Just got done crushing the 2c-5c NL game. Bought in for one dollar and left with $8.88. The lower limits are easy to dominate on bodog. I really recommend starting an account to anyone looking to make some money. Here is a screenshot of the table I was on.

Finally got some money in the account. Earned $3.50 by finishing 26th in the Bodog 500 dollar guaranteed freeroll. Ill start out playing 2c-5c No Limit Holdem. The plan for now is to play mostly hit and run style until I get up to around 20 dollars so I can be properly bankrolled for the lowest limits.

Come play against me on Bodog!

As I get into making my movie, I hope to provide some reviews of how-to books I’ve read and will be reading. -ES

Having seen this book at a bookstore in Chicago (where I traveled to this past August), I had high hopes for this book. I flipped through the pages and thought it might be a worthwhile read. I figured that even if it wouldn’t helpful to me now, that it may be useful to me down the line.

Author Tom Malloy is clearly passionate about what he does and the movies he makes. I also realize that there are readers that are genuinely interested in making the type of movie Malloy makes. If you want to make a straightforward genre film without the bureaucracy of studio system, this book may be for you. But I’m interested in making specialty films, which have similar size budgets to Malloy’s, but are riskier ventures. At face value, this book is Film Producing 201 to Dov Simens’ From Reel to Deal 101. I have my problems with that book as well (I don’t think it lines up with the current realities of independent filmmaking). The subtitle of this book is “A new approach to financing feature films”, but using private equity to raise money for movies has been around for awhile now. That said, Malloy does a fairly good job of demystifying private equity, and I even picked up a few ideas on places where I could find money that I hadn’t considered previously. At the end of the book, Malloy makes recommendations for further reading. I appreciated that as well, even if I had already read a few of them. As I got further into the book, I began to run into parts where I seriously disagreed with him. Clearly, Malloy doesn’t have experience in making specialty films, and if you read his book, you’ll realize he really doesn’t have much interest in making them, either.

To show you what kind of producer Malloy is, read this passage:

I had an actress friend who was a TV comedy star. When I told her I was looking for attachments for an indie drama, she asked me to consider her. I think she got insulted when I told her it would be a tough sell. She said to a mutual friend, ‘What? He doesn’t think I’m famous enough?’ The fact is, any fame she had from the comedy world would actually hinder my little indie drama.

When I read this, I thought of Wyatt Cenac in Medicine For Melancholy. Cenac is a comedian by trade—director Barry Jenkins knew that when he cast him—and Medicine is a straightforward drama. Between the time the film made its debut at South By Southwest in 2008, and its release at the end of January this year, Cenac got hired by The Daily Show. My point is, some of us don’t mind taking chances. “Medicine for Melancholy” director Barry Jenkins took a chance, and it may have paid off. Opening weekend, Medicine For Melancholy made $12,625—on one screen. While I’m really speculating here, his casting probably attracted people who otherwise would never have heard of the movie. Medicine may have had a smaller budget than Malloy’s features, but the point is, nobody knows anything. At another point, Malloy dismisses VOD, saying there’s no money in it, which I found irritating. (I couldn’t relocate the passage; this is where an index—nonexistent in this book—might have been helpful.) VOD has provided many young, up-and-coming filmmakers, VOD can be an opportunity to reach out to an audience who otherwise might not have heard of it.

When I was first seriously entertaining the idea of stepping into the production end of filmmaking six years ago (I had previously aspired to be a screenwriter), I read Christine Vachon’s Shooting to Kill. In that book, Vachon and film critic David Edelstein discussed a variety of approaches when it came to financing her films. Unfortunately, it’s been several years since that I read that book, so my memory is fuzzy, but I would still recommend it as a starting point for those interested in making larger budget specialty films. My problem with Malloy is that he provides a very narrow point of view of mid-level budget films, and my professional goals as a filmmaker don’t dovetail with his.

Neophytes who want to make a genre movie might find Malloy’s advice genuinely useful. Those whose goals are a little more specialty minded, however, might find themselves seriously questioning or disagreeing with Malloy’s book.

Take it with a grain of salt.

I wrote this last year, as I grappled with the ego-bruising exercise of being forced to play lower stakes than I was accustomed to.  When I start playing in 2010, it will be the same.  Another thing I am thinking about…

___

Established players speak and write about how much respect they have for players who ‘step down’ in limits for a little while.  It’s in all the books.  They respect the decision and the discipline required to play smaller.  And, as is often the case with poker players, they are full of shit.

