Hi Peter. I must confess to being a bit of a forum parasite as I always read the posts but never contribute. I really enjoy your diary because you're playing at a level I can relate to and you're posts are always enthusiastic. Unfortunately I'm not skilled enough to give you any game-play advice but I have a few tips that may help you. I use 2 accounts (on ipoker network) - 1 is for MTTs and the other for SNG games. If you had this you wouldnt have moved up to £5 SNGs when you won good money in tournaments the other day. Also I notice that you employ a bankroll strategy of 20x. I think you shuld increase this to about 60x and then you can play at that stake under no pressure, it will take you longer to move up in stake and when that happens you will truly deserve to move up in levels. I hope your luck turns around this weekend pal, with or without my input :-) Posted by ff55hh
It's nice to know that I'm getting more interest than I think! Feel free to post whenever you like, I make sure I reply to everything :-)
That's an interesting idea about having two accounts. I do have an account on another major poker site, but since I discovered the Sky Poker community I haven't played there. To be honest, at this stage I feel like I need to be loyal to the Sky Poker community now! However I have learnt my lesson - when/if I get up to the £200 mark again, I will play more STT's and less MTT's.
As for my BRM, it keeps changing to be honest, depending on how I'm running. Currently I'm playing the £2/£3 level which is 30/20 buy-ins. Perhaps that should be a little higher as you suggested, but if I drop down to the £1 level then I'm never going to hit my £200 target for the start of UKOPS
In Response to Re: Diary of a fledgling player : It's nice to know that I'm getting more interest than I think! Feel free to post whenever you like, I make sure I reply to everything :-) That's an interesting idea about having two accounts. I do have an account on another major poker site, but since I discovered the Sky Poker community I haven't played there. To be honest, at this stage I feel like I need to be loyal to the Sky Poker community now! However I have learnt my lesson - when/if I get up to the £200 mark again, I will play more STT's and less MTT's. As for my BRM, it keeps changing to be honest, depending on how I'm running. Currently I'm playing the £2/£3 level which is 30/20 buy-ins. Perhaps that should be a little higher as you suggested, but if I drop down to the £1 level then I'm never going to hit my £200 target for the start of UKOPS Really appreciate your interest, thanks :-) Posted by peter27
How much do you play SNGs or DYMs, Peter?
You might find those more rewarding than the larger MTTs which are pretty high variance even for the best players.
I think when you're learning something (and I'm in the same boat as you here) it's good to say 'I'm going to focus 90% of my efforts into this area'..and then make it your business to get as good as you can in one area.
The remaining 10% of the time you can have fun with cash games, larger MTTs etc as long as you've done your bread and butter. Depends how serious you are about improving fast of course - some people just like to play for fun and that's fine too. But I think it's good to have a plan that says exactly what you're going to do each day, and how you measure success or failure.
I'm not entirely sure what UKOPS is but I heard it mentioned on the TV show recently. I wouldn't make an extra effort to qualify for some promotion they're running, thats what they want you to do after all.
Wouldnt you prefer to play maybe the £1 dups and not have a chance of going broke. If you look on sharkscope theres a graph of results x stake. This should give yo a decent indication of your 'level'
Also by playing with a more conservative BRM you may or may not increase your £££ as quickly as possible but you will be increasing your confidence and experience levels which are maybe more valuable assets.
Is your other site on the ipoker network, if so I'll send you my username and I'll show you where to find all the Russians. muahahahahaaaa.
In Response to Re: Diary of a fledgling player : I agree. Just pointing it out for the benefit of any inexperienced lurkers who may read this thread Posted by GaryQQQ
In Response to Re: Diary of a fledgling player : How much do you play SNGs or DYMs, Peter? You might find those more rewarding than the larger MTTs which are pretty high variance even for the best players. I think when you're learning something (and I'm in the same boat as you here) it's good to say 'I'm going to focus 90% of my efforts into this area'..and then make it your business to get as good as you can in one area. The remaining 10% of the time you can have fun with cash games, larger MTTs etc as long as you've done your bread and butter. Depends how serious you are about improving fast of course - some people just like to play for fun and that's fine too. But I think it's good to have a plan that says exactly what you're going to do each day, and how you measure success or failure. Posted by PokerNoon
I was playing many more STT's when I had a lower BR. As soon as I hit £200, I was playing MTT's on a regular basis, and I now see that was a mistake. STT's should be my regular game with the occasional MTT shot!
I am very serious about improving my game, and I think I have over the course of this diary actually. One thing I am struggling with is actually knowing at what point I can call myself "decent" or "good", perhaps I'm just getting lucky all this time?
