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My last post was all about looking for profitable situations to take a shot at a higher limit. If that post was a good “how to” for taking a shot this one should be titled “don’t try this at home”. As I stated last time I had no intentions of continuing the $200PL heads up games. I had taken my shot and was done with it.

However, I received some requests for a heads up video. I sat at a $50NL table for a while, but couldn’t get a video rolling as nobody would stay for more than a few minutes. Wanting to get a video up before I left MI I decided to jump to the $200PL HU tables for a bit, because I knew I could get a video in there. I played a guy there for about half an hour and we were even when he left. Someone else joined the table while I was checking to see how the video turned out (it ended up with no sound…so no video for another day or so), and I continued playing him while I waited.

This player was super hyper aggressive. Every pot was raised, close to 50% of the pots were reraised, and all his bets were pot sized. He wasn’t your average maniac, and actually a pretty good player. His style was one that I usually destroy, even if it is a bit of a roller coaster. I thought I was in for a pretty big pay day when I broke him in the first few minutes.

This is the point where taking a shot can go very very wrong. While I knew I had an edge vs. him he was a decent player and had an incredibly high variance style. That is exactly the type of situation you want to avoid when taking a shot. You want to be playing against soft money not someone who, even though you have an advantage, can cause huge swings in your bankroll.

It was a very odd match because almost every pot we played was huge. He would usually reraise me and fire out a pot bet on the flop. That meant pretty much every pot I played past the flop was $100+. I should have left after I broke him. I had just reached the bankroll to move up to $100NL and had no reason to take a risk. I guess I got greedy and everything went down hill from there. I have never had a session where everything went so bad all at the same time. We played for an about 750 hands, and I don’t think I made a single set the entire session. When I would flop a good hand the turn card would always kill my action. On many occasions I called a huge turn bet (pretty much an all in) with middle or bottom pair only to have his higher card hit on the river.

Before I knew it I was down 3 buy ins. I had to decide whether to continue in a game that I knew I had an edge in, or get out of the high variance game and take my loss. The fact that I was on such a bad streak blinded me from the correct move of getting out then. I started to mount a come back when I was dealt KJ. The pot was reraised (like almost all of them were) and the flop came JQJ. We got our money in and he showed AJ. This situation occurred a few more times when my come back was stopped by AA vs. KK, and him spiking a FH on my nut flush.

While I have never been in the cooler quite as much, I still have to give him some credit. He was a pretty good player and took advantage of his insane rush. I will try to get the HH log; it was really the most bizarre poker session of my life. I went broke for the last time when my pair and flush draw failed to improve vs. his AA. I ended down $1450 when the dust settled.

I felt like I played really well, but the point of this whole post is I never should have been in the situation in the first place. There is a time and a place for taking shots, and this was definitely not one of them. Hopefully these two posts give you a good perspective on the topic.

I wasn’t upset over the big loss. It’s happened before and will probably happen again. If you have never experienced something like this before the first time will shake your poker world. You will find yourself questioning your poker skill, asking why you are even playing. There is a lot to learn from incidents like this. You have to realize its part of the game, and correct any errors that led to it, whether it is tilt or bad game selection. Hopefully my incident will prepare you for your first poker disaster. It will come at some point, so be prepared to soften the blow. I'll post more about how this incident affects the project in my December review.

Bankroll: $2454
Hands Played this month: 25025
Bonus/rakeback this month: $520

Taking Shots

I hope everyone had a great Christmas, I certainly did. It’s been a very busy week and I apologize for not being able to post more. This visit has reinforced the importance of having a professional poker station to work from. Any disruption in your Internet and equipment can really cost you a lot of poker time (and time is money in poker). Having a high quality setup will go a long way in preventing any hiccups.

From the 20th to the 23rd I was visiting with a friend who had stable wireless. In that time I got in 2303 hands. The players were extra crazy as Christmas got closer, so these sessions were a bit of a roller coaster. I was happy with my play, but ended up down $80 for my stay. I also cleared $36 in bonus money.

I was back at the parents place after Christmas. On the 26th and 27th they were still having Internet problems, but we got them a new router and that seems to have done the trick. Before that I didn’t want to 4 table on my laptop with shaky wireless, so I decided to go a different route to get some hands in. I played some $50NL heads up and to spice things up a little if I won 4 buy ins there, since I knew the games would be very good this time of year, I would parlay that to take a 1 buy in shot at a $200PL HU table.

Heads up NL is so much fun. I really enjoy dissecting a player so well that it’s no longer a question of IF you get their money, just WHEN you get it. I suggest everyone gets in a few hours of heads up each week. It really sharpens parts of your game playing 6-8 tables can dull down.

