poker
i find it strange that i haven't posted here about playing poker. usually i would post things that are somewhat important to me, but i didn't want this to become a poker blog. but i guess now is the time - here are the facts :)
it's been what, maybe 9-10 months now, since i started playing poker online. and they say i am quite passionate about it, too. my friends even got me poker chips as birthday presents in december! awesome ;)
my first contacts with poker were a few years ago, maybe in 2003-2004, when my father used to play online for free, and intended to use the winnings for sports betting. i think that didn't go very far, for reasons that i now understand somewhat, but at the time were not clear to me at all. (or rounders, i guess. pretty funny movie). at some point after that i found out that people who enjoyed magic:the gathering tended to become at least decent poker players, but that didn't prod me into it at first, it was just a consideration later. (and originally, when i found the profile of one of the world best in MtG on OKcupid, it listed poker as main source of income, and the income itself as over a million dollars a year. that info is no longer public.) a friend or two told me they've started playing poker for real money online. and so on, and so forth.
so one day, i decided to try it. i believe it was june '07. signed up for a site, looked around, wandered onto the play money tables, tried a thing or two, left. kept going back, discovered the funny thing called freerolls (tournaments with no entry fee but real-money awards), played a few. still too uncertain to play for any real money, i looked around and started studying. for this purpose i joined an onilne poker forum. and now that i wrote this, i have my first banner ever in my LJ user-info.
let me tell you in a a little aside: books and strategy guides and what-not about poker there are aplenty. and everyone thinks he's right. and many different strategies work. people who discuss poker will often disagree, but much more often they would say things like "yes, that might work, but i would do something completely different!" i know i still have to learn a million things, and i know i'll probably never be among the very best out there, but i do know i could make a decent profit if i apply myself to it. besides, it is actually fun, aside from the opportunities to win :)
so, fast forward a few months. i believe i have turned myself into a decent player. i have been at the final table of a few multi-table tournaments, won just one so far, and i am doing decently well in single-table tournaments, which are usually 9 players. then, there are the cash-game tables. people who win online would tell you that this is where you could make the most money playing. it is also an entirely different game. rules seem similar, but the way one should play is completely different. maybe something like the difference between tournaments and homes games of bridge. or between driving a stick shift and an automatic. :)
i have still never deposited money to play online. i have decided that i never will, either, with a couple possible exceptions: a) if i need to deposit in order to withdraw a larger amount soon after, or b) if i want to re-deposit money i have withdrawn earlier in order to get some sort of a bonus (sites do offer great bonuses sometimes).
one of the world-famous poker players, Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, put a challenge to himself. he started off playing freerolls, and attempted to get to over $10,000 just playing online poker, while practicing strict bankroll management. he did that by playing a lot, and at one place only. even then, he seems to have been playing mostly a hit-or-miss type of games. it took him 6 months to get anywhere (winning and losing small amounts but staying below $15), and then he had a big hit, winning over 100 dollars in one tournament. from then on, for someone as good, it looked easy to get to quite ridiculous amounts by my standards in a few more months, and despite the recent setback he has had, the achievement is there for all to see.
so, to end with, an update:
i have only been playing "for real money" since about january. no real big hits, since i tend to avoid the really big tournaments (due the the enormous variance they offer - one mistake and you are out). and now, i have decent starting bankrolls in all of 3 sites online. maybe i should have concentrated on one, but i would have missed so much of the fun that way! people tell me i should be able to turn those bankrolls into something way more respectable really quickly, but i am in no hurry: i play for fun, usually one table at a time (people who intend to make money out of this do 6, 8, 12, 16, even 25 tables at the same time, and while this decreases the profits they could make per table/hand, it definitely increases their profit per hour), in the evenings, and generally when i feel like it. i also do not practice that strict of a bankroll management, because my bankrolls are not big enough. eventually i believe i will have even stricter restrictions than chris ferguson uses. details/bragging:
- bodog: i currently have almost $50 there, built entirely by playing tournaments. first i won about $5 in freerolls, then played their so-called beginner tournaments, which pay out to more people, but smaller amounts. this was the first site i played at, and figure this might be why i like it so much.
- ultimate bet: there were some accusations of cheating there, but i won a freeroll that cardschat.com organized for $35, and played a few more games (mostly losing, however). i had down to about $15 at one point, ~$25 currently.
