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In this the 3rd article in the series Free online poker coaching Money’ vs. Real Money; NoPayPoker vs.Internet Gaming Sites our master of the pen D M Vadnais reveals the critical keys for success in money and mind management. Read on…
I would imagine that Article 2 provided each of you with a number of ‘eye-openers’. At the very least, I sure hope it did. I’d even venture a guess that it may have altered the prior plans held by a few of you to enter the ‘real money’ Internet poker environment.
And, while an “I won’t play” fits with my own feelings about online poker gaming, it was not, nor is it now, nor will it ever be, my intention that you withdraw from your potential involvement with the NoPayPoker Partner sites.
You will win, or you should win. And, this series of Articles is meant to provide you with an understanding of the Internet poker online venue devils, demons, and dirtbags.
Plus, this series of Articles is meant to provide you with an understanding of the safety nets, strategies, and sensibilities that will be the foundation to your future winning ways.
So, quickly cast my poker playing preferences aside, pay no mind to my personal idiosyncrasies; your time at the online poker for cash tables will be, should be, most profitable.
And, not withstanding the above, even though my imagination has been dulled and diminished by age (time, time, time, is NOT on my side), even though our fictitious screen name player ‘PukieDumbo’ never had an imagination (“stupid is as stupid does”, a blank slate), even though the NoPayPoker resident ‘farm animals’ long ago lost any facsimile of imagination (“there but for the grace of God go I), it’s not imagination that caused your eyes to open wide. No, it was fact; actually, it was three facts: the reality of the ‘RNGers’, the reality of the ‘Bots’, and the reality of the ‘Colluders’.
They exist, you now know about them, you can identify them, and you’re prepared to deal with them. Importantly, you also don’t fear them, and never will.
You’re going to circumvent their devious, disdainful, and derelict approaches relating to the ways in which they play poker on the ‘real money’ Internet sites. And, if you haven’t developed a complete command of the ‘circumvent’ process, go back to Article 2 and re-read all that was written; being prepared is a key to your success.
Alternately, ignore the facts associated with the ‘dirtbags’ approach to poker play, ignore the concept of being prepared, ignore their presence at the Internet tables, and accept the inevitable; your ‘real money’ will become their ‘real money’; you’re going to lose.
Unacceptable? No? You bet it ain’t; y’all came to the game for one reason; to win money. Now, accept THAT truth; it’s to win money; and, it is the single most important truth, out of many, about the game of Texas Hold-Em.
Then, note with detail, that I regularly accepted another truth; a ‘life lesson’ offered to me by my wife many times throughout our 41 years together. She bestowed it upon me often; possibly because I was stubborn, thick-headed, and opinionated.
She was fond of repeating it; I’ll let you read it: “Don’t engage with an A/H, he’ll beat you with experience”. She always smiled when she said it, she never meant for me to feel uncomfortable (or dumb, or stupid, or marginalized), and she never had to explain it.
I listened, I learned, and I used her guidance. Consequentially, her lesson not only applies to life, it also applies to Internet ‘real money’ poker play.
This being true, we can’t engage with these A/H’s, we can’t compete with them, they’ll beat us because of their vast experience with slime-ball, low-life, dirtbag cheating; it is essentially a profession to them, they’re very good at it, they scam a lot of money. And, as per Article 2, we simply need to get out of their way.
Importantly, last month, y’all developed an understanding of the ways in which each of you will be able to get out of their way; the ways in which you’ll not engage with these ‘dredges of humanity’; these A/H’s.
It may take a bit of practice, it will undeniably take a bit of patience, and, on occasion, it’s going to cost you a few cents.
But, you’re not ‘PukieDumbo’; you have a fully functional intellect, your slate is filled with facts, data, and poker mastery. You live in a home, you sleep in a bed, and you develop rational thought.
‘Pukie’ lives in the pasture, amongst the ‘hay munchers’, ‘dung tossers’, ‘fly infestation’, ‘perennial stench’, and The Alpha Bull. So, even if she/he had the ability to form the smallest of rational thought, unlikely as that might be, too much time is being spent in the pursuit of ‘safe havens’….concerning The Alpha Bull’s primary intention.
Let’s all hope she/he can win at the game of ‘Hide and Seek’; where ‘Hide’ is analogous with ‘protecting ones backside’….while y’all go on to win at the ‘real money’ poker tables.
Now, with poor Pukie’s big-time dilemma behind us, or behind him/her, y’all have nothing but forward progressions before yourselves.
They involve ‘tutorials’, or information, or further development of your poker mastery; all of which will become part of your anticipated long-lived winning play at the Internet gaming site’s poker tables.
