bankroll management

Managing losing Sessions

2010-12-25T02:36:00.000-08:00

How to you manage losing sessions? First of all set yourself a limit of money that you are allowed to lose. Learn to focus. Barry Greenstein wrote that once he starts to notice he plays bad going to the bathroom and taking a mini break to refresh helps him to re-focus and that if he catches himself playing badly after that stopping sounds like a good decision.
Losing is part of the poker game, you can't avoid it. Maximizing your profits when you are winning and minimizing your losses once you are losing should be your number one goal.
Don't reload like a retard. Once you have lost your money twice and it was not to suckouts or bad beats: take a break. There will be another game tomorrow. Beating the game is the most important component of playing poker and if you can't manage it, stay away from it if you worry about losing your rent money.
Analyze your plays and find out if you are tilt resistent or if you are losing a lot money due to tweaking your play when you shift from TAG to MANIAC.

To make a long story short. Monitoring your play at poker through the use of pokertracker or something similar will improve it. Work on your game, not on your deposit request stats.

The mindset of a Poker Player

2010-09-24T06:56:00.000-07:00

Recommending someone to start playing poker to make some extra bucks is a double edged sword. There are plenty of people making a good living with poker, but after all, most players are suckers. They can not help spending money in the casino and are therefor rewarded with deposit bonus and rakeback offers. The only way to beat the game is to play consitent, learn to live with the upswings and downswings, and most important, to know when to quit. Having a healthy live, eating good food and exercising helps as well. It's impossible to keep a bankroll intact if you can not control your lizard brain and tend to gamble your money away on thin calls or pushes. Playing to many tables is another mistake players make. They read that you should play at least 2 tables online, which will increase your hourly rate. Which is complete bullshit if you can jerk off on two tables and tilt your money away. FOCUS! Close all the other programs. Turn off the TV. Maybe even turn off the music. And think about your actions! Think before you bluff a calling station. Think before you call down someone who bets only with a solid hand. Think about how many tables your opponents play. THINK about what costs you the most money. Which are your sucker moves? What can you do better? It's hard to focus on a single table, and to be honest, I can't play a single tournament, it has to be at least 4 tables or I will start playing dumb. But a shorthanded cash table has so much action to learn from that most players could use the time and perfect their focus. All those gambler with attention deficit might be effictive for some time, yet they are the minority. If you are a beginner or an average player who knows his way around, don't hesitate to cut back on tables. If you are losing at the poker tables, rethink your game. And if you can't take losing, well, then poker is nothing for you. Succeeding at the tables is hard if you don't have a good life. A life that gives you a peaceful mind and let's you deal with all those bad beats and riverrats. A mind that will not give you trouble when you lose 5 stacks. A mind that can say: That guy is a better player, maybe I should go to another table. Maybe I played bad. Maybe I could have lost less. Maybe I could have won more. Poker is about percentages. And playing only a single table might be trouble if you want to play a lot of hands. It's not about that. It's about paying attention. Focusing on your opponents and your cards, and trying to make the perfect play. Call, fold, bet, rais, at the right time, not because you want to bluff, raise a fucker who called your bets or do some other stupid things that will make your short term lizard brain happy, but will fuck your long term success up.

How much money should you deposit in your Poker account??

2010-05-21T05:10:00.000-07:00

Nothing. Not one dime if you ask someone this question. Plain and simple, if you are going to start playing poker you should never ever start with your own money. There are about 5 sites that offer different kind of instant bankrolls which will found you with enough money to test the waters of the Poker world. Or you could take part in freerolls, but those give little to no money (been there, done that) and take ages to be finished. Rather get a free bankroll and play a few smaller low limit tournaments for the same effect. Online Poker Experience. The best site for a free bankroll is poker strategy, a site that gives you free cash and bonus points once you start playing. Those bonus points give you access to poker lessons, or if you become one of their top players, into bonus money.

Not that I think to highly of learning about poker, because poker is more about luck, timing, instincts and bankroll management, but those sites give you a general understanding of the game, which is needed to be eventually able to beat the low limits. After that it's all about balls, gambling and running hot, or simply playing like an accountant without a heart and soul.

If you do it right you can be at different Poker platforms building your bankroll and those free money site can add up to a starting bankroll of 300-400 bucks spread across a few different sites. Depending on your luck and skill level you can turn this into a pretty nice big bankroll. But be assured, putting your own money in is a waste of time. Of all my friends who started, most of them did not stick to the game, a lot lost the money and simply quit. Or they did not enjoy online Poker and just did not log into their account anymore. That's why a free bankroll will show you if you have the energy to put up with the stress and hustle of a poker player. Cause this is one of the hardest way to make an easy living and it will take a long time, especially since there are so many people who know how to play now, to produce an income that is compareable to a real life income in the western world.

Poker Free Deposit | Instant Bankroll

2010-05-19T08:52:00.000-07:00

There are plenty of organisations offering you a free bankroll. If you read this blog you might know my opinion on poker and depositing your own cash. For me that is a big "NoNo". Don't do it, instead built upon that what others will pay you to start playing. That is if you seriously want to take up online poker, I am not going to lie to you, most online players hate it after a while. It's hard to play a lot of table profitable and to be tough enough to face all those bad beats and donkeys taking your money. There are highs, there are lows, and most people remember their lows more than their highs. I guess I am talking to much, you want to know where the pest is to start your poker free deposit journey? It's easy, the best site to start the jounrey, cause they have a huge community and help beginners mature into Poker Players is Pokerstrategy.

There you find your instant Poker Bankroll.

After getting your money you will be part of the community and can reach special benfits, such as coaching, advanced reading and if you make it to their top rake contributors, you will even get a nice cashback.

Nevertheless, most Online Poker players are not satisfied with the game. They utterly hate it after a time, so make sure you know what you get yourself into before you start. And make sure that you are not going to invest your own money, if you can't stick to the free poker money bankroll and have to cash in chances are above 95% that you will buy more and more chips and that the free 50$ was not that free anyways.

