The Poker Business

Playing poker is like running a business. You must know the ins and outs of your business and the financial situation of your business. You need to be able to make short-term and long-term decisions and know the consequences of your actions. In the GTA there are over 300 new restaurants that open yearly and another 300 the year after that. Does that mean that the restaurant business in the GTA is prospering? No, it doesn’t, because with every 300 restaurants that open, 250 shut down! Why do these business’s shut down, it is because of poor financial management!. These owners spend thousands of dollars renovating and when you take a look at the restaurant there are 4 tables and always 2 are open tables. You cannot generate revenue if you don’t have the necessary equipment to do so. Owners spend so much time making everything look great that they don’t understand the financial aspect of meeting your expenditures and are forced to shut down.

How does this relate to poker? Well it is simple. Have you ever played buy in games that are over your bankroll? Have you ever played higher limits where you are overmatched in skill? I have seen a lot of talented players go broke trying to make the big score. But if you treat your bankroll as a business you will never end up putting everything on the line. That is why one of the most important issues that I try to stress in poker is Bankroll Management. Your bankroll is imperative to your survival in this game. I recommended the 3 rule .. 300 big bets for cash games, and at least 30x the buy in for tournaments and sit-n-goes. The number 3 is key; it’s a prime number and can’t be divided by itself. 3 musketeers, 3 point-turn, 3 pointer, 3’s company, and 3 some. 3333333…

Just because you have enough money to move up to a certain level doesn’t mean that you’re ready to go. The Peter Principle is used in business to describe the effectiveness to a certain degree. For instance, if you’re an employee and you get promoted to a job you will eventually get promoted to a position where you can not go any higher. At this point it actually would be more effective for you to go down a level, in order to have that sense of climbing to a goal. In poker, You may be able to hold your own at that level but not excel. I will give you an example from my personal experience. When I was playing sng’s at pokerstars, I started off playing the ‘16$ buy in turbos’, eventually I would make the money all the time. Then as time progressed I would win it 3 out of 4 tries. So I moved up from $16, to $27, $60, $114, and $235 steadily. When I was at the 114$buy ins I wouldn’t win as frequently and started to find myself out of the money. And I would try to make it up by playing more buy ins. Note that I would play 4-5 buy in sng’s a day. As I started losing, I realized that I was getting outplayed or making mistakes that could not be made at this level, because poker is a game of mistakes, once you make 1 or 2 at this level you are basically out. So I started to dip back in the 60’s and found that I could consistently win. What I am trying to prove here is that you don’t have to be a big shot and play over your bankroll just to prove to yourself that your good, proving that you’re good is taking care of your business. Finding ways to maximize your profits and minimizing your cost. So remember when you decide to sit down at the table, your business is now open. Take time and watch your business grow, takes years for actual companies to become multimillion dollar corporations.

*Note. These theories are what I think is most effective, it may not apply to all but most, in other words if shit fuks up don’t blame me, blame yourself. Do what is in your best interest, I am only a guide.

Follow Your First Instinct

Second-guessing yourself in life and poker can result in regrets and unwanted outcomes. Many people come up to me and tell me stories of how they should have went with what they initially thought but instead loss cuz they second-guessed themselves. In poker, you must think quickly and act upon that decision. You can not start a bluff, and then half-way through your bluff decide that your read on your opponent is wrong. That is why poker is not as easy as many may think. It is not only a struggle against another player but your inner self as well.

Here is an example that I lived through. I was in a hand on the button with K9o, everyone had checked to me and I had decided as the checks were going on, that I’m going to take this pot and that I’m going to out play this guy on the big blind that has been aggressive towards everyone. So I raise but as I’m raising he takes a look at his cards and says “just because you’re on the button doesn’t mean u have to always raise” I replied “had to do it”. So the flop comes out low cards, no draws. He takes a look and checks to me, at this point I am worried that he may have hit but he would have bet into me to see if I had anything. This is the point where I made the mistake, as I checked it back. The turn comes another low card, this time he bets and I call, rethinking to bluff, I’m hoping to set him up on the river. River comes a brick, and he bets on the river and I re-raise pot size. He thinks about it, and calls. He shows a low pair. And says “if you would have bet on the flop I would have folded”. I was devastated that he made that call, but I thought about my play and realized that by second-guessing myself I revealed too much information. I had a read on him preflop that he was just calling to see a flop with marginal cards and I was representing a big pair but failed to continue my bluff play on the flop.

