Please help with my bankroll ignorance!!!

Ok I started on partypoker last fall with an initial deposit of 50. I mostly played sng starting with 5+1 and working my way up to 200+15 within 2 months. I really had a knack for the sngs. I had build a bank roll of about 20k and was doing great in the 215s. Then i tried the step 5s and got cleaned out by christmas. I lost it all, and i was in about a day or 2 that i blew in all in these steps 5s. I was definetly not ready for the step 5s and also alot of bad luck also insued. So i started back after christmas break im in college so i only play at school really. But after playin so high limit then losing it all i dont know how to build back a bank roll because i cant get myself to play anything below 50s. So for spring i would lose thosands and then remake the money in a frenzied scramble to make back the money i had overdrawn my bank. For example, I would have 500 in checking and 2k in savings and would drain both accounts plus 2k and then would have to play all day long the next day in 215s to make back the money. Yet i always seemed to make back the money i realized this was awful money management. So for the summer i put a 200 a week limit on my partypoker account. I havnt played very consistently and will only play 50 sng at the lowest as i cant get myself to play lower. I also have a problem of losing all my money in ring games as im a terrible ring game player yet cant resist (I probably lost a lot of the 20k in ring games as well). I am fairly consistent at the 50s but tend to end up turning the 200 into like 600 then losing in all in some form be it in ring games or going to high sngs. The big loss before christmas break really demolished my confidence in poker i think and i need a plan how to get back on. I used to play just for fun and found a knack for the game, now i want to get back to the good old days. I need suggestions in what i need to do. I really havnt lost any money but havnt gained any either because whenever i win i play til i lose it all. Please give me any suggestions how to manage this bank roll and become a more successful player. If anyone has had similar situations please share and tell me what i need to do. Something snapped in me tonight and made me realize the way im playing is ridiculous. Please Please Please Help me with any suggestions you have to give. Anything can help.
Thank you so much,
Zach
P.S.-(sorry for the poker sap story as im sure everyone has them but i just needed to get all that off my chest and now im all ears on any suggestions to help me back on the road to poker success)

[Slim Pickens]

The good news is that since you're in college, you will have the opportunity to take both a composition class and a statistics class. That might be a good start. Well, that and GA. Seriously.

SlimP

[HonestIago15]

You have 2 choices.

1) Stop playing poker now and save yourself from becoming insanely in debt. If your post is any indication, you're the pinacle of an addict. Seriously.

2)Continue on your current route and become very impoverished.


You need to take a step outside yourself for a second and read that post you just made objectively. You're in bad shape dude, do NOT continue to play poker.

[Ogre]

Edit: quit now while you can

[USCSigma1097]

Man in all honesty...

Quit playing poker.

You have a problem. With your attitude and poor money skills (i.e. overdrawing bank accounts) you don't have what it takes to make money in the long run in this game.

Bankroll requirements have been posted on this site a million times...CHECK the FAQ. If you can't stick to bankroll requirements and "can't play anything below a fifty" then you need to quit poker. Period. End of Story.

Sigma

[citanul]

make paragraphs,

then i'll consider reading your post.

also, brevity is the soul of wit. and the internet.

citanul

Yeah i figured that was what i was going to be told. Im sure it is the correct answer. Im gonna give it one last shot and put 200 on next week and start at the 10s or 20s maybe. I havnt lost any money as of yet playing poker as i have said i just win i then lose it or the little stint i had where i would lose it then have to win it back. I got over that problem and the 200 dollar limit really helps. I love poker to much to give it up, and my play is decent i just need someway to find a way to regain control. I was that huge loss that spun me out of control. I really appreciate your posts and quitting is probably best but i just love it to much. I need to find a way to re dedicate myself and start all over.
Thanks so much for the replies, they really did help. I think the best thing to do is start over and start slow and if i cant i got to quit and see ga or whatever. Thanks, any more suggestions would be helpful.

Well, I suppose there are three ways to approach this:

1) Quit
2) Continue doing what your doing and give some nice guys all your winnings

3) If you truely are addicted and cannot give it up

STICK TO SNGs! STAY AWAY FROM RING GAMES
rather than limit yourself to only above 50$, why not try limiting yourself to UNDER 50$ games...

[psyduck]

why don't you deposit one LAST $100 (promise yourself that) and work up all the way from the $5+1s to the $200+15s? If you really have a "knack for SNGs" I figure this should take about 6 months of hard work. if you don't want to do this, then you're just lazy and look for quick riches.

I'm afraid you don't really sound like a winning player but if you enjoy playing poker so much then just stick to $11s and play it for the fun of the game (1 table /images/graemlins/smirk.gif), you will lose much less per hour than otherwise and as a college student you can't afford excessive losses from your 'hobby.'

If you can build up your bankroll to $660 then sure start playing the $22 SNGs and go from there, but you must make sure u don't go on tilt and try to get even playing the really high buy-in SNGs as that's plain stupid and you stand no chance.

