October 2003: Harder than it looks

5th: I finally made my first deposit after playing some more free Sit 'n' Go's. I'm going to try and play my first games tomorrow afternoon. Limit Sit 'n' Go's is my game.

6th: Yikes, this isn't going so well. I've played three Sit 'n' Go's so far. I have 2 4th's and a 7th. I think I may need more practice. I'm going to play a bunch more free games until I'm ready.

14th: Well, after another weeks worth of practice I sat back at the money games again. Played 3 more Sit 'n' Go's tonight. The first one, I came in 5th. This isn't looking much better. Then I had a 3rd! Finally the money. Maybe this is the start of winning streak. After finishing 8th in the next match, I'm ready to give up. I've gone through over half of my monthly 'allowance' and I've only finished 3rd once. Maybe ring games are more fitting to my style. I do pretty good at the free money ring games. But $0.50/$1.00 seems pretty high stakes for the $24 I have left for this month. I think there are some penny games at UltimateBet.

15th: I've made a deposit at UltimateBet. They have $.01/$.02 Limit games with no rake. I'll try those for a while and see if I still lose money.

22nd: I've been making money at the penny tables (albeit, only pennies). UltimateBet is offering me $10 for another $50 deposit, but I have to play the $.25/$.50 game. I'm going to risk it.

28th: I did pretty good with the $.25/$.50 game, but then I played badly at the very end of bonus and lost almost all my profit. Including the bonus, I made $13. I'm not even break even for the month. I'm getting better though and next month I should start making money.

October Profit: -$13

November 2003: It keeps getting worse

5th: I'm still playing the penny limit games at UltimateBet. I'm doing pretty good. I have no idea what my win rate is, but my account balance is going up instead of down. It's still only pennies though and I'm over $10 in the hole. I really want to start playing with other peoples money.

7th: Paradise poker has offered me $50 if I deposit $200. I'm going to make the deposit, clear the bonus, and finally start playing with profits. The smallest game they offer is $.50/$1.00. I've never played that level, but I'm confident I'll do fine.

15th: I've cleared my first $10 in bonus. That means I'm only in the hole for $60. Holy cow, what is going wrong? I'm getting whipped 6 ways to Sunday. I've shot my budget for the month. On top of that, I'm scared, and I know scared money can't win. I'm going back to the penny games. I don't know when I'll be back to finish clearing my bonus.

I've been reading the LowLimitHoldem website and trying to use their advice. It makes a lot of sense, and I do seem to win a lot with suited A's. I checked out 'Theory of Poker' from the library and read that too. I'm doing all the reading I can to try improving my game.

I found a site called 'Flop-Turn-River'. The guy there talks about starting with Limit Holdem and losing $700 (oh my gosh, I'd freak out!). He then switched to No-Limit. That just seems nuts. If I can't make lots of money at Limit, why should No-Limit be better? On top of that, I've done lots of reading that No-Limit games dry up in a hurry. The fish simply run out of money too quick. Internet poker is so new, the No Limit games will probably dry up before I can get good enough to play them. Limit is definitely where it's at for the long run.

The Flop-Turn-River guy is posting his monthly profits though. His first month is +$600. Wow! I don't think I'll ever be making that kind of money from poker, but it must be nice.

Profit: -$60
Overall Loss: -$73

December 2003: At least I'm not losing money

8th: These penny games are the only ones where I feel confident. UltimateBet has offered me $100 if I deposit $500. I'm not even playing games where I can clear the bonus, but I'm going to make the deposit anyway. When I decide to move up again, I'd like to have a bonus waiting there for me. I don't know how long it might be until they offer another reload bonus, and I don't want to miss out. I'm going to start keeping detailed notes on all of my playing sessions.

10th: I've started playing some $0.25/$0.50 to try clearing some bonus money. I'm down about $1 in poker play, but the bonus has made up for it so far.

11th: Lost $6.50 today (including what I cleared in bonus). This isn't looking too good. Maybe I should head back to the pennies.

12th: Finally, a big winning session. I made $15 today in about 150 hands. This is a much need boost of confidence. I'm going to stick it out at this level.

30th: Well, I ended the year with a thud ... my biggest losing session of the month: down $8 after bonus. I'm down $6.50 in poker profits for the month, but my bonus is keeping me afloat and I'm going to post my first profit. All of $4.

The Flop-Turn-River guy posted his November profits ... over $1,100 from UltimateBet. Wow! I'd heard you could make money online, but I didn't think amatuers could make that much. I'm going to rethink the idea of playing No-Limit. UltimateBet has a $2 buy-in penny no-limit game. Maybe next month I'll try that out.

