Hey all it's King Krab here with some updates on my journey through poker and life in Southern California. I stand behind my decision (addiction?) in believing that poker is the best way for me to rise above poverty, achieve my dreams and avoid being trapped working the 9-6 schlepp of Corporate America.

Recently I’ve been playing games with a $5 big blind in Los Angeles. Sometimes $3 bb. Buyins range from $100 up to $600 depending on the room. I mostly just hunt for the lax rich dudes who passively call to see every flop and I build up a stack off those guys.

I’m disappointed to report I have little to brag about recently (except a few month long flings with a few 10/10 chicks who dipped when they realized I’m perennially near broke). In jest, perhaps the best definition of a poker pro I’ve heard, definitely not from Merriam-Webster, is that being a poker pro means, “sleeping on a friends couch, waiting for a buddy to stake you, battling multiple mental illnesses and seeking drug/alcohol rendezvous to pass the time until things (uninevitably) turn around.” That definition is certainly jaded, and doesn’t represent the larger portion of generative poker pros. But to be honest I sometimes somewhat fall in that category.

But I’m determined to change. When I’m 70 years old I don’t want to look back on the months of 2024 as wasted opportunities, merely as expensive hedonistic attempts at short lived empty and lonely thrills.

Something positive to report is that I’m not sleeping in my car or an Airbnb right now. I have the stability of my own room and bed to sleep on whenever I want.

Also I won an 8 way allin at Hustler Casino last week. It was a splash pot meaning the casino drew a random table to add $100 to the next pot. It was a low stakes table so 4 short stacks were allin preflop and 4 of us called, a flop of A97 got checked around and when a J peeled the turn 4 more of us were allin. I had J2 and a beautiful 2 on the river meant the dealer shipped me the 1k+ pot. #rent paid


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This link is for the previous posts of my blog for anyone who wants to catch up.
Also check out my book The Degenerate Journey: From Homeless to Poker Pro on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/KingKrab-Dege...s%2C181&sr=8-1

poker is not the best way to rise above poverty, at all, tons of stuff you can do that would yield a much higher EV, especially long run

if you had to succeed with poker you would have a while ago, you were around a decade ago and you didn’t make it

poker didn’t get easier in the meantime, I made millions playing poker and nowadays anyone who says they’d like to pursue poker I tell them not to, it’s not like it was 15 yrs ago

Well written, in. Good luck!

So you're saying it's possible to win millies. Thx for the inspiration man. My goal is to start by winning 25k this summer. After paying 8k in living expenses, zero in taxes, 1k on Hinge dates, sativa and hookers, in that chroniclogical order, that'll net me 16k profit this summer. Anything is possible. I can do it

Maybe the issue, besides living in the wrong side of the world (I think online grinders from Belarus, or Vietnam, have a better chance of winning vs poverty playing poker than an american), is that most people who made it were big nerds who worked their asses off. They had/have their own vices and addictions, but with poker, they would just talk hands, study, then with the solver era grind solvers and trainers etc. From what I read in the old thread, this didn't seem to apply to OP.

How big of a nerd you think you are Xenoblade (talking about poker only obv ).

I prob qualify as a big nerd, competitive starcraft player playing 12 hours a day prior to poker

I started poker well before solvers and I didn’t do any studying per say but I would talk strategy a lot with other successful players

Bragging about tax evasion, doing drugs, simping for gold diggers and banging hookers on the internet probably isn't a great idea.

Nerd

Good to see you're still alive and kicking KK. In for the journey. Good luck.

I imagine anyone who played 12 hours of competitive starcraft per day has that "thing" inside them to play a lot of poker and figure it out along the way. And games were softer 15 years ago right?

def softer, most importantly there was a really good flow of recs since governments hadn’t banned online poker yet in a lot of rich countries

