1 year as an underage player

[smartalecc5]

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As of today, I have officially been playing internet poker for one year. I just graduated high school 4 days ago, and the last year has been very interesting balancing poker with my personal life and school.

I have had an interest with poker for a while, and since my academic performance was pretty solid during my junior year of high school, my parents decided to let me set up a Party Poker account last summer. There were a few ground rules, which were as follows.

1.) No playing more then 2 hours per day
2.) Only deposit $200 into the account, and if I lost it no future deposits could be made.
3.) I had to keep them updated on what stakes I was playing at all times

I was perfectly content with this arrangement, so I made my deposit. At this time, I had good poker instincts, but not enough knowledge about bankroll management and other crucial skills I would need to acquire.

At the beginning of my poker career, I bounced around a lot, playing SNG’s, a little bit of limit cash games, and some NL as well. In my first 3 days, I ran my $200 into $425. Somewhere along the line I started playing SNG’s exclusively. During a brutal run, my account balance dwindled down to $47.00 I then took 1st place in a $10 SNG, and this somehow gave the feeling that I was going to get past this run. For a while I was so emotionally drained that I told myself I would get my initial $200 and quit playing.

As the month of July wore on, my confidence grew, particularly after one all night session where I managed to grind out $180 playing $10 SNG’s. Anyway, by then end of the month had my account balance up to about $1300.

Unfortunately, at this point in time, my bankroll management skills were horrendous. For some reason, I convinced myself that it would be ok to play some $100 NL tables. After taking a couple of brutal beats, I was on major tilt playing above my head at $50 SNG’s etc… By the end of the night I had lost about $700, which was an ridiculous amount of money to me at that time. Anyway, at one point my account balance was back down to $400 when I vowed to be better with bankroll management and get myself out of this situation.

Over the next couple of months, I grinded it out at the $10 and $20 SNG’s and built my bankroll to about $2900 the beginning of October. Then, on a whim, I decided to play some $2-4 limit. I immediately realized that I had a knack for limit poker, and I immediately started crushing the game. I didn’t have poker tracker at the time, but I can tell you that I won about $4700 in October 4 tabling 2-4 for about 15 hours a week.

In November, I moved up to 3-6 and had some good success there, and although I took I week to move back down to $2-4, I still ended the month up $3700. I had a frustrating first week of December, and it ended up being my first break even week since I started playing limit. For some reason, I thought it would be a good time to move up to 5-10 6 max. It was pretty scary for the first two days, but I ran insanely well and ended December up something like $7800, which was about 2 years work at my job. I had been a service attendant at a nice restaurant for almost a year and a half, and while I had some good friends there, I decided that it was time for me to leave.

I continued to have success at 5-10, but in January I decided to give the 10-20 6 max a shot. I quickly had a 200 BB upswing followed by a 200 BB downswing. After the downswing, I realized I wasn’t emotionally ready to play for this much money and moved back down to 5-10. A month later I was giving the 15-30 full games on party a shot. I got off to a blazing start, winning something like $6,000 in my first week. I made this my new home, and made another $5500 in March, when I also finally set up a rakeback account and staring pulling in that extra income. I was a little disappointed with this result, as my winrate was significantly less then it had been at all the other stake levels I had been at. Anyway, April was a difficult month for me, I had some serious issues with my girlfriend with whom I had been together for almost a year and a half. We split, and I ended the month even not including my rakeback. At the beginning of May I was rejuvenated ready to have a huge month. I went on a tear playing everything from 10-20 6 max to $1000 NL tables and was up 7k by the 11th of the month. Unfortunately, a large chunk of this money came after having a few solid sessions at 30-60, and my downfall was inevitable. I dropped 8k in 24 hours, which is a sick amount of money to a 17 year old. I realized I couldn’t hand the swings, and I dropped back down again. I was running so bad and my play was rapidly deteriorating and I knew I needed to take a few steps back.

