how much $$ did you lose, if any, when starting out?

[Guest Anonymous]

I've been playing online for about 7 months online now at partypoker. I love the game, and have a passion for it, but I've probably lost about $1,500 - $2,ooo. I know part of the reason is I tried to move to high in the beginning, playing the $5oNL rooms instead of the $25NL rooms, or maybe shouldn't even been playing these rooms at all, and just sticking to the $5 sit n go's where I would do pretty well and not risk my whole bankroll. I would usually just deposit $50 at a time. In November, I made a pact with myself that I would just put in $50. a month max., and I did pretty well building up to about $280 playing only $25NL by the end of December before foolishly moving up to $50NL and having a bad run and losing everything. Since then I've put in about $300, and lost it again. I know it must sound like I really suck, but I love the game, and believe I can become a consistent winner. I know part of the problem is wanting to play ALL the time, even when I'm tired and know I shouldn't play. I really believe the money and time I've put in will pay off someday, as I have a passion for the game and will not give up until I become a consistent winner. I guess my question is, the amount that I've lost, is it normal for a beginning player?, and also any suggestions you have would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. HoustonAce

[MDXS 0]

I've never been down more than five bucks, but that's probably an exception. I would imagine most beginning players lose a decent amount when starting out, though the amounts you're losing suggest that you're playing limits above your head. Move down and see if you start winning some money.

[banker2005 0]

I started playing poker online when I was 14 and lost $100, and that busted my bankroll, lol. But then I developed and had a bankroll of about $500 when I was about 15 and haven't went bust or lost a significant amount (comparatively to my bankroll) since then.

[Wilderness 0]

I was down $100 online (2 $50 deposits) and about $75 or so in home games before I began making money on a consistent basis. Online, I only rarely play cash games, preferring instead to play STT's and even then only the cheaper ones. In home games we usually only play .25/.50 with a $20 buy-in, so that's all I basically play live.

[The Future 0]

Play some limit for now, you won't go broke so fast. I've played about 6 months online and have been able to stay out of the red the entire time. Start off low, I started at .10/.25 NL (only buying in $10 when you can buyin up to $25, look for easy double-ups then find a new table)and .25/.50 limit tables on UB until I got comfortable. Recently, I usually play $10-$30 Headsup Sit n' Go's and mop up pretty easily (winning about 7 out of every 10). I'm definitely a much better short-handed player I have found. At a full table of 10, I usually get sucked out since I can't play at high enough limits yet to avoid the fish. I have started to play $2/4 and $3/6 limit (only 6-handed) and am starting to get comfortable there now, much less fishing. That's what I usually play in the B+M casinos, but online you play so many hands that $3/6 plays like $6/12 sometimes as far as hands per hour. Once I can crush these games like I can the HU SNG's, then my next step will be $1/2 NL or something. If I were you, I would just work my way up, starting really low, and make sure you alternate between NL and Limit on your way up. Pay attention to which games you do the best (shorthand vs full ring game, limit vs. NL) and build your bankroll in those games, then dip into the others when you have excess funds. I'll usually cashout and leave like $50 in my account after a good run, then see if I can't make a run in my next level game. Right now, trying to master .50/1 NL as well as the $2/4-$3/6 limit.Good Luck.The Future - Ultimatebet.com

[braminc 0]

my first three months of serious poker (happened to be online as well), i lost about 800-900 dollars. playing mostly 10 dollar singles, .5/1 limit tables, and all to frequently jumping in a game i couldnt afford, or wasnt prepared to play. luckily i won a multi table tourney for 3 grand which pulled me out of the whole and into the positives. ive won two more of those multi's which leaves me doing well, but as far as all other games, ive been breaking slightly over even. anyways, i believe some tough losses early on are inevitable, and as long as you can try and learn something every time you play, you'll be fine in the long run.peace

[Bubba83 0]

I lost my $25 deposit on UltimateBet 3 times at the .01/.02 NL tables before I improved and ran it up to $200 (then progressed up the limits)It really looks like you are playing with half your bankroll or the whole deposit everytime you play, don't do that! If you like No Limit and you want to start out with $50, play the $.01/.02 tables or the .05/.10 until it builds!

