“One day, I’ll become a professional poker player”

CheesyEagle · 2020-04-23T21:59:37Z

What's up guys! I'm sure you've seen a blog title like this hundred times before and I'm also sure that you've enough fingers on your right hand to count the ones that ended up as a successful story. I’m aware of the fact that not many people visit this forum regularly anymore, but I decided to write the blog mainly due to my belief that it may have a positive impact on my mindset and work ethic. Anyway, if you’re interested and don’t mind sacrificing five minutes of your life, you can click on the spoiler where I’m gonna try to introduce to you myself, my experience, my goals and basically tell you my whole poker story. It might change your mind about this blog or even make you come back. If you don't try, you'll never know… SpoilerWho am I? I’m your 25 years old average Joe who likes to hang out with friends and watch MMA fights. I’m currently living in the city of beer - Pilsen, Czech Republic. Two key aspects of living there are: 1) Beer is cheaper than water (I mean literally, a bottle of beer is less expensive than a bottle of water) 2) The cost of living here is significantly lower than it is in western countries. That’s probably the most important factor for poker players. What more should I pray for? Heh :f_drink: Me and poker I was 14 years old. It seemed just like another evening, I was laying on the couch watching TV, switching channels to find some interesting program before I go to sleep…and then I saw it. A group of guys playing a card game for money, rattling with chips while a commentator was sounding like it was the last hole of the PGA Tour Masters. Everything about it seemed so “cool” for me. I got fascinated and decided to find out more about the game the next day. I told about it to my friends in school, taught them the rules, bought the chip set and we started playing during brakes. But it wasn’t enough for me. The more I learned about the “secrets” of poker, the more possessed I was. One day, a couple of months later, I made a radical decision. I took my mom’s passport, scanned it and created an account on Betfair and by the evening of that day, I took a part in a freeroll where I managed to get to the final table and win $22,50. I can’t even describe how I felt. That day just completely changed my life. I told to myself: “One day, I'll become a professional poker player” Long story short, by the age of 18, I had already played hundreds of thousands of real money hands (cash games up to NL50). At this time, I was already planning to play poker full time after I finish my high school studies and one year later, the time has come. I didn’t want to underestimate anything so I did all the necessary calculations, saved up enough money to be able to survive any downswing and rented a cheap condo together with my friend to cut my expenses as much as possible. 100k hands a month while maintaining a winrate of 4bb/100 at NL25 would mean an average monthly wage in my country at that time. This shouldn’t have been any problem for me as I was already taking shots at NL50. I thought that nothing could go wrong, I was prepared for everything…but there was one thing I did underestimated. Playing long sessions on Sundays is one thing, playing long sessions everyday is another. My brain just couldn’t handle that. My winrate dropped drastically and there was nothing I could do about it. I realized how much important the mental side of the game is, but it was too late. My mindset was gone, I wasn’t able to make enough money and the more I was trying, the more I was losing. I felt lost, I felt betrayed, I felt empty. I didn’t know if I was gonna be able to recover from it. After all those years, I didn’t want to just simply give up and let my dream go, but in the end, I didn’t even need to make any decision…it was our government who did. Online poker got officially banned in our country and it was the definitive end of my poker road. I found a regular job and went to university next year. In 2017, Pokerstars got a license to operate in our country. Even though I created an account there immediately, I haven’t played much. I just didn’t feel the joy anymore. Maybe I simply got used to live without poker. Comeback In November of last year, I realized I miss something in my life. Something I love, something I’m passionate about, something that makes me a better man. And this something was poker. Ahem, okay, maybe it wasn’t that romantic. Anyway, I upgraded my software arsenal and started 4 tabling ZOOM like I used to do during the good old times. But after some time, I realized that I’m not crushing NL25 at all so I went down to NL 16 but I still wasn’t crushing it. The game was not only tougher than it used to, but different. Even at NL5 I was barely break even, which was absolutely shocking for me. Everything escalated in January when I went 1500bb below EV during only two sessions. That was enough for my mindset. I decided to withdraw all the money from Pokerstars...

Tyrion88

Joined: 21.06.2007

Posts: 182

27.05.2020, 07:52 0

Ok, thank you. Yes that is what I noticed also.
I worked through the walkthrough series since I am a beginner and still silver status.
By the end of the month I should be gold.
Which gold series of w34z3l can you recommend? For me next, after the walkthrough series?

Reply

Quote

CheesyEagle

Joined: 10.03.2013

Posts: 40

27.05.2020, 08:18 +1

As soon as you hit the gold status, you should start watching the Red Line Rampage series. IMO it's the most valuable video course he has ever made and many of the concepts you learn there are going to completely change the way you think about the game.

Good luck and keep working hard!

"One day, I'll become a professional poker player"

Reply

Quote

VorpalF2F

Super Moderator

Joined: 02.09.2010

Posts: 45,056

27.05.2020, 17:46 +1

Don't overlook the strategy article section as well.
I found these quite helpful:
https://www.pokerstrategy.com/strategy/bss/no-limit-6-max-preflop-ranges/
and the first 3 game plan articles as well.
https://www.pokerstrategy.com/strategy/bss/game-plan-introduction/
https://www.pokerstrategy.com/strategy/bss/game-plan-range-protection/
https://www.pokerstrategy.com/strategy/bss/game-plan-steal-ev/

Bizarre hand? Post it in Hand of the Day!!
Mind Games: My blog
As in life, so in a game of hazard, skill will make something of the worst of throws from Moonfleet by JM Falkner

Reply

Quote

CheesyEagle

Joined: 10.03.2013

Posts: 40

04.06.2020, 22:46 0

Hey guys!

You haven't heard from me for a while and I would like to apologize for that. I was very busy and had no time for poker. On top of all the things going on in my life, I was moving to my new condo and the whole procedure is just really time consuming (even more than I expected).

Since I've put on basically zero volume in last 10 days or so, I might atleast give you a quick report of the whole month.

May 2020
Sooo, even though the end of the month was quiet "lazy" in terms of volume, I've played 56 062 hands in total, which is pretty decent number to be honest (atleast IMO). What is even more gratifying for me is the fact that I've managed to reach four-digit winnings since I succesfully passed the $1000 mark :pokerface: (actually it was $1004, heh). It's really heartwarming to see that the hard work is paying off and green color is taking over Holdem Manager. I can't wait to jump back into the action again, I feel like poker possessed me once again :sfishy:

Spoiler

Hope you guys are doing well and I wish you all the best ♠_drink: See ya!

"One day, I'll become a professional poker player"

Reply

Quote