I made a ton of money off of France and Italian recs

Recently I’ve read a ton of books and articles on mental health, addiction, and self sabotage. It can get a bit complex trying to understand things academically so I’ve adopted many bullet points, catch phrases and slogans in my effort to overcome my faults and to be the best version of myself (see attached whiteboard reminders I penned to put up on the wall in my room). But their effectiveness seems to only live temporarily, kinda like how a new car can’t have that new car smell forever or how a new girlfriend usually won't look as hot 3 months after meeting her. So the rest of 2024 I’m going to water down my focus to 3 simple rules 1. Go to bed early 2. Move slow, think slower 3. Don’t be heroic, reduce egotistical temptations. Every self help guru these days points to James Clear’s advice in his book Atomic Habits of just improving 1% each day. Sounds simple. Sounds obvious. But easier said than done Krabies. Gambling can wreak havoc on a man’s mind (we all have an amygdala), especially when the money gets relevant and personalities are confronting each other. Controlling entitlement, jealousy, ego, rage, greed, cortisol, limelight, depression, testosterone and consistency seem to be more important skills as a low stakes poker pro than knowing how to count the combinations of suited wheel aces in a deck. Meditation apps are my best ally.

(fwiw in case I move to high stakes, here’s my attempt to list out and count the suited wheel ace combinations. The exercise probably wasn't relevant 15 years ago but nowadays apparently these are the combos the nosebleed stakes wizards suggest to balance ranges with our premiums.
A2c, A2d, A2h, A2s, A3c, A3d, A3h, A3s, A4c, A4d, A4h, A4s, A5c, A5d, A5h, A5s
16 combos)

Thanks Dog your prosocial support has a tangible effect since poker and blogging are mostly confrontational and lonely worlds.

Marijuana is legal in California, I haven’t evaded taxes if I haven’t won it yet, and it’s not simping if girls quickly fall in love begging for it before I even get their names but thank you so much for sharing your cryogenic ice cold take jesterRiverRat

Official Announcement:

KingKrab Bankroll challenge

I hereby put my intentions out into the world. It’s my intention to have a 25k bankroll by the end of summer.

Currently I’m at 2.1k

Some barriers to beat: 1. Rake 2. Opponents 3. Bills/living expenses 4. Temptations to cheat on poker with pit games 5. Variance 6. Enough capital to play with

I have until September 21. Will post updates here

You made millions and told people not to pursue poker? I hardly have a losing day mass tabling cash games. Outside of a few players using rta the games are good. Over the last 3 months I don't even think I have had one losing day. I might of had 1 or 2. Games are good for me.

I know the post above was a troll, but I still feel inclined to come back and point that, even if you're playing 5k hands every single day with a 10 bb/100 winrate and the usual 100 bb/100 standard deviation, you're expected to lose 23.9750% of those days. Your probability of not losing any single day over 3 months is (1 - 0.239750)^90 = 0.0000000019%.

Maybe you're getting 20 bb/100, 30 bb/100 crushing 5nl on Bodog? LOL

30 bb/100 at 5nl playing 5k hands every single day with no days off gives you a monthly salary of 2,250 USD. Definitely livable in many third world countries.

LOL you pay to fk hookers, brag about "banging 10s" when you've probably paid for it either directly or indirectly and act like a player. As for the tax evasion, sure you haven't technically done it yet but you're implying that you will and leaving a paper trail which is just idiotic. Ain't a cold take, just facts.

yes it was substantially easier to make a lot of money back in the day, someone who’d be way ahead of the curve like I was but today would prob make 4-5 times less imo

Hey Xenoblade, are you Tyler Forrester?

Big fan of (most of) your videos, if you are him.

Warm. Sunny. First session of my Bankroll Challenge was a breeze. I bought in to 5/5 for $300.

Mp opens to 20, co calls, I call on btn with 98s. Flop AsKh4s. They c to me I bet 40 into 60, they both call. Turn 8d we all check. River is the golden 8c. Co bets 150 I go allin 240. He sighs bc he knows he lost but he knows he has to pay me off.

Then btn raises to 25, sb calls, I make it 125 with KK from bb, they both call. We get the bright K96r flop. I muster the discipline to check. Btn bets 160. I tank, act like I have QQ, resist temptation to raise, and I just call. Turn 6. I think if I check here he might slow down so I hand him a greasy rope to hang himself: I bet 80 into 700. He takes the noose and instantly puts me allin. He had 44.

