I think i am good at poker and understand the game to an extent, but I play micros on Bovada and I lose. A lot. I’ve deposited $50 twice and lost it all after playing for a month or so with each deposit. I once ran it up to $100 but proceeded to have bad beats and lost it all. I’m sure some of it is just variance but how do I know how good I am?

I would say that I'm relatively new to Reddit and the one thing that surprised me is the number of people that still play on Bovada, Ignition, Betonline, MyBookie, etc. Don't get me wrong, great sites for sports betting and poker, but absolutely horrendous when it comes to slots and live casino games.
Hitting 1,000x on a slot on Bovada is like a once in a lifetime achievement and the live dealer provider is... awful.
Over the past month or so, I have seen this Reddit flooded with random users promoting a bunch of shitty no-name crypto casinos that have been around for like 3 days. So I figured it was my duty, as somebody who has no ownership interests in any of these online crypto casinos, to share my thoughts regarding the ones that I believe are trustworthy. All of which is based on first-hand experience and countless hours of research.
First off, for those who aren't familiar with crypto casinos, the one thing that you need to know, as an American, is that you'll need to access these sites via a VPN. Personally, I use ExpressVPN and connect to Canada (or various other regions depending on which slot provider is available). The nice thing about ExpressVPN is that you can download the app and play on your phone. All of the casinos listed below allow VPN usage. Apparently NordVPN is pretty good too, but I cannot vouch for them personally.
Second thing, KYC is not required. Honestly haven't looked into this too much, but I can tell you from first-hand experience that KYC is not required in order to register or withdraw funds. All you have to do is confirm your email address. Some people have said you get KYC'd if you try to withdraw more than $2k, but again, I can confirm that it's not true (specifically for the casinos listed below). Just make sure that you only deposit/withdraw via crypto and you'll be fine. If you think this is sketchy, then please, continue making your credit card deposits at Bovada to random shell companies based out of China.
Also, DO NOT USE COINBASE TO TRANSFER TO AND FROM THE CASINO. They banned me. It hurt. Don't make the same mistake. I recommend using BRD as an intermediary between Coinbase and the casino. Since being banned from Coinbase, I have been using crypto.com to buy and sell crypto. Nothing but good things to say thus far.
Finally, I have wagered roughly $3.5MM in total across the sites below and have spent countless hours researching them, so I'd like to think that I somewhat know what I'm talking about. In no way am I an expert and in no way am I a high roller or a whale. Just a regular guy that enjoys gambling.
Now the common theme amongst the below casinos is that you have access to game providers such as Evolution (live games), Pragmatic, NetEnt, Thunderkick, Push, etc. that you'll never find on the casinos advertised as available to US players (such as Bovada). As I'm sure you know, Betsoft slots can get old after a while.
Just a few of my personal favorite games that I recommend you check out...
Live Games: Crazy Time, Monopoly, Evolution Blackjack and Evolution Speed Baccarat
Slots: Dead or Alive 2, Money Train 2, Lil' Devil, Sweet Bonanza and The Dog House
​
Site #1: Roobet.com (Best for casual gamblers)
What I like: Instant withdrawals, huge selection of slots and live games, generous rakeback system, instant bitcoin deposits (they will credit your account before receiving any confirmations-- this is really nice), every so often they'll run a 24 hour promotion where if you hit 100x on slot betting at least $1 you'll be "King Roo" (basically King of the Hill) and accumulate ~$20 per minute until you're dethroned
What I don't like: Rakeback system only allows you to collect every 24 hrs/1 week/1 month, no clarity surrounding VIP status (assuming you need to be a whale), there was one instance where I won $36k on a $40 bet playing Reactoonz and was told I can only withdraw $10k per day (this was 6 months ago and never had an issue withdrawing since), lack of sports betting
My largest withdrawal (at once): $9.9k
Deposit/Withdrawal Methods: BTC, ETH
Referral link to enable rakeback system without having to wager a shitload: https://roobet.com/?ref=hkgambler13 (you can also use code "hkgambler13")
​
Site #2: Stake.com (Best for medium-high rollers)
What I like: Instant withdrawals, huge selection of slots and live games, incredible VIP and rakeback system (weekly/monthly bonuses, rakeback can be claimed whenever, daily/monthly challenges to earn extra cash), active and friendly chat community, multiple crytpo deposit options where your account is credited in that currency (meaning your balance equivalent in USD will swing with the market-- could be seen as a con), enjoyable "Stake Original" games that have a higher RTP than 3rd party slots, averages ~2k users online at any given time
What I don't like: Can be overwhelming for first time players (Roobet is much more straight forward and easy to use)
My largest withdrawal: $13.2k
Deposit/Withdrawal Methods: BTC, ETH, LTC, DOGE, BCH, XRP (highly recommend-- cheap transfer fee, if any at all, and confirmed within seconds), TRX, EOS
Referral link to instantly enable 10% rakeback: https://stake.com/?c=6c2f1c60
​
Site #3: Gamdom.com (Best for gamers)
What I like: Instant withdrawals, huge selection of slots and live games, newly implemented rakeback system, constant "rains" in the chat (which is free money if you join in time), ability to instantly deposit and withdraw via Rust and TF2 items (could spend an hour talking about this-- generally caters to those who cannot get crypto or have to use a CC to buy crypto), averages ~1.5k users online at any given time
What I don't like: Prior to the newly implemented rakeback system rains and level-up chests were the only "rakeback", your balance is denominated in coins (1500 coins = $1 USD), browsing through their slot selection can be a pain in the ass
My largest withdrawal (at once): $7.4k
Deposit/Withdrawal Methods: BTC, ETH, BCH, LTC
Referral link to receive a free chest that could be worth up to ~$53: https://gamdom.com/chase (you can also use code "chase")
​
Final parting words: PLEASE DO NOT GAMBLE WITH MONEY THAT YOU CANNOT AFFORD TO LOSE. Gambling is not a money making method and you will lose in the long run. The purpose of my post is to make those aware that other trustworthy online casinos are available for Americans that will (hopefully) make gambling online a bit more enjoyable!

