A 19y/o's Poker Journey - How I Turned $0 into $10,000 in 2020
12-27-2020
, 03:36 PM
Hey Everyone,
I ended up with a bit of time on my hands and figured it would be fun to toss a post on here especially as I'm approaching a massive milestone for me. I know the pictures are broken right now. I'll mess with it some more once I get home.
About Me: I'm a 19y/o from VA currently a first year (freshman) at the University of Virginia. I'm thinking about majoring in either Linguistics, Religious Studies, or History with my ultimate goal being to go to law school.
I started playing poker in November of 2019. My grandma had taught me 5 Card Draw when I was 8 or 9, and I knew the hand rankings and the rules of Texas Hold'em. At the end of 2019, some of my friends from high school wanted to put together a poker game. We started by playing .25/.50 with a $5 buyin (awful structure) until I convinced them to play .1/.2 with a $5 buyin (still awful structure). After getting wrecked in the first game, I decided to improve, so I could play the game with my friends and not lose money. Every pot was limped 4+ ways to the flop, and everyone was VPIPing >80. Despite still being awful, I was winning in that game and made ~$80 through February.
Sometime during the winter, I looked into playing online poker. I found some freerolls on Nitrogen Poker and ended up winning around $10 which I quickly donated back in cash games. I signed up for ACR and got their $10 no deposit bonus. I started playing 2NL cash and was obviously losing. I would only play 9max to minimize variance and used a short stacking strategy. I eventually turned the $10 to dust.
Around the middle of March right when lockdown started, I found the $20 no deposit bonus on Global Poker. I signed up and played $.50 Spins. I got some preflop charts from PokerStars Academy and managed to win at those games. Here's my graph from the .5 spins:
[IMG]
[/IMG]
After winning around $100, I started to take some aggressive shots at the $1 spins:
[IMG]<a href="https://imgur.com/EQQkTTY"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/EQQkTTY.png" title="source: imgur.com" /></a>[/IMG]
I won another $100 and decided to take some shots at $2 spins:
I ran super super hot at first and built a decent bankroll for $2 Spins running my bankroll up to around $500. The spot on the graph where I broke/lost slightly for several hundreds of games tilted me to my soul. I felt so entitled to win because I thought I was so much better than my competition. I had run ridiculously hot up until that point and didn't realize how large the swings could be. I played some .05/.1 and .1/.2 cash while on the downswing and got thoroughly slaughtered. I was the classic loose passive calling station. I decided to move my roll over to ACR, so I could track my chipEV. I thought I was just running bad and wanted to prove it.
My first day playing spins on ACR, I got wrecked. I think I lost 25 buyins or something which in reality wasn't much but was 1/8th of my roll at the time. I also realized that the chipEV metric on ACR didn't work due to how the tournament files are saved which led me to switch to cash.
Despite being rolled for 10NL, I started at 2NL to make sure I had the basics down. I did not have the basics down. I basically broke even at 2NL for 20,000 hands before looking at some Blackrain content that allowed me to actually win at 2NL. After winning ~50 buyins, I decided to play 5NL. I was a tiny winner at 5NL and had won ~10 buyins before deciding to play 10NL Blitz on ACR. I got wrecked for 6 buyins over the course of a few buyin and withdrew my roll to play 5NLz on Ignition.
At first, I was breaking even at 5NLz but was winning fairly substantially due to the welcome bonus. I don't have my graph, but it was pretty bad. I got some sweats and coaching from 100 and 200NL regs that improved my game substantially. I moved up to 10NL reg tables on Ignition and was winning at around 10BB/100 probably a little less.
I moved into college and continued to play 10NL on ignition. I think I probably just ran into a bad stretch, but I ended up breaking even for weeks at 10NL. I still had terrible mental game issues at this point; one weekend I lost a couple buyins at 10NL, decided to play 25NLz, and ended up losing $200 after staying inside and playing all day. Then, I played a .02/.05/.1/ and occasionally .2 live game and ended up dusting another $25. After that whole experience, I decided to switch my roll back to ACR to play 10NL Blitz because obviously the problem was a lack of volume not a lack of skill.
I played 10NL Blitz on ACR and it a 10 buyin upswing. It seemed like things were finally back on track until I ran face first into a 10 buyin downswing. A week's worth of winnings evaporated in front of my eyes, and I decided to stop playing in tough games.
I went back to Global Poker playing 10NL reg tables and actually focusing on my game. I crushed that game taking my roll up to $1000 for the first time ever. At some point during this time, I bought RIO From the Ground Up which gave me the fundamentals to beat the micros. I moved up to 20NL on Global.
I ran pretty hot and got my rakeback from September on Ignition which gave me enough of a roll to have 50BI for 25NL. I made a Bovada account to take advantage of the welcome bonus for a second time and played a bunch of 25NL regular tables.