No Deposit Free Poker Money Guide

2010-05-16T23:14:00.000-07:00

If I was to start all over again, I would know exactly where to start, which bonuses to pick and where to stay away. Not that I say you should pick up online Poker at all, just sayin.

My first stop would be Pokerstrategy to sign up for their free Poker money. Which Pokerroom you ask me? Well that is pretty easy, I'd go for Pokerstars or Fulltilt, those are the rooms where you profit the most from the bonus. They are the biggest rooms and offer games all around the clock. That said, I would go for Pokerstars, as there are less interesting options available for them on other sites. You will get bonus point for every game you play there and can access the Pokerschool over at Pokerstrategy. They offer plenty of other rooms, but I would rather only add the rooms that you will play the most on, to profit from their system.

To build your bankroll you can use another site: Pokersource online is another platform that gives you free Pokermoney, their offers vary, and at the moment you can get Free money at Winner Poker, Ultimate Bet, Absolute Poker and Titan Poker. Titan might be an option for Pokerstrategy though as well.
You can get access to all of those promotions with pso and don't have to limit yourself to one free bankroll as you have to do with pokerstrategy, yet they don't offer additional benefits when you play on the site. You can get the free gifts, but after that you are done, so it's wise to choose rooms that you are probably not going to play a lot after you have matured.

what is rakeback?
Rakeback is a return of the rake you have been paying. It's nice once you play a lot and know your way around. It's not worth depositing money and chasing it though. What's good about pokerstrategy is that you will get rakeback deals with the rooms that offer them, which is a nice way to go, so if you already have built your roll, you can use their deposit options to get a few good bonus offers.
Yet I would not get the rakeback from them for fulltiltpoker, I would choose raketherake. If you do not care about a pokerschool and want oldschool benfits like freerolls, extra money and stuff like that, raketherake is the way to go. They offer a great deal on different sites which you might not be eliagable for after you got all that freemoney from the other sites, but their fulltilt program is one of the best available. I would pick this program if I was starting out again as you are not only getting the signup bonus, the 27% rakeback, nope, you will even get to join their free tournaments and take part in their rake races which might even give you more bang for the buck if you turn into a high roller down your poker carreer.

Given the fact that you already need a bankroll for this to be useful, it's a good way to make money down your poker career and not if you start out. Once you know that you have the guts to make money look for the best deals available, who am I to tell you then? If not, those freemoney offers should have shown you if you have what it takes, or if you are going to be one of the poker losers, which is a nice way of saying: stick to playing for dimes with your friends.

Free Titan Poker Bankroll

2010-05-10T13:04:00.000-07:00

Titan Poker is one of the Poker Rooms that is supported by Pokerstrategy. As it is no Room where you can get rakeback it's a great place to start your pokerstrategy career, as you recieve bonus points at that site. You get a 50+100$ Bankroll at their site, which is one of the best deals around. Find out more about them here.

Headsup Poker Bankroll Management

2010-05-06T00:59:00.000-07:00

Headsup Poker is one of the toughest games you can play. First of all it depends on what you want to play, if you are playing heads up cash games, get ready for some hardcore swings and build a bankroll that is bigger than your house. We are talking 100-200 max buyins of your limit here at least. As headsup poker can lead to tilt, and lead to it very fast. If you can't stand that, don't play it.

Heads up Sit and Go's on the other hand, don't pose such a big risk from my point of view, as you can tilt here as well, but if you are skilled you can usually grind out a lot more and you can easily drop down in levels. You will always lose sometimes, but it's quite hard to lose 10 games of headsup poker in a row, unless you tilt hardcore. And if you are prone to that, no bankroll management will save you. You should try yoga or meditiation instead. SO with this said, I think that 25 buyins for low level headsup games is more than enough, just make sure you win more than you lose and more than you pay in rake.

A good way to start a headsup journey is to get yourself a free poker bankroll of 50$ and start at the low headsup limits and try to grind this up. You will see pretty quickly if you are a headsup or a shorthanded/fullringe player type.