[Smasharoo 0]

I didn't keep records when I fist started playing live, but I probably lost thousands.Lean first then play. It's much less expensive.

[Scott31 0]

I busted twice on my 25 dollar deposits. The first time I deposited, I got up to 266 dollars playing the .10/.25 NL tables in about a month. I then got cocky, stopped studying and lost my roll in about a week. I bought back in and busted again. I then took 2 weeks off and haven't busted since, nor do I think I ever completely will. I know that's saying a lot, but I stay very disciplined with my money and limits, which helps prevent getting busted. Play at the lower limits starting off. You'll do better as there's worse competition and you probably won't be on tilt as much considering just losing one small pot will piss you off less. You gotta take that into account. Good luck.

[Deebo 0]

I didn't keep records when I fist started playing live, but I probably lost thousands.Lean first then play. It's much less expensive.

Pretty much everybody I know who learned in B&M casinos lost at least a grand, minimum, if they are being completely honest (myself included). Hopefully it's a quick learning curve for you. I lost more consistently than I won (5/10 is where I started) for a couple months before that flipflopped, and my winning sessions exceeded my losing ones.

[pogiolithis 0]

I went to see Rounders one night with a buddy when it first came out. After the show we went to a casino nearby and I won about $250 at a 2/4 table. Then I lost pretty consistently for the next 2.5 years.This was before the NL craze and really the only tables I played were a 1/2, 2/4 and 4/8. Even though I lost almost every-time I played, there were two benefits (this is all looking back, at the time I just played to play.) The first being I didn't loose that much my $200 buy-in would last me a few hours at least. The second is I got a good understanding for game. I was able to understand position, when to bet, when to dump, when to raise and so on. I'll never forget the day I finally cracked those tables.I've moved to NL now and haven't really played limit since. Most people don't understand that NL is a hard game, much harder than it looks. My suggestion is to play limit for a while. Play limit until you are a consistent winner at the tables or online. Then by the time you get to NL play you will be a much better cardplayer. I remember hearing that Howard Lederer lost at 1/2 limit for two years straight before he turned a profit. The point is you will lose money for a while and that is to be expected until you become a better player. The key is to minimize your losses while still playing and getting the experience. If it's what you want to do it takes time a lot of time. At least it did for me but, I'm also not the smartest kid the world. Put your time in and just like anything you will get better. I have this sweet audio with Jennifer Harmon, Paul Phillips and some others that talk about playing poker and huge loses. It was really helpful for me hearing it. If you would like me to send it to you or if anyone would like it email me at joshiag@rtp.com and I'll send it along.I hope that helps with your situation

[bdluss 0]

Like I have noticed from several people on here, my story is similar. My only deposit from my banking account to an online site was for $25 on UB. I played almost exclusively .01/.02 nl holdem till I built up my bankroll to about $100. After that I played $5 sit n goes along with the .01/.02 and starting playing the mtt. You need to step down from your current playing level to one where you can consistently win. Only then consider moving up. Yea it may take a month or maybe even several but this is the time where you learn to be a winner and dont go through so much $.

[ddudley 0]

My first 4 weeks were quite rough. Although, I never lost more than $300 of my original $500 deposit, I had made $0 through my first 150 hours of play. I mostly blame that on playing too much "play" money games before I started playing for real money. It took me 4 weeks to adjust to playing real games. During that time I played 5/10, then dropped down to 3/6 and then dropped down to 2/4 before I finally wasn't bleeding money anymore. I was able to work my way back up to 3/6 in 2 weeks and then it took me another 16 weeks to get back to 5/10. I've been playing 5/10 for about 14 weeks now and I'm trying to move up to 10/20 in the next 4-5 weeks.

[rivercardbandit 0]

I've made 3 deposits to PartyPoker. The first 2 were $100/each about 1 year ago. I played way over my head and lost quickly. I didn't make the third deposit until this last Thanksgiving and it was for only $50. In the interim, I read Helmuth's book, found a local poker league that has is a free entry and got some "free" experience. I play .50/1 limit and $5 3table NL SNG's. I've built the $50 deposit up about $200 since then and now I'm reading "Small Stakes Limit Hold'em" by Sklansky. In another thread, Smash suggested playing 5000 hands at the lowest limit and then if you're doing well, move up. I hadn't been tracking my hands, but have started doing so now. To me, Smash's advice sounded like good advice, so that's the route I'm going now.The long and the short of it is, I'm about even right now. Phil's book gave me a foundation to start with, and "Small Stakes.." has helped tremendously. river out.

