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From Zero Dolla to 5K or more in a year.

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    From Zero Dolla to 5K or more in a year.

    So following on from this thread, I said that I would log my progress on building a bankroll from Zero. As I might have said before I was a "player" for some time before I decided to go back to college. I also spent most of the last two year in the middle east where online poker isn't accessible. Essentially I've been off the poker radar for three years and haven't played at all over that period.

    I'm in Ireland for the last year of my degree and decided to try and get back on the horse in the hopes of leaving college with something of a windfall payment from on-line poker. I won't have as much time to play as I'd like as my college work takes priority. I'm also starting training soon for the first ever Kerry marathon (and I'm overweight). So there are plenty of distractions. To top it all off I wanted to do this the hardest way possible; starting from absolute zero.

    A couple of weeks ago I would have agreed with what some were saying; that I should just bite the bullet and deposit. That's what I had planned. However after looking around I managed to find I could get "rolled" at least a small amount on a lot of sites. So far I accessed to the following.

    Poker770 - $7.70
    Gala - $7.99
    Terminal - €5
    Yachting - €5
    Unibet - €19

    The rolls are so small that it's simply not possible to have a bankroll management strategy other than to play the smallest stakes possible. For cash this might be one or two buy-ins for the lowest stakes. For STTs the low stakes often have ridiculous rake of 12-20% so they have to be avoided. I figured the best strategy would be to play the $1 buy in tournaments and take shots as well as play some micros stakes heads up cash.
    In the case of Poker770 and Gala I played both bankrolls down on the micro stakes tables.

    Terminal and Yachting are tiny poker networks with almost no active tables but the tables were a lot softer. (which I need as my game is rusty). I had the Terminal Poker bankroll up to €17 but got very unlucky in a few all in pots and played that roll down too.

    On Yachting however I had a lot of success and played the €5 up to €40 in less than 48 hours without too much difficulty. The T&Cs of the deal were very good. You had to earn 1500 FPP which I was very close to. You did also have to make a deposit of €25 but I just withdraw the full again €65 a few days later. So this was defectively €40 I built up from nothing.

    I deposited the same €40 on Pokerstars, which gave me a roll of almost exactly $50. I tinkered around with a few different types of STTs initially but finally settled on the $1.50 STTs. I'm ten tabling the 9 player regular STTs only, no turbos as I'm not rolled for high variance. After a wobbly start I've played about 150 of these STTs this week and I have the bankroll up to $68.09. I'm on a nice little run of scores at the moment with the potential of getting into the Mercury high orbit leader board also. The volume I have to play at this level to get pokerstars’ form of rakeback is huge but as I climb the levels it should come into play quite a bit.

    I'm not going to move up to the $3.50 STTs until I have over $150 and I will drop down again if I go below this so there is still a long way to go before I begin to see the fruits of my labour. It will take a hell of a lot of patience. Aside from this on stars, there is only the potential for long shots with FPP buy-in tournaments.

    Then there is still the €19 I had on Unibet. I felt there would be little point in investing time there on microstakes when I already have the roll I wanted on stars so today I played a tournament. It paid 5 places with €100 for dirst and at one point I was first in chips on the final table but ended up bubbling. Damage was done with QQ v KK then I ran AA into K7 and went out 6th.

    There are also other free bankrolls on the way, for different sites where I can take shots again. If I'm lucky and spin it up there, I can move the money to Stars where the real bankroll building can be done.

    I'll post some graphs and stats from my STT play next week.

    #2
    Interesting, best of luck. 888 will give you 8.80 free also and is generally a soft site
    airport, lol

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      #3
      FYI if u wanna go the freeroll route..

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        #4
        Why create a second account here just for this?

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          #5
          Originally posted by Donkathon View Post
          Why create a second account here just for this?
          Was purely accidental. I should be posting with this one.

          Originally posted by eamonhonda
          Interesting, best of luck. 888 will give you 8.80 free also and is generally a soft site
          That was one of the first sites I went to. I requested the bankroll two weeks ago and they said all I had to do was wait for it, but I never got it. It's not a big deal any more. Pokerstars is where it's at, now that I have money there.

