$10 to $200 Step by Step

Poker Bonus Forum · 06-04-2005, 09:34 PM

$10 to $200 Step by Step

This is not a FFD original concept – It’s How The Pro’s Do It!

You can turn $6.00 to well over $200.00. Patience is key. It’s slow and boring for the first 600 to 900 hands, but it will get you enough cash and confidence that when you open up your game – you have enough to sustain a few bad beats and rebuild it back as I did it numerous times. – It works!!

You must play Limit tables. No Limit and Pot Limit table are out! You can play those when you reached your first levels of success. This is not glamour! It’s a bankroll-building period. The site needs to have $.50/$1.00 or lower.

Starting Hands and Positions:

Early Positions - “The 3 seats left of the Button” play the following:

“Monster Hands”, AA, KK, QQ, JJ and AK Suited

“Very Strong Hands”, AQ, AJ, KQ, KJ, K10, QJ, Q10, (all suited), and pocket 10’s and 9’s.

Only Raise and Re-Raise AA, KK and AK Suited.

Do not Re-Raise with QQ and JJ. You can raise or call only.

Note – this includes the blinds!! Do not call from the Small Blind just because you have money in the pot! You’re in the worst position after the flop. You must act first with no knowledge about what whether the other players have improved.

Middle Positions - “The 4th, 5th and 6th seats after the button play the following:

“Monster Hands”, “Very Strong Hands” and now add what I call

“Strong Hands” to your arsenal.

“Strong Hands” are suited connectors J10, 10 9, and pocket 8’s.

When played, you can still raise “Monster” and “Very Strong Hands” all the way down to pocket 10’s.

You can Re-raise “Monster Hands” and “Very Strong Hands” down to suited AJ because you have pretty good position on the board.

***Watch for strong players bluffing.

Late Positions – The 7th seat through the Button, play the following:

“Monster Hands”, “Very Strong Hands”, “Strong Hands”

Now you add, “Good Hands”

“Good Hands” are suited A-any suited, K9, Q9, 9 8, 8 7 and unsuited AK, AQ, AJ, A10, KQ, KJ, K 10, K9, QJ, Q10, Q9, and J10.

"OK Hands" worth a flop against a tight table with few raises - Unsuited KJ, K 10, K9, QJ, Q10, Q9, and J10, Q 8, J 9 - you do not want to call a raise with these hands.

One in 10 or so late position plays, add the following play: Pocket 2’s through Pocket 6’s, suited connectors 7 6, 6 5, 5 4. That’s it, now you want to raise all the way down to 10 9 suited, but still only re-raise through A J suited. You are in the best position if the bet is checked to you even if you have nothing, bet out once in a while – you will win a pot or two.

Playing the flop, if you do not have Top Pair, Two Pair, a Set (3 of a kind), 4 to the Flush, or 4 to the straight we are folding to any bet. If we have Top Pair we are betting or folding if there is a made and hand on the board (3 suited cards or 3 consecutive cards or there is a pair on the board) you will fold 67% or more of your hands at the flop. If we have a set we bet and raise, if we are 4 to the flush we are betting and raising, if we are 4 to the straight, we bet and call.

The Turn, we are still betting, but WATCHING for a call station to come alive if the board pairs, or to suddenly start betting when an odd rag card hits –someone made a hand time to fold, if everyone is call that’s fine for you if they are raising top pair – time to call, if raising you with 2 pair or a set we are re-raising, if we are on a draw, if it is the nut draw we are calling, if it’s a flush and the betting is heavy, if you do not have the A or K as part of the flush – consider folding here, nothing worse than absorbing all the bets only to lose to a better flush..

The River, no matter what, if the bet is checked to you bet. Even if you missed your draw, if there is a bet and you believe you have the hand raise, if not sure call – this is limit Hold’em – one bet will not kill your bankroll.

Poker Bonus Forum · 06-04-2005, 09:34 PM

$10 to $200 Step by Step - Part 2

Bank Roll Management /Table Selection:

We will use the following as law of play…NEVER bring more than 20% of your bank roll to a table. For example, $10.00 is in your bank to start, bring $2.00 to the table as your stake on a $.05/$.10 game. Bump up your stakes to that level if you get down to $1.00 at the table. These tables are fast and loose – this is great for you! You will be playing very strong starting hands ONLY, so you will have plenty of time to observe the action – there will be a lot!!

Take notes. Pay attention. Know who checks to the river or checks until they hit a hand. This will save you lots of cash. If there is another player at the table folding most hands like the Small Blinds, preflop, or post flop small bets, get out and watch the action. Beware; if this player is in, unless you have the nutz or the nut draw, chances are you have a lower hand. Also, know who bets and raises to the river lets say a 9 6 suited in his hand and no match on the board. This is the guy that will build your pots for you – only cap the betting at the Turn!!

The table you want to select should be full – you need to be on a waiting list to get in (Observe), the pots are large, and 70% or more of the players are seeing the flop, this gives you a big edge – it means the hands you enter and win will be large ones – Always keep in mind – You are playing to win cash – period. Every hand is an investment to that goal – patience is vital. Being on the waiting list gives you an opportunity to gather insight on how the players play. This is very important. You can learn from others mistakes and review how they played them. You can find players weaknesses. You should keep mentally in the game at all times in and out of hands. Always try to figure what others have. Then compare to what they actually had. This will be valuable when you invest and get involved in a hand! If you are in a hand, what position am I in, who is still in, what possibilities does the board present that could beat me – every move you make, Raise, Fold, Call, Re-Raise all done because you DECIDED it was the correct move.

