Horses or backers who understand what is optimal and what to expect,
My goal is not to trash talk or bash anyone, merely to gain clarity on what to expect from a backer and what is to be expected from me as a horse. Please do not misinterpret my words or my intent as such. I am learning daily...
I have been a professional poker player since August of 2004. While I struggled in the beginning with bankroll management, variance, and emotion- I was prepared enough with my savings to cover living expenses through the rough stretches and battled through the early struggles. Much like any other business, the first 2 years were spent learning many things that I thought I already knew, making adjustments, reducing overhead where I could, and most importantly- learning to live a more humble lifestyle than I had grown accustomed to when the situation called for it. My career began to blossom, my knowledge, experience, and skill grew and my bankroll quickly followed suit. Years and millions of hands later I had become a mass tabling, driven, hard working veteran and along came black friday to ruin my life as I knew it. With the devastation of nearly 80% of my poker bankroll being "in limbo" on FTP I began to reach out to backers for help- with virtually no knowledge of what to expect, or if my resume was even appealing enough to find a backer in an industry that was rocked hard by the DOJ and backers that were surely petrified of what the future of online poker would be in the US. I spoke with several backers, spoke to my friends about what I was being told by them and was fortunate enough to have a friend who had just bought a night club.
He told me I would be silly to part with 50% or more of my earnings and that I could work for him until i had enough money to return to poker. He paid me well, I worked hard, and I avoided the need for a backer. I began to play live poker at my local B&M's when I could until I was enlightened by one of my affiliates on how I could return to online poker and have my life back. A stressful journey, but I was back online, seemingly back on track and patiently waiting on GCG to sort out the rest. I had such great success in late 2012 and all of 2013 that I made the decision to "do it big" and took on an unbearable nut size that created a mountain of stress. Mismanagement of funds led to debt, doubt, and ultimately what every poker player fears the worst- busto... only, this time- unlike the post BF doubt- I had a bit of knowledge on how the backer horse game worked. So, I reached out to someone who knew a little about the sicko volume I could pump for advice on the best course of action. He was a bit curious, asked me for some database numbers, did his own research into "Treenom" and determined that I was a worth a small investment. I tried to adjust to life as an "employee", sending daily screen shots, constant communication, brainstorming, analysis, debate, discussion... the pressure mounted. I had never done this before and imo handled it very unprofessionally- missing several days of sending my ss, and stressing even more than I had on my own dime because I knew I'd only be getting x% of my winnings. I couldn't seem to shake this feeling of "never gonna get outta this rut", and it was evident in my game. Confidence destroyed, 6 kids to feed, and a daily ss to remind me of how big of a mountain I faced. He stuck with me, even when I was causing him more stress than I was worth(and for that I am grateful) but, ultimately decided to end our stake towards the end of the 1st month because I failed to send a ss for the 3rd or 4th time since the stake began. He ate the small loss and moved on, surely bitter, but when my FTP was delivered the last day of that month(Hallelujah!!!) I returned his investment with an additional $500 for his troubles and as a sort of "ty" for the stress I put him through. I was not obligated to repay the makeup or any additional... it's just who I am. So, we moved on and I thought I could cover the last 5 months of my mini-mansion lease with little to no stress... wrong again. While I struggled to get it done, I watched my FTP $'s quickly disappear and the pressure mounted once again, so I reached out to the same backer- now with a new perception, a new understanding, and a much more professional mindset. I knew my second attempt at being a triple crown winning thoroughbred would be much different and I would not make the same mistakes I made the first time. We got rolling again, but this time I did my thing... the pressure still existed,
the stress of my poor money management and nut decision making was ever present, but I battled through it and had the success I knew was possible- doing well the first month and literally SMASHING the next month. It seemed I could not do much wrong, only running $400 above ev the 2nd month- I won enough to put my backer at ease with the knowledge that our stake was now a freeroll for him and that the third month promised to be even better... and now my dilemma...
After the first month of success, he chose to "let it ride"- meaning I needed to move my portion of my winnings to cover my sicko nut, but he left his portion in the bankroll. This accomplished great things for my confidence, and I was able to move up to the next stake and begin making a considerably larger hourly. For him, a bit larger risk and a bit more trust was needed, but I feel that I had shown him what he lacked seeing the first time and that when my confidence was booming I was a BEAST. He had obviously seen what he needed to be confident in my skill enough to do this and for that I am grateful as well. As we both expected, my second month of play saw the sicko results and bankroll growth we both envisioned prior to sealing the deal with a contract. I will continue to honor our contract with discretion as that was part of the deal, but know that I had taken a very small investment from him and multiplied it 13x+ by the end of the second month... then, after our monthly settle, I moved my portion, AND he moved his portion of my winnings. I watched my bankroll grow from nothing to large and had my confidence DESTROYED when the roll was devastated by those funds being removed. With the roll being severely downsized my confidence followed suit and I struggled through the third month with very little profit and tension between us mounting. I was diligent to honor my contract, only playing the stakes I was instructed, sending my ss daily with only 2 or 3 missed because I was sleeping and woke too late to send one before the day's end. All the while being told that my life stresses(marriage issues, money stresses, etc) were too much to bear and that I was becoming a "high risk" situation that no backer would bother with. Being told that if I wasn't more productive that our stake would be ended and he could find another less stressful horse. I felt that I was being talked down to when I tried to reason with him as to why I was struggling the way I was. I felt that my knowledge of poker and discernment was something that should be trusted, and was dismissed because I was the one who "needed" him and he was helping me like some sort of charity case. I never felt like a business "partner", only like an employee with a boss who belittled my body of work and insight into a variant of the game that he knows little of(NLHE) as he has been a pro for longer than me playing a different game. I was told by my backer and my coach to "stop being creative"- something I think should be valued as
a trait and not a flaw. I think the beauty of NLHE is the ability to be creative- to think outside the box- not just be a robotic, "play every spot the same" player. I finished the fourth month of our stake with another nice chunk of winnings and after month number four diversified a large chunk of my "bread and meat" roll to another site. This was a repeat of the same thing that happened after the second month, as I watched my roll get diced up by nearly 70% with my portion moved, his portion moved, and another large chunk being moved to another site. So, rolling into the fifth month of our stake, it was like starting all over with a small roll and my confidence waning because of it. Struggled through the fifth and final month and the stake was terminated approximately 2/3 of the way through the last month... and now my questions...
Is it standard in the staking industry to rollover profits after a settle or move all backer portion of winnings each time? Is it standard to bank the initial investment once earned, then allow the backer's cut to build the roll? Is it standard to expect the backer to be "boss" and the horse to be "employee", or are there backers who treat their horses as business partners who listen to and respect the opinions shared by the horse? If the horse follows all instructions with only minor mistakes, is is standard to threaten to end the stake on a regular basis? Is it standard to not allow the horse to pay off a percentage of the initial stake after each settle? I have always tried to pay as much of the principal as possible to reduce the cost of interest, but I was told, "that's not how this works"... is this different for different backers?
Please reply with any and all info or insight into the world of backing
Last edited by treenom; 09-11-2014 at 03:55 AM.
Reason: PS let it be known- he tried diligently to help me get past my pessimistic view of life when suffering inevitable variance