Help down 8k this year

[McMelchior]

C'mon guys,
Not everyone around here is a college student!

Probably a third of my circle of acquaintances here in NYC are well-employed, well-paid adults, for whom spending a grand per month on a hobby - whether it's the country club, a sailboat or a couple of casino-visits "rolling the bones", Black Jack or just $1 slots (at max credit) - is quite within acceptable budgetting.

I rather enjoy seeing someone spending their allowance on poker - with the possibility of improving, and definitely with the possibility of enriching the poker economy I'm a part of - than on some stupid -EV casino game.

We are all different, and live different lifes under different circumstances. Sometimes it pays to stop for a second and think about that before jumping to conclusion.

Best,

McMelchior (Johan)

[jcm4ccc]

I think a lot of the posters here are ignoring the odds. This guy has lost 8k in 12 months. The odds are probably 100:1 that he is a losing player overall. His 13 posts so far show no indication that he is a student of the game and likely to get better. These are the harsh facts.

Most players who play poker are losing players, and the bare facts we have on you indicate that you are one of those players. You might get better, but you have provided no facts to indicate that you will.

Here is a game plan for you. Stop playing MTTs. You need a bankroll of $500. Take that $500, and play stricly the $10 SnGs on party. Start reading the "1-table tournaments" on 2+2. Start posting some hands.

If you can get your bankroll up to $2000 by this plan, then start mixing up your game -- play some MTTs if you like, play the $20 SnGs on party.

If you lose the $500 bankroll, quit poker. Forever.

[Jah Red]

McMelchior...I need you to talk to my wife. She is like many here that only see poker as a way to make $$. No doubt, the $$ is great (bought some cool toys with someone elses money) but its the entertainment value that is the key for me. I've been playing for 2 years or so and am in the black a modest amount but have "enjoyed" countless hours of playing online (some time away from wife and kids).

Back to your point looseshark...

I too was down significantly after the first year I was playing. Then I got serious, studied and read every post on the MTT forum. It all turned within a 10 day period where I made the FT of 7 of 8 tourneys I played. Since then my BR can sustain the swings and I don't play poor/scared anymore. Bottom line. Work on your game, read, but most of all have fun. If it ain't fun, don't do it.

Rick

[Rickyroodido]

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh...mp;sb=5&o=

[kuro]

I know what you're saying and I've got no problem with people doing that. But your friends that throw a grand a month away on golf aren't asking what to do with a 300 dollar bankroll.

[adanthar]

[ QUOTE ]
McMelchior...I need you to talk to my wife. She is like many here that only see poker as a way to make $$. No doubt, the $$ is great (bought some cool toys with someone elses money) but its the entertainment value that is the key for me.

[/ QUOTE ]

My GF (almost three years and counting, ironically about a month or two longer than I've been playing) has gone from distrusting the idea of poker to accepting it to being in awe. The one thing she insists on, though - and I think she's entirely right - is that I shouldn't turn pro because, among other reasons, I'm not the type of guy that would enjoy it or want the pressure of constantly producing results in a game that doesn't really have a way of ensuring that.

I play this game for the money. But I post almost as much if not more than I play, because I seriously enjoy it and like the competition/analysis as much as the results. The reason I've gotten so much better at this game over the years (check out my posts when I started out; I guarantee most of them suck) is because I like it so much I'm willing to spend the time to take it seriously. My girl understands that and is willing to let me have my study/playing time because she knows how much I love the game; the money is an awesome bonus for her, but she'd be fine if I just broke even. If you talk to your wife about this I am certain you'd wind up with a better marriage as a result.

---

I also know my bankroll management, I know where my limits are, and whether I'm playing with a roll of $500 or $50,000, I am never going to spend a penny of my own money after the initial 125 it took me to learn to win.

If somebody's down 8K in a year, and skips all over stakes...it's a very bad sign. A very few people can rocket up the ladder and stay there while they fine tune an already existing skillset. I'm too risk averse, but maybe I could've handled that given a proper roll (a year ago - I would have been crushed two years back); most people can't, and if they're just randomly picking stakes, they aren't serious, ensuring they'll never win.

Again, for some people, that's fine because it's a hobby. But if somebody is perturbed enough to make a post with that as the title, they really have two options: study the hell out of the game, or quit it now. The money is obviously significant enough to affect mental state.

[FishInAPhoneBooth]

[ QUOTE ]
I been playing poker for about a year, and I am down about 8k so far. I can't seem to balance my bankroll.

[/ QUOTE ]

What was it to begin with? What did you play?

[ QUOTE ]
I played anything from $1 to $200 MTT and SNG. My home is at pokerstar.

[/ QUOTE ]

Playing $200 MTT would require a bankroll of ~$10k. Did you have that?

[ QUOTE ]
So far I earned about 3k from makeing the final table, but I got nothing to shown for. I feel sick about my game right now and takeing sometime off.

[/ QUOTE ]

Taking a break is not a bad thing.

[ QUOTE ]
I am reloading my account at the end month for about $300. Please tell me how to build my BR back up with $300. Thank you for your help.

[/ QUOTE ]

As another poster suggested, stick with $10+1 SNG on Party. You can't play a $20, a $30, or a $50. You don't have the bankroll and might not have the skills.

You can play MTT 1 day a week, but only using the profits from that days SNGs.

You need to buckle down and set a goal of turning your $300 into $500. You need to prove that you can be a winning player at the low limits before you even think about playing for the kind of money you were. Here's my story:

I started with $500 in my account a year ago. It dipped to $40 then I slowly built it back up. I never played above the 5+1 tournaments. (Thank goodness, because I would have lost a lot more than I did) When I got my stack back to $500 I moved up to the $10. I've now got ~ $970 in my account and I'm playing the $20 tourneys. I've proven that I can win at the lower limits, and now as I move up, my bankroll is growing faster and faster. I'm confident that I will be playing the $50 and then $100 buyin tourneys before the end of the year. I'm super-confident and getting better every day.

But the most important part of it, is that I didn't lose 8K while I was learning. I was losing $5 at a time. Not trying to rub it in. Just don't want you to let it happen again. DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES play higher than a $5 tournament or $1-$2 limit game until you get your bankroll over $500. Promise yourself this now. Only 3 things can happen:

1. You will follow my advice...and then slowly work your way back to the higher limits...

2. You will follow my advice...and slowly lose your $300 (this would take about a year or two at these limits)...and you would then have to decide if the entertainment value of poker is worth $300 a year...because you simply not going to be profitable player if you can't beat these limits after playing for 2 years.

3. you will find this too tedious and you will start playing the higher limits without the proper bankroll...you have a gambling problem. Sorry, but there is no other way to put it.

Good luck.

[pooh74]

[ QUOTE ]
If you lose the $500 bankroll, quit poker. Forever.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thats the exact thing I did for myself. I deposited 100 on stars in early 04 and busted out in weeks playing SNGs and stud h/L. I redeposited 100, but told myself, (and my GF) that if I lost this time, I would NEVER play online poker again. I read, I studied, I eventually found this site...and I built it SLOWLY! ( I posted in the SNG forum yesterday that my first 6 mos yielded only 1k---very bad hourly rate). Who cares if youre making money or not at first: if you break even, learn, get better, and entertain yourself in the process, then that is gold.

p

[Brad F.]

Just an FYI adanthar, this is one of the top 5 or so posts I've ever read. It really made tons of sense to me. If you are too eager to get to the higher stakes, variance will kill you and you will almost always go broke.

Brad