“I know he was struggling, and he’s really showing some sense in moving down limits for a while” is something you’ll hear from a player who doesn’t have to move down himself.  Its patronizing.  They could say “Too bad!  You suck!  You can’t play with the big boys anymore! Ha Ha!” and it would mean the same thing.  It’s the phony sympathy experienced when witnessing a bad beat or a bad run.  They only care if you are fish.

Enter my current situation.  Having played the big no-limit game primarily for the past 18 months, bankroll, employment (or lack thereof), family, stock market and other factors (including, some would say, talent) have led me to make the decision to drop down and play the 5-10 game at Lucky Chances regularly (this is Northern California, there is no in-between).

Now I am in a game where I may have both an edge (most of the time) AND a somewhat proper bankroll.  And it’s a funny feeling.  Suddenly I can be more creative in my play.  Suddenly I can splash around a little more.  Suddenly other players try to guess my non-showdown hands…and they are rarely correct.  Suddenly getting sucked out on, even though it happens more, is easier on both the ego and the bankroll.  Suddenly its easier to plan my hand, to adjust to the situation, to manipulate the action.  Take the following pretty basic hand from last night:

I open-raise in the highjack with A-10 and end up with 3 callers.  Stacks not really important here, nobody had less than 50BB.  Flop is 9 9 5 rainbow.  BB checks, I check, CO and Button check.  Turn is J.  BB (predictably) bets a little less than the pot.  I raise just enough to look scary.  CO folds, Button Folds, BB says “way to slow play your aces” (predictably) and folds (predictably).  Just as planned.

Not to say there aren’t many really good 5-10 players–there are–but I try that in the big game with the best players, and I get hammered.  Which, in a way, is why I long to go back to the big game,  its more interesting, the thought process generally extends beyond level two, and properly rolled it’s the place where I believe I can become a good player.

But I am not properly rolled for the big game, and I am enjoying the 5-10 at the moment (perhaps because I am winning consistently—ask me in a few sessions if I still feel the same way).

New Years day 2010 WSOP SEAT GIVEAWAY!!!

Hello I know its been a while since I posted here but with my other blogs( The Guy in Seat4 and Around the Poker Room) Working as a moderator for WDIAV and also an affiliate for WDIAV and FullTilt and Bodog its been sorta busy.

Okay I finally cashed out on Full Tilt. Through all of these things Ive been doing the past year I got my FullTilt Bankroll up to $2000.00 and cashed out for $1000.00. Unfortunately poor playing has knocked my remaining roll down to $500.00!! However I must  go on. My next goal is to cash for $1000.00 when I hit $3000.00 leaving me with a playing roll of $2000.00. This will be a  major challenge since I fell so far below my $1k starting point!!!

I will try to be more active in this blog thankyou so much for the continued support!!

Pokerdog283!

Bien, despues de un mes en el que me puse como objetivo doblar mi stack, he de decir que ha sido un autentico fracaso. No se que ha pasado ya que no solo no he conseguido lo que quería sino que mi bankroll se ha reducido considerablemente hasta quedarse en un 100$. Es decir mi bankroll se ha reducido un 50% desde el inicio del camino al paradise. Jugue en la sala Party Poker y os prometo que no he tenido tantos bad beats cuando metia la caja en mi vida. Pero aun asi no puede ser solo eso. Me suena a excusa barata por el cual estoy lejos del punto acordado. Mi juego también debe de haber cambiado. Estoy en proceso de volver a ajustar mi juego para poder estar en positivo y no terminar sesion tras sesión en negativo.

El objetivo ahora es simplemente ese, mejorar mi juego y volver a conseguir un bankroll con el que poder aspirar a objetivos un poco más ambiciosos. No tengo un tiempo definido, ya que lo más importante ahora es conseguir de nuevo mi juego ganador.

Here we go kids! I will be tracking The sports betting champ selection each and every week.

Hallo Zusammen,

den neunten Rang belegt das App: PokerIncome.

Es ermöglicht einem seine getätigte CashGames gut aufzubereiten und im Blick zu halten, ob die eigene Bankroll gerade im Plus ist oder ob man bei bestimmten Spielen immer nur ein Minusgeschäft verzeichnet.