I'm not entirely sure what UKOPS is but I heard it mentioned on the TV show recently. I wouldn't make an extra effort to qualify for some promotion they're running, thats what they want you to do after all. Wouldnt you prefer to play maybe the £1 dups and not have a chance of going broke. If you look on sharkscope theres a graph of results x stake. This should give yo a decent indication of your 'level' Also by playing with a more conservative BRM you may or may not increase your £££ as quickly as possible but you will be increasing your confidence and experience levels which are maybe more valuable assets. Is your other site on the ipoker network, if so I'll send you my username and I'll show you where to find all the Russians. muahahahahaaaa. Posted by ff55hh
UKOPS is the UK Online Poker Series, unique to Sky Poker. Essentially a poker festival with great guarntees for all levels :-)
Yes, I've seen the results x stake section on Sharkscope, my stats aren't brilliant, but they are improving at a decent rate actually :-)
Hmmm, but surely my skill will still improve, even with slightly more aggressive BRM? The thing is that I can afford to reload if required so I don't feel like I'm playing outside my comfort zone.
I'm not sure we're allowed to name other poker sites on here, but it is not the one you mentioned. It is (probably) the biggest poker site there is ;-)
Be careful with this two account business guys. It would not be permitted here on Sky. Rules vary site-by-site, where it's against the terms of service you risk being kicked off the site and losing your balances. Posted by GaryQQQ
Hmmm, I thought he was talking about two different accounts on two different sites? Surely that's allowed?
A decent day today, I'm back in profit! Dropped down levels and stuck to non-turbo DYM's as suggested to me by responses on this diary - and it seemed to work :-)
Played 2 x £2 Double Your Money (results: 3rd, 2nd) Played 6 x £3 Double Your Money (results: 2nd, 2nd, 4th, 3rd, 2nd, 4th)
Also played the two UKOPS IX Freeroll's finishing 209th/489 and 131st/421.
Balance is now £65.38, that's £7.70 profit today. It's not the £23.72 I wanted to achieve my UKOPS target, but that's more than likely going to happen suddenly (if at all) with a decent MTT cash (if the bankroll permits) rather than just by playing STT's.
Its fine to play small mtts with 60 quid... just dont go crazy. DYMs are overrated for a casual player building a roll Imo.... will take forever and the rake is punishing at micros. Instead I would play hu where the rake is more sensible, alongside the regular 1 and 2 pound sngs which will also improve your mtt game.
Its fine to play small mtts with 60 quid... just dont go crazy. DYMs are overrated for a casual player building a roll Imo.... will take forever and the rake is punishing at micros. Instead I would play hu where the rake is more sensible, alongside the regular 1 and 2 pound sngs which will also improve your mtt game. Posted by jimb0d1
I will definitely still be playing MTT's as I love them. However I will be limiting the number this time and play more DYM's. You're right about the rake being horrible at this level though! I still manage to make a profit, but very very slowly ..
Day 64 Didn't play too much today, but I was in profit :-) Played 3 x £3 Double Your Money (results: 2nd, 3rd, 1st) Played 1 x £200 DTD 3 (result: 46th/113, no cash) Balance is now £74.88, will update the first post now! Just been looking through my sharkscope stats, and this is my graph for 6-handed games: Am I right in thinking that the number of 1st places is really good?? It seems good to me anyway! Also, my "ability" seems to be fluctuating between 54 and 57 lately, does anyone know how this is calculated? Posted by peter27
There's a FAQ on SS that explains it (well, to a point anyway).
It's based on your win rate and the buy in level of the games you're winning at. So a person who breaks even at $500 SNGs will have a higher ability rating than someone with a winning record at $5.50 level.
Keep up the good work Peter. You'll be a full time pro soon!
In Response to Re: Diary of a fledgling player : There's a FAQ on SS that explains it (well, to a point anyway). It's based on your win rate and the buy in level of the games you're winning at. So a person who breaks even at $500 SNGs will have a higher ability rating than someone with a winning record at $5.50 level. Keep up the good work Peter. You'll be a full time pro soon! Posted by PokerNoon
Thanks for the vote of confidence and the explanation :-) I guess going pro would be the ultimate aim! Would love it
Played 6 x £3 Double Your Money (2nd, 2nd, 2nd, 3rd, 4th*, 2nd)
*This 4th marked the end of a 11-game win streak on the DYM's!!
Balance now £85.08, will update the first post now. Planning on a lot of volume today, would hope to be back into triple figures by the end of today :-)
My busiest ever day on the site in terms of STT's, was practically playing all day!
Played 22 x £3 Double Your Money with the following results:
4 x 1st 4 x 2nd 6 x 3rd 4 x 4th 2 x 5th 2 x 6th
That's 14 cashes and 8 non-cashes making a profit today! Also played in the UKOPS IX Freeroll and the crazy £50 GTD Free-Buy, but didn't cash in either.
Didn't quite make the three-figure sum I was hoping to, but I got close! Balance now £94.28, will update the first post now.
