Backstory:
So where do I begin. I busted my poker roll and life roll in January of last year (Jan, 2015). But, the story starts way before then. I was a wannabe professional poker player, living in the Philippines, leading up to that. I moved to the Phils. in 2013 to live and grind Stars. Even though I had never really played online much prior to this (I got into poker right around BF). I was having a lot of success at 2/5 live but it turned out I had greatly overestimated my abilities. Predictably, I was a losing player on stars, having jumped straight into the reg infested 6max battlegrounds not even knowing how to use a HUD. But, even worse than this, I was a degen gambling addict with no self control or discipline, had severe tilt issues, was lazy and unmotivated, and was living an unhealthy life style both mentally and physically.
I think I could beat Stars now but back then I had no chance with my lack of work ethic, tilt issues, and gambling addiction. I had no control over myself. I would begin to build a roll but if I had a bad night or took a bad beat or whatever I would bust all the money I had on the site chasing losses. If I lost 10 buy-ins at .50/1, for example, I would move to 5/10 because I had to get even before I went to bed for some reason. And I would either get back to even or bust my roll. But, I would always bust my roll eventually. Even worse than this, I was addicted to blackjack live. With live poker, my pattern was; instead of going on tilt and busting a roll when I took a bad beat, I would cash out from the poker table and punt off money at BJ. I have so many crazy stories from this time. From winning 20K in a month at 2/5 a few times, to losing 23ishK in one night at BJ at a WSOPC event stop in Lake Tahoe, CA. To being down 13K one summer in Vegas at the WSOP, being so tilted by this, and deciding I was going to get back to even at BJ that night or bust my whole roll and ending up winning like 17K that night.
So obviously I was a total degen. I was actually one of the biggest winners at the games I was playing though (playing live poker in the US i mean). And also was making money sending weed to the East coast on the side (foreshadowing) to feed my gambling addictions. Anyways, I decided I wanted to move to the Philippines because I had a lot of money saved up at this point despite all of the leaks. I found out they had casinos there and would degen it up + was losing on Stars. Was on my path to being busto but ending up shipping an Asian Poker Tour event for about $40K USD. So that kept me going for a lot longer, obviously, but it was inevitable. I ended up living there for about a year and then came back to the safe waters of live poker in the US. But, my bankroll was so depleted at this time and was so worried about going broke that I decided to go all in at the weed game.
I started taking amtrak trips with suitcases full of weed. I have a lot of crazy stories from this time too. Anyways, long story short, I was finally satisfied with my money situation. I would have a little over $100K after my last trip. So I booked my amtrak ticket for my last amtrak trip and then a plane ticket for a week later to move back to the Philippines and live happily ever after with my sick bankroll. I ended up getting arrested at 4am in a midwest state. I would not be getting on the plane to the Philippines. It was a completely surreal experience. Luckily though, I had money, and the criminal justice system here is not too punitive when you have money. I got out on bail for $10K and was out on bail until October. In the end, I had to agree to a plea deal. In exchange for pleading guilty, I would only get one month in jail + a $10K fine. Also had to pay the lawyer almost $10K. So this event completely busted me. Completely busto. But, it turned out, this event was the best thing to ever happen to me.
I went into a deep and dark depression. I had to move back in with my mom even though I'm in my 20s (still here actually, this is quite embarrassing to admit, but we are still in the begging stages of the redemption story), didn't talk to anybody in the outside world for months and months (Still need to reach out to a lot of people actually), etc. But, the struggle really caused me to examine myself and learn what changes needed to be made. I quit poker and BJ and gambling in general, at this time. I joined a gym for the first time in my life ( I lost 20lbs and went from skinny-fat to normal skinny with a bit of muscle) and worked out 5 days a week every week. I started meditating daily and studying computer programming online. With each new good habit I would slowly incorporate another one. I was slowly learning self-discipline and how not to be lazy AF. (This all started in like February while out on bail not after getting released from jail)
This post is getting long, I just realized, So Im going to wrap this up. Long story short, I missed poker, and decided I had finally conquered my demons, so I would allow myself to play poker again. But, I was broke and only had $100 to spare. I decided to try out Bovada. I was shocked with how soft the games were. This was in December when I started playing again. I put a lot of time into studying since I had played last. I grinded the micros and quickly and easily grinded it up to over $2K by January. I had to cash out half and give it to my mom for bills. Grinded it back up but didn't have as much success in January as December. Only got it back up to like $1800 I think before having to cash out $1K. I decided at this time, that the games were so soft and I'm still young, So I'm gonna focus on poker 100% and try to make as much as many possible just playing poker and I can study computer programming and get a job later in life if I need to.
And have been building my BR nicely since then. I was up to $4500 on Bovada today but got a bit nervous having that much on there since that is 90% of my net worth right now. Plus I want to start taking shots at live poker again. So I cashed out $3K for a live roll. Already have bills paid for this month so that will all go to live roll. Which will bring it up to $3500. Which is a lil over 10 buy ins at 1/3. 10 buy ins sounds small but if I play tight and solid I should never go broke live. And then online I have a lil over $1500 on Bovada. I play mostly 6max PLO on there and will start at .50 and work my way up. 30 buy ins isn't a lot for PLO either but I am employing strict BRM and will move down if I need to. With the ability to move down or up based on the BR I should never go broke with this roll either. (As long as I keep my tilt and gambling degen issues in check
So that's where I'm at currently. I turned a $100 roll into a $5K roll in a few months. And I finally feel secure now. Like I have a real roll now. Anything under $5K isn't a real roll. You're just taking a shot. But, with proper BRM I should never go broke with $5K. So we will see where this goes.. I'll use this blog to track my journey growing it to as high as I can. I have a few different plans. I need to make a bit more money first because I want to be able to put this away and not have to dip into this money. But... I want to move out of my mom's house asap. I am thinking maybe Vegas for the summer or FL. Maybe the Phils. Tickets are only $500 round trip right now and I could live there very cheaply. I'm thinking maybe wait until I make $1k more and then buy a ticket to the Phils. and live there the next month or two and grind Bovada while living cheaply until the WSOP in Vegas. Then move to Vegas and grind cash for the summer. The PLO games are especially soft during the series. I hope to get my BR high enough by then to play PLO cash the whole summer. If I can this will be a great opportunity to build a bankroll and fast. So we'll see what happens. I'm going to bed now. Will post more in the future
Oh yeah also I want to use the blog to track my results and post my goals also so I'll start with a + or - money won after each day.
Current roll:
Live: $3500 + $0
Online: $1500 +$0
Last edited by Quaddeuce; 03-28-2016 at 08:02 AM.