When you first fall for the allure of online poker it can be so engaging that it pushes all other aspects of life to one side. Do you really need that degree when you could grind your way to $100k+ per year? Could you be the next Durrrr or Phil Ivey? Could you escape the horror of your office job for an easy life of playing poker a few hours a day?
It all seems possible, though very few people make it. There are a ton of reasons for this… this article is not the right place to discuss losing players who thought they were winners due to running good or the game evolving and leaving you behind… I wanted to take this one from the perspective of the winning players and look at an ugly fact – most who go full time will not last the first year… even if they are big winners.
The reason is that professional grinding is not what people thought it was. Sure, the money will make up for the isolation in some ways, but after months of clicking on your own this is rarely the case. Sure, playing the game you love for money will make up for this? Well, here is the crux, when you go pro poker is no longer the game you love, it is a job.
This is the key reason why people do not last.
They start their pro career loving poker, and within 6 months they HATE it. I have personally known people give up on $100k / year incomes and take jobs at less than half of this because they just could not stand it any longer.
This is not the minority, this is most people… I’ll make an educated guess here that only 20% of those who drop out to turn pro last the first year and more than half that do will drop out in their second…
Of course, those pro players all started somewhere, the big names who you see taking down millions at major televised events are ordinary people who learned the game good, got grinding, got a break and took things to the next level.
This post is not designed to shatter any ones dreams…. I simply wanted to add a small layer of real-life to those $$ per hour ‘going pro’ calculations. If you want to keep your recreational game profitable, that is another thing entirely… check out the Latest Poker Promotions over at Killer Holdem for more!
GL at the tables.
2012-02-20
Who Do You Blame When You Lose Money Playing Poker?
One of the key attributes which optimistic and positive people share is that they take credit for successes and attribute failures to external events. Sure, we have to take some personal responsibility – but in general terms not internalizing your failures is a good life strategy.
It is not necessarily a good strategy in poker though!
Depending on what stage of development a player is at, there are various external factors which take the blame for losing money. The cold hard reality is that given a skill edge and sufficient bankroll + time, the only person to blame for losses is yourself!
Here is a list of 5 things people blame for their losses:
1 – The Donks: if I had a buck for every time I heard that it is impossible to beat ‘so many donks’ or some variation of this. If you think this then stop it, and fast. Poker is not about some mythical ‘correct’ play, it is about adjusting your strategy to take advantage of opponents mistakes… and lets face it the people you label donks make more mistakes than anyone else!
2 – The Poker Sites RNG: People who blame their losses on poker being ‘rigged’ are borderline insane in my opinion. Certified random number generators and literally billions of hand histories independently analyzed found nothing wrong at any of the major sites… Yet trying to convince a losing player of this is next to impossible. Get over it please!
3 – Bad Luck: Another one I wish I had a dollar for… ‘I’m a good player, just unlucky’. Yeah, I know you really genuinely believe this with all of your heart… it is not true though, not at all. Every player gets the same cards and situations over the long term… sure luck plays a role in the short-term, if you have a significant volume and still blame luck then meh, your crazy!
4 – Cheats / Colluders: Sometimes you will come across cheats, not common though. If this does happen it is short-term and usually incompetent ‘dorm-teams’ at the lowest stakes… Not a viable one over time.
5 – Tools / Bots: Could be something in this… I mean people are using poker tools against you, and using them now. If you are trying to take poker seriously and not using tracking software or HUDs then you have a big disadvantage. You can get some awesome poker tools for a small investment – so there is no excuse why you should lose over the long term to players with these.
The message in this post is to stop spewing out blame for your losses to those external factors – take some responsibility and get working on your game… what works in life generally is not actually all that useful in poker.
GL at the tables!
It is not necessarily a good strategy in poker though!
Depending on what stage of development a player is at, there are various external factors which take the blame for losing money. The cold hard reality is that given a skill edge and sufficient bankroll + time, the only person to blame for losses is yourself!