WARNING - LONG
I haven’t seen any AMA threads in a while, and I always found those super interesting to read. I also got a lot of inspiration from ChicagoJoey’s podcasts, as I have found them all to be great listens, and I usually have something to take away from it. Now that being said, I thought I would like to offer some insight as to what it’s like to be a SNG pro, but you could also ask me anything else as well! I don’t have anywhere close to the success of the poker players that some of the MTT/Cash crushers have had, but I do make a solid living. I don’t like giving out numbers, but I’ll show a bit of my Sharkscope graph. Keep in mind though, that the graphs don’t show rebuys, which means I’m making less than what the graphs show, since it’s typical to rebuy in the games I play in (lots of On Demand SNGs).
​
June - https://imgur.com/a/qVSqieR
July - https://imgur.com/a/ncaX1nI
Current month - https://imgur.com/a/hiC0dji
For those of you who also play on ACWPN, you’ll know that I’m on top of the SNG leaderboard every week that I play, earning an extra $1,250 a week + rakeback (until recently when they nerfed the top spots to $500).
I thought I’d start with a little background on myself, both to show my history as well as a warning sign to others. I started playing poker around 12 years ago, right when I turned 18. Because I had no idea what I was doing, I jumped right into 100 NL and lost a ton (probably a few thousand). Then I played some SNGs and had some success, playing 9 mans and HUSNGs, and then dabbled in tournaments. However, I was HORRIBLE at bankroll management, since I had no idea what it meant. I played on both Stars and Full Tilt at the time, and was able to make some decent money. However, because of the early success (besides the cash games), I also had very poor spending habits (not being used to having all the money and then coming into a decent amount suddenly). I’d buy new phones all the time, and I also used to play pool (billiards) a ton, so I bought a few pool cues that ended up costing quite a bit as well. To top it off, I was playing in the FTOPS (Full Tilt Online Poker Series, basically like WCOOP or SCOOP) tournaments through satellites, and was able to play in a good amount of them. Looking back, I cringed at thinking about spending $2,650 on a single bullet of a tournament when it was almost my entire bankroll. If I was smarter, I would have converted the money into tournament dollars and have a decent amount of money to grind with.
Anyways, soon after that, Black Friday came. Even though I had some very mild success in poker, I was nowhere good enough to be a pro to move out of the country. I was still playing poker though and hopping around several sites (Lock Poker, Bovada, Carbon Poker), just playing here and there and still not taking the game seriously enough. Personally, I think it came from having everything handed to me early. Until college hit, I’ve pretty much always had good grades without even trying, which I believe ended up instilling terrible habits in me (like never working on my game). And this is where I want to warn all people that potentially want to go pro in poker: You probably shouldn’t do it unless you are super passionate about the game. If you truly want to make money, you need a mindset to constantly improve. Personally, I felt like I shouldn’t have made it, because I was fucking around for way too long, playing every single game format, and not really sticking to anything, or studying at all. However, I was extremely stubborn about making the poker dream work, and eventually something clicked. Even though I kept failing, and was so unfocused for so long, I eventually found some moderate success. I can’t say exactly what the turning point was, but I think the constant inspiration that came from all the podcasts, combined with all the self-help material I was consuming, as well as getting disciplined in my workouts/diet that did it. I just needed constant reminders to work at it, even though I didn’t want to most of the time.
I could keep going about my playing history, but I will speed it up and say that I eventually landed in playing SNGs, and forced myself to stick with it. However, this wasn't a smooth ride. My approach was backwards, since I was more focused on trying to win the leaderboard at the time. I would mass table (24-30 games) trying to get that top leaderboard spot, but I was seriously lacking in fundamentals and making some heavy mistakes at the tables. So even though I got the $500/$1,250 (since when I started playing on WPN, I wasn’t always able to get $1250), often times that wouldn’t even offset the losses that I had for the week. Once I started putting more time in the lab, then the profit started pouring in.
This brings me to another point that I want to make: TALK TO PEOPLE/MAKE POKER FRIENDS. I’ve been very shy my whole life, and even though I constantly read the advice about making poker friends and talking about hands, I’ve never done it. I always felt like I could do it on my own without any help. And the result? I did make it eventually, but not talking to anybody about poker probably slowed my progress exponentially. Honestly, there’s so many things I wished I could have redone when learning poker, but hopefully my experience will help those on a similar path to not make those mistakes.
Now, onto the AMA. You can really ask me anything! It doesn’t have to be poker related at all. If you don’t know what to ask, here are some ideas:
Poker Related:

• Toughest regs in my games
• Current Setup/Studying Tools
• What I think about the SNG ecosystem
• Attainable ROIs
• Why I decided to settle in SNGs
• Bankroll management
• How I think relationships affect poker

Non poker related:

• Routines/fitness/mindset/meditation (well I guess that does relate to poker lol)
• When will the Knicks be good?
• What I had for lunch
• Tech
• Stocks
• Credit Cards

Another thing I want to point out: Don’t be afraid to ask questions, even if they make you sound like a noob/dumbass! Sometimes those questions will help you grow the most. No matter how dumb/newbie the question is, I will do my best to answer every question whenever I can and comprehensively.
Lastly, the unfortunate shameless plug. My Twitch username is the same as here: Twitch.tv/Cheesebunnies. I recently decided to stream my sessions for 3 main reasons:

1. To get out of my comfort zone and do something different (I’m pretty introverted and wanted to put myself out there because I’m always worried about being judged/not good enough).
2. Being that I have very little presence in the poker community (due to being a hermit both online and in real life), I wanted to put myself out there to start trying to coach people. I’ve found that teaching people feels very rewarding, especially when you get a student to suddenly click on an idea once you’ve imparted that knowledge.
3. Expanding on the 2nd point, I wouldn’t be here without the podcasts/mentors. I feel like teaching would spread the cycle of giving back, and I also hope that is reflected in the posts/comments that I make.