And, it’s formative to comprehend that the totality of the ‘poker strategy’ and information being presented to you in these Articles is not intended to yield ‘robotic’ or ‘one-size-fits-all’ play. It is, however, intended to influence your game with a variety of sound strategies.
To start, there are some mandatory dictum’s concerning Cash Management (CM).
And, be attentive to this, Cash Management is far removed from Bankroll Management. One has to do with your total finances (Cash Management), and the other has to do with your available poker funds (Bankroll Management).
The two are truly very different than one another. So, you’ll need to configure a set plan for handling both. Yet, up front, I’ll tell you that Bankroll Management is the far easier task; it’s also considerably less stressful or time consuming.
Cash Management is a ‘survival’ issue, you have bills to pay. Therefore, you’d have no business at a poker table if you weren’t current on your household and lifestyle payables; think about your mortgage, the rent, the utility bills, insurance, food, staples, auto payments, and the twenty other checks you write every month.
It is ‘survival’, and it’s your responsibility; not someone else’s responsibility. Plus, you’re NOT a professional poker player, and it’s highly unlikely that you’ll ever get to a point in time where poker winnings will become your sole source of ‘rock solid’, ‘lifestyle supporting’ income.
Plus, there are other Cash Management issues that will always necessitate your attention; they might include one or more of the following: the university education of children or grandchildren, your own retirement planning, a savings account for vacations or holidays, a 6 month emergency ‘Sh@# hit the fan’ fund.
And, all of this requires the following very disciplined action: there needs to be a rigidly defined segregation of Cash Management money (essential) and poker playing money (non-essential).
Next, there is a ‘Rule of Five’; it relates to your bankroll (the poker playing money), and the proper management of that bankroll.
It’s a very simple rule: at any one time, you ought not be playing with more than 5% of your total poker bankroll.
- So, if your account balance is $50, the most you’ll enter a game with is $2.50.
- If your account balance is $150, the most you’ll enter a game with is $7.50.
- Or, if your account balance is $900, the most you’ll enter a game with is $45.
- And, when your poker playing session ends, when you’ve played enough for the day, you have a new 5% factor to work with, a new 5% calculation to make.
If your last poker session resulted in a loss, say $15 from your then current $300 bankroll, your new buy-in would be maxed out at $14.25; which is 5% of your now current $285 bankroll.
Or, if you won in your last poker session, say $25 from your then current $150 bankroll, your new buy-in would be maxed out at $8.75; which is 5% of your now current $175 bankroll. It’s basic arithmetic, no Doctoral degree in mathematics required!
Risk Tolerance
Moreover, while we’re on the subject of money, your money, let’s make certain that y’all fully understand the level of your Risk Tolerance.
- And, there’s no doubt, each of us will be somewhere between ‘happy’ and ‘thrilled’ every time we leave a poker game with a profit.
- Conversely, there’s no doubt, each of us will be somewhere between ‘that’s poker’ and ‘the sound of all 4 letter words’ every time we leave a poker game with a loss.
- Now, ‘happy’, ‘thrilled’, and ‘that’s poker’ are all okay; but. ‘the sound of all four letter words’ is not.
- The latter could be suggesting that you’ve violated your Risk Tolerance.
And, if you’re not familiar with the concept of Risk Tolerance (RT), it’s the measure of how much you can emotionally handle in loses; specifically it can be defined, or equated to, the amount of actual currency you could destroy, or rip up and toss away, without there being any remorse or conscious negative.
Understandably, you might find yourself in disagreement with such a definition, you might think you could measure your RT in a less costly fashion. And, I might agree that there could be other ways to correctly measure your Risk Tolerance, I just don’t know what they are.
Next, carefully entertain the ‘P or N Rule’….the ‘Positive’ or ‘Negative’ rule.
It relates to your mind set. You can’t play poker for ‘real money’ when you’re not feeling well, and you can’t play poker for ‘real money’ when multiple stress factors are cycling through your thoughts.
Please, do yourself a big favor, if you’re sick, or if you’re brain is drifting from one worrisome issue to another, to a third, to a fourth, you don’t belong at a ‘real money’ poker table. In many respects, when negatives occupy your thought processes, abide by the poker adage “money not wagered is money earned”.
A few paragraphs ago, the ‘Rule of Five’, relative to Bankroll Management, was brought to the forefront. And, you may have asked yourself “Why?”. Or, “Why is the buy-in at any one time set to 5% of a bankroll?”. And, it would have been an intelligent question to ask. Fair enough!