The 41 rules of Online Poker

2010-05-03T10:13:00.000-07:00

Learn the game-rules: a King beats a Queen, pair loses to trips, all that shit.
Learn to not bluff, yep, bluffing is easy, not doing it all the time is the hard part
Reading players is overrated, don't be a sheriff, don't call to know you are beat
Know what you strength is, if you are a fuckin retarded maniac play like one! Fuck the money, be unpredictable, if you are a NIT be one, but don't pay off the maniacs.
Poker is not that cool, fancy moves don't get ya girls, solid play gets you dollars though. If you want to see fancy play rewarded do some Sport like MMA, Parkour, Skateboarding, Streetball, something where balls matter
Don't be intimitated by power, it's about technique.
Know the different types of players, build strategies against them.
Online-Poker is about money, not about fun, not about friends, responsible gaming is the key, if you can't hold to your money and need it to pay the bills, don't hesitate and shut yourself down.
Degenerates win. If you can sit in front of this game for hours, don't move your ass and have the ability to play 12-16 tables at once you are bound to make some serious cash. But sorry to say that, you are a degenerate gambler.
You are not Durr. Don't try to be like him. Be John Shmoe. Bill Simon. Whatever your name is, be yourself, you can't fake the funk.
Play like no money is involved, even though poker is all about the money. If you think about what you could by with all that money that you just lost it's time to quit.
Quit poker. Often. Don't stay at tables you can't beat.
There is no working at your game, either you know the basic rules and play your style and lose like a man, or poker is not for you. You will lose no matter how good you are. Poker is about luck, don't listen to people who tell you otherwise.
Ride your streaks. If you run hot, play a lot, if you play like crap and all your hands are dead quit. Quit often. Hold onto your hard earned money.
A college degree will probably get you a more interesting job. Hell, most jobs are more interesting than online poker.
If you can chose between reallife poker and online poker always go for the one where the most money is. Or simply enjoy your life and do something else.
Poker is a game most people love to hate.
Streaks are unavoidable, keep your losing streaks short.
Don't overanalyse your game. There is a right. There is a wrong. Learn from your wrongs, repeat the rights.
Every game is different, players evolve and you might lose to a donkey.
Fuck the etiquette, those guys are after your money.
Play like a man, don't whine like a sissy.
Some people are better, others are not, the more you can leave your emotions behind, the better you will get.
Scruples hurt.
Don't gamble without noticing it. Do it when you want to, don't do it to do others a favour.
Most people these days know the rules.
Beating online poker is hard, a lot of people try it.
There are more donkeys in live play, at least you can spot them easier at 1 table without stats.
Stats are overrated, always remember that there is Lady Luck, and she sure hell is a bitch.
You need to get lucky, you need a big bankroll, you have to know the odds, you have to leave your red blooded heart at home, you have to love the game, you have to love the game when it betrays you, kisses someone else and fucks behind your back.
Poker ain't chess.
Poker ain't Basketball, Football or whatever. It's no teamsport.
Poker schools want a part of your rake. They might want you to win, but after all they don't care.
Poker schools make money from you. They are doing nothing for free.
There are no real friends at a poker table, even though they might lend you money.
After all, poker pros make money through sponsoring, sponsoring, TV gigs, a bit of Poker and did I mention, sponsoring? They are pretty good at live play as well. Some even rock the online world. Or they write books. The time of easy games is over. People know the rules. You have to break them to really make money.
Do you really believe the hype?
Durr pwns them all. So does Phil Ivey, but have you seen it ivey do on TV? See luck for that reason.
More games are a lot harder to learn than hold'em, most of them need more skill. That's why there is even less money in the long run.
Live still pays the best, as there are more people who want to have fun playin against the best.
Running hot = Everything. Folding = the other half. Fishing the few newbs that are left = priceless. Getting a few players that tilt of their role = part of the game. Paying loads of rake against people of equal skill = The only thing that happens daily.

pure gold

2009-03-25T07:12:00.001-07:00

11 reasons why online poker sucks

2008-09-16T12:08:00.001-07:00

You want to hear some whine? Well you won't get some, this is just for you, the one who is fed up with online poker, but still thinks he can beat it and can't quit. In case you are like every other Poker addict loser who sometimes gets on a winning spree, like myself :) I am a gambler, and that's how I play poker nowadays, if I want a job I will find something more interesting. Oh and just to make this clear, gambling and throwing away money are two pair of shoes. Throwing away money is playing online poker, roulette or craps. Gambling is playing live poker, where you watch the tells, analyze the player and go for it before you win for sure on turn or river. That's gambling. You don't fuckin know if you win or not, it's luck. The 1 outer will hit and you will get pissed. Maybe not now, but every now and then. Learn to live with it.

you will lose money, you will always pay rake, you will always have bad run, you will win, you may play great, but overall online poker is... something one can do without.
you will win money and lose it later on, ending up losing more when you are emotionally unstable
you will neglect your social life
you will think you can quit your fucked up day job and think that poker is something better... it's not...
poker rooms want you to play poker... THEY MAKE FUCKIN MONEY WITH YOU
people make money with it, not everyone can do that otherwise those guys wouldn't make money with it
online poker gets fuckin boring, when you multi table it's only a challenge for your motoric movements, you turn your brain of and fall into a flow effect
you aim for the flow effect, which will get you into trance. It's the first step to addiciton.
you will probably get fat from all the sitting in front of the computer
there are loads of good examples for people who make money with poker, the real winners sponsor those guys... think about that.
the rake wins, someone has to make money in order to keep this running, that's your spot in case you are a poker loser.

online Poker sucks part II

2008-08-31T14:07:00.000-07:00

Yeah online poker still sucks! Didn't expect that eh? :)

Freemoney is great, in case you want some just check out that link to poker strategy, but actually it's probably not worth to waste your time with online Poker, unless you have a pretty boring accountant mentality and end up getting a rush at numbers, bits and bytes. Even though the adrenaline is pretty high once you get to high limit tables.

Me, Myself and I had a rough time due to poker and the time I spend with it, probably as many of the guys who are too emotional to really be good at poker. I have sick reads sometimes and then I am off like no good, or my opponent just hits his miracle card and I can't fold even though I know I am beat, tilting off money. Play like a real pro, not like one of those wannabe pokertracker pro's who are number guys.

I play live Poker every now and then, but that's about it, and even that is getting dull. The breaks between each session just get longer and longer.

Whenever I get a new free deposit into one of my accounts I just try to run it up a bit, but I usually end up broke again, which is ok, as I can't control my play. Far too emotional. The good part is, I have plenty of other stuff to do, that's far more fun that Poker, somehow I just lack the spirit for the game. Maybe I will find it again after some breaks. This internet generation plays so many hands, most of the online players have, even if they suck as much as I do, as many hands as a mediocre pro played in 25 years of casino play. 25 years in 2 years, doesn't sound too healthy from my point of view.

The flow effect is just one nasty psycho trait one could do without, at least sometimes.

online poker? sucks

2008-05-17T05:39:00.001-07:00

How do you keep motivated playing online Poker?
I finally found my leak, it's an expensive leak, but I can't find a plumber to fix it. I am just utterly bored by online Poker and I still have done it far too often. Big pots give an adrenaline rush, but to be honest, the game itself is one of the most boring passtimes you can have online. I don't know where my fire is that I had the first time I hit a table.
Nowadays I am just so easily bored that I fall into fancy play syndrome after 20 hands. Life Poker is still great fun and I can spend nights at the tables and enjoy the games. I can even watch poker, but why do we all waste so much time at some stupid online tables when there is so much more fun to do? I'm an addict, that's my excuse, and I suck online, that's what makes everything worse. Why do you play? What do you like about a game with 52 cards, no graphical pleasure and without all the things that make offline Poker so great. Yeah how much can you read someone with his vpip and his betsizes? It's math. Go back to school nerd in case you love that.
Enough of those rants and raves, I should get back to the drawing board and create new, and most important better cartoons :)

The top 50 reasons why you lose at Poker

2008-05-08T22:54:00.000-07:00

Sometimes we all wonder why we lose at Poker. This is not a complete list, but could give you a general idea of what some people are facing when they sit at a Poker table and lose their money. Think about what you do wrong and try to eliminate your flaws.

