i went bust for the first time, almost

[CobaltBlue 662]

What a coinkidink. I've lost a third of my bankroll this month also. It's looks like I may have my first losing month since I started playing last October. It's not quite on the scale of what you guys are talking about, but I've had to revisit .05/.10 and .10/.25 NL...and I haven't had to do that in many many months.

[DLizzle 0]

being on a bad downswing myself, I'm wondering when it turns from being in a rut to just sucking at poker. When I'm winning I think I'm an amazing poker player but when I'm losing I think I'm terrible. Stupid online makes it worse. I think online poker is a lot more stressful than live.

[BeanGW 0]

Aseem: I keep my poker business plan taped to one side of my monitor. To the other side I have the hand history of an NL hand I played a couple months ago in which I lost half my bankroll. Went all in with a set, busted by an overset. Meh, that's poker, and happens all the time. But when you play above your limits, it's downright miserable, and inexcusable.So, now, anytime I get tempted to move up before it's time, I look at that hand history and am reminded that even one mistake can destroy months of hard work.Basically echoing the sentiment of others. All you can do is learn from your mistakes. I wish you the best.

[Egarim 0]

First, I'd like to say that I hope u get back on ur feet aseem. Now, I'm not intending to question ur game or anything like that, nor am I attacking u. I'm simply going to speak from experience. I played 2/4 and 3/6 for a short time. At this point i was just breaking into cash games. Up to this point I built a huge bankroll playing tourneys. 2/4 and 3/6 didn't have much affect on my bankroll, but I kept getting sucked out and wasn't making much money if any. So, I moved up to 5/10. Initially I did well, but most likely i just caught cards. I thought I could beat the 5/10 and didn't want to waste my time at 3/6 (5/10 still doesn't impact my br that much). Then I hit a slump and couldn't win. I lost almost 1k before I took a break and decided to re-evaluate my game. Something wasn't right. Well, I figured it out and went back to the game. I broke even for a little bit then broke through. Now, I'm consistently beating it. I'm staying at 5/10 tho because I still have some holes in my game and I'm trying to fix my once every week or 2 "tilt" which keeps setting me back and lowering my hrly rate.Maybe, you need to look at ur game. It seems to me that you're not ready to beat the 5/10 game. Also, after your post contesting the fundamental theorems... yikes... You seriously should take a look at ur game. Some of your questions were problems that I learned being a very novice lhe player.

[JistTheFist 0]

Aseem..... I know kind of how you feel....You know, when I started playing poker online..... I was a real noob as far as professional playing went.... I knew poker, I had been playing poker for a long time.....but I had never read a book about Bankroll Management....I didn't really know what limits I should be playing at, how much I should have to support myself....so I deposited $50 into True Poker..... after a while I had a really weird system.....I would have $200 in my account every night..... I would star out by playing a couple sit and gos..... ussually $10+1.... at the same time I would be playing in an MTT..... These were capped off at 100 players at true poker.... so they went fairly quickly and it wasn't an impossible field to overcome......For each SNG I won it was $50 into the account if I placed in an MTT it was ussually for like $150-$400....ok now here is where I got really stupid.... I would sit at any table where I had the minimum buy-in( half the max)...... so I would sit at a 15/30 game with $150 of the $500 in my account.....at the same time I'd be sitting at a $25 NL table..... yeah... I know, not smart. if I ever went broke on the Limit I would sit out of the NL and move my money back over to the 15/30so anyway guess what? Noob Luck I guess.... or maybe it was the poker site rigged in my favor to keep me coming back.....but for whatever the reason I started out my first month on a MASSIVE upswing(at the time I didn't know it was called an upswing, I didn't really know all that much about variance.... I just blindly thought that everyone else on these poker sites were just that stupid......... but this is what I did....I would play each night until my Roll was up to $1000-1200 or so.... and then I would cash out for the night and the next night.... I would start over with $200 in the account again.... and I would start the process over again.... play in a a few SNGS till I won a couple hundred from them (pretty easy in the 10+1 and the 20+2's) and then play in ring games way over my head but I was getting so lucky..... apparantly I was hitting every draw, no one was outdrawwing me, and I was getting tons of JUICY action....so in less than 1 month I mad $5000....FIVE THOUSAND EFFING DOLLARS!..... now I am a 19 year old kid..... that is a lot of money to me. it was awesome.....now this situation occurred at a time when I was really strapped for cash. so I eventually took it all out to pay for school, car, and pay back some money that a lot of friends loaned me, I had to pay back.....so when I finally was financially stable enough to start playing again I decided to look into it more.... look into the strategy of it, learn how to be a better player, learn how to be smart..... that's when I started becoming a regular of the forum....this is back when WRTO was here, Jayweb posted more often, You and faketree, and Smash was doing his Pstars experiment..... that is where I first learned about the 300XX BB rule, and I tried to argue with it hahahahha.....I told them you didn't need that much, that all I did was start with a few hundred each night and I was making poker look like reading a playboy......well eventually I foudn out they were right.... I learned about variance and now I'm solely playing SNG's right now.... my Return on money invested is disgusting... I don't know how... but SNG's are my thing..... Anyways guys.... sorry about the novel of a post, Aseem... I think you are the first member of this forum that I really really had respect for.... not only because of your great understanding of the game, buit also because you've always carried yourself with politeness and respect....I know things will swing your way again buddy.... but I know how hard it can be, trust me EVERY SINGLE DAY I sit there patiently in an SNG and I think of how easy it would be to go to the 20/40 game again with all my money and see what kind of action I could get.... and every once in a while I swing that way again..... and get sucked out once and all of a sudden months of hard work are in another guys stack.

