Bit of Advice required - Mixed in with some background

[Killerkilsby]

Hi Guys,

Have been lurking around on this forum as a a guest and a member for a long time. I have seen how much help you have given to new and experienced players and thought id seek some advice.

Basically i started playing poker around 4 years ago and was a massively -EV player. Just played £10-£50 comps without a bankroll and only cashed once in 3 months.

I then started university and began dealing at the local Gala casino. This really started to help my game as i also played online whilst working there. I had a couple of decent MTT results and made a profit of $5k in 6 months.

Because of gala rules i couldn't play much live but made the odd trip to broadway. I then won or split 3/4 tourneys and all of a sudden felt my live game was invincible. Boy was i wrong!

The expected MTT downswing came and without a proper bankroll i took shots here and there when i had some money, the odd £300 dtd deepstack etc.

I quit Gala last year to go on a 1 year work placement to help finalise my degree. This opened me up to play at DTD. Again without a bankroll played alot of £50 tourneys there. I came 5th in the inaugural DTD grand prix. And have split a few of the evening comps. I would say i play on average 3-4 times a month live. I also won a tourney on pokerstars for $4.2k and proceeded to give half of that back before taking a break from the game.

I felt like i was starting to lose control due to my bad runs and decided to take a couple of months off.

PROBLEM -  Parents booked me a trip to Vegas for my 21st. I went and ended up winning a $120 tourney for $3.8k which left me with a $1.5k profit after the usual Vegas fun.

Since i returned i have bought a new flat and moved in with my missus. This is crippling my funds so i have pulled back on the poker front. The odd super 50 here, and grand prix. The incredible £100. i prefer tourneys over £100 as i feel i am +ev here due to the deep natured structures.

Now i am going back to university for my final year, and have been given a lump sum from my placement company that will help me through. My student loan covers living costs and i have a par rt time job.

I have read alto of book lately and set up Bankroll management. I have set aside £2000 for poker as my live roll.  This is the most i can set aside and my question is:

Unstaked is this enough to play some £100 events? Also should i look for staking. It would break my soul to move down to £20 tourneys again. Am i rolled for £50 tourneys?

Any advice appreciated.

[nigelhill]

Good luck Dan, get a job back at gala (leicester) as they are desperate for decent dealers 

[Killerkilsby]

Nige,

Thinkning of doing a few months there in a couple of weeks time, any money made there would be used to boost the BR.

[ScottMGee]

I think the bankroll guide is 100 x the entrance, i.e. £100 comps would require a bankroll of £10,000, probably £11,000 when you factor in the juice.

[MC]

Obviously ~18 buy-ins (factoring in rake) is underrolled, even for super-soft live tourneys.

If you were playing £100 tourneys as a shot, but your average buy-in was ~£40 you might get away with 50 buy-ins as long as you're willing to go busto.

[Pyso]

This sort of post is familiar, but respect to you for asking the questions.

I would say a few things that others will probably re-iterate.

A 2k roll is very small, especially for tournaments. You may get away with it in 50p£1 cash games if you are any good and competent at playing all three streets and truly understand implied odds, especially reverse implied odds.

A roll that small however you would force you to be pretty tight peflop, but this is not necessarily a bad thing at live cash, where generally, most players are truly awful.

I have said this to others on blonde, but in my humble opinion, any player needs to take tournament results (from a small sample size) with a pinch of salt, as luck is a significant factor. Most people now have an idea what they are doing preflop and with generally crap structures, tourneys can often just be a test of your ability to win coin-flips, or just not get unlucky. If you have any skill edge you won't see it in any tournament with less than a £300 buy in and by the sounds of it you can't afford to play those.

I would grind cash for a bit, play the satellites to the big tournaments and continue to study the game. It sounds like your head is already in a good space, so keep positive, study the game and good luck.

[cambridgealex]

2k is not enough to play £100 comps, not even close really. It's not really enough to play £50 comps, but they are so soft that you could probably get away with it and so long as you didn't run terrible at the start you might be alright. The £100 comps don't happen that often at DTD so maybe when they do, put in £60 and sell 40% to some mates, that way you're playing the comp with the good structure and big prizepool but not risking too much.

I know so many people in your position. What I'd recommend is this.

You have 2k in the poker roll and about 10 months left at uni right? Put £200 aside each month. Every month try and spin that £200 up playing cash or a couple of £100 freezeouts, or 4 £50 ones. Most months you'll bust it obv, but it doesn't matter, you'll just try again next month and the one time you run good, it may set you up to be properly rolled for playing all the time. This way you won't go broke ever, until the end of the year when it doesn't really matter and every month you'll have a shot and it'll be something to look forward to.

A few of my mates are like that, they have jobs, get paid each month, pay bills/general expenses then they'll have 300quid leftover or something and try spin that up. Seems to work ok.

[MANTIS01]

Sounds like is a very important time for you. Last year of uni, work placement, new flat with the mrs. You should focus all your efforts and attention on making a success of these vital things because they will have a lasting impression on your life. Carry on playing poker as a semi-serious hobby for another 12 months. Your soul will not be broken.

