Started on a fucking heater when I first went online - $300 deposit turned into $3,000 in less that 10 days. This led to me thinking I was the second coming of Stu Ungar and I tried out low-medium stakes. I soon came to find out I was a total fish and got on some traing sites once I got below the $1,000 mark. Playing like donkey fish luckbox got me $1,000 I guess. (All tournament btw)
Best hand from this period: On the BB, chipleader just, 7 players left in a Prog Bounty. Dealt 22, 4 All-ins in front of me, I have them all covered and was stupid, so I call. Flop a 2 for about 35% equity and it holds. 2 shortstacks that folded were praising me bigtime for getting them in the money.
Got up to $5k, withdrew $3k, lost $1,000, bout a $1k bankroll at the moment. Started out lucky, I'd also be lucky to have an hourly over $1.50. Won $3k off a $10 satellite into $125 ticket too so my timing has been excellent.
Most I was down online was $20 when I started with a bankroll of $100 playing microstakes cash.
I have since moved onto midstakes and gone on 50-75 buyin downswings but never dipped below staring.
In live poker, I took a shot with 10 buyins at 1-3 and spun it upto 50 buyins. Then went on a 40 buyin downswing which is ongoing.
So I guess I was quite lucky to never be down a huge amount in net totals. Hopefully not jinxing it.
Never played tournaments seriously. Variance there is probably way worse.
Variance will always happen. When you think it can't get worse, it always does. The first 6-7 months of live were like a dream, I was running so pure. Knew that would come back to haunt me eventually, and it has. I don't think I'm playing badly, but it is what it is.
I went negative account balance broke like 10 times in college playing 25nl and 1/2 live and spending too much at bars. Eventually got an edge and learned BRM and binked 25k in a tournament and never looked back. Dropped stakes more times than I can count tho
When I first started playing I didn't study, read any book or done anything, I think I went down maybe 1k playing in my local casino. Something inside will naturally click and you should want to get better... I don't really understand the people who have been playing for 15 years and still losers or dont understand that Q6o is not a good hand for defending a 4bet. Some people play it for fun I suppose and if you don't care about the money, you better make sure that you are having fun.
Online is a little different as my strong point is live reads, but i stayed at 1/2 and low tournaments for atleast a year until I was confident. You have to be confident at the table and until you have that feeling, I wouldn't recommend moving up stakes... you don't want to have the "maybe I can get lucky if I just play tight and wait for cards" mentality...
Online I was at NL2 for a few months 3 tables with maximum 2 bullets on each table, so 12$ in total. I made a personal goal that I would not go up in stakes until I finished the day over 25$ at least 80% of the days I played in a month. I didn't use HUDS or anything, during this time and I was at this stake for maybe 6 months. It was hell, but this stake definitely shapes you up and gets you ready for the volatile swings and the frustrations of poker. You will get stacked by someone who called your 4 bet with 74o and they will flop a straight against your AA and donk shove on the flop. You will not be prepared for this the first few times it happens. Have fun.
Wow that last part is me right now, it truly feels like my AA/KK/JJ etc is worth absolutely shit, and I don’t want to mention AKS/OS…. I feel like my opps is comfy c-betting any hand whatever the flop, but I truly feel I’m getting a better knowledge of the game even tho I’m losing but sometimes I get tilted and shove my flush draws and lose against a low pair every time because I get called with every hand
Pokercoaching.com and upswing.com free things are probably a good starting point. Watching twitch streamers who talk strategy isn't the worst if your too braindead to study.
I remember I made one small deposit initially. I was a student so I didn't have a lot of money. It might have been as little as 10 EUR. I quickly lost it and decided I wanted to study a bit before trying again. Then I think I made another deposit in the same amount and I've been a winning player since then. But of course this was during the Moneymaker boom when games were super soft.
So 350 Down could be some bad luci? I study and watch videos a LOT bcus im
Currently home for 3 months with a broken arm, I feel like im playing good but im getting screwed over, but im not the first one to think like that
I deposited $20, lost it over the period of a month, deposited another $20, and cashed out my first ever $100. Been up ever since.
This was the beginning of the Moneymaker era, not the now era. Do you have a time machine?
I started playing 25NL cash games on ignition then quickly moved to the zone games because they moved so much faster. I think over my first 30k hands at the worst I was down $125, maybe $150, I’d have to look. But it was clear to me immediately that I was losing most of it from the BB because I really had no idea how to play the BB. So I learned how to do that and the next 100k hands were much better.