[TheMathProf 0]

I was doing fairly well on the play-money tables, but what exactly does that mean? I didn't really know, so I decided to invest $50 to find out.The first couple days had been atrocious for me. I simply couldn't let go of a hand that I had, even if I had strong reason to believe that I was beat. Even the poker idiot in me who cried, "Fold you, fool!" could not be silenced. "But I have two pair!" I would scream and watch as that flush or straight or set would scoop up the pot.And this is playing at the $0.01/$0.02 limits, so even though I was playing idiotically, I had only lost $5 through this stage. I decided to tighten up a bit, and be more cautious.Then came the drought. First 25... then 50... then 75 hands went by without seeing more than a handful of flops. Absolute garbage on the flop, and fold. This is how I lost the next $2.Finally, the low water point came when at the end of this drought, two pocket queens came up. I raised, he re-reraised, and I re-raised again, before he re-raised all in for $5. I called.He had pocket kings, his hand held up, and now I'm down 25% of my original bankroll.Now I know some of you are thinking... "Man, he's worried about $12, what's wrong with this guy?" and maybe there's some truth to it, but I had aspirations of greatness, or at least doing better than this.Over the previous couple of days, a couple of pretty basic things have helped me to do better: I've probably got some form of ADD (OK, not really, it only feels that way) that prevents me from staying patient for very long, so I've started playing 3 tables at a time. This usually helps me to have action of some type at table every so often. When I've got a piece of the flop in late position, but not the biggest piece, and the action is checked to me, I'll make a small bet just to see where I stand. I've probably picked up a handful of pots that I wouldn't have before just from this small bet. I stopped chasing without pot odds. Even with pot odds, I stopped chasing low-percentage plays with large bets (which admittedly cost me one monster pot).I'm starting to build back, nickel-and-diming the penny tables. I'm not back to even yet, although I'm close (almost doubling up when someone bet into me with the nuts was nice and helfpul towards this).Anyway, can't imagine you all needed to hear the stories of a crush-filled poker newbie, but I couldn't help myself. But I can't imagine getting started without losing a little bit...

[Smasharoo 0]

Now I know some of you are thinking... "Man, he's worried about $12, what's wrong with this guy?" and maybe there's some truth to it, but I had aspirations of greatness, or at least doing better than this.I was more thinking "How do you lose 600BB at .01/.02."I'm pretty sure you could just tape the raise button down and do better than that.Better than starting at 10/20 though!

[2AceSuited 0]

I've been playing for about 3 months on PokerStars and PartyPoker (just started Party 2 weeks ago) and I'm up like $200 overall. But, I got retarded on PS for a while. I was playing way over my head and skill level .. 3/6 and 5/10 games with a $200-300 bankroll. I took time to learn the game without thinking about proper money management.Now I'm playing $.50/1 to build up my bankroll while still learning the game.

[TheMathProf 0]

I think I _did_ have the raise button taped down.

[Smasharoo 0]

As a fun experiment, and since you're playing .01/.02 anyway, try this lesson about position that I stole from someone, but I forget who.Put a peice of tape over your hole cards (really). Now only play hands on the button or one off the button and in an unraised blind. Raise the late position hands every time. If someone bets into you on the flop, raise. If they re-raise or bet into you on the turn, fold. If they don't bet into you on the flop, bet. If they raise fold.It'll go a long way to show youthe importance of position and aggression, even at micro micro limits.You might even show a profit from it which would be pretty amusing.