At some point, I plan to give an hour of free coaching away, so please follow and I’ll hold a giveaway on stream at some point in the future! As for the schedule, I plan on streaming later today and tomorrow at 3PM EST, but after that, I don't have a set schedule. My plan is to update the stream schedule on Twitch on a week by week basis. So now, ask away!

Hey y'all. Its incredibly sad to say but its time for me to leave poker. I'm not asking for upvotes but it would mean a ton if you took a couple of minutes to read this, as this means a lot to me. Let me tell my story:
​
I started out about 3-4 years ago on Bovada with 5NL cash games / zone and being a losing player for a VERY long time. It took me two years to end up in the green on my graph, but when I did it was an incredible feeling. Seeing the progress of your work finally pay off is just something else. I slowly started to work my way up all the way to 25-50NL Zone and was winning around 1.9 to 2.1 BB /100 for a while. Recently however, things took a swing for the worse. The dreaded inevitable brutal downswing came that everyone talks about, and it hit hard. I was up around 11K total from my winnings, and it recently dipped to around 8 after a terrible few weeks of run bad. Of course I say it was run bad, but maybe instead I was never a winning player at the higher stakes and I was just running good up until now. I might never know. Anyways, my mental got destroyed because of this, and my mistakes started to compound. I started calling off spots I normally wouldn't, over 3 betting and x/raising in stupid spots because I was imaging people picking on me, and just all around awful play that I worked years on to avoid playing like. Eventually, I closed out of the tables and went over the online blackjack table in an attempt to recoup my winnings but ended up losing a few more thousand in the process.
Its time for me to pack it up. That's not playing winning poker anymore, its just degenerate gambling and a gateway to an addiction. I withdraw the rest of all my winnings and contacted Bovada to permanently lock me out of my account. I did the same with my other accounts I play on such as ACR and Stars. The game I once fell in love with and was so eager to keep learning about and improving now became a grind that just siphoned my mental well being, distracted from my research and studies, reduced my productivity at work, and even cut into my social life / relationships. Its very upsetting to leave the online poker scene after pouring my soul into it for sure but it has to be done.
I don't really have any regrets since I nipped this thing in the butt before it spiraled out of control, but I wish I could of kept up the grind for some more time. However, I still enjoyed the journey and the mistakes I made along the way and also and am happy for the cool peeps I got to meet and discuss poker with. I will still lurk around this sub for sure, and catch some home games with friends and get out to the casino every now and then for my local fishy 1/2 game. Regardless, mad respect to all you degens out there grinding the good grind after all these years and still killing it. I wish I could keep the mindset and focus like y'all, but it's simply not something I'm equipped for. I wish you all the best of luck moving forward.
​
Thank you for reading this :)
​
Edit: Wow, you guys are awesome! Thanks for the overwhelming support, I'm really glad I shared my decision here! It truly means a lot to me <3

