Spin off from something TP and Brian talked about in another thread

[Penguinfan]

Not that it matters, but this is the type of player I would like to be.

[Tony Cheval]

That is indeed what I am aiming for, and managed for the last few weeks anyway. We'll see when The Great Variance God wakes up and decides to kick my ass.

[Robbie Robb]

My thoughts are a little different than everyone else's I think (including Nikki's ). We've been lucky enough (thanks to her two tourney wins) to be able to cash out more than we've ever deposited, so, as far as I'm concerned, everything now is gravy. But this is how I look at the whole poker scene as far as I'm concerned: I measure my success based on how long my bankroll/deposit lasts me. As an example, I deposited $100 into UB back in August of 2004. From my wins there and moving the bankroll over to Stars, I finally busted that $100 around May of this year. Almost a two year run on $100. Sure, there was some additional money added to it from various sources (such as one or two of TP's deposit bonuses) but it still lasted me a hell of a long time. For me, that's +EV.

Now, let me clarify the above statement: During that period I was playing poker for fun. I had absolutely zero expectation of profit. I feel my game has now improved such that I do now have a decent expectation of more winning sessions than losing ones. I've managed to move up to .50/1 limit and $25NL levels and am doing fairly well on those. My next move up won't be until my bankroll hits $1000 (probably quite a ways off). I still play for fun though - without a word of a lie, if I were to bust tomorrow, it wouldn't be the end of the world. Sure, I'd be pissed that I burned through my current bankroll in less than 24 hours and I might kick a cat or two because of THAT, but as long as I had fun losing it, that's all that counts. Seriously though, if I went on a losing run that culminated in me going busto, I'd be aggravated but as long as I didn't do anything stupid like drop the last $100 of my roll into a $1000NL table trying to double/triple up quick, then I'd be happy.

I hope that ramble above makes some kind of sense.

[thrash1294]

I am also poker micro player sometimes 5c/ 10c nl to 25c/50c nl I deposited a mere $15 in 2000. I play online and play an average of 1-2 hrs a day and I take out money to buy stocks and suprises or my for my 2 girls and pay to host a web site
thats make a few hundred bucks a year. I dont really keep track of totals but
average about $50 a week I play rings maybe a tourney or sit and go about once every 2 weeks.

[melioris]

to do this I think you have to follow all the "rules" about playing within your bankroll and playing only when you are emotionally able to handle the suckiness of the grind. What i mean by this is actually being satisfied when you get the money in when you are favorite, no matter that ass-clown hits his two-outer and destacks you. It can hurt, but you have to be satified with how it went down. Thus the suckiness of the grind.

[bdawg31]

Yep. I have recently 'started over' and i am back to grinding bdawg-old-school. I notice that when i am at the lower levels - well within my bankroll - i can shrug off the two outers. I can get down 20-30 big bets and not be all that phased by it and still remain emotionally neutral.

When i move up too quickly - then i get flustered. People often talk about that 300 BB rule, and that is a nice guide, but i also think you need to find your 'emotional' point as well. Maybe that is 300 BB. Maybe 500 BB. I am finding that it fluctuates for me as i move up. For example, while i am grinding out 1/2 i can emotionally withstand a loss of 50 big bets a lot easier than if i am playing 5/10 - even if my bankroll is exponentially equivalent. Does that make sense? So, i think i might need 300 BB for 1/2 and feel fine with the fluctuations - but i think i might need like 400 or 500 BB for 5/10. That does not sound logical i guess, but emotion is a part of the game in my opinion and needs to be taken into account.

I am rambling - but i am on a roll....

I find the 'grind' of grinding can get to me as well. If i get to restless (i call it 'punchy') - i find that i try to push too much or get to clever. So, i need to mix it up. I take breaks from grinding LHE by either changing games or playing sit n goes or low-buy-in MTTs. I have found that the switching of games has been a beneficial thing. Say if you feel comfortable playing 2/4 LHE. When you are ready for a break from grinding - try some .50/1 Omaha. Or some low buy-in stud. I am glad i have done this. The low-level games are pretty soft in all games, and i think you will find that you can turn a profit in these games as well.