5k hands sample

My first 5k hands sample played on iPoker $0.5/$1 fixed limit heads up tables. It sure looks nice :)

Heads up limit

1/2:
95h, +$21, +11.18 BB/100
0.5/1:
2760h, +$99, +3.59 BB/100
0.25/0.5:
526h, -$4, -1.49 BB/100
Total hands:
3381h

1/2 HU:
132h, -$57, -21.50 BB/100
0.5/1 HU:
2910h, +$178, +6.13 BB/100
Total hands HU:
3042h

I've made a switch to heads up limit last week. I've been thinking about this ever since a friend of mine made that switch a couple of months ago and never looked back. His win rate skyrocketed, he plays less than ever and earns more money than ever playing 10/20 flhu. Of course, its not easy to beat these games but he's a good player and is constantly working on improving his game.

I deposited $300 from my bankroll to one iPoker skin and started at 0.5/1. I've already played there 2 months ago with great results but the sample was very small, less than 2k hands. The rake was huge, ~8 BB/100 which is a very high rake even if you do a very good table selection and never play anyone who isn't completely clueless. The one good thing about such high rake is the fact that a good player will never play in these games without some sort of cashback. Thats why I needed a good cashback deal. I finally found one, thanks to my friend and I was ready to make my first step into heads up limit world.

So far so good. I'm doing great but I don't know if I'm running good or I have a really huge edge over my opponents. Over 4.6k hands I have +5.8 BB/100 but I won't draw conclusions until I play at least 20k hands.

Total: +$240
Bonus: $144
Rakeback: $91
Kickback: $220

Current bankroll: $2917 (+$695)

Weekly update 2

1/2:
95h, +$21, +11.18 BB/100
0.5/1:
2760h, +$99, +3.59 BB/100
0.25/0.5:
526h, -$4, -1.49 BB/100
Total hands:
3381h

I've completed one of the remaining kickback bonuses I still haven't cleared and was done in 3 days. I made a $23 profit plus a $120 in kickback bonus and another $64 in signup bonus. Not bad for a 3 day play in micro stakes games. It took me roughly 1.5k hands but those hands were not imported in my PT3 database so I won't count them for my monthly goals.

Total: +$118
Bonus: $124
Rakeback: $38
Kickback: $220

Current bankroll: $2722 (+$500)

Weekly update 1

1/2:
95h, +$21, +11.18 BB/100
0.5/1:
2546h, +$94, +3.69 BB/100
0.25/0.5:
329h, -$1, -0.32 BB/100
Total hands:
2980h

Total: +$94
Bonus: $50
Rakeback: $38
Kickback: $100

Current bankroll: $2504 (+$282)

39:1 favorite

BTN: 72/29/1.2, went2sd 49%
Button is a standard hyper aggressive moron so I can't fold to his river raise.

0.50/1 Limit Holdem
5 players

Pre-flop: (1.5 SB, 5 players) Hero is SB A T
2 folds, BTN calls, Hero raises, 1 fold, BTN calls

Flop: 8 A 9 (5.0 SB, 2 players)
Hero bets, BTN calls

Turn: Q (3.5 BB, 2 players)
Hero bets, BTN calls

River: 4 (5.5 BB, 2 players)
Hero bets, BTN raises, Hero calls

Final Pot: 9.5 BB
BTN shows: Q 4
Hero shows: A T

I was 39:1 favorite to win on the flop and the only way for him to win this hand was to hit a runner runner, which he obviously did.

I had more than a few sick bad beats yesterday but I managed to finish with a profit of 49 BB over 1.1k hands. Ever since I started that kickback bonus on Ongame network I'm up 101 BB over 1.9k hands, with a win rate of 5.24 BB/100. I can't remember the last time I was running so good on Ongame and I've spent 21% my poker playing time there.

December - goals

Last month I have failed with some of my goals. I've played only 9.5k hands instead of 15k, played only 1.1k hands on 1/2 instead of 4k, I've made only 1 video of me playing 1/2 and I didn't analyze every 1/2 session I've played last month.

The good thing is, I'm in the green again. I have improved my mental control which has resulted in no more than 1 session with me on tilt. I'm value betting river more than before, my postflop game is better, I've stopped berating fish (well, I do throw a "lol" or "nh" once a week) and I have watched several videos from Stox. I must say I'm impressed with the way I have handled that 150 BB downswing in the beginning of the month. I didn't steam to much, I was playing my game and waiting for my luck to turn around. This is not like me at all and I hope I'll improve even further next month and eliminate tilt from my game forever.

Here are my December goals:

1) play at least 15000 hands
1a) play at least 5000 hands at 1/2, 1-2 tabling
1b) play remaining 10000 hands at lower limits, up to 4 tabling
2) work on further improvement of mental control and avoiding tilt
3) work on postflop game
4) watch StoxPoker videos
5) clear a few kickback bonuses
6) make at least 1 video each week playing $1/$2
7) review each $1/$2 session

I'll play on RedStar and Ongame this month. When I finish with Ongame kickback bonus I'll have to find another room to play at, since there's not enough trafic on RedStar, especially at 1/2 6max. At the moment, my only option is moving back to Chili poker where I have a good private deal but I don't like playing on iPoker. I'd much rather play somewhere else but I guess I'm out of options.