Some of the guys who coached me up from 5NL encouraged me to aggressively shot take 50NL with my $1300 roll in order to escape the rake trap of micro stakes. I ran quite hot at 50NL:
My roll shot up to well over $2,000, so I started taking shots at 100NL during the evenings when I expected games to be soft. I ran hot again and stuck the landing. My roll quickly soared to $3000, and I started playing 100NL exclusively. I started keeping a record of my 100NL volume in a google sheet because I could not track winnings on Global and PokerBro's. Some of my Ignition results ended up on this sheet as well because I forgot to buy the higher stakes version of PokerTracker. A lot of those hands were also recorded on PokerTracker once I upgraded, but I have no idea where I double dipped. Regardless, here are the graphs I have:
There're a lot more hands I played that ended up untracked. Between 100NL and some shots at 200NL during the evenings on weekends, my roll was about $6,500 when I came home from college. I had a ton of free time after I got back and played a full 40hr week before leaving to go to my grandma's for Xmas. I ended up heading into Xmas week with about an 8k roll.
Over the week leading up to Xmas, the games were insanely good at night. I was staying up 4 or 5 hours after everyone else was asleep grinding absurdly soft 200NL games. Up until the weekend of the 26th I had won about 4BI in these 200NL games. I was running well below EV particularly on Wednesday night where I lost a bunch of all ins in an amazing 200z pool on Ignition. Last night (the 26th), I had an incredible night at the 200NL reg tables booking a 5BI win for $1,000. Between that and the BTC surge, my roll ended up getting pushed to $9,900. I have to win 50BB more to cross the 10k mark for my roll.
My current goals for 2021 involve completing the Kanu7 cash course from Upswing, grinding 200NL and eventually succeeding in shot takes at 500NL, and learning PLO. It seems that the high stakes online PLO games are far softer than the NL games, so it makes sense to learn that game as I move upwards. I obviously have a long way to go strategically in NL if I want to crush 200NL and 500NL, but I'm going to put in the work and study to get where I want to be. I'll update this thread with any big developments or milestones in my journey. My 200NL graphs are going to be below. I'm also planning to play some live post-pandemic. I had fun writing this and will update as things progress.
Not included here is about 800 I won on Global at some point during the week. My record keeping is pretty bad NGL
Lifetime Graph on Ignition below. No graph for PBro's or Global unfortunately
I ended up with a bit of time on my hands and figured it would be fun to toss a post on here especially as I'm approaching a massive milestone for me. I know the pictures are broken right now. I'll mess with it some more once I get home.
About Me: I'm a 19y/o from VA currently a first year (freshman) at the University of Virginia. I'm thinking about majoring in either Linguistics, Religious Studies, or History with my ultimate goal being to go to law school.
I started playing poker in November of 2019. My grandma had taught me 5 Card Draw when I was 8 or 9, and I knew the hand rankings and the rules of Texas Hold'em. At the end of 2019, some of my friends from high school wanted to put together a poker game. We started by playing .25/.50 with a $5 buyin (awful structure) until I convinced them to play .1/.2 with a $5 buyin (still awful structure). After getting wrecked in the first game, I decided to improve, so I could play the game with my friends and not lose money. Every pot was limped 4+ ways to the flop, and everyone was VPIPing >80. Despite still being awful, I was winning in that game and made ~$80 through February.
Sometime during the winter, I looked into playing online poker. I found some freerolls on Nitrogen Poker and ended up winning around $10 which I quickly donated back in cash games. I signed up for ACR and got their $10 no deposit bonus. I started playing 2NL cash and was obviously losing. I would only play 9max to minimize variance and used a short stacking strategy. I eventually turned the $10 to dust.
Around the middle of March right when lockdown started, I found the $20 no deposit bonus on Global Poker. I signed up and played $.50 Spins. I got some preflop charts from PokerStars Academy and managed to win at those games. Here's my graph from the .5 spins:
[IMG]
[/IMG]After winning around $100, I started to take some aggressive shots at the $1 spins:
[IMG]<a href="https://imgur.com/EQQkTTY"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/EQQkTTY.png" title="source: imgur.com" /></a>[/IMG]
I won another $100 and decided to take some shots at $2 spins:
I ran super super hot at first and built a decent bankroll for $2 Spins running my bankroll up to around $500. The spot on the graph where I broke/lost slightly for several hundreds of games tilted me to my soul. I felt so entitled to win because I thought I was so much better than my competition. I had run ridiculously hot up until that point and didn't realize how large the swings could be. I played some .05/.1 and .1/.2 cash while on the downswing and got thoroughly slaughtered. I was the classic loose passive calling station. I decided to move my roll over to ACR, so I could track my chipEV. I thought I was just running bad and wanted to prove it.
My first day playing spins on ACR, I got wrecked. I think I lost 25 buyins or something which in reality wasn't much but was 1/8th of my roll at the time. I also realized that the chipEV metric on ACR didn't work due to how the tournament files are saved which led me to switch to cash.
Despite being rolled for 10NL, I started at 2NL to make sure I had the basics down. I did not have the basics down. I basically broke even at 2NL for 20,000 hands before looking at some Blackrain content that allowed me to actually win at 2NL. After winning ~50 buyins, I decided to play 5NL. I was a tiny winner at 5NL and had won ~10 buyins before deciding to play 10NL Blitz on ACR. I got wrecked for 6 buyins over the course of a few buyin and withdrew my roll to play 5NLz on Ignition.
