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A Question for Tikay (again)
Hi Tikay, you were talking before about how you were the chairman of the amateurs, i was just wondering if there is anything you can do to help and support me in my game as i am a genuine player who loves to play poker but has very little spare cash? I would appreciate any help you have to offer. Thanks Tikay
Comments
Hi Mick,
I plum forgot about this today, I'll reply tomorrow.
My apologies.
Will be really interested to hear what Tikay has to add tomorrow.
OK, let me try & deal with MickGreen's Questions, both on this, & his other, Thread.
It's not easy, but for those reading, MickGreen was railing on my T-o-T Table the other night, then playing on it, (briefly).
Mick works at RAF Leuchars, (near St Andrews GC), & commutes regularly to Hampshire for domestic reasons.
He is mad keen on poker - obsessively so - & wanted to know if I could assist him.
The requests varied from being mentored (personally, 1-to 1, I assume), sponsored, helped.
So let's go through a few things.
And Mick said he was very keen to learn, & would take on board any constyructive criticisms, anything that would assist him.
I was 2-Tabling at the time, & fielding a lot of questions, so I suggested he shouild Post his questions on the Poker Strategy Board - which he has - & I would try to reply fully. In my mind, of course, I know that as soon as a question from a keen "student" appears on this Board, lots of good replies soon come in. In other words, the guy will expose himself to a lot of good advice, simply by Posting here.
Right, this might sting a bit, but no pain, no gain, let's go through what we know.
More.....
Bankroll.
THIS is your starting point, & far & away - by a mile - THE most important discipline you need to learn.
No matter HOW well you play, if you do not have disciplined Bankroll Management, then....
1) You will go Busto.
2) Your Beats will hurt, because under-rolled Players cannot affiord to lose.
3) You will play scared poker, scared to lose because you cannot afford to. Scared Poker is bad poker, scared poker is losing poker.
4) You might well get into a very deep hole, financially. Poker is a beautiful game, but it's as addictive as cigarettes, or cocaine, & potentially as lethal. I have several business interests in various poker sites, I own a lump of one, work for another, & spend much of my time, unpaid, promoting Amateur Poker.
But I will never encourage players to play beyond their means. In fact, if they cannot afford to lose their weekly poker spend (be it £5, £25, £100, or more) DO NOT PLAY POKER.
So Mike, if you have, say, £10 a week "spare" to play poker, good. Start off with the line that you WILL LOSE IT. And if you don't, or you turn a profit, all well & good - that's a Bonus. Poker should be a hobby, & most hobbies cost money. Poker is no exception for 99% of all Players.
OK? OK.
More.....
Now, a working example.
On Monday, I was, at the time, sat on a short-handed 15p - 30p table. The max Pull-up there is £30, & 3 players were sat with the max, or approx so.
You & I were chatting (you on the Rail), then to my surprise, you took a Seat. With £5.
I asked why, you said "it's my last £5, but I want to learn".
I said "whoa, hold up, that's a bit dangerous - if you wanna sit on ther Table, please take it easy".
You said you would.
So, Lesson 1. You broke every Rule in the book there - sitting with your Total Bankroll, at a Table that was FAR too big, is just as bad as it gets. To be honest, I felt very sad at what I knew would soon happen.
So, BankRoll Management. Other Players will advise you as well as me, but as a rule of thumb, you need between 10 & 20 "pull-ups", or "buy-ins", to Play Cash Poker. (The ratio varies if you play Tourney Poker).
Let's say you can afford to lose a tenner a week. Your MAXIMUM pull-up should thus be 50p, maybe £ at most.
In truth, if you can only afford a tenner a week, I'd advise maybe having some fun & investing it in small DYM's, SNG. & Tourneys. You'll get more bangs per buck that way.
You could have about 9 x £1.15 DYM's, for example - & if you did not cash at least a few times in those 9, you'd have to be very unlucky. Or very bad.
So, maybe forget Cash, & play DYM's or SNG's for now. And begin with the view that you WILL lose your weekly bankroll. Because you just might. EXPECT to lose it. If you don't, that's all bonus.
Mick, I've got some stuff to sort out now, & I'm in the Studio in an hour with Chirper, so I'll finish off the Replies later, or tomorrow.
Well done on the DYM successes.
More tomorrow......
I think this is where there's a big gap on this forum. Most of Tikay's advice will be considered and debated by the more experienced players, but the less experienced players are always going to struggle. To be blunt, many of the intermediate and advanced concepts discussed will go over the heads of the less experienced.
You are almost certain to lose money over the first year of playing. Nothing Tikay can say will change that, though his advice will certainly help to stem the flow.
Look at it as a tenner per week to pay for your entertainment. If you learn and improve, then that's a nice side-effect.
There are a few players on here who supplement their income by playing poker (maybe only £100 per week, but it all adds up) and they ALL lost money in the first year. Maybe a year from now you'll be one of them.
For a tenner you could buy a cinema ticket or a night on skypoker for your entertainment - think of it like that and you won't do badly.
The simle answer is yes, keep grinding away, I would suggets, even when you bankroll gets high enough to step up the the next level, the 60p DYM,s keep with the 30p ones for a while, the thinking is that it gives you that leeway if varience takes a hold and probably will at some stage, when you have that backup, then step up to the 60p DYM,s, but never be afraid to go back down to the 30p,s if your bankroll drops too much, dont try to chase it.
9 from 12 DYM's is good.
A sample size of 12 is, almost, meaningless. Even a sample size of 100 is too small - way too small - but I suggest you make 100 x £0.30p DYM's your initial target for measuring your progress.
At some stage, you will suffer a run of Adverse Variance. In fact, the 9 from 12 could be Positive Variance. Variance will be the test of your mettle, & character.
Under no circumstances even consider moving up to bigger DYM's until you have reached the 100 milestone at the 30p Level. I will never speak to you again if you break that rule - right?
It's better to win at a lower level, for now, than to expose yourself to risk, & lose, at a higher level. Winning is fun, losing is not. Choosing a game you can beat is extremely important indeed.
I have looked at yoir Stats - anyone can do his via certain Websites - and prior to 3rd November, you were messing about in £1, £, & £5 games - & losing heavily. Never revert to that! Now, you are a winning player. Then, you were a loser. Remind yourself of that every time you feel tempted to move up a Level.
Do NOT sit on any Cash Games, as you did the other day. That's called a "leak". It cost you £5, & that's the profit from about SEVENTEEN 30p DYM's (8 hours of poker) - & you lost that £5 in one hand. (Which took 20 seconds).
Keep the discipline.
Remember, your first target is 100 DYM's at the 30p Level, & NO OTHER GAMES.
Then, re-assess.
I shall be looking at how you lost that £5 in the Cash-Game later. It's X-Rated stuff, but no pain, no gain - it has to be addressed. There are at least 10 lessons we can take from that one £5. You lost it, so you might as well learn from it. The Members here, &, I hope myself, will help you.