Ok, so i know ive taken about a year and a half away from online poker, but during that time ive played a lot more live, and while that in some way has deteriorated my online game, its improved the overall flow of my game in tournaments.

Here's some random things i just wanted to share....


At no point online can you ever think in terms of what your opponent should be thinking. Live play this is fine as you chat, you only play a few hands together, theres a bit of banter normally, and you pick up things mentally, and even sub-consciously, that you use to your advantage. For example i know when i play at my local casino in Blackpool that half the people there are of a certain level, so i know pretty uch all the time how they think when i do certain things, and this works brilliantly. What i have found out since returning to online play is that this doesnt work so well. Mainly this is to do with what i call the "bonding" time. Basically you dont. Your playing against a computer. You dont interract, as what you may chat about, to be honest, could all be bulls**t. So if your holding say KQs to a flop of J 6 2, and your 1st to act and check, and the opponent bets 1/5th of his and your stack, in live play you should be able to work out if a raise makes him fold his J in this spot, but online, this play is infiniely more risky, mainly because of the lack of knowledge you actually have.

I know some people who play seriously use tracking software and such, which, yeah, could help your odds of making a correct play in a spot like that, but generally you cant.



Secondly, ive noticed just HOW much easier it is to play way over your bankroll it is online.

If you have $1,000 in your pocket, and thats all you had for a month, would you spend $500 in one tournament??? Unless it was a WSOP event, i doubt it (unless your a degenerate gambler). Online its just numbers, it isnt real money until it gets into your bank and into your pocket.

Now luckily i know most of you just play for free, which is what i used to do.

To this day can remember depositing my first $50 on party poker, playing 0.5/1 limit poker, and losing it in about 45 minutes, which for those blinds is fast!!!


Ever since that moment i think for about 2 years i got a much better player, along the way havin some great wins including a $55 headhunter on jetset for $2k (y first big cash), a $3 rebuy on stars win (6,000 entrys) for $6.3k. And culinating in the now sadly legendary $65,000 win on paradise poker.

Now you may have noticed my sig is never win $65k. There s a reason for this.

Let me ask you what your first reaction is when u win something this big.

1- Relief
2- Utter Joy
3- Shaking
4- "My god i am awesome at poker"

the problem with 4 is simple. I am now gonna tell you what i did with the said $65k. Which is embarrasing and hardly anyone knows this, but it may help you guys.



To start with i sent a guy who had at one point 20% in me but we haggled that down $7.5k i think, numbers are sketchy as this is from memory.

So count down from $65k in your heads. I basically lost about $2k in withdrawal fees and currency transfers, as on an amount that big the sites do get a small cut, on your general $5 deposit its about 2c, but on a big cashout its MASSIVE. Plus neteller has to get a fee from somewhere.

So were now at $55k.

Im gonna sa i spent some, as anyone would. I think i went shopping, new TV, phone, clothes, presents for the Mrs e.t.c.. Round that off to $5k. (it was fun!)

So, $50k left. I owed my parents some money so i paid that off ($42k left). I then paid some debts i had from moving in with my grilfriend and then she left her job to go to uni, and basically got us in the sh!t!!! Add this to some student debts i had and other general things, im left with about $15k.


So, $15k, some all new things, no debt, and a great memory right?

Problem is, i got to think i was better than i was. Yeah i played well, to the limit i could play at i feel at that time.

I can prove this by actually posting eveyr hand fromt hat tourney, but i wont. And i also can count the times i was all in in race situations - 4. And the amount of times i won a pot by being lucky -1. A6 vs AQ, had 8 outs on river and hit. From there i never stopped amassing chips, its like i had some kind of belief.

Problem is, with a win this big against such a big, and very talented field (5 final tablists from that day are well known online, including Mattg1985 (i think his name is) ), you can get a bit ****y.

What also doesnt help is winning the veyr next tournament you play in! $40 for a $700 prize (me and NDN played that, we came 1/2 out of the 80 ish runners, so we just chopped.) From there i thought i was awesome. I played in some crazy tourneys, stars/FT/UB/Para big weekly tourneys, some buyins were $550. Ive payed in 8 x $1100 sit and gos(cashing twice for a smal loss), 3 x $1,100 heads up turbos (wnning 2), a $2.5 HU game vs a FT Pro (lost with AK vs AQ all in preflop) and watchin my roll go down because im playing well over my limits as a poker player.

The basic rule of this nonsense is to make ou guys see that if you win say $1,000, or even have a lucky day like i did and have a HUGE win, your still the same player you were, you havent improved that much over ONE game, even Doyle Bruson at age 150 or whatever he is is still learning, you cant move up above your bankroll and stay there and continue to win money.

If you have $1k, you should play at a cash table with no more than $50 at one point, and in a tourney with no more than 2% of your roll. SnGs are variant due to number of paces paid and buyins e.t.c.

Streaks can last a long time. I was playing 3/6 NL with my money.... and managed at one point (before i went broke) to hve a run of 27, YES 27, straight coin flip or near as dammit losses. AK vs 55, that kind of thing. I also lost with the best hand infinately. Which gets back to management. If you only have $10, make it last, you wont become rich off it just playing with it all at once unless you have the same luck as a lottery winner, make it last, have fun, try and build it slowly, so that you can start to play with more at once, making each win decidedly more significant to your life. Winning $10 is nothing to anyone really, but $100 is. Thats a hell of a niht out, a nice meal/present/phone bill paid. Or if you sensible, and manage it, tht will become $200 soon, then who knows.

Just take care of yourselves, as i know 4 people thu this kind of thing who have gone bankrupt and ended up in OVER $100,000 of debt, sometimes to very wrong people.


Even NDN will agree with this I'm sure, but if we download a casio through his link hegets a small %, which is how he pays for all this that we enjoy regularly.

BUT....

NDN will first and foremost admit that he would not want ANYONE to get into any kind of debt or gambling problem, even if he was the one profiting from it. Ive worked at a casino doing bar work and croupiering, and ive been told all the threshold limits for players, looking for the gamblers, watching fr manic gambling, and even Casinos in WORLDWIDE chains know evyerone inside them enjoys the adrenaline, but some people cant live without it.



So - Look after yourselves!!! And dont become the next me