This is the continuation of the original 10K challenge on Global. It had to end abruptly due to legal issues. Now that I cannot play on Global, I will explore other online poker platforms and keep my fingers crossed.

The challenge on Global was all about micros. I was in the middle of transitioning to 50NL. This challenge will continue with the $1929 bankroll of the previous challenge.

It looks like it will take at least another week for me to start playing poker online again. First, the funds on Global clear in 5-10 business days. Second, I purchased $1K worth of bitcoins, which may take up to 5 business days to be available. Note that I will be subtracting transaction losses from the bankroll (2 - 5%).

This is an opportunity for me to have some rest from the games. However, I will be studying and preparing for the upcoming games.

Thanks to @coindroid referral, I registered to Ignition. Looking forward to the $1K welcome bonus.

GL, subbed to this thread. (Was subbed on other one, but you changed ) Make sure that $1k bonus is poker bonus, I did my deposit and bonus via phone when I started. AND, yes, coinbase holds your funds for awhile, which is why I could not climb higher, sort of tilting me. Do not fall prey, and again, GL.

The major advantage of Global was its web-based platform, which worked great for me since my main system is GNU/Linux. Now I have to deal with apps on Windows. I don't want to take chances with privacy/money related matters and try to avoid Windows whenever possible.

I have a dual boot setup with Windows, which is kind of annoying. The alternative of going with VM looks risky and unstable, but I have to consider it. The most convenient option is to run Windows apps on Wine, which is often hit-or-miss and unstable.

VM not good. The dual boot is good. On the Win system, get a good Antivirus program. I have had no problems with Mcafee Livesafe, as ooposed to the native Windows AV after the 1903 upgrade/ You pay more than $100 per year, but it is worth it. I am hard wired through router. can monitor blocks at any time. I also did a google search for tweaking Win 10, and found a very helpful video. Have half laptop balanced power profile and high performance profile I created.

Google is the best browser on windows, because encrypts everything you store in browser, if you have the system set up with log in screen (I do), then login credentials to even access stored information. Read some security tips from reputable sources, make sure have latest Win upgrades, eventually your fear will subside.

GL as always. That’s what poker friends are for.

Finished "Excelling at No Limit Hold'em" by Jonathan Little. This is a great book, covering a wide range of topics from multiple accomplished authors. There's wealth of relevant information for tourneys, cash games, live reads, satellite tourneys, GTO, mental game.

Ed Miller's steps in moving up in stakes:

1. Identify your source of profit at your current level
2. Identify the major strategic errors recreational players make at the higher level
3. Determine the strategic adjustments the professional players have made at the higher level to exploit the recreational players
4. Work through hand histories to figure out how to add the professional plays to your game
5. Determine the strategic weaknesses of the professional plays
6. Work through hand histories to figure out how to add exploitations of the professional plays to your game
7. Hang on for the ride

Weekly Update

Still waiting for the Global cash-out.

Learned more about cryptocurrencies and blockchain (earned ~$60 on Coinbase). I am an involuntary crypto holder for 10 days, enjoying the wild ride. Heck, if things don't go crazy, the capital gains can cover all the transaction losses and more. It turns out I cannot mix crypto transaction/fluctuations with the poker bankroll, so I will track capital gains and losses separately.

Watched "The Cooler", "Win It All".

Finished "Harrington on Hold'em: The Endgame" by Dan Harrington.

This is mostly a review for me to work on my tourney leaks. The discussion of the effective M and Q got me wondering, "What is the statistical distribution of stacks? What is the median of the stack distribution?".

Found the answers in "Universal Statistical Properties of Poker Tournaments" paper by Clement Sire. The exact function/analysis is pretty hairy, but the shape looks like log-normal; the mean is larger than the median. It kind of makes sense since the stack growth is additive in a log-scale. If you have an average stacks in a poker tournament, you are better off than at-least 50% of the field.