At the end of last month I moved back to the 5-10 6 max to rebuild my confidence. I’m up almost $5600 this month at the 5-10 game as I am writing this, and I’m back on top of my game. I’m going to stick it out at 5-10 for July and then give then 10-20 6 max a shot in August, I am confident about my prospects in that game given my results from May. After 1 year, my $200 in now somewhere around $ 38,000.

I have come a long way in the last year, both as a poker player and as a person. One thing I am particularly proud of is the fact that I have kept my life balanced despite poker. I have had more then enough time for my friends and for my on and off again girlfriend. I was able to keep a 3.4 GPA and I got my SATS up to a 1330. I also have matured as a result of poker, most poker players know how brutal the swings can be, and they make other things that used to bother me seem mundane. I will be attending Bentley college near Boston next year and would love to meet up with any 2+2ers in the area.

One thing excites me is how far I have come in the last year. I feel that if I continue to work on my game and focus on improving and playing my best at all times, I have a lot of potential. Poker has enhanced my life, and I hope it continues to do so.

Sometimes I still need to pinch myself to absorb what had happened to me in the last year, while I have worked hard to get where I am, it’s hard to always feel like I deserve the success I have had. It certainly makes me feel like I have more responsibility to do good just because of how fortunate I have been. So thanks for all the feedback, and hopefully year 2 will be even better than the first one.


Gabe

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Thats awesome dude. I started out with 10 bucks on 7Siltans poker (a prima skin) and now have it to I think ~$2000ish. I don't really want to keep a precise count, might get nervous if I realize how much I have (or don't have to the high rollers). Im still not graduated from HS tho. [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]

[mscags]

Congrats dude. I hope to be there sometime soon [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[Mariogs379]

hey
to all you out there who started out small and built up a bankroll to several thousand id love to hear what you have to say to my situation. I'm gonna be a junior in HS this fall and I have $80 right now for a bankroll. How can I build it up and hopefully get it into the thousands two years from now?
all thoughts from anyone who's been in this situation would be VERY MUCH APPRECIATED
thank,
Mario

[josh1122]

1. Read and reread the best books including Small Stakes Hold'em, Hold'em Poker for Advanced Players, and The Theory of Poker.

2. Read the newbie bonus whoring FAQ at www.bonuswhores.com or search for a post here by Homer titled something like building a bankroll for beginners.

3. Put in the time to play, study, and think about the game.

4. Read and post on these forums.

5. Be lucky. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[Mariogs379]

what about specific games to play? limit vs. no limit
risk/reward in the two types of holdem...but also what should i do about MTTs and sit n gos or should i stick with cash games as thats where i can make the most $$?

[toss]

Cash games are the easiest for me to play. Everyone is different though. Play whats most comfortable for you.

[nervous]

small bankrol += bonuswhoring = $$thousands$$ (decent bankroll for small stakes)

[ds914]

Thanks for sharing. This is a great post, and I think a lot of people could learn a lot just by seeing the relationship you have with your parents. I'm sure that played a large part in your success. I wonder how your results would have been affected if you had to sneak around behind your parents' backs to log hours.

Like another poster said, college will probably be the greatest four years of your life. Although you don't want to spend every aching hour in front of the computer, your poker skills will hopefully keep you from having to take a part-time job in the dining hall. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

You've come a very long way in just a year. Keep up the great work, and please continue posting.

[raptor517]

ive made more than my dad 3 months in a row. i dont go to college. he wishes he had my life. my daddy is jealous. grats on bein rich for a 17 year old. buy a new car. dont play 100-200. dont play blackjack. dont play pai gow. dont play casino games in general. dont get a fake id. play 09243850923095029386092968902 step 5s. that is all. holla

[Myst]

[ QUOTE ]
ive made more than my dad 3 months in a row. i dont go to college. he wishes he had my life. my daddy is jealous. grats on bein rich for a 17 year old. buy a new car. dont play 100-200. dont play blackjack. dont play pai gow. dont play casino games in general. dont get a fake id. play 09243850923095029386092968902 step 5s. that is all. holla

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Uh I would need a 100k roll to feel safe in the Step 5s raptor. Lol.

But to the OP. Congrats man. Definitely spend the time to enjoy college first before poker. Thats what it is all about.