evolution of a player

Wanted to start this thread because of my recent -$1400. Honestly I'm not too upset about it. Of course It sucks losing that much and it does mean that I have to spend a couple weeks rebuilding it through overtime but honestly I know it could happen.

Truthfully though when you 1st started playing poker I'm sure most started at low levels and losing like say $50 - $100 would be mind blowing for you, now though losing like $50-$100 is no big deal. I mean my normal level is $1/$2 NL live and I have no problem putting $100-$300 in a pot. Back when I 1st started playing I couldn't imagine putting that much into a pot.

so want to know how everyone else feels about this, think back to when you 1st started playing and reflect on how you have come up levels and how now you make bets and calls you would never imagine you could make back then.

I will be taking couple weeks off then just concentrating playing live and my normal $1/$2 game where I have shown success. When I talk to people at work about my play they just dont understand how I can make a call for $100-$300 dollars or why im so ok with losing the $1400. I basically tell them that it is part of the game it is the level my play is at so losing that in a sitting is not out of the question.

Another point to come to is when you talk about poker to people that dont play how do they react when you talk about the money you are willing to put in a pot. Of course they will use the phrase "you can gamble with that amount", most non-players will say that. Of course we as poker players know it is a "calculated risk". I talked to people about it all day and basically was like "yea I got crushed this week and lost $1400, oh well time to rebuild bankroll and get back to work on building it". They were pretty amazed that I could see it like that since I play with basically what they might make in 2 weeks to a month. To me this setback just means I have to work a little overtime and rebuild it in good old Atlantic City which I don't think will be too hard.

I as a player need the player to be right there, I need to see there face, I need to see how they play. Online poker is just not my thing, after playing soo much live now I find that I really cant put people on hands at all. I don't know if someone can play full time online and full time live, I'm sure some have been able to accomplish this but for me I don't think it is possible. I found myself sitting behind my computer going " I dont have a clue what this dude has, who the hell is this guy?"

That is why I made the decision to stick to live poker for awhile if not forever.

good luck to you . i am sure you will have your bankroll back up in no time.

I would if I could stop missing work being sick

It looks like that setback is within the realm of your bankroll. I have no knowledge of that realm. My realm is much lower, and a 20% loss sent me reeling. Then I had a good day, and got back within normal deviation. Still down a little, but nothing drastic.

As for real games vs internet, real games freak me out. I used to play live on business trips to Reno, where at most I had $50 to lose. Always got good entertainment value and actually broke even. Early 90's, so the competition was still friendly. Late 90's I ran into a shark, who saw me for the fish I was/am. Add to that it probably was the first time I had played NL holdem and you can guess the results. The thing that he did was to keep his cash in his pocket, and after busting him, he would break out another 50 and go right at it again. He prevailed. Luckily I only brought a small bankroll to that table. But the lesson he taught stuck. In my mind the guy might have been Sammy Farha, but I think he would not be skulking around that place playing such low money games. No disrespect here, again he (whoever he was) taught me a lesson I needed to learn.