Back From Business

[moustache]

I thought I'd post some ramblings about poker as a professional in general, why I stopped in 2013, why I will be back in 2017, what I think makes a good pro etc...

After the Americans were stopped from legally playing online (until the gov't started their own moneymaking sites) it affected the games badly for me in two ways, first there was much less traffic and less fish online, and second, a lot of the winning players moved to England, mainly London but that pushed other people further north to find good games and the live cash games became harder too. The recession was in full effect too so recreational players were playing smaller and less often. To find games I could comfortably beat I had to play for longer hours in smaller games to earn what I was making rather easily a year earlier. I now realise that I neglected my studying and spread myself too thin by stopping studying nlhe when I was beating it comfortably 3 years previously and moving on to what I thought were more interesting games and I slipped behind the curve. I was still winning but not enough to make progress or take a couple of months off to study and play in break even or losing games to improve my game so I felt stuck. (Feeling stuck is my least favourite place to be) Playing 12-14 hours per day in games that I felt stuck in was horrible. I had  I started to look for other careers and what I thought were more secure for my future. It was always my intention to be back in poker when the economy improved and my mindset had improved but that was going to take a few years so I was off to try other things. To be continued...

[engy]

Very interesting diary. Good read looking forward to hearing more of your story

[pleno1]

Finished 8th for €60k.

Played fine I think. Had 3 spots which were debatable, but apart from that happy with every decision and that's all hat counts.

Last HR's

7th
12th
7th
9th
8th

Doing something right just need to convert I guess.

Hand 1

David Jan opens UTG I defend bb
He checks back 745cc
I probe 7458 he calls
I check 74589 I check/taaaaaank call k9ss

I bet all 6x otr, bet sets otr, most likely bet flop/turned 2 pairs, check 94/95/97 ott so this feels like decent bluffcatcher now blocking clubs or ace highs that could not bluff. Was very unsure which hands exactly I should be calling here, but this felt like good one

Hand 2

Pure bubble, 46k min cash, fish2013 jams sb off 80bbs, I have 18bbs and KQhh I'm 10/10 and it's very very close but I took a bunch of FGS into account and finally decided to fold, very close though.

Hand 3

Final table, Oles had to play tight for last 2-3 hours which I know he won't like. Very crazy Russian opens hijac, Oles been speaking about how crazy he is with us for he last 3 hours watching him in every pot opening super wide etc. Russian opens 2.4x hijac, ole flats co and I have 8.7bbs and ATo on the button.

Good things
I do extremely well vs Russian
I do extremely well vs ole
Larger raise size means more dead money
I am in terrible seat and will get no spots to open jam and will very likely blind down to 5bbs if I fold and when blinds go up I'm fucked
If I win I go from 8.9 to 23bbs and great situation

Bad things
I
C
M

2nd shortest stack had like 250-300k.

Extremely tough spot and s usual very simple fold, I ranked a long time and still really like my reasoning. Both guys called and I lost vs AJ and KJ. Would have been a sick one to win

Anyway, I can't complain, decent cash, lots of new experiences, new player reads, new stuff to study, little bit of profit.

[tikay]

^^^^^

Unlucky Patrick.

PS - wrong diary, I think.

[moustache]

They both have business in, Iv nearly made the same mistake!

[moustache]

I played some mtts his weekend, <$20 cashed in a few and one ft but no significant results, the level of competition was soft, even softer than the sngs, I know it's going to get exponentially tougher as I move up the levels but I'm feeling positive. Looking forward to getting back to playing live too, might try to play a couple of £30-£100 tournaments and a couple of smaller cash games in the next month to dip my toes in, hopefully win some money too! I'm planning to be aggressive with shot taking and br management because I'm not reliant on making any money out of it. This will hopefully get me a useful working bankroll quickly, the higher it gets the more conservative I will be about risk until I get past a point where I'm fully rolled for games a level higher than I need for making a decent hourly rate and then will raise the shot taking and agro game selection again. I don't want to end up stuck in midstakes playing very tough opponents.