While I haven't studied ICM or Tourneys since 2011, observing the play has shown me that. Its the who gets the additive part that would cause some variance. Here is where cash games differ from tourneys. You can control the variance in cash games through adjustments and other strategies (learned the hard way). Tourneys, you are at the mercy of an approaching end, a fixed stack that either grows or depletes, the hands you are given, and how the board plays out.

Personally, I have found so far do not have enough patience for MTTs (I am used to either win or lose quickly at cash game). Hyper SNGs I like, but do not play very many. I guess when I get to the level of freerolls and tourney tickets for points, then need to brush up on those skills.

What were your favorite chapters from this book? I really liked the Liv Boeree/Hellmuth back and forth new school vs old school, and the Ed Miller chapter about moving up. Also of the books you've read and reviewed which would you say have helped you the most? I'm looking for some reading right now.

btw gl with the continuing of this challenge!

If you’re looking for a good tournament book, read Moorman (half bio/half strat)

Also, I played on bovada through a VM for years without an issue

Gl with the challenge!

In "Excelling at NLHE", some chapters are short summaries or expose to the authors' own books, so I am looking forward to read more about "PLAYING HEADS-UP" by Olivier Busquet and "GAME THEORY OPTIMAL STRATEGIES: WHAT ARE THEY GOOD FOR?" by Will Tipton.

The books that helped me the most since the start of the challenge: "The Mental Game of Poker", "Crushing the Microstakes", "The Grinder's Manual".

Finished "Tournament Poker and the Art of War" by David Apostolico.

This is a bit of a stretch but still a good book. The analogies are contrived and complicate poker rather than making it approachable.

The only really relevant quote: "Prohibit the taking of omens, and do away with superstitious doubts."

IMHO, the perfect game to apply and learn "The Art of War" teachings is "The Battle of Wesnoth".

"We cannot enter into alliances until we are acquainted with the designs of our neighbors." Golden words for Civ.

I can very easily agree with the last two books, so I’m going to add “The Mental Game of Poker” to my list.

Finished "Zen and the Art of Poker" by Larry Phillips.

What a generic, superficial mumbo-jumbo. Wanna really learn discipline and patience? Go learn chess. "Learn how to avoid a losing streak." WTF. Truckload of degen crap. Hard to tolerate this kind of bollocks after reading TMOP.

This got me wondering, "If I wanted to sabotage another player, what book would I recommend to them?". This book would be one of such. I am going to claim this is my favorite book from now on until I find more sinister one.

LOL, Gold.

Finished "Professional Poker: The Essential Guide to Playing for a Living" by Mark Blade.

This is one of the best poker books I've read. It is full of wisdom and covers the major aspects of playing poker for a living. I guess this is also one of rare "old-school" books that emphasize the mental game.

Methinks I need that one.

PS, is Global opening up to WA again? Rumors.

Another aspect that is covered seriously in "Professional Poker" book is problem/pathological gambling among poker pros. I've always wandered how big the degenerate population is in poker. What are my chances to play with a degenerate on a random table? I suppose it would also depend on stakes, location, time, live vs. online. For example, playing on Global, I noticed that after midnight, the crazy action is due to hopelessly stuck degenerates, so if you can stay up all night, you can make a killing.

Found some interesting papers on this topic (the search actually showed hundreds).

"Chasing losses in online poker and casino games: Characteristics and game play of Internet gamblers at risk of disordered gambling" by Sally M. Gainsbury et al., 2014.
This is an anonymous survey of 10,838 participants self-selected across ~100 internet casinos and venues, 5,461 of whom were poker players, 55% of whom were from the USA.

• 28.5% were chasers
• playing only poker lowered probability of chasing by 10.4%
• the Gambler’s Fallacy increased the probability of chasing by 39.4%
• the Hot Hand bias increased the probability of chasing by 14%.

"Younger people were more likely to report chasing losses than older gamblers."