Even though the 5% is a generally accepted poker standard amongst the really good players, that fact is not the best answer to your question.
Time, experience, and the human physce dictates the best answer. Plainly stated, the best answer is that a loss of 5% will not, or should not, trip any emotional switches.
And, your emotions, or the management of your emotions, are a major component of the cash-winning game that each of you will bring to the cyberspace felt.
You can not permit any highs or lows within your emotional bank, you’ve got to maintain an absolute constant. No elations, and no depressions. Why?
Another intelligent question! There exists the possibilty that elations will bring on over confidence, and, that would be a mistake, you could easily overplay your cards; with the potential of it costing you big money.
Also, there would be the possibility that depressions will bring on a quest for vindication, and, that would be a mistake, trying to take out the ‘Bozo’ who beat you on the river by competing at the Bozo’s level of play; with the potential of it costing you an even greater amount of money.
Plus, if you did so, you’d be violating the “Don’t engage with an A/H” advisory; and, the A/H might not be the Bozo, think about that.
So, if your emotions ever vary from the desired constancy, maybe to the downside from a ‘bad beat’ (serendipity), maybe to the upside from a ‘runner runner suck out’ (serendipity), be extremely vigilant in delineating the movement on your emotions scale, your emotions bank.
If necessary, simply sit out for a few hands; don’t re-enter the game until you’ve stabilized the off-center status of your emotions.
Remember, the only reason you’re playing poker is to win money; it’s not ego, it’s not ‘to destroy the bastard who serendipitously put the river beat on you’, it’s just money.
Last, the word SEX was in the title of this Article.
However, and quite possibly to your disappointment, it has nothing to do with carnal knowledge, or the lack thereof.
It does, on the other hand, have quite a bit to do with poker on ‘real money’ Internet tables. More precisely, it has to do with the gender composition of the individuals you’ll be competing against on your computer screen.
Factually, at NoPayPoker, in free online poker games you’ve played against a near equal gender mix, about 50% male and 50% female. Such will not be the case in the ‘real money’ cyberspace online poker games; the tables will likely be composed of approximately 90% males, and just 10% females.
Back up for a moment, then recall from the ‘Building a Bankroll’ series of Articles that women intrinsically possess a much higher level of patience.
Men should participate in Patience Development Exercises (PDE’s), women rarely need to. Thus, gender composition, and, the concommitant change to the average level of patience at the poker tables, will yield a not-so-subtle change in your gaming environment.
It has to do with speed of play, the pace of action, the frequency of aggression, and the non-moderated chat banter. For a few, it’s a prelude of ‘worse to come’. For some, it’s unnerving. For many, it’s meaningless. And, for everyone, it’s a reality.
‘Worse to come’? Yes! With males occupying 9 out of 10 seats at the cyberspace tables, you can expect ‘bar room’, ‘billiard parlor’ and ‘military baracks’ verbal interaction; albeit only when there is the availability of table chat.
Trash talk is commonplace. Over time, you’ll be called everything from ‘Donnie Donk’ to ‘Tommy Turd’.
You’ll read just about every 4-letter word humanity has thought up, and you’ll be exposed to many sexual admonitions that you never thought could be used to describe a human condition; and, someday, you might even wonder if all 9 of the world’s most vulgar people were sitting at your very table….all at the very same time.
In the end, ignore the A/H’s, focus on the way in which you manged to build your bankroll. It was done at NoPayPoker. It was free poker, it was fun poker, it was entertaining. You not only accumulated your ‘real money’ bankroll there, you also accumulated a wealth of experience there.
And, we might all agree that your accumulation of winnings on NPP was at the expense of ‘farm animals’; somewhere in the neighborhood of 90% of all the members at NoPay are nothing more than novice chip-flingers, at or beneath the ‘PukieDumbo’ level of play, level of intellect.
Yet, what you may not agree with is the contention that I’ve always put into print and taught to students; “It’s much more difficult to beat bad players than it is to beat good players”.
But, you’ve done it; you’ve beaten the bad players, you’ve put some solid ‘thumpings’ on ‘Pukie’ and his equals. And, you’ve proven that you’re more than capable of beating the good players.
Plus, it’s not just the fact that you’ve ‘whooped up’ on the decent players at NoPay, but you’re also capable of putting some ‘hurts’ on the better players you’ll meet at the ‘real money’ Internet poker sites.
So, allow a touch of self-confidence to mix with your karma; get on the Internet felt, and begin the process of winning money.
Best of luck at the tables.
D. Michael
(c) copyright, June, 2011; all rights reserved by D. M. Vadnais
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Hope this helps.