[bdams19 0]

I am someone who practices br management to the fullest, right now I'm 4 tabling 50 NL on stars with a br over 4k (after I clear my bonus I'll be back to party 100 or 200 nl). My friends play well over their heads every day, and I constantly hear about how they're up 500 this session, up 300 this session, with a bankroll 1/3 as big as mine playing a game much larger. I wouldn't mind as much if I knew they could beat it constantly, which I don't think they can. I always hear the inevitable bad beat story of how they went broke and it pains me everytime despite my warnings. It is a grind. For many of us, myself included, it gets downright boring at times. You'll move up when you're ready, you're not going to be stuck at the same limits forever if you're playing well and making good decisions. You have what it takes to succeed in poker, it's only a matter of time before you're playing bigger games.

[SabaAba 0]

Sorry guys didn't read all the posts, but wanted to mention this in case no one mentioned it yet.I don't think the biggest problem moving up limits and playing outside your bankroll is that you could lose most of your bankroll. Yes that is bad, but the worst part is if you play at the higher level, coming back down and playing for much smaller pots seems irrelevant and then people start wanting to "gamble" and don't play their A game. I did that for a while, and luckily I have found my comfort zone. But it took me a while to realize that winning a $100 pot is fine and that I don't need to win $300+ pots to make it exciting. So just remember, when going up in limits the way back down is the hardest thing to do. And if you lose 35% of your roll, you'll have to go down, maybe even a few limits lower, and that is not fun.Good Luck

[dimseven 0]

That sucks Aseem.I (along with I'm sure others) think You're one of the most useful posters on this entire forum. GL.

[DCWildcat 0]

aseem,1) Play hi/lo2) Male prostitution grows the bankroll quickly

[eYank 0]

that sucks, well good luck getting back on track

[KDawgCometh 2]

aseem,1) Play hi/lo2) Male prostitution grows the bankroll quickly

he did lose most of it playing O8, and being a gigolo is very good work, I recomend it :-)

[DCWildcat 0]

Oh, and for the love of christ, don't fold another hand getting 19 to 1 on the river. I'm never going to forgive you for that.

[TS Clark 0]

Aseem:You seem like a great guy and a very solid player. Clearly, though, you're mortal and do the Dance of Dumbness on occasion with the rest of us. Don't worry, though. Your emotional control problems you've discussed will probably simmer down with more age. The years just beat you into submission and you don't feel so frisky anymore. :)And take solace in this -- I read a lot about the people aspect of poker (the lives of gamblers fascinate me for some reason -- so different from "normal" folks) and I have yet to read of any serious player who hasn't gone bust at least once in their development.You're on the road the greatness, my friend.

[Guest]

Aseem,You are far and away one of the best, most insightful posters on this forum. Like someone prior said though, you are human. You made a mistake many of us have made in the past. You will bounce back.I would wish you luck, but I honestly dont think you'll need it sir.......