"Notably, in the current study longer and more frequent poker sessions were not associated with chasing losses, which is consistent with the suggestion that this gambling activity may be less problematic for players (DBCDE, 2013). Alternatively, as the element of skill is more pronounced in poker over longer periods of time (Meyer et al., 2012), poker players who engage in this activity more regularly may be more disciplined and less likely to chase losses."

"Playing for excitement was more common among both Internet casino and poker players who chased their losses, although winning money was also an important motivator for these groups."

"Problem gambling in poker: money, rationality and control in a skill-based social game" by Ole Bjerg, 2010.
This is in-depth interview of 29 poker players: 14 problem gamblers, 10 pros, and 5 recs.

"First, the structural composition of different gambling games has a significant effect on the ways problem gambling may develop in relation to these games."

"Second, even within poker there is a large degree of variability in the way problem gambling may develop. Problem gamblers in poker may be losing or winning players, they may be irrational or rational in their perception of the game, and their style of play may be uncontrolled or controlled. This challenges a series of fundamental assumptions about problem gambling that are built into many of the theoretical concepts we ordinarily use to understand, diagnose and treat problem gambling."

"All-in and Bad Beat: Professional Poker Players and Pathological Gambling" by Roberta Biolcati et al., 2014.
This is a survey of a self-selected group of 256 Italian poker players (50.8% pros, 49.2% recs).

• The main reason for playing poker was to earn money for both pros and recs (80+%).
• For fun (17.7% among professionals) (45.2% among recreational players)
• Because it is exciting (9.8%)
• Other reasons: competition, challenge, developing skills.
• 1.6% of the participants were identified as pathological gamblers (1 in 60).
• Chasing losses (44.5%) (this is huge!!!)
• Risked significant relationships (12.9%)
• Preoccupation (~ 10%)
• Professionals played more cash games (71.9% vs 50.8%)
• Recreational players played more MTT (32.3% vs 19.5%) and SNG (12.9% vs 4.7%)

"The results presented here also demonstrate that poker is the main form of gambling engaged in and that most players do not gamble on other activities and if they do, it is infrequently."

"Sitting at the virtual poker table: A prospective epidemiological study of actual Internet poker gambling behavior" by Debi A. LaPlante et al., 2009.
This is a two-year study of 3445 internet poker players.

• The median activity was one session per three days.
• The median cost of playing poker was €1.8 per session.
• The median wager was €13 per session.
• The median net loss across sessions was €106.
• 5% were active players (3 times longer sessions, one and half sessions per day, €89 wager/session, €1941 median loss).

"It is notable that individuals who lost larger portions of their monies bet (Percent Lost) were involved for shorter periods (Duration, rho = -.23) and played fewer poker sessions when they were involved (Total sessions, rho = -.41)."

"How the Internet is changing gambling: Findings from an Australian prevalence survey" by Sally M. Gainsbury et al., 2015.
This is a national survey of 15K Australians over a landline phone in 2010/2011.

• 64.3% gambled within the past 12 month.
• The majority gambled on lottery, scratch tickets, horse and dog racing.
• 5.9% played poker
• 8.1% gambled online (interactive/internet gambling)
• 19.9% of interactive gamblers played poker (vs. 7.7% of non-interactive)
• 2.9% of interactive gamblers considered themselves to be professional gamblers (vs. 0.4% of non-interactive)

"Interactive gamblers also participated in a significantly greater total number of gambling activities and gambled more frequently on multiple forms."

"This study shows that gambling participation is declining, but interactive gambling is increasing. Interactive gamblers appear to represent a unique cohort of players demographically as well as in terms of their gambling."

"A digital revolution: Comparison of demographic profiles, attitudes and gambling behavior of Internet and non-Internet gamblers" by Sally Gainsbury et al., 2012.
This is an online survey of self-selected 6,682 Australian gamblers, 70% of whom were classified as internet gamblers.