Profit: $4 (my first winning month!)
Overall Loss: -$69

January 2004: New Year, No-Limit

My wife gave me "Play Poker Like the Pros" and "Holdem for Advance Players" for Christmas. I'm amazed at how much I'm still learning about this game.

2nd: Well, this makes two big losing sessions in a row ... down $8.50 (only $7.50 after bonus). This decides it ... I'm going to try my hand at No-Limit. I think it will fit my style better. I'm losing like crazy at limit, but I really think I can beat the No-Limit game. I'm going to try the penny no-limit game at UltimateBet.

17th: No-Limit is working good for me so far. I've only played a few hundred hands but I'm up $3.75. I'm going to try a VERY basic strategy for a while. Phil Hellmuth listed his top 10 hands. I'm going to reduce that to only 4 hands. AA, KK, QQ, AK. If I get one, I'm just going to push all-in. Pairs and big suited connectors I'll try to see cheap or fold. This strategy is a no brainer, so I'm able to play 5 tables at once. That's as many as UltimateBet allows.

30th: I'm shocked how well that simple strategy worked. I'm up $17.75 for the month playing no-limit. I think I've found my home. I've only got two real problems.
1) The next level of no-limit games is a $25 buy-in. That seems like a huge jump. I just don't think I can stomach putting $10 - $25 into a pot on a single hand. I have no idea when I'll be able to move up. I need a much bigger bankroll.
2) There isn't any rake at the penny no-limit tables. Therefore, I can't clear my bonus. Paradise Poker has a penny no-limit table with a rake. Pots over $5 count towards clearing my bonus. There aren't many that big, so I'll be playing there a long time to finish out my $40 in bonus. It sure beats losing though. Looks like I'm going to have to keep playing Limit at UltimateBet for bonuses though until I can handle bigger no-limit games (who knows when that will be).
I played some Limit this month as well. Lost another $12.50 to clear $4 in bonus. I don't know why I keep getting killed at this game. I've decided that anytime I lose money at Limit, I'm going to play penny no-limit until I win it back. So far it's working out.

January Profit: $9
Overall Loss: -$60

February 2004: By jove, I think I've got it

12th: I've been playing the penny no-limit game all month. I'm up just over $23 so far. I feel very confident at this game. I still make my share of mistakes, but I feel that I'm a dominant player for this level. I've abandonded my simplistic 'All-in' system, and now make sensible, large raises that bad players can call with weak hands. It has cranked my win rate up over 30 BB / 100. I could never hope to make that in limit. My variance is suprisingly low as well. Now that I'm comfortable that I can make back 'lost money', I'm going back to the $.25/$.50 Limit game. I really want to become a good limit player so I can play in a casino some day. I also need to work off my bonus.

17th: At last, some measure of sucess at the limit game. Granted, I haven't played that much, but I'm up $13. That's a far cry better than pouring my money out like I had been. I'm feeling much more comfortable now. I generally know what draws will win, and which ones won't. I think that was a big problem before ... drawing to hands that still lose.

29th: I played some more ring games, but I've spent most of my time back at the Sit 'n' Go's. This time I'm playing for Ultimate Points though. It's probably a waste of my time, but I've always enjoyed them.

February Profit: $47
Overall Loss: -$13

March 2004: Sit 'n' Go crazy

It's a miracle that I made any money this month considering how many 'no money' tournaments I played. I played 70 Sit 'n' Gos for Ultimate points. I only averaged making 15 points per tournament though. If this was for real money, that would barely cover the fee.

Anyway, I managed to get in some more .01/.02 no-limit and .25/.50 Limit play. I'm finally out of the red. It was a great day when I realized I was no longer climbing out of a hole. My wife has been very supportive and still tells me it's ok if I lose up to $50 a month. I doubt she thinks we'll ever seen any real amounts of money from my hobby. That's alright. Maybe we'll be able to go out to dinner once a month or something.

March Profit: $38
Overall : $25

April 2004: There's no place like home

I've spent the entire month living out of a hotel room. Yeah. Working from home really spoils you. I get homesick easily. The only saving grace is that I can connect my laptop to the internet and play poker.

16th: I've been twisting my buddies arm to come play poker with me at UltimateBet. He's been playing the free games for a while now and I finally got him to start playing real money (albeit only pennies). I'm planning on playing a lot of penny limit with him to help him get his feet wet. That will certainly cut into my profit, but he's worth it. He's a good friend and I want him to enjoy poker. I'll try to help him learn from my mistakes instead of having to make them himself.