Tilt
Play when you are tired
love your hands too much
play your lucky cards against better knowledge
try to gamble
take sidebets
play above your comfort zone
play too many hands
take it personal when you win or lose against someone
you try to break even when you are down
play too long sessions
not considering potsize, odds or outs
chasing big pots with marginal draws
playing in the wrong game
trying to apply something your read but don't understand
listening to the wrong advice by the wrong people
complaining about bad beats
playing the wrong type of game, for example holdem instead of omaha
playing the wrong style against the wrong players
not playing tight aggressive on low limits
letting your emotions take control
not listening to your instincs
playing too many tables online without being able to handle them
not moving down limits when your bankroll took a dent and you are below your comfort zone
you have relationship issues that influence your play
playing against women and trying to impress them
playing in front of women and trying to be a mac daddy and impress them
giving free cards at the wrong time
playing the player and not the cards at low limits, people are unpredictable manics not caring about the few cents they lose
playing the cards and not the player at high limits, people who have imagination and knowledge usually don't go allin on a top pair...
not being able to shift gears and adapt to new situations
giving Poker a too big part in your life
playing too tight
playing too loose
Bluff too much, especially online
play when you are angry
play with someones elses money that could pay your mortage
play in games where you are not comfortable
you are cheated on or people team up against you without you recognizing it
you pay too much rake
you do not have rakeback or something similar when you play online
you do not take advantage of a Bonus offer that would increase your hourly winnings by a small margin
you overrate your skills and think you could beat everyone
you are easily read by others
you play predictable and don't take chances
you play with scared money
you believe Poker is a skill only game and everything evens out in the long run
you can't take to lose against a 1 outer on the river being allin on the turn
you don't have a life besides the Poker tables
you play against me ;)

Poker Cartoon weblog

2008-05-05T11:09:00.000-07:00

hey there, I just felt like creating something new and decided to scan some of my drawing and mess around with the colors. So I will constantly upload new Poker Cartoon Strips at my new blog. I'd really love to hear how you like it. So just hop over and visit it.

beat online sit and go

2008-04-29T05:07:00.000-07:00

Online Poker Sit and Go's can be pretty profitable. Sit and Go's are a profitable way to start out and earn a few bucks. You have a set amount you can lose and therefor are save not to go on tilt for a complete stack, or to reload more money and lose that as well. The important part with sit and go's however is to learn the basics. And to keep a strict bankroll management.

Your first 50$
Starting out with 50$ is a good measure, probably you ask yourself why 50$? Easy, you can get free 50$ over at pokerstrategy and start to play at Titan Poker or Partypoker. In case you are going for sit and go's, pick the Titan Poker site. Party Poker becomes profitable when you are able to hit the 10+1$ sit and go’s, unless you have a bankroll of at least 50 buyins for those it’s not good to hit that site.

You read it, 50 buyins should be the bankroll you are aiming at. That means you are starting out at the 1$ sit and go’s. 10 seater that is. Play premium cards in the level 1-3 Ace King suited, JJ and above, limp with small pocket pairs and hope to hit a set. Get aggressive once the blinds hit 100 chips when you are in position, aggression will lead to points.

Important rules of thumb:
Don’t bluff calling stations or maniacs.
Bet for value.
Bluff less than you actually want to.
Bet your good hands, don’t try to get tricky.

Test the waters yourself. Play tight, experiment. The early levels are easy to beat and you don’t need a lot of knowledge besides playing tight. Check out the tools at the bottom to get your play to the next level once you feel comfortable at the tables.
Pokerstrategy offers you some things that will be later for your later career, I could promote some shady affiliate sites, but pokerstrategy is a great deal. 50$ + 100$ for free and Poker education with a great community.

Tools for a good start into the sit and go lifestyle:
The SitNGo Wizard is a tool that will help you to analyze your play and make better decisions that may lead up to more placements in the money.

Poker Stove is a free tool to check up the equity of your hand compared to the hand of your opponents. It’s a great way to find out if you made the right bets, had the right odds to call, or just to find out if you made the right decision to stay in the pot at all.

how to sustain your bankroll

2008-04-24T13:24:00.001-07:00

bankroll management = winning at poker

you can be the best player in the world, without bankroll management you will lose. You want to play and win? It's not as sophisticated as everyone wants to tell you. Read a poker book and get the odds and outs clear. Join a poker school, a great one is pokerstrategy, they even give you free poker money, and get your poker mind started. Then forget it all besides bankroll management. Don't play stupid, that's all you have to do. Don't chase draws like a gutshot. Be aggressive. Learn to stay away from the game and learn to find the right games. What games are you good at, play those, quit the others. It's online poker, you don't have to play no limit, fixed limit or holdem. You can play omaha, stud, razz, horse, tournaments, cashgame, just play the games you beat. That's all what it takes to be good at poker. Play smart, play the right games and stay within your bankroll. When you stay within it magic can happen. It's not given that it will, but magic may happen. Quit the whining, quit the losing, start playing.
Start winning at poker today.
bankroll rules of thumb
sit and go's other than headsup 50 buyins
sit and go's headsup 30 buyins
NL CASH at least 40 buyins, you can't be too conservative here.
Tournaments, 100 buyins
and after all, the most important part, just play with money you can afford to lose. Otherwise it's scared money and won't be any good. You don't HAVE to succeed at poker to be happy or a good player, you have to WANT to succeed at poker to have any chance at all.

headsup sit and go bankroll management

2008-04-22T02:01:00.000-07:00

Playing heads up sit and go's can be one of the most paying forms of poker you can play. Most players sitting at those tables are just bad, they could not fold top pair no matter what and may push any ace x preflop on blindlevel 3. That's the fun part. When you know how to play the game, it's more or less easy to beat. There is only one problem you may face when climbing the ladders of heads up poker, it's bankroll management. How many buy ins should you have? What kind of downswing can be expected? How do you manage tilt and losing sessions?