Das App ist kostenlos und ich kann es jedem Poker- und Statistikbegeisterten nur empfehlen.

Achja. Und sorry für die Verspätung. Ganz vergessen, dass schon wieder Donnerstag war.

Bueno, antes que nada quiero aclararles a todos que ES POSIBLE HACER DINERO JUGANDO AL POKER EMPEZANDO DESDE CERO. Mucha gente no lo cree cierto, pero hace unos cuantos días recibí un cheque por USD 100 dolares que cobré en el banco PIANO, siguiendo unos simples pasos y jugando un poco en Party Poker.

A continuación, les explico como pueden hacer lo mismo, en tan solo 22 pasos xD:

1. Hacer click aquí:

BankrollMob – no deposit poker bonus

2. Llenar tu Nombre Completo y E-mail arriba a la derecha.

3. En el primer casillero completar con tu nombre y en el siguiente con tu apellido.
Abajo repetir tu mail, al igual que en el casillero siguiente y luego copiar el código de confirmación.

4. Click Continue.

5. Completar tus datos personales:

Nombre
Mail
Sexo
Fecha de Nacimiento
Calle
Codigo Postal
Ciudad
Pais

Luego elegir un nombre de usuario y contraseña.

6. En Phone Verification elegir tu pais (En este caso, Argentina) y al lado tu telefono, con un 11 delante, por ejemplo si tu telefono es 44444444: 1144444444
Y click en Call now!.

7. Atender el teléfono y escuchar atentamente el código de tres números (tranquilo, los repiten)

8. Copiarlo en el casillero y click en Continue.

9. Ir a tu mail y abrir el mail nuevo, haciendo click en el CONFIRMATION LINK.

10. Ahora hay que esperar generalmente 24 hs para que aprueben tu cuenta (PODES FIJARTE EL ESTADO EN LA PAGINA PERSONAL, CLICKEANDO EN MOB ACCOUNT).

11. Una vez aprobada, ingresar a tu cuenta en MOB con tu usuario y contraseña.

12. Hacer click en BANKROLLS

13. Tildar los FILTROS: NO DEPOSIT y POKER.

14. Seleccionar la OPCION PARTYPOKER (única disponible para la Argentina, en otros países pueden seleccionar otras).

15. Click en REQUEST.

16. Te aparece una serie de pasos en inglés, que aquí voy a traducir:
Dice que sigas todos los pasos con cuidado y que pongas correctamente el código de bono: GET100FREE
- if you don’t, then we can not transfer the $25 to you and you won’t be eligble for the free $50 bonus!

17. Click aqui para bajar PartyPoker.

18. Click Ejecutar cuando aparezca el cuadro de descarga.

19. Instalar el software y abrirlo, después hacer click en Crear cuenta nueva

20. Completar con los mismos datos que antes en MOB y en Código de Bono no olvidar poner GET100FREE, sino no van a recibir el dinero!

21. Ultimos dos pasos: Primero click en Cajero y completar todos tus datos. Cuando te pida que elijas tu método de depósito cerrar todo.

22. Donde dice REQUEST BONUS, en la página de MOB poner tu nombre de usuario en PartyPoker y click en REQUEST BONUS.

LISTO! Ahora queda esperar unos dos o tres días hasta que aprueben el traspaso y ya podés jugar en PartPoker gratis, donde te recomiendo llegar a USD 200 y retirar por CHEQUE USD 100 (tardan dos semanas en llegar y podes cobrarlo en cualquier BANCO PIANO, sin necesidad de tener cuenta).

Saludos!

Manejo del bankroll y la decisión correcta de un torneo

Si quieres jugar torneos de poker online, te encontraras con una enorme selección de la cual elegir. Nuevas ofertas de torneos salen de las páginas de poker prácticamente cada minuto. Pero estos no son todos los mismos tipos de torneo. Más all de los formatos comunes tales como “Freeze out” y “Turbo Tournament” debes poner atención a los “Rebuy Tournamnets”, ya que estos pueden volverse mas caros que el dinero inicial, debido a la posibilidad de comprar mas fichas durante el transcurso de juego.

En nuestra sección Silver los formatos mas comunes (“freezeout” “turbo tournament”, “rebuy tournament”, “satellite tournament” y “multi-table SNG”) son explicados en un solo articulo. Tu habilidad para elegir un torneo en relación a este aspecto, y reconocer que formato es el mejor para ti es crucial para tu éxito.

