Pooh-bah and SSNL grinder 4 life (lc)

[mikechops]

It is traditional that on reaching Pooh-bah status, a poster makes a lengthy theoretical post in which he shares the wisdom he has accumulated. I would like to do that, but I can't think of anything that hasn't been said already and probably better than I could say it too. So I thought I'd share my thoughts on why I haven't managed to go further up the stakes ladder and - let's be honest here - am pretty unlikely to in the future.

I have a low tolerance for variance and I have less tolerence when significant amounts of money are in play. I don't really enjoy winning 3BB/100. That's too much variance for me. I hate losing more than I enjoy winning. If that is the best I could do - and long term I believe there aren't many who make significantly more than this in MSNL - I'm happy where I am. I think around 7BB/100 is about optimum for me - which is what I make at $100NL. Much more than that and there's no intellectual stimulation.

I don't have enough talent. I consider my self pretty bright mathmatically. I understand hand ranges and can use logic to put an opponent on a hand. However, I am not very good at getting inside the head of someone who doesn't play like me. I could definitely improve here, but...

I am insufficiently motivated. When I started reading 2p2, people were making insane ammounts of money - KKF scored 6 figures in a night playing HU. I've always enjoyed poker, considered myself smart and thought "Why not me?" The truth is I am fairly comfortably off. I retired at 40 and while making Aba money would definitely improve my life, even if I could reach that level - very unlikely - it would require a lot of work. If I was starting out at 18 things might be different. Also contributing to this...

The legal climate here (USA) pisses me off. If you want to improve yourself at anything, it's good to have constant reinforcement rather than a big pay-off some day in the future. Unfortunately, I had moved a lot of my roll from the sites to Neteller believing it was safer there - doh! I had tried to move it a bunch back to pay taxes and buy some goodies, but they would only let me do it $5k/week. I got enough back to cover taxes, but have $6.5k in limbo. The guys in the legislative forum seem to think I will get it back eventually, but it does appear the goodies have been moved a long way down the road.

Also, Doyle's was my main site. A lot of people didn't like it, but I got used to the software and the regs etc. sigh [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

The games are getting tougher. And they are getting tougher more quickly than I am getting better. I've noticed it at my stakes and AE Jones was kind enough to confirm it seems to be happening at the higher stakes games as well. [link] It makes sense that it was too good to last. A lot of people were making great money and there aren't really many barriers to entry. You just need to be reasonably bright, have an internet hook-up and a bank account.

It is possible to make a living at SSNL, but I wouldn't be too sure that will last. AE Jones thinks $100NL won't get any tougher because it isn't worth it for MSNL grinders to come down that low. I am sure he is right about those guys, but $40/hour might not be a bad wage for a lot of Eastern Europeans.



Reading this, it seems a bit like a long whinge. I still enjoy poker and I am pleased with the progress I have made. I love reading the forum and am sure I will continue to learn from it. It's just that I doubt I will ever be more than a recreational player.