Apparently people were in the holiday spirit, as they were just giving money away. It didn’t take me very long to make the 4 buy ins I needed to take a shot. The play was just as bad in the $200PL game, and after about 750 hands I made $794 ($14 in bonus cleared).

I’m very happy I decided to take a calculated shot as that should put me in range to play the $100 tables, which was on of my monthly goals, when I return to FL. A true professional player is able to maximize his bankroll without ever risking it. It would be a bankroll mistake for me to continue playing the $200PL game, but I recognized the games would be extra juicy, made my “shot money” at my normal limits, and took advantage of some seasonably terrible play. After you’re in the game for a while you will notice certain situations that are great for taking a shot. If a higher game is extremely juicy taking a 1-2 buy in shot can often make you a lot of money. As long as you don’t take shots blindly you will find great opportunities to accelerate your limits.

Since this update spans multiple weeks I will leave off the weekly stats to avoid confusion. I’ll continue with that when I get my schedule back to normal upon returning to FL on the 31st.

Bankroll: $3904
Hands played this month: 23525
Bonus/rakeback this month: $476

Pokerroom Screws Players

If you have ever won a poker tournament you can probably recall the high you were on for the hours, if not days, after the win. Imagine how low you would feel waking up the next day and your winnings were snatched out from under you. Many players had to face this reality after PokerRoom did just that. The tournament lobby listed it as a $22 19k guaranteed MTT. The tournament was played and money paid out. Then PokerRoom, claiming the guarantee was a mistake, took back the money FROM PLAYER ACCOUNTS.

This is just plain unacceptable. In an industry that is trying to become fully legitimate players should not stand for this. There are too many honest sites available for players to give their money to thieves like pokerroom. Sure you might have made a mistake, but the tournament was played and you paid the players. It was listed as a 19k guaranteed, and 19k was paid out. Taking players money from their account is going to cost them much more than the 13k they stole from players.

If you have money in PokerRoom, I would suggest you take it out immediately. There are many other sites that actually treat their players with respect. If you have a website, blog, or any other method of communication please spread the word. If online poker is every going to be an accepted industry, sites like PokerRoom must be flushed out.

Here is the Pokah thread dealing with this issue

Poker?!?!

I finally got to play some poker for the first time since I've been back in MI. While I can only 4 table on my laptop, it's better than not playing at all. The games were extra passive and the hands were just flying by. Extra passive games are great because you can pick up a ton of chips without really risking any money. I would take a loose passive table over one filled with maniacs any day of the week.

I made $154 at the tables and $12 in bonus money in the 826 hands I played. I should be able to get in some more hands today, so hopefully the games are as good as the were yesterday.

Bankroll: $3190
Hands played this week: 826
Bonus cleared this week: $12
Hands played this month: 20472
Bonus/rakeback this month: $426/$1300

The Excitment

I thought the Internet had been fixed, but just as I sat down at the tables and started recording a video it went down again. Looks like I’ll be poker less and posting from shaky wireless for at least another day. Until I can play I’ll relay some thoughts and stories about being an online poker pro.

I live with 3 other people who all play online poker for a living. Over the last few months I noticed a trend and couldn’t exactly put my finger on what it was till now. It was the initial recognition of this trend that sparked the idea for this blog. I had felt for a while that something was missing from the apartment. There was an emptiness about us that seemed to suck in our poker enthusiasm like a black hole. Nobody was getting in enough hands, we couldn’t get excited about someone going deep in a tournament because nobody even bothered to play in any, and we weren’t having the animated poker discussions we used to.

I’m pretty sure it started after Jared and I returned from the WSOP ME. In order to qualify we had to multi-table 16 hours a day for a couple weeks. The high from the WSOP kept the burn out from happening till we returned. I also think I beat myself up too much about missing a great opportunity to go deep in the Main Event. Whatever it was things weren’t quite the same when we returned, and we didn’t do enough to rectify the situation.

When I realized what was going on I looked for something to breathe the life back into me, and hopefully the rest of my roommates. Working on Poker Dynasty was the first step to reconciling my love of poker. Things improved over the last few weeks, and when my roommate Brandon won a Stud H/L tournament we were messing around with, I finally realized what the problem had been.

We had lost the excitement. I think to be truly successful at this game you need to have a child like excitement for the game. Sweating your friends when they are deep in a tourney, posting funny hands on the wall, and having heated discussions about the game all help refuel you when you are about burn out. If poker is your job it needs to be treated as such, but when going pro you must not forget that you love the game. Get drunk and play fake money games with a friend. Play a game you’ve never played before. Always remind yourself that you love the game. The excitement is what will allow you to enjoy your life while making the great amount of money available to you in poker.

Burn outs are going to happen if you play for a living. You need to be able to recognize them and do something to recharge your batteries. The only thing worse than going broke would be to leave the game because I lost the excitement, and let myself be burned out by poker.