At first, I was breaking even at 5NLz but was winning fairly substantially due to the welcome bonus. I don't have my graph, but it was pretty bad. I got some sweats and coaching from 100 and 200NL regs that improved my game substantially. I moved up to 10NL reg tables on Ignition and was winning at around 10BB/100 probably a little less.
I moved into college and continued to play 10NL on ignition. I think I probably just ran into a bad stretch, but I ended up breaking even for weeks at 10NL. I still had terrible mental game issues at this point; one weekend I lost a couple buyins at 10NL, decided to play 25NLz, and ended up losing $200 after staying inside and playing all day. Then, I played a .02/.05/.1/ and occasionally .2 live game and ended up dusting another $25. After that whole experience, I decided to switch my roll back to ACR to play 10NL Blitz because obviously the problem was a lack of volume not a lack of skill.
I played 10NL Blitz on ACR and it a 10 buyin upswing. It seemed like things were finally back on track until I ran face first into a 10 buyin downswing. A week's worth of winnings evaporated in front of my eyes, and I decided to stop playing in tough games.
I went back to Global Poker playing 10NL reg tables and actually focusing on my game. I crushed that game taking my roll up to $1000 for the first time ever. At some point during this time, I bought RIO From the Ground Up which gave me the fundamentals to beat the micros. I moved up to 20NL on Global.
I ran pretty hot and got my rakeback from September on Ignition which gave me enough of a roll to have 50BI for 25NL. I made a Bovada account to take advantage of the welcome bonus for a second time and played a bunch of 25NL regular tables.
Some of the guys who coached me up from 5NL encouraged me to aggressively shot take 50NL with my $1300 roll in order to escape the rake trap of micro stakes. I ran quite hot at 50NL:
My roll shot up to well over $2,000, so I started taking shots at 100NL during the evenings when I expected games to be soft. I ran hot again and stuck the landing. My roll quickly soared to $3000, and I started playing 100NL exclusively. I started keeping a record of my 100NL volume in a google sheet because I could not track winnings on Global and PokerBro's. Some of my Ignition results ended up on this sheet as well because I forgot to buy the higher stakes version of PokerTracker. A lot of those hands were also recorded on PokerTracker once I upgraded, but I have no idea where I double dipped. Regardless, here are the graphs I have:
There're a lot more hands I played that ended up untracked. Between 100NL and some shots at 200NL during the evenings on weekends, my roll was about $6,500 when I came home from college. I had a ton of free time after I got back and played a full 40hr week before leaving to go to my grandma's for Xmas. I ended up heading into Xmas week with about an 8k roll.
Over the week leading up to Xmas, the games were insanely good at night. I was staying up 4 or 5 hours after everyone else was asleep grinding absurdly soft 200NL games. Up until the weekend of the 26th I had won about 4BI in these 200NL games. I was running well below EV particularly on Wednesday night where I lost a bunch of all ins in an amazing 200z pool on Ignition. Last night (the 26th), I had an incredible night at the 200NL reg tables booking a 5BI win for $1,000. Between that and the BTC surge, my roll ended up getting pushed to $9,900. I have to win 50BB more to cross the 10k mark for my roll.
My current goals for 2021 involve completing the Kanu7 cash course from Upswing, grinding 200NL and eventually succeeding in shot takes at 500NL, and learning PLO. It seems that the high stakes online PLO games are far softer than the NL games, so it makes sense to learn that game as I move upwards. I obviously have a long way to go strategically in NL if I want to crush 200NL and 500NL, but I'm going to put in the work and study to get where I want to be. I'll update this thread with any big developments or milestones in my journey. My 200NL graphs are going to be below. I'm also planning to play some live post-pandemic. I had fun writing this and will update as things progress.
Not included here is about 800 I won on Global at some point during the week. My record keeping is pretty bad NGL
Lifetime Graph on Ignition below. No graph for PBro's or Global unfortunately
Last edited by Rad210; 12-27-2020 at 03:40 PM.
Reason: Images
12-30-2020
, 08:19 PM
I now realize I can't edit my post because it's been over 30mins since I posted. Sorry for the typos. I'll toss my ignition lifetime graph on here. The roll peaked over 10k the night after I posted this. [IMG]
[/IMG]
In response to the other poster, I've had GTO+ since the fall and have been grinding UTG v. BTN SRP for the last few days. I'm starting to work on some BTN v. SB 3! pot low disconnected as the player otb. I have a preflop viewer I've been using since August. I'd be happy to post some hand histories on here, but I don't want to go into too much detail. I'm studying off fairly specific sizing schemes, so it seems wise not to give too much away. For now, I'll post my largest pot ever:
[IMG]
[/IMG]
[/IMG]In response to the other poster, I've had GTO+ since the fall and have been grinding UTG v. BTN SRP for the last few days. I'm starting to work on some BTN v. SB 3! pot low disconnected as the player otb. I have a preflop viewer I've been using since August. I'd be happy to post some hand histories on here, but I don't want to go into too much detail. I'm studying off fairly specific sizing schemes, so it seems wise not to give too much away. For now, I'll post my largest pot ever:
[IMG]
[/IMG]