Alright, so I have been toying around with a number of different setups. but like I mentioned previously, my main game is 4-tabling 3/6 holdem on party poker.

I just hit approx. 10,000 hands, and here is how I am looking:

Game Level: 3/6
Total Hands 10,039
Vol. Put Money in Pot %16.36
PreFlop Raise: %9.37
BB/100 Hands: 6.03
Total Real Hours: ~52 hours


So far, the 3/6 has been treating me well. I don't expect to be able to maintain this BB/100 hands in the long run.

I haven't put as many hours this month to date because of the trip to lake charles, some live play here in town, and playing some other games, and some multi-table tournies.

Ideally, I will play at least 1000 hands of 3/6 (about 4 hours of tabling), a day for most days. Therefore, I should be at 20,000 by the end of this month. Let's hope it will go as well as the first 10,000.

More to come soon.

So, I've been supporting myself off poker since the first of this month.
I have savings, and here is the current game plan:

My bread and butter game is 3/6 Holdem at Party Poker. I am comfortable four tabling.
Four tabling with a good BB/100 yields a high enough earn rate per hour to pay the bills, etc. right now. I am working off a 500 BB bankroll.

I plan to play at least 50,000 hands before I move up limits. 5/10 short at party poker will be my next destination for my bread and butter game.

I sometimes drop a fourth table and play 1 table NL sng's. Right now I am playing $30 tables, although I am bankrolled for higher. I want to play 100 SNG's at any level before I move up.

I plan to play these two games at least 25-30 hours a week. If I have any more poker in me after that, or I am extremely burnt out I will mix it up with live play, omaha, and stud.

I don't want to post weekly results ala davidross, but I will talk about my performance after a milestone - i.e. moving up a limit, finishing 100 sng's, etc.

My immediate goals are not to starve and to have decent figures for my bread and butter games : around 3 BB/100 after a substantial sample size, and a good ROI for the SNGS.

Hey guys,
After taking a nice hiatus from blogging my poker experiences, I have decided to come back. Project 10000 went overwhelmingly well, as I completed my goal in a short time than expected, and got to top it off with a nice vacation to Vegas where I scored a $1400 win. I meant to write reports when I came back, but life became very busy, and I had to take a short break from poker.

Well, it wasn't that I had to take a break, but I couldn't find the time and energy to really put in the hours that I was putting in during the project. (i.e. 30 hours a week of poker, on top of working full time).

I made a reasonable amount of money in June and the first half of July, but not as much due to the limited hours. Fortunately, my schedule has been freed a little, and I am starting to put in the regular hours. In fact, I will be playing full time (i.e. solely supporting myself from poker and savings) starting the beginning of next month (August).

I plan to post a journal posting at least once a week, as that was immensely helpful for me during the project.

I look forward to your responses..

more to come,
cheers

So. my bread and butter game for this project was limit hold-em, mainly full games, but I added short handed towards the end of the project: Here are my stats for those games:

Poker Tracker Ring Games:

As mentioned at the beginning of the project, I wasn't worried about proving myself at the lower limits, as I had put a substantial amount of time at those limits. However, I was playing 5/10 before I started, but not COMPLETELY comfortable there, nor sure that I am a winner at that level. The combined net of over 300 BB's in 5/10 (between short and full) make me much more confident at that level, and comfortable with the swings of that level.

I would consider 10/20 a bit above my comfort, although I think I would be at least a marginal winner there, with an adequate bankroll. Not as much as I intended was earned at 10/20, but at least I was able to get a feel for that limit and more comfortable there.

My 15/30 sessions were few and far between, but I had a nice short run. I typically looked for a really good table, and left when it dried up. That would account for the small amount of actual time there. I did happen to sit down at a couple of extremely soft tables with maniacs, and caught some cards. I was suprised at the level of play at this limit, I think the swings could be drastic, but this game right now appears highly profitable - I can't wait to start playing this full time.

I learned quite a bit about short handed play from this project. I have had some experience with short play before this, but this project definitely added some hours of experience for me. I was playing the lower limits short to prepare myself for the party 5/10 short handed, and to clear some bonuses.