Bankroll management keys

keep a minimum of 20 buyins for the level you play at, it's better to have 30. During heads up sit and go's a lot less luck is involved. You face a single opponent and unless you suck at poker or have to push marginal hands all the time, you should be able to beat the games fairly easy up to 50$. When you sharkscope heads up players you find plenty of guys running pretty bad so to say.
Don't move up on limits to fast. This is one of the mistakes people usually make, "oh I have 5 buyins for that limit, let's take a shot." You lose that and move on to the next higher limit giving yourself 1 buyin. You lose that and my bankroll is gone again. Well it should not be like that, but you get the picture. Just stick to a roll where you can take at least 10 losses and still feel comfortable.
Move up when you can. I'd say move up once you hit 30 buyins for the next level. Conservative players can go for 40, gamblers for 20. Poker is about taking shots at the higher levels without losing your bankroll. The higher you go the more sophisticated or stupid players get. People with money will gamble, not as bad as in a casino, but still they are there. And headsup poker attracts them.

What kind of downsings can you expect?
That's pretty much depending on your skill level. Poker is luck, headsup is luck, but overall I have recognized that headsup poker is less about luck than other forms of poker. Usually it's easier to get a read, put the other on a hand and get your money in good. You can't expect more. There will be suckouts, there will be losses, but on the long run, headsup sit and go's are beatable in my eyes.

Tilt and losing sessions
How to avoid them is one of the key lessons every poker player has to learn. Nobody is the same and it's hard to give advice. Usually it's good to quit when you are losing. Just call it a day. It's tough online, you can always find a running game, but you have to learn it. Some players can take losses like they don't matter, others go on tilt. Emotional players have problems, but will make ballsy calls and plays that the others players would not make. It's a fine line, and probably, in no limit a human with emotions going with his reads may beat a computer playing his cards.

stagnating bankroll, in other words 0$

2008-04-21T06:23:00.001-07:00

The last few months, or rather the last year has been kind of a strain. I know what I am doing wrong, but somehow I can't see to find a fix for my mistakes. I put some money in, took some money out, overall I probably lost a little probably over the last months.
Right now I am on Poker break. It's time to re-evaluate my game, get another job and finish some exams. Busy life!

The next few posts will deal with fixing mistakes that will cost you money. I am not talking about losing streaks or something like that. It's about the game of life, right decisions at the right times. Bankroll management is the key to winning or losing, just like a fullfilled life is taking the rights steps in the right direction and finding yourself. You can't float around and think of one thing and neglect the other.

It does not matter how great you play, sometimes you will lose. Luck factor. My biggest mistake is grinding it up and then losing it all playing limits I can't afford to lose at without losing my complete roll. It's been like that for quite some time. I just lose my temper and get into the, what some people call, fancy play syndrome. Winning and winning, beating others up like no good and then, when it counts, when bankroll management would be a great ability, it's time to give all the winnings and more back to others.

last day of klopzis contest

2008-02-14T01:27:00.001-08:00

Klopzi is still running his contest over at his blog, and you did not join his great contest yet? Do it now!!!

Klopzi's Mediocre Poker runs that contest and you can win 3 full retail copies of poker academy prospector. All you gotta do ist post about the contest and write a few sentences about it !

This software seems to be a great tool to analyze your poker playing through hand histories. Probably a little similar to poker tracker. I love free stuff and don't own a copy of this probably great product yet. So COUNT ME IN A SECOND TIME!!!

Klopzis blog is just great in the way he talks about his poker journey and about what he has been achieving so far. Starting with freerolls going over to the real money tables and being a winner at NL200 now. It's amazing and tells us one thing, we can achieve it when we work and study hard and don't give up! Even long breaks can't keep us away from the tables.

is blogging a sales pitch?

2008-02-09T15:24:00.000-08:00

Anyone notice this? Probably Poker blogs have a certain amount of advertisement in them by the nature of the game. I really wonder if anyone who runs a blog ever made a dime out of all the advertisments they offer. This blog hasn't, but actually it has not been the intention to do so, which is pretty unintentional. I would like to earn a few extra bucks here and there, so what's the matter, how do all those Poker bloggers who earn cash with it do that? I mean besides winning at Poker. Anyone got a clue?

don't whine

2008-02-01T15:56:00.001-08:00

There are stories to be told and other to be forgot. I suck. Noone to blame but myself and stupid people in different timezones. I should love them, but I hate to take beats. 5 Time sucker kicker sucks me out and I am beat down and ugly. It's increadible. Should have called it a day.

great and fluffy contest

2008-02-01T05:56:00.000-08:00

Hi folks, I just wanted to mention that Klopzi is running a great contest over at his blog Klopzi's Mediocre Poker where you can win 3 full retail copies of poker academy prospector.

This software seems to be a great tool to analyze your poker playing through hand histories. Probably a little similar to poker tracker. I love free stuff and don't own a copy of this probably great product yet. So COUNT ME IN.

To join this contest is very easy. In case you own a blog just create a post about his contest and post the link to it in the contest post over at Klopzi's Blog.
So what are you waiting for? Pay him a visit and take part in this linkbait... Those program comes in at 59$ when you buy it regularly and it's sad that noone took part yet! Hurry you still have all chances in the world to win this random skill contest!

2008-01-25T02:58:00.000-08:00

It's been a hell of a month so far. Up, down, but overall not much poker at all. I suffer from what could be called bad bankroll management. I just don't get the title of this blog. Play great, play bad, lose the winnings. Story of my life.

