Running a bluff...

Bluffs are very difficult to run when playing low limits such as 50nl. Most of the time it is (+EV) just to stay away from them. To run a good bluff, the other player must be thinking at least on the second level of what cards you may be holding...not just first level thinking where they only are concerned about their own cards. No matter what bet you make or what is playing on the board, they call you down.

FullTiltPoker Game #4990901945: Table Doucette (6 max) - $0.25/$0.50 - No Limit Hold'em - 20:54:01 ET - 2008/01/25
Seat 1: AlexB182 ($80.10)
Seat 3: birdiemachine ($50.65)
Seat 4: MMmm Your Chips ($7.55)
Seat 5: NutmilkmouZ ($178.65)
Seat 6: rapper_78 ($47.05)
AlexB182 posts the small blind of $0.25
birdiemachine posts the big blind of $0.50
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to birdiemachine [7h 7c]
MMmm Your Chips folds
NutmilkmouZ folds
rapper_78 raises to $2.20
AlexB182 folds
birdiemachine calls $1.70
*** FLOP *** [5s 3h Jh]
birdiemachine checks
rapper_78 bets $3
birdiemachine calls $3
*** TURN *** [5s 3h Jh] [9h]
birdiemachine bets $8 ....I was trying to steal representing the flush...
rapper_78 has 15 seconds left to act
rapper_78 calls $8 ....he calls, most likely with Ah....no heart and I value bet river...
*** RIVER *** [5s 3h Jh 9h] [4s]
birdiemachine bets $14 .....good looking value bet into $24 pot...no need to bet pot...looks more like a bluff increasing your chances of a call.
rapper_78 folds
Uncalled bet of $14 returned to birdiemachine
birdiemachine mucks
birdiemachine wins the pot ($25.35)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $26.65 Rake $1.30
Board: [5s 3h Jh 9h 4s]
Seat 1: AlexB182 (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 3: birdiemachine (big blind) collected ($25.35), mucked
Seat 4: MMmm Your Chips didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: NutmilkmouZ didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: rapper_78 (button) folded on the River

Played 211 hands and won $49.80 in 32 minutes....Bankroll $4569.54

I have played 6647 hands so far this month, when I normally play 10-12k. I might make it to 8k this month. +569.54 = 8.56bb/100 hands including my bonuses.

Just for some perspective...I will start playing some 100nl within my next $200 of profit and make total move to 100nl when my bankroll reaches $5k. If I play 10k hands per month at 100nl and maintain the 8.56bb/100(which would be difficult, at least in the beginning) I make (10000/100*8.56*2)=$1712 of profit.

Optimistic thinking, but staying in your bankroll and proving yourself to be profitable at each level of play is important to building a good bankroll. Again, my goal is to reach 1000nl, but I need other goals along the way to keep me interested and help me feel as though I am improving. My year end goal is to have my FullTilt account up to $16k by year end.

I like to look at this number when I lose some of my interest at the low stakes. 10000 hands/month @ 1000nl = 10000/100*8.56*20=$17120 profit per month. 10000 hands = about 30 hours of play. Even if was to play 200nl for 30,000 hands/month I make...30000/100*8.56*4=$10,272 per month. Most online pros play 50k-100k hands a month and may be multi-tabling up to 12 tables. To get to 50k hands at 12 tables would = 48 hours of play...12 hours a week.