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  #1  
Old 12-01-2007, 05:28 AM
hurtchow hurtchow is offline
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Default If you\'ve wondered how long it takes to move up...

For any new players who are playing poker and have goals to play in bigger games, but are having trouble seeing a light at the end of the tunnel, you might care to read my story...

I started playing online in August of 2005 with a deposit of $50. I didn't know anything about bankroll management and I just kinda played by ear. I started out playing NL 2 for maybe 3 weeks or maybe a month, and then I started playing NL 10.

I always would cash out the initial deposit, and play with my profits, with some sort of "I can only lose what isn't mine" mentallity. That was a bad idea. It made me panic when my bankroll would get to around $34 and I was playing NL10. I'd get mad, jump into NL 25 or NL 50 and tell myself I might as well double up or go bust. That was a bad idea, because I did go bust very often. Normally when that would happen, I'd put my original deposit back on the next day.

Luckily, I eventually managed to run good enough and long enough to get my bankroll at a steady $200 plateau. But eventually, I started breaking even and losing again, and in a fit of frustration, I jumped in a 100 NL game hoping to quickly patch up my losses and get back to where I was.

My stupidity taught me a lesson, and my bankroll was down to $118. I lost 59% of it, so I cashed out, feeling defeated. I took a few weeks off of poker, and I started playing again on March 24th, 2006. I decided to play $5 NL because I had around 20 buy-ins for the level.

When I would have a losing session, my bankroll wouldn't be hurt too badly. It could coushin the blows. I could accept the swings knowing that in the long run, I was steadily winning.

I also started to play .10/.20 7 card stud, and I ran very well, hardly ever recording a losing session. My NL game was profitable, too. I was basically becoming what they call a "grinder." I wasn't playing like a hot shot, I wasn't aiming to get rich quick, I was just playing my hands, trying to make the most logical and profitable decision every time.

I got the roll up to $250 on May 8th, 2006. I had met my goal to move up limits, which was 25 buy-ins for NL 10. Of course, I had not yet got over my stubborn and short-sighted worse-self, and I tilted during the summer after what I felt was a long breakeven stretch (it was probably two weeks.) I spewed, complained in the chat, and took shots when things would go wrong. Sometimes the shots would work out and sometimes they wouldn't. I hated what it felt like to lose. It disappointed me so much to destroy the hard work I took months to accomplish. I hated myself for being such a sore loser. I took my money out in November of 2006 after a miserable session at 100 NL put another unneccessary dent in my bankroll. I didn't know if I would continue playing poker, because I felt I just wasn't born a winner. I figured I couldn't control myself and I was eventually going to blow it all away.

Then I got $15 in chips for free at Party Poker, and I played it without expectations. I won. I won a lot. The longhanded 10 NL games were so easy, a bunch of the people really just gave their money away. Of course, it didn't hurt that I ran ridiculously well.

In December of 2006, I once again put my stars profits back online, and I played .10/.20 Stud when I wasn't at the longhanded NL 10 tables at Party. I played the $5+.25 HU SNG's at stars as well, which are very easy.

Finally on March 1, 2007, I had $750, 30 buy-ins for NL 25. I almost completely stopped jumping levels to cure losses. My only setback was a jump to 200 NL after what was my new longest breakeven stretch, 2 months. I complained about my horrible luck until many posters explained that the amount of hands I played, single tabling for about 2 hours a day, did not make for a large sample size. Apparently, a dull stretch like that is totally common, or "standard" as they said.

By now it was July of 2007. I wanted to find a way to get more hands in, to make a break even stretch shorter in terms of days and weeks. So, I began multi-tabling. At first I played 2 tables at a time, and after I felt comfortable I added a third, and sometimes a fourth. I noticed that playing this way made pots seem a little less significant. I could lose on one table, but win big on two others. It made it easier to look at the big picture. Of course, two hours of 3 tabling is still pretty insignificant in the long run, too. Realizing this made bad sessions a little more tolerable. W

While the swings were a little bigger, they wouldn't seem to stretch for as long anymore. That helped me play with a little more serenity.

On September 1st, 2007 when I had made $1750, I had 35 buy-ins for NL 50, once again following the 'five more buy-ins' rule that I used in the subsequent level jumps. While it is a conservative bankroll strategy, it is pretty good if you run bad at your few sessions. Losing double what you are used to is a real pincher, so I felt it would be wise to take some extra padding with me.

I'm still playing NL 50 today, and my game has improved a lot from all my experience. Hopefully you can learn from mine and not go through the unneccessary drama that I now can avoid. In the future, I hope to devise a strategy for shot-taking. That's something I've never responsibily considered.
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  #2  
Old 12-01-2007, 07:05 AM
Rek Rek is offline
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Default Re: If you\'ve wondered how long it takes to move up...

In short, use good bankroll management and accept variance is part of the game.
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  #3  
Old 12-01-2007, 02:00 PM
Doc T River Doc T River is offline
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Default Re: If you\'ve wondered how long it takes to move up...

Nice post, and nice response. Gives me more guidance as I make this transition from "live" to online.
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  #4  
Old 12-01-2007, 02:17 PM
insyder19 insyder19 is offline
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Default Re: If you\'ve wondered how long it takes to move up...

I didn't read it overall, but what I can say is, that it took you way too long to move up. Which means you have fundamental lacks in your game or you just are not talented in such things.
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  #5  
Old 12-01-2007, 02:25 PM
Doc T River Doc T River is offline
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Default Re: If you\'ve wondered how long it takes to move up...

[ QUOTE ]
I didn't read it overall, but what I can say is, that it took you way too long to move up. Which means you have fundamental lacks in your game or you just are not talented in such things.

[/ QUOTE ]

I disagree as everyone has a different comfort level.
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  #6  
Old 12-01-2007, 07:18 PM
raze raze is offline
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Join Date: Nov 2005
Posts: 2,561
Default Re: If you\'ve wondered how long it takes to move up...

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I didn't read it overall, but what I can say is, that it took you way too long to move up. Which means you have fundamental lacks in your game or you just are not talented in such things.

[/ QUOTE ]

I disagree as everyone has a different comfort level.

[/ QUOTE ]

I find it very interesting that some people move up at lightning speed, for better or worse, and others hang back a long time.

I personally move up at a snail's pace, because I was a very marginal winner for a long time and I absolutely hate breaking even for weeks or months. When I switched from limit to NL, I decided I was going to not beat but completely crush my current limit before moving up. This way, I guaranteed I'd be at least a slight winner at the next level, and I would rarely ever have to move down (I hate that too).

The downside to moving up more slowly is that it costs money. I am quite sure I could beat the next level or two to some degree, but I choose to try and improve every facet of my game at my current level rather than make more money with a lower winrate. I am essentially avoiding a lot of frustration (which leads me to -not- play poker anyways) at a slight cost, and I'm happy this way for now. I've also read stories of guys who blazed through small stakes up to the highest limits in a year and a half or less. So we must find our balance between sanity and money [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]
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