The sng's were great at the beginning of the project for me, as they broke the monotony of grinding it out at the lower limits. It also allowed for me to build my bankroll even faster, thereby allowing me to play at higher ring game limits quicker.
I was running real well until I hit the $100 sng level. I'm not sure what happened exactly - whether it was poor play, better play of my opponents because of the higher limit. or just an inevitable bad streak since I had been running well (look at the 50$) results. Nevertheless, losing a series of $100 tournies shyed me away from playing the sng's as much. You'll notice that some of the stats are a bit different than previous stats shown. I played some lower buyin sng's at Pokerstars in an attempt to work off the bonus there. I had trouble adjusting to their structure, which is much different than the PartyPoker sng structure. So the addition of playing some pokerstars tournies made my stats actually worse (check out the $5, $10 and $20 levels)
On a positive note, I decided to play a $100 sng on saturday, and the first place victory there is what actually pushed me over $10000. I will have to work on the $100 and $200 sng's more.



Clearly bonuses can help those trying to move up limits and learn - A $100 bonus is a great bankroll boost when playing .5/1, and 2-3 bonuses can put you at playing the next higher limit. There was an empire reload bonus last weekend when I was finishing the project and the $100 did seem a bit trivial when I was playing 10/20 seeing $200-300 swings easily. Hey, I guess free money is free money. I'll work off a bonus at any of the major sites, and this year, there have been tons of reload bonuses.




When I set out my goals for this project, I intended to spend a fair amount of time improving my stud and omaha game. At that time, I also expected for this project to take alot longer. So, I didn't get as much done in this area as I expected. This will be something that I will have to continue over the summer - more on this later.

Phew - that was a mouthful. My next two projects will start at the beginning of June when I get back from Vegas. Hopefully some of my posts in between now and then will be a bit more entertaining.

cheers

Yes, I finally reached $10000 today - the project is complete after 7.5 weeks.

There are many online pro's making a killing right now, but for me this last 7.5 weeks has been some of the best poker I've played, and the most money I've made in this length of time. Ironically, it's also the longest time I've gone without taking some of my bankroll and not using for non-accessible, non-poker means. (lesson here: leave as much of you bankroll untouched as you can, as it will allow you to take shots at higher games and move up)

In some ways, I thought the project would take much longer. Not that there weren't swings during the project. But I'm excited: I have plenty of cash to play with in Vegas, I will be able to pay off some credit cards and future tuition, I ordered a 20 inch flat screen LCD monitor, and granting that I don't donate all my winnings in vegas, I will have a bankroll for the future.

I am in the process of compiling my stats for the whole project, and I will try to post some neat charts and graphs here soon. (hopefully tomorrow)

I am also deciding whether I should continue this, and if so, in what fashion. While I am happy with this run, it would be nice to settle in one game (5/10 or above), and try to put a real substantial amount of hours to prove that I am a long term winner at that level (I feel comfortable at 3/6 and below, and pretty good about 5/10). Also, there is a good chance that for awhile I will be supporting myself on poker and savings here soon. More on this later.


Anyways, if you've been reading up to this point, thanks for following me along this journey. I'd also like to thank all the people at 2+2, as that site/forum and their books have played an immense part of my poker success..

cheers

Poll #292960 How many read this blog?
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 4

Do you read this blog? Submit Yes only once.

I think the poll will only accept those with livejournal accounts.

If you don't have a livejournal account, you can either sign up for free and vote, or leave an anonymous comment with your name in it as your vote.

I'm am trying to gauge whether I should continue posting when this project finishes (I have the hunch it may be soon).

I have a couple of ideas/projects that I may pursue after this one.. I'll post about them soon..

suggestions greatly appreciated..

So there are two legal casinos in Texas. One in El Paso, and one on this Indian Reservation called Eagle's Pass 100 miles southwest of San Antonio. My friend Eston and I had been talking about checking it out for months, but never got around to it. On saturday, I saw him pop up on my instant messenger, and half-kiddingly said, "Hey, you want to head out to Eagle's Pass tonight?" This had to be a joke, as it was 6:30pm, it would take at least 4 hours to get out there, 4 hours back, and he had to work at 12pm the next day.

