One of the first posts I read at FTR was the Newbie Circle of Death. 5 months later, I have to re-read it and encourage anyone who is running well and is relatively new to the game to read it ... again and again.

February, March, and April were all "car payment" months ... meaning I was winning enough to make the monthly car payment nut. May was tough but with a bonus, managed to make the payment again.

The first 8 days of June were awesome ... running over 20PT/BB at 25NL. Damn, I was working on July's payment now. Wow.

Then it happened. First it was a suckout for a stack. Then a donk call for another stack (some tilt in there somewhere). Next day, more of the same when my flush is crushed by a boat ... another stack followed by my boat getting crushed by quads. Today, I am down 7 buyins. I am trying to not let it influence my game but that is hard right now. Like everyone else, I had experienced the occassional "bad streak" and lose a couple of buyins but this was unreal.

The point of this post is for beginners who start out and then hit a nice upswing and think the poker world is theirs for the taking. Read the posts on BR management (think what an 7-8 buyin downswing would do to your playing career if you are underfunded) and the newbie circle of death.

And by the way, read everything else here you can.