Weekly Bankroll Update 8/19-8/25

It was a tough grind last week as I played a pretty fair number of hours at the $20 cash game, but just couldn't get any value from my big hands. Most of my losses came from one hand where I had QQ and lost on the turn to 66 when he hit a set. Otherwise I pretty much broke even. I might change up my strategy a little bit this week to include SnGs if I start running poorly. Here are the current numbers:

Play Money: 9,896,000 Up 213,000

Real Money: $1,079.48 Down $22.98

Target for next MTT level: $1,100 ($22)

Target for next SnG level: $1,100 ($55)

Target for next Cash Game level: $2,000 ($100)

MGM Springfield officially opened its doors on Friday and will be my primary casino stop for the fall. I'm going to wait a month or so for them to work out all their kinks and get their dealers trained. I might drop down to the $10 game for a little bit to start the week. It wouldn't be good to take too many hits from where I am right now. The $20 game has been tougher for me than I thought, and I feel a lot more comfortable at the $10 game. Plus I've had much better results there. I also want to take a shot or two at the MTTs again this week so we'll see if I can manage any success there. There are still no live games in my immediate future so I'll continue to stay conservative until I get a big score.

Weekly Bankroll Update 8/5-8/18

Hello again readers! It's been two weeks since my last post and the bankroll has crossed another small milestone. I was camping last weekend so I didn't play for four days, but I had a good run before I left going up close to $40. Coming back I had three straight down days, but was able to recover most of it Friday and Saturday night. The $20 game has been pretty tough so far. The players are actually pretty solid, but they tend to try and bluff off their stacks to get their opponents off hands. Most of my big hands have been a result of that. Last night I won a $38 pot with AA when some clown went all in on the river with Q-9 off and no pair. Anyhoo, here's where I landed:

Play Money: 9,673,000  Down 820,000

Real Money: $1,102.46 Up $31.52

Target for next MTT level: $1,650 ($33)

Target for next Cash Game level: $2,000 ($100)

Target for next SnG level: $2,200 ($110)

This week I'll continue to grind the $20 cash game, but if I'm running well I'll add in some MTTs and SnGs to the mix. I need to have big weeks going forward if I want to get to $2,000. MGM Springfield opens on Friday and I want to go and play live $1/$2. That will help me boost a little. If I can get just a little more cushion I'll try my hand at the $50 game online too. I'm going to need more insurance than usual to get to the $50 game because if I have to drop down I go from $50 to $20 and it's actually worse than having to go from $100 to $50 because of the percentages. Bumping up before I'm ready will cause me to play too tight and miss out on opportunities to win big hands. I actually like playing 10-9 suited better than KK or QQ because there are more ways to make a hand but I tend not to play them unless I'm already up in the session. I'm really excited to be where I'm at right now, but I will not be complacent. Got to keep grinding!

Weekly Bankroll Update 7/29-8/4

Last week was pretty good for me as we finally had a home game Wednesday night resulting in a $24 profit. I basically won all my money on two big hands, one where I rivered a full house, and one where I rivered a flush. The game didn't go too long since we had a couple of noobies that cleaned a couple of players out and left early. I have requested the game be moved from my house to my friend's house for matter of convenience. It's becoming a hassle to get home from work and set everything up, make dinner and get my daughter ready for bed before everyone arrives. By the time the game starts, I'm pretty much exhausted so maybe by moving it, I'll have even better results. The Daily Bonanzas were kind to me last week. I was able to cash three times, and the $10 cash game worked well for me too. More than half of my profits last week were from online play. Here are my bankrolls:

Play Money: 10,493,000 Up 39,000

Real Money: $1,070.94 Up $53.77

Target for next SnG level: $1,100 ($55)

Target for next MTT level: $1,100 ($22)

Target for next Cash Game level: $2,000 ($100)

It's nice to finally have some insurance above $1,000. I will be switching from the $10 cash game to the $20 cash game starting tonight. Pretty soon it won't be necessary to play the Daily Bonanzas. My time would be better spent playing cash games and eventually upping my tournament buy ins. I really want to start playing the $7,000 guarantee. It's a $5.50 rebuy and has quite a lucrative first place payout each night. Once I get myself comfortable at the $20 game, I'll start playing that. This week will be pretty slow since I will be camping with my family this weekend. There will be no blog post next week needless to say, so I will be posting nightly updates on my Twitter feed (@BenRagusa) this week and next so stay tuned!