[steve7stud 0]

This happens to everyone. Except Smash, who has never lost at poker in his life. I joke about Smash but it seems like the guy has pretty good money management skills.Anyway, it's time for a reality check. You're 18 and you probably haven't been playing the game as long as some of your opponents had. Maybe you got unlucky, maybe you didn't, it doesn't really matter. You're a smart guy, but now we've got to talk about game selection. Which has nothing to do with the limits you play. Sometimes a game might "appear" to be really juicy, but it's actually a loose aggressive game. That can kill your BR quick. I've been doing some experimenting online, and I have a "disant" feel for it now. I personally would reccomend playing one game where you feel that you have the biggest edge to build up your BR. If you have any specific questions, feel free to pm me. I will do my best to help in any way that I can. Good Luck.

[troutsmart 0]

Sorry guys didn't read all the posts, but wanted to mention this in case no one mentioned it yet.I don't think the biggest problem moving up limits and playing outside your bankroll is that you could lose most of your bankroll. Yes that is bad, but the worst part is if you play at the higher level, coming back down and playing for much smaller pots seems irrelevant and then people start wanting to "gamble" and don't play their A game. I did that for a while, and luckily I have found my comfort zone. But it took me a while to realize that winning a $100 pot is fine and that I don't need to win $300+ pots to make it exciting.  So just remember, when going up in limits the way back down is the hardest thing to do. And if you lose 35% of your roll, you'll have to go down, maybe even a few limits lower, and that is not fun.Good Luck

I agree that this is the most damaging side-effect of playing beyond what your bankroll allows. As for Akishore, I wish you the best man. I always enjoy reading what you have to share and am confident you'll be back on top soon.

[mk 11]

I think there are a number of us on this forum who would be willing to stake you or give you a loan.But Gamblin' Leaf made a good point. He and I are both traders and it is VERY common in our business for people to have post-its on their monitors with various credos. We bond guys have a rule about not selling futures contracts. It's a painful lesson to learn, but there are about 4 guys sitting around me as I'm typing this that have post-its on their screens that say "DON"T SELL CONTRACTS". It's helpful.

[GamblinLeaf 0]

But Gamblin' Leaf made a good point. He and I are both traders and it is VERY common in our business for people to have post-its on their monitors with various credos.

Heh ... I once had so many post-its and little pieces of paper taped to my monitors that I couldn't see my quotes!Seriously though, good point. Poker isn't hard mathematically, and it isn't always that hard strategically. It's so damn hard because it's human nature to make mistakes. We each need to do whatever we gotta do to get that part under control, so the rest of the game can take care of itself.

[nosoul 0]

Like other people have said, we've all been there. I was playing on Paradise, had about $1,000 in my account, and was beating the $50 NLHE ring game for about $15/hr. So, I figured I'd try the $200 NL game.The first time I played, I was up about $30 when I flopped the nut straight. On the turn, I was set all-in by a player with nothing but a flush draw. I called, since I had the nuts at the time, and was happy to see they had nothing but a draw with one card to come. Of course, they hit the flush. $200. Gone.The next day, I tried again. I had pocket kings. The flop came an 8 high rainbow. I bet the pot and a loose player raised me all-in. I called and he turned up A-K. There was no flush draw and he wasn't suited, anyway. I thought, cool, got all my money in as a 5.5:1 favorite. And, of course, an ace hit the river. $200. Gone.So, in 2 days, after less than 2 hours of play, I lost 2/5 of my bankroll after getting all my money in as at least a 4:1 favorite. I usually played the .5/1 games and some of the 1/2 games, so $400 was significant. It bugged me pretty bad and I took several months off from playing. I've started up again recently and have almost made back the $400. It just sucks to get set back that far in such a short period of time. It's just part of the game, though. Eventually, you'll hit a good run on the higher limits and be off and running. Just have to keep trying.

[Mattnxtc 0]

Sometimes a game might "appear" to be really juicy, but it's actually a loose aggressive game. That can kill your BR quick.

has been my problem everytime i jump on any party skin....i pick a "juicy" table only to run into 2 maniacs on a hotstreak that cant miss with any 2 cards they play. I am still tryin to work on my hand requirements to figure out a better method of picking a table..I have pt but dont know how to data mine very well

[No_Neck 0]

gamblin leaf and MK what do you do for work?play online?

[mk 11]

gamblin leaf and MK what do you do for work? play online?I trade US Treasuries and the corresponding futures contracts. Gamblin Leaf trades stocks mostly, I think.

[No_Neck 0]

how do you stumble on that job?

[mk 11]

how do you stumble on that job?

um, by being fucking sweet.

[TheIceman05 0]

how do you stumble on that job?

um, by being censored sweet.

Threw up a little in my mouth, there...MK = fucking sweetIce