Here is a list of 5 things people blame for their losses:
1 – The Donks: if I had a buck for every time I heard that it is impossible to beat ‘so many donks’ or some variation of this. If you think this then stop it, and fast. Poker is not about some mythical ‘correct’ play, it is about adjusting your strategy to take advantage of opponents mistakes… and lets face it the people you label donks make more mistakes than anyone else!
2 – The Poker Sites RNG: People who blame their losses on poker being ‘rigged’ are borderline insane in my opinion. Certified random number generators and literally billions of hand histories independently analyzed found nothing wrong at any of the major sites… Yet trying to convince a losing player of this is next to impossible. Get over it please!
3 – Bad Luck: Another one I wish I had a dollar for… ‘I’m a good player, just unlucky’. Yeah, I know you really genuinely believe this with all of your heart… it is not true though, not at all. Every player gets the same cards and situations over the long term… sure luck plays a role in the short-term, if you have a significant volume and still blame luck then meh, your crazy!
4 – Cheats / Colluders: Sometimes you will come across cheats, not common though. If this does happen it is short-term and usually incompetent ‘dorm-teams’ at the lowest stakes… Not a viable one over time.
5 – Tools / Bots: Could be something in this… I mean people are using poker tools against you, and using them now. If you are trying to take poker seriously and not using tracking software or HUDs then you have a big disadvantage. You can get some awesome poker tools for a small investment – so there is no excuse why you should lose over the long term to players with these.
The message in this post is to stop spewing out blame for your losses to those external factors – take some responsibility and get working on your game… what works in life generally is not actually all that useful in poker.
GL at the tables!
2012-02-13
It Is Only A Matter Of Time Before We Can ‘Rush’ Again
Pretty sure I have gone on about this one before – so sorry about that! I’m just missing that Rush Poker so badly… and the ‘noise’ about Full Tilt Poker coming back is getting more constant now.
PLO Rush Poker was my ‘relaxation’, it might sound odd – but opening up a couple of sessions of this one and pounding away on that bet pot button required so much focus, that whatever else was on my mind was temporarily gone.
There have been rumors that Pokerstars were going to come out with something similar. Last time these got everyone buzzing it turned out that they were releasing a new advert instead… big disappointment.
You can always try Terminal Poker, they have ‘rush’ which works either online or on mobiles… its pretty good, though at the moment the player pools are small. Shame, since this would be a great game if they could get a little in the way of momentum going. You can read a review of Terminal Poker over at SNG Planet here.
Anyway, just a short post, I really just wanted to share my anticipation that Rush would return (along with FullTilt!) soon…
Gl at the tables!
PLO Rush Poker was my ‘relaxation’, it might sound odd – but opening up a couple of sessions of this one and pounding away on that bet pot button required so much focus, that whatever else was on my mind was temporarily gone.
There have been rumors that Pokerstars were going to come out with something similar. Last time these got everyone buzzing it turned out that they were releasing a new advert instead… big disappointment.
You can always try Terminal Poker, they have ‘rush’ which works either online or on mobiles… its pretty good, though at the moment the player pools are small. Shame, since this would be a great game if they could get a little in the way of momentum going. You can read a review of Terminal Poker over at SNG Planet here.
Anyway, just a short post, I really just wanted to share my anticipation that Rush would return (along with FullTilt!) soon…
Gl at the tables!
2012-02-07
Super Mega Hyper Tilt Reducing Turbo Chaos – Who Has The Best Ones?
Poker can tilt the best of us at some point or another. Sure, you might be experienced enough to handle those 80 / 20’s with a slightly resigned shrug… but when they happen for the 5th time in an evening, busting you 12th in that big tournament when you really should have been chip lead entering the final table… well, you know what you mean.
For me, profitable Texas Holdem needs the occasional release valve, something you can have some fun with for not much money. I tried various things though the years… sitting in the 1c / 2c limit games, capping every street and then folding for the last bet on the river was fun (and for the record 90% of the players were not capable of noticing and / or adjusting to beat this massively exploitable strategy).
So, what about the Sit N Go Tournaments – the hyper all in or fold crazy ones which are a good 90% chance (I know, I know this does not stop an army of Eastern Europeans grinding them 12 hours a day for enough cash to buy vodka). Most of the sites now have them, 2 minute blinds, push-fold only, blinds big enough to force you all in every hand – that kind of thing!