Some Downtime

I wasn’t able to get in very much poker Thursday, Friday, and Saturday as I had to tie up some loose ends before my flight left Saturday afternoon. I played one 1177 hand session, ending down $22. I got $29 for the weekly UB bonus and also cleared another $16 from playing. It was an interesting session only because I played a lot of big pots, but none were very remarkable.

I had planned on getting in a good amount of hands while visiting MI, but that may be an issue. Something is wrong with the rents Internet connection, so I’m only able to get of from a neighbors very shaky wireless network. If I can’t fix the problem I’ll hit up a Starbucks or something and get at least 1500 hands in there. If I can’t get much playing time I will be doing a lot of writing, so at least the time won’t go wasted. It’s too bad, I hand a great week and wanted to parlay that into this week.

Bankroll: $3036
Hands played this week: 7289
Bonus cleared this week: $144
Hands played this month: 19646
Bonus/rakeback this month: $414/$1300

Yin and Yang

Poker is a very funny game. Sometimes you make set after set, hit all your draws, and time your bluffs perfectly. Other times you just can’t make a hand, every bet you make gets raised, and you end up feeling like you suck at the game. Sometimes these streaks last weeks, but often it switches between sessions. Wednesdays was one of those days.

I had the yin and the yang with my first two sessions, breaking even. The 3rd session started at about 3am, and I think I’ll be changing my sleep schedule so I can play this time slot more often. The games from 2am to 5am are really good. A player with 3 buy ins in front of him, and position on me, decided he wanted to play every pot I did. He also thought it would be fun to bluff me every time I checked. I decided to ignore his positional advantage, and abused him the entire session. When it was all over I had won about 2.5 buy ins from him only going to 1 showdown.

I ended up winning $152 on the day in 2788 hands. That meant another $48 in bonus money. I’m pretty happy with the week so far. It’s nice to have a good week before I go back to MI for Christmas.

Bankroll: $3058
Hands played this week: 6112
Bonus cleared this week: $99
Hands played this month: 18469
Bonus/rakeback this month: $369/$1300

Plugging Some Leaks

I only had time for one session Tuesday, but was able to make the most of my time. I have played very well the last two days. I know all the regulars now so nothing they do surprises me anymore. I also picked up on a big mistake I had been making at UB.

In the games I'm used to a re raise out of the blinds is often someone trying to make a play on your steal. You are "supposed" to have a very big hand when you raise from the blinds as you will be out of position for the rest of the hand. To counter aggressive button play many players started adding this to their game. Well, not wanting to give up my aggressiveness I stopped giving them as much respect and either 4 bet them or played a re raised pot like any other raised pot.

When I moved to $50NL for this blog I didn't make enough of an adjustment in this area. The 3 bet trend hasn't caught on at this level, so when the blinds make raises it usually means they have a hand. I wasn't playing quite as aggressive in these spots, but still didn't give people the credit they deserved. This caused me to lose some big pots with medium strength hands that while profitable in my old game were big underdogs now. I have plugged that leak and it's definitely helped me make more money the last few days. Never take your game for granted. Even if you're beating a game always look for leaks to plug that will allow you to beat it for even more.

In 786 hands played I made $230 while clearing $12 in bonus money. That's not too shabby for a short days work.

Bankroll: $2906
Hands played this week: 3324
Bonus cleared this week: $51
Hands played this month: 15681
Bonus/rakeback this month $321/$1300

Sunday + Monday

Sunday was a pretty short day. In 635 hands I made $56 and cleared $9 in bonus.

Monday didn't start off too hot. The first session was pretty rough, but I was able to make a late comeback to only be down a few dollars. I snapped off a couple huge bluffs which made up for getting outdrawn in some big pots. I thought the second session would be more of the same after the first hand. I reraised with AK and the flop came A72. He check min raised me and thought about it for a while before finally calling my all in. I knew I was done for when the board came J Q, and he did indeed show me AQ.

Well, that would be the last hand I lost for the next 2 hours. With some great play I ended up about 8 buyins. So for the day after playing 1903 hands I was up $386. I also cleared $30 in bonus money. After a rough week this was the perfect session to boost the confidence. If I keep playing as well as I did on Monday I'm sure this will be a great week.

Bankroll: $2676
Hands played this week: 2538
Bonus cleared this week: $39
Hands played this month: 14,895
bonus/rakeback this month $309/$1300

Week in Review + Goals

The first full week of this blog project is finally over. It was a bit bumpier than I would have liked, ending the week down $25. That's not a big deal at all as I felt I play well and just had a bad run of cards. It's also not a problem because I made $227 just in bonus money. This is exactly why I think it's necessary to have rake back/bonus money pay your bills. A losing week doesn't add as much stress when you know you will have your bills paid if you put in the hours. This may have been the perfect first week for the project. If I would have breezed through it I don't think it would be as valuable as seeing a rough stretch has been.

