Sorry it took so long, im a poor writer and find it hard to stay focused on **** like this.
Ok so my poker story is actually kind of emberassing. I've never told anyone the complete story, and the only person who knows the full extent of what I did to get here is my mom.... until now
really tho, I hope people find this entertaining or at least learn a lesson from it. Also I wish I was a better story teller
. Oh yea, and my memory is bad so the dates might be off a little but the events are all spot on. Anyways here we go..
I got into poker like many people during the Moneymaker erra. They were playing WSOP reruns constantly, and my broski and I had been smokin alot of pot watchin this ****. Of course we figured if that fool could do it, we for sure could, so we both DL pokerstars and started playin some play money N freerolls. I litterally learned how to play from pokerstars play money games. I think this was late 05 to early 06 and things went well for me as I stacked up play money chips (lol). I figured how different could real money be from play money and soon deposited like 200 bux or something. I started off playing 4.40$ 180 mans and spewed massively until I luckboxed a win, giving me a false sense of ability and confidence. Pretty soon I had lost most of the money back through various SNG's and tournaments, and feeling alittle frustrated I went to the cash games and joined a 100nl table. I didnt really have a clue what I was doing, and i'm pretty sure that 100nl just happend to be what was on the screen when I went to cash. I was the type to buy in for 60$ and I played like 22/7/1.5 1-4tabling. I remember having this weird quirk where I would stack off the first hand I raised at a table no matter what. I dont think anyone caught on, and I'm pretty sure it was actually a profitable play. Good times. So I switched to cash after a frustrating run at SNGs and was fortunate enough to run my roll up to 1200$ within the first week I was plyaing cash. This actually was probably one of the worst things that could have happend at this time. This run, mixed with the win in the 4$180man, and the general belief that I was just unlucky since my win, put my confidence at an extremem high. I really thought I was that ****in good. It couldn't have been 2 days later that I busted my whole roll. All 1200, 60$ at a time, only playing 4 tables max. I thought I was just soooo ****in unlucky that I couldnt stop, I was chasing that initial run thinking that was the normal and now I was just on a sick run of bad cards. I never folded Aces or Kings, never folded flush draws, stacked top pair like butter, cold called 3bets with nothing, limp called trash, overlimped trash, called raises with trash, made dumb bluffs etc etc. I was the quintessential fish.
Pretty sure the same night i busted my roll for the first time, I deposited another 1-300 $ and busted that too. I know I busted about 800$ over 3 or 4 deposits within a week. I really didnt have that kind of money and was soon taking a break, playing at the play money tables again. It ate me up for a long time. How could I not only run up a couple hundo into over a grand and blow that so quick, but blow through another 600 or so just like that. I mean that **** killed me inside. We were always poor growing up and I had a measly savings and a ****ty job with too few hours. It felt like I had lost about 2k and I just couldnt let it go. For the longest time I wouldn't play. I'd say this was the late-middle of 06, and I dont think I deposited again until the end of 06/beggining of 07. I was pretty busto for this period of time and didnt study poker at all or play much. I think I decided to deposit again after I cashed in a fair amount of my savings bonds. I was supposed to use my bonds to pay my dad for my car that I bought off him, but decided I could deposit, spin it up, and cash out before I had to pay him. (So degen I know, but **** gets worse). I think my cashed bonds were like 2500, I used 500 to make a small down payment on my car and had the rest in my checking. As soon as I got back I deposited like 500 and began to play. I had this horrible habit of stomping 100 for a while, moving up to 200 too fast, losing all that I won, moving back to 100, then losing a little more. So I was basically breaking even at 100 then blowing double money at 200. I think the bond money lasted me through February or so until one night I finally tilted off my last 500 after breaking even and earning bonusii. I had been making car payments and basically living it up off my job money so I dont think I blew the whole 2500. I figured it up once after I got PT and stuff and I had lost a little more than 1800 at this point (it might have been a little less cause I earned a couple 150$ bonus but still bad) so I guess just 1k of the bond money.