Wohhhhohoooo

2008-01-07T10:52:00.000-08:00

I can still get happy about a straight flush :) single tabling or max dual tabling increases the poker fun tremendously!
spades, j9s
flop comes kq10s and the other guy bets into me :) lovely. Had to bet the turn and he did not have a k or q, even the board paired twice... Damn this...

another day another crapshootout

2008-01-07T09:04:00.000-08:00

Today I played another one of those tournaments and took 2. place, lost a 60/40 for 98% of my chips. "hit happens.
I seem to be curising along quite well at the moment. Let's hope that it stays like that.

never give up

2008-01-06T06:25:00.000-08:00

Important thing to do when you are headsup: never give up!
I ended up headsup in a tournament today, went down to a 1:4 chip standing, went on to take the lead with good play and reads and ended up winning it. You have to get lucky in such a spot, but when you get one chance you have to use it and punish your opponent for his mistakes. You can be friends, but in a tournament first place just pays so much better... to quote to good old drug addict stu:

Show me a good loser and I show you a loser.

Ok, enough of the show for today.

going crazy with 2 posts a day

2008-01-05T10:41:00.001-08:00

Today is a fun day, so I thought I share some fun with you my dear readers.
Enjoy :)

crazy bankroll $Ki11z

2008-01-05T10:31:00.000-08:00

I got none of the above mentioned.

Still I ain't broke mate, which is a wonder so to say. Admitedly I have the most fun playing poker in a long time, and I only play like 1 or 2 games and then quit. HU poker is piece a cake, say whaaat? Most people are just plain bad, not to say they are s"ck3r$, but so am I. My wasted mind plays tricks on me in case I think I am good.
My other projects are running great and poker has taken the place that the limits I play should be... a hobby, not a fulltime commitment to win money just to spill it out on tilt a few hours later. Sometimes we try to hard eh?

rockability trailer

2008-01-02T05:01:00.000-08:00

wow this will hopefully be better than the freakin day after tomorrow, which was one of the most boring movies I ever watched. Anyways 10.000 BC looks promising

happy new year

2008-01-02T03:45:00.000-08:00

Title says it all. Have fun with what you do!

heads up sit and go

2007-12-20T08:55:00.000-08:00

easy
fun
fast

Those are the reasons why I play them. The players are... well let's just say they are bad, everything else would be an insult. Games are usually very fast, which comes in handy. Today I played 8 games and did not play more than 40 minutes. 7 wins 1 loss.

funny stuff

2007-12-18T14:47:00.000-08:00

I am just playing headsup sit and go's right now. Nothing else. Right now I play poker for fun and not with the intention of withdrawing, just the intention to play great. Feels awkward, but good.

wow, me winning?

2007-12-14T10:44:00.000-08:00

After some horrible live play, cash ain't my world... some horrible internet play, cash ain't my world.... I managed to win a 2$ freezeout today. HA. Up from 6$ bankroll to well, you can guess that. Not much, but enough to play recreationally, right now I have so many other projects going that I do not want to shift my focus on poker again.
I had a good live run, but the last two times we played cash games and well, as mentioned earlier, I am not too good at that. First I waste much money when I had a calling day not believing the biggest nits reraising me with middle pair and stuff like that, the other day I gambled my winnings away. cashgames = evil. At least for min amounts where caring is sometimes hard when gambling mood hits the corner.

unethic tests

2007-12-14T01:11:00.000-08:00

i feel bad when I took this and even worse when I look at my score
22

internet poker....

2007-12-03T09:31:00.000-08:00

...can KMA.
I suck at it. Nothing more to say about that. 11.xx left. I will keep on playing poker, but live it is just a lot more fun, and not as life consuming as internet poker is for me. I wrote this plenty of times before, but I hit it like I mean it- *BAM* go down inet poker... :)

marry the day today

2007-11-28T08:17:00.000-08:00

Or where does wednesday come from? wedding day? I am too lazy to bummer where it actually originates, nevertheless, friday and saturday will be the poker free days. I probably gonna hit tournaments tomorrow night depending on how I feel and I played poker today, so that leaves two days behind. Friday and saturday. I seem to be a junkie.
Played a tournament today, donkey out against a sickass calling station early on, nothing to be ashamed off. Q9s = teh nutz. What a bummer. My stupid plays lead to this so I am the cupid stunt to blame.
Then I hit a sit and go tournament, won it and made a little profit overall. Think I gonna call it a day Poker wise, I have a silly stomach today which caused me some nasty pain earlier and is just annoying right now, besides the ipoker server seems to be screwed today.
Live Poker yesterday was fun when we tilted two NITs holding the better hand and being turned and rivered in the sit and go's. They were so angry when they left it was plain fun. We usually just play sit and go's for cheap money and I was in gambling mood, I broke even that night and should have advertised my play well enough in that round to pay me off great in future games. 42s fullhouse, 108o fullhouse, 106 two pair on the river. Funny Funny. I always play to win, but right now I try to play the players and not the cards and improve my reading skills, it's amazing how much you can do with those in live play, but be warned, don't do it against calling stations or you have to get major lucky :)

played 2 more sit and go's, lost one retardedly with j9 vs j8 and the other one lategame pushing and getting called by some monkey with kj busting my mighty 32s.

thrustdays

2007-11-27T10:45:00.001-08:00

thursday? full trottle down the road. 2 poker days left till saturday.
sit and go's played 4, came in first once, missed the other 3.
Played one 15 $ tournament. Came in 8th of 270... pushed kqs, lost to ako in the bb, flopped my queen, he turned the ace. stupid c"nt. NEVERPLAYTOURNAMENTSWHENYOUKNOWYOUWANTTOGOSOMEWHEREELSELATERANDYOUMIGHTPUSHMARGINALHANDSBECAUSEYOUWANTTOLEAVE
live poker now.

