Please give advice to loosing poker player. Down around $4,000.

Hey guys,

Im down around $4,000 from poker in my lifetime. I've been playing since the age 14/15. I regard myself as a pretty decent player but I loose alot of money on my tilts and thats how I ended up loosing alot of money.

I lost around $800 last weekend and now giving poker a break for a few weeks/months. But I want to study the game on my break and come back a winning player.

I specialise in heads up poker and can beat the $10-$20 SNGs pretty easily.

Ive watched almost all episodes of poker after dark, and high stakes poker and read loads and loads of poker books.

I also have a susbscription on blue fire poker and card runners.

It sucks how im down so much because I believe if I ever stuck to my BR and played within limits id be doing well.

How long do you guys think it would take me to win back $4,000 from a $100 bank roll or so?

Any advice welcome... Sorry for limited information about me, ask any question and ill be happy to answer.

Thanks.

Hi mate

I'm probably one of the less experienced players around but I have to say (and please don't take it personally) there's some stuff in your post that I'd never consider relevant and others that I would try my best to capitalize on.

Watching televised poker is meaningless. Most of us don't play like they do, with the mindset and strategies the high stakes pros do. Televised poker is, as far as I am concerned, entertainement. On the other hand books and subscriptions are good if you study them and by this I mean, really study and apply specific info to specific situations.

Another point is that you probably are awful in bankroll management. If you want to make money from poker you should stick first to not loosing it.

Now you say you can nail $10 SNGs... Well if you have $100 to spare, by all means use it to build a bankroll with lower SNGs. I'm not informed on how many BIs you should have for SNGs but you should play SNGs that are in line with your bankroll. Start low, build, don't loose money.

That's what I think from my limited knowledge, hope it helps. If you can nail SNGs do it but under strict BRM.

Nobody can say how much would take you.

Ex: you could enter a 100$ tournament and win 4k$ on the spot, or build it in several months.

Now if your on loosing streak my only rec for you is to : play as good as you can and as much as you can. Remember seriously bankroll management.

That is all there is, yr BRM sucks. With 100 you can buyin for 5 bucks at a time, and if a good player can realize 10% or more yearly on money invested. You do the math... Also, that 4K is gone fugheddaboudit.... playing to make back money lost is the worst sucker move anyone can make... You have to start from scratch with strict BRM, that is all...

Exactly.

Do we have to say it any more???

Read the posts on bankroll management it is one of the most important aspects of poker, there are plenty of articles on here regarding this. I f you are losing $4000 u must be playing out of your skill level too, as you play higher stakes the skill level obviously goes up. go down in stakes see how you get on for awhile. even if ur only winning 5 dollars a day its better than losing 5 a day.

Read and improve, and good luck sir.

The most important factor is to be honest with yourself. If you specialize in $10-$20 HU SNGs and can beat them pretty easily, it's hard to fathom how you could run into a $4k hole.

You cannot lose $800 if you only bring $100 with you. I would start with that one simple premise for bankroll management. Once you are down $100 in one day, you are done gambling that day.
Also, I can watch ER everyday, it won't make me a doctor. I can watch Nascar all season, it doesn't mean I know how to drive on the oval.

play online im assuming? or do you mix in live?

Forget the "im down 4,000 how can I make this up" thought. Your goal should be to make quality decisions, not to win money. Learn that and your on the right track.


tell us a little about yourself btw

All good responses from above and no disrepect here when I say this, but I'm curious, if you can quite easily beat the 20$ SnG Heads up then why not stick to just playing them? This might be more your game style by the sounds of it? Not sure why you would want to start at the smallest limits, but if you do then grind out the $1.00 HU SnG's and build up from there, or alteratively put a bigger roll on and play the $20 HU.

I found your posting interesting. I have played on-line poker for 5 years and Brick and Mortar for about 6 years. I fell in love with it the first time I started and it has been a thrill ever since... There is however ups and downs to Poker. There are a lot of serious questions initially I never asked myself. This is what I will lean on to you so that you can be serious with yourself and you can take my advice or toss it, I'm not more than a Donkey who has the knowledge of the fact of what I am.

People like you and me pay for the likely few percent of real poker players to play. We enjoy the game like a sport, but we do not have the discipline to win consistently because of just that, we are treating it like a game. They treat it like a Job. You cannot adopt this mentality easily I have found, unless you're Zen. As Poker is just that a Sport, a Job and a hard way to make a buck. I have had swings of 500 up from 5 bucks and -100 bucks... I have lost as much and won half as much as you say... What has changed for me is knowing the game I can beat. Usually that games is involving a game where I cannot open my Poker Client at 4am and gamble away what I worked so hard to win through a week.

You sound like a gambler to me. You sound like a studied one however, as I've not read as many books as you. The TV stuff is applicable, to high stakes Tournament play. On-line Poker is a different animal. These guys have Stat trackers, these guys micromanage their bankrolls to less than a 1% margin. These guys are quite religious, Zen. As I said...

Now ask what do you want of poker, to blow 50-100 bucks on a Weekend? Can you afford to do that? If so, have your fun. You will go up 1G one night and be down 2G the next........Realistically, if you were going to make it and you've spent the time you have at it, you've failed. If you want to make it from this point on, "HONESTY" is next Godliness.