Here are a couple of the best, starting with one for US readers.
#1 – Carbon Poker Hyper Turbos
Carbon, the biggest site on the Merge Network, now have peaks approaching 10k players – which means a huge improvement in their tournament and SNG offerings (cash games were already pretty strong!). They have Super Turbo SNGs (1000 chip starting stacks, starting at 25 / 50 blinds and 3 minute levels) and also the frantic all-in or fold games… you either play for all your chips or you fold your hand… no half way! Fees are smaller for both games, and they do get some nice traffic, particularly in the weekday evenings.
You can claim a free $11 SNG token + double-sized 200% welcome bonus at Carbon poker, using the coupon code PBKLUB – check out the leading (and very cool!) US friendly poker site for yourself now!!
#2 – Non-US Pick – Mad Tilt All-In At RedKings Poker
Red Kings Poker are the best site on the OnGame Network, a group whose tables are kept very soft by the large number of sports-betting brands who are members. Cool software and a friendly feel combine with generous bonuses at RedKings… my personal rec is to check out the tournament schedule there, you will find lots of smaller buy-in guaranteed events with medium-size fields!
Sit N Goes come in a variety of sizes including the great fun ‘Mad-Tilt All-In Games’ which come in single and multi-table format… starting stacks are just 60 chips – with blinds at 10 / 20 and 3 minute levels… not too much in the way of skill needed to enjoy these – great for stress or tilt relief though!
You can choose from 6 BIG welcome bonuses at Red Kings Poker, and will receive an additional $300 bonus (requires clearing) the first time you get dealt the 2 red kings in a cash game. Check out the awesome RedKings Poker now!
GL!
For me, profitable Texas Holdem needs the occasional release valve, something you can have some fun with for not much money. I tried various things though the years… sitting in the 1c / 2c limit games, capping every street and then folding for the last bet on the river was fun (and for the record 90% of the players were not capable of noticing and / or adjusting to beat this massively exploitable strategy).
So, what about the Sit N Go Tournaments – the hyper all in or fold crazy ones which are a good 90% chance (I know, I know this does not stop an army of Eastern Europeans grinding them 12 hours a day for enough cash to buy vodka). Most of the sites now have them, 2 minute blinds, push-fold only, blinds big enough to force you all in every hand – that kind of thing!
Here are a couple of the best, starting with one for US readers.
#1 – Carbon Poker Hyper Turbos
Carbon, the biggest site on the Merge Network, now have peaks approaching 10k players – which means a huge improvement in their tournament and SNG offerings (cash games were already pretty strong!). They have Super Turbo SNGs (1000 chip starting stacks, starting at 25 / 50 blinds and 3 minute levels) and also the frantic all-in or fold games… you either play for all your chips or you fold your hand… no half way! Fees are smaller for both games, and they do get some nice traffic, particularly in the weekday evenings.
You can claim a free $11 SNG token + double-sized 200% welcome bonus at Carbon poker, using the coupon code PBKLUB – check out the leading (and very cool!) US friendly poker site for yourself now!!
#2 – Non-US Pick – Mad Tilt All-In At RedKings Poker
Red Kings Poker are the best site on the OnGame Network, a group whose tables are kept very soft by the large number of sports-betting brands who are members. Cool software and a friendly feel combine with generous bonuses at RedKings… my personal rec is to check out the tournament schedule there, you will find lots of smaller buy-in guaranteed events with medium-size fields!
Sit N Goes come in a variety of sizes including the great fun ‘Mad-Tilt All-In Games’ which come in single and multi-table format… starting stacks are just 60 chips – with blinds at 10 / 20 and 3 minute levels… not too much in the way of skill needed to enjoy these – great for stress or tilt relief though!
You can choose from 6 BIG welcome bonuses at Red Kings Poker, and will receive an additional $300 bonus (requires clearing) the first time you get dealt the 2 red kings in a cash game. Check out the awesome RedKings Poker now!
GL!
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