I am a recreational poker player, and have been playing for around 20 months. Other than a few initial deposits, I have been a break even player generally averaging around a $50 BR. I have played a large number of games and formats - both for enjoyment, and to find out what I am better at. Although I keep my BR on Stars, I have also played the weekly league matches on Tilt, but keep these seperate from my BR as I play these tournaments for enjoyment and to regularly play against decent players in a range of games - I've had to load up a couple of times on tilt, but have had a few results that are currently paying for my games (3rd, 9th, 11th and 2xmin cashes).
At the start of the year, I decided that I would try and take a more methodical approach to my poker. I purchased a copy of HEM [Small Stakes] at the end of January and decided to play FR NLHE to get an idea of where my game was at, and to be able to concentrate my analysis of my game.
Starting Position
I currently play 1-2 hours a day on two tables of NL2 [!]. I realise this is an incredibly small amount of play compared to a 'grinder', but as a recreational player with a lot of other commitments, this is the maximum I can manage. My BR started out at ~$72.
Realistic Sample Size?
I've played 3,400 hands in the 20 days since 30th January. Lots of the advice about realistic sample sizes mentions 200k to 300k hands - which would be about 3 years worth of play at the rate I play... for a micro stakes recreational player, what would you consider to be a realistic sample size to get a reasonable analysis of my statistics?
HUD Setup
I currently have a single line HUD showing VPIP/PFR/3-Bet/Limp/Steal. I'm quite happy with this set-up at the minute... I am tending to let it influence my game in very polarised situations i.e. PFR from TAG/Nits, Cold Calls from Loose Passive players etc, and serial Limpers or Stealers etc.
Current Pros - As I See Them
Just sitting down and thinking about my game in structured terms seems to be helping with my understanding of the game. Also, the cash graph has a very stimulating [ooh-err
] effect on my approach to the game - I think, as a recreational player, I have been happy to break even (basically an almost free hobby); whereas now, it is important to maintain an upwards trend on my cash graph, despite the minimal stakes / BR etc. Current Cons - AIST
Already, I can notice that I am:-
* Playing TOO many hands OOP
* Limping TOO many hands from EP / MP
* Overplaying TPTK / TPGK hands on the turn
* C-betting the turn too often (although I am wary of getting too big a gap between my Flop C-bet and Turn C-Bet because I think it will invite too many floaters, so perhaps I should C-bet more selectively on the flop, as well?)
My current stats are 23/11/5 (VPIP/PFR/3-Bet).
TBH. I always knew I played weak-aggressive, but it's another thing to see it in specifics.
Good News
Despite all of the above, I am obviously not as bad as a lot of the players at NL2! I have now increased my BR to $100 with a win rate of ~22bb/100 over 3,400 hands.
Next Steps
So, I know I need to work on the basics. I'd really like some advice on:-
* Work up to a reasonable [recreational] sample of 30,000 hands
* Improve positional play
* Reduce limping, and calling OOP in hands
* Increase BR to around $125, to begin to move up to NL5?
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