I wanted to provide a definitive guide for those trying to find the quickest and cheapest way to get their winnings/initial deposit out of various poker sites through the means of cryptocurrency.
This guide does not recommend cryptocurrency trading and even if you follow all of these steps, there is still a risk for currency fluctuations. It took a lot for me to figure this out and I wanted to pay it forward and help those in the future learn this valuable information. I take no responsibility for the accuracy of this guide, but I will say this is the method I now use. Various state laws can make each step more difficult. However, this method is tailored to the strictest of laws that affect Cryptocurrency issued by New York state.
Ok, so you got some money and want to get it out of a poker or gambling site. Checks are offered, but who has time for that 4 week turnaround on what could be a bad check. So you have decided to get into Cryptocurrency. Here is how the money gets to your bank.
Poker site -> Wallet -> Exchange -> Bank.
1st Step - Getting the money out of your poker account. So you request a withdrawal in cryptocurrency. But which currency? There is Bitcoin (the original), Bitcoin Cash (the fork), Ethereum (New Cool Kid), Tether or Dai (stablecoin) Bitcoin SV, Litecoin, etc.... There are benefits to each currency. Bitcoin is the original and most well known. It is the most traded by far with a market cap (total value) more than all other cryptocurrencies combined. There is also a well established group of people holding bitcoin as an investment to the future. However, Bitcoin also has the most fees and slowest transaction times depending on the fee you pay. Personally I use Ether and Bitcoin Cash. They are based on new versions of blockchain, transfer quickest between wallets and exchanges, and have lower transfer fees. I have not used Dai and Tether, but I will go into stablecoin later.
Step 2 - The Wallet. The wallet is where your money from the pokersite will go. I want to make it very clear. You do not want your money to go from the pokersite to the exchange. The exchange can and will learn it is from a pokersite which can cause you a lot of problems later on. In particular, running a foul of U.S laws and regulations on gaming. So you want the money to go to your wallet. I recommend either Exodus or if you just want Bitcon, Blockstream Green. Exodus though is my go to. You can use it online or through your mobile device. It will automatically scan deposit and withdraw codes for you (this is extremely important so you don't mess up where your money goes). It also has a nice sleek interface and accepts most cryptocurrencies. One thing to point out, Exodus was designed for bitcoin miners at one point who wanted their money out quickly. So, when using bitcoin, it sends and receives your money out as quick as possible using higher fees. You may be concerned by this. However, now you got crypto, lets get it to your exchange.
Step 3 - The Exchange. So there are many exchanges, where you convert your crypto to other crypto or even cash. The three most popular in the US are Cash App, Coinbase, and Gemini. Cash App is easy, if you can set it up. If there is an issue with Cash App, good luck. Their customer support is non-existent (this actually led me to use Coinbase). Basically, you send the money from your wallet to CashApp and then sell the bitcoin in the app. About 20 minutes later the money is in the app and can be sent to your bank. There are various fees, I believe 1.5% to sell the coin, 1.5% to ACH to your account or 1.75% for instant credit to your bank account. I personally use Coinbase Pro. It costs me .5% to sell the crypto. I could then ACH it to my bank account which takes about 5 days. Instead I added another step.
You can link your Coinbase account to your Paypal account. So, when I have cashed out at the cheapest rate at Coinbase Pro, I instant transfer the money to Coinbase and then instant transfer it to paypal. There are no fees for this and there are no fees for Coinbase Pro. Coinbase Pro allows you to do things CashApp or regular Coinbase does not. For example, I held my Bitcoin Cash which came in at 219 and put an order to sell at 230. When Bitcoin Cash hit 230, it sold and I made a couple extra percent return on my money. It was a risk, but wanted to play with a limit order. When the money got to my Paypal account, I instant transferred it to my debit card for 1% fee. I could have ACHed it for free and had the money in a day or two, but I decided to take the quick cash.
Overall, the quickest I have seen cryptocurrency with withdrawals is under 24 hours with Pai Wang Luo Network (Bovada/Ignition) and 3 days for WPN. Once I have received my crypto, the quickest I have been able to hit my account is 1.5 hours.
Now here is the big risk from Cryptocurrency: Currency fluctuation. I have no idea why crypto goes down or up, or why some cryptos go one way while others will go another. General rule, if Bitcoin is up or down, the others are as well. Example: Past 24 Hours (7/5/2020 - 7/6/2020), Bitcoin up 3.1%, Ether 6%, Bitcoin Cash 8.36% Tether -.1%, Dai .68%. Dai and Tether were created to avoid currency fluctuations by tieing themselves to an asset. Tether is "tethered" to the USD. So try one of the those for less risk maybe. But please note, while you have crypto in your wallet and exchange, and it goes up or down, that's your money going up or down.
I hope this helps anyone trying to figure out how to use cryptocurrencies. GL

