It takes a long time to learn..

[PShabi]

Damn boy. What level were you playing at and how much did you lose in that 30 hour span? I'm 3/6 right now and just sent TP a PM about the 5/10 level. Scare me.

At what point in that 30 hours did your game fall off? Like, when should you have quit in retrospect?

[SirFWALGMan]

In retrospect there were alot of points I could have quit. I was down to 1K and got up almost to 2K. I just wasnt thinking. I was over-tired and on a serious tilt. I do not think I was going to stop until I got to 3K.

I could have stopped at 500 too and had enough of a buffer to play 1/2 and rebuild quicker. Again, I was just out of my mind for a night.

I was playing 5/10 to start with, but I hit the 15-30 level at one point and everything in-between. I did well on the tables at time. However the problem with these levels is not that the players are much better (there are some really bad ones) but that the normal ebb-flow of the game, what we call variance, is too much to withstand when your entire bankroll is 2 sessions away from destruction. You figure playing at 15-30, if I play 1 hand right, and get sucked out I am down a few hundred bucks easily. One hand. Obviously a few thousand is not enough.

I think a few factors came together to make the perfect storm: My roof was leaking and I was worried about the money, I then lost enough so I was not going to take anything out this month for Poker, and one thing led to another, and I creamed myself trying to get back to 3K.

Although it was not a fun experience it will hopefully be a lesson learned. If I can become less nightly-goal oriented because of this it will be all worth it. I expect to be playing 5/10 again in about 4 months. It is a vague target and I am not going to do anything to make sure it happens. However I fully expect to be able to do this. See you then!

[PShabi]

Well, it takes a man to share this story with all of the ego that runs around poker message boards. I respect you for that. Might open up the eyes of some the young bucks who feel like their invincible.

When you get back to 5/10, you should find me there. Good luck to you and be sure to share your endeavors along the way.

Last question: How drunk were you?

[New Guy]

Geez this is a page right out of my playbook.fortunatly I'm still up as I had a few huge runs and kept pulling out and winning , but god I know the feeling.

Here is one im sure all of you can relate too.You sit down at a table just to play a few hand and you end up up 165 bucks before you know it and for some gamblers reason you feel the need to stop being up 200,(whats another 35 bucks EASY) well then you get drawn out and rivered and beforew you know it your goal now is to get back to even.Needless to say you end up busting out and wishing you stoped at up 165 .Its amazing that I can write about how stupid that is but im about to sitdown at PS and I'll do it again I'm sure.Why is that?Im going in wish me luck!!!!

[Talking Poker]

Kudos to you for posting this, Sir... This is a post everyone should take note of. It is VERY easy for anyone to fall into this trap, getting over their head and losing control fast. It's something we all need to be aware of, because it happens to the best of us.

GL rebuilding.

[SirFWALGMan]

I actually hardly ever drink much and I NEVER have played Poker drunk. I just let the game get the best of me. Anyone who does not think this is a hard game in more ways than one is stupid. There are reasons the best Poker players in the world end up desolate sometimes..

[omahilo]

if your playing 5/10 and you start losing... instead of moving up, you should either turn it off for the night or maybe move down to like 3/6 and just try to get some back. I know if your at $700 or whatever and you end up at like $580... thats alot to lose but there is always tommorrow.

FYI: I know $700 isnt a bankroll for 5/10... I was just using random numbers.