I set some goals at the start of the week, let's see how I did with them and set some new goals for this week.

Play 35 hours

Sadly, I'm I'm 0/1 so far. I probably set the bar a little too high on this one. You'd be surprised how hard it is to go from playing a lazy schedule to a full one. The computer problem didn't help either. This is the #1 problem I need to fix with my game, yet it has nothing to do with poker.

Spend 10 hours studying the game

This was pretty easy to accomplish. If you watch a few videos, read some of a book, and check in on the forums 10 hours will fly by in no time.

Spend at least an hour each day writing articles

I think I missed one day, but I'm pretty happy with the work I did. It was mostly brainstorming a few ideas, but that is a necessary part of the writing process. Look for some great articles coming up in the next few weeks.

Overall I am very happy with the first full week. I wasn't 100% on my goals, but that just gives me more motivation to do better next week. With the computer issue (fixed as of 5pm Monday) and having some things to take care of before leaving for Michigan on Sat (visiting the family for Christmas) I won't be able to get in as much time as I would like. Weeks like these are not uncommon, especially this time of the year. I'll still be able to get in a decent amount of hands so it shouldn't affect my monthly goals all that much. That being said I only have one simple goal for this week:

Play good poker.

Boom!!

My poker play was cut short before I even got started on Saturday. One of the computers in our two poker stations decided it didn't want to stay on for more than 5 minutes. Living with 3 other pro poker players I didn't have a chance to get any hands in before we went out for my boy's birthday. Until it gets fixed I'll be a little limited in how much I can play each day. I should be able to get in 2 sessions each day, even if it means doing some 4 tabling on my laptop. If I'm not able to play as much as I would like I'll be sure to spend some extra time studying the game and working on some poker articles.

The Ups and Downs

Thursday started off with a pretty frustrating session. One of those days where the short stack has KK when you have QQ and you can't hit your open ended straight flush draws. I still played great poker and was able to minimize the losses. The second session I came back strong and was able to bring my loss on the day to only -$9. I did this in 2536 hands and cleared $37 in bonus money. I fell about 150 points show of the 2000 needed to get the full weekly UB bonus, but still made $92 from that promotion. Hopefully, I'll be able to get enough points next week to get the highest conversion rate.

For the week I've been running this blog I feel it's painted a pretty good picture of what a poker pro can expect in a week. I've had some ups and some downs, but I've taken them all in stride and usually come out ahead. You're not going to win every day. Heck, you might not win every week or even month. You will probably lose a higher percentage of your sessions than you did as a semi pro. This may surprise some people, but it makes perfect sense. When you play semi pro you're only playing at the times when you're very excited about poker. When you are in this state you drastically improve your chances of a win. You should be at this level most of the time when you play pro, but there will be times when it does in fact....gasp....feel like a job.

This phenomenon can make a new pro second guess themselves when they lose a little bit more often then they are used to. It's just something you get used to. Do your best to keep that same excitement you've always had for the game, but forgive yourself if you slip up every once in a while. Beating yourself up over your mistakes can be just as bad as not knowing you made them.

As for today I decided to take the day off. I played some 4 on 4 football, saw an amazing stand up comedy show, had a few drinks at some bars, and am now watching a movie while writing this entry. It's easy to get in a rut where you end up playing poker everyday of the week. While we all love poker, and deep down wish we could play 24/7, this really isn't the healthiest approach to the game. Make sure you take some personal time every week, it will ensure you don't get burned out.

Bankroll: $2234
Hands played this week: 8928
Bonus cleared this week: $227
Hands played this month: 12,357
Bonus/rakeback this month: $280/$1300

Short but Sweet

I only have time for a short post today, I have to clear a good number of UB points in a limited amount of time in order to get the max weekly bonus. I spent yesterday afternoon studying some poker videos, as planned. It had been a while since I have watched any videos. They really are an excellent resource, and I need to get back in the habit of watching. Hopefully Jared and I will start producing some for the site soon, I think it would be a great addition to the articles we put up now.

I got in 2002 hands, clearing $29 in bonus money. I was very happy with my play, and that good play let me post a $64 win on the day. It was pretty much a grind with nothing very interesting going down. As we roll into the weekend all the crazies come out, so I'm sure I'll have some interesting stories in the next couple of days.

Bankroll: $2243
Hands played this week: 6392
Bonus cleared this week: $98
Hands played this month: 9821
Bonus/rakeback this month: $151/$1300

Oops!!

