I found this site through the pokertracker.com site. This is a great site! Through the Pokertracker articles and the posts sharing stats, I am starting to make sense of my numbers.

I am pretty excited this month and here's why -- June was the first month I cleared $100 in winnings. Not anything to get to excited about perhaps, and I'm certainly not withdrawing that, but it IS exciting to see the fruits of my labors.

I started playing about a year ago. I deposited $25 at Pacific Poker, got a $9 bonus, and started playing the 0.05/0.10 tables. I remember playing tight, but at this point, I knew very little about limit hold'em. I had some minor swings, but after a couple months my bankroll was up around $75. I withdrew my original $25 and kept $50 in my bankroll and continued play.

I was keeping notes of my play -- the hand I was dealt, the board cards, and whether I won or lost. If I lost, I noted the winning hand. I didn't learn too much from this data, to be honest, cause I didn't know what to look for. And it was a pain in my butt to 3-table and flip back and forth to Excel AND keep some written notes. Concentration was a problem.

Found the Poker Tracker site and was dismayed to see it didn't support Pacific Poker at the time. I made a decision to purchase the program, withdraw my bankroll , and move it to a site that Poker Tracker supported. After sampling the software of each site, I settled on Pacific Poker. I wanted to be comfortable if I was going to dedicate myself to serious play.

At this point I also picked up Lee Jones' book. Along with Poker Tracker, this was the best investment I've made! It really opened my eyes.

Again I started with the 0.05/0.10 level. I was winning, but the bankroll increase was slow. I hit $150 total in my BR and moved up to the 0.10/0.20 limit (this was earlier in the year). Keep in mind that with the slow earnings I was making on the nickel/dime levels I'd often take breaks of weeks or months. So in the January timeframe I moved up, and started to see increased pots, but I also noticed I was having problems with forward momentum. I'd win, and then bust back down to even. Win, lose, win, lose. Repeat. My bankroll inched forward at a snail's pace.

Took 2-3 months off, and started up play again. I continued to study Jones' book. I took most of his recommendations, but I played very passively. Started up my research again, and began to think there might be something to aggressive play. I began employing an aggresive, attacking style. This was the major fundamental I was missing! My bankroll really started to grow, and quickly!

After another $50 in winnings at the 0.10/0.20 level I decided I was ready for the next level. I was pummeling everyone at my current level, and since more hands were getting raked, I could start whoring the bonuses. Withdrew and set up another account, and after the bonus my BR was now at $250. Onward to 0.25/0.50.

I've been playing this level most of June and at first I was having a tough time moving forward again. Win, lose, win, lose. My BR was stagnating. I noticed myself playing passive again, so I forced myself to be aggressive. Again this was the trick, and this month I was rewarded with my first C-note in winnings.

Lee Jones' book was instrumental in my success, as was surfing discussion forums. Last weekend I picked up Sklansky and Malmuth's Small Stakes Hold'Em and again I sense my game is improving even more.

If you've made it this far, I'm excited that I've been able to get to my current level with just a $25 investment. I played tight and passive at first, but now I feel more comfortable in being the attacker at the table (when appropriate, of course). I'm now able to take advantage of bonuses which is providing a nice 'insulation'. The pot sizes seem more meaningful now.

My short term goal is the 0.50/1 limit, which I will try after a couple more months of similar play. I think I am moving up slower than most, but I also think it's better to move up when I am completely confident. Long term? I'd like to get to the $2/$4 and $3/$6 tables. I don't want to think too much further ahead than that, at this point.

Thanks for reading.

Well done man, everyone has to start somewhere and keep pluggin away. Ask us any questions that you have on any of your hands. Most people are quite accomodating here and we'd love to help you.

James

Outstanding job! Keep plugging away, and don't worry about moving up "slowly," only move up when you feel confident in your BR and aren't playing scared.

Check out the limit forum, and never be afraid to ask anything here!

Continued luck to you!!

No, I dont check raise that much. Normally when i do it, its because I checked with a weak hand but after I saw someone else make some weak bet, I decided to take the pot away from them.

I dont know the exact formula but the aggression numbers are some form of Bet+Raise/Call......so basically the more you bet and / or raise the flop and less you call the flop, the higher your number will be.

I dont call flop bets very often. I either bet it myself ( and I'll bet any flop with nothing if nobody else wants the pot), raise the flop...or fold.

If I have something like QT on a Txx flop and someone bets it...I raise it or fold. I almost never just call.

Ice, you play NL and he plays limit. there is a lot more calling in limit then no limit.

Avram

Skip it, answered already.