500BB at this limit.
-Learn microlevel (.5/1, 1/2) limit 6 max. Maybe add a 6 max table to the regular rotation if I can manage it.
-Continue to improve NL tourney play and get it 1-2 tourneys a weekend.

Long term: (1 year)
- Have the bankroll and skill to beat Party 3/6 consistently.
- Beat Party 1/2 6 max.
- Consistently place in the money in the Stars 5+.5,10+1 NL tourneys.

- Make effort to respond to more strategy posts.

Someone modest I guess, but I must factor in that I'm starting grad school in mathematics in September.

[droolie]

Here's my update...

The whoring is going great. I don't get to play as much as I'd like but I'm still reading these boards with a vengence. I figure as long as I keep doing that my skills will continue to develop.

I think my most important goal of earning $20K goal is very achievable if I can just find the time to keep up the pace I'm currently on. Casino whoring has come on strong and will certainly be stealing a bunch of my poker playing time.

The two goals I set that I'm not so sure about are NL and 6-max. I just don't seem to be getting around to doing these things. I won the first (and only) NL sit-n-go I played so I am very encouraged by that. I played around 2000 6-max hands but prefer the play at full ring. I'm just not sure i'llbe putting the effort needed into winning a NL tourney and stepping up to 5/10 6-max. We'll see though. It's still early.

[flopwell]

I'm still a relative newbie, but I think first and foremost, I would like to continue to aspire to be a "student of the game." I started early last year in Paradise with $200 + $50 (didn't know about 2+2, or granny bonus) and lost it all fairly rapidly (2 months maybe) at .50/1, and $5 sNgs (actually was a little ahead in the sNgs). Reloaded in June with another $200 (still didn't know about 2+2) and decided that since I had done better in the sNgs, I must be better at NL, soooo played $2 NL for a while, decided it was easy, tried $10 NL, decided it was easier, and went to $25 NL and lost to $25. Discovered 2+2, and now have worked my way up to .25/.50 lol. I think limit is the way to go for me right now, as I concentrate on playing better poker.

My goal for 2005 is to be able to play $1/2 at paradise and build my bankroll up to do some bonus whoring.

[meep_42]

Goal:
Finish 15k hands at .5/1, with a winrate that could be termed as "crushing."
--Done.

Move full time to 1/2 when that is complete.
--Done.

Finish 15k hands at 1/2 with a 3.5+BB/100 win rate.
--Eh. Not done. 12k hands at above 2BB/100

Play 10k hands of 1/2 (6 max) with a 3.5+BB/100 win rate to learn shorthanded play better.

--Skipped, plan to go back at some point, maybe for the March bonus.

Move to 2/4 full time by May.
--Done. 5k hands in, small winrate, but positive.

Get a rakeback deal.
--Done.

Enroll in classes at random_local_university with the intention of clearing the memory of a crappy undergrad GPA and securing recommendations for Grad/Law School.
--Failed.

Become enough of a winning player at 2/4, 3/6, or 5/10 (6m) to be able to support myself decently in '06 if I get into school full-time.
--Working on it, but i'm not holding my breath.

Play in more MTT and SnG.
--Have been doing this, it's a lot of fun as a change of pace.

Learn $25NL.
--Cleared the last bonus playing this about breakeven. I pay off too much with 2nd best hands and don't get paid enough with mine, otherwise, fun and easy.

Play 60,000+ hands (all levels)
--Easily on pace.

-d

[bottomset]

well I have been pretty lazy this yr with poker, I have rebuilt my BR to 350BB of 1/2, and plan on mixing in 6max

I need to start bonus whoring more, and playing more in general .. but its been a fairly successful year so far

[btspider]

[ QUOTE ]
Progress so far: bankroll surpassing skill, by far.

I'm up $2,261 in poker earnings over 39,108 mixed-play hands since the beginning of the year.

[/ QUOTE ]

heh, ditto. got the roll, but my 3/6 hiccup is making me concerned about my ability to handle the larger $$ swings to come.

i'm up $1350 (not counting bonii) after 16K hands (5K 1/2 6m, 10K 2/4, 1400 3/6) this year. must. play. more.

i feel confident we shall meet at a 15/30 game by years end.

[flair1239]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I'm in.

Getting a new laptop next week so I can finally play at home. Have been bonus whoring the past month to recover my bankroll whic I blew by getting drunk an entering multiple $100 tournies. Went from 1100 to $150. Have whored my way back to $550, and after clearing my next bonus should have around $700. So my goals are as follows.

