If you could just do it all over...

[thizzlethizz]

To the regulars that have moved up in stakes thanks to 2+2.
If you could do it all over again what do you wish you would have done more or less of?

For me it would be practicing money management. The biggest key in the game for most people is not beating rake, but it's beating themselves. If I had stuck with some simple bankroll guidelines and dropped down instead of moving up, I would easily be a regular at 5/10+ considering the hours I've put in learning the game, my winrate etc etc. Had I just overrolled myself for every limit and been patient in moving up slowly I would be way far past my imagination in bankroll $. I wish I could go back in time and just build up more. I would've reread my books more even though I did read small stakes hold'em like 11 times overall in my first year I still didn't reread over other strategy books like I should have.

I also should have gotten a coach I wish I could take back the times I've cashed out thousands of dollars and did NOT buy a coach to sweat me.

I think a main problem was setting aside my ego to play practical poker. I lost a lot of $ challenging people to heads up games with high variance out of my stake. Probably thousands.

Other games: I also wish I would have taken more time to learn omaha as I see it as a highly profitable game and it's fun if I could beat that while I was also beating hold'em I'd have much more game selection and if I was doin bad in hold'em I could take a break which brings me to my next point.

Breaks: Burn-out another major leak among a lot of poker players. Playing so much, especially playing more during downswings(in attempts to swing it instead of swong it). Sometimes the cards are just telling you to go home but you don't listen even when you know you play worse when the cards are running worse. I believe the 6 month break I took from poker has helped me a ton. But I could've not dissapeared and still earned a nice income had I just not let myself burn out like a super nova and explode, and took a week break here and there and enjoyed some of my income.

Cashing out at small stakes: I wish I had not done this either and built up a bankroll slower and more sturdier and worked on another way of income other than having just solely small stakes poker be my income.

I also wish I would've had gotten rakeback when i first started woulda helped a lot and bonus whoring would've been a way good idea to build my roll quickly at the beginning also learning BlackJack Bonus Whoring etc etc [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img].


What would you take back or do differently if you could [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]?

[raze]

I would make more money if I move up stakes more quickly; past and present. I like to make sure I completely dominate a level before I move up. This is great for the psyche but probably costs me a fair amount of money.

Keep your bulls--t filter in effect at all times while getting advice on 2+2. I had a 3-month breakeven stretch last year, and it was because got lazy and tried following "generally accepted 2+2 strategy" instead of my own brain. No wonder people on this forum think 20 buy-in downswings are normal for winning players. Don't believe 95% of what you read until you try it out for yourself.

My first deposit on FTP was in mid December 2004 for $140. In three weeks, I had built it up to around 6K, keeping 4K on FTP and 2K on Party. I then went nuts playing stakes way over my head and lost the majority of it in about 3-4 days.

If I could do it all over, I would have cashed out 3K and then started playing $.50/1 NL with a sufficient bankroll.

[bzk]

What did you play to run it up to 6k?

[Lansingg]

1/2 NL most likely

[Bryan15]

not getting rakeback when I first signed up for FTP. Probably cost me thousands upon thousands

[SellingtheDrama]

I would probably do almost everything different.

I should have gone broke at least three times that I can recall (including the time I put almost every penny into one MTT and came in 3rd).

I've been playing poker roughly four years now. I spent the first year as a goof-off - slightly profitable, probably -EV. After that I played MTTs and SNGs semi-seriously. The last 15 or 16 months I've been playing just live cash games.

If I had to start over again, I'd have gone straight to cash games, and probably to no limit sooner (I never played a hand of cash no limit until last summer).

I loved learning all the different games, but I should have just glanced at some and not spent so many hours trying to master each and every form I could. Very -EV short run, as my bankroll wasn't growing because I kept going back to microstakes in different games rather than growing my stakes/roll in one or two.

But the bottom line is this: I've had fun playing poker, still have (some) fun playing poker, and am crushing midstakes games. I'm cool with that, its a nice side income and I enjoy the people I get to meet (well most of them).

Poker is a hobby for me, and without a doubt, the most cost-effective one I've ever had.

[twotimesopt]

Start low: probably either 5nl or 10nl, not sure for SNGs

Make a decision to dedicate time to either cash or SNGs, not both.

Adopt proper BR management (20 BI rule) from the start and stick with it.

Cash out as little as possible until you are at stakes you don't mind staying at (for me this is 3/6+).

If you are going to play games other than NLH you should take the same approach - start at low levels and work your way up once you are consistently winning.

Learn tilt control early! It is probably the single most important aspect of any poker player's game.

Realize that unless you are a pro/living off of poker winnings, it's just a game and a hobby and other things in life are more important.

[kylephilly]

Take time during every decision, regardless of if I think I am way ahead.

Always check a players stats.

Work on table selection, leave a table when it's not profitable.

Not think people at low stakes are making moves, because they usually aren't.

[ QUOTE ]
What did you play to run it up to 6k?

[/ QUOTE ]

It took me about 7 days to get to 1K playing 1/2 NL, not playing many hours, maybe 20 tops . Then, I foolishly took my whole bankroll to a 5/10 NL table and doubled up on a hand about an hour or so in.

From there, I played some 5/10, but mostly 2/4 which took me up to about 4K, then I deposited 1.5 on Party, eventually taking my bankroll up to 6K before flaming out.