slevin, anyone with a half a brain on this forum doesn't believe you. You aren't going to stick your own rules and you know it. Be honest with yourself and be honest with us.
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slevin, anyone with a half a brain on this forum doesn't believe you. You aren't going to stick your own rules and you know it. Be honest with yourself and be honest with us.
I can not predict the future so if I will succeed this time I do not know. One thing I do know is that until I stick to playing within my bankroll I will not prosper at poker so that is something I am trying hard to do. I understand your reluctance to believe me and to have faith in my ability to keep my word. All I can say is I will do as I've always done and give it 100%
He conquers who endures.
- Persius
Perseverance... keeps honor bright: to have done, is to hang quite out of fashion, like a rusty nail in monumental mockery.
- William Shakespeare
Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did.
- Newt Gingrich
Thanks!
Alot of everyones comments on your blog were well, unfortunately pretty justified. I'm assuming you've realized this - so learn from it.
I read your entire operation, and no I didn't stop after your huge fail, so please repsect the fact that I chose not to close this thread in disgust, as I'm sure some people did.
I'm not trying to hurt your feelings or tilt you or insult you but...
Here's my impression of you: You are a degenerate gambler who doesn't like money.
Why don't you like money? Why are you so eager to win money now? Especially if you don't like money?!
I think the reason you've failed is because you just wanna play for big bucks. You want to make money - material amounts of money. You want to make $50 an hour, not $5 an hour. But unfortunately, the process in which you've chosen in the past to make this happen was wrong.
I'm sure you've learned from this now.
I'm telling you this because I want you to prove my first impression wrong. I also want you to prove everyone here at FTR wrong. No one thinks you can do it, they only hope to see you do it. In the back of their mind they see you as slevin, the guy who cannot discipline himself. You're in the drivers seat - you are in control. It doesn't matter what anyone tells you, you'll make your own choices in life. That's the same for anyone. For instance: If you were to tell me to go fuck myself, I would not even consider taking my dick and sticking it in my ass. See how easy it is not to listen to someone? However, you seem to do a good job at listening to others. In fact, this is probably one of your stronger traits. However, it is clear your weakness is discipline and money management. The problem with this is no one can make you do it right but yourself. Think about how much easier money management is than say, putting a strong opponent on a range. It's way easier to just follow a bankroll management chart super strict than it is to get inside a top professionals head, so why not follow the damn charts and abide by stop-losses and forget trying to play against people who will own you at this game because you aren't ready for that yet.
Although this may not be the greatest advice, I'm being sincere here and I really do hope you succeed:
Forget about the money. Play to play good, not for money. Play to learn and grow as a poker player - don't play for the $/hour! At the microlimits playing for $2 an hour or whatever it is you're pulling will only put you on uber-monkey-tilt! You're playing for big blinds, it doensn't matter what stake you play. Might as well play the stake your bankroll tells you too that way you don't lose much money if you go on monkey-tilt.
As of your last post, it looks like you're keeping things positive, which is great. Stay positive, but also remember poker is a long term game, and it will take you weeks, maybe even months to move up to bigger games. Just be patient, you'll get there.
"Successfull business people often recognize that a small sacrifice in the short term can lead to larger benefits in the long term"
To dumb it down for you: Fuck trying to make $50 or $100 or whatever an hour now. Just stick to $1 or $2 or whatever that figure is, learn poker, study poker, work hard now and then eventually work your way into games that you have long prepared yourself for with experience and discipline. That's when the $$$ comes. Learn as much as you can about poker now while the cost of screwing up is cheap. Then when your bankroll and your game is ready for the next step, move on up!
Poker is alot like managing a business. You can't let your debt/equity ratio get too high relative to the industry average (you can't let the stake you play be too small a percentage of your bankroll). If you do, you'll have a hard time balancing your loan payments and any unexpected expenditures that may arise (you'll get your bankroll down to the point where you won't even have enough to add-on when you multi-table) - in which case, you fail to pay off your debts and declare bankruptcy (start losing more to the point where you go on super-donkitup-tilt and go broke)
I'll leave it at that. Just want to remind you to take it slow, learn alot, have fun, and always stay positive. Good luck on the grind sir, I'll be following this operation. Don't get out of line ever again, you've got the skills now apply them.
-Micro
Thanks for your post Micro you made some interesting points. I've tried to tackle the problem of the BR being small (and consequently the gains being small) by focussing this latest push on number of games played rather than some fiscal target. I've also switched from full ring to SNGs as I find them more engadging. I think the monotony of 'the grind' when the financial rewards were so low is one thing that's driven me to distraction in the past. This is one reason why I've switched to playing SNGs now.