1. Play a minimum of 1200 hands a week of hold-em at the appropriate level.

2. Faithfully whore party, paradise, stars, and Interpoker bonuses to keep building my bankroll.

3. Limit myself to (2) tournies a week with entry fees not to exceed 3BB of the limit level that I am playing at.

4. Be playing 10/20 holdem by next January.

5. Continue to whone my O8 and 7-stud game at the penny level on stars and paradise.

6. Finally to not let Poker interfer with work and spending time with my daughter. In other words keeping it in focus as a hobby.

[/ QUOTE ]

Progress:

Got my new laptop on 1/11/05. I have 6,000 hands in since. My bankroll is now at $1200. This is higher than it has ever been.

I am going to make the Jump to 2/4. Reason being since I got "serious" last July, I have played about 30,000 hands and several tournaments. On PT (before I had to restore my HD), I was showing a 3.5 BB/100 WR at .5/1 and 1/2. Also because I know I have the discipline to back down a level if I have to. I mean at one point in December I was playing Stars .05/.10 because I did not have the bankroll for .25/.50.

I have been staying away from tournies, 3 this month so far, biggest entry fee was $3. I have been playing .01/.02 PLO8 and .05/.10 LO8 on Stars.

I have been shocked by the amount of hands that I can get in (140-160 per hour). I am playing 3-tables now. I will not be playing 4 on this CPU, because even with 3 tables I have overlap... but it does not seem to bother me.

Anyway I am willing to chance 2/4 on a minimal bankroll of 302BB, because I am anxious to move up and I think I am ready. If I am not I know I can pull the pin before serious damage is done to my bankroll.

[/ QUOTE ]

3/07/05

Had a 15K run at 2/4 where I ran at .98bb/100. This stretch included 2 individule 100BB downswings. Also I was experimenting with 4-tables, which I don't think I will do again until I have a screen to accomodate. I found myself making to many plays without thinking and I could not really relax and enjoy myself. For some reason at this point 3-tables seems to be my comfort zone and I am OK with that for now.

Anyway finished one night with $2,100 in my bankroll and decided to take a shot at 3/6. Promptly lost 50BB, but felt I played OK. So I stuck with 3/6. After last night I have 11,000 hands in at 3/6 and am running at 2.7BB/100 for this stretch.

My BR is a little over $4,000 at this point. At 5,000 I am going to 5/10, hopefully by mid-April. At 5/10 I am going to start taking out some money (depending upon results), but even so if I keep getting my hands in with even a nominal WR, I should still be able to be playing 10/20 before the end of the year.

I am pleased that I am continuing to improve, have reread HEFAP a couple times is the last month. Makes a lot more sense to me than it used too.

Bonuses have played a part in all this, I think since the beginning of February I have gotten $200 from Paradise, $400 from Party, $150 from rake back. But I have also paid out $250 to my girlfriend in her quest to become a winninng player.

Anyway having a lot of fun. I try to average about 500 hands a day for the week. This has not really been a problem. Also a let myself play longer when I am winning, but when I am stuck I quit right on time (but not sooner). This has worked well for me.

[/ QUOTE ]

3/21/05

Quick update. After my last post I entered a 7-day flat line. That was abruptly ended by 97BB night at 3/6 which incidently coincided with clearing $320 worth of bonus money from the Pokerroom and Stars, making it a $900 evening.

That put me at around $4800. So I decided to make the jump to 5/10 the next night. Logged a 15BB loss the first night, but since have scored a few small wins supplemented by bonus money from UB and Absolute; so now I am at about $5100. Over appx. 2000 hands at 5/10 I am running modestly at a little over 1BB/100. Small sample, but I am comfortable that I am not in over my head, by that I mean if I hit a 100-150BB downstreak, I will not be retreating (right away).

Also joined some new sites as I mentioned UB, Absolute, and the Pokerroom. Happy with all of them. Keep at least (2) buy-ins at each one in case I see a game. Have not played a tournie at all this month. Still meeting my hand goals with no difficulty (3500 hands a week).

Developmental focus on Blind stealing/defense and dealing with turn check-raises (which involves several different factors, one of which is learning to decide whether to continue a semi-bluff or check behind a hope to hit my outs, I think my turn play in this regard is one of my biggest leaks and one that gets exploited much more often in these games.)

As stated earlier at some point I am going to be cashing out monthly, this is for two reasons. (1) I need money. (2) to slow my bankroll growth and develope more before taking my next step (I don't want my bankroll to tempt me into making a jump I am not ready for). My plan is to build the roll up to 10-12,000 and then make the jump to 10/20 full and also at that point start playing 5/10 short. Depending how much I take out I anticipate my stay at 5/10 will be extensive, and I would not be suprised if I stayed at this level for 80,000-100,000 hands (6-8 months).