Friend Insists on $1/$2, What Should I Do?

PartySNGer · #1 05-19-2005, 07:55 PM

Hi, I have a friend who has been playing poker for 5-6 years and online for about 9 months. He started with $10 free from Absolute Poker and his bankroll is now over $5,000. He has built up most of his bankroll playing $.50/$1 at Empire Poker, and he didn't move up to $1/$2 until his bankroll was at $4,000. He has probably played in 6 different $7500 guaranteeds and he has gotten top 5 in 2 of those 6 (all fields of over 200). He also recently won $1000 in an ARP freeroll on Absolute. He has read a few 2+2 books and is TAG. He's an excellent player, but his flaw is he is so risk averse he doesn't realize he could multiply his profit 2-3x or more by moving up. I keep telling him that 300x the BB is an adequate BR for a limit, but he replies with crazy figures like 2000x the BB and the like.

What can I do to get through to this guy? He doesn't track his winrate, but right now I would suspect he's beating 1/2 SH at both AP and Empire for about 5BB/100, he could easily beat any limit up to 5/10 or higher, but refuses to play. You see hundreds of guys who move up too fast before they are ready, but this may be the first who is more than ready to move up, but refuses to. Any suggestions???

imported_CaseClosed326 · #2 05-19-2005, 07:57 PM

He probably is not much a of a risk taker. Nothing wrong with that. If he is not comfortable playing higher limits then he should not play them.

IronDragon1 · #3 05-19-2005, 07:57 PM

Leave your friend the hell alone to do what he wants with his bankroll.

dblgutshot · #4 05-19-2005, 07:58 PM

I would say let the man do what he wants with his money.

MicroBob · #5 05-19-2005, 08:00 PM

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He has probably played in 6 different $7500 guaranteeds and he has gotten top 5 in 2 of those 6 (all fields of over 200). He also recently won $1000 in an ARP freeroll on Absolute

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It sounds like a majority of his profit has come from these tournament and not from the .5/1 or 1/2 games.

PartySNGer · #6 05-19-2005, 08:05 PM

$2000 of his $5000 in profit has come from tournaments, the rest has come primarily from grinding out $.50/$1.

My main point here is this: he has spent 8-9 months grinding out $3000 in .5/1 games, when he is clearly capable of beating bigger games. Poker isn't always going to be this fishy, don't others find it silly that he his playing 1/2 now when he could be making 5 figures/year during the poker boom? Oh, and this guy is also so crazy he won't even open a Party account even though I told him they won't be upset and if they are, just say you joined for the tournaments. I have a PN account, 2 EP, and 2 PP and have never had any issues, this guy is concerned about having 1 EP and 1 PP.

He is so so risk averse, he's a borderline nutjob. Every time we're watching TV and those In-Action Heroes commercials come on (Suck Up, Mama's Boy, Wuss) I laugh my ass off b/c they are him in a nutshell.

Phill S · #7 05-19-2005, 08:31 PM

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I have a PN account, 2 EP, and 2 PP and have never had any issues, this guy is concerned about having 1 EP and 1 PP.

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I have an immediate dislike of you.

And not just cos you think that online poker will stop becoming fishy (fishy is relative i guess, but nothing will stop the idiots being idiots).

I agree with most of the other guys, if he wants to be massively risk averse, its his money.

Phill

2+2 wannabe · #8 05-19-2005, 09:04 PM

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I have a PN account, 2 EP, and 2 PP and have never had any issues, this guy is concerned about having 1 EP and 1 PP.

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how about you sign up 17 more EP and 12 more PP accounts and stake him from the bonuses you make from those?

douchebag

vabogee · #9 05-20-2005, 12:18 PM

there's a poker boom?

droolie · #10 05-20-2005, 12:49 PM

Leave your friend alone and let him progress at his own rate. I might as well be the same guy as yor friend and have addressed this many times..

Reposted from another thread....

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I've played over 50K at .50/1. Why? It's fun and I end almost every session way ahead. Reliably making $30 and hour while having fun and almost zero risk is not a bad thing.

Many of us have very different motivations for playing poker. Personally I am very risk averse and do not enjoy winning more money if it feels like a grind. I have played higher limits and been successful but I always come back to .50/1 because there is no stress. I have enough stress in my regular job that when I come home and play at night the last thing I need is more stress. The actual gaming experience of winning 5+BB/100 and winning 2+BB/100 is vastly different. Though I have won more money per hour playing some 2/4 and 3/6 stretches the experience was not as enjoyable for me as a typical night of playing .50/1 clearing bonuses.

If winning the maximum amount of money is your only motivation, regardless of the emtotional toll, then by all means move up every time you have the roll but don't assume that's why we're all playing poker. I'm quite confident I'm a better poker player fundamentaly than many of the players who do quite well at higher limits but the circumstances of my life suit making lower amounts of easy money playing micro limits better. Perhaps you could argue I am leaving $$ on the table by being a pussy or whatever but poker has been fun for me almost every night I've played. Not many people, even the most successful of players, can say that. I'm reasonably sure I will begin playing exclusively at higher limits in the not too distant future but I feel very comfortably defending anybody who decides that 1/2 is the game for them. It's fun. Fun is +EV

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Maybe once you're married and have two kids in diapers you can understand why I play primarily for relaxation and amusement. The $$ is nice but is not my primary objective.

I guess you could say I am a gamer not a gambler. I like playing for fun and profit and I'll take the sure thing and an enjoyable experience over maximizing profits most times. Losing big pots at higher limits really eats me up in an unhealthy manner right now. I can finish a session up $50 but still lose sleep over the $100 pot I lost to a runner runner suckout. Sleep is worth much more than money to me right now with my 6 mo. old ruling the roost. When I lose 20BB pots at .50/1 in the same way I can giggle about it because the $$ is insignificant.

When I cleared the last stars bonus at 3/6 I took down a couple $150 pots and wound up winning twice as much as the bonus I was trying to clear and yet I was miserable the whole time. What can I say I'm a tightass. I have the BR to be playing 5/10 right now (on top of the 4K+ I've already cashed out this year) but I need more time to be immune to chip shock I feel at higher limits.

I understand variance and the concept of making more per hour despite a lower winrate but the actual experience is just too stresful. I just can't convince myself yet that the money is just chips in my 300 bet BR at higher limits. It's real money that could have been withdrawn to play bills, renovate my house and save up for my kids college. Yeah I have issues. Whatever, I'll get there someday and when I do I'll be as prepared as possible.

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