The $2 Challenge: Building a Cash Game BR

So, I like to give myself little challenges every now and then just to keep things fun and interesting. This is my latest one and I thought I would share it with everyone to see if anyone else was interested.

The goal is to build a BR from the lowest possible buy-in at the lowest possible stakes. I play on Full Tilt, so the lowest stakes are .05/.10 and the minimum buy-in is $2. My goal is to reach $100 from $2.

Note that this is going to be a seperate BR, but part of my main BR. So, my BR is broken up into 2 parts. The BR I have build from $2 (which I can only use for this challenge) + The rest of my BR (which I can use for everything else) = My full BR.

A few rules:

-You must start at the lowest stakes and buy-in for the site you play at. Afterwards, you can buy in for any amount you wish as long as its within the $2 BR you have built. So, lets say you manage to turn $2 into $20 in one session, in your next session you can buy in from anywhere between $2 (min) - $20 (max cash game challenge BR). You arent allowed to buy in using money from your full BR, unless you lose your initial starting BR and you are starting over.

-As long as you have money on the table, you have to play a minimum of 1 hour. This is so there are no 'Hit n Run' type strategies, unless its at then end of the required hour. Afterwards, you can end play at any point you wish.

-Play only the amount you intial sat down with. So, there is no reloading chips. You play with what you have until you lose it or you cash out.

-If you do bust out and rebuy, it will count as a seperate session. So, lets say you buy into 3 sessions for $2, these are 3 cash game sessions. If you buy in for $6, lose it, and dont rebuy, this is only 1 session.
-Multi-tabling is allowed, as long as you are only using your $2 BR.

-Also, keep log and track of your sessions. Your buy ins, cashouts, and time played. Im using pokerdomintor to keep track of my games.

-Keep in mind that you going to start playing at super short stack, so I'd advise trying to find a table with stacks similar to yours to start. As for BRM, you can start following a plan once your stack starts to build.

So, for those of you interested. Good Luck.

love to but i hate cash games. I'm more of a tourney player. But good luck with your goal.

Good luck. It'll be interesting how things turn out.

Thanks. You can see the progression in my sig. So, far I've played 4 sessions with $2-$2 and some change buy ins and I've hit a good run. Im not getting overly excited because Im expecting variance to kick in. I plan on min buying ($2 + change) until I reach $50, then I can buy in for more.

BTW, this is going against my max buy in thread I posted. LOL...I dont practice what I preach!

ellisman7 said:

love to but i hate cash games. I'm more of a tourney player. But good luck with your goal.

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I've also done something similar playing SnGs. I turned $10 into $100+ playing $2 + .25 SnGs.

I havent tried an MTT challenge yet. That sounds interesting. Maybe a challenge to build an MTT BR from $1 and playing in The Ferguson to start.

I'll give this a go, but I plan on earning my $2 in a freeroll(I blew my last one when my flush was beating by a straight flush) and I don't have any trackers.

Pokerdomintor.com is free and you can keep a record of your games and stats. Its the one I use.

philthy said:

I've also done something similar playing SnGs. I turned $10 into $100+ playing $2 + .25 SnGs.

I havent tried an MTT challenge yet. That sounds interesting. Maybe a challenge to build an MTT BR from $1 and playing in The Ferguson to start.

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yea, im personally a fan of the 1.75 18 man turbo on ps. im always able to get in the cash, most of the time winning. its very fun.

Eww I hate doing BR on SnG.

I like to sit at .10 / .25 tables if my BR is $50+ with $5 at each table. When I get to $25 at each table, I leave that table and open a new one with $5.

Seems to be the best way for me

philthy, it is too restrictive for me.

If the only restriction is to start with $2 and separate winnings and losses from the main BR, then I would give it a try. Of course you are talking about NL cash games so that should be a restriction as well.

well, you dont have to follow my rules. Thats just how Im approaching it.

philthy said:

A few rules:

-As long as you have money on the table, you have to play a minimum of 1 hour. This is so there are no 'Hit n Run' type strategies, unless its at then end of the required hour. Afterwards, you can end play at any point you wish.

-Play only the amount you intial sat down with. So, there is no reloading chips. You play with what you have until you lose it or you cash out.

-If you do bust out and rebuy, it will count as a seperate session. So, lets say you buy into 3 sessions for $2, these are 3 cash game sessions. If you buy in for $6, lose it, and dont rebuy, this is only 1 session.

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philthy, I don't understand the reasoning behind these 3 rules.

You are making your own meta-game on top of poker. This is fine, BTW, just as long as the rules are set out as you have done. If this was some kind of separate challenge, EVERYBODY would have to agree to the rules. But, as you say, this is just what you are doing. I am doing something at Cake as a separate game, too, trying from zero. (So far, still at zero. )

2 things:

1st: gl, sounds quite frustrating to buy in with $2

2nd: if that is your picture- you are beautiful (sorry if that's not appropriate, but wow)

That is not Philthy. (Phil should have given you a clue.) My picture, however, is me.

Cheetah said:

philthy, I don't understand the reasoning behind these 3 rules.

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Agree, the only line of reasoning I can see is that he is trying to artificially increase the difficulty of the challenge.

oh, and philthy, your avatars are getting increasingly hotter, which is nice. keep up the good work.

Dorkus Malorkus said:

oh, and philthy, your avatars are getting increasingly hotter, which is nice. keep up the good work.

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I don't agree. They peaked at Kari, it's now downhill from there.

I liked hott estelle. That one added a good thread.

pigpen02 said:

That is not Philthy. (Phil should have given you a clue.) My picture, however, is me.

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Now some Physcologist is making banque because you exposed the Philthy secret, about Philthy when someone thought :

njpokerhoney
2 things:

1st: gl, sounds quite frustrating to buy in with $2

2nd: if that is your picture- you are beautiful (sorry if that's not appropriate, but wow)

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philthy...

Quick question, is this your first time testing yourself this way? I'm just curious because I'd like to watch you play sometimes at FT, just to see what I can learn. Is that okay?

I look forward to following your progress with this, I really like these little challenges and i might try this myself at stars.
You said you turned $10 into $100 playing $2 sng's, that's really impressive. I would like to know, did you only play $2 sng's until you reached $100, or did you just start off playing $2?

pigpen02 said:

... I am doing something at Cake as a separate game, too, trying from zero. (So far, still at zero. )

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lol, hey, at least you don't have losses and your bankroll is still in tact.

Dorkus Malorkus said:

... oh, and philthy, your avatars are getting increasingly hotter, which is nice. keep up the good work.

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Pretty soon, philthy will need our help to supply him with avatars. We should probably have a philthy avatar competition.

LOL. That isnt me. Its a filipina comedian/actor-Christine Gambito YouTube - French Fries. I think she is pretty...and filipino pride all the way, yo.

As for the SNG question. I started off with $10 and turned into $100 after about 33 games. I played only $2 SnGs.

As for this challenge, Im starting over because I have a friend (who Im staking) doing this challenge with me. So, we want to see who can reach the $100 goal first.

As for those rules, I have no idea what I was thinking. So...eff them. Im just buiding a BR from $2...

philthy said:

As for the SNG question. I started off with $10 and turned into $100 after about 33 games.

As for this challenge, Im starting over because I have a friend (who Im staking) doing this challenge with me. So, we want to see who can reach the $100 goal first.

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lol I wish I could talk about winning $98 dollars easy in a casual manner. If I reached a goal like that, I'd be bragging for a while...