Milestone: 4 Milllion Chips

[puggywug]

My bankroll went over the 4 million chips mark today. I’m pleased with my accomplishment. I feel like my game has stepped up another level, and my win rate and confidence is up again.

I won Saturday night’s Bounty Brawl MTT, my fourth (I think) MTT victory.

When I started playing again on this site, back in September, I had 1.2M chips in my bankroll. I dropped down to as low as 600,000 chips or thereabouts before I gained enough experience and knowledge to start winning more chips than I lose. This process took a good 3-4 months of daily play, often 6+ hours/night. So, a lot of hard work to learn the game and how to win.

After I reached the 3M milestone, I took a 3 week break from playing, came back and since then I’ve gone and won another million in not too much time. So I guess at this point I feel like I can say I’m competent. I still make mistakes sometimes, but I haven’t had a bout with tilt in so long I can’t remember precisely when the last time was. Emotionally I’m playing on an even keel and that has made my game so much better.

As an example of that, tonight in one of my SNG tournaments, I went bust in 6th place after shoving AK and getting called by 83s. My shove was only 25% of the big stack’s chips, and I guess he didn’t feel afraid to call, and he ended up pairing the 8 while I missed the board completely. Earlier at this same table, I folded hands that would have made me trip Kings, a flush, and a full house, because the players I was up against were so aggressive preflop and I couldn’t hang. They were good, high ranked players, not bingo boys. So I definitely have more to learn. 2 months ago, it would have frustrated me to go out like that, and that would have probably led me to play poorly for the rest of the night and burn through 200-300K of bankroll before pulling out of my nosedive. But I came back and won my next SNG.

I’d say where I’m at now, I’m better than average for sure, and against good players I can hold my own. I don’t know that I’d go so far as to say that I’m one of the best players on the site, I probably have quite a ways to go before I’m at that point, but I look forward to tables when I know I’m going to have some tough competition to test my skills against. People I’ve played before remember me when we sit down together, and usually pay me some respect. And that feels good.

Not as good as winning $4M actual dollars would have been, but it’s been fun.

[lad44]

An impressive milestone and a great post. It’s nice to see people progressing in their games or in anything, really. I think you’ve come a long way in a short amount of time. I think you’ve gone about a lot of things in the right way as well - being vocal, honest and accountable, seeking advice, and acknowledging your good play, accomplishments, and also importantly, your mistakes. I’ve learned some stuff from you and have received some good advice on several occasions. From what I have seen, you really have become a significantly better player. I am below your level of play or understanding, so I am speaking out of personal opinion. You are having success, though. That is a fact. And to me, it seems the progress of your game does merit the results.

I know you are aware (this almost really goes without saying) and appreciative and understanding of what I am going to say here: This is meant with much respect and is not intended to sound rude or discouraging. Just a reminder with your progress to keep a steady pace and not jump the gun with your goals or expectations (and I’m not saying you are). You have no doubt developed into a solid player. I know that you said you probably have quite a ways to go before becoming one of the best players on the site. I just don’t want you to either overvalue or undervalue what ‘one of the best on the site’ means. It’s all relative. My idea of it has changed. There are thousands of players on the site who are much better than me, but I still consider ‘one of the best’ (strictly that of Replay) to be about the top 300 or below - and that’s being generous. I’m not referring to rank - I mean the top 300 actual best players. Advanced Replay players estimate that in terms of high (high stakes amateurs) standards that there may be only 6-10 players on the entire site who are GOOD poker players, and likely even less. That IS NOT to say there aren’t a lot of players on this site who know the game and are players who can hold their own (basically, pretty damn GREAT in average standards). @Enryu , for example, is quite an impressive player. There are players on this site who have played a long time, have studied the game well, and have a thorough understanding of the game - both GTO and exploitative play. Some players hold their own in real cash and live play, which as you obviously know, generally requires much more skill and understanding of the game than with social poker. Some players that are taking serious steps to really improve their real poker games limit their time on social poker sites because it affects their cash game (they don’t see the same things and habits and exploitative play is different). Just be a little cautious with this idea. There are tons of players between us (and don’t get me wrong - I realize A LOT more for me, of course!) and ‘one of the best on the site’, who off which we can learn a lot of useful information for improving our game.

Again, please don’t take this the wrong way. I’d bet a lot of players on the site certainly see you as someone who has developed into a solid player who can hold their own. Everybody knows you’re a friendly person as well; I think that is virtually as important on a social site. Congratulations again. Sincerely - Keep up the great work.

[puggywug]

Thanks, @lad44! That’s really nice of you to say all that.

I think I spent about 2 months or so playing SNG before I discovered the forums. It’s been very helpful. Before that, mostly I would replay old hands and learn from them, and took copious notes.

I also have read a few books, but I think at least for me living experience and learning first hand works better. When I’m reading a book, some stuff sticks, and some doesn’t. Some of it is just too hypothetical and it doesn’t really hit home until I see it in action. But yes, I’ve definitely learned some good things from reading, things I wouldn’t have thought of on my own. Being exposed to other people’s perspectives is incredibly valuable and important, and I’ve gained much more by sharing my insights, I think, and getting good feedback in response, than I ever would have by trying to hoard my “secret insights” and not allowing them to be contested by wiser minds.

[puggywug]

After playing tonight, I’m already up to 4.384M chips. That’s including 150,000 in bonus chips for my performance in last weeks Astral and Sapphire league promotions. 2 1-st place wins in 9-seat SNGs, 1 win in a 3-seat SNG. Plus two losses in 9-seat SNG, and 1 league game.