Lo más importante que debes considerar es el buy-in. Casi cualquier formato de torneo puede ser jugado por cualquier buy-in. Durante el transcurso de este articulo aprenderás que tienes algunas trabas con las que tu bankroll debe lidiar.

Muchos jugadores no entienden este principio y continúan jugando los mismos torneos con el mismo buy-in una y otra vez, hasta que su bankroll llega a cero. No manejan cuidadosamente su bankroll y terminan si el dinero suficiente para jugar mas torneos.

Debes evitar estos problemas. Un buen manejo del bankroll soluciona este problema automáticamente. Simplemente necesitas ver a tu bankroll como la cantidad de dinero, por un lado, y como la suma de buy-ins para torneos por el otro.

$1200 son $1200. Sin embargo, los puedes ver como 24 buy-ins para torneos de $50, 120 buy-ins para torneos de $10 o 1200 buy-ins para torneos de $1.
Hagas lo que hagas, seguirán siendo $1200.

Debes pensar bien como administrar tu bankroll. Si juegas torneos de $50 con tus $1200, puede que pierdas una buena parte de tu bankroll muy rápidamente. Si por ejemplo, no consigues nada de dinero en 12 torneos sucesivos (y esto pasa muy a menudo), la mitad de tu dinero se habrá ido. ¿Realmente quieres tomar este riesgo?

Si solo pagas $1 por torneo, será muy difícil que pierdas todo tu dinero. Por otro lado estas siendo demasiado cuidadoso en este caso y no estas sacando provecho de tu dinero. A pesar de todo, quieres progresar en el juego y tener un buen balance entre riesgo/recompensa.

En otras palabras el punto es invertir sensiblemente una cierta cantidad de tu bankroll en un torneo de una manera en la que tu riesgo de perder y tus chances de ganar tengan una buena razón entre ellas.

Un poco de suerte siempre es necesaria para ganar un solo torneo. Pero nunca sabes si la tendrás en el próximo torneo.

A la larga veras que jugar un buen juego y tomar las decisiones correctas, será lo que te lleve a ser exitoso. La buena y la mala suerte serán balanceadas con el tiempo. Al corto plazo, de todos modos, puede que los resultados sean bastante malos o modestos. Estos se llama un “downswing” en la terminología del poker.

Para asegurarte de que los downswings no pongan en peligro tu carrera en el poker, debes administrar bien tu bankroll y nunca invertir demasiado dinero en un torneo. Esto se llama manejo del bankroll.

Tu bankroll es tu capital, que debe ser invertido sabiamente, para que puedas progresar en el juego. Quieres ganar un montón, cuando ganas, pero que no te golpeen demasiado las perdidas.
Esto puedes conseguirse siguiendo la siguiente regla:
La regla de los 100 Buy-In

La experiencia a demostrado que 100 buy-ins acomodan tu deseo de tener ganancias altas y poco riesgo de perdida de la mejor manera. No juegues torneos que no están hechos para 100 buy-ins.

En otras palabras: Nunca inviertas más del 1% de tu bankroll en un torneo.

Esta regla muestra un enfoque preciso para cuando te mueves por arriba o por debajo de un nivel.

Varianza en los torneos de poker

Si buscas “Variancia” en Wikipedia, la primera frase del articulo dice: “la varianza de una variable aleatoria es la esperanza de desviación de dicha variable respecto a su valor esperado.”

En el mundo de los torneos de poker la varianza entra en juego al afirmar que no todo sale siempre como lo esperamos, no todo parece justo. Jugaras torneos en los que estarás con una buena racha. Buenas cartas caerán en tus manos así como también las fichas de tus oponentes, si apuestas apropiadamente.

Luego estarán también los torneos en los que todo te sale mal. Pero de todos modos nunca sabes de ante mano si las cosas saldrán bien, mal (o mas o menos). Las cartas son repartidas al azar. Muchos jugadores cometen un error importante aquí: Se involucran demasiado emocionalmente con la pregunta de si están bien o mal en la escala de la varianza.

Probablemente ya te has encontrado en la situación de decir: “Hoy ha ido todo de mal en peor”.

Si quieres ser un jugador exitoso de poker de torneos es muy importante, de todos modos, aceptar esta varianza como parte del juego y aprender a lidiar con ella. Sin importar si las cosas van bien o mal en el torneo en un momento dado, debes concentrarte en tomar siempre la mejor decisión posible en la mano que sigue.