[moustache]

I just read tank's 4000 sngs in 4 months, great read and very well done! Makes me think 2 things about my own game, 1. Wouldn't it be nice to find a game where 15% roi is an achievable goal above the penny buyins. 2. If I had been reading blonde instead of 'Phil Helmuths pocket book of holdem' back in the day my goals and winnings may have been rather different. Moral of the story? Check your sources and don't miss the bus!

P.S. If I had won loads back then I probably would have gone off the rails and wouldn't have been where I am now, I don't regret one bit of it and am truly very happy!

[moustache]

I finished work early last night so had the chance to play for a couple of hours. I didn't win but enjoyed it and feel good about moving up soon. I have a little checklist I do and some affirmations I say before I start playing to help get me in a positive and focused frame of mind, il share them with you guys later on.

[moustache]

So this morning, as you do, I was sitting on my roof, watching the sunrise and got the urge to polish my mushroom. I'm the kind of person that listens to my urges so I got a flannel ready and started to go for it. It took a while and was hard work but it was pleasurable in a strange sort of way. I suddenly got the feeling that I was being watched so I looked over my shoulder and saw my neighbour standing there staring! "Morning" he says and walks off towards the shower block. Oh well... I finished the job, cleaned up with my flannel and went back inside. You must admit it looks rather nice now, much better than the dark,  tarnished brass colour it was before. If I could post a picture I would but they are too large for the file size for some reason. 😉

p.s. A mushroom is an air vent in the roof of a narrowboat, usually brass or chrome, so called because of their bulbous shape

[strak33]

Looking forward to this diary.

When you stop work completely are you planning to move around on the boat? Where are you moored currently? Do you have twitter/follow any of the boaters on there?

[moustache]

We will move around during the summer and stay put in the winter, cruising is lovely when the weather is nice but rather grim in the cold and rain. I'm in the midlands but would prefer not to post my exact address on an open forum, hopefully for obvious reasons. I don't use Twitter, I'm in a Facebook group for boaters but most boaters are quite old fashioned, social networking is a wave as you cruise past for most people. Very friendly and helpful people, a lovely community to be a part of.

[moustache]

There are a few key differences between pros and amateurs that I see and I thought I'd share my opinions and experiences.

The first point is that a pro doesn't have to be better than an amateur, there are some amateurs that are stunningly good, some of them even win consistently and just choose not to make a living from poker but most of them lose for some of the following reasons.

Game selection; this is key and very challenging for pros. A pro has to choose games that they can beat for the most money possible while keeping their chances of going busto acceptably low, this is often a balancing act. Usually smaller games are easier to beat but sometimes it isn't the case, and finding a good enough hourly rate with enough hours available is a challenge.

Bankroll management; a pros most useful tool is cash, running out of cash is a disaster but it is (999/1000) avoidable. Correctly analysing the risks involved in the games you play and correctly deciding how many buyins are needed to survive downswings is key, and something most people fail at. 100 buyins is the standard that was accepted for a long time but it is far too simplified, it has to be fluid depending on the games and stakes played. The ability to correctly move up and down stakes while still being able to take living expenses out each month (or whatever interval you choose) makes a working bankroll much more effective.

Living expenses; a pro is at such a large disadvantage by having to take living expenses out of their roll each month. It is the equivalent of starting each month with a 1k-5k loss depending on what you spend. The problem with this is most pros do it for the lifestyle and refuse to live a meagre existence equivalent to what they could earn in a day job with their skills and experience. And who can blame them? Surrounded by cash all the time, huge winning days and all their peers and rolemodels spending lavishly. I was one of them, I spent my money on eating out most days and a couple of years later it caught up to me. Correctly estimating your earnings and leaving room for bankroll growth is key, if this isn't achievable with your skill level and roll then maybe it isn't the job for you.

