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Deposited $600 into Full Tilt, and sat down at a few 6 max 50NL tables. Nothing too exciting happened. I didn’t get away from QQ for my stack on a low flop which was definitely a bad call on my part given the action, and clearly wasn’t aggressive enough in a couple of spots where I had position which cost me. Otherwise, an okay 2 hour session where I spent most of my time trying to work out why PokerTracker wasn’t importing hands, and why all the HUD stats were out of place, but finished with it all working and very slightly up, eventually playing up to six tables. It all felt very comfortable at least and I eased into play quite nicely. I was playing tighter than what I would consider my normal game, but then it’s been a long time since I’ve played properly, so baby steps!

Then a short break, and then I tried some Rush. Starting with 50NL, this is something else! I spent the first hour just playing 50NL, then opened up the 25NL table as well, promptly dumping a buyin. And then making 4 back. There were a few nasty spots but nothing massively out of ordinary. I laid down Kings preflop once for 3 buyins at 25NL, because I’m a massive wuss and it felt wrong to me, and everything else largely played out without too much excitement. Lost some silly hands where I was dominating with all the money in the middle against short stackers but if that isn’t standard then I don’t know what is. There were some huge pots, of which I won most, and when I didn’t it was pretty standard stuff when all the money went in: Set vs TP & Nut flush draw type stuff.

I played a couple of sessions of Rush and after 6 hours finished up $173 from all that poker, while clearing over $30 of the sign on bonus at Full Tilt and no doubt earning a little rakeback too. A nice starting session then, even with it ending with my wireless mouse dying on me while my PC crashed as I flopped the nut flush on the flop with A8c and someone raised me. Worst beat of the night.

If you’re not interested in poker, then look away now. If you are, read on. And if you are confused or interested by anything, just ask.

I have a $1,000 bankroll.  Right now the idea is that any rakeback, bonuses and significant tournament wins (ha! That might be a while coming) go to me, all other poker winnings stay in my bankroll, though that may well change depending on how well (or badly!) I’m doing.

I want to see how far I can go and have fun while I’m doing it, mixing up my games and continually trying to improve by playing at least 30 hours per week, reading books and forums and watching videos. I will start primarily with 6 max cash games (at 50NL) and whatever tournaments I fancy, within my bankroll. Talking of which, these are going to be my simple (rather conservative) poker bankroll rules:

Hold ‘em

• 20 buy-ins at 50NL, 30 at 100NL, 40 at 200NL, 50 above
• 600 Big Blinds for Limit HE level
• Tournament entry <1% of bankroll

Omaha

• 40 buy-ins at 25NL and 50 NL, 50 above that

I’ll be taking shots, particularly in NLHE cash games, as soon as I have enough buy ins for that level but not before. And I’ll probably stick to smaller tournaments, omaha or other poker games than I could afford, simply because I’d rather build the roll up with winning play throughout my game rather than jump in to stakes where I have no edge at all.

As regards how well I think I will do? Well, I hope that I’ll make the move to 100NL relatively quickly, then who knows after that? I’ve played for a few years and I did quite well making a comfortable living playing online for a short while a few years ago, playing Limit up to $5/10 and short handed NL up to 200NL. Nothing too exciting but quite nice nonetheless. However, it’s been a long time since I’ve played in any volume and times have changed, and I hear (though haven’t played enough to see) that the games at these levels are significantly tougher than they once were, so we’ll have to see how it will go.

I’m starting on Full Tilt Poker, where I have never played before. I have the standard 27% rakeback there and the $600 sign on bonus to get through. I also play a little on Party and on PokerStars, have a couple of other accounts elsewhere and am open to trying other sites if they offer substantial bonuses and rakeback. And that’s it for now. I’ll keep track of how it’s all going here, talk about anything interesting that comes up, add in any other thoughts I have around the subject, and we’ll see what happens!