I thought I’d put together a quick list of the best online gambling sites for the Reddit community. Feel free to add to this list with any of the best ones that I might have missed. Let’s try and make this a go-to resource for anyone who fancies a flutter :)
Here’s my list:
Bovada - Easily the standout choice for sports betting in the U.S. Loads of lines offered, in-play betting available, plus casino and poker games. Great welcome bonus too and it’s a super reputable site.
Ignition - Decent alternative to Bovada. I don’t personally use Ignition but I have a buddy who swears by it. Plus, the reviews on the likes of TrustPilot are highly favourable and it’s definitely a sportsbook you can trust. Best for poker.
PlayOjo - Excellent slots site! Comprehensive selection, lots of specials and again a really reputable site that you can’t go wrong with
Nitrogen Sports - Really good for sports betting but also has casino betting opportunities. Bitcoin accepted, I personally use it now and then for table games. Solid alternative to Bovada (though I use both because you can compare the odds)
LeoVegas - This is both a sportsbook and a casino but I prefer to use it for its casino games. Lots of promos, huge amount of games, good payouts

I'm a 31 year old male and posting in this subreddit because I really want to change my life...
I have been playing poker since watching a World Series of Poker event on ESPN 15 years ago. In the last 12-13 years, I logged tons of hours on online poker. I started to make $50 deposits, but had trouble controlling my tilt when I would get a bad beat, dump off the rest of the deposit. I would self-exclude for a few months to a year because I wanted to stop making deposits and tilting money away.
After the self-exclusion, I would start playing again and fall into the same pattern. In the last 3 years, the deposit value went up, I started to make $200-$1k deposits to try to chase my losses. I also started to make sportsbook bets, because Bovada has that convenient option to place bets on sports, while I was playing poker. That didn't go well either, I was placing ridiculous bets, thinking if I could just win it all back and break even, that I can break this bad habit and move on with life. Looks like that won't happen, because everytime I deposit and tell myself I can manage my bankroll, to just build it up without tilting, I end up tilting it away eventually. Overall, I'm down around $123k, ($80k of those losses coming in the last 12 months).
I work in IT and have a 6-figure salary and have no debt, so I'll be okay with upcoming bills, but thoughts of what I could've done with that $123k over the years is bothering me so much. I went through my savings. when I was debating on starting to withdraw from my retirement accounts is when I knew this wasn't a good path that I'm heading towards. I'm also pissed at myself for all the time I wasted so I can play online poker...time that could've been spent improving myself and building relationships with family/friends.
I haven't played online poker for 3 days, and also self-excluded myself from Bovada from play/deposit for 30 days. (I'm going to send an email to them to day to self-exclude permanently, I just don't want to play anymore, I'll keep losing I know it...). It was tough waking up this morning as these thoughts were spinning in my head, which is why I'm sharing my story here.
Any advice/thoughts/quotes/meaningful words would be greatly appreciated as I start this path to recovery.

Hi, I am very new to poker and am starting with 5NL 6max on Bovada. I have a couple ebooks (Crushing the Microstakes and The Grinder's Manual) but it seems like it will take a long time to memorize all of that information. Instead, I plan to play at the same time, and analyze my hands after the fact to see what the books say about those situations.
Here's a hand that I won by intuitive guessing, but I can't really explain my actions that rigorously. Please help me correct my poker logic.
Pre-flop
There are 4 players this round. UTG folds. I look down at KhJd on the button. That should definitely be in my range on the button, so I do a 3x raise to 15c. (I read this was just a good bet size to open with in microstakes.) SB folds, and BB calls.
Flop: Qd, Kc, Td
Villain checks, and I decide that since I have top pair, I'm very likely to win this hand. I doubted that the BB had a made hand (such as pocket aces or a straight) since he checked, and I could draw a straight just as likely as he can. So, I know I need to make a "big bet" to extract value. I go for a 3/4 pot bet, or 23c, which Villain calls.
Turn: Qd, Kc, Td, 4c
Villain checks again