Well, I guess I jinxed myself with my last entry. The first losing day came, and it wasn't pretty. There will be days when poker makes you feel helpless, and this was definitely one of them. It culminated when on one table I had AA twice in three hands. On both occasions they got beat by the same opponents J8o. Normally I would find that hilarious, but for whatever reason it really got to me today. After that I played another 50 hands, and did not play them particularly well. Thankfully I was able to recognize the tilt and bail on the session before I lost any more money.

No matter what anyone tells you it is impossible to completely eliminate tilt from your game. We are all human, and tilt is based on many factors we can't easily control. You should absolutely work on reducing your tilt to a bare minimum, but it is equally important to be able to recognize when you are there and stop playing immediately. If you only go on tilt once in a blue moon, but spew your entire bankroll any effort you put into reducing tilt is a waste of time.

That being said it really wasn't that bad of a day. In the 947 hands I played I lost $158 while clearing $15 in bonus money. Since I wasn't happy with how I played some hands in the last session I'm going to skip my afternoon session and replace it with poker reading/videos. Doing this helps by just getting your brain to analytically think about poker. Even if you don't learn anything new you're giving your brain a poker workout. I'm still doing my night sessions, so hopefully I will be able to play the excellent poker I have been so for this project.

Bankroll: $2179
Hands played this week: 4390
Bonus cleared this week: $69
Hands played this month: 7819
Bonus/rakeback this month: $122/$1300

Perfect Through 4

I thought I might be having my first losing day when I dropped $72 in my first session, but was able to win $85 in the second to eek out a $13 win on the day. I know I'll have a losing day soon, and won't make a big deal about winning streaks here. It doesn't matter if I win 10 sessions in a row, or just every other one. As long as I maintain a good win rate it doesn't matter when the wins come.

I was well on my way to 3k hands when the lovely people at Bright House cable decided we didn't need the Internet for the night. I was still able to get in 2272 hands before the outage. Along with the $13 profit I cleared $35 in bonus. Some interesting hands from the session are here at the Poker Dynasty forums. I usually take Tuesdays off, but I will probably get in at least one prime time session to make up for the Internet outage last night.

Bankroll: $2337
Hands played This week: 3443
Bonus cleared this week: $54
Hands played this month: 6872
Bonus/rack back this month: $107/1300

Any Given Sunday

Well, I was able to get in a little time after all. Between some great football games, I played 1171 hands. It's a good thing the $50NL players are so bad, as I've had more than my fair share of outdraws. I'd like to think I handle outdraws a little differently than most. I know the outdraws will come, so when they do I'm happy. If outdraws didn't exist I wouldn't be able to make a living at this game. If you can't figure out a way to cope with outdraws they will eventually drive you crazy. Realizing they are a necessary part of the game is a great way to do that.

In the 1171 hands I played I was able to make $65 while clearing $19 in bonus money. UB is still running a promotion where you turn your points earned each week into cash, so I will have to make sure to get in a decent number of hours to get that extra bonus. There were no especially interesting hands today, although I did use a secret technique I discovered to put a guy on massive tilt. He had 4+ buy ins sitting in front of him, which disappeared in a matter of minutes. It's too bad I wasn't able to get more than $30 off of him, but that's often the case when someone has a clearance sale on their stack. You gotta be in the right place AND at the right time to get it.

Tomorrow I plan on getting a minimum of 3k hands in, but would like to do even more. Playing that many hands I should have some interesting situations to share.

Bankroll: $2324
Hands played this week: 1171
Bonus cleared this week: $19
Hands played this month: 4600
Bonus/Rake back this month: $73/$1300

Day 2

I was able to get 1995 hands in yesterday. I'm really enjoying playing the $50NL tables. The players are insane, so there is never a dull moment. I was able to make $55 at the tables along with $31 in bonus money. It's nothing spectacular, but still much better than you can make at many jobs. Don't worry about how much you're making when you start off at lower stakes. As long as you cover your bills, stay patient, the big money will come if you're patient. I posted a few of my interesting hands here in the forums. I'm feeling a bit ill today so I'm not sure how much I will be able to play. If I play I will probably only get in a few hours. Always remember that poker isn't going anywhere. If you don't feel 100% there is no reason to put yourself in the game. Wait till you're feeling better and you won't risk making unnecessary mistakes.

A few of you requested some more detailed updated stats in each post, so here they are. Remember I am using bonuses/rake back to pay my bills so they won't be factored into my bankroll. Keep in mind I start my week on Sunday so the hands/bonus for the week will reflect that.

Bankroll:$2259
Hands played this week: 3429
Bonus cleared this week: $53
Hands played this month:3429
Bonus/Rake back this month: $53/1300

If you want to come rail me I'm P_Dynasty on UB.

First session is in the books!!!