[jayboogie 0]

one thing you guys can try, I'm not sure if it could work, but cover up the screen on your computer where it says how much you have in money. When you sit down at a table, bring in a comfortable amount, enough where you can play comfortably without having to rebuy again. You see by covering up the screen, your not letting bankroll issues, being short stacked and what not affect your decisions. If your not looking at an actual dollar amount of how much your losing or winning, you will play the same way as if your up or down which is how it should be done. I don't know if this will work for you or not, but when I have a bad session and I feel like I'm close to tilting, this is what I do. I can't tell you how many times subconsciously looking at my stack as affected my decision making in a negative way. I've checked when I should have bet because my stack was low. It might just seem like 1 big bet or whatever, but these little things add up much more than you think.

[Smasharoo 0]

I've done that also, Jay, when I was learning to get over tilting.Did help a lot. I'm not even aware of my stack at this point playing limit. I buy in with 50BB and I'll notice if I end up stuck for a lot, but aside from that I don't ussually pay any attention until I book the day.

[DKE_XP120 0]

I first put in money when I was 18. I put in 25 or something low like that, played for a while with it, then eventually lost it all.... Eventually put 30 into another site and slowly but surely lost it... Read SSHE and Supersystem... Put 50 back in, currently up to about $600 on it, started at .10/.20 table, then moved to .25/.50, now im holding strong at the .50/1, and playing some Multi-Table-Tournies too

[checkers777 0]

I think I probably lost about $3,000 when I first started playing, believe it or not. I had no clue how to play but I loved the game so much. I have to believe I've figured the game out now though, since I play for a living

[serge 904]

My story began in the same poker rooms as Daniel talks about in Toronto back in the early 90s....Holdem was a new game introduced in Toronto and we had more action than Las Vegas. On any given night around the city there would be upwards of 50 tables of $5-10 and $10-20 games....I tried the game just like anyone else and I was down about $600 playing the 5-10 games until me and two friends ordered Sklansky's Holdem for Advanced Players....I never looked back after that..Playing a simple tight agressive game against players that were crazy I was up over $30000 the first year of holdem in Toronto....Mostly in $10-$20Unlike today poker was not mainstream back then and there wasnt too much info out there...Today s players have so much info available to them..However , poker isnt knowledge alone...you need patience, control and instincts.....So I was lucky I didnt lose a huge bankroll until I became a consistent winner...I played poker "professionally" you can say for about 4 years while going to school and now consider myself a winning recreational player that plays mostly online and my few trips to Vegas and California every year....It seems like everyone who posts on RGP and other forums seem to be a winning player...Dont believe them...Less than 10% of players are winners over the long term, the rest are kidding themselves...I am proud to say i have kept records for all my sessions and know exactly how much i have won in poker in my "career"Serge

[Shaffer 0]

I have actually never been in the red, net, playing poker. I won my first $10 home game tourney and haven't looked back since. I only started about a year ago, and only started playing online for real money about 6 months ago. I've actually lost about $100 online net, so far (though I just won a $20+2 sit-n-go, woohoo!), but I've got a weekly home game that's usually good for a nice little profit ($20 NL tourney with 10-15 players), where I'm up over $250. I know I'm still just getting started, but I feel like I'm getting better.The key for me, I think, was reading up on strategy, buying a couple of books, and playing online for fake money. Now, playing for fake money is not exactly a good approximation of real poker - in fact, it's down right ridiculous at times (I was quickly able to build my initial fake $1000 into a fake ~$400,000, but have as yet been unable to build my $100 initial online bankroll into ~$40k), but it will teach you the math of the game, give you a real-life feel for pot odds, and will definitely show you the benefits of a tight-aggressive style against loose-maniacs and loose-passive players. It's a good way to build up a comfort for playing hands, and give you at least a little experience upon which to build from. It was also very good for showing me the dynamics of a typical sit-n-go tourney online.The funny thing now is that after I take a rough beat in a real money tournament, I let off steam by joining up in a fake money one and playing like an absolute maniac --- and more often than not, I finish in the money. The key is to wait until the 4th or 5th hand to pee away all your chips in a massive bluff. Then it actually has a chance of working.Nevertheless, I *am* down online. I think my problem there is poor decisions on what tournaments to join - too many $5+1 multi-tables, not enough $20+2 sit-n-go's. That, and too many distractions. When I sit down at a sit-n-go and the entirety of my attention is on the game, I do very well. If I try to play multiple tables at the same time, or try to surf the net, or watch TV, while I play, I lose.