23rd: My wife gave me $75 to play in my first live tournament today. It was a limit tournament at a local casino near my hotel. About 100 players entered and I finished about 25th. I was pleased with my effort, though it would have been fun to win. This was the first time I'd ever held real cards and chips in a casino. The casino nearest my home spreads a 4/8 half-kill game. My long term goal is to build my bankroll to $1,600 so I feel comfortable playing in that game. I'll have to ask my wife if we can wait to spend any of my winnings until I reach that point. At this rate, it's going to be a long time. I'll be happy if I make it by next summer.

30th: I'll be heading back home in about 10 days. I can't wait to get back. I didn't play a huge amount this month, but teaching my friend to play well has reenforced some solid strategy in my own play. I feel in control and comfortable at the .25 / .50 Limit game and the penny no-limit game. I'm confident I can continue to make money at both of these games.

April Profit: $24
Overall Profit: $49

May 2004: A four letter word called work

May 1st: Party Poker put $20 in my account a few days ago. To keep it, all I have to do is play 140 raked hands. The smallest game at Party is .50 / 1.00, but if I can play tight and just not lose, the $20 will get me almost back to even at Party poker. I'm going to do it!

May 3rd: That was an unmitigated failure. Not only did I lose all of the $20 bonus, but now I'm an extra $10 in the hole at Party. I'm getting a bit weary of Party Poker. They have a lot of players, but all I've ever done there is get beat up on. On the bright side, I'll be home again in a week.

May 31st: After being gone for a month and a half, there is a great deal of work to be done. My job has some laid back and relaxing periods, but this isn't one of them. 70 - 80 hour weeks this month have left little time for poker.

My limit game continues to improve. I'm feeling very confident in my ability to beat the .25 / .50 level. I just need to find more time to play. Having been gone so long though, I'm spending most of my evenings doing family things instead of poker. I'm sure I'll have more time next month. With my loss at Party Poker, I'm break even for the month.

On a side note, my wife loves to watch Phil Hellmuth on TV. I put Phil on my Ultimate Buddy list. I've taken to mentioning this to him everytime I see him online. My wife likes it and it keeps her 'involved' in my poker playing. She has no interest in playing herself, but she is incredibly supportive. She listens to all my poker stories and theories at the dinner table. She talks about taking a trip to Vegas. She wants to go 'poker pro hunting' while I play at the tables. It's nice that she is finding a way to be included. What a great woman.

May Profit: $0
Overall Profit: $49

June 2004: The breakout

15th: I finally have a little time for poker again. I've been doing well at the .25 / .50 Limit game. I've decided that when my UltimateBet account balance reaches $200, I'm going to move up to the .50 / 1.00 game. I'm only about $20 away. I've also decided to start keeping detailed records of my sessions. I'm recording my numbers for: Wins, Flops, Hands, and profit / loss. I'm trying to get a better grasp on how I'm playing.

19th: I did it! I passed $200. I made $25 over the last 500 hands. I'll probably still play some .25 / .50, but tomorrow I'm moving up for the first time. I'm feeling good and very excited.

20th: I played about an hour at the $1 tables and I'm down $5. I just didn't get any cards (only 1 win, and only 7 flops, including the blinds). I'm not feeling bad about, as I know I'll eventually get some playable hands. I realized that I can go back to Paradise and finish working off my bonus now that I've moved up. I'm heading over there tomorrow.

24th: Kabaam! With my newly found poker superpowers, it was a completely different game at Paradise. I just cashed out. Including the $40 in bonus money I finished clearing, I earned $100 over the past 4 days. On top of that, Paradise gave me a $20 bonus to cashout to my neteller account (a withdrawal bonus ... who would have thunk it!). I am feeling fantastic about my poker game. I have to go to the doctor tomorrow though, and I'm NOT feeling fantastic about that.

25th: I think that was the worst doctor's appointment of my life. The doctor has put me on ZERO activity for the next few days, with minimal activity (like walking around) starting on Monday. My wonderful wife is taking good care of me though. Since I'm not even allowed to get out of my chair, I may as well play poker. That should keep me immobile. My wife and I are also planning on playing a bunch of Baldur's Gate over the network while I'm recouping, so it won't be all poker playing time.

30th: My recovery is taking longer than anticipated. Apparently things are more complicated than expected. Looking on the bright side however, I've been playing poker everday this week. I've won almost $60 over the last 1,000 hands at .25 / .50 and .50 / 1.00. This has been my first big money month. Now I'm really a poker player.

June Profit: $250
Overal Profit: $299

July 2004: Bonuses, Bonuses, Bonuses

1st: Just got an e-mail from Paradise Poker. They are offering a 20% re-load bonus up to $200. I'm going to deposit the full $1,000 and collect that bonus. I just finished pounding the .50 / 1.00 game there last week. I'm ready to go do some more damage!