          As of today I have $74.67 there.

          Comment


            #6
            How did you magic the money into your Pokerstars account?

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              #7
              Originally posted by Bodybuilder View Post
              How did you magic the money into your Pokerstars account?
              Not being smart but did you read the OP?

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                #8
                Originally posted by Trotsky View Post
                Was purely accidental. I should be posting with this one.
                Ah I wouldn't worry about it - you wouldn't be the first poster to open up IPB and suddenly discover he's posting under a different name than previous.

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                  #9
                  Originally posted by Bodybuilder View Post
                  How did you magic the money into your Pokerstars account?
                  Short Version: Turned a free €5 into €40 on yachting poker. Withdrew it and put it on Pokerstars.

                  I'm up to $130.62 now. Had an excellent two days. I put in a good score on the high orbit of the mercury STT leaderboard which should get me at least another $10 also. In fact, on current form, I'd have a chance of winning the high orbit if I could put in enough games but I won't get enough in before the week ends tonight.

                  From tomorrow I'll put in another 100 X $1.50 9 handers to put in scores into the battle of the planets leader boards. Then I'll move up to the $3.50s. I should be over my $150 target for them by then.

                  Will Post Poker tracker screen shots tomorrow.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by Percy007 View Post
                    Not being smart but did you read the OP?
                    No, it turns out I didn't.

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                      #11
                      Some Poker tracker screen shots here. Can't seem to get the images to fit into the page so these are just links.







                      Bankroll is at $140.62 now following a ten dollar bonus from the battle of the planets leaderboard.

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                        #12
                        After putting in another 100 of the $1.50 STTs today I'm up to $182.67.

                        I also put in good scores in both orbits of the Mercury level of Battle of the Planets. I'll probably get a return of at least $20 from those.

                        Moving up to the $3.50 buy in now. I'm not moving up to the $7 buy-in until I have $500 so this will take some time. I need to take a day or two to study a little and plug some leaks.

                        Rake is a factor in moving up levels too. On the $1.50s the rake is 16.27%. On the $3.50s it's 12.54%.

                        I started using tableninja to help me play on more tables at a time. I'm up to 16 now but I feel if some of the software's bugs were ironed out I could possibly do 20-24 tables at a time. I can only use the trial for 30 days anyway, so I'll have to either purchase it or find a free alternative. The feature which allows you to have your standard opening raise already entered saves a huge amount of time. The all-in hotkey never worked properly for me though and dragging the slider takes up a lot of time.

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                          #13
                          Nice one. Keep it up!
                          If you're not in, you can't win

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                            #14
                            Had a poor start tot he $3.50s. Play 37 of them and end up down about ten buy-ins. Bankroll is at $144.12 now so moving back to the $1.50 for a while.

                            Combination of a few things really. I played too many tables and the hotkey software got laggy and buggy, not stacking the tables properly. I made quite a few mistakes as a result. I ran below my expected return from some all-in situations too but primarily I made some key errors on the bubble where I forced things a bit too much.

                            Going to review my exit hands from the session and either play less tables for the next session or fix the software problems.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Just reviewed the exit hands and understood that (with the exception of one or two marginal hands) I played fine and got very unlucky with a lot of dominating hands.

                              An interesting side effect of multi tabling and stacking the tables on top of each other, is that you never get to see the bad beats. It's great for avoiding tilt. I was under the impression I'd made mistakes when I was busting out of a lot of STTs having not seen the hands. If I'd seen them I'm sure I'd have been tilting.

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                                #16
                                Can't wait for the 5k to 100k next year

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                                  #17
                                  Recovered a little today after I dropped down. Back to $162.34

                                  Will take another shot at the $3.50s tomorrow but with fewer tables until I get the hotkey problem sorted.

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                                    #18
                                    Why?

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                                      #19
                                      Originally posted by CHD View Post
                                      Why?
                                      why wha?

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                                        #20
                                        Fair dues man keep it lit. Have a feeling your going to get the job done.