Leaving The Table – YOU MUST CASH OUT when your stack is 2.5 times what you started with at the $0.05/$0.10 table. Should be $5.00 – Goal reached! Do this even when you get to the higher levels – not much worse than getting built up, then having a series of bad beats rob you of all the cash you won over the last 2 hours. You need to leave if your mind wanders and you play a marginal hand, you will be mentally spent after a few hours. Know how long you are good for. After a few sessions you’ll get a feel for how long good poker sessions should be for you. I know players that can only play well for 1 hour at a time – for me it about 2 hour 40 minutes – keep in mind other factors, sleep or lack of it, work stress, home stress, a cold - all will affect your mental stamina. Be honest with yourself. The next “Leave the table indicator” – you started on the table with $2.00, topped off twice (a buck each) for a total of $2.00 more dollars and your back down to $1.00 at the table – it’s time for a break!! Go watch TV, play with your children, or wash the car anything but poker for at least 45 minutes. Re-read the starting hands area. Make an honest assessment of your mental state –can you play your “A” game – if the answer is no – call it a day – WE ALL HAVE LOSING DAYS!! It’s ok…

GL!!

Poker Bonus Forum · 06-04-2005, 09:36 PM

$10 to $200 Step by Step - Part 3

Moving Up:

Two factors will make you be able to move to play the next level on most sites to $0.10/0.25 tables. One, you need to have at least $25.00 but $30.00. That’s your goal. The second is your confidence level and comfort playing with real money. For this reason you need to play at least 400 raked hands regardless of how much is in the bankroll! The $0.10/$0.25 Limit room is where we start seeing a few better players, and the skills and play habits we nurtured at $0.05/$0.10 room start to really pay off. Skipping the small bind with out Monster cards is even more important; it is saving you 2/3 of a bet and is still the worst position to be in Post Flop.

Table Play: This is where you have the opportunity to make rapid moves up. The table selection requirements have not changed and there are still a lot of loose and bad players. Be cautious, there will be a few playing like you – respect them and their bets. Ego has killed many bankrolls, if you know you are beat FOLD, if in doubt, its is ok to fold, if the idiot shows you a bluff – its ok, that is FREE intelligence that you can use to punish him/her later when you have the nut. Pay attention to this. It’s better than checking to a bluffer, re-raising and having the fool re-raise back!! At this level it will happen!! By the same token if you have a King high flush and are re-raised, it’s ok to call.

You control the tempo of the table – never let a good hand (Top Two Pair) blind you to what else is on the board, even the bluffer gets luck – play smart at all times and keep the pace slow. Your good play here is critical. This is where the foundation for the confidence you’re developing comes from. You must KNOW you are a good player at this level. KNOW that it took one bad beat to take you down; it only takes one good hand to bring you back. You need to stay here at least 600 or more hands – if you are not confident about your play, or have any self doubts, stay at this level, there is money to be made, and if this is your comfort zone stay.

The next mile mark is the bankroll – have a set goal you must reach. The next step is $0.25/$0.50, you need at least $100.00, I recommend $130.00 here you have two branches to take Limit, or NL/Pot Limit (Fix Table Buy-in). The first time out take the limit road, players at this level start making moves - most you can predict - but one mistake or bad beat in the Pot Limit or No Limit rooms and nearly 20% of you bankroll is gone – Poof, remember how long it takes to win $25.00 at the lower limits. Remember the rules – at these levels, you can win or lose $50.00 or more in a single session (That’s Limit, more in Pot and NL) if you lose down to $75.00, drop back and play $0.10/$0.25 (remember, you have no Ego here) if you feel like you are off balance move back. You must set limits – “If I lose $35.00, I will take a break or move down a level” stick to it!! Write it down; tell your roommate, what ever it takes – do it. Start with $25.00, get to $65.00 Leave the table, and take a break. You Earned It!!

When you get to $200.00, its time to move to a low blind $0.10/0.25 NL or Pot Limit table. Here in a good 2 hour session, you can make $100.00 or more in one or two hands, but the choices will be hard, and patience – harder. You need to be confident in your read of other players. But that is another article!!

Poker Bonus Forum · 06-04-2005, 09:36 PM

$10 to $200 Step by Step - Part 4

Set Backs and Tilt:

These are two very distinctly different animals, a set back happens because you took bad beats and had bad cards. You will recover. No run of luck good or bad lasts long, so long as you know you started with good cards from the correct position and got your money in with the best hand If you played K 4 suited in early position, flopped two pair, and were beat by a when a J hit at the river – that’s not a bad beat – that’s the laws of probability catching up w/ you!! K J beat K 4 82% of the time – what were you thinking? You could be on tilt.

Tilt (for me) is triggered by a few genuine bad beat, you start thinking I got my KK beat by 9 6 off suit, the K 4 is better, and it progresses from there. I would write more on this but there is a terrific thread on the forum, and many great options to over come this.

No Tournaments??

Tournaments are what you play with your bankroll, taking a reasonable risk with a small portion of your bankroll, never more than 10%. This is how the pros do it. They do not live off tournament money – that is their shot at fame and glory! The Ring Games pay the bills. I play tournaments. They are great fun and fantastic way to play against players at a level you could not afford to play ring games with. When you have $300.00 stashed, play a $30 + 10 buy-in tournament – it is not a freeroll, you get to the final table and these are all very good player – guess what?? – So are you!!

Summary:

If you follow this guide, you should be able to reach $200.00 in 3 to 4 weeks, and when you get there have the confidence to move up one level at a time until you reach your final goal. If it’s to get to $500, then cash out $300 – great! If its to win enough to play the WSOP you can do that as well – it will just take time, but the basics never change – Good solid starting hands, strength of position, taking reasonable risks with your bankroll and there is no limit to how far you can go.