Tomar este principio a peco es una condición decisiva para el éxito que tengas jugando torneos, así como también significara que no solo estas en una mejor posición en términos de tu juego (Esto es llamado “edge” en el lenguaje del poker) sino que también te encuentras psicológicamente mas fuerte que tus oponentes.

Since I got accepted to be a part of bodog’s team, I decided Im going to start the challenge over. I was up to 165 dollars. I think starting over will be good for 2 reasons. There are a few things I have learned to make the site a little better so I want to start fresh and begin with 0.00 dollars again. Now that I know how to put more information on the site, I can provide more information on how to build the bankroll. I got my bankroll going so fast it was over 100 dollars well before I figured out how to show everyone what I was doing. I really want to document the grind it takes to build the bankroll like that.  I wasnt able to do that before so Im going to rectify that this time around. Hope it makes everything more interesting.

          There is a subject that I have not really seen talked about too much on any sites or in any books. Im going to call it buy-in overlap. Most articles on bankroll management talk about playing one level until your bankroll gets big enough to play the next level up. But what about when your bankroll has enough for you to buy into 2, 3 or 4 different levels of play?

          Say you have 120 dollars in your bankroll. This would mean that if you are following a bankroll management plan, you would be able to risk no more than 6 dollars to any one cash game. So should you be playing 5c-10c NL, which has a max buy in of $10 and a min buy in of $2? Or should you be playing the 10c-25c NL game, with a minimum buy in of $5?  Better yet, what about the 10c-25c or 25c-50c Limit Holdem games? What is the best choice? The answer is all of them.

          Most people say you should stay at one level until you reach the max buy in for that level and then move up. This is great advice and there is nothing wrong with following it if thats what your comfortable with. However, I would advise anyone that feels their game is strong enough to handle higher limits to play any and all games that they are bankrolled for, whether you will be buying in for the minimum or maximum or anywhere in between. This will help you get familiar with some of the new players at the higher limits before you will be playing there full time. By playing limit and no limit games alike, you will help increase your skills at both games at the same time as well. So I advise anyone to play in as many different games as you possibly can to help make yourself a more well rounded player.

In small stakes cash games, there are many loose players who are willing to go broke with very mediocre hands. These players usually are casual players who are not too concerned with losing all their money with middle pair. When you are grinding out a bankroll at the smallest of stakes (1c-2c, 2c-5c, 5c-10c) there are some slightly different strategy ideas you might want to follow to make sure your bankroll is constantly growing if your a serious player. Here are 5 ways to beat these games. 

1. Tighten up your starting hand requirements. These are the stakes where it is actually profitable to play very straightforward poker. You are going to get paid off with your good hands so its usually best to be patient and wait for better hands to play. Theres no need to play marginal hands and make yourself have to make the tough decisions after the flop. Make your decisions easier.

2. Dont try too many fancy plays. Once again straigtforward poker will win you plenty of pots. You dont need to raise with mediocre hands when you feel your opponent might be weak. Chances are you are probably right but hes still likely to call you down anyways. There is no need to 3 bet someone unless you know for sure you have the best hand. If someone raises you there is very little chance they will throw away their hand before showdown. Take this into consideration. Make sure you always have the best hand if your betting.

3. Stop bluffing. Thats it. If you miss your draw throw your hand away, dont fire a bet on the river in attempt to steal the pot on a busted draw. Hes going to call you with as much as bottom pair many times, making this a very unprofitable play for you. If he called your continuation bet on the flop and the third bet on the turn, he is most likely calling you on the river, so if you still havent improved to what is likely to be the best hand by the river, dont throw your money away by bluffing again on the river.

4. Raise strong with big hands. When you bet, bet strong. Raise for value and get as many chips as you can out of the people calling you while you know you have the best hand. This is important since you are playing fairly tight starting hands.

5. Its ok to limp in with drawing hands if you have enough discipline to get away from it when you dont hit. Limping with suited connectors is ok if you can get away from them when you dont flop a good draw. Its very simple.

When playing small stakes cash games you need to be able to take advantage of the weaker players who will call all the way down with very marginal hands. the way to do this is by betting when you know you have the best hand. You are going to have a hard time getting players to fold better hands because they simply wont fold most of the time. Use this to your advantage and get paid off on your big hands.

