Bankroll now @ $2k. For me this is huge win. I'm not sure if mentally ready to full on shot 50nl but I am rolled for it and cannot shy away from loading up tables anymore. Last year I took a hit towards the end of the year and felt like a set back that I wouldn't get to 50nl any time soon but here I am only a little over a month behind the schedule/target I set out for myself. EOY was supposed to be shotting 50nl/establishing and we missed the mark, dropped back to 10nl and rebuilt during Nov-Dec then moved up to 25nl a little after the new year i think and it's been a crazy run up since then. Almost straight up. Jan-Present has been full of good hands, bad hands, and the absolute craziest hands I have seen yet. The money is coming in so much faster than 10nl, there is legit no growth at 10nl. It takes ages to build a roll there. I'm playing for pots now that I was taking a week or longer to build at 10nl, im sure this isn't new to higher stakes players but this was a little shock for me at first watching the money pour in. I'm getting kind of close to making decent side money now and it's going to be tougher to just not want to quit my job and go on unemployment for 6 months and again double down on everything and try to rush up to 100nl where I think I could probably make about the same as I am at my job. I loathe the 9-5 lifestyle and rat race.

25nl seems a little too short lived and I'm wondering if I need to play out more hands for proof or just move along as my bankroll permits. (seems more volatile, not sure how mental will handle swings at 50nl) I only have about 25k hands played but winning about 10bb/100 there and I don't think I'm sun running either. Would love to sun run and get way over EV ofc.

Small winner so far @50nl with modest 4.0 bb/100 over 3k hands. Maybe playing out rest of Feb would be wise at 25nl and starting new month new stake?

Amazing progress you are making!! Think for everyone poker is different, for me I need a lot of security built in to deal with the swings. Just realize when money comes fast it can also leave fast, are you mentally fine with that?

Finish the month at your current stakes and evaluate your performance. If you're happy with your progress and feel prepared, consider moving up to NL50.

Establish a definite stop loss for this new limit, whether it's 2, 5, or 10 buy-ins.
Consider what steps you'll take if you encounter setbacks. It's important to acknowledge that downturns are a natural part of the game, and even skilled players experience them.
Prepare yourself mentally for the possibility of facing challenges and setbacks along the way.

Remember, you can always revert to your previous stakes if you encounter any challenges or feel uneasy at the higher limit.
Focus on maintaining the same level of confidence in your game as you transition.

Stick to the strategies that have worked for you at the previous limit and don't let variance change that.

Good luck!

Thanks! Yeah I'm not sure if I'm ready to handle losing 10bi in a session @50nl lol going to be testing my mental game for sure! I was keeping over 40bi in my roll for each stake (last year) and this ended up giving me an excuse to never actually move up because I would tell myself I get more comfortable with each extra bi I can add into the roll. So eventually I was playing 10nl with 160 bi but scared to move up. At that time I shotted 25nl and lost like 5bi and quit the stake then cause I lost $100. Since then I felt like I should face my fears and force myself to be comfortable with around 20-40bi close to 40 bi I should be pushing stakes if I'm going to take poker serious as a potential earning source.

Thanks as always slyless. I think finishing out the month at 25nl will be the best option (I will still be aggro shotting though) as I think this will help offer some closure I might be looking for subconsciously as I transition stakes. Feels like the same game for the most part. Fish and whales actually seem like they get worse and more punty as I move up lol

Mix in some 50nl at least. You need to be taking aggressive shots with the take being so bad. Start by just adding 1 table and go from there.

So deposited $2 on global for like 20SC depo bonus. Lost a bi at 10nl so decided to degen the rest on slots for like $1 spins, f it right...

Hit for $70...

Boosted daily bonus, deposit bonus, and today is a day they give out a bonus that matches your profits up to 100SC.

God bless this site constantly giving me free 10nl rolls that I just take and don't look back. I don't even put volume on Global anymore but can't complain about basically free $100+

Month update



YTD

bro identifies as a bitcoin

Should have waited a day so I could keep bragging about a double digit winrate... oh well, what a heater that was.

also my EV.

Great results man, if you don't have enough roll to play at NL50 without worries maybe you should stick around at NL25 for a while in order to build more roll while improving your game, 1-2 months might be enough. Anyway, good luck for you.

Month update tonight cause I hit a new Bankroll milestone. $3k. Another big deal for me. I withdrew $500 for some material which brought the roll back down to $2k and tbh I was a little bummed out about the set back, but I couldn't pass up getting what I wanted. The month has been sick, started out with some run good which I haven't seen in basically 100k hands.