There are many stories of people second-guessing themselves on tells, but your first instincts are usually the right ones. Treat the game as war, as Winston Churchill once said “If your going to war, keep going”

Take Advantage of Every Situation

In life, we analyze ourselves in order to see if we have done the right thing. Sometimes doing the right thing is helping an old lady up if she falls on ice. But sometimes doing the wrong thing is doing the right thing because the outcome is beneficial to you.

For instance, you make a bad call and get lucky on a two outer. What experience players may do is to take advantage of the situation, even though you have done the wrong thing, you can now do the right thing in this particular situation. By “Goating” your opponent and letting him think that you’re an idiot, will put him on tilt and cause him to bluff more or call you down when you have a hand. This method can be very effective as putting your opponent on tilt will make you lots and lots of money. If you are playing an experience player this may not be as effective; as most experience players can control their emotions in the game. However, not all players have the ability to control themselves as they are being taunted by someone that they think is lesser than them. In this case they will take their frustration on the chips by bluffing and call downing, trying to recoup what they loss. Mike Matusow is a good example of what I call “steaming”, after a player steams they eventually go on “full tilt” and blow big opportunities.

Even the wrong moves can become the right moves, just find out what you’re trying to accomplish and do everything it takes to reach that goal. This method is not morally wrong because once you are at the poker table, it is a war. They are trying to take your money as much as you are trying to take theirs. So treat as one.

The Law of Diminshing Return

The Law of Diminishing Return, in terms of Poker Theory

Today I am actually going to write about something useful, that you guys can use to take to the tables. Being a business student, you learn a lot of useless crap along the way to gaining a piece of paper that states “you’re just smart enough to make an average salary” or “not too incompetent to work for the man” in other words a university degree. What kind of useless crap does one learn; Contract Law. For instance, if you are ever in a convenience store and you drop a drink along the way, YOU DON”T HAVE TO PAY FOR IT, legally there is no contract involved as the acceptance has not be made until you reach the cashier. So if you’re being bitched at by some old man about paying for the drink. You can tell him to go to hell, in other words go to court cuz that’s where most lawyers go.

Since I just wasted 2 minutes of your life, I’ll get back to my point.

What does this mean for you? Well business theories can also apply to poker. The Law of Diminishing Return is what we will touch upon today. In business the Law of Diminishing Returns states that as more units of input are added on, it reaches a point where each additional unit of input put forth will result in less addition output.

For you live game players,

Have you ever played tired but you don’t want to take a break cuz your in another city and you have traveled miles just to get to the seat where your sitting at. And in your mind, your think that your good enough to keep playing and generate that $/per hour that you’ve been making. Well it’s no surprise that during these long sessions’ players will lose more than they should because you lose focus. This is where the law takes precedence, as your ability diminishes due to the extra hours you’re putting in. What a player must do in this case is find their “hour limit”. For instance, when I was playing 1-2 no limit at Niagara, I was able to buy in with 100$ and turn it into 400$ within 4-5 hours of play. I would continue playing for another 3 hours, and then cash out around 500$ish and take a break and come back in with another 100$ buy in. What this allowed me to do was to get a break and safeguard my chips as the max buy in was 100$. I did this until I hit 2000$ for that trip, also note that I had a hotel as well so it gave me sleeping options. But what I am trying to prove here is that, you don’t need to play to the point where you’re exhausted and you want to leave cuz your so dam tired that you can barely open your eyes. This type of play will get you no where and cost you a lot of money in the long run.


