I agree. Even after I win money at a casino I feel dirty for some reason. I don't have that same feeling after winning online. Maybe it's keeping my head in the sand or something but it doesn't feel as bad. What online options do you have playing in Australia?

It could be worse, he could have quit his job and sought poker as his only means of income.

Yeah I get a lot of those dirty feeling days. Having to look the person in the eyes whose face you've disappointed does make it worse imo. Like when you win online, you can express your emotions so freely: you can cheer and scream and say "f**k yeah I doubled up, I beast high stakes, I beast everything!" After a loss you can yell "how the f**k does this r*tard call a raise with 74s and get there!" But you can't express yourself like that at a live poker table without being a d**k. You always need to be polite and graceful. Having to hold it in and sympathise with the person who donated their stack to you can be mentally draining.

I'm struggling to.win on Ignition. It takes a lot more skill and concentration imo. And for some reason, I always end up jumping into a SnG or MTT. Those games are just too accessible. Half my losses this year on Iggy came from me playing stupid games like $20 MTTs or 50PLO or 100nlz. I struggled to grind one stake and even if I did, I don't even know if I'm a winning player at those stakes.

I'm much more confident with my live game, and since I currently live so close to the casino and currently have a nice bankroll, this seems like the perfect time to just continue with the live grind for a bit longer.

What is your actual bankroll at this point? Unless you've spent less than your job provides it has to be less than the $9,700.

Currently $7500. But it's about to take another hit over the next 2 days, since:
1) It's Mother's Day tomorrow and I plan to spend about $300 buying my mum a new handbag.
2) My girlfriend's phone just broke. It had been acting weird for months but now it won't even turn on. I plan to buy her a new phone which will cost about $1200.

The sad thing is that I work 5 nights per week, so I should be able to cover my entire cost of living and add $100 to my bankroll every week, just from the money I earn at work, but recently, I've been giving a lot of money to my girlfriend and taking her out to a lot of expensive restaurants, so I've been spending far more than my work income and I have to deduct money from my bankroll for life expenses.

OP would go broke in a week playing 200 NL online.

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You've got $7500 to your name and want to spend 16% of your BR on a freaking iPhone X for your gf...

And still under these cirumstances financially OP takes shots in 5/10 games with huge possible swings attached to it. I mean, this is a trainwreck from start to finish.

Edit: also, taking your girlfriend out to expensive resturants and spend alot of unneccesary money on lifestyle is an almost idiotproof recipe for disaster. Thousands of pokerplayers have been in your exact shoes and failed because they was living above their bankroll/financial situation.

Are you still taking 5/10 shots w/ that BR? Stop if you are. Seriously. You're not even rolled for 2/5 right now. You clearly have bills/obligations & a serious relationship to worry about. Get humble, get your priorities straight and drop down stakes, like immediately, until you grind up over 10K-15K again @ 2/3 (or lower). Then go back to 2/5 NLH, and stay there. Your goal(s) should center around technical/self improvement, not getting to the highest stakes as fast as possible. Put your baller-dreams on the shelf for the next 2-3 years (or more) & build a stable life for yourself first. Or continue down this nonsensical/overly-risky path.

I've read through most of TT. Though I think you overestimate your own abilities by quite alot, I don't question you're a winning player @ low-stakes live. But I do question your discipline/mental-game/life-perspective, which is far more important to long-term success in poker than technical skill. Seriously, re-read what Kelvis, Squidface & others are telling you. You need to change your approach/mindset drastically, or you're going to lose a lot more than just your BR. You're mid-20's? I'm in my early 30's, and I promise you, things can change drastically in your life in that span of time, and often not for the better. You're not just getting decent poker advice here, you're getting decent life advice too. Take it or leave it. GL to you.

Does your girlfriend not have a job? Why can't she buy her own things? You aren't married yet spending all this money on her is ridiculous and foolish.

I paid $50 for my smart phone and I feel balla, haha

Wow....

I feel bad for op when his gf leaves him and he degens his bankroll away. It’s going to be a deep abyss.

Giving your gf money, buying her a new phone and taking her out to expensive dinners reveals serious issues beyond poker. She’ll use you until you run out of money and then poof she’ll be gone. You’re pussy whipped but you can’t see it. You’re being used dude.

I have to agree with the other posters. Spending so much on your gf's phone is ridiculous. You should seperate your bankroll from the rest of your life. Live your life and spend your pizza money, if you have left over wage to spend on your gf then go ahead. Your poker roll should be completely separate. Poker money I don't see as real money, it's a tool.

I'm not saying OPs spending habits are logical overall, but every male has overspent $$$ on their partner somewhere along the line. Let's not get self-righteous over his relationship -- not really what TT is about.