PROBLEM -  Parents booked me a trip to Vegas for my 21st. I went and ended up winning a $120 tourney for $3.8k which left me with a $1.5k profit after the usual Vegas fun. Where is the problem here?

[EvilPie]

Why would it break your soul to play £20 tournaments?

Sounds like you have the makings of a gambling problem if the buzz of winning a £20 comp already isn't enough.

Concentrate on studies and keep poker as a hobby. Forget BRM because if you're not playing £20 comps you haven't got any.

Just play whatever you want and when the money's gone just stop playing until you can save up enough to play again.

[SuuPRlim]

Welcome aboard!

This would be my advice for whatever it is worth,

1. Do not get staked, firstly, and no disrespect to you you prolly aren't good enough - for a staking deal to work the stakee HAS to be proven to beat the games he is playing, a proven winner needs ahuge amount of experience that from the tone of your post it doesn't seem like you have. Whereas getting staked would seem like an excellent theory, if you're not defo beating the games it falls apart quickly and getting into a hole can really damage your mentality unless you are assured you can win (which only experience and result can provide) - this comes form personal experience of both staking and being staked.

---This isn;t to say that you couldn't for sure be a winner in any game you put your mind to, I would imagine you can---


2. Dont ever use money you've earnt from working to fund a poker bankroll, money earnt is valuable because you have a tangible acrifice for it, as in you working for 20 hours to earn £150, and then when you lose it in 15minutes you feel awful, losing £150 you've won from poker previously feels completely different. This will really damage your mindset

3. You really should "bring yourself" to play £20 comps, if you are a serious player, playing to a bankroll you have to play in games where the best value for your bankroll is, if these are £20 games then they are £20 games, I've played big games on a monday, to be playing pretty low stakes on Tuesday because I think it's the best use of my time/bankroll.

4. Alex's advice seems pretty good, as it prevents a REAL downswing in morale, which is crucial - advice I'd give as well (which alex will be expecting ) is to put a small amount of money online and grind small stakes and REALLY learn, you won;t make fortunes but poker isn;t get rich quick.

5. and again no offence, If someone had said these words to me when I started out in the game I'd have CONSIDERABLEY more money than I do now...But you are not as good as you think you are, nobody EVER is. The most long term successful players I know are people with a real grasp of the own ability and who work hard constantly on their game - I know guys starting out in not too disimilar position to yourself who really refuse to take advice about there game on board, it's mental. Speak to better players, constantly ask questions and use every possible resource you have - it's lucky here because most poker players LOVE to talk about poker so actually really enjoy when people ask questions.

Very best of luck, any troublesome hands you encounter post them on the PHA as some pretty dam sharp poker minds like the current champion of monte carlo post on there and this is a great way to gain free insight into the way really successful players think.

You've had good results so far so I'm sure if you dont go mental you'll do great! and remember

REAL LIFE >>>>>>> POKER. Always

[ManuelsMum]

Any suggestion that the poker is getting in the way of your final uni year, ditch it straight away. For me, the emotional swings are so distracting, and I find poker so much more interesting than studying, I couldn't mix the two there. But you sound pretty level-headed.

[EvilPie]

REAL LIFE >>>>>>> POKER. Always

Excellent summary.

[Killerkilsby]

Any suggestion that the poker is getting in the way of your final uni year, ditch it straight away. For me, the emotional swings are so distracting, and I find poker so much more interesting than studying, I couldn't mix the two there. But you sound pretty level-headed.

Will instantly stop if this happens 1 year of your life could make a huge difference in the future. Poker can be played anytime. Final year cant.

Thanks

[Killerkilsby]

Why would it break your soul to play £20 tournaments?

Sounds like you have the makings of a gambling problem if the buzz of winning a £20 comp already isn't enough.

Concentrate on studies and keep poker as a hobby. Forget BRM because if you're not playing £20 comps you haven't got any.

Just play whatever you want and when the money's gone just stop playing until you can save up enough to play again.

Only as these tourneys are so badly structured end up being crap shooots. I have actively looked for tourneys with good structures. Although playing until money runs out sounds same as what Alex is saying and i like this idea

[Killerkilsby]

Love this advice and feel this could be the way forward!

2k is not enough to play £100 comps, not even close really. It's not really enough to play £50 comps, but they are so soft that you could probably get away with it and so long as you didn't run terrible at the start you might be alright. The £100 comps don't happen that often at DTD so maybe when they do, put in £60 and sell 40% to some mates, that way you're playing the comp with the good structure and big prizepool but not risking too much.

I know so many people in your position. What I'd recommend is this.

You have 2k in the poker roll and about 10 months left at uni right? Put £200 aside each month. Every month try and spin that £200 up playing cash or a couple of £100 freezeouts, or 4 £50 ones. Most months you'll bust it obv, but it doesn't matter, you'll just try again next month and the one time you run good, it may set you up to be properly rolled for playing all the time. This way you won't go broke ever, until the end of the year when it doesn't really matter and every month you'll have a shot and it'll be something to look forward to.

A few of my mates are like that, they have jobs, get paid each month, pay bills/general expenses then they'll have 300quid leftover or something and try spin that up. Seems to work ok.