Yes! I did it! I finally did it! I finally got round to writing a blog entry for this challenge. For those who follow me on twitter (or more likely, the people who are linked to this FROM twitter) will know that I keep meaning to write an entry on the blog documenting my $44 to $1000 challenge, but I keeping failing to add to it, whether it be because of a lack of time throughout the day, because of forgetfulness, or sleep. But damn it I’m here now.
Just a quick background update, before ‘day 8’ started I had a grand total of $66.25, and after I originally said it would take me 70 days to complete this challenge, after only earning $22 it may have seemed like I overstepped the mark a little bit. Granted I was only at the $2 stakes and you cannot earn a huge amount at this level, but really I should be further along than this to keep within the estimated timeframe. I then got to day 8’s session. Which is shown below, along with the all in ev line:
As you can see yesterday was an outstanding day and is (so far) my highest earning day, here is a running total of every day I’ve played:
Day 1: Down $4.47. Total $39.34
Day 2: Up $1.64. Total $40.96
Day 3: Up $15.02. Total $55.98
Day 4: Up $7.04. Total $63.02
Day 5: Up $3.28. Total $66.30
Day 6: Down $6.98. Total $59.32
Day 7: Up $6.95. Total $66.25
Day 8: Up $22.85. Total $88.10
It was a day where I picked up lots of Aces and Kings, although surprisingly, out of 2000+ hands I only managed to get five winning hands all in preflop. Most of my profit came from sets and hitting big draws.
Needless to say it was one of those days where there were no real tough spots (although at 2NL that really isn’t a rarity). There were however one spot, shown below:
Hand 1: QcQh
Preflop – Bet UTG (0.06), 3 bet (0.16) by MP, I 4 bet (0.51), MP calls
Flop (8cJdAh – pot $1.05) – I cbet (0.60), repping the ace, and the opponent calls. At this point I intend to shut down on the turn, partly because they could easily have the ace, and if they don’t, then they’ll be unlikely to call a 2nd barrel with worse than QQ.
Turn (7c – pot $2.25) I check, intending to fold to a bet, as far as I’m concerned at this point I don’t want anything more to do with this hand. But surprisingly, the opponent also checks, making me think he’s probably not on an Ace. If he had an ace he would have had to bet, the opponents at 2NL don’t get tricky in spots like this. If they have a hand, they can’t wait to bet it out and gain max value from the hand.
River (Ad) I once again check, if I bet out here I won’t get a call from worse than QQ. The opponent then puts me all in. I just can’t imagine that the opponent would have checked on the turn if they had an ace or better. If they had called a 4 bet preflop, then they wouldn’t have an ace worse than AT, which they would happily put me all in with on the turn board. So putting 2 & 2 together, I decide to call off my stack, thinking the opponent is bluffing, or has a piece of the board which isnt an Ace or T9 (that would have pushed on the turn as well). The opponent had 8d5d, forcing the idea that opponents are likely to bluff with anything at 2NL, meaning you can call with a wide range, even when the board is terrifying.
What this means for the challenge is that I have now met my bankroll requirements for 5NL (15BI for this level, which will be increased after I move to the 10NL levels to help compensate for a potential downswing – 10NL also requires 15BI in my strategy. It may seem hazardous, but I can beat these levels in my sleep and want to move up as fast as possible. I won’t be using 15BI’s for 16NL – refer to my previous blog post for details of my bankroll management requirements) so today’s session should be interesting. Granted its 11:20 as I write this, but I have the day off tomorrow, so I can afford to stay up for a few extra hours. I shall attempt to blog again at some point tomorrow, but I find it difficult to make time for Pointless, let alone a blog.
We shall see.
Note to self: Think of a witty, original title. 