I feel like I'm improving so much still every day. I'm still putting in a lot of study time. I think sometimes it's probably too much and at some point it has to be diminishing or netzero gains, I still find myself having to go over simple(?) things multiple times to get a grasp on them. I don't find it discouraging as much as I used to and I've been in this headspace lately where I just want to learn and find a zen place during playing that allows me to just be making decisions. I have noticed falling into something like this (is the only way i know how to describe it) and I loved rock climbing because of a similar state of being it let me feel. Basically the world falls away and all I have to think about or exist with is the decision or action in front of me, in climbing this was the same and the world would drift away and my entire experience completely engrossed in the climb in front of me. Each move incredibly rich and full of attention, really beautiful feeling.

I still can experience intense feelings of fear of failure and fear of (idk how to really say this) being an imposter? A fraud? Like I'm just on one big heater and it's going great for now but it's going to all come crashing down one day and there I will be standing in the rubble, not a clue what's going on... who knows

I'm really happy with how my journey has turned out so far. There were times I wanted to give up for sure. I still get tilted when I play bad and I'm still working through mental game every day. Something I want to write here that before I would never agree with, that I have little control over myself when emotions get high and tense. I mean, I have control like I'm not raging like I'm bashing the walls or throwing stuff I don't do that. I mean like I don't have a great grip on them in a way I can remain calm in expression when feeling anger or sadness or terror. It reminds me of the rush I used to get from climbing and kinda being in dangerous and unpredictable scenarios when backpacking around too. But for climbing and such I felt this urge to really push into that form of fear like fear of heights, fear of falling, fear of injury etc. It was also a rush to be living homeless like forcing each day to be a test into the unknown, I could have simply just went on a plane home anytime but didn't. There was something about it. Anyway there is a point to that, I feel something similar to how poker erupts my emotions only there's some element I can't put my finger on that my fear feels much more intense and more difficult to overcome to push into it and face it. Idk maybe I'm just a little too baked rn. Point is I never thought that I needed to learn how to master my emotions and now I feel like that's probably one of the most important and impactful things I could work on not just for poker but literally every interaction/experience in life daily.

I'm out of stuff to say. I wanted to try to get some thoughts out finally because I tend to keep things inside and don't express maybe enough. Always wanted to do a journal but I always give up or never start. Not saying here will be the best place lol but at least it's some kind of start? Who gives a **** about that anyway, here's graphs and stakes. Volume tracked is low cause I'm splitting with untracked site this month and next.

Untracked is +$350



And here is what I have total tracked hands since I stopped playing on ACR. I forget exactly when (i would have to look back in thread but too lazy) think it was around Sept 2023?



Started to feel like I should be pressuring the shots a little more than I am rn because I can probably afford to lose a few bb/100. I am feeling the hunger to establish 50nl and get into shotting 100nl asap. The more success I have in poker, the more I'm hating my job and it's becoming very difficult to wake up and go to it.

Wow you're kicking a$$ man great work.

I feel you about the emotional control thing. I'm terrible at it.

What stakes are you playing now? 50?

Thanks bro.

I've been playing 50nl too, basically just bumhunting the same recs I see at 25nl lol maybe a few regs too. Likely need to just put more volume into higher stakes

Are you playing primarily Ignition?

No I just used it for my alias so I can not expose it lol but if you’re in my pool I’m not hard to find.

I have a very small zone recent sample I think like 5 bi over 2k hands but I don’t like playing there

Was quite confident that you had what it takes.

Forgive me if this question is too personal but what is your life situation like atm? Do you live alone? Are you working to pay bills? There's a lot more questions like this that need answers to before you should consider quitting your job and making a go at it. Circumstances will determine whether its feasible right now or best to wait down the road.

I discuss it with my Fiance quite often. It's possible but not at these stakes. I'm not sure exactly what sort of time frame I could put on it for full time but worst case scenario, I still hold my journeyman status and in good standing with my Union. I always have a job @$40/hr. My current plans were to reach an hourly in poker that is sustaining and supplement as needed with my "job." The nature of my work is come and go so that is a solid fallback. I have a strong reputation as far as skill goes so I'm not worried about finding the work in the times of need. I moved away from the Union side and now took a job with the county because there was a lot of room for downtime where I could slam study like I am. I'm doing whatever work needs done at work and in basically every free minute watching content, or going over hands, browsing poker related stuff, then i come home eat with the lady spend some time until she sleeps and play a few hours each day. Weekends are on blast, typically doing minimum 6 hours of play. The days I call off work and spend all day doing the same stuff, studying/playing/etc feel so much better for my mental health. I'm able to go grab a coffee or take a walk in the park or lift, whatever it is that makes me feel pretty good and then still go and put some work into something I get a lot of satisfaction from in return. Also I don't feel a time crunch if all I have to do is play a few hours, then study in my free time but I WANT to study, I really do enjoy that part of the game. The money is becoming decent, not great by any means, but the gains I feel in life from avoiding scenarios and people i dislike just feels incredible.

