How I turned $0 into $50,000 in Two Weeks, Then Lost It

[relaxwithtrudy]

Hi guys!

I wanted to share a story with you. It's not meant to be a bragging-type post at all. I mean, the subject states I lost the money. $50,000 is a lot for me but it might not be a lot for some other players, of course. I also don't claim to be a great card player. I know how to play most forms of poker but I take no real pride in my abilities. Basically, I'm an okay poker player who ran really well for about two weeks. Just thought you might like the story. And maybe people will learn from my obvious mistakes...

I'm bipolar. One of the things about my condition is that when I become manic, it's a very good feeling. Things seem so clear to me and I don't feel the need to sleep. More then a month ago I entered a manic phase and decided to play some poker. Little did I know that for the next two weeks, I'd barely stop. Now, keep in mind that up until this point, the largest sum of money I had won at poker was $1200 in a $30+$3 tournament. I'd say I'm a good tournament player and a below-average cash game player.

Anyway, I logged onto Poker Room and used my player points to enter a "Silver Room Tournament". There were about 350 people in this freeroll with first place paying $90. Everything ran very smoothly and before I knew it, I was heads up at the final table with a huge chip lead. I managed to take down 1st place and $90 and was very happy. I decided to play a $10+$1 hold'em tournament and a $30+$3 omaha hi/lo tournament. I placed 4th in the hold'em and won the omaha tournament. I was flying high! At this point I had already been playing for 6-7 hours, so I went on a walk and took a break. When I came back, I checked my balance and I had about $1500 in my account. I cashed out to my Neteller account because I don't really like poker room, and I made a deposit to Full Tilt.

I spent the next few days running my $1,500 into $5,000 playing $5/$10 no limit. Like I said, I was in a bit of a manic phase, and this wasn't fast enough for me so I made the decision to go for $10,000 or go broke. That day. I would play about as high as I could with my bankroll and always have all my money on the table. Since I started with nothing, if I lost it, who cares?

Long story short, I made it to $10,000 but couldn't cash out. I was running SO good. As an example, I sat down at a $50/$100 NL game with my full $10,000 and managed to get it in the middle pre-flop. Am I a donkey? Yes, I am. Am I lucky? Very. How did it happen? Oh, i forgot to mention...

I raised to $300 in the SB with J4 when it was folded to me. The BB made it $1000 to go. In my retarded thinking, I just said the BB had nothing and was just reraising to protect his blind. So I made it $3000 to go. He doubled that. At this point, I wasn't even thinking about him having a hand. I just thought he was being stubborn. So I pushed. He insta-called and turned over A-A. The flop was K-4-X. The turn was a blank. The river? 4. I doubled up! All the guy could say was "[censored]" and then he left.

Over the next week, I continued to play $50/$100 and broke even, pretty much. I couldn't get anything going so I decided to go big or go home...

I took my $20,000 and sat in the omaha hi/lo game. I just couldn't lose! In one hand key hand, I flopped a straight flush and scooped the pot, putting me at about $30,000. A couple hours later, after losing about $10,000 in small pots, I picked up A-A-J-Q and flopped a full house. Someone else turned a flush and had no low hand, so I scooped and I had $50,000. I couldn't believe it!

Then, my rush ended. I started to bleed. I ran into a few big hands, I was forced to fold some other big hands, and I decided to bluff someone who was holding a wheel. Down to my last $8,000, I got all my money into the pot with A-J-Q-Q vs. 9-9-A-Q and a 9 hit. Just like that, I was done. I hadn't cared about the money when I had it but now that it was gone, I felt awful. What a waste. I'm not in any immediate need for money but $50,000 is a lot.

Anyway, sorry if this was boring. I was going to add all the details to make it more specific but I just took some sleeping pills and I got very tired. Haha. The lesson: play within your means! And take breaks. And don't try to "go big or go home!" Basically, just enjoy the games you're playing. Now that I've played $400/$800, it's really hard for me to play $2/$4 limit hold'em at Hollywood Park.

I have a gambling problem, probably. But it's enjoyable, so...who cares? Not me! It's just a game. Right?


...right?

[JP OSU]

Hand histories plz...

[McIntireUVA]

Wow. I am so glad I have good bankroll management.

Must have been a huge rush on the way up though.

I would want to kill myself when it went to 0 though.

Good luck with that lol.

[Moonshine]

that's nothing. i went 600-117k in two weeks. then i lost it all.

and then i lost 20k more

and now i'm still losing

[relaxwithtrudy]

It was definitely a rush having all that money on the table. Usually, I'd just stick $100 into a site and play tournaments and if I ran it up to a couple hundred, I'd cash out. This time, it was a giant freeroll. I can't even comrehend that kind of money. It was fun while it lasted...

[McIntireUVA]

I hope you didn't buy anything you now can't afford while you had the money.

[relaxwithtrudy]

Naw...I wanted to cash out and have a great weekend in Vegas or something though. But I blew it. Would have been nice.

[Frogpond]

Last year a buddy of mine who is depressed maxed out his IGM deposit limit and had 6k that didn't exist. He called me at 4am to tell me he got it up to like 70k playing blackjack and 100/200... I wen't over to his place the next day around noon to see him crying in a pillow. We laugh about it now

[dedmoney]

I was so expecting a 'then I found jesus' at the end of this.

[tongni]

My family has a history of being manic-depressive. Dcotors say there is a 25% chance I will end up being bipolar. Within a year I will know if that is the case or not. If it so happens that I am I will probably quit poker for good. Thanks for the post. I don't think it's stupid at all because I know exactly how people will get. I have a feeling the same thing could easily happen to me.