So Im officially 5300 hands deep in my 10k hand challenge at the Micros. My initial goal was to play 10k hands at 10NL and then 10k hands at 25NL before moving up to 50NL and then 100NL, where I have put in a ton of volume in the past. My one condition to the challenge was that I need to maintain at least 8pt bb/100 if I wanted to move up. If I didnt meet this figure, I would force myself to grind 10k more hands until I achieved a win rate I was happy with.

Thus far, I feel like Im playing decent. Not well, not terrible, just ok. The thing is my results definitely dont show that Im playing decent. In fact, my results are pretty fkn terrible imo. I didnt expect to be down 4 buyins through 5k hands but I knew it was possible. Unfortunately, PT3 isnt compatible with Poker EV, so I cant pinpoint exactly how bad Im running, but I definitely havent been running well. Plus, Ive gone through my hands after each session and Ive figured out that Ive donked away 8 buyins in 5k hands. I consider "donked buyins", hands where I clearly played terribly for stacks, not close decisions, but obvious ones upon later review. Ill talk more about that later but heres a graph of my results so far.



I admit its real fkn gross. Its almost like Full Tilt wants me to bust my account. Of course I say this in jest but thats definitely what it feels like lately. Plus, I play bad.

So what to do? Surely I should be able to crush 10NL and if I cant I really should quit poker. Another option is I could deposit more but theres definitely something both fun and challenging about running up a small deposit. So heres what Ive decided to do differently over the next 5k hands. Hopefully, my adjustments constitute a formula for success and if not Ill have to rethink some things.

A) Im going to start playing tighter/nittier, especially against the regs. Sure I think its fine to isolate donks with a wide range but I seem to always press the call button when I have a close decision with a reg. I may just be results oriented but I feel like this is costing me money. My style as a whole needs adjusting imo. Right now, Im playing about a 23/19 game or so, which has worked well in the past at 50 and 100 NL. The thing is when I look at the winning regs at 10 NL, the ironman guys, the mass multitablers, who beat the game for a decent clip, these guys arent playing 22/18. Most of these guys are playing 16/12 or 14/10, real nitty, but hey if thats what it takes to win, then thats what I need to do. So essentially, Im going to be lowering my VPIP and PFR, which I think in the end, will limit the amount of "close" decisions I have and make life easier with considerably less variance.

B) The next major change I will be making is I will be keeping close tabs on the number of donked buyins I have per session. Ive acutally started a spredsheet tracking this stat and Ive found that its heplful to visualize the money that Im just donking away. My goal is to limit the amount of donked buyins per session until I am playing mistake free poker. Shorterm, my goal is to cut the amount of donked buyins per 5k hands in half. So just to clarify, Ive determined ive donked away 8 buyins in the first 5k hands, so in the next 5k hands, I want to limit myself to 4 give-aways.

C) The last adjustment really isnt an adjustment at all, its just something that I definitely need to keep doing. Like I said in my initial blog post, my biggest detriment in the past has been propensity to tilt and move up in stakes, basically just giving away free monies, when times are bad. Heres the thing, I could always deposit more, but I dont want to. As long as I stay disciplined, keep myself away from the tilt, play solid, etc I will be fine. Im really not worried about shortterm results because I know that I can and will make the propper adjustments needed to beat whatever stake Im playing. My general rull of thumb is that I never want to have >15 percent of my roll on the table at a time. If that means that I can only play 2 or 3 tables than so be it. A major part of this micro stakes challenge was that I wanted to improve my discipline as a player. If I always adhere to my bankroll rules, it will be incredibly difficult to go broke. So as long as I just keep a positive attitude, make the necessary adjustments, and adhere to my BR/Stop loss rules, I know Ill be just fine.

Wish me luck over the next 5k hands and feel free to comment on my adjustments in order to beat the micros.

P.S. Im having some difficult converting CSV files (excel) into Image Shack. For some reason, CSV files dont seem compatible, so Im unable to upload my stats, which I definitely want to do in the future. If someone can help me out with that, itd be great.

Until next time

-Kyle

Yuckaments. I cant seem to stop tilting. Whats so sick is I now recognize my tilt, I just cant seem to physically force myself from playing. Some major adjustments are definitely in order...

So ive started my 10k hands challenge at each limit before moving up to my main games (50 and 100 NL). Thus far, Ive logged 9600 hands at 10NL. The first week went fine, I played roughly 8k hands and won 12.5 buyins, winning at a rate of 8.6 ptbb/100. Admittedly, I didnt play great this first week, but I didnt tilt at all, and played my B game most of the time, which is good enough to crush the 5 and the 10 cent.

Yesterday though was an absolute disaster. I lost 7 buyins, most of which came of the hands of an interesting character named Sidney24 who played a ballin 65/20 style. I called him twice for 100 bb stacks with Ace high, on boards where he was clearly repping top pair plus. This guys style just seemed to tilt me so bad for some reason, he would either c/f the flop or lead for full pot on flop, turn, and river when he wanted to valuetown me. I adjusted pretty terribly calling him down super light and he just seemed to own my soul me every time with top pair+. It was pretty sick how every time I called him down, he had hands that were damn near the top of his range, and this happened repeateadly hand after hand until he had 800bb's on the table.

Looking back at my hands and reviewing the session, Im not really all that upset that I lost 7 buyins. Ive played a ton of poker and have been through multiple 20 buyin downswings, so Im used to that bidness by now. What I am really upset about is how Sidney was able to completely take me out of my game and dictate the match with how he wanted it to be played. Its like in sports, I played down to the level of my competition.

