Out of Control?

I've been unemployed since June and in the last month and a half I have decided to see if I can make playing poker into a living. I've been playing tournaments since 2004 which is a lot longer than a lot of successful players have been playing. I think the year between 05/06 I played at least one tournament per day. After UIGEA was passed, I basically turned my back on the game and started focusing on other projects.

My biggest win was in a live tourney when two people hit the bad beat jackpot at my table and I was paid $1,300

I have no bankroll or steady income. I live odd job to odd job. I am trying to transition to cash games and in particular omaha because I like the action and it seems like the playing field is a little more level in omaha.

So basically every few days I'll deposit $20-$40 and see what happens. Maybe I am playing stakes that are too high, $0.25/$0.50??? But usually I will grind it out in omaha hi for a few hours, make a $3-4 profit and then bam, my entire deposit is lost when I play a hand where my opponent has the nuts and I have the second nuts. Every few days... Repeat...

I did recently turn $20 into $400 one night. I felt like I did that on my own and then I turned the $400 into $700 which I got to on a bad beat. When I had the $700 in my account I was completely unaware of how to use that type of bankroll. I jumped into the $2/$4 omaha hi games and it was gone in 15 minutes.

Thoughts? Advice? I am starting to second guess my own skill and I am thinking about staking players.

Sounds like just a disregard for BRM (bank roll management) and being bored at low stakes. It happens. Poker is not for you until you can afford to play higher stakes that you aren't bored with. Then again I think this best route is to stay low, learn, and try to build up a nice roll without jumping up to high too fast. It's not easy for some and it will take a while.

KingCurtis said:

Sounds like just a disregard for BRM (bank roll management) and being bored at low stakes. It happens. Poker is not for you until you can afford to play higher stakes that you aren't bored with. Then again I think this best route is to stay low, learn, and try to build up a nice roll without jumping up to high too fast. It's not easy for some and it will take a while.

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So instead of depositing $20 here and $40 there, should I just save the money up until I can deposit $300 and then play at those stakes? And with so much Hold'Em experience, should I get away from Omaha?

Maybe also maybe just deposit 100$ and start at lower stakes and try and beat then. If you have no dicipline in poker chance are you are not gonna do much except lose cash which is exactly what you are doing. Search the forum for Bankroll Management, this is the cornerstone for most peoples games. Also forget about making a living from poker right now because from you post it sounds like the chances are slim to extremely slim.

Mr McCluskey said:

Maybe also maybe just deposit 100$ and start at lower stakes and try and beat then. If you have no dicipline in poker chance are you are not gonna do much except lose cash which is exactly what you are doing. Search the forum for Bankroll Management, this is the cornerstone for most peoples games. Also forget about making a living from poker right now because from you post it sounds like the chances are slim to extremely slim.

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I have def left bankroll management out of my game ALWAYS. That is something I will work on. I mean I can lose a $100 and not really be that upset about it. Funding my low stakes levels is not an issue. Is the competition at higher stakes that much better? Or because they have large bankrolls, losing a grand is not such a big deal as it would be to me?

Instead of saying playing poker for a living, maybe I should say trying to make poker into a source of income?

camtheram13 said:

I have def left bankroll management out of my game ALWAYS. That is something I will work on. I mean I can lose a $100 and not really be that upset about it. Funding my low stakes levels is not an issue. Is the competition at higher stakes that much better? Or because they have large bankrolls, losing a grand is not such a big deal as it would be to me?

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The competition is that much better. If you are going to play .25/.50, you should at a bare minimum have $1,000 in your account. $1,500 would be better.

camtheram13 said:

Instead of saying playing poker for a living, maybe I should say trying to make poker into a source of income?

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That sounds more acheivable, deposit 100$ start at 2/5 or 5/10 see what happens and start learning, your gonna get killed every deposit the way you are going. Although I think you should not think of it in terms of making income yet just try and beat the game and learn how to beat it.

2/5 is preferable gotta play some minor league before ya hit the big time.

If you are only depositing 20-40 at a time, even at the lowest stakes you may bust after too long. Personally, I would wait until you had $200 to deposit, and then practice strict bankroll management to evaluate yourself. At this level, you shouldn't play more then .02/.05 (40 buy ins of $5) and no more than $2 tournaments. I have found the lower cash stakes to be beatable but frustrating, so when Oplay with that low of a bankroll I tend to grind 27, 45, 90 and 180 sngs at $2 or lower. String together some cashes and you will see the results.