Got the bankroll up to 67 dollars tonight…lost my first 3 buy ins pretty quickly and then started to take the table over and left when I was almost 15 dollars ahead for the day. Thinking about moving up to 10c-25c Limit here soon. I would be on the short end of the buy in but it would give me a different option from the No Limit table. Overall a very good day today. Ill be posting some more articles this week on strategy and more bankroll management so keep a lookout and let me know of any suggestions.

I know I need to be more consistent with this blog and I will!! Things have slowed down and on Monday night I will be writting my final episdoe on the WSOP… for a while anyway. However thanks to the WSOP my blog called  The Guy in Seat 4 has had over 12000 mostly since the 2009 series began.

In my last update about my bankroll I had went from $1.25 to almost $1000.00. I then placed 7th in the Full Tilt $5 buy in cash out tournament for about $400.00 Ive gained some and lost some and overall in good shape still not where I want to be but grinding it out can be fun too!
This month I will be trying to refocus on my affiliate work and have dropped a few and will focus on Full Tilt, Bodog and Pokerstars, Cake and Doyles room. WordPress wont allow me  post my links to Pokerstars and Fulltilt so go here instead.
Also If you are not currently a Full Tilt affiliate and want to kick start your bankroll then please do it today . SIGN UP HERE!!! I have finally seen the pay off and its NICE!!

This month is full of abnormal swings in my game. There’s absolutely no chance to start session without going down few buy ins. Same thing happened today and it was culmination of last three days where I’m running like crap.

Just a few today’s hands and this stuff keeps going on, session after session…

Can’t win with AA last three days

AA vs T3

AA vs T9

KQ vs 99

Flush is not good

Top set vs top donk

Top set = nuts?

So what’s the point of these hands? I’m not whining at all. I’m just happy that I’m tilt proof and there’s no downswing or bad run of cards that can stop me. It just can’t! I can bust numerous stacks with 90% to win – so what? I don’t give a fuck for that… After all – I’m the winner not those donks…

Today’s graph: 

I guess I need some really good run of few days without those kind of beats like in those hands above or I won’t reach $2K for this month. According to all in $ev line I should be on $985 for this month and I’m below that. Here are my stats for this month so far:
On top of that goes $430 in bonuses for this 14 days. And one more thing – my bankroll is $0.13. How? Well I cashed out everything except few cents as I’m moving to another site of the same network. For now I’m quit with bwin as they fucked some things badly like not giving reload bonus codes anymore, canceling loyalty status and stuff like that. If I want to continue to play on bwin my effective rakeback would be whooping 5%! WTF? It was 52% just to notice… I’ll take a break a day, maybe two and then it’s coming my grind time!

Fuckin’ unstoppable!

Balance inicial

Como ya comenté en la presentación del blog, mi intención era la de dividir ésta “aventura” en varios objetivos, los cuáles iría explicando a medida que hubiese cumplido el anterior. El objetivo inicial de duplicar un bankroll de 200€ ya está cumplido, pues en el último pronóstico se ha conseguido la cantidad de 403,56€. Todo éste beneficio sucede también al haber definido anteriormente un stake; en mi caso un stake 10 correspondía a un 20% del bankroll acumulado.

Así pues, voy a hacer un pequeño balance de la 1ª etapa:

- Pronósticos publicados: 14

• Apuestas simples: 12
• Apuestas combinadas: 2

- Pronósticos acertados: 11

• Apuestas simples: 11
• Apuestas combinadas: 0

- Pronósticos fallados: 3

• Apuestas simples: 1
• Apuestas combinadas: 2

- G-P total: +203,56€

- Yield: 61,02%

En resumen, que en 14 pronósticos realizados se ha obtenido un beneficio de un 61,02% acorde con la cantidad total invertida en los pronósticos, que ha sido de 333,60€. Óbviamente es un yield muy elevado, ya que los 3 pronósticos fallados han sido con un stake bastante bajo. No es normal que haya un yield tan elevado, pero a la que se entre en una racha de pronósticos negativos, éste % de beneficio bajará muy rápidamente, y debería estabilizarse entre un 5% y un 15%, para poder decir con claridad que se está invirtiendo el dinero correctamente; y es que nadie te da hoy en día un beneficio que se sitúe entre un 5% y un 15%.

.