Thanks for the obvious thought and time you've given to my OP that's kind of you, much appreciated my man. Thanks!
Slev , can I suggest an alternative method of bank roll management you could employ. Do you have a friend /family/wife who would set up an account at PS which would hold most of your bankroll.with your winnings you transfer that back to the escrow account so that you leave yourself 3 or 4 buyins for the level that you are properly rolled for.should you NEED any of your roll back due to a losing streak they will only transfer back say 2 buyins per day.
Once you've blown it for the day , thats it , go do some study , watch some videos and prepare for the next day. You may decide to grind the 2 BI allowance up on the 2NL tables but once you have passed the 4 BI limit on your account you transfer some back to the escrow.
The whole point of this is to try and instil some discipline. It might annoy the hell out of you doing it, but how much have your past failures done that too.
Another thing you really must face up to is that you have a gambling problem. The signs are all there just by reading this blog. You have to accept it and ultimately decide whether you can manage your problem whilst playing poker or whether in the long run, unfortunately , abstinance is going to be your solution.
A classic symptom of a problem is trying to hide it. After the drunken blowout we heard that its all changed I've learnt my lesson. then we heard about the 20$ DON 's and even later we find out that the 20$ DON's were financed by a 60$ SNG where your entire bankroll could have disappeard in moments.I'm not sure If the 100NL was a typo or not but if it wasn't , what were you thinking of. Anyway thats the reason for my proposal for having an escrow hold your bankroll so that you can never put it on the line in its entirety again.You're also going to have to let the escrow be able to log in or see your cashier as well so that they can keep a check on how much you are keeping in your account and the escrow.
Here's a plan for becoming a better poker player.
Don't commit to playing a certain amount of hands. Don't commit to playing a certain limit. Don't commit to winning a certain amount of money or big blinds. Don't commit to playing a certain amount of hours.
These things only peripherally and indirectly help you improve.
Commit to this:
Spend x hours per day studying poker. Once you've done that, consider if you want to put in a little session. Then study some more.
Don't fool yourself into thinking you can 'study at the table'. It doesn't work.
The time that you spend at the tables is almost the least important part.
Study. Study some more. Very quickly stop just looking to find more things to read and instead pose questions and try to find out ways to answer them. You need to get not only someone elses regurgitated wisdom, but you need to puzzle out your own.
Choosing to play rather than study is choosing to gamble rather than improve as a poker player.
As in so many posts I'm my own target audience as much as you are.
@Keith: Good stuff the idea about having some kind of escrow is something I'd have shied away from in the past, but given my past failings is probabally not a bad idea. The phrase gambling problem has all sorts of negative connotations to it but, I will be the first to admit the way I gamble with my BR is definately a huge problem for my poker development. I never spend money I can't afford to lose, I'm not the sort of person who would gamble my last couple of quid trying to win some money back or anything like that, but the way I gamble on the poker tables is definately harming my development as a poker player and thats definately a problem!
@Erpel: Yeah I agree some study definately wouldn't go amiss, I'm no expert at the tables far from it, but I would say I know a little bit about poker now, what's costing me, which has always been costing me, is my discipline at the table, and I don't think any amount of studying will teach me how to be disciplined at the table, that's something that's got to come from inside myself. That's what I hope to develop over the next 1,000 SNGs.
One thing I've decided to do though is take things a bit more slowly this time around, in the past I've just been full intensity playing poker at every opportunity trying to cram in the sessions thinking this would increase the BR and the speed I climb up the poker ladder. I'm slowing down now, taking things at a more leisurely pace, since I decided to start the SNGs about twenty odd hours ago I haven't played any, I've just relaxed, read some FTR and chilled out at home now I'm about to play some I feel very relaxed and am looking forward to them.
Went to a nightclub yesterday had a good time it was far too long since I'd been to a night club, I need to start going more regularly. Put me in a great frame of mind for doing well in the poker.
Played 24 SNGs so far and am $11 down. Going to take a break for today, it's a nice sunny day so I'm going to enjoy some sun!
Tomorrow I have my first coaching session, so hopefully things will pick up soon =)
The "Gambling problem" I'm referring to is the way you can suddenly chuck all the Bankroll management out of the window and the reasons behind it. Do you get a buzz from the increased risk ? or are you just overestimating your ability and assuming that it is going to pay off.?
The speed you went from 26$ to >200 was amazing , however this was achieved by an ultra high risk strategy which ultimately came to a halt when the inevitable happened.
with the SNG you are playing ...are they the conventional ones or the double or nothings. If the DON's on stars , theres some that are 1$+.1 and some that are 1$+.2. No need paying extra rake when you can avoid it.