The first official session of this blog is in the books! I got in about 3 hours of 4 tabling UB and 2 tabling Bodog. In 3 hours I got in on about 1500 hands. I should be getting in more hands/hr after I start to 8 table UB. Their software is much faster than every other site so I'll have to ease into it. I had to fight through a slew of suck outs but still ended up $204! I also cleared $22 in bonus money putting the bankroll up to $2226. I forgot how crazy the $50NL players were, and I had a blast playing with them. Most of the football games suck tomorrow, so I should be able to get a good number of hands in.

Current Bankroll: $2226

My Plan

So far I have put up the background for this project, along with some basic guidelines for someone considering going pro. In this post I'll be filling you in on my specific plans for the project. As you already know I have cashed out my entire bankroll except the $2000 I will use to "take the plunge". I'll go over the check list I posted earlier step by step so you can see it in action.

Have 6 months living expenses in savings: I really think this is one of the most important factors necessary before going pro. What I do with my extra living expense money is keep it in an ING savings account. This lets me have reasonably fast access to it in case of emergency, while giving me a decent interest rate. Another thing you might want to consider is putting some of your extra bankroll in an account like this. I usually keep 50+ buy ins in my bankroll, but I almost never need that much money to actually be in my account. Keeping a portion of your money in a separate savings account has a lot of benefits. Why should poker sites be making interest from your money instead of you? If you have a 20 buy in down streak this gives you a few days to cool off while you transfer money back online. It also protects you if your account is hacked, if you are not able to recover the money all your eggs aren't in one basket. The online savings accounts are easy to set up, and usually have the best rates. If your money is just sitting around it is definitely –EV.

Have Proven Success: This is a little easier for me in this situation than most. Since I am starting new for this blog I already have proven myself as an online cash game pro. All my personal records and poker tracker databases show that I have been able to sustain a win rate over the last 3 years. Before I went pro originally I had played online poker seriously for over a year, along with the records showing I was a winner.

Drop Down a Level: After playing my first session at $50 NL earlier today I am even more positive a new pro should drop down a level when they first start. The stress level was remarkably lower playing a level I could crush. I took a good deal of bad beats and didn't even feel the slightest bit of tilt. The players were much easier to read than where I normally play, and I had no troubles reading any situations. This gave me great confidence in my game and made me certain I could always make it in the poker world. For a new pro these benefits would be even greater than they are for me. If you can pay the bills playing at lower stakes than you're used to, take a month or two to easy into the profession. The reduced stress this causes will improve your game for the rest of your career.

Create a bankroll management plan: Moving up in stakes has never been a direct product of my bankroll. I move up when I feel confident I can beat the level I will be playing. I've never felt the constant necessity to move up that many players feel. If I can make $100/hr playing $1/$2 NL I see no reason to rush up higher. If I need to work on aspects of my game before jumping up, I'll wait, even if I already have 75 buyins for the next level. This does not mean you should be a bankroll pussy. If you have the talent to beat a higher level, and are adequately bankrolled, then staying at the lower level is costing you money. For those of you that need more specific requirements I'll give you a general guideline for what I do.

I'll be starting with 40 buyins ($2000) for $50NL. This is the minimum you should be starting with, for new pros I would really suggest 50. Since there isn't a huge difference in the play from $50NL to $100NL once I reach 40 buyins there ($4000) I'll make the move. I'll continue playing $100NL unless I drop back to $2500, where I will drop back down to $50NL with 50 buyins. Since the play is much better at $200NL than $100NL I'll wait till I have 50 buyins ($10,000) to move up. If I drop to $5000 I'll move back down to $100NL. As I start to reach higher levels I'll move up at 50 buyins, but move back down to reevaluate if I start that level down 10 buyins. At anytime I feel I'm not playing my best or being out played I will drop down immediately no matter where my bankroll is. That is the most important aspect of bankroll management often overlooked when you just decide you stakes based on how much money you have. Just remember; you can make a reasonable living at any of these stakes. The stupidest thing you can do is risk your livelihood being too stubborn to move down.

Plan your Play: My goal is to play 30-35 hours a week, with a majority of my play at peak hours. This means I will start my first session an hour or so after I wake up (which means around 3 or so). The games won't be that great at this time so I'll just play a two hour session. The next session will start around 8 and either be a four hour session, two two hour sessions(if I feel I need a break), or a 3 hour session if I'm going out later. I'll take one or two days off each week depending on how I feel. If you are playing 7 days a week, even if it's only for 4 hours a day, you can easily become burned out.

Pay your bills with rakeback: I'm going to start off my play at UB. I currently have about $2000 worth of bonus to clear there along with getting rakeback. I rounded my expenses up each month to $1300, so I will have to play enough hands to get that much in rakeback. Playing 6-8 tables for 35 hours each week should give me about $1350 each month in bonuses and rakeback. If I can do that it won't matter how I do at the tables, my bills will be covered.