Now I was flat broke, making like 7$ an hour workin 25 hours a week or somthin, owin my dad a bunch of money every month, and pretty much living a lifestyle I just wouldn't be able to accomodate. I had been playing poker pretty constantly for a good 4-5 months straight, and I have a horribly addictive personality. Poker is pretty addictive as it is, so you put those together and I was pretty hooked. Not to get into alot of detail of my younger life, but i was pretty much a scumbag with no morals. So I wanted to play and i needed money. I remembered finding money in my parents closet while searching for weed one time so I ransacked the closet and found a couple stashes of cash. I took another 1k and deposited into my checking account. As soon as it cleared I put it all into my stars account. I was playing 6 tables of 100 and 200 at a time and went into my superhero mode, the invincible fish on a heater. By this time I had picked up PT and was using it to track my results. I spun that 1k up into 3k and had enough to cash out my roll, pay back my mom, and more than pay back myself. I should have left poker right then and there way better off than most, up a little of money, and up a **** ton in life lesson. Obviously that isnt what happend or I wouldnt be here tellin the story today
. Over the next month or so I bled off the 3k at 200 and 100, eventually trying to shortstack like 10 tables at a time, failing horribly until the rest of my money was gone. I was down 2800, pretty much broke, owed both my parents money, and worst of all I stole from my mom and couldn't bring up the gamjes to tell her. I ****ed up alot when I was a kid, and blew a lot of good chances for a number of different things, but this was far and away the lowest point of my life. Words cant describe the filth I felt inside and outside my body.. I mean it sickens me just thinking about it. A week or so went by and I was finally able to tell my mom how busto I was because of poker, but still couldnt tell her about the money. I remember I had like 35$ to my name and I put 15 of it into pokerstars and vowed to learn how to play from the bottom up. This couldnt have been more than 20 months ago
I had ordered some books from pokerstars and found 2+2 through them. I began reading strategy and 1tabled 2nl with 2$ buyins. Things went really well for me from 2-5nl and had ran 15$ up to 125 in a matter of a week or so. I started multitabling 5nl deep and had rolled for 10nl very quickly. It was around this time that my mom noticed the money missing, and that caused all sorts of hell between me and my parents. Its a whole side story and I know im a scumbag, you can trash me all you want but im not going to talk about it. The only reason its in the story is because its a fairly important point. I started having to make payments to my mom on top of the payments to my dad and I have been living on my own this whole time so there are bills and etc. We also partied alot and we were paying for alot of alcohol and etc entertaining an assortment of people. I went into mad grind mode, I was working 30 hours a week, playing 30+ and, going to school another 9 hours. **** was hektic but I was cashing out all the time, just a couple hundred here and there to pay for everything, but still adding a little to roll. After a month of this I had cashed out enough to take a couple live shots(instead of paying extra to my parents LDO) and I was at the casino every chance I could get. I coulnt afford it, and was playing bad because of scared money. I lost a couple buyins over a week and was pretty life tilted again. I remember wanting to try and spin my online roll up again one last time, but my roommate was super busto also and hadnt paid the internet bill. This is probably the second most fortunate thing that has happend to me.