Stop gambling, stop playing for the rush, get the books and advice on true BankRollManagement and true On-line Poker play. Copy and Emulate the winning formula that makes guys/gals thousands a month. It takes a lot of time I hear, 8-10 hour days. It isn't easy........ Or opposite, just blow the cash(within YOUR MEANS) and have fun... you could make an easier living with a real life job I've found, it's no different. These guys are tacticians, these guys know what they're doing. They do not gamble. The real on-line grinders are religious about it and us Donkeys fill their pockets with our hard earned cash. It's a lot easier to do another line of work, only real strong non addictive types can play poker for a living. Even though many pros have and can go bust, we do not have rich friends lining our pockets for the next event? Honesty Honesty Honesty




Take or leave my advice, and do not chase your 4G. She will come with interest when you get over it.

I am a great player, when I'm winning. Though the thing I've yet to Master is how to Lose? ~From the Heart

i'll just take this strictly from a Poker perspective ... you need to put that $4K out of your mind ... call it a Poker School tuition ...suze orman and GA might have some thoughts on your use of that money though

there is already some great advice here ... so, i will just relate one personal experience ... i got really addicted to playing .02/.05 - 6 handed cash on PS ... i could take a seat anytime with 0 wait ... i could play for as long or short as i wanted

i would get myself some beers ... settle in at a table ... see if it was a typical tight table and then just start playing loose aggressive ... i'd pretty much raise with any 2 unless i was under the gun or UTG+1 ... and i racked up a fun $50-$75 bucks that way, but then the fall started ... maybe players were getting stats on me ... maybe i was too rigid with the loose/aggressive style ... maybe i was too drunk it was a nice diversion from playing the tight style in tourneys

the moral to the story is and i realize you are playing for higher stakes, but if you are in it to make money or at least to not lose money, then you really do have to stick to those games you are best at ... even if it is a grind and if you find you are not being disciplined, then take a break from it for a few months

and remember as of today ... you are breaking even ... that $4K will haunt you and tilt you otherwise

How is someone who can crush $20 SNG's down $4k?

He said he tilted bad. Sooo, pokerstars has the responsible gaming tab which lets you set a max buyin per tourney. I suggest you use it lol

This is a great answer imo. (The whole post not just the quote)

Same counts for others in this thread.

My line would be:

• Admit being a dork for losing 4K being tilted [x]
• Join Cardschat [x]
• Read up on BRM and stick to it (100$ = 1.10$ sng if you are REALLY conservative)
• Start grinding away
• Good luck

And btw OP by dork I hope that you understand that I have my dork moments aswell and don't want you to feel bad about that statement.

I hope OP understands that although harsh we are (or the majority is) hoping he does well and gets back on his feet. The advice in this thread is so in one direction that it should become obvious.

Can't be more than a week if you can beat $20 SnGs easily. Though your track record of losing $4000 whilst beating the game pretty easily doesn't bode well for you. Is there something you're not telling us?

Steve

First step to get the 4k fast would win the daily dollar
I'm sure everyone up there has said the whole, motivational "its in you and when you are ready grasshopper, you will know," speal.
The only way to get Lucky and get your 4k back (and only luck will get you this) by winning a tournament or two.
Maybe try to learn as much as possible about tournament play, and go for cheaper ones that pay out well and maybe you'll just get lucky

The bankroll mgt on this site is great as others have said. I haven't played long, but really really was lost until I finally read that. Since reading that I've really never lost money.

The thing I remind myself is this is a marathon not a sprint. You really need to grind it out...and think about the big picture.

Try to avoid your Tilts and try to build up again with a proper Bankrollmanagement.
Don´t play above your limit or you will loose more money by attempting to win back your losses in short time.

If you do not get this under control, you will not progress. This and this alone will be a bigger influence on your bankroll than the technical aspects of the game (aka how to play the cards).

Let me ask you this. On your last losing session, how much money would you have saved if you walked away from the table when you first heard that little voice in your head say 'it's time to go!!'?

quit poker
start playing bingo !

If you specialise in a certain buy in level, ie you regularly win at that level, then it makes sense to continue at that level. Do what you do best. There is plenty of good info here about bankroll management - I'm a real stickler for it. If I'm looking at playing a particular tourney and the buy in represents more than 2% of my bankroll then I don't enter it. It's as simple as that. As for watching the high stakes programmes on TV, yes they're interesting and entertaining but remember those guys play each other day in day out and there's a world of difference between calling an all in for several thousand dollars in a TV games versus calling an all in for a $5 buy in online. Finally, try not to go on tilt - I know that's easier said than done but try to concentrate on making the right decisions (even if they lose you money in the short term) and don't start chasing losses.

my advice is take two weeks off .............. then quit









I kid everything was already said . good luck .

Let's take this one step at a time

1) Forget about the loss and don't go on tilt, even though it's very hard to do - this is definitely a losing proposition.
2) What was your starting bankroll - if less than $16000 you can't afford it.
3) Then stay with the S n G's - you would need a bankroll of only $500.
4) Forget trying to learn from poker shows - they only show the hands they want to. However continue reading books.
5) Not a bad idea.
6) Now you are getting the idea.
7) Once again forget about it - with proper bankroll management you can recover.

this ^ (unless you deviate from your regular games & play something else too??)
Great post!! ^

Three things really.1) set limits! Never invest money you don't mind losing. If you win great, but don't count on winning. 2) Follow bankroll management rules and do not fall into the trap of trying to recover funds already lost. Your mindset will just put you in a deeper hole. 3) Play to your skills. If you can win at a certain type of game at a certain buy-in amount stay at that level and slowly build your bankroll. When your funds have increased try a higher level, but if you lose drop back down to where you can win consistently. Good Luck.

wow, nice post!

OP, I cant add anything better than what has already been said ITT, follow the BRM advice, and determine your goals.

Poker to have fun? Then make sure you can afford your "nights out" And dont worry about it too much from there............

Poker to make a profit? GAME REVIEW x100 (step one....)