recap

2007-11-26T14:38:00.000-08:00

Played poker today. Got 3 poker days left till saturday.
- Played a tournament, ran solid, played good, lost shortstacked pf ai vs KK and A8 with JJ. I was a shorts with a 14k stack, blinds at 2400/1200, got jj in the BB, nothing much to do. I knew I was behind once the smallblind pushed. Ended 22 out of 500. I had 3 spots I could have used better, once q5 sb, did not call would have flopped a boat. folded a8 in the cutoff, flop came a88. Decided to call a shorstack push with a2o, thought he had qj, kq, whatever, he had 33, I lost. All other decisions were worth the action. Solid play, good observation, ran out of luck in the end.
- shortstacked a few 10 seat tables, breakeven. no fun, sucked.
- wasted 5$ at 1 six max table, no fun as well.
- played 4 stt, came in first twice, got sucked out in the third. was ok.
hopefully this highly entertaining post enligthed some of you. It didn't do that for me.

sick bs

2007-11-25T05:05:00.000-08:00

poker is just some sick bullshit :) I love the game, but wtf? how can I keep losing.
it's because I run very bad headsup right now. I can tell that. a10 push losing to a2. pretty much everything I push ends up getting beat by an inferior hand. Not that it matters, it's just hard to keep a solid roi with good pushes against bad luck. The idea behind this is that it should even out on the long run, sad part is my good cards do not get me as much money (all people folding when I have aa) while I run into monster with my solid hands like 1010 - kk, usually 1 pocket pair higher or at least a chase, and if I dominate I can be sure to lose it nevertheless. wäh wäh wäh. I feel like a big baby when I write this. I play some of the best poker I have ever played, but geeeee, it's mighty annoying, I have a freaking baby roll and should play freaking baby games.
I HAVE to stick to bankroll management and reduce my hours at the tables significantly, which I am doing already since 3 days. It's just pissing me off.

going bad

2007-11-25T04:23:00.000-08:00

Rules update:
not more than 4 tables
not more than 5,50$ buyins
THINK BEFORE ACTING.... some 80% limper no raise or reraise usually HAS a big hand once he reraises. even if he is the biggest retard in the world and then JJ IS no good.

done so far:
disabled table chat
played 2 tables, too high limits
pushed at stupid times

When it's time to quit...

2007-11-24T12:41:00.000-08:00

.... totally outplay a moron and then lose a 70/30 for 80% of your chips and place out of the money as third. Damn, I should know better than to get angry about this bullshit. NH SIR.... and yes it means SCREW YOU. c'mon.
easy come easy go, do not let this come and go. Problem when you hit a double stack over your roll and totally own the table. My roll is too small my roll is too small my roll is too small... BUILT A ROLL FOR WHOEVERS SAKE. I am a better player than 95% of those morons at the tables I face. gee. How hard can it be. I am bad at learning from my mistakes, in other words I am a slow learner which costs me a lot of easy money. I play too long sessions with too many tables. I sometimes play cash and waste my money there. I sometimes play to high limits and get major unlucky.
TILT TILT TILT.
I can play 2 tables good. Nothing more.
Challenge for the following week:

Do not play poker on 2 days.
Not more than 2 tables at any given time.
Review each sit and go after I played it, look for ways to improve.
Quit when I face tilt. Which I did right now.
KEEP THE TABLE CHAT DISABLED TO NOT INSULT PEOPLE WHEN THEY START CRAPTALK.
Check back on wednesday and write about the progress. Post how it went next saturday.

ps: svensworld.de is back

free money

2007-11-22T06:44:00.000-08:00

I just recieved 10$ at ultimate bet, when I logged in there I had 20$, no idea how those additional 10 bucks came there, I hit the cash tables a bit (I still get rakeback and did not get my first 50 bucks so far, which could be considered a joke ...) I hit the 10 bucks tables with a mid stack (5$) and had a rollercoaster ride there, really really freaky stuff. Kings losing to 66, a set of aces holding up on a 3 of 1 color board the other guy holding second pair, rivering 2 pair while chasing his q high flushdraw.
Then the hand of the day, I hold jacks and the flop comes 1058 with 2 clubs. The other guy decides to re-raise my bet and I push putting him on either a 10 or a flush draw (45% vpip maniac), turn... 10 I think hell I am prolly scrwed.... river... jack... so what could the other guy have? j10... and I hit my 1 outer on the river :) He sucked out before, but what a beautiful re-suck. Made my day :)
CD Poker is going soso, I face quite a lot suckouts right now and manage to break even, but nothing more. Usually I am losing as a favorite or having a bad timing kk vs aa, lategame push running into a monster with something like aq and less than 5bb's, which is ok, sooner or later I will have a nice little or maybe big winning streak.

edit: lost it all playing too high limits and getting 3 bad beats losing 70/30+

down to the bone

2007-11-18T03:23:00.000-08:00

Down to the bone, stripped and ripped. Why do I play poker? Because I enjoy it and want to make money with it. How can I get both of that? through winning. Remember this, play a good game and listen to yourself. There are perfect plays, but noone is a perfect player and no limit ain't as mathamatical as holdem is.
Yesterday I had my first card rush ever. I won 5 hands in a row with the nuts. I played 2 sit and go's yesterday, lost one with aa vs q9 on a queen high flop the other guy pushing and hitting his 5 outer on the turn.
In the other one I had a rush, flopping a straigh with Q10 on the button, the flopping top pair with a10o, the flopping the nut straight with 36o and after that calling a push with 57s and flopping the flush. I went on to win that one at least. Loose passive opponents for the win.
My intention this month is to hit vip level 3 at cd poker and to earn a few more bucks right there.

7 deadly sins

2007-11-16T03:26:00.001-08:00

The seven deadly sins, or why have I been tagged in gods name?
klopzi tagged me and I guess I should follow the rules.

1. Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog...
2. Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself...
~~3. Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs...~~
~~4. Let each person know that they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog...~~

chain letters are not my world. Let's end it here.