The DON's may be the best way to start. If you estimate that through edge from experience that you can cash in 60% over the 1000 tourneys you'd make $1200 from winnings , lose 1000 on the entry fees and pay 100$ in rake so would make 100$. If you pay 0.2$ in rake per game you break even.
Interesting point - the sngs were the conventional ones but I might try a few of the $1 don's - I think I have an edge at them, and it's still obeying my play 1000 $1 SNG op goal.
I have been lurking for some time now and am amazed at how much time and effort you guys give slevin. Were this his first OP you could understand but this is more like his 5th and each one rattles on for over 5 pages with good people giving him their time, energy and experience.Quote:
Originally Posted by Deanglow
In each OP he is given advice and he either ignores it, calling anyone who criticises him or he vows to take it but ultimately never does. And incredibly you guys still persist. This happens countless times in any one OP and he has now had multiple OPs. Have you noticed how now every losing session is down to cooler after cooler? Or because he was drunk? Criticisers are dismissed as intentional saboturs and if people he values criticise him he suddenly doesn't care what they think? A bit convenient isn't it?
Slevin has done in this post what he has done before in that he claims to own up and have one last attempt yet here we are about 5 OPs later. SNGs, MTTs, FR, 6 Max, Omaha, DON.....He changes his focus with the wind.
Sickeningly you guys are still persisting. I can't remember who but one of you said you have finally had enough yet this has been said since the first OP. Your time and advice is always wasted. And it's not by chance or luck. It's over and over when other members are give just two chances before they are ignored or given strikes and that just makes a mockery of FTR and is what has stopped me from joining in more fully.
It comes as no surprise that having failed to stick to sound BRM principles slevin has chosen to give himself another get out of jail card when the truth was staring him in his face. He finally admits he could be wasting his time but rather than give up or knuckle down he takes connects advice as an excuse to continue his gambol ways and say he is now going to play for fun and play whatever he likes irrespective of BRM. Ain't that a coincidence? Doesn't this hit home with anyone? He has NO intention of ever stopping his degen ways!
Despite this you guys still hang around doling out advice when he has repeated the same old same old and even when you have said you will stop because he never learns. Well that makes two of you then because you're still persisting with him! when it comes to the crunch of facing up to his gamboll he decides to play for fun with no BRM. Yet you guys just can't seem to see this and yet will no doubt contribute another 5 pages to his next OP.
I read dean's post and luhled. I scrolled down to see all these paragraphs and luhl'ed again
The difference between perseverance and obstinacy is that one often comes from a strong will, and the other from a strong won't.Quote:
Originally Posted by LuckySlevin
- Henry Ward Beecher
BAM!
Good luck not getting a strike yourself for this post like I did when I made a very similar one. You're only supposed to stick up for the little guy around here, not the awesome regs. Now I just lurk for the great advice because I want to puke that I got the strike and Slev is some kind of upstanding forum citizen for his behavior. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Val Kilmer
I'll prolly get another one now for this post but what the hell. Maybe FTR is ready to realize how stupid this is and maybe my post will help.
@Trolls - you know I don't bite, so you're wasting your time, I'd just repeat what I've told most of you before, don't read my blog if you don't want to. =)
___
Pokers going well at the moment! I'm getting into live play and am really enjoying it. I won a local ten man sng last week, and got to the final 5 of 20 in another local tourney before, someone called my blind steal (I'd been so tight all night... but the guy was determined to defend his blind with anything... will remember that for next time) J9(o) beat my AT(o) ! Shortly after that I busted but it was a really nice atmosphere the guy that went on to win it said I deserved to cash for the way I played which was nice.
I also travelled to East London on friday night and had a good time playing in a 90 man SNG and some cash play.
My poker books arrived and I've been reading a fair bit of Skalansky on Poker, I'm going to read that another couple of times before I move on to the Theory of Poker.
I'm really looking forward to reading the Mathematics of Poker it looks nice and deep and my math has generally been a weakness so I'm going to make sure I assimilate everything in that properly.
The conversational style of Skalansky on Poker was a great way to start the serious study nice and gentle. One big thing that's already changed in my game is I'm not playing as predicatably as I was before. It's already reaping some nice results and playing less robotically also has the nice side effect that I'm finding playing more interesting than before.
I cashed out 1700 fpp's for a 27 tourney ticket and was doing OK, before I got busted. Have decided to focus on live play now and the occasional couple of tournies online. I'm no longer going to be grinding an online bankroll out, not until I have about 2,000 to invest in my bankroll. Until then I'll just continue to play pretty much whatever takes my fancy! I have $50 due from someone in PS I'm going to play some 20 and 50 dOn's with that and see what I can spin it up to.