He thought about it, and said, "actually, yeah.." We had to work out the details, but before I knew it I was at the ATM machine getting some poker cash with my Neteller Debit card, and we were off. We stopped in San Antonio to have dinner with his parents (early Mother's Day celebration) and at 10:00, we thought Eagle's Pass would be right around the corner. "That shit is gonna be soo soft!", we kept on assuring ourselves.

Well, much like the movie Swingers, I was looking over at Eston 2 1/2 hours later and mildy suggested, "That shit is going to be soft.. has to be..". This place, Eagle's Pass is in the middle of nowhere. Not kidding. You see a sign and you think it's coming up soon, but finding yourself driving for five more minutes on an unpaved road in the middle of the woods.

Anyways, the casino's name is Kickapoo Lucky Eagle Casino, and we finally made it close to 1am in the morning. The place wasn't half bad, but I am easily impressed as the only other cardroom/casino that I have played at is in a small town in New Mexico. On the weekends they spread a 1-5 stud game, a couple 5/10 holdem games, and 1 10/20 holdem game.

Eager to get in the action, I let Eston take the first 5/10 seat available, and played some 1-5 stud while waiting for a seat in either the 5/10 or 10/20 game. It took awhile to get comfortable and situated, but it was obvious that a majority of the people didn't know what they were doing. This is always suprising to people like Eston and I who have played a majority of online poker rather than B&M. Online, one usually starts at the lowest limit offered, sometimes pennies, sometimes nickels, at the highest fifty cent games. When one improves and builds up a roll, you start taking shots at higher games. By the time you start playing the 5/10 game online, you up against some decent competition and can get cleaned out for a couple grand if you aren't careful.

Well, this online player that looks up to and is intimidated by the skills of online 5/10 players, is suprised to see that the people in a B&M cardroom 5/10 game playing like online .5/1 players. It's always a shock. I felt this in New Mexico 5 months ago, and Eston (being his first B&M experience) experienced the same on this trip. Our hopes we confirmed - the shit at Eagle's Pass Casino is definitely soft.

After playing some stud and 5/10, I eventually got a seat at the 10/20 game. This is the highest I have played for live, and sitting with $500 in chips in front of me was a blast. Online, you see these little digits representing money - it's so much different than seeing a pile of chips in front of you grow and dwindle.

Well, I felt completely comfortable at the 10/20 game, which was inspiring for me, as I remember watching a 5/10 game in a casino in Amsterdam less than a year ago (last summer on a Europe trip) and thinking that game was way beyond my league and would be for a long time.

At times the game was tight with little preflop callers, but other times you would see the whole table call two bets cold.

Unlike the 5/10, some people at the 10/20 knew what they were doing, but I was not outmatched by any means.

As I am grinding it out on the 10/20 table, I look over at Eston and see him with a whole mountain of chips in front of him (the 5/10 game used $1 chips as well as $5 chips - what a pyschological device). On top of that, he's got the whole table, the majority of whom don't speak too much English, cracking up and enjoying themselves. Day and night difference between the two tables. I wonder if all the pros in the big poker towns have the same worn faces as these guys at the 10/20 did. I'll see here pretty soon when I go to Vegas.

Anyways, 6am rolls around and the 5/10 game breaks up. Eston says he's gonna watch my game but probably not play. Nothing like sitting on a 46 big bet win, he's probably thinking to himself. I've known that feeling. I take down a big pot with KK, and am up 15 big bets for the evening, not a bad score for 4-5 hours of play. I decide I'll wait till the orbit comes around, and I will only play premium hands.. Hahah murphy's law...


I get AKo in EP2 and raise. I get three callers, and the SB folds and BB completes.

Flop:
A J x rainbow.

I'm checked to, and figure I might as well bet and see where I stand instead of trying to get fancy.