Everyone has different reasons for playing poker. /images/graemlins/wink.gif

[ChaseYourFlush]

you say you love to play poker, but you can't play anything below $50 limit or you're in effect bored. sounds to me like you love to gamble, not love to play poker.

Telling him to quit is horrible advice. Many, lifelong poker players go bust. Stu Ungar(not saying you are anywhere in that realm or anything) was broke through great portions of his life, however, would you people on here give him the advice "quit playing poker," I doubt it.

Many successful, well-known professionals took shots way above their BR limits to reach the spots they are today. For example, Negreanu takes a couple bad beats early in his coming up and his career could be set back years.

It is very important to realize that you are young and have a life of poker that awaits you if you want it. You don't have to make 20k by December to be a "success." Picture what your bank statement is going to look like in December....of 2035.

Continue playing. I think you have the ability to be a winning player(I think most compotent people do). The hard part is understanding that this is within you but it is up to you to bring it out. This ivolves much more than playing the right cards, bankroll management is very important.

I would say I am a year and half removed from a story very simlar to yours. I started with $50 and turned that into thousands upon thousands. I bought a car, I was playing 80/160, I was spending $300 in a night out. It was whatever, I was pumped up to over 30g. It was great, I thought I couldn't lose. Of course, the second you think you can't lose...you do.

That lifestyle is well beyond me now. Of course I lost %95 of my bankroll due to playing too high, spending way too much money and a smidgey pidgey of tilt. Now days, I am happy to play $30+3 all day and all night. I'm still fortunate enough that I never had to get a job in the two or three years I've been doing this, as that for me would feel like the ultimate defeat, but I was very close(and in fact I probably should have). These days all my bills get paid, I have money in the bank, I can do fun things like go to baseball games and buy stupid [censored]. But most importantly I build my roll. I vowed to never go broke again, as should you. After that, its up to you to make it happen.

[Rickyroodido]

[ QUOTE ]
you say you love to play poker, but you can't play anything below $50 limit or you're in effect bored. sounds to me like you love to gamble, not love to play poker.

[/ QUOTE ]

Your bankroll ignorance is natural since you are an ignorant player.
Do u se why?

[Rickyroodido]

[ QUOTE ]
Telling him to quit is horrible advice. Many, lifelong poker players go bust. Stu Ungar(not saying you are anywhere in that realm or anything) was broke through great portions of his life, however, would you people on here give him the advice "quit playing poker," I doubt it.

[/ QUOTE ]

I would. Unger is the Tony Mantana of poker, a [censored] tragedy.
To call the realistic advice given (that he should quit) horrible is wrong. On the contrary it is brutal to encourage him.

Well, not to go too far defending someone I don't know...I disagree. "Gambling" problems can be overcome if one truely has the heart and desire to be a winning poker player.

There isn't anything wrong with losing poker players and it doesn't mean you necessarily have a 'gambling' problem (OP excepted) if it's done in moderation. Someone has to do it /images/graemlins/smirk.gif

[Slim Pickens]

[ QUOTE ]
I havnt lost any money as of yet playing poker as i have said i just win i then lose it or the little stint i had where i would lose it then have to win it back.

[/ QUOTE ]

A lot of your OP makes this seem like selective financial memory loss. This "I'm just going to deposit one more time" crap isn't going to help you either because you won't stick to it. It's natural for a large fraction of players (maybe 50%) to believe they're in the top 10% of players who win money, or the top 2% who make a lot of money. Buying a little self-delusion in this arena can make for great recreation, but only if you can afford it. It sounds like you can't, and you're addicted to the high you get when you win. You need to quit and the withdrawl will probably be a bitch, but it's better than where this is going.

For those who think quitting is a bad idea because so many pros play above their bankroll, I submit this. A lot of pros are also hopelessly-addicted gamblers whose lives would be much better if they gave up gambling and got a regular job. TJ Cloutier would be a multi-millionaire like Doyle Brunson is if he didn't blow it all at the craps table. The worst thing for an addicted gambler is to be good at gambling. It just lets his addictive behavior ruin him at a higher level.

SlimP

[HeroInBlack]

Hey, man, a lot of folks on here want to be condescending to you when you're asking for advice, and I think that's pretty sad.

Here are the facts, in a respectful way:
You have exhibited compulsive behavior. You have to stop that. You MUST have structure to what you do. Make a deposit of some money you can afford to lose. Then, play only tournaments for which you have 30 times the buy-in in your account. It will be a little boring, but you MUST do it this way or you are going to drive yourself to ruin.

You're a good player if what you're saying is true. You can make a $100 bankroll into $300 playing $5 SNG's within a month or two. Then move up to $10 SNG's. Turn that into $600. Then move up to $20 SNG's. Every time you drop below 30 times the buy-in, drop down to a buy-in level where you have 30 times it.

Your personality doesn't like structure like this, but it needs it.

If you try to do this, but fail and can't keep from trying the higher buy-ins and go broke again, you really do need to stop playing, and maybe seek professional help. For real. Being obsessive about poker and gambling is likely a pattern that will repeat in other areas of your life and cause you all kinds of trouble.

Just my 2 cents.