Thinking of entering a large tourney in Nottingham in a couple of months. This blog will probabally focus more on my live play from now on, as that's where I'll mostly be playing.
If you are talking about DTD - cool. A while ago a few of us went - about 6 I think froom FTR. It's a good venue. Which event were u thinking of?Quote:
Originally Posted by LuckySlevin
Nice yeah DTD is what I had in mind, I was thinking of going up there June 6-7th for the 300+30 deepstack. Would be great to team up with some of you guys if you're thinking of going. I'll probably take the train up from London.
I'm not sure how many UK guys are rolled for that on FTR. If I've got over 10k, I might give it a shot. Pretty sure Miffed is the only other person who'd play/is rolled. Plus, with it being a European Ranking event, I'm not sure how soft the cash games would be.Quote:
Originally Posted by LuckySlevin
Got you, well if it means a few more people might be interested I'd be happy playing the 50 or 75 instead, what did you guys play last time you entered? I'm basically up for any event in June, it sounds like a nice venue - and it'd be great to meetup with some of you.
We went on a Friday, the £75 f/o. A couple just played cash, I think me and someone else got deep, the others just hopped straight onto the 0.50/1 cash table when they bustoed the donkament, pretty soft.Quote:
Originally Posted by LuckySlevin
Jeesh. Everyone and their brother seems to be stopping by in this thread so I figured I'd pop my head in and have a look-see.
Slev, dude. Seriously. We all appreciate the loads of cash you've gambled away into the poker community. But for crying out loud, stop already. Managing your bankroll properly should be your number one priority. It is the most important "skill" a poker player can have. Hopefully you've learned from your countless mistakes in the past and start taking this game seriously. Isn't that why you came to this site in the first place? There's obviously people here who want to help you. Take advantage of it!
Good luck to you.
Thanks airles, but until I have a decent size bankroll I'm not going to be following the suggested bankroll guidelines, if I get to the stage where I have 2k online I'll start following a decent BR system, until then - I'm just going to play recreationally with the focus being on enjoyment. Playing whatever stakes my free cash allows me to play. I've officialy resigned from the penny grind.
Well how about this. You've obviously re-loaded numerous times correct? And you apparently have the money to do it. So why don't you just save up $2k, and in the meantime, study your ass off and practice what you've learned where it doesn't cost much. Don't think of it as wins/losses or money earned/lossed. Just think of it as practice. When you've saved up $2k, put it online and follow a NITTY bankroll management project. You'll have 40 BI for $50NL. Hopefully that's enough of a cushion for you. I realize I may be fighting a losing battle here, given the previous arguments for sound BRM with you throughout the forums, but I figure I could at least give you a suggestion.
I really don't care if you choose to follow traditional bankroll mgmt or not. It's your money. But I'll suggest that it's more likely you will 1) actually reach 2k online and 2) reach 2k online quicker if you do follow proper bankroll mgmt.Quote:
Originally Posted by LuckySlevin
Thanks I do appreciate your advice, I think I will cut right down on the online play now I kind of like the idea Airles suggested of saving a BR. In the meantime I'll play the odd small tourney and some live games.
I am really enjoying the Sklansky books should have got hold of them sooner, then again I think one of the reasons I'm enjoying them so much is I have a lot to build on, the knowledge I've gained from FTR over the last year or so for instance. It's quite exciting just how much more there is to learn about the game, I'm realising that I'd barely touched the surface so far.
Thanks again for your advice guys
nothing wrong with this. although practicing some form of BR management would make recreational poker more enjoyable as well. At least I'd think it would.Quote:
Originally Posted by LuckySlevin
WAT.
do you seriously think you can play the odd live game here and there and read a book or two and then jump straight into 50NL+ online games and be a winning player?
part of microstakes is working on not only your poker playing but your discipline as well. which ldo, you clearly have none of. whats to stop you donking your roll away at $200 DoNs once you have more money online? Nothing - because you just havnt got it in you to go about this the tried and tested way, and as a result you'll be incredibly short of online experience (in terms of both playing and more importantly in your case dealing with variance) and I cant help but think this is just going to turn into yet another slevin trainwreck.
but w/e - you havnt listened in the past and we've all been right. and you wont listen this time. just felt i should do my bit to try and prevent you from simply proving us right yet again.
gl man.
1 year and 4 months grinding $5.50 S&G's and the occasional $11.00 ones. I'm at just about $1800. I play over rolled just to keep gaining experience so when I do move up I am ready and have the BR AND the experience to do it. You play on a $2000 BR even following guidelines you will be seriously over matched and it will just be a march in reverse back down to the penny stakes. I would rather START there then FINISH there.Quote:
Originally Posted by sil693
Just a few observations. You'll take them as criticisms but that's because you won't like what is being observed.