MP3 calls, the rest fold.

Turn:

[A J x} 9

I bet MP3 raises, I call.. (Hmm... AJs? JJ? xx?)

River: x

check, he bets, I call.

He shows J9o. (cold called preflop, and chasing on the flop)


Yup. The shit was soft at the Kickapoo Lucky Eagle Casino. It always sucks to lose the last hand you play before you leave, but I wasn't going to make Eston wait another orbit, and get my aces cracked or something.. It was 6:30am anways, and he had to be at work in Austin at noon.

So we thanked the helpful staff in the cardroom (eston was buddies with all of them before it was over, and being reminded of hotel comp offers for the next time we visit, etc.) and headed back to Austin.

We made it back around 11am, enough time for Eston to shower and get to work.

We had a blast despite being wiped the next day.

Playing in a cardroom is so much different than playing online, although I think both have inherent advantages and disadvantages. I can't say which I prefer yet, mabye both. I'm looking forward to hitting up some 10/20 and 15/30 in Vegas.


cheers


PS - bankroll = $9300 - almost there!

Well, last week turned out great, overall up $2000, probably the strongest week that I' ve had in monetary results, although in terms of big bets, not the most impressive, as I have taken some successful shots at moving up. I'll comment more after I put the stats up: here they are -

Hold Em Ring Games Stats (from pokertracker):

Game Level	Total Sessions	Winning Sessions	Total Won	Total Hands	Table Hours	BB/Table Hr	BB/100 hands
$15/$30	3	3 (100.00%)	$826	114	1.5667	17.5745	24.152
$10/$20	5	3 (60.00%)	$126	198	3.0167	2.0884	3.1818
$10/$20 (6 max)	3	2 (66.67%)	$397	84	1.1	18.0455	23.631
$5/$10	40	24 (60.00%)	$1314	2332	30.7833	4.2694	5.6357
$5/$10 (6 max)	15	11 (73.33%)	$813	639	6.9167	11.7542	12.723
$3/$6	70	40 (57.14%)	$318.75	2460	33.65	1.5788	2.1596
$3/$6 Kill	11	8 (72.73%)	$423.25	462	5.5167	12.787	15.2688
$2/$4	35	21 (60.00%)	$695.5	1351	20.9833	8.2863	12.8701
$1/$2	45	27 (60.00%)	$129.39	1934	30.1833	2.1434	3.3451

So, my shots at 10/20, 10/20 short, and 15/30 have been succesful, although my results shouldn't be taken as indication of rates that can be sustained long term.
My main hope this week was to sit at the tables, feel like I had some idea of what I am doing, and scope out the competition. Here's my verdict (at partypoker):

5/10 6max tables are great, but sometimes aggressive with big swings. Practicing at lower levels helped me alot here, although I have some work to do. (more on this in a moment)

5/10 full games are good at party, but good tables harder to find then the 6 max tables.

The same applies to 10/20.

There are no 15/30 short games at Party Poker. These games can be wild and wooly, if you find the right table. The three tables I played were like party poker .5/1.. no kidding. Of course, the swings would be heavy here and not for the faint of heart.


These three levels are what I am currently playing (along with some lower limit short handed to clear my damn leftover bonuses from Ultimate Bet).

I've been working on my short handed play during this project - here are the results for that: (for the games that were not able to be tracked with poker tracker)

1/2 short - 3.25 hours - $65
2/4 short - 8.25 hours - $311
3/6 short - 6.75 hours - $533

these were mainly games that I played at pokerroom.com, trying to clear a reload bonus. I wasn't able to track these games, but they were great preparation for the 5/10 short at party poker.


In terms of other games, I haven't played much stud or omaha this week, but my buddy eston and I managed to make it out to one of the only two legal casinos in texas, and played some 10/20 holdem. Made about $200 in 4 hours of play. Not bad - I'll do I trip report on this in the next couple of days.

Sng's have been killing me. I'll post results and thougts on these soon.