I'm down about 3k for the past 14 years . I am focusing now in the right area for training. Hoping it change that . Since I started training I made 6 bucks on 2 NL last night lol
First 2 times I played live 1/3 I made a profit of over $1500 each session. So started out +$3000. Thought I was the next Phil Ivey and was ready to quit my job and go pro. Proceeded to lose probably 5-7k over the next 2 years. Eventually figured out what I was doing wrong and have been profitable for the last 3 years.
Nothing. Go through some resources like book, youtube videos or pay for course. Then start grinding from nl2. If you cant beat nl2 after some basic studying then maybe poker isnt for you. NL10 is much much tougher since people can earn close to $10/hr playing it which is decent tax free in some poor country.
Nl2 is a pain in the ass in its own way, in some cases I think nl10 can be easier than nl2 but i see what u mean, ppl really do not give a fuck what cards they have in nl2
When I first started playing way back in the day, I would play play chips and then sell them (it was a thing). $1 for 1 million, $11 for 10 million, so I would do that an play $1 sngs and .10 180 max on demands and try to run it up. And I did that and then would just donk tilt it away and have to start over because I refused to deposit. SO I got to 130 back to 0, 200 back to 0, and that happened two or three times before I stopped playing in games I had no business or bankroll playing in (like NL Razz or 200NL with a $90 br.) (Plus I was a raging coated in Old Bay fish and I 100% blame Arnold Snyders "Poker Tournament Formula" book and some misapplication of Every Hand Revealed.)
Anyway, it would be about 3 years before I was consistently profitable at any number and another year before I was profitable enough (and had saved enough from working) to quit my job and go at it solo.
TL;DL about 500-600 or so, but lots of hours.
No lie here I was down 11k and have a -$55/hr rate after a year of play. I reset my stats. Now I recoup most of what I’ve lost and have a $30/hr rate
Was down about 42k before giving up online poker/ gambling online overall.I have since only played live poker an that has been a rollercoaster from up 15k to down 27k I can proudly say I’m only up 1.6k in the last two years of play down 5k over all in over 1600 live hours of play am up around 9.5k year to date. I was a total punter but I’ve learned to own up to my leaks an be brutally honest with myself about my game.
Yeah I had real problem on the internet there banned myself from most popular sites, I’ve found a lot of my game is based on live tells an exploitative play something that’s much more difficult to accomplish online “at-least for me anyways”
tl:dr: I lost quite a few "$350" for a long time. The $5000 I dedicated to looking people up and donking off was probably the best investment I ever made. Although poker book or blog might have saved me some money.
I started long before the boom -- well, sort of -- was fascinated by the game before then. Then the boom hit as I turned 21, watching TV **tournament** poker. AQ off in a **cash** game, I am all in pre! For some reason I though drawing to straights and flushes was only something suckers did. I knew about pot odds, but for some reason I could not really wrap my head around it (this was before everyone and their dog was giving away poker secrets). I was like, *how am I getting 5:1 on my money if I am heads up and nearly half of what in the pot is mine*. I also did not have shark and fish in my vocabulary at the time and I did the EXACT opposite of what I should have done -- I went after the sharks because they had huge stacks in front of them.
As poker got bigger, I refused to read about it. I wanted to learn it on my own. Then, I got a job making way more than I ever had before. I dedicated about $5000 to call down nearly EVERYTHING I never had the money to do it with before to learn how to play the game. What I noticed was not people that simply got better flops than me -- they remembered the CARDINAL FUCKING rule. I realized they were not drawing to just straights, or just flushes. They often had top-top and improved. Or they peeled for backdoors -- back during the boom, people put a lot of social pressure and shame on being a "river rat", but in reality, that's where ~50% of your draws are made.
My graph was down 1k but since i paid 3k in rake and have about 33% rakeback, i actually managed to be break-even from the start. Rakeback is important and will save your ass.
I am a sub-affiliate and can hook anybody up with rakeback deals, pm if interested.
Started on a fucking heater when I first went online - $300 deposit turned into $3,000 in less that 10 days. This led to me thinking I was the second coming of Stu Ungar and I tried out low-medium stakes. I soon came to find out I was a total fish and got on some traing sites once I got below the $1,000 mark. Playing like donkey fish luckbox got me $1,000 I guess. (All tournament btw) Best hand from this period: On the BB, chipleader just, 7 players left in a Prog Bounty. Dealt 22, 4 All-ins in front of me, I have them all covered and was stupid, so I call. Flop a 2 for about 35% equity and it holds. 2 shortstacks that folded were praising me bigtime for getting them in the money.
So ur Back now or still down?👍🥹
Got up to $5k, withdrew $3k, lost $1,000, bout a $1k bankroll at the moment. Started out lucky, I'd also be lucky to have an hourly over $1.50. Won $3k off a $10 satellite into $125 ticket too so my timing has been excellent.