• 46.8% of poker players used Internet poker sites (8.3% of all respondents)
• 37.8% of Internet gamblers played poker (vs. 15.4% of non-Internet)
• Internet gamblers participated in more forms of gambling
• Internet gamblers appear to gamble more frequently
• No significant difference in monthly win/loss
• 75% drunk alcohol while gambling (vs. 66.3% non-Internet)
• 60.2% gambled from 12pm to 6pm, 28.4% gambled between 6pm and 12am
• The median Internet poker session was around 2 hours

"The Gambling Habits of Online Poker Players" by Ingo Fiedler, 2011.
This is an analysis of 2,127,887 Pokerstars poker over six months. This paper also reviews 9 papers (2007-2011) on this subject from Harvard Medical School.

• "Most online poker players only play a few times and for very low stakes"
• "The median player played 7 sessions and 4.87 hours over 6 months."
• "The 99% percentile player has a playing volume that is 552 times higher than that of the median player (US$2,685)"
• "1% of the players account for 60% of playing volume (10% for even 91%)"
• 58.73% play NLHE
• "10% of the players play at 1.65, 5% on 2.36, and 1% at 6.03 tables on average"
• "an average player loss of US$177.51" (over 6 months in rake)

"Hence, the operator needs more than 500 recreational poker players to get as much revenue as he gets from one very intense player and it can be concluded that the operators generate most of their revenue from the intense players."

"The group of high volume players is not only interesting for the industry because of the revenue they generate but also for research on gambling addiction. However, it is wrong to label every one of them as a (probable) pathological gambler, because in the long run skill plays a key role for the outcome in poker."

Weekly Update

Received all the funds from Global, but it will take another 10 days to clear from Coinbase and transfer to Ignition.

Got my $1K bitcoins to Ignition. The $1K bonus is pretty disappointing since I have to grind 30K Ignition miles. At 25NL fast-fold, I was able to get 60-80 miles/hour, so it is going to take 400 to 500 hours to get the full bonus. It is even more frustrating that Ignition only gives 30 days to clear the bonus. I hoped it would boost my cushion for 50NL; instead, it is asking me to gamble more.

Multi-tabling is very unpleasant -- hard to keep track who is who and take mental notes. Table image and player reads go through the window. Have to play against population in general, which is less EV and boring. I haven't yet tried HU cash -- this is my hope; though, there are not many people playing HU. I don't think anonymous poker makes you a better player in the long run; it is almost dehumanizing.

Auto top-up is missing; some table stats are missing (like hands/hour); the table chat is limited and rudimentary. Casino side-games while at poker table is pretty "evil".

15 sec time limit at Zone is brutal (I timed out with nuts twice, trying to get my raise size right) -- makes 2 tabling prone to errors.

25NL Zone is more aggressive than Global 20NL 6-max. There's lots of steeling going on. Pretty much never saw a limp-fest.

One positive thing is that I can download my hand history after 24 hours, so I will be posting stats every Tuesday after weekly updates.

Good going and good luck. Hope you have the tracking software. Poker tracker is the best, free ignition hand grabber (do not have to pay for the card catcher from other site that makes drive hud). HEM still requires separate card catcher.

I agree that it is somewhat dehumanizing; this pretty much sums up my experience at anon tables. It does make you focus on general population tendencies, which for me was something I had never considered really before. I sent you a message about some fixes.


You have to open up a support ticket requesting a registration code, to get the Ignition Hand Grabber beta for Poker Tracker 4 during their free trial.

https://support.pokertracker.com/support/product/2

If you (or anyone here) has read one or both of Will Tipton's books and has anything to say about them would love to hear. I couldn't get through the first volume because it was just so dense and seemed more aimed at computer science but maybe I missed the idea. Thx for the book recs.

Found a way to play Ignition poker on a web-browser (basically, the mobile version on /poker-lobby), so I don't have to use Windows anymore. I wonder why Ignition doesn't advertise this.