So my goal seems like it is right around the corner. I think I would actually be disappointed with myself if I didn't make it to $10000 before Vegas. I have about 2 weeks left - it seems like enough time, but I might get slapped with a bad run of cards. We'll see.

I'll be updating this, and making some supplemental posts soon.

Cheers

So, there has been different advice concerning when one should move up in limits.. Some say that if you are bankrolled (300 big bets) at the next level, and you want to take a shot, you should. Others say that you should have a couple hundred winning hours at any level to ensure that you have a chance of winning at the next level..

I've put in a substantial amount of time at the lower limits (microlimit, .5/1, 2/4, and 3/6) and a fair amount of time at 5/10 before I started this project. I also would, from time to time, take shots at larger games when I had the cash and the tables looked soft. I'm doing well at 5/10, but I am not sure that I am a long term winner at this level.. If I had won all of the $3000 in between $3000 and $6000 from 5/10 ring games, I would have won 300 big bets and be more confident to move up.. However, much of that $3000 has come from other sources such as sit and go tournaments and short handed play at lower limits.

The question than is, should I move up to 10/20, or stay at 5/10 until I am more confident that I am winning there..?

One of my main goals of this project (besides making some cash) was to lay out some guidelines so that I would challenge myself and try to improve my game. With the online games being as soft as they are right now, one can make a decent income by just multi-tabling lower limit games. While this can be profitable, it can prevent one from improving...

So, my current plan is to go ahead and take some shots at the 10/20 full ring games at party. I'll do this like I did when I started 5/10 - one table, and I'll be sure to go over my hand histories..

In the meantime I'll continue to multi-table 5/10 - I feel comfortable playing two of these at a time. I am going to continue just playing the $100 sng's, as I have had more trouble beating those than the previous levels.

This week I started working on my short handed play and was pleased with how I did. I've been playing at different levels (from 1/2 to 5/10), but ultimately want to be playing the 5/10 short handed at party for awhile, as these games are supposed to be great..

So, in conclusion, the rest of this project will consist of me trying higher level games than I have played before (10/20 and 15/30 when I get to $9000), while still putting in some substantial time at 5/10 and 5/10 short handed. I'll continue working on my sng's, stud, and omaha games as well.

If I can make the $10000 mark before I head to Vegas, that would be awesome, although I will not force it. Good play takes predominance over short term results. I do feel that what I am doing will prepare me well for taking a shot at some of the low/mid limit games there.


ok, so that's what I am thinking.. I'll post some stats and more thoughts this week.

cheers

What a week! Last week when I posted my bankroll was around $5500, so I was thinking to myself, "$500 to $6000, piece of cake.. why I've had won pots that big... (well not really.. but soon)." Maybe it was because I was running so well at 5/10, or just in general in this project. Well, it couldn't have been further from the truth. In three days at the beginning of the week, I dropped around $800-900 playing 5/10, 3/6, and $100 sngs. Of course these kinds of swings are typical when playing at these levels, but it sure hurt quite a bit.

Like I mentioned before, I was playing 5/10 before I started this project, but I wasn't really multi-tabling or playing ALL the time.. when my bankroll was fat, I would play it, and when I cashed out, I would play lower limits. But, combined with the 100$ sng's, the swings this last week felt a little heavy.

So, of course I stepped back and try to reevaluate the situation. Should I continue, or drop down? yadda yadda yadda. Well, the first thing I did was let myself have a good nights rest. Ever since I started this project I have been putting in the hours (averaging around 30 hours week). This is on top of a full time job and other activities. Needless to say, I've been real busy this last month, and to top it off I've been drinking and hanging out late every weekend night.. So my body started to wear down, and I started getting sick.. This is obviously not conducive to good, solid poker playing.

At any rate.. I slept, got better, and put in some mad hours this weekend, and came back up around $1400 to make it to $6000!! woohoo..

I have some thoughts about how I will proceed, and will put together some results charts here pretty soon. I'll post these soon..

Lessons from this last week -
1 - take care of yourself
2 - if you feel shitty, you'll probably play shitty
3 - even if you feel great, and play great, poker can have some heavy swings..


cheers