10 hours minimum is dedicated to my job and most of that time there feels depressing. This is a sign to me that the career will only lead to me looking back one day and asking myself why I never went to try to chase my actual passions and things I obsess over. I didn't choose my current career out of love or interest of the field. I only chose it because they take in anyone and it offers a decent salary with little to no effort. Imagine working next to some clown who barely scraped through apprenticeship, is just buddies with the coordinator cause neighbors, yet you are both on the same hourly. That same guy almost killed someone running a man lift into the hot rail because that's how someone jokingly told him to test if the line was hot. Blew machine apart lucky not to be dead. Like you have to be braindead to do that. We make the same money, he probably gets offered more jobs/hours at "easy money gigs" than I ever will because he asks his buddy clown to come over for BBQs. Thanks, but I want no part of that politics. It's one of the most dangerous jobs around and I'm just not into doing it anymore around people that can barely wipe their drool. I have tried to express my beliefs and concerns with my union and I have basically been told to get bent. It's not a career I will ever be able to fight for.

I'm so bitter about it, even if i had the opportunity to push work again (foreman, basically the ceiling of the business) I wouldn't take it because I just feel like the entire day is wasted to something that I have no part in, other than getting a paycheck. There has to be more to life than going to work for someone who is exploiting you, because this is basically over half your existent considering you have to sleep. And if I am going to be in the business of exploitation, then I want more in return than someone else's effort going towards someone else's company/dreams/passions, telling guys to go build something for someone else doesn't net me any satisfaction or fulfillment.

I'm not really sure if poker is the answer but I can say this. Poker has opened my eyes to all kinds of things I never ever had a hint of a thought about. There's a lot of good feelings and great revelations that have come to be as a result of this game. This makes me feel like it has great significance. Obv there are takeaways from my job, from my travels, from rock climbing and everything before that. There was a time I thought traveling was the absolute best thing I could have ever done, I also have days and even years stretches that I feel like that was a complete waste of time too. Maybe I will just never be satisfied. Maybe that's okay.

Looking back in life, i seem to prefer to take a path less traveled (I'm not saying I am super unique, obv others have done what I have done and more). Most attractive are the things that people fear or speak about from the outside without having any experience with it. I notice this a lot just talking to people, i trend into playing devils advocate with everything no matter the subject or it's significance. This leads me to thinking this is just in my nature. It's a very good possibility that I am insatiable.

Trust me, I know all about it. I dropped out of high school and got stuck in the manufacturing/labor trap so I've experienced everything you're dealing with for about 20 years on and off. From reading what you wrote it sounds like you are following someone else's script instead of following your own and you don't know why. Felt the same way. Still feel that way some days. Not gonna get all deep and philosophical so I'll just cut to the chase. It's clear that poker is your passion atm and we both live in a current poker climate that other pros around the world can only dream of being apart of because of how shite online poker is in most markets atm. Knowing what I know now I would never adamantly encourage someone to become a poker pro unless they had certain attributes about them that I think is absolutely mandatory to have in order to succeed in this cutthroat environment. I think you have enough of them to be successful in poker and you are smart enough to figure the rest out on your own along the way.

I'll end it with the best advice I can give you imo: keep the job for now (didn't know you were engaged), don't burn any bridges, keep doing what you're doing with poker and work your way up to minimum nl200. If you can hold your own there, great but that's just the first step. Then you have to make sure you can mentally handle playing 100-200 hours a poker a month every month and what that entails. I tell you what, even my winning days are stressful. It's a totally different beast playing poker to pay the bills. Breaking even for weeks and rent is around the corner. The irony of it all is that you never really know if you are capable of it until you actually do it and deal with all that comes with it and sometimes you never get the chance to perfectly transition into it you just have to take a gigantic leap of faith on yourself and fuccing do it come hell or high water. But if you are patient enough to save up a year or more of living expenses then that would be my responsible suggestion. If you're really itching to jump off the porch then at least 6 months.

for some reason this scene comes to mind.

