Rinzen's Humble Beginnings
Welcome to my blog, Rinzen's Humble Beginnings! I'm intending to document my poker playing and hopefully reach a few goals I'll set for myself.
I'm a 23 year old female from Australia. I first started out playing poker on Full Tilt around six months ago. I quickly got the poker bug and expanded into PokerStars. Unfortunately I saw poker as more of a "get-rich-quick" scheme and before I knew it I'd blown my budget and then some (probably considered pennies by some, but a fair amount to a poor student!). I reloaded my account and discovered the Double or Nothing games on PokerStars. I made a bit of my money back, but became cocky and blew it all by multitabling (and worse, Omaha and Hold'em at the same time...). I was pretty disappointed with myself at this stage and started reading up on strategies. I started winning a little but ultimately blew it with impatience. I didn't really learn anything, other than the fact that not playing often got me further than when I did... this sad story continued on for months.
One night I went to a casino for my brother's 18th. I played some video Blackjack and made a bit of money. I decided to start looking for some online Blackjack tables and joined Absolute Poker. Didn't do so well and soon went back to the MTT's which seemed to have good guaruntees and not many players. Some minor success. Won back enough to cover my initial deposits at Absolute. And here we are at the present!
Two days ago, I finally found this site and began reading "The Winners Circle' thread. Wow. It blew my mind that you guys were having so much success. Only yesterday did I decide to start taking poker seriously. Really. I was that much of a donk. Played for 6 months like an absolute tool and wondered why I was losing money. Read soupie's beginner's thread. It was like a revelation. Instead of telling me what hands to play, it was about the mentality and psychology of playing and winning. Reading the table. Playing poker rather than playing cards. Even someone like me could potentially become successful at poker.
I began making some workbooks in Excel. I have a workbook for each table. Each month gets a spreadsheet. I keep track of everything - dates, games played, buy-in amount, final place in tourney (out of xxxx competitors) , prize (if won), net gain or loss, bankroll balance, notes (such as why I was successful or what hand busted me out - what I was aiming for with that hand), who busted me, plus game stats (flops seen, pots won, etc). Basically the kind of information you'd get with programs like Poker Tracker, etc. But I like doing it myself though because it gives me a sense of control. Plus, it saves me money. I also signed up to pokertableratings so I can check out any players I think are total donks or good players. I was mildly relieved to see that probably 85% of my busted hands were due to the other guy getting a better hand in the flop. I'd bet all in with KK or AQ only to be busted out by an unlucky AA in the flop or a flush in the wrong suit. I now hesitate to call it luck though and resign it to "The other guy did what I would have done and it worked for him". Even since adopting that mentality I think my tilt-factor has diminished by half.
I've found that my strongest games are Omaha and Razz. I'm going to stick to these games.
GOALS (Note: All money is in US Dollars)
1. Build up my modest starting bankroll of $15 to $30 by grinding out $1.10 PL Omaha Double or Nothing (Turbo) on PokerStars.
2. Build up $30 to $50 by playing $5.20 Double or Nothing (Turbo) on PokerStars.
3. Play the occasional Omaha or Razz low-stakes tournament
4. Stay away from ring games - I blow my money way too fast on these.
5. Ultimate goal? Maybe to reach $100 by Christmas. Yes, a tiny, even laughable amount, but a big deal for me.
6. Play poker like a zen master and not tilt too much.
7. Not fall into the trap of overconfidence and multitabling 3+ before I can handle it.
Thanks for reading!
