TwiceT made it! 1st engl. community black member

this is going to be my longest post on ps. it's about insights in TwiceT's mindfucker thoughts on poker (if u dont know me, check out my blog [link in signature] for general infos) and a review on my poker experiences so far ... dont expect too much entertainment as usual, but rather my thoughts on poker. i thought it may be a good idea to post some strategy stuff once every 1k posts ♦ //hope u guys dont mind its in keyword style, but it will contain a lot of info/thoughts and i dont want to write another master thesis
ofc, if u have specific questions or didnt quite get one of my statements, post here and i will answer.

I LIKE TO MOVE IT, MOVE IT

how to become a soulreader and make money by playing cards?
=> it's all about commitment, dedication and self evaluation.

i dont know how many hands i played so far or how much rake i made so far, but i know its .. MANY / A LOT ♦
but what i know is: i started my poker career with free $50 from ps and made a nice 6 digit$ amount so far. short term goal is to make it 7 digit soon and then probably start some other rl businesses/investments with that money and treat poker just as a hobby from then on.

here's how my poker journey started:
- summer 2007 i did an internship in dublin, ireland => commitment from the first day!
- during my internship i worked for 40 hours/week
- when not working, we had manyyy parties cuz i lived with many students from all over europe and ofc, partying was our daily business haha
- during my working hours i asked my mentor ash05 aka madgame tons of questions about the game and stuff and i started reading A LOT
- in the evening, before partying when all my friends, colleagues were resting/taking a nap i played and tried to get some experience. so i basically didnt sleep, just grinded, read, worked and partied the whole summer.

- when back in vienna, i was playing/studying poker while having 2 studies running. so i also put a lot of dedication in my poker development. ofc, since i had to study a lot, i didnt make big improvements super fast. however, i always took my poker career seriously, even when i just played micros and had to develop my skills a lot more.

- in january 08, so basically after some months, i saw that playing poker earns me more money than my job, so basically from that moment on i played poker for a living. ofc, as a student i didnt need a lot of money, so it was even possible to finance my lifestyle while just playing 55$ sng. (after 100$ sng and low limit mtts, i switched to cash games as my main game)

- about the community: although the community cant earn money for u nor can it develop a winning poker game for u (though it can help ofc with strategy discussion/hand analysis etc), its great to be part of such a community with all the parties, events and the familiar atmosphere. during the last 12 months i also coached a lot (private + videos for ps) and i got to know many rly interesting, funny and smart ppl from many european countries (i also visited some of them last summer during my roadtrip and will do so again this summer) and even some ppl from other continents (expect a visit in brasil soon calta )
so i will use this oppurtinity to thank the whole community for this great atmosphere & also thanks to the pokerstrategy team. special thnx to johannes who is not only a great help when i have some poker issues/questions but is also a great party guy (budapest ftw). also, vali, your writing skills are teh nutz and i'm rly looking forward getting u to know personally in gibraltar soon. also thnx to the education team clemens, tobias and ofc the ceo, masterOfPokerDisaster himself, dominik. i think ps offers a great surrounding for a poker player/coach and i never had any problems with them, so looking forward to a cool cooperation + some more crazy (bm) parties in the future ♦

now, lets turn to some strategy ....

- how to become a good poker player
- realise u are a fish. if u think u are a good poker plr => stop thinking, step back and realize u are not. u might know some concepts, but u are probably overestimating your skills A LOT.
- analyse hands (read: analyse A LOT of hands)
- talk about the game as often as possible with many different plrs
- nl10 deeeeeep homegames ftw (especially with tha mindfucker crew in vienna ♦ ) in such homegames u see lines/ideas u have probably never seen before. being creative and capable of thinking outside the box is always of great asset to have.
- get coaching (be prepared! prepare hands in advance, install and test (!) the software in advance, do everything u can do use the (expensive) time as useful as possible) maybe just book coachings when u move up in limits and maybe book different coaches to get to know different views ...
- do sweat sessions with friends/ps members who play similar limits
- start coaching (coach your brother, coach ppl 2 limits below yours ... coaching is way more difficult than playing yourself. being able to explain your thought process in specific spots will increase your skills dramatically. + its more fun than just playing alone + u get some $$ for it
- learn more games. even if u dont play them for a big income, start learning plo, stud, razz, flhe, mtts, badugi, 2-7 single draw, crazy pineapple etc ... you will see how it pushes your overall poker skills!

- how to become a winning poker player
- mindset is key. work on it as much as u can. invest more time in your poker mindset, than in your poker game.