There ya go champ

Your job sounds like the perfect transitional job, but you probably want a solid sample of making at least 2-3x your work hourly. Taxes, health insurance, lack of 401k, sick time, vacation, etc all add up.

I quit my job to be an independent contractor in my field, and it was great, but I was always weighing life vs financial stuff. My grandma died and I was considering not going to the funeral to make $2k over a few days. Pretty ****ed up mentality.


Ideally, you can get in some higher stakes live games. Pretty low stress and less swingy if the games are soft. I have buddies in a similar situation as you who play about 70/30 live and online. Seems like a good mix.

I have too many BI for my main stake in my roll. And I'm slacking on shotting. 25nl basically feels like an ATM and I think it's causing me to regress. Came across some interesting ideas for BRM so I have some work to do on specifically how I will segregate it.



Pdope for hands recent 200k hand sample.


Pdope for most recent 100k+ sample.


It's no question that I am beating uNL. Currently BR is floating around $3500 (let's be real though it's not floating it's BLOATING) so that basically leaves me $3250 that I can probably segregate into 2 shotting rolls for 50nl and 100nl. $2k can probably go to shotting 50nl and transitioning into my main stake and I can use a $1.2k roll to shot 100nl games that have good line-ups. With 40 bi dedicated to 50nl I do not see how I could possible go broke and will likely implement a generous stop loss, something like 10-15 bi? 100nl however will have a tight stop loss something like 2 bi.

I would really like to read/hear any input about shotting/moving up from anyone reading this. Tell me your experiences and struggles, how you overcame false ceilings and misperceptions. Failures and successes both please, I'm looking for perspective here. I don't come from a rich family/lifestyle by any means (trailer park childhood) so there's for sure some dynamic going on that I don't have a way to verbalize. Part of it likely being afraid to have the money possible, part of it likely afraid to lose what I have generated, part of it is fear of failure, who knows what else. If I were able to put my finger exactly on the issue then I would at least have recognition and be in motion to do something about it. Feels like I need to just jump off the ledge and never look back because I can't put my finger on it. Been talking about moving up for months and months. Let's be honest though, if you asked me one year ago if I thought I was going to become a 10bb/100 player and I would have laughed in your face so all of this is still very green and new to me. When you ask me now if I feel like a winning player, the answer is still no. It's a very odd sensation. I'm winning and it's almost like I don't know why. If you ask me where I see myself in a year... I don't think I can answer that. Seems like I don't know myself as much as I think/thought so it's anyone's best guess.


Stakes this year over 10nl



50nl this year (started shotting not very long ago and was very selective with tables)


50nl hardly a sample but still don't see how I can't be crushing there as well... So what exactly IS holding me back?

-BP

the only way to get past the hurdle of the money amount is to see this kind of like a video game where you are just trying to beat the next level, and you need X amount of biglinds to play said level, that’s it, whenever you fall below this threshold you play the limit below

that said if you want to play for a living I would suggest setting aside 1 year worth of bills/spending etc. to make sure normal variance won’t stress you out

but yeah treat this like league of legends or something, you’re just trying to win and move on to the next rank

Here's an interesting thread about BRM and shot taking: https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/6...poker-1809465/

Mathematically speaking: it is generally better to start shotting faster using small stop losses, rather than waiting longer and using bigger stop losses.

I know an extreme case... I guy that has played NL10 for 5 years, like 50 000 hands per month @ 10bb/100. He's probably got the talent to make $5000 per month instead of $500, but for some reason he just refuses to move up!

Also, even if you initially fail the shot, having played vs better regs and for bigger pots at the higher stake, moving down again it will feel like child's play.

@swerbs

I had a lot of the same feelings and approached it in a similar way as you. It is a very big mistake. You should very much aggressively move up especially when you have enough information to indicate your winrate is quite high at a given level (>5bb). I would strongly encourage you to move up much faster...

As Xenoblade says, you really can't view it as money.... got to just think of everything in terms of big blinds and go from there. When you are making/losing a lot of money in poker on a daily basis it does effect your view of money as a whole in a kind of negative way in my opinion, but you really just have to view it through the lens of "big blinds".

Not moving up quickly enough is probably one of the biggest leaks I see when I work with my students. It looks like this really will be your breakout year, so just try to embrace the fact that when you move up/shot take you might lose some buy ins and just keep shotting. When you shot take, try to put an emphasis on playing at the best days/times (weekends/evenings) and prioritize good tables and when you're feeling you're playing well.... but definitely be aggressive with moving up.

I'll reiterate it again: move up now.