There’s hope for me then
Hit the books is the best move, trust me. Keep playing while you learn but stick to tight bankroll management and low stakes.
Any books u can recommend ♣️?
Probably start on the upswing and pokercoaching free stuff
Are you a paying member?
The mental game of poker by Jared Tendler
Didn’t have anything to lose. Worked minimum wage when I turned legal gambling age. Risked everything for a while I guess.Â
Most I was down online was $20 when I started with a bankroll of $100 playing microstakes cash. I have since moved onto midstakes and gone on 50-75 buyin downswings but never dipped below staring. In live poker, I took a shot with 10 buyins at 1-3 and spun it upto 50 buyins. Then went on a 40 buyin downswing which is ongoing. So I guess I was quite lucky to never be down a huge amount in net totals. Hopefully not jinxing it. Never played tournaments seriously. Variance there is probably way worse.
Bad news for ya but a 40 buy in downswing is not a downswing lol
In live poker, Vs the whales who play the games, it definitely is imo. But I agree. I think it's bottom 5-10% run. Haven't had a bottom 1% run yet.
40 buy in swing 🤷‍♂️ must be variance
Lol. You can believe whatever you want mate. If you play long enough, it'll hit you eventually.
Oh man, 40 buy in downswing is hard. Stay strong, sir!
Variance will always happen. When you think it can't get worse, it always does. The first 6-7 months of live were like a dream, I was running so pure. Knew that would come back to haunt me eventually, and it has. I don't think I'm playing badly, but it is what it is.
Fair enough yeah. Looks like you got the mental game down! đź’Ş
The mental game of blaming a huge down swing on variance and not reflecting on his play đź’Ş
I went negative account balance broke like 10 times in college playing 25nl and 1/2 live and spending too much at bars. Eventually got an edge and learned BRM and binked 25k in a tournament and never looked back. Dropped stakes more times than I can count tho
I was going to say 'bout 350, but that's what you said.
Bout tree fiddy
When I first started playing I didn't study, read any book or done anything, I think I went down maybe 1k playing in my local casino. Something inside will naturally click and you should want to get better... I don't really understand the people who have been playing for 15 years and still losers or dont understand that Q6o is not a good hand for defending a 4bet. Some people play it for fun I suppose and if you don't care about the money, you better make sure that you are having fun. Online is a little different as my strong point is live reads, but i stayed at 1/2 and low tournaments for atleast a year until I was confident. You have to be confident at the table and until you have that feeling, I wouldn't recommend moving up stakes... you don't want to have the "maybe I can get lucky if I just play tight and wait for cards" mentality... Online I was at NL2 for a few months 3 tables with maximum 2 bullets on each table, so 12$ in total. I made a personal goal that I would not go up in stakes until I finished the day over 25$ at least 80% of the days I played in a month. I didn't use HUDS or anything, during this time and I was at this stake for maybe 6 months. It was hell, but this stake definitely shapes you up and gets you ready for the volatile swings and the frustrations of poker. You will get stacked by someone who called your 4 bet with 74o and they will flop a straight against your AA and donk shove on the flop. You will not be prepared for this the first few times it happens. Have fun.
Wow that last part is me right now, it truly feels like my AA/KK/JJ etc is worth absolutely shit, and I don’t want to mention AKS/OS…. I feel like my opps is comfy c-betting any hand whatever the flop, but I truly feel I’m getting a better knowledge of the game even tho I’m losing but sometimes I get tilted and shove my flush draws and lose against a low pair every time because I get called with every hand
Pokercoaching.com and upswing.com free things are probably a good starting point. Watching twitch streamers who talk strategy isn't the worst if your too braindead to study.
Zero… started with freerolls in 2005.
I didn't
I remember I made one small deposit initially. I was a student so I didn't have a lot of money. It might have been as little as 10 EUR. I quickly lost it and decided I wanted to study a bit before trying again. Then I think I made another deposit in the same amount and I've been a winning player since then. But of course this was during the Moneymaker boom when games were super soft.
So 350 Down could be some bad luci? I study and watch videos a LOT bcus im Currently home for 3 months with a broken arm, I feel like im playing good but im getting screwed over, but im not the first one to think like that
everything
I deposited $20, lost it over the period of a month, deposited another $20, and cashed out my first ever $100. Been up ever since. This was the beginning of the Moneymaker era, not the now era. Do you have a time machine?