30 minutes into the session, anybody with my cards would be up a ton. I’m up 1020 and decided to go home, nourish my body with vegetables, Indica and shut my eyes early. I know sessions later in the week will likely be 12 hours of cloudy hazardful battles. Bankroll 3,100

I'm convinced there are 2 types of gamblers: 1. Careless or 2. Predatory. Notice I don’t think players are either 1. Careless or 2. Careful.

Careless - This gambler makes decisions on a whim, makes decisions from curiosity, impulse, ego, and boredom. This guy might show up at 11am or 9pm depending how he feels, because how he feels is most important to him. He might make his way to the nlhe, plo and sometimes the blackjack tables. He might sit with sharks if being around winners make him feel good about himself. He isn't sure how much of his bankroll he will buyin for or how many rebuys he is willing to risk for the session. He may play 15 hours in a bad game if he's stuck and hopes to win it back the same day. Or if he's winning early he may feel content, soften up, feel compassion for his opponents, enjoy the endorphin rush, and leave smiling as the little weiner he is for the day. Sure he may have had a plan for the session but he allows himself to quickly switch to his “backup plan,” which is that in the back of his mind he has given himself permission to feel it out, use premonition, think on the fly, gamble, be flexible, and shot take. He’s a bitch.

Predatory - This player is premeditated, calculated, and sticks to his plan. Decisions are made pre-casino arrival. He uses some combination of at-home thought, gym-thought, bed-thought, “lab"-thought, coaching-thought, sex-thought and stuck in traffic-thought. Wherever he is in the days and hours leading up to a trip to the casino, the predatory player is pondering his best plan for how to manage his money, select tables, stakes, formats, strategic environments, and hours of play. He doesn't “chase” losses when he's down because he knows he's either outmatched, off his best game, tired, his opponents are playing their A game, or maybe he just believes another day will be his after a chance to reflect upon and tweak his strategic plans. This guy isn't content with an easy quick $300 winning session either because he knows a winning image is key to instilling fear at the table, to getting away with murder in hands, to playing his A game, and to catapulting his profits (not by parlay but) by utilizing momentum to strike while his iron fist is red hot and his opponents games are stunted. He goes for the kill when an opponent is spewing chunks of money through repeated atm trips and the predator goes for the kill when frustrated opponents are visualizing their rags as potential winners out of a desperation to win the current hand. He leaves early only if the game is full of other predators. He’s an ugly t-rex, possesses no compassion, and is keen to the fact poker is a eat-or-be-eaten world. The predatory player knows swimming in blood is necessary. Even when it’s his own blood and guts that smatter the arena, he fights on.

In the past and probably the future I will masquerade as both players. Especially when depression kicks in and life has me feeling beaten down, or even when I’m winning too frequently, I get complacent and fall into the Careless category. But we must be mindful to eliminate and debilitate Careless tendencies. Otherwise - bad habits snowball into a heavy object or force.#pregamepeptalk

Sweet. Ripe. I arrive to the poker room and ask the floor for a 5/5 seat. He asks if I’m on the board. I politely tell him there’s no board right now. Idiot. The table he seats me looks like it has 7 idiots playing. Excellent. The dealer asks me if I want a hand now. Btn is on my immediate left and it’s a no post free hand. I tell the idiot “sure I’ll take a hand now, these guys look like they suck at poker.” Nobody laughs at my playful trash talk attempt #1.

1st hand I play there’s an utg open to 20. I have 88 on the btn. After a moment of tje dealer asking me what my action is, I put out trash talk attempt #2, “this guy sucks of course I call him.” Perhaps I’m being a jerk or perhaps I’m giving off a reverse verbal tell but I’m simply trying to get under his skin so he’ll more likely pay me off if I flop an 8. Flop comes KQ10. He bets and I fold while mumbling how I’ll be nice to him and let him take this pot.

Next meaningful hand I limp utg with AKd. Co raises to 25, btn makes it 65. I could fold. I could call but I’ll be out of position. Trash talk attempt #3 doesn’t work as I say, “you guys suck so I’m allin.” They both snap shove also. Co has QQ, btn has AKo. I feel like molded fruit and I realize I’m the guy who sucks at poker. But omg a juicy bunch of diamonds roll out and I’ve tripled up.

I shut my mouth for the rest of the session. I have a several kq type hands that win medium pots by hitting top pair. Bankroll 4,400.

lol. Respect the attempts.