3rd: Well, I'm off to a slow start. I've played about 850 hands and I'm down $47, not including the bonus I've cleared. I'm showing down the worst hand way too frequently. I can see that from the notes I'm keeping. I'm barely over 50%. I'm really going to focus on dumping hands earlier and saving more bets. I need to get this stat up if I'm going to win consistently. I'm still confident though.

12th: It took me less than 3,500 hands to clear the $200 bonus. Wow, that seems like easy money. I tightened up my post flop play considerably as well. I pushed my showdown win % over 2/3. I'm up $112 from my low point on the 3rd. That puts my profit from Paradise at $265 for this trip. I feel like I'm crushing the .50 / 1.00 game now. That is a great feeling. It's hard to remember why I had so much trouble back in November. I've come a long way since then.

These bonuses seem like a good thing. I hear the games at Party Poker are really soft. I'm going to try collecting bonuses from several of the party skins this month. Bonuses are still accounting for a large part of my profits, so I want to collect as many as I can now that I'm comfortable at the .50 / 1.00 games.

30th: The games at Party Poker really do seem soft now that I can play halfway decent. I pounded them for the last half of the month. The bonuses came rolling in so fast. I made over $600 in bonuses this month. Now that I can play the .50 / 1.00 games, these bonuses are easy and fast money. And putting my poker winnings on top of that is very sweet. I made over $200 in poker profit this month at the tables. That $1,600 bankroll level doesn't seem far off at all anymore. I'm hoping to get there and start playing live poker before Christmas. I go to Albuquerque every month, so I can check out the Casinos there once I have enough in the bankroll.

I found this really cool database program on the internet. It's called PokerTracker. It seems like it has been around since I started playing poker, but I never noticed it. I'm going to try it out. This will sure beat keeping notes on every session in an excel spreadsheet. I play at Party, UltimateBet, and Paradise, and it supports all three of those sites. It will be much easier to track my win rate and overall profit now.

July Profit: $830
Overall Profit: $1129

August 2004: I should have read the fine print

9th: I signed up for a bonus at Party Poker the at the end of July. I played a little bit last week, but was getting ready for a trip. Then I left out of town to visit family. I played a little poker while I was there, but not much. I was thinking I had 30 days to play these hands (that was how long I've had for all my other Party skin bonuses). I was quite unhappy when I realized this morning that the $50 bonus had expired. I was about 1/2 way to the bonus and e-mailed Party to ask if they could do anything. I can accept that it's my fault and I'm not getting the bonus, but I was very disappointed that they made no attempt to appease me. Just a very cold 'read the fine print' and 'there's nothing we can do for you stupid'. I'm sure I'll be back when they offer me more money (with a closer eye on the time frame), but for now I'm going to pull out my money and send them an e-mail telling them why.

19th: I've been playing at UltimateBet since my bonus fiasco at Party Poker. I've also been using PokerTracker to analyze my play. I decided to play the .25/.50 limit game at UltimateBet again until I've added 200 Big Bets to my bankroll. I've decided that 200 Big Bets is the amount I'll win at each level before I move up to the next level. I want to get a basline in poker tracker for the lower limits before I move up. I made just under 5 BB / 100 according to poker tracker, so I'm feeling good about my play.

21st: I finished clearing my bonus at UltimateBet. I'm going to move over to Empire poker and give them some action. They were the last Party site to actually give me a bonus. I think the action is looser there than at UltimateBet. I'll come back when they offer another bonus.

31st: Things are going pretty good. I'm making about 3 BB / 100 at the Party .50 / 1.00 limit game. I really like PokerTracker too. I wish I had discovered it months ago. I'm so glad I read that article by Terry Wynn at InternetTexasHoldem.com. That article and PokerTracker really opened my eyes. I'm going to add some additional monthly stats along with my profit figures from now on. Being a numbers geek, I'll enjoy watching how these change month to month. I pretty sure I'm going to reach the $1,600 level next month. I can hardly wait to try playing live.


Hands: 8,075 (.25/.50 & .50/1.00)
VP$IP: 15.6%
PFR%: 7.0%
W$WSF: 27.1%
W$@SD: 61.1%
AF: 2.25
BB / 100: 3.8
$ / hour (including Bonuses): $5.10

August Profit: $350
Overall Profit: $1479

Hey Greg
In this last post you said you cleared the UB bonus?? What did you play, and for how long? I have bonuses there that may last me a lifetime!! Do you know something I don't know??
Thanks
B