Comments
That's an interesting idea about having two accounts. I do have an account on another major poker site, but since I discovered the Sky Poker community I haven't played there. To be honest, at this stage I feel like I need to be loyal to the Sky Poker community now! However I have learnt my lesson - when/if I get up to the £200 mark again, I will play more STT's and less MTT's.
As for my BRM, it keeps changing to be honest, depending on how I'm running. Currently I'm playing the £2/£3 level which is 30/20 buy-ins. Perhaps that should be a little higher as you suggested, but if I drop down to the £1 level then I'm never going to hit my £200 target for the start of UKOPS
Really appreciate your interest, thanks :-)
I wouldn't make an extra effort to qualify for some promotion they're running, thats what they want you to do after all.
Wouldnt you prefer to play maybe the £1 dups and not have a chance of going broke. If you look on sharkscope theres a graph of results x stake. This should give yo a decent indication of your 'level'
Also by playing with a more conservative BRM you may or may not increase your £££ as quickly as possible but you will be increasing your confidence and experience levels which are maybe more valuable assets.
Is your other site on the ipoker network, if so I'll send you my username and I'll show you where to find all the Russians. muahahahahaaaa.
Rules vary site-by-site, where it's against the terms of service you risk being kicked off the site and losing your balances.
I am very serious about improving my game, and I think I have over the course of this diary actually. One thing I am struggling with is actually knowing at what point I can call myself "decent" or "good", perhaps I'm just getting lucky all this time?
In Response to Re: Diary of a fledgling player: UKOPS is the UK Online Poker Series, unique to Sky Poker. Essentially a poker festival with great guarntees for all levels :-)
Yes, I've seen the results x stake section on Sharkscope, my stats aren't brilliant, but they are improving at a decent rate actually :-)
Hmmm, but surely my skill will still improve, even with slightly more aggressive BRM? The thing is that I can afford to reload if required so I don't feel like I'm playing outside my comfort zone.
I'm not sure we're allowed to name other poker sites on here, but it is not the one you mentioned. It is (probably) the biggest poker site there is ;-)
In Response to Re: Diary of a fledgling player: Hmmm, I thought he was talking about two different accounts on two different sites? Surely that's allowed?
A decent day today, I'm back in profit! Dropped down levels and stuck to non-turbo DYM's as suggested to me by responses on this diary - and it seemed to work :-)
Played 2 x £2 Double Your Money (results: 3rd, 2nd)
Played 6 x £3 Double Your Money (results: 2nd, 2nd, 4th, 3rd, 2nd, 4th)
Also played the two UKOPS IX Freeroll's finishing 209th/489 and 131st/421.
Balance is now £65.38, that's £7.70 profit today. It's not the £23.72 I wanted to achieve my UKOPS target, but that's more than likely going to happen suddenly (if at all) with a decent MTT cash (if the bankroll permits) rather than just by playing STT's.
Will update the first post now :-)
A small profit today, but a profit nevertheless :-)
Played 7 x £3 Double Your Money (results: 5th, 2nd, 5th, 1st, 3rd, 3rd, 2nd)
Played 1 x Sky Head Hunter (result: 3rd, no heads)
Now up to £68.98, will update the first post now :-)
Didn't play too much today, but I was in profit :-)
Played 3 x £3 Double Your Money (results: 2nd, 3rd, 1st)
Played 1 x £200 DTD 3 (result: 46th/113, no cash)
Balance is now £74.88, will update the first post now!
Just been looking through my sharkscope stats, and this is my graph for 6-handed games:
Am I right in thinking that the number of 1st places is really good?? It seems good to me anyway!
Also, my "ability" seems to be fluctuating between 54 and 57 lately, does anyone know how this is calculated?
Sticking rigidly to the DYM's, and it's working!
Played 6 x £3 Double Your Money (2nd, 2nd, 2nd, 3rd, 4th*, 2nd)
*This 4th marked the end of a 11-game win streak on the DYM's!!
Balance now £85.08, will update the first post now. Planning on a lot of volume today, would hope to be back into triple figures by the end of today :-)
My busiest ever day on the site in terms of STT's, was practically playing all day!
Played 22 x £3 Double Your Money with the following results:
4 x 1st
4 x 2nd
6 x 3rd
4 x 4th
2 x 5th
2 x 6th
That's 14 cashes and 8 non-cashes making a profit today! Also played in the UKOPS IX Freeroll and the crazy £50 GTD Free-Buy, but didn't cash in either.
Didn't quite make the three-figure sum I was hoping to, but I got close! Balance now £94.28, will update the first post now.
Hadly got the chance to play yesterday apart from one very late night game!
Played 1 x £20 Gtd (15 mins) (result: finished 4th for £4.95)
Balance was £95.93 at the end of the day.