Discipline and self honesty; this is mainly around tilt and the reduction of tilt but is woven in to the fabric of all the other points, choosing the right games, resting well, staying healthy physically and mentally, playing as close to your best as much of the time as possible, not playing games you know are beyond you, checking you ego are all potential stumbling blocks.

Giving back; pros are parasites on the games and the community, removing money from people's bankrolls and spending it on their own living is their goal. This is particularly important in the live game because it is a smaller group and you are spending a lot of time together on a regular basis. Therefore they need to give back to the community in other ways, being pleasant at the table, arriving on time and staying for a while if leaving will break games, buying a round of drinks every now and then, giving a little advice to help very new players to lose slower, showering and brushing their teeth cause no one wants to sit next to a smelly hippo all night, playing honestly and not taking angles, not ever berating a recreational player for their play regardless of how irritating it was, not wasting time etc.. The list goes on, just be nice and considerate.

[stato_1]

Hi Matt

Enjoying the read some interesting stuff!

All the best with your comeback to poker and hopefully see you at DTD sometime soon

Stato

[RED-DOG]

There are a few key differences between pros and amateurs that I see and I thought I'd share my opinions and experiences.

The first point is that a pro doesn't have to be better than an amateur, there are some amateurs that are stunningly good, some of them even win consistently and just choose not to make a living from poker but most of them lose for some of the following reasons.

Game selection; this is key and very challenging for pros. A pro has to choose games that they can beat for the most money possible while keeping their chances of going busto acceptably low, this is often a balancing act. Usually smaller games are easier to beat but sometimes it isn't the case, and finding a good enough hourly rate with enough hours available is a challenge.

Bankroll management; a pros most useful tool is cash, running out of cash is a disaster but it is (999/1000) avoidable. Correctly analysing the risks involved in the games you play and correctly deciding how many buyins are needed to survive downswings is key, and something most people fail at. 100 buyins is the standard that was accepted for a long time but it is far too simplified, it has to be fluid depending on the games and stakes played. The ability to correctly move up and down stakes while still being able to take living expenses out each month (or whatever interval you choose) makes a working bankroll much more effective.

Living expenses; a pro is at such a large disadvantage by having to take living expenses out of their roll each month. It is the equivalent of starting each month with a 1k-5k loss depending on what you spend. The problem with this is most pros do it for the lifestyle and refuse to live a meagre existence equivalent to what they could earn in a day job with their skills and experience. And who can blame them? Surrounded by cash all the time, huge winning days and all their peers and rolemodels spending lavishly. I was one of them, I spent my money on eating out most days and a couple of years later it caught up to me. Correctly estimating your earnings and leaving room for bankroll growth is key, if this isn't achievable with your skill level and roll then maybe it isn't the job for you.

Discipline and self honesty; this is mainly around tilt and the reduction of tilt but is woven in to the fabric of all the other points, choosing the right games, resting well, staying healthy physically and mentally, playing as close to your best as much of the time as possible, not playing games you know are beyond you, checking you ego are all potential stumbling blocks.

Giving back; pros are parasites on the games and the community, removing money from people's bankrolls and spending it on their own living is their goal. This is particularly important in the live game because it is a smaller group and you are spending a lot of time together on a regular basis. Therefore they need to give back to the community in other ways, being pleasant at the table, arriving on time and staying for a while if leaving will break games, buying a round of drinks every now and then, giving a little advice to help very new players to lose slower, showering and brushing their teeth cause no one wants to sit next to a smelly hippo all night, playing honestly and not taking angles, not ever berating a recreational player for their play regardless of how irritating it was, not wasting time etc.. The list goes on, just be nice and considerate.

Good post tashy.

Do I I know you btw? Have we shared a table?

[moustache]

Hi Matt

Enjoying the read some interesting stuff!

All the best with your comeback to poker and hopefully see you at DTD sometime soon

Stato

Yes would be good to see you, Il be back, got to build a roll first, hoping to be back for the party millions in April, looks unmissable!