Objetivo

Cualquiera que se dedique al mundo de las apuestas debe tener una buena gestión de bankroll si quiere tener éxito en forma de beneficios. Así como una parte de la gestión consideramos que es la definición de nuestro stake, otra parte importante es definir unos objetivos.

En mi caso el objetivo inicial fue el de doblar un bankroll inicial de 200€. Una vez cumplido el primer objetivo, es cuestión de definir el siguiente. Actualmente, seguir pronosticando con todo el bankroll acumulado tiene el riesgo de poder perderlo todo, por lo que el beneficio real sería de -200€, cosa que no debe pasar si las cosas van bien.

De los 403,56€ que hay actualmente de bank, me quedaré solamente con el beneficio obtenido que es de 203,56€, con el que seguiré la “aventura”. Los otros 200€ restantes, que son los invertidos inicialmente, no los voy a tener en cuenta, por lo que se puede decir que ya se ha recuperado la inversión inicial y que, como mínimo, no habrán números rojos. Con todas éstas premisas, el objetivo que me propongo a partir de ahora es el de volver a doblar el bankroll, ya que vuelvo a estar como al inicio, pero sin tener el riesgo de los 200€ iniciales.

Así pues, el bankroll actual pasa a ser de 203,56€, y definiré el stake de la misma forma que al inicio, es decir:

• Bankroll * 20% = stake 10

Una vez se consiga el objetivo propuesto, haré un balance y definiré un nuevo objetivo.

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Lionelmessi
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I got up this morning to play a little freeroll and I noticed that bodog added a 10 dollar bonus to my account. Im not sure why but its pretty awesome considering I didnt make a deposit and they still gave me 10 bonus dollars. That brings my total up to $27.35. This makes me extremely happy and really helps pad my bankroll and gives me some room to maybe play a few tournaments. Im now properly bankrolled to be able to play 1 dollar tournaments. Im still crushing the 5c-10c Limit games though so im still going to stick to that most of the time. I also figured out how to post my statistics for all the games im playing in so I will be doing that in the next few days as I play some more games. Here is a screenshot of my bankroll chart. This is without the bonus added in.

Since I started this Challenge with zero dollars in my account, it would make sense to explain a little strategy on playing freerolls.

            Most freerolls have between a 30 and 100 dollar prize pool and usually thousands of players. This means that if you get anywhere close to cashing in one, you will be spending at least a couple of hours playing for what is usually somewhere between 50 cents and 15 dollars. Not much, but if your starting a new bankroll without making a deposit, these pennies are what is going to start you off so you should at least have a plan of attack that will help you cash in them. Some poker sites (like bodog) have freerolls that have rebuys and guaranteed prize pools up to $1000. Freerolls like these should be played in as much as possible but we will talk about these in another article. Ill be focusing on the smaller freerolls here.

Early Stages

          Freerolls should be played a little bit different than real money tournaments. Real money tournament strategy is to start off tight early on playing mostly premium hands and not risking your tournament life on coin flips. Once the antes kick in you should turn up the aggression and build your stack gradually by stealing the blinds and antes. Freerolls are different in that you want to build your stack early by doubling up. You want to play smart but do not worry about betting small amounts to win small pots. Take your premium hands and push all in preflop. You will most likely get at least one or 2 callers with average hands. Do not wait until after the flop to push all in. Many players who would have called you with K 10 preflop will not want to call after a flop of 9-5-3. You want to double up early  and often with solid hands. If it doesnt work out you can just play another freeroll. You need to build a big stack early so you can throw it around the table in the later stages. Take advantage of the carelessness and loose play of the other players. I would push all in with any pocket pair 88 or better and ace jack or better. If you can see a flop cheaply I would limp with all pocket pairs below 88, any suited ace, KJ, K10 or any suited connectors trying to see a monster flop. NEVER BLUFF AT THIS STAGE OF THE TOURNAMENT!!!

Middle Stages

          As the tournament progresses, the play will start to resemble normal poker more and more with players gradually beginning to tighten up. The middle stages will still be fairly loose but now you can start to pick and choose who you want to play against. By now you should have a big stack that you can use to push the smallest stacks all in. I would refrain from using the all in move here preflop as you may get re raised by a bigger stack you dont want to get involved with. Now is a good time to play Straightforward poker and make big raises with big hands. Play your cards in position and agressively. Dont play out of position unless you have big holdings. Limping with small pocket pairs and suited connectors is still acceptable if you can see the flop cheaply. I would make raises between 3.5 and 5 times the big blind on any raise. I would still refrain from bluffing at this stage of the tournament because of the amount of short stacks that will be ready to move all in. Play as straightforward here as possible and you will still get paid off on your made hands most of the time.