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                                          #21
                                          If I was doing this which I definitely wouldn't quite soul destroyin task but as soon as I hit 500$ I would withdraw and deposit on a smaller network and turn my attention to mtts.
                                          Just lower variance than stars mtts

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                                            #22
                                            Another bad session today. Have to drop down again. Bankroll is at $132.14 but at least I can take comfort from the fact that I will have some money coming from the battle of the planets leaderboard and and I'm close to moving up in Stars VIP status.

                                            Will review the exit hands again. Definitely some errors in there but I'm mainly just running way below my expected return. Lots of bubble situations that could have easily turned into wins if my fair share of dominating hands had held up.

                                            Down 20 buy-ins totally at the $3.50s now but the sample size is tiny and I ran almost this bad when I started the $1.50s too.

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                                              #23
                                              Absolute joke of a day. Down to $109.81. Last STT I played It was 3 handed and the short stack got disconnected. I think he was all-in in the blinds 8 or 10 times and ended up winning every time. I ended up coming third behind a guy that had been disconnected for more than five minutes. Just about summed up the session.

                                              Nothing I could do about it. It was always going to be a losing day but I'm running 15 buy-ins below expectation.

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                                                #24
                                                Played one last session to try and end the day on a positive note. Didn't actually play that great towards the end of it but still up a little.

                                                On $117.68 and will get $10 in vip rewards tomorrow.

                                                We'll be fine.

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                                                  #25
                                                  Originally posted by Trotsky View Post
                                                  why wha?
                                                  Why this.

                                                  Much bigger things on your mind, why do this to yourself?

                                                  Best of luck with it, rooting for you.

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                                                    #26
                                                    Originally posted by CHD View Post
                                                    Why this.

                                                    Much bigger things on your mind, why do this to yourself?

                                                    Best of luck with it, rooting for you.
                                                    Ah ok.

                                                    1) To have some money in the bank when I leave college in a year's time.
                                                    2) Prove to myself that I still have what it takes to beat the game at a respectable level.
                                                    3) Open the door to the possibility to satellite into big events and travel abroad.

                                                    You could say that I can do all of that without having to face down such a difficult challenge but I find that by setting myself goals and targets I'm able to motivate myself better. The personal log is entirely selfish in that sense.

                                                    Once I go back to college in a couple of weeks my playing time will come down considerably, but as it stands, I have still have plenty of other activities to take my mind off the pressure of this challenge.

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                                                      #27
                                                      Played a short session today. Up to $132.07

                                                      Should be ready for another shot at the $3.50s this weekend and will have some money coming in the form of vip rewards and battle of the planets winnings.

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                                                        #28
                                                        Played a little under 100 STTs over the last two days and again very unlucky to be showing a small loss from those. Bankroll is at $139.28 after I got $10 in rakeback. I should also get $15 from the battle of the planets leader board on Monday.

                                                        Here's the last hand I played today.

                                                        Poker Stars $1.29+$0.21 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t100/t200 Blinds + t25 - 2 players - View hand 1889685
                                                        DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

                                                        BTN/SB: t7898 M = 22.57
                                                        Hero (BB): t5602 M = 16.01

                                                        Pre Flop: (t350) Hero is BB with 8 3
                                                        BTN/SB calls t100, Hero checks

                                                        Flop: (t450) T 3 8 (2 players)
                                                        Hero bets t225, BTN/SB raises to t450, Hero raises to t5377 all in, BTN/SB calls t4927

                                                        Turn: (t11204) 9 (2 players - 1 is all in)

                                                        River: (t11204) 7 (2 players - 1 is all in)

                                                        Final Pot: t11204
                                                        BTN/SB shows K J (a straight, Seven to Jack)
                                                        Hero shows 8 3 (two pair, Eights and Threes)
                                                        BTN/SB wins t11204

                                                        Comment


                                                          #29
                                                          After I received the $15 from battle of the planets leader board winnings I took another shot at the $3.50s but got absolutely pummelled once again. Down to $127.79

                                                          Through 129 X $3.50 9 handers I'm down about 25 buy-ins.