Set Goals: I'll be doing goal posts every so often, but here are a few I have come up with so far:

This Week: Play 35 hours
This Week: Spend 10 hours studying the game
This Week: Spend at least an hour each day writing articles
This Month: Move up to $100NL
This Month: Play 70,000 hands
This Year: Be playing $5/$10NL

Create/maintain an exercise schedule: I've been on and off with my work outs lately, but will be doing 45 mins of cardio 5 days a week along with lifting 4 days a week.

Have a social life: This hasn't been a problem at all since I've moved to FL. In fact I may have been spending too much time going out drinking. No that I'll be putting in significantly more hours each week, it should even itself out.

Hopefully that cleared up exactly what I'll be doing with this blog. If you have any questions just post a comment here and I'll try to get it answered.

10 Things You Must Do Before Going Pro

Have 6 months living expenses in savings: Poker is a very volatile game, but you should never let your swings affect the ability to pay your bills. If you put yourself in a situation where you must win, you massively increase your chances to fail. If you know you have your bills covered half a year down the road, you won’t be affected as much with a 2 week down streak. Ideally this money should be won as a semi-pro. This increases the certainty of step 2.

Have Proven Success: You should NOT jump into a poker playing career until you are able to prove you are a consistent winner. I would not take the plunge until you have at least a year of records showing you are a winning semi-pro. These records must also be at a minimum of one level higher than necessary to cover you expenses. If you calculate you can pay the bills playing $50 NL You should already have records showing winning play at $100 NL.

Drop down a Level: There is a huge difference between being a pro and someone who makes money from poker (a semi pro). Most players don’t factor this in when they make the plunge. They assume because they make money playing in their spare time they will automatically be able to maintain the same win rate at 35-40 hours a weeks. This is not always they case, and easing into the transition will increase your chance of success. For at least the first month play one level lower than normal to insure you can handle the grind. Playing below your bankroll’s natural level will reduce any excess stress taking the plunge gives you. After you are confident you can handle the job move back to your normal stakes.

Create a bankroll management plan: In order to be an effective pro you must know how to effectively use your bankroll. This means never playing over your head, but also not limiting your profits by being overly cautious. There is no set bankroll formula, as everyone brain handle’s money management differently. Find something that is comfortable for you, but make sure it is setup for a low risk of ruin. If you want an example of a NL bankroll strategy I will be posting how I will be approaching these steps in a future entry.

Plan your play: While many factors affect when the best times to play are, you should have at least a loose schedule of when you will play. Figure out how many hours a week you want to play, and create a rough sketch of when you plan on playing. This DOES NOT mean you should be forcing yourself to play at those times, or not to play at others. You want to play when you have the right mindset, and sometimes this doesn’t coincide with your schedule. You do need to have a general idea of when you are going to play or you will often find yourself putting it off and having Sunday roll around with 20 hours still to play. The freedom poker offers is great, but you can’t let it make you lazy. Remember to include social time in this plan. Playing online poker for a living is a very isolated environment, and you will need a little extra social time to stay sane.

Pay your bills with rake back: This is an extremely important point that many new pros miss. Your goal each month should be to play enough hands so your rakeback and bonuses pays your bills. This is the closest a poker pro can get to guaranteed income. If you manage your bankroll well and make enough rakeback you should never have to worry about going broke. Figure out your monthly expenses then go to any of the rake back calculators and figure out the minimum number of hands you need to play per month (remember most of the calculators tend to give a high number so factor that in when making calculations)

Have a real work station: If you are going to be a professional poker player you MUST have a professional work station. You should designate a place in your home as your poker office. Ideally this will be isolated from any distractions. You computer must be fast enough to run multiple tables while running poker tracker and PAHUD. You should have at least one monitor (but should really have 2) that is able to play without overlap. LCDs are best as they use less power and are better for your eyes. Get a good mouse and nice supportive mouse pad. Long sessions can be hard on your wrists, and a poor mouse can cause expensive misclicks. If you are not able to afford a professional set up I would highly consider waiting until you can before you go pro. Playing poker on your laptop in front of your TV is fine for a recreational player, but it just won’t cut it once you go pro.

Set Goals: Goal setting is an incredibly effective motivator. Before you are able to get what you want in any aspect of life you must become mentally aware that you want it. Setting goals is a huge step to getting everything you desire out of life. When it comes to poker you should be setting weekly, monthly, yearly, and even longer term goals. Figure out what you want from poker and set goals that will let you obtain it. Avoid setting specific $/day or $/week goals, as variance will often cause you frustration when you miss them.