Also, not gonna fault OP for trying to make GF feel appreciated. Regular sex is a pretty nice payoff.

Lol at 24, spending money on women is one of the dumbest things a man can do. It brings no long term benefits. If you have to spend lots of money to have regular sex, you’re doing it wrong.

If you say so. I'm sure you're one to judge.

Eat rice and beans. Never touch the roll.

It's ok to spend what you can afford on your girlfriend, but what OP is spending is way out of the realm of reasonable compared to his income and liferoll situation.

Not to derail too much but lol at having to spend $ on your partner in an attempt to get regular sex. That is just sad.

Point is spending on your gf is completely fine, it's his money he can do what he wants. But the pokerroll is not money to be spent, it's the most important tool for the job. To Op I would say to put your bankroll completely out of your mind in terms of money to spend. You're in a great position in that you have a job bringing money in, you can use this for your life and gradually grow your bankroll with no pressure. Keep it up!

Totally agree. As I stated, I think his BRM is terrible.

I'm just trying to correct the insinuation that OP wanting to help his GF out w/ finances is evidence that he's "being used" and/or is "pussy whipped". That's just misogynistic idiocy/projection.

Overspending on women outside your budget (i would say that in OPs situation buying your girlfirend a new expensive flagship model for $1100 when your total roll is $7500 is outside your budget) is a pretty classic way of overcompensating for lack a self esteem or lack of self worth as a person.

The expensive resturantvisits also builds uppon that impression. I am not here to judge OP for how he treats his family,friends or his girlfriend- but that being said other posters are absolutely correct that these things is tied together and that this behaviour likely displays personal issues beyond poker.

When I was 16/17 I had a gf. I also played poker and was showing off money like there was no tomorrow. We went shopping a lot. I spent thousands of dollars on her. I went from being one of the most popular kids in school to cutting almost everyone out of my life to spend time and money with her. I was in a world of hurt when she left.

When you spend money on a woman she immediately sees you as a tool. This is not a moral judgment, it’s just how women’s minds work. They need tools to survive in this world. Ime, you don’t need to spend a single cent to get regular sex. In fact, if you know what you’re doing, women will start buying things and going out of their way to do things for you.

Now, if you’re loaded, sure spend money on women because it doesn’t affect your ability to make more money. But ops case is quite different. He delivers pizzas and he wants to spend 1200(!) on a phone...it’s idiotic. He’s trying to build a roll and play 5/t and then he wants to dump a big chunk of it on a brand new depreciating asset, when he can at least get something functional for much less. I just bought two like new iPhone 6s for my mom and me for 400 total.

Anyway that was a bit of a ramble and I’m an idiot for attempting to change op and others minds about perceptions of life and women, but oh well. I’m a slow learner. Revealing the truth always leads to a bunch of flak from those whose beliefs it challenges.

Good post, and bullseye points is bolded.

Women are not to be trusted. Check. It's not their fault though, "it's just how their minds work". Check. $$$ has never contributed to you getting laid. Check. You're not making a moral judgement. Check.

Totally rational/scientific POV.

I opened this thread earlier today and read some BRM etc advice / degen mentions. I thought there will be the bust in the pages, so I started reading from 1st page, it's full 2+2 pages everyone's contributing with their text in some fashion. Long read, I read it all till like page 8 just to skip back to check if the bust is to be found in between pages 8 and 14, but there's no bust, you're doing good!

Yeah, you're on a roll now if you don't bust you've saved your roll, if you can grow this 7k into 35k, even better, you'll have crossed the 10k milestone in poker earnings by a good half-a-mile

In, gl hf gamble up or slow down for mathematical safety you've made an interesting thread to follow

The guy that bluffed you off, the guy with A5, I think it's normal, you don't often have it on the flop, your small turn bet typically is weak, real Q don't often bet small on the turn as played by most people, well played by him

Wow, I didn't think it was this bad. Spending $1.2k on a phone for his gf, taking her out to expensive restaurants, taking shots at 5/10, all with only $7.5k to his name. This is going to end in disaster pretty quickly. I'm amazed it hasn't done so already. I suppose he does have his $20/hour job to fall back on, which is something.

OP, you're a true sucker if you spend money on women like this. If you can't get female attention/sex without spending money on them, then that's unfortunate, but at least keep your dignity (and money). You're being used.

Trust me, I've seen many men fall into your trap with women. It's only when they lose their job/go bankrupt that they realize women never liked them in the first place.

Here's a tip for you: stop spending money on women - not a single cent. This way, you will find a woman who likes you for you, not your financial resources.


edit: what idiot even spends $1.2k on a phone anyway? he said it really casually as well, like it's just something everyone does lol.