Transition to cash

For those who might not know me, I am formerly a SNG/MTT player mainly on Pokerstars.  After Black Friday I was forced to move to the Merge network.  Unfortunately it's impossible to get in any decent volume with SNG's/MTT's there, so I've been forced to transition to cash.

I was definitely not a baller before Black Friday, but i'm pretty happy with my past results.  My only regrets were that I didn't move up in stakes more aggressively.  I was finally starting to win at a nice rate in the $6 45's right before Black Friday, and I obviously wish I had moved up sooner.  I'm hoping to not make the same mistake again, and hope to move up through the cash stakes relatively quickly (inb4 my 100k 4nl graph lol).

Here are my SNG/MTT graphs for Stars/Tilt

MTT:

SNG:

Transition to Cash:

So I just hit my 100k hand at 4nl 6 max on Merge.  The first 40k hands were a little wild, but I've made a lot of improvements since then.  It was really helpful to learn that tptk wasn't the nuts like in SNG's/MTT's.  Cash has actually been a lot more enjoyable than I expected, but everyday I still wish I was loading up a set of 45's instead of cash tables.  Maybe i'm secretly a gambling addict, but I enjoyed the excitement of going all in every other hand, and flipping for tiny edges.  In cash I feel like i'm just doing the same thing over and over.  Blinds never change, there's no clear end point or any sense of accomplishment, like when you win a MTT.  

There are obviously pro's and con's to both games, and i've learned to deal with the fact that it might be a very long time before I can grind SNG's again.  Luckily I can load up a set of MTT's now and then when I feel like gambling, but it doesn't make sense to do full time.

I've decided to leave 4nl behind for now, and have begun at 10nl.  4nl just really isn't worth my time, so I plan to stick with 10nl until I go busto or until i've proven I can beat those stakes.  The only time I will play 4nl is if there are a sick amount of regs playing 10nl, or if I don't feel I can play my "A-Game" but still want to play some poker.  

If I can win at a somewhat similar rate at 10nl, I figure I should have the roll for 25nl after ~50k hands, but that's only if I haven't overestimated my edge.  So far it doesn't seem any different from 4nl, but i've only played about 5k hands, so maybe i've just run good for once, and have been playing at the right times.  

Here is my 4nl graph:

I'm a little dissapointed with my winrate, but I was transitioning from a new game, so it took me a while to fully adjust.  Also, directly after Black Friday, Merge was pretty reg infested.  The other regs playing 4nl probably wern't too baller, but considering I was new to cash, it certainly didn't help.

10nl graph:

Obviously, nothing special so far, but I wanted to bring everyone up to speed about where i' at right now.  

I plan to update this blog with my results everyday, win or lose.  I don't want to be one of those guys who only update after a massive heater.  I'm hoping that by posting my bad days it will help me deal with the swings.  So prepare yourself for the madness that will follow in the blog :)