- be self critical ALL THE TIME
- bank roll management. find your own way. but as a rule of thumb i would suggest using aggro brm in micros and very nitty brm midstakes+
- step outside and look at yourself regularly. self evaluation is crucial. as a poker player (like as a day trader) u have no friends when it comes to your business. u alone are responsible for every decision. hence, u need to objectively evaluate them as often as possible.
- find "your" game and then ... put in volume and exploit edges again and again and again. if you have a big edge grinding hu-sng, do it! if u like grinding fl-sh 5/10 for rakeback, do it! if u like killing stud, razz, plo8, mixed games, do it! if u play nl100 fr 24 tabling to finance your studies & your party life, do it (u probbaly earn more than your profs anyway ♦ )! do whatever makes u feel happy + gives u tons of $$$. dont just play nlhe sh cuz everybody does it and dont play loose cuz its cool. guess what, many good plrs are playing nlhe sh. the edge is small, so why dont play another game? why dont play hu? why just have 1 game? why dont have 7 games, one for every day?
- understand and respect variance (50k hands is not a sample size. not at all). even if i wrote this sentence biiiig and bold and in red, i think 95% would not respect is enough. variance can be sick. ofc, there are games where it will be sicker (e.g. plo hi sh 5/10 online) and games where it will be smaller (e.g. nlhe 10max 1/2 live at your local casino). however, im pretty sure most ppl underestimate variance a ton which leads to big mindset problems cuz they dont understand what standard deviation and variance mean. u can google it and u will find some sick graphs/calculations on it.
- play a-game as often as somehow possible and have a b-game that's better than other player's a-game. try not to play too much in c-game mode. try to identify when u do and stop the session.
- dont get greedy/arrogant after a good month. just cuz u made 10k in a month doesnt mean u are the best poker plr in tha world.
- dont have the best poker players (like krantz, durrr, fwf, ansky, aejones, phil galfond etc etc) as your ideal. these guys have exeptional poker skills, but think about ppl like leatherass who are by far not the best players in the world (ofc he plays well, but he is not outstanding at all and he is not a reason to quit a table) but make a shitload (!!) of money.
=> treat your poker career as a business! get a good setup, dont watch tv and skype while playing too much. get in volume!! u wont get rich by playing 3 sessions a week. table select well and dont play any table cuz u are the best in the world (u probably are not!), dont play tired/drunk, have a good work/life (or call it poker/uni/party) balance - u need more projects running than just being poker pro imo. be self critical all the time and re-think your gameplan. try to identify the spots where u make money, and then ... exploit your edges over and over again!
- moving down in limits is not embarrassing!!!!! in fact, i think its great. re-building confidence + working on specific parts of your game if great and for me personally, it has always been of crucial significance. when i need to have some fun or need some more confidence, i just sit down at a nlhe 100 hu table and own some reg souls ♦
- become effective
- plan your sessions, have at least some kind of a playing schedule for a day/week.
- dont quit just after 10 mins cuz u got sucked out a bit. if u plan to play 5 hours, get your ass down and play 5 hours a-game. no excuses, no mobile phone, no toilet break. focus on the tables, do your job and do it like a pro. the day has 19 more hours, so 5 hours should be duable. i sometimes even pulled 20 hour "working" (be it grinding myself, coaching, rl business/job, uni ...) days, but ofc, there is no need to get super crazy with that. just try to improve your effectiveness. from what i see, many ppl lack in efficiency a lot.
- learn to analyse your game while playing. that way u dont need to analse it afterwards (which u probably dont do enough anyway) but can rather play another session. just mark the spots that are rly tricky and discuss them later.
- play 100% focused.
- learn to lose, and u will be rdy to win! (understanding this is probably as crucial as understanding brm and variance). [in business management there is a saying like: "u should have learned to serve, before u can start to lead/guide/manage ... a lot of truth in these words imo]

some more thoughts about why poker is good for u if u are unsure at times:

1) this is a nice 2+2 artcile that underlines what rl skills poker players develop: poker is good for u: http://www.twoplustwo.com/magazine/issue33/sklansky-schoonmaker-poker-good-for-you.php
i personally think poker develops great skills and these skills will probably help me more in my future life than my master degree in economics & business management.

2) being a poker pro is not super easy. however, if u like to earn more money than most of the ppl + have more freedom than most of the guys out there, it might be good for u.
i personally dont think poker only is enough. thats why i have many (business) ideas and i just see poker as a way to finance my ideas / saw it as a way to finance my studies.
being responsible just for yourself and playing poker gives u so many opportunities. basically, i can do whatever i want. e.g. i wasnt @ home now for 4 week (boarding, ept, bratislava, prague) and i travel around a lot in general and plan on doing so even more in the future (also again europe roadtrip this summer yeeha) carpe diem, life is short, being poker pro gives u the opportunity to do things other ppl just dream of and probably just say things like "when im 50, i will .... ". i rather say, i am 25 and do things most ppl just dream off and/or plan on doing when old. but guess what, driving a small 2seated full powerrrr cabrio, partying like a monkey, travelling around like crazy ... is probably more fun when u are young, have powerrr and not a family and many responisbilites. also, having money now is worth more than having it in 30 years. poker is 1 way to do it, but there are def. other ways. just find your way and carpe diem!

i would like to quote some inspiring words by jorge luis borges

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Jorge Luis Borges - if i could live my life again

If I could live again my life,
In the next - I’ll try,
- to make more mistakes,
I won’t try to be so perfect,
I’ll be more relaxed,
I’ll be more full - than I am now,
In fact, I’ll take fewer things seriously,
I’ll be less hygienic,
I’ll take more risks,
I’ll take more trips,
I’ll watch more sunsets,
I’ll climb more mountains,
I’ll swim more rivers,
I’ll go to more places - I’ve never been,
I’ll eat more ice creams and less (lime) beans,
I’ll have more real problems - and less imaginary ones,
I was one of those people who live
prudent and prolific lives -
each minute of his life,
Of course that I had moments of joy - but,
if I could go back I’ll try to have only good moments,

If you don’t know – that’s what life is made of,
Don’t lose the now!

I was one of those who never goes anywhere
without a thermometer,
without a hot-water bottle,
and without an umbrella and without a parachute,

If I could live again - I will travel light,
If I could live again - I’ll try to work bare feet
at the beginning of spring till the end of autumn,
I’ll ride more carts,
I’ll watch more sunrises and play with more children,
If I have the life to live - but now I am 85,
- and I know that I am dying …
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and ofc, to end this post appropriately, my song ... ♦

peace on you and move it move it!
TwiceT, BM