Another reason why I am upset with how things turned out is that I vowed to myself that I would only play when I was on my A game and would quit immediately when I felt I was playing bad/frustrated/playing to get even etc. I was clearly tilted and frustrated but I continued to play anyways. All I could think about was how I had position on a 65/20 drooler who had more than 200bbs on the table and how I needed to take his money at all costs. I was completely blindsided to the fact that I was playing terribly, adjusting poorly, and spewing like a madman.

So after the session, I felt really sick to my stomache, and I couldnt sleep for what seemed like an eternity I was very upset with myself how I let things get out of hand. So now that I have a clear head, Ive thought about a few things Im going to do differently so this doesnt happen again: 1) Im going to shorten the length of my sessions. I dont care if I only play 2-300 hands per day. I want to be playing my A game when Im playing. I have played in a while and I dont think I can play 1000 hands yet completely focused and playing my A game the entire session. 2) Im also going to restrict myself to a 4 buyin stop loss, which really isnt that unreasonable. For now, Im only playing four tables, so I think 4 buyins is a solid stop loss, especially since Im playing on a short roll. 3) Finally, Im really going to focus on recognizing and actually taking action when I feel like Im tilting. My friend Rollover2k/Lefty2506, a high stakes player, recently gave me some very good advice. He told me that he makes just as much as guys who put in twice amount the volume he does per month, simply because he only plays when he feels competitive. He said that when he feels helpless, frustrated, tired, sick, whatever it may be, he just flat out doesnt play. Im going to try to do the same.

On the non poker front, Ive been quite busy lately, applying to schools, since I am planning on making my return to the realm of academia this fall. Im actually really excited to go back to school. I feel like Ive kind of been alienated from people my age because of poker and seeing cute girls on campus again will definitely be plus . Im applying to University of Florida, FSU, UCF, and USF. My SAT is in like the 98th percentile at all these schools but my GPA is mad low (2.8) so Im kind of worried that I might not get into UF, but I think I should be able to get into all the other schools.

Before I start back up with school, I definitely need to work to save up some loot. Plus I really need to find something productive to do during the day, rather than just troll twoplustwo ha. This morning I had an interview with Diversified Energy Group, a company that works with investors/businesses in support of domestic drilling/oil. I was really impressed by the professionalism of the group. I felt like I was in Boiler Room, these guys were really serious, all donned in suits, and they drilled me pretty hard with questions for about an hour. Overall, I think things went real well. I definitely came underdressed, I was wearing a polo and khakis, and these guys all had on suits ffs, but whatevs I definitely killed the actual interview itself and would be real shocked if I didnt get the job.

Im about to go session for a little bit but I wanted to say that I appreciated all the comments last time. Until next time, be good fellas.

Kyle

Whats happenin' yall,

Ive finally decided to stop lollygagging and have made the decision to join the good folks at Leggo Poker. Ive been told by reputable sources that the site is top notch and Im looking forward to working with some of the sharpest minds in poker. I used to blog and did so for a while but then I just randomly stopped. I never quite understood why I stopped, maybe I just got bored with it all, but I definitely feel like keep a reguarly updated blog is both healthy and productive. So thats that...

On to the grand intro. Ive been a "professional" poker player for two years. I went to school at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor for two years before dropping out to pursue poker. Some of you might know me for me legendary thread in BVB on twoplustwo "How I lost 30k, became homeless in France, and moving forward". That was the degen of the past and Ive made steps in my life to make sure that something like that will NEVER happen again.

My poker career thus far can be characterized by two words: tumultuous and disappointing. Ive logged close to a million hands online and am a career 3-4 bb/100 winner at 50nl and a 1-2bb/100 at 100nl. Thats where Ive played most of my hands and at small stakes, Im definitely a respectable winner. My results at everything higher, thus far, have been a disaster. 1 million hands and still at SSNL, clearly, Im doing it wrong. But hey, thats why Im here

My biggest leak playing online is my lack of emotional control. I am a complete tilt monkey and when things arent going well, I do the whole move up in stakes thing to chase my losses. Let me tell you, it hasnt worked out to well so far. Ive built my roll to the 5-10k range countless times on all the sites and have blown through my bankroll every single time. Ive done it all, drunken shots at 5-10/10-20, openshoving, blowing through 30 buyins in a night. You name it, ive done it.

Like I said previously, poker has been my main source of income for the last two years, but recently I decided to take a break, to sort of get my life together and gain much needed perspective on life outside of poker. I took a job as a sales consultant at Sprint, worked 40 hr weeks, and moved back in at home with the rents. The whole experience has been extremely humbling. That being said, I definitely needed it and Im finally in a positive, healthy emotional state where I feel like I can succeed as a poker player. Im doing the whole working out thing every day, eating healthier, maintaining positive relationships outside of poker, staying free of mind altering substances, etc. Im also going back to school in the fall, which will definitely be a good thing for me.

I can honestly say that the break from poker has been great. After putting in sick volume, month after month, not playing for a while has been very refreshing.That being said, Im ready to start grinding again. Im going to take it slow at first, probably playing at least 10k hands at 10nl, and then 10k more hands at 25nl, just to get back into the swing of things before I start grinding my main game once again. I also want to learn plo and work on my heads up game, so that for that im looking for a coach. Lets be real though, I def need a coach for more than HU and PLO, since I obv suck at the pokers, so If any of you know any good small stakes guys, def send em my way.

As far as short-term goals, Id like to have a respectable win rate at 50nl and win a bunch there, because I am pretty busto right now, and only have money on 1 site, and not very much money to boot. Once I win a bunch at 50nl, Id like to do the same at 100nl, and really focus on HU, where I can use tableratings and become a master bum hunter. Long term, Id like to move up to 1/2-2/4+ and be a winning player at MSNL.

It feels good to start blogging again and hopefully at least a few people can comment on my goals/my failure of a poker career thus far, etc. Ill make sure to throw some hands up and ofc post dem graphz once I start grinding. Be good yall.

-Kyle