- poker stars: this is one of the biggest and more famous places out there. i have only had a bankroll with them for a few weeks, and it started again as winning from a cardschat freeroll (2.20). then i used that to play in 2 of the low buy-in games they organize, and came second in one! so all of a sudden, there i was with close to 30 bucks, on a site that is convenient and known for having good small-stake tables. and so, this is where i play the most lately. well, right now my bankroll has increased to over $70 by playing .01-.02 games. once i get over $120, i will move to a little higher stakes. :)
this became way too long, didn't it? more details maybe another time :)
it's been what, maybe 9-10 months now, since i started playing poker online. and they say i am quite passionate about it, too. my friends even got me poker chips as birthday presents in december! awesome ;)
my first contacts with poker were a few years ago, maybe in 2003-2004, when my father used to play online for free, and intended to use the winnings for sports betting. i think that didn't go very far, for reasons that i now understand somewhat, but at the time were not clear to me at all. (or rounders, i guess. pretty funny movie). at some point after that i found out that people who enjoyed magic:the gathering tended to become at least decent poker players, but that didn't prod me into it at first, it was just a consideration later. (and originally, when i found the profile of one of the world best in MtG on OKcupid, it listed poker as main source of income, and the income itself as over a million dollars a year. that info is no longer public.) a friend or two told me they've started playing poker for real money online. and so on, and so forth.
so one day, i decided to try it. i believe it was june '07. signed up for a site, looked around, wandered onto the play money tables, tried a thing or two, left. kept going back, discovered the funny thing called freerolls (tournaments with no entry fee but real-money awards), played a few. still too uncertain to play for any real money, i looked around and started studying. for this purpose i joined an onilne poker forum. and now that i wrote this, i have my first banner ever in my LJ user-info.
let me tell you in a a little aside: books and strategy guides and what-not about poker there are aplenty. and everyone thinks he's right. and many different strategies work. people who discuss poker will often disagree, but much more often they would say things like "yes, that might work, but i would do something completely different!" i know i still have to learn a million things, and i know i'll probably never be among the very best out there, but i do know i could make a decent profit if i apply myself to it. besides, it is actually fun, aside from the opportunities to win :)
so, fast forward a few months. i believe i have turned myself into a decent player. i have been at the final table of a few multi-table tournaments, won just one so far, and i am doing decently well in single-table tournaments, which are usually 9 players. then, there are the cash-game tables. people who win online would tell you that this is where you could make the most money playing. it is also an entirely different game. rules seem similar, but the way one should play is completely different. maybe something like the difference between tournaments and homes games of bridge. or between driving a stick shift and an automatic. :)
i have still never deposited money to play online. i have decided that i never will, either, with a couple possible exceptions: a) if i need to deposit in order to withdraw a larger amount soon after, or b) if i want to re-deposit money i have withdrawn earlier in order to get some sort of a bonus (sites do offer great bonuses sometimes).
one of the world-famous poker players, Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, put a challenge to himself. he started off playing freerolls, and attempted to get to over $10,000 just playing online poker, while practicing strict bankroll management. he did that by playing a lot, and at one place only. even then, he seems to have been playing mostly a hit-or-miss type of games. it took him 6 months to get anywhere (winning and losing small amounts but staying below $15), and then he had a big hit, winning over 100 dollars in one tournament. from then on, for someone as good, it looked easy to get to quite ridiculous amounts by my standards in a few more months, and despite the recent setback he has had, the achievement is there for all to see.
so, to end with, an update:
i have only been playing "for real money" since about january. no real big hits, since i tend to avoid the really big tournaments (due the the enormous variance they offer - one mistake and you are out). and now, i have decent starting bankrolls in all of 3 sites online. maybe i should have concentrated on one, but i would have missed so much of the fun that way! people tell me i should be able to turn those bankrolls into something way more respectable really quickly, but i am in no hurry: i play for fun, usually one table at a time (people who intend to make money out of this do 6, 8, 12, 16, even 25 tables at the same time, and while this decreases the profits they could make per table/hand, it definitely increases their profit per hour), in the evenings, and generally when i feel like it. i also do not practice that strict of a bankroll management, because my bankrolls are not big enough. eventually i believe i will have even stricter restrictions than chris ferguson uses. details/bragging:
- bodog: i currently have almost $50 there, built entirely by playing tournaments. first i won about $5 in freerolls, then played their so-called beginner tournaments, which pay out to more people, but smaller amounts. this was the first site i played at, and figure this might be why i like it so much.
- ultimate bet: there were some accusations of cheating there, but i won a freeroll that cardschat.com organized for $35, and played a few more games (mostly losing, however). i had down to about $15 at one point, ~$25 currently.
- poker stars: this is one of the biggest and more famous places out there. i have only had a bankroll with them for a few weeks, and it started again as winning from a cardschat freeroll (2.20). then i used that to play in 2 of the low buy-in games they organize, and came second in one! so all of a sudden, there i was with close to 30 bucks, on a site that is convenient and known for having good small-stake tables. and so, this is where i play the most lately. well, right now my bankroll has increased to over $70 by playing .01-.02 games. once i get over $120, i will move to a little higher stakes. :)
this became way too long, didn't it? more details maybe another time :)