From your very first post at FTR, you have gone out of your way to put in some comment about you playing well. Every one of your bust outs was due to a cooler or a suckout (even here with J9 vs AT) and people always comment how you deserve better.Quote:
Originally Posted by LuckySlevin
Months ago Deanglow pointed out that you hijack other threads to make such comments. All in all you seem at pain to point out you're a really good player and luck is the only reason you're not a millionaire.
All this suggests you're serious about poker but you admit you can't stick to BRM, you find grinding boring and that you're playing "for fun" - ie: big buy in affairs with the chance to get rich quick.Quote:
Originally Posted by LuckySlevin
You have admitted to being a degen and unable to grind or stick to BRM yet you state here that once you score big and land 2k you will suddenly play seriously. If you are addicted to the big score now - and if you cannot face the monotonous grind - then you will have no chance of slowing down if you luckbox your way to $2k. Instead you will dream of turning that 2k into 20k but playing in even bigger tourneys now that you have a bigger BR.Quote:
Originally Posted by LuckySlevin
If you want the thrills of $50+ buy in events on a $200 roll then great but as Deanglow said - be honest with yourself and be honest with us.
As said, just observations. Take them as you see fit.
I sense a slevin "revelation" coming on...
slevin operation threads are the nuts, he is the WWF of FTR
Damn Slevin. I thought that once you said you were just playing poker for fun that everyone would cut you some slack. I guess not. LOL
Thunder - go get a crush on someone else, I thought we sorted this out ages ago?
Everyone else - cheers! Nice reading your comments
I really don't know why so many people are getting their panties in a bunch in this thread. You are obviously playing for recreational enjoyment, and not everyone's goal is to grind out poker profits. As long as you aren't deluding yourself into thinking this is the way to long-term profits, then enjoy yourself.
It's been a few days but not much has happened in the world of slevin poker, I continued to play outside of BRM guidelines and continue to plunge a few more dollars down the fish hole. I have taken out a subscription to sharkscope though at long last and can honestly say I'm finding it almost as enjoyable as poker!
I've got into the habbit of scoping the tables I play on and was surprised to find that generally only 4/10 players are + profit (this is on 20-50 double or nothing tables, but looking at the entire sample). And further only about 2 are significantly in profit +1k.
One guy I scoped yesterday was 8k in profit, I was intrigued that's a nice round number of profit. I exported his entire history and found he'd played 8000 games so averaged just $1 profit per game. Such a slow grind but hey Rome wasn't built in a day. I'm thinking of having another stab at buillding some profits from poker instead of just playing randomly online soon.
Also dusk till dawn is on Muzzard is going to post for anyone else that fancies it nearer the time. Should be alot of fun.
My general poker goals at the moment are to have a 20k bankroll by the time I'm 30 (two and a half years time). I think I may need to move away from the Double or Nothings though and back to some SNGs I think they are the most profitable type of game for me at the moment.
:lol:
Oh slevin...it seems that you'll never change.
DEGEN 4 LYFE :)
:?:Quote:
My general poker goals at the moment are to have a 20k bankroll by the time I'm 30 (two and a half years time).
Level?
you are really 16.
Poker is going well at the moment, I've got back into a grinding mentality and it's going well enough. I've been putting a lot of effort into my poker the last few days and it's starting to pay off.
Milestone! =) I have finally got rid of the 'fish' symbol next to my name on sharkscope, ldo. Now I just need to stay disciplined.
http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/4711/slevin.png
The filter is the $1 sng's I've been playing since I decided to play within a decent bankroll. TOP has really helped me to understand the importance of playing within a bankroll. I had never realised before the principle of expectation, i.e. that if you make a good play and get sucked out on you gain. Full stop. It doesn't matter what happens in the actual hand. I kind of knew this but had never understood it as intuitively as I do now thanks to TOP.
Well rest of the week will be spent grinding $1 sngs... I think I'm going to work with a 100 buyin rule for now, as I play 18, 27, 45 and 90 man SNGs.
Really nice not to be a fish anymore on sharkscope, silly I know, but that symbol kind of bugged me! I just need to make sure it stays that way!
i'll be up for poker in Nott. Make sure a seperate thread is posted nearer the time.
and GL again and all that Slev. Do it one time.
Thanks mate yeah for sure hopefully this time.
That's great you can make Nottingham sounds like it's going to be a good night. There's already a thread btw!
http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...ad-t83679.html
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