Mr McCluskey said:

That sounds more acheivable, deposit 100$ start at 2/5 or 5/10 see what happens and start learning, your gonna get killed every deposit the way you are going. Although I think you should not think of it in terms of making income yet just try and beat the game and learn how to beat it.

2/5 is preferable gotta play some minor league before ya hit the big time.

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I'm assuming you mean $0.02/$0.05 with just $100?

edgie212 said:

If you are only depositing 20-40 at a time, even at the lowest stakes you may bust after too long. Personally, I would wait until you had $200 to deposit, and then practice strict bankroll management to evaluate yourself. At this level, you shouldn't play more then .02/.05 (40 buy ins of $5) and no more than $2 tournaments. I have found the lower cash stakes to be beatable but frustrating, so when Oplay with that low of a bankroll I tend to grind 27, 45, 90 and 180 sngs at $2 or lower. String together some cashes and you will see the results.

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Agreed. Deposited $40 last night, $10 at a time and never made it over $13-$14 before busting.

first off you should probably get a job. lets be honest your not gonna just hop into 500/1000 pl omaha HU and win(if you want proof check out wastedpotential on poker table ratings its not good). now i know you weren't thinking of playing these stakes but the point made is the same. you need to start at one level probably somewhere in the micros and then prove you can beat this level consistently. after you have done this and do it again and keep moving up as fast as possible. now back to the job part if you dont have a job your always gonna be nervous everytime your play and your going to be in the mindset where you have to win which will just throw your game off. and if your better a hold em play that. dont play a game your not used to just cause you like the action. the action may be good but you have to honestly ask yourself what will give yourself the best opportunity to win.

Seriously, get a job. You would be better off dropping that $20-$40 every few days on some classes to further your education.

Unemployed doesn't = I don't want a job...

The US economy is in the crapper and unemployment is the highest ever since the Depression. Sending out 20 resumes per day is not fun...

I think some of you take your job for granted.

You are playing way too high for your br. I suggest using 2% of your br max. This will allow you to play your game more freely without having to worry about losing most of your br in a streak of bad beats and/or coolers which is inevitable.

^ uhh what?

xXJaRuleRulezXx said:

Listen in pokers its all about tha stakes. i dont care if youre talking .25/50 or 500/1000. Its all about the mentality. Its all steaks.

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QFT.

You have the same problem I have sometimes, when I accumulate a nice sized bankroll I don't understand the value of it. Although its just numbers on a screen that say 700$, it really is 700$ and thats a months rent...But on a computer as I said it just looks like numbers. I still have yet to fix this problem of mine, but am hoping to in the future. Bankroll management is key, that is all the advice I can give to you.

Gl hope you are successful in the future,

Rob'd3k

I have an issue that when I bust out of a tournament early with a bad beat, I always want to play another and often, there's just not one starting so I'll go play a more expensive one. Kinda stupid, especially because I'm not in the right frame of mind often.

You should have bankroll management rules. Start off by playing at lower limits. There are many sources online to give you an idea of what limits you should be in. Good luck improving your bankroll.

Robd3k said:

You have the same problem I have sometimes, when I accumulate a nice sized bankroll I don't understand the value of it. Although its just numbers on a screen that say 700$, it really is 700$ and thats a months rent...But on a computer as I said it just looks like numbers. I still have yet to fix this problem of mine, but am hoping to in the future. Bankroll management is key, that is all the advice I can give to you.

Gl hope you are successful in the future,

Rob'd3k

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Perfect response for all amateurs. Eventually unless one is a complete moron, everyone is going to see a significant boost to a bankroll when variance decides, ok player x deserves a streak of 5 sets out of 8 pocket pairs. It doesn't matter whether you deposited 200 or worked through the ferguson challenge, if you have a few hundred in your account through good play or good luck, you have some power at your fingertips. Use that power wisely.

**Update

Working on BRM and keeping detailed records so I can analyze my play. Things are getting better.

The ironic thing is that the one night I set aside $20 for fun and "gambling", I made $600.