For you online players,

Have you ever played online with multiple tables at once trying to maximize your profits? Well some players have the uncanny ability to play 4-5 tables at a time. What makes these players special is their ability to concentrate as these tables are popping up. If you every played with Brett Jungblut, also known as Gank or Scott Fisherman, you will know that these guys are machines and are able to play up to several tables at a time. However not all of us are blessed with this ability to focus, some people have difficulties playing 2 games at once with full concentration. As the more games you play the more your concentration spreads and you become less focused. It will reach a point where playing multiple tables becomes a disadvantage rather than an advantage. Many online players make this mistake as they get caught up in the possibility of seeing more hands, but they lack control. But why do players do this? Many reasons, impatience, arrogance, constrained time, etc. What you must realize is that multiple tables can be an advantage but you must find where you fit in terms of how many games to play at once. For myself I do well with 2 tables going on, as I can read the plays and still make the correct moves without rushing or being impatient.

Well that’s it for now as I am getting tired of writing; most of you are suspicious or not too sure that this information is correct of helpful. I cannot speak for everyone but for my experiences, this is the knowledge that I have obtained. And if you don’t like it, go make your own dam blog and stop reading my shit. Haha

Baby IM back!

I have not written an entry about poker in a long time due to my absence from the poker seen but I thought I should slowly get back in it with this entry. Beware this may run on.. But the thoughts are connected and you will learn something when you finishing reading this, it may or may not relate to you, if you’re a poker player you may have experience the same.

I have been able to observe many things over the pass few weeks due to my lent for poker (which started in mid Feburary) and my sudden flu...

For the first time in a while I felt alive playing cards back at Bethune, but I didn't break my oath to god as I did not play for real money, but the rush felt good.
It may sound cocky but the rush of knowing that I was better than 80% of the people there, if not all.

I played a fun game with a long time poker player and killed him easily, would have been an easy 10$ game in 10 mins of play. But lent is still in progress.

I must say I miss the action.

But the break has been good so far, it has allowed more time for other things in my life, playing the guitar, working out and grades especially … that was the main reason, it was because I was so consumed with poker that I would wake up in the night and go to sleep in the day for months trying to make the grind. There were many ups and downs, many relationships loss like the one with Judy, another girl that I just pass through cuz poker became more important.

The past 3 years of my life was a grind for this game, if anyone ever doubted that I ever had passion for anything they don’t know what I did for this game. The time, money, and sacrifices that I had to give for this addiction were enormous. This game was my passion, but I realized that it was my true passion but a vessel that I could use to obtain it. I don’t care what anyone says, everyone out that is alive is looking for the FLOW.. Hustling, selling shit just to make a roll. Money is power. Shaq is rich but the man signing Shaq’s cheques is wealthy. And that is what my passion is... Is to be wealthy, when you start with nothing as a immigrant you got drive to do something and make that roll and get yourself a better life. Poker was the opportunity I saw and somewhere along that line I lost it. But I am determined to find it. Cuz tigers don’t change their stripes I am what I am... And I will do what I need to do to do what is right.

There are so many reasons of why people do this or why people do that but what really makes people mad is regrets but that is a human emotion that every has. I should have done that or I should have done this. The past is a fight in itself. But not against things we see but demons in us. The demons that makes you think twice, because you have this faint thought that something that has a likelihood of 99% chance of not happening will occur and make your day into a disaster. This is not a mindset that one can take to the tables… it is a disaster waiting to happen. And that is one of the reasons that I did poorly in poker when I had social distractions in the way.

But that was not the only reason why I wasn’t doing well at the tables, statistically I was doing great, up 6000$ in online and up 2000$ from a Niagara trip. But it was Port Perry that I would lose, and had many demons in me. As I thought that I actually went there with the mindset of losing. I have never been able to conquer Port. Everywhere else I profited except this casino. Why was it that every time I went there thinking that I was going to lose or was I trying to lose subconsciously? what was the deal? This question drove me insane.

In a sense I was truly trying to lose as I was not prepared to win . Winners are winners because of passion to win, the thought of losing sickens them and that is what makes a winner.

I may still be on lent but baby I am back and ready to climb back that mountain, the road is long but I gota gets that money.