Since the internet was down and im obviously a sick degen in need of money, I went to play some live with like 600$ to my name. I remember the session so well. I had been there 35 minutes and was a little under 200 when I get dealt AKo in MP. I made a std raise to 12 and got 1 ip caller and one from the blinds. Flop comes Kxxr and the blind donks for like pot, I jack it up to 80 or so. IP guy folds and donker calls. Turn comes rJ and blind c/c my shove. River is and x and he flips KJ before I can even guess what he might have. I left pretty fumed and distraught. I remember getting to my car and smoking this half a J I had with me and just having no clue what I would do. Selling weed again was probably the standout choice in my mind, but something urged me into getting another hundo and playing 3/6 limit (LOL?? SRSSSSLY im dumb). So I go back in, totally baked and on complete life tilt to find a seat open. I had been there maybe 15 minutes when Im dealt 55 somewhere. I limp call a raise from behind and the flop comes KK5. I dont remember how many bets went in, but im sure I tried to trap with like a lead call or a c/r/c instead of slamming AK face through the wall. I suck at lolimt but have always ran white hot at it. The turn was the golden 5, and again I cant recal specifically but remember getting like 2 bets in. The river was a 2 and I lead, he raises, I raise, he raises, I raise, he raises, and I say ok wtf he wouldnt be 6betting the split, wtf so I put another bet in planning to just call his next raise. He obliges and I make the call feeling sick that i might lose with quads. He tables KK and i reluctantly flip 55. The table goes crazy, which kind of pisses me off, I mean I just lost the ****ing hand... Im too involved with the guy who had KK, who cant beleive I just called with 55 on the river instead of betting out till bust, to even notice everyone rabbling about BBJP.
By the time the floor man came over, I had just figured out that Aces full or better didnt mean you had to have pocket aces, and that I in fact had won 50% of the 7538$ BBJP!! They were going around getting everyones IDs and taking down information, and everyone was congratulating me. The sense of elation that I was feeling was through the roof. I mean this was the answer to my immediate problems. The single most fortunate moment of my life by far. I pulled out my wallet to get my id, I was on top of the ****in world, and I opened my wallet... My id was not there. I started going frantic through my pockets and my wallet and back through my pockets. It wasn't there at all. The floor man got to me and I was near tears. I explained what was goin on and he looked indifferent. He told me that he wasnt sure what was going to happen, but the head honcho would have a talk with me. I went and searched my car thoroughly and still found nothing. I got back into the casino and was escorted to the back where this lady was askin me how I got into the casino without a ID, (LOLOLOL??!?) why I would come without an ID, was I even 21, and was all in all just grilling the **** out of me. There was alot of attitude traded back for a few minutes when one of the other guys just stepped in and was like, Just come back in the next 72 hours with your id and we will hold the money in the poker room safe. Yahtzee! I remember the day I got it I paid off my mom in full, paid my dad down to like 1k or something and was more than stoked to have a couple hundred extra to pad my checking account.
From there was history, as they say. I continued grinding bustos until november when I started mixing in 100 with my 50 games. By december I had moved up full time and by january, I was taking off time from work to play more. Through March I continued to crush, making drastic changes in my game and studying lots of 2+2. I had the DS in april and decided i need to chillax a little. I havnt been playing near as much as I was at the beggining of the year, but ive also been working really hard on my HU, and Omaha game. Im at a point in my life where I feel very blessed to have come this far. Although im not satisfied as an end, Im very satisfied with the progress I have made in poker, and the reflection of this progress in my life. Not only have I earned some self respect, I have finally earned my parents respect. Its a pretty good feeling to run into family friends and they bring up hearing about how well things have been going. I owe the vast majority of it to 2+2 for teaching me first bankroll managment and basics for a TAG game. Then providing the tools to expand these basics.
I dont have my original hands anymore. I made a post in bbv about "my boss", with my original graph and a LOT of embarrassing hand histories. I did it as a transition and deleted the hands because it was in my past. Im sure the thread is still around if someone wants to dig it up and give everyone a good laugh. I could care less anymore
I was looking through the hands and there is a big chunk of Nov/Dec where I was playing 50/100 7 hours a day that is missing. I got the hands a while ago and split them up manually. I dont know if I messed up and deleted some hands or if pokerstars missed them or what. Its probably close to 100k hands if not more, so this is a little short on both ends.
This is from about april till april
April till now
Since I got my head back
and my SNGs
Cliffnotes: was superfish on life busto, luckboxed at a pivotal time, and stuck with it until he was still busto but not a superfish.