Anosmic: Year One

[Anosmic]

It's pretty much a year since I made the switch from play-money to actual money poker; so I thought it was a good chance to take stock, see where I am and share some highlights of my poker career so far.

I was very fortunate to have found FTR before I ever deposited a cent to a poker site.

If you want the cliff notes I've played 111k hands this last year (at ring, all forms of Hold 'Em) according to PokerTracker... although there are a number of hands from incompatible sites like JetSetPoker.

Game    Hands    Profit
FR-NL   39k      +$652
SH-NL   46k      -$1830
FR-LHE  15k      -$200
SH-LHE   9k      -$1073

Tournies 53      +$77

So I've lost $2400 or so at poker in the last year.
This is offset by the fact that I've earned $4157 in bonus and $872 in Rakeback for a total of +$2605.
I've cashed out some, and some must have got lost on non-PT sites I suppose.


That's where I am, how'd I get here?

I started with play money games, mostly on Pacific Poker, and mostly SNGs.
You can learn a lot from play money games, you just have to be careful not to learn the wrong things (like going all-in first hand with an two cards may be a viable play money strategy, tends not to work long-term with real dosh).

I learned to be careful what I played pre-flop

About the time I joined FTR I began to play on Everest Poker, who have a really cool system where they have single-table freerolls. Basically you pay nothing to enter a Limit Hold'Em SNG, and the winner receives $0.05. (2nd $0.03, 3rd $0.02).

Playing those games I worked up a BR of $0.75 which I had read on FTR was a minimum bankroll for playing SNGs. I took it and went off to their micro-stakes NL SNGs ($0.04+$0.01).

I learned about good bankroll management

I sat down at my first SNG on the 22nd February 2006 and paid $0.05 to do so.
I played 85 of those SNGs over the following month, with an ROI of just 16%, but it was my first try at poker where I'd paid to play.

I learned that patience and hard work are valuable in poker

In March I got a $50 stake from PartyStakers.Com and made the switch to Full-Ring No Limit.

I had read a fair bit; I was greatly influenced by the starting hands suggested by Howard Lederer in his videos and I'd also read AOK's 19 hands and my style wasn't so different (just perhaps a little more positionally aware).

Using that information I was able to kill $5NL. I ran at 28bb/100 over 12k hands. My BR grew and grew and I was still off and playing $10NL.
And as many others before have found: it's different.

Don't get me wrong $10NL is no great challenge. But you're a beginner, your nervous at higher stakes and suddenly it's all going wrong.

But eventually I got better and although I was just about break-even I moved up to $25NL.
Things went okay on Paradise poker, had mixed experiences elsewhere.

In July last year I had a go at playing 10k hands in a month (at $20NL and $25NL) there was even a thread I made.
It was a disaster to be honest.

But again, I kept at it and got better. The thing that enabled me to keep going was the bonus money. There is nothing like it for growing the BR or making up for those buy-ins you lose while learning.

I learned that moving up can hurt, and to be more patient

I was struggling to get my confidence back at $25NL when Biondino told me about Interpoker and the rakeback and bonus deals there.
That in itself changed the way I play poker.

Thanks to Interpoker's bizzaro bonus rules I was forced to switch to Limit Hold 'Em in order
to keep clearing it. I had mixed results, and overall I lost a little, made more back in bonus (story of my poker life).

I learned that bonuses and rakeback are hugely helpful for a beginner, who's trying to improve

I eventually tried short-handed limit, and boy is that tough. But my experience of limit had taught me things that I transfered back to No Limit, which is why I think playing different styles of poker can be a great help for developing players.

I learned about position, and using it for things like free cards

When I came back to No-Limit I started at $50NL and suddenly I was a winning player again. I've played 20k hands at $50NL and am up $1k (so 5bb/100).

I learned about bet-sizing, 3-betting, playing with limited reads

My attempts to move up have been terrible, (I've lost $2k at $100NL) and right now I'm back at $50NL trying to get the confidence and roll together for another shot.
I've had these sucky periods before, ok so now rather than losing $255 over 10k hands of $25NL I'm losing $2k over 16k hands. But I think the principal is the same.

If I keep working at my poker, trying to improve, then eventually those negatives will become positives.

I learned what a 15-buy-in downswing feels like and that I can handle it

So I'm a poker player. I'm a losing poker player. But I'm not busted because I've always managed my roll.
I'm not a great player, I've had my share of luck (as I write this I'm currently leading the FTR Gauntlet V because of it ), I've had my share of sucky, soul-destroying, month-long suckouts.

I've learned a lot, sometimes I've had to re-learn it after a while. I know things now that are levels of thinking above what I even could imagine a year ago.
I remember thinking that $25NL was as high as I'd ever want to go. I'm now wondering what $400NL will be like.

A year ago a $400 bankroll seemed a huge thing, since then I've won $400 pots.

I'm learning to control the pot-size

Come back in a year and see where I am.
And if you think you'll never get anywhere in poker... give it a year.

[topsoyale]

Greta post.
I too have shared a few of your points.

Has been good to follow your operation recently. Seems like you have become a very solid player as of late and always wanting to learn more about your own game too.

I expect a post in a years time about cracking $15000. Certainly could be possible.

Good luck sir.

[Halv]

Excellent post! Loved the "story + what I learned" format. And for the record I would consider myself a winning player even if I only made money from rb/bonuses. You've walked away with more than you put in. Also it sounds like you've had fun doing it, which is what it's all about. Making money is fun!

[donkbee]

This is a great post

[biondino]

Holy moly, that's quite a post! Though am I to infer I am either directly or indirectly responsible for you losing thousands of dollars?

It's astonishing to me that you're a losing player, but you're right, it's a wonderful demonstration of how BR management can make a world of difference. I wager you, ooh, a bottle of fine whisky, that you'll be playing $200NL as your game in 6 months time

[XTR1000]

nh sir

[jyms]

I've been there. Watching my bankroll grow on crypto and realizing " I'm actually losing". I was down over $1200 myself when my bankroll doubled in 3 months. GL, and get it right. The whole 'BR of 20 buy ins and move up" is flawed sometimes. Pick a stake, say $50NL and beat it for 30K hands. For you that should be 6 months.

[litetruck]

Excellent post sir, well played.

[Miffed22001]

nice sincerity. Cool post.

[jackvance]

Wow, that much in bonusses and rakeback, insane. Really makes me feel I've been missing out on so much, I've never gotten a dime in either. I just checked, and the past few days I made $500 and had $193 in rake, so with a 33% RB deal that woulda been an extra $64. Problem is then I'd have to go to bet365 or whatever the site is called that gives RB on prima and I'd have to use neteller.. I don't know if I trust that too much with everything that is going on..