1. I love to surf but am afraid of sharks...
2. I love to poker, but am not afraid of sharks...
3. I should be afraid of sharks at the poker table...
4. I am too good at procastination
5. One time at bandcamp... uhm I never have been to a bandcamp.
6. I used to play counter strike on a semi pro, which means loads of time, but no money, level.
7. I believe that drawing or painting a good picture does not make you a good artist, but having people doing that for you and you telling them what to do, while yourself sells those items with your name tag may make you a great artist and freakin rich.

my 10 poker rules

2007-11-15T11:10:00.000-08:00

1. Do not chase losses
2. Do not play cashgames
3. Do not look at the balance until the end of the month
4. Play to win, nothing else
5. Quit when it’s time to quit
6. Listen to the Instincts
7. Focus on perfect play
8. NO FANCY PLAY SYNDROME ON LOW LEVELS
9. Stay within your Bankroll
10. Focus

bonus whoring

2007-11-08T10:23:00.000-08:00

I decided to stop this bollocks and try to bonus whore a little. I started with 100 bucks at cdpoker, an ipoker skin. I have a 200% bonus there and once this is released I think I will hit different ipoker skins. I really like that network for the limits I play and once you hit the 5$ sit and go's the rake is ok. Overall it's been going solid, my roi is at 79% over 21 games, including losses where I lost to 2% runner runner after the flop. So I guess I can say I run "ok".
I lost a few bucks when I started out at the cash tables shortstacking NL20, but I decided to hit the stt's, so right now my roll seems to be growing, hopefully I can keep it that way.
I will move up once I hit 70 buyins for the 10$ tournaments, this will take me some time, I do not intend to hit the jackpot sit and go's so I will sooner or later switch sites, because the stt's at ipoker beyond 10 are almost only jackpot sit and go's with 1000 starting chips.
I try to check out all the boni offered by the ipoker network and then decide what I will do later on.

run for cover...

2007-10-20T13:49:00.000-07:00

Right now I just play good poker and run pretty well. I hit the 3$ 6max sit and go's and have a good run. In case this run continues a little longer and I stop joining tournaments, which I play good but can't finish well, just a few beats or bad timing, nothing to worry about, the knot should bust sooner or later. I really focus on my br management and I just don't join games above my limit. Hard but I get good at it.

INTERNET, finally...

2007-10-19T10:44:00.000-07:00

after 3 weeks without internet, I am finally online again. Hopefully I can hit the tables over the next days and win a little money.

time passes by...

2007-10-15T13:30:00.000-07:00

... and the internet lives on without me. Friday I will probably get my internet working and I expect to play some poker on the weekend, up to then I will have a real busy offline life and won't miss poker too much.

still no spiderwebs

2007-10-09T03:38:00.000-07:00

I am still offline, hitting the tables only every now and then. A laptop is something nice, but still wlan is not my favorite connection to play poker...
Right now I only hit the 6max 3 bucks stt at stars, they do not take that long and I manage to win more often than I lose. At least right now ;) Once I will have internet I will up the volume a little higher and aim to play a few more games.
I messaged stars about my book order and they told me that there was a computer glitch and restored my fpps, so I re-ordered the books and just hope they will arrive this time.

no internet

2007-10-01T10:05:00.000-07:00

Right now my challenge is on ice due to no internet connection. It should take about 1-3 weeks until the new one is in place and up to then I will not play much poker at all. Today I am played a few games, just a few multi table sit and go's and probably I will join the 6 seater 2$ tournament at stars in 1 hour.
BR at 56.56, the 2.2$ fee for the 6max tournament already paid.

breakeven

2007-09-25T14:54:00.000-07:00

Right now I am more or less break even. I made about 15 bucks back after some bad play from my side and -10 bucks. Then lost 5 bucks on a sick hand. It was my last hand and it worked out really bad. 55$ drop to 49.something
I could have saved 4 bucks on the last hand, but I did not put him on 66 and the made straight, rather on an overpair like the other guy. a 10 4 7 5 3 board does not look to dangerous when you see the flop and turn betting. runner runner straight was nothing I had him on. My bad. High variance style for the loss...

first day

2007-09-22T15:00:00.000-07:00

Ok this here is just to help me get focused. 50$ is what I can afford right now, not more not less, when I waste this I won't be able to play, simple as that.
I have just too many expenses the next few months that I could spare any more money on poker. My first 40 hands. +0.81 cents.
I had one hand in my pokertracker from the last time which was -1$, so my PT stats had a rough start. I am still in the red even though I am up. Ok, the next post will be some link pimping.

50.81

start with 50 $

2007-09-22T14:38:00.000-07:00

I have wasted a few small buyins, breaking bankroll management rules and slacking around. This will be my final try. I loaded 50 bucks into stars and will hit the 6 max tables. My Goal is to learn perfect bankroll management from scratch and be very careful with my impulses. I want to constantly move up the limits to hit the big tables one day. It's not a matter of time, only a matter of patience.

To quote 20kmission:
So with 200 big blinds in play i need that to represent less than 10% of my bankroll. To play any level i will need more than 2000 big blinds, or 20 buy ins minimum.

I will be playing the levels according to the table below. The levels are as follows:

Level	Blinds	Minimum Bankroll
1	$0.01/$0.02	$50
2	$0.02/$0.05	$100
3	$0.05/$0.10	$200
4	$0.10/$0.25	$500
5	$0.25/$0.50	$1,000
6	$0.50/$1.00	$2,000
7	$1/$2	$4,000
8	$2/$4	$8,000
9	$3/$6	$12,000
10	$5/$10	$20,000

The chart above covers playing 2 cash tables at a time with the minimum bankroll.

edit: This bankroll management is fine until I hit NL50, then I will be extra careful. I will change it to 30 buy ins minimum followed by 40 buy ins minimum the next levels.

$0.25/$0.50 $1,500
$0.50/$1.00 $4,000
$1/$2 $8,000
$2/$4 $12,000
$3/$6 $20,000
$5/$10 $40,000

Besides this I will apply a stop loss of 2 buy ins for a day. Once I lose two buy ins on a given day I will quit for that day. It's one long session.
Tournament wise I will stick to the 1% rule, I am allowed to hit tournaments or sit and go's for 1% of my bankroll or 1$ minimum.