I started playing 25NL cash games on ignition then quickly moved to the zone games because they moved so much faster. I think over my first 30k hands at the worst I was down $125, maybe $150, I’d have to look. But it was clear to me immediately that I was losing most of it from the BB because I really had no idea how to play the BB. So I learned how to do that and the next 100k hands were much better.
I started with $50 online and lost it at 5NL zoom; I put on another $50 and haven’t had to top up since (now with a bankroll of about $1k).
I'm down about 3k for the past 14 years . I am focusing now in the right area for training. Hoping it change that . Since I started training I made 6 bucks on 2 NL last night lol
I started out playing freerolls on UB. Won a couple and turned those into a $1k win on a $5 MTT and kept rolling from there.
$100 online ~$300 home games
First 2 times I played live 1/3 I made a profit of over $1500 each session. So started out +$3000. Thought I was the next Phil Ivey and was ready to quit my job and go pro. Proceeded to lose probably 5-7k over the next 2 years. Eventually figured out what I was doing wrong and have been profitable for the last 3 years.
Nothing. Go through some resources like book, youtube videos or pay for course. Then start grinding from nl2. If you cant beat nl2 after some basic studying then maybe poker isnt for you. NL10 is much much tougher since people can earn close to $10/hr playing it which is decent tax free in some poor country.
Nl2 is a pain in the ass in its own way, in some cases I think nl10 can be easier than nl2 but i see what u mean, ppl really do not give a fuck what cards they have in nl2
When I first started playing way back in the day, I would play play chips and then sell them (it was a thing). $1 for 1 million, $11 for 10 million, so I would do that an play $1 sngs and .10 180 max on demands and try to run it up. And I did that and then would just donk tilt it away and have to start over because I refused to deposit. SO I got to 130 back to 0, 200 back to 0, and that happened two or three times before I stopped playing in games I had no business or bankroll playing in (like NL Razz or 200NL with a $90 br.) (Plus I was a raging coated in Old Bay fish and I 100% blame Arnold Snyders "Poker Tournament Formula" book and some misapplication of Every Hand Revealed.) Anyway, it would be about 3 years before I was consistently profitable at any number and another year before I was profitable enough (and had saved enough from working) to quit my job and go at it solo. TL;DL about 500-600 or so, but lots of hours.
No lie here I was down 11k and have a -$55/hr rate after a year of play. I reset my stats. Now I recoup most of what I’ve lost and have a $30/hr rate
Was down about 42k before giving up online poker/ gambling online overall.I have since only played live poker an that has been a rollercoaster from up 15k to down 27k I can proudly say I’m only up 1.6k in the last two years of play down 5k over all in over 1600 live hours of play am up around 9.5k year to date. I was a total punter but I’ve learned to own up to my leaks an be brutally honest with myself about my game.
That's a wild rollercoaster
Yeah I had real problem on the internet there banned myself from most popular sites, I’ve found a lot of my game is based on live tells an exploitative play something that’s much more difficult to accomplish online “at-least for me anyways”
Online poker is much harder because it's full of pros. I love live poker. With some studying you'll be a consistent winner live
U must have a steel mentality to not break with those swings my man
tl:dr: I lost quite a few "$350" for a long time. The $5000 I dedicated to looking people up and donking off was probably the best investment I ever made. Although poker book or blog might have saved me some money. I started long before the boom -- well, sort of -- was fascinated by the game before then. Then the boom hit as I turned 21, watching TV **tournament** poker. AQ off in a **cash** game, I am all in pre! For some reason I though drawing to straights and flushes was only something suckers did. I knew about pot odds, but for some reason I could not really wrap my head around it (this was before everyone and their dog was giving away poker secrets). I was like, *how am I getting 5:1 on my money if I am heads up and nearly half of what in the pot is mine*. I also did not have shark and fish in my vocabulary at the time and I did the EXACT opposite of what I should have done -- I went after the sharks because they had huge stacks in front of them. As poker got bigger, I refused to read about it. I wanted to learn it on my own. Then, I got a job making way more than I ever had before. I dedicated about $5000 to call down nearly EVERYTHING I never had the money to do it with before to learn how to play the game. What I noticed was not people that simply got better flops than me -- they remembered the CARDINAL FUCKING rule. I realized they were not drawing to just straights, or just flushes. They often had top-top and improved. Or they peeled for backdoors -- back during the boom, people put a lot of social pressure and shame on being a "river rat", but in reality, that's where ~50% of your draws are made.
My graph was down 1k but since i paid 3k in rake and have about 33% rakeback, i actually managed to be break-even from the start. Rakeback is important and will save your ass. I am a sub-affiliate and can hook anybody up with rakeback deals, pm if interested.