My plan

So if you read my other post I made last week, you'd know my situation, but I'll explain it again. Basically I'm down about $3000-$3500 and I am only 18. I love poker though, I feel like it is calling me. So I've decided I am going to take a break for 5 months and build up a bankroll. I'll start by investing $2000 into a CD, so that should get me maybe another $100 by the time it is due, and then everything else I've saved up, I should have around $4000-$5000 by then.

In the mean time I am going to read some poker books (I already ordered the advanced holdem book) and maybe play a few house games to stay satisfied. If things go to plan, I am going to consider going pro. That might sound funny but I am completely serious. I won't get into my life story, but let's just say I don't want to live a 'normal' life.

I would seriously reconsider this idea.

It seems you have a lot more to learn before you do something as rash as this, and 5 months is not even close to enough time for you to learn all this.

im in ur thread
crushing ur hopez and dreamz

What do you have in mind for somebody like me? Maybe build the bankroll but once I get it just play $3/$6 or some other low limit? I don't know if I can just drop poker, like I said I feel like it's calling me.

Make it a hobby, not a career.

I guess I should have reworded that. I'm still going to college and I'll still be getting a degree, but if things are looking good in poker then I might consider going pro.

you feel the glamour of money/women/etc calling you. same reason people 'feel rock and roll calling them'. approach it less like an idiot and people will take you more seriously.

Whoa you must be the asshole of these forums, congratulations.

Save your money for alcohol, drugs and pizza when you're in college. Practice poker by playing against your college friends.

sorry. i should have reworded that.

I BELIEVE IN YOU. PLEASE DROP ANOTHER 5K ON POKER. YOU CAN BEAT EVERY1

Not an asshole, he's just bluntly stating the truth. He might have said it a bit harshly, but it's true. You're approaching it as your so called "calling," but you have to realize how ridiculous and laughable that sounds.

You can't possibly think that we're going to encourage you to go pro or take you even a bit seriously, when even you admit you're a novice and even a losing poker player. Poker isn't something that you should gamble on as something you can turn to in life, as glamourous and appealing as it seems---especially for someone who's down $3500 at the moment from it. 5 months is not even close to enough to allow you to learn the essential skills to becoming a pro poker player. That's all we're saying.

Esh, thanks. That's some good advice, I'll probably do those freeroles on FT.

And Joose... yeah. You're awesome man thanks for all your help.

Thanks Estelle. See Jooese, that wasn't so hard was it?

if you dont want an honest critique, don't post your thoughts in a public forum. go tell your close friends your plan and let them all build your courage up before you lose another small fortune.

do you see a kid that wants to be a doctor just winging it in order to get there? "hm i think ill break my friends arm and then operate on it and see how i do"

no. they study. and study. and study. and study. poker is the same way. you need to be putting in tons of hours of HH auditing, reading, question asking, etc. that is what makes you seem so laughable right now. not trying to be harsh, just making sure you understand how naive (read: stupid) you sound.

Joose = Dream destroyer

i would rather destory this kid's dreams than have him lose that much money.

No I know, Good cop, bad cop

and hot action cop.

LMAO

I appreciate the honesty and I knew my plan sounded laughable, but come on man, are you like that in real life?

How does the bankroll idea sound? In the meantime I'll do a lot of studying and when the time comes just play low limit until I feel more comfortable.

Sorry Joose, I don't know you well enough to call you an asshole. You're probably a smart cool person. Thanks for giving me feedback even if it was harsh.

better than trying to play again without any card theory in your head. read everything you can get your hands on. more than just make you a better player, it'll make you pine for playing cards. when you play cards in a mental state like that along with your improved poker psyche you'll be 100x more dangerous than you are now.

sorry if it was harsh, but i would hate to see a cc'er lose so much money for no reason.

Joose=Simon

LOL. Completely off-topic, but I love American Idol.

Joose, thanks bro I really appreciate it.

Esh, I'll check those sites out. Thanks a lot!

When I'm done reading advanced holdem what would you recommend?

oh, okay. i was like "simon what?"

ss1, ss2.
the harrington on holdem set is good for tourney play.
mike caro's book of tells if you plan on playing live at all.
small stakes holdem.
fundamental theorem of poker.

Phil Gordon's Little Blue and Green books.

Great thanks! I do plan on mostly playing live at casinos on low limit tables at first. There's a casino with tons of poker action about an hour away so I'll be there all the time once I get a bankroll. I'm gonna try and stay away from online poker, at least for awhile. The same thing always happens (which is a factor from my low bankroll), I depost $100, play good for a few hours and get up to $300 or so, but then I go into larger stakes and end up losing. I don't have the patience or discipline down yet.

Another thing besides reading all you can get your hands on - you might benefit from a short break, but you can't stop playing and then expect to come back a winner. You need to keep playing and get experience and see if you can become a winning player before you even entertain the idea of going pro. Play at lower levels with a smaller bankroll - but you have to learn to play and win. As of now you don't know if you can become a winning player or not.

I think you should go get hypnotized............you don't really think????????????????????? what the????????????????? hmmmmmmmmm

check out the articles here, too. a great BR management one that FP wrote will help you understand the importance of selecting the right limits.

This is a little off topic, but you guys know what you're talking about. Tonight I was at the casino playing $3/$6, basically with a bunch of old men, almost all of them were huge fish. If you think I don't know what I'm talking about then you should see these guys. Well it got worse, some idiot came to the table and claims he has never played before (but I think he was telling the truth). He would bet almost every hand he had with a high card and almost always hit the river somehow. If the board was A Q 2, and somebody bet, he would raise with pocket nines all the way to the river. Okay so basically I'm wondering at what stake do the fish start to go away at? Obviously they're at $3/$6, how high do I have to go?

That sounds like a BR problem more than anything to do with your poker skills. You shouldn't be in such a hurry to try to make a large profit in a hurry. You have to always play within your BR.

BR management seems like the most common downfall for most novice/beginning poker players. I posted a few things about BR management in a recent thread trying to help another player out, refer to this thread and see a few of my posts, and other posts, that address BR issues.

http://www.cardschat.com/f46/i-win-one-then-80842/ (http://www.cardschat.com/f46/i-win-one-then-80842/)

how the hell did I miss this thread?


Im with everyone else here, poker as a job is a pain in the ass.


From what you have written its obvious you have zero bankroll management skills!! If you had good bankroll management skills and the right mindset for poker you wouldnt care if you were sitting with what you call "fish". Most players want to sit with them, why the hell would you want to sit with people as good as you if not better? I have heard this over and over from novice players and its just stupid.


If you want to be good I mean real good you have to do the time, you have to start at the low levels and prove you can beat each level before you move up. I mean start at the very very bottom like .05/.10 NL or .25/.50 limit and prove you can maintain a bankroll. It will also prove that you can take the bad beats, if you cant take them and move on then there is no way in hell you should consider going pro or even moving up levels.

Well, that's like you said: I am going to win next lottery at $200 mil, then I will retire, then I wil..... or I will start microsoft 2 and have more money than bill gates, etc....

it's about same


if you are serious about poker, start small
play few freerolls, build some stack of cash that way, then start playing low lewell game, then build your stack again before you move on to higher game, etc.....
those freerolls are not absolute wast of the time
you can win few of them and start that way

I do play freerolls when I am low on cash and do not want to use my own hard earned money, so when I got some cash from them, use that in another games

last year won enough to by me a motorcycle and this year will buy another 1, lol

happy riding and playing

that's about it

not a rocket science, but a lots of luck is involved here