                                                          There is no noticeable difference between the $1.50s and the $3.50s. I'm just running horribly unlucky over what is still a really small sample. I've no choice though. i have to move down levels again.

                                                          Comment


                                                            #30
                                                            Put in quite a long session today and its the first day that I really felt I was making a lot of mistakes. Far too many exit hands were avoidable. I knew that I'd recovered a bit towards the end but was a little apprehensive about looking in the cashier. Was absolutely stunned when I found that I was up $163.19

                                                            So I managed to overturn yesterdays big downswing even though I played quite poorly.

                                                            I'm going to complete the current block score to see if I can get into the STT leaderboard before playing some more $3.50s.

                                                            I've also started playing the daily FPP freerolls. I haven't been doing that before but I should have. I'm also turning FPPs into T$ through the 250 FPP sats. Pretty much every second one I should be able to get T$11. Will start taking shots at the big fields with those.

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                                                              #31
                                                              It had been quite a slow week. I think I yo-yoed between the $1.50s and the $3.50s about five or six times before I finally had a breakthrough. Yesterday and this morning I had a lot of break even sessions, maybe a slight loss, but since the afternoon I've run really hot.

                                                              Bankroll up to a more respectable $237.10 now. Will post some more graphs this weekend.

                                                              Comment


                                                                #32
                                                                Great day today. Went on a rampage in the $3.50s spun the bankroll up to $335.88 which includes $10 in rakeback.

                                                                Very happy to be finally in the black in the $3.50s. Although I was never worried about it, there was certainly the risk of getting frustrated and second guessing myself and the way that I was playing.

                                                                I won't move up to the $7 STTs until I have $500 and its likely that will take some time as I'm back to college next week and I wont have internet in my new house for a little while.
                                                                Last edited by Trotsky; 15-09-12, 02:50.

                                                                Comment


                                                                  #33
                                                                  Sorry, the images are fucked up. I can never get them right. The stash is up to $409.56 and I should get another $15 in battle of the planets prize money tomorrow.

                                                                  This should be my last post for a week or so as I#m going back to college tomorrow and I won't have internet for a while.





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                                                                    #34
                                                                    Nice work, you seem to be well on your way.

                                                                    Looking forward to rebuilding a roll next month once my dissertation is handed in.

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                                                                      #35
                                                                      wow super work man fair play, was expecting this to go tits up in a week but very nice

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                                                                        #36
                                                                        great log & well done.
                                                                        Mattie McGrath wanna-be

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                                                                          #37
                                                                          Originally posted by Donkathon View Post
                                                                          wow super work man fair play, was expecting this to go tits up in a week but very nice
                                                                          Thanks. I'd say you weren't the only one.

                                                                          I think the graph is a good example of the importance of understanding bad runs, the reasons behind them and keeping the faith in your play. There's 1200 STTs there but there's a block in the middle of over 600 STTs where I made a loss of $50.

                                                                          It's understandable for a lot of players to start tilting or second guessing themselves or making the wrong adjustments to their play just because they run bad for an extended period. I had about 6 shots at the next buy-in level before the bad run ended, having to drop down levels every time. It would be easy for a ,ot of players to get demoralised, or be stuburn and stay at the higher buy-in underfunded, essentially not giving themselves a fair crack of the whip. 600 STTs might be a lot for some people, maybe several weeks, but I'm sure I could run much worse for longer, particularly at higher buy-ins while still being a big winner over the long haul.

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                                                                            #38
                                                                            well done and good bankroll management, hope you go all the way with this would be nice to see you hit the 5k



                                                                            "Remember the time he ate my goldfish? And you lied and said I never had goldfish. Then why did I have the bowl, Bart? Why did I have the bowl?"

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                                                                              #39
                                                                              BUSTO?????

                                                                              SPOILER
                                                                              SPOILER



                                                                              "Remember the time he ate my goldfish? And you lied and said I never had goldfish. Then why did I have the bowl, Bart? Why did I have the bowl?"

                                                                              Comment

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