Create/maintain an exercise schedule: The life of a poker pro is not very conducive to a healthy lifestyle. If you’re not careful you can end up not leaving the house for a few days, let alone get the exercise you need. Being physically fit is a huge part of a good poker game, but many players don’t realize this. If you are not physically active your mind won’t be able to stay sharp over long sessions. There are numerous benefits to a healthy life style; extra poker profit is just one of them. Spend a few hours a week working out; it’s good for your body and good for your wallet.

Have a social life: I mentioned this in “plan your play”, but it really needs to be mentioned again. It is very easy to isolate yourself when you choose online poker as a career. You will often need to put in extra work to get the balance a normal job would provide. If you are single go out an extra time a week, plan some daytime dates, and take a few extra trips. If you have a family, poker gives you a great opportunity to spend extra time with them. This lifestyle gives you the flexibility to have an amazing social life. Don’t let the freedom overwhelm you into solitude.

The decision to go pro is not a simple one. You must consider all of these, and other, factors before taking the plunge. If you’re not sure you are able to meet all of these requirements, err on the side of caution. Poker isn’t going anywhere, wait until you are certain of success before jumping in. Today will be my first day playing, and I will have results for the day up later. I will also be posting exactly how I will be approaching the project based on the criteria of this post.

Back To Basics

Over the last few months I've started to notice some bad habits in my poker playing routine that if went unchecked could have a negative effect on my profitability. When I examined the issue the problem boiled down to one thing: my professional attitude. Being a poker pro offers a lot of freedom, but if you don't approach it in a professional manner you will not have long term success. Doing the little things such as recording every session, planning when you play, and managing your money outside of poker are just as important as being able to play the game well.

I have always been an extensive record keeper with my poker play. The spread sheet I use tracks every session, every SNG, and every mtt. You can find totals for every day, week, and month broken down by game. It also records every bonus and rakeback payment I receive. Not only does it give me a precise record of my play, but it also helps spot trends on what game I play best along with the most profitable times to play. Such a great tool is useless if you don't use it, but over the last few months I have been too lazy to do so. It only takes a few seconds before and after each session for it to work, so there is no good reason not to. A correlation between record keeping and poker profitability might not be obvious, but it is a necessary piece in the professional attitude puzzle that is essential to long term success.

The worst mistake a poker player can make is to think he knows everything. The game is always evolving, so you must work hard at keeping up. I have always been a student of the game, but for the last few months I've started to cut class. At one point I was reading every book, watching every video, and reading all the forums. The more successful I've become the less time I spent studying. When you start to win a lot you feel that you don't need to study as much, that you know it all, but the problem is one of the main reasons you are doing so well was because of the time you put in studying. The more you learn about poker the more complex it becomes. This means the better you get the more you should be studying.

Probably the biggest problem I found was my time management. Many people want to be a pro poker player because it is possible to make a lot of money in a short amount of time. This attitude is a mind virus that will eventually lead to going bust. While it is possible to make a living playing 10-15 hours a week, it will eventually catch up to you. Every winning player knows that the only way to fend off the variance beast is to play more hands. If you play an insufficient number of hands your down streaks could span months not weeks. This is very bad for the mental health of a poker pro, and can easily start a snow ball effect that ends when your bankroll is wiped out. Poker is just like any other job; you have to put in the time to make the money. If you choose poker as your career it should be because you love the game, not that you are trying to make an easy buck.

Poor spending habits outside of poker are the easiest mistake a poker player can make. Players that do everything perfect inside the game often go broke because of this and are never able to figure out where they went wrong. Playing for a living can cause massive distortions in your views on money. When you are putting huge money on the line many times a day saving $20 at the grocery store or paying for everyone's drinks at the bar seems insignificant. You need to have an "unhealthy" view on money if you are going to succeed, but you must be able to put that in check in your daily life. Be careful not to increase your spending too much if you have a really hot streak or place well in a tournament. While you should reward yourself for good play from time to time, just remember there will be equally bad times when you wished you had the money you wasted. Over spending can be just as harsh on you bankroll as getting sucked out on the river.

Luckily I spotted these problems before they had any serious affect on my bankroll. When deciding what I would do to correct them I came up with an idea that would both solve the problem, and be great learning tool for the members of Poker Dynasty. What I plan to do with this blog is to put myself in the shoes of a player who is just about to take the plunge. I am cashing out all my bankroll except $2000 and starting over. This will force me to have the discipline necessary to be a true pro, while creating a living guideline for anyone looking to go pro. I will be starting at $50 NL, so if I don't buckle down it will be much harder to pay the bills than at my current stakes.

Over the next year I will be posting daily results along with tips and strategies necessary for any new poker professional. If you have ever considered going pro, or just want a glimpse of the life style, this blog will be an excellent chance to see it from the beginning. Posting will begin tomorrow where I will go over a check list you must complete if you are considering going pro.