Late Stages

          As the later stages of the tournament come closer you can start to increase your range just a little bit and play a little more aggressively. I would still play very straightforward but you can start raising with suited aces and even suited connectors in position. However, be prepared to fold these in the face of reraises. The short stacks will be willing to move all in and you will still need premium holdings to be able to call these raises. Continue to play most hands in position and wield your big stack around the table as much as possible. Note that this strategy is for a big or medium/big stack, if you have a short stack you need to wait for a hand to double up with on an all in move. You need to tighten your range of hands and wait for good opportunities when you are the favorite to win.

Final Table

          If your lucky enough to get to the final table, now is the time to become the bully if the table is fairly tight. You can raise with any ace, king, or even Q 10, Q J. If the table is very loose let them knock each other out and move up the ladder with solid poker plays in position.

Good Luck!

Another great day at the 5c-10c Limit tables. I struggled early on, but after losing my first 2 buy ins, I turned a good profit on my 3rd buy in and then took a break and went to dinner. After dinner I came back and profited another 3 dollars plus. Im now up to over 14 dollars in my account which is far ahead of where I thought I would be at this point. The 5c-10c tables are full of very weak players and I am able to really exploit these players pretty well. Im winning very large pots and saving bets very well. Im really anxious to move up a level but im nowhere near the bankroll im going to need for that kind of move. Bodogs next level up is 10c-25c limit which is way too large and the 5c-10c No Limit tables have a minimum buy in of $2 which would require a $40 bankroll. Gotta be patient

So I took my $1.50 and put all of it into the smallest limit game bodog has, which is 5c-10c. The first 30 minutes i played I was struggling pretty bad and at one point I was down to 29 cents remaining. Then I won a few hands to get my stack up to 1.72. Then I went on a tear after hitting a gut shot nut straight on the turn with Q9 offsuit from the big blind in a 5 way pot. After that I got pocket aces 3 times within about 25 minutes and was winning just about every pot I entered. It was difficult to leave the table but I managed to do so when I had $10.42 in front of me. Once I had a large stack I took control of the table. It was such a huge cash. Now I can buy into the same game for 52 cents and be properly bankrolled at 5%. Although thats a pretty small buy in for this limit Im going to see if it can work out profitably. Im suprised I have been this fortunate to go from zero to over 10 dollars in such a short period. Soon I will be posting videos of hands and hand analysis from these types of cash games once I get everything set up. Hopefully by the end of the week I will have everything going.

Here are my basic bankroll management rules that I will be following at all times. You will probably notice that some of the rules (like #’s 1,3 and 4) are similar to Chris Ferguson’s bankroll management rules. Im going to do a few things differently but the basis is still the same. Im going to be a little bit more conservative in this aspect. He knows what hes talking about and has alot of experience with it. I hope this helps anyone who needs it.

1. Dont buy into any No Limit or Pot Limit cash game for more than 5% of your total bankroll.

2. Dont buy into any single table sit-n-go for more than 4% of your total bankroll

3. Dont buy into any MTT for more than 2% of your total bankroll

4. Must leave a No Limit cash game table if 10% or  more of your bankroll is at the table  at any time.

5. Dont buy into any 18,27,36 or 45 player MTT for more than 3% of your total bankroll.

6. When you have a very small bankroll that does not allow you to be properly bankrolled at the smallest levels, you must leave any No Limit cash game when you are ahead 50% of what you started with. Example – you have a $3.00 bankroll, and you sit down at a 1c-2c No Limit game with 40 cents. You must leave the table when you reach 60 cents and then rebuy into another table for a lesser amount. Limit games are a little different from No Limit in that you probably wont go broke on one bet. You dont have to worry about going broke on one bet so on Limit tables I am going to be a little looser on my bankroll requirements. There is no 10% bankroll rule on limit tables.

Rules on taking shots at higher levels

1. You may take a shot at a new level only if you win more than the buy in for the new level at the lower level or in a tournament.

2. You must stop for the day if you lose your buy in when taking a shot.

3. You may not take a shot at another level if you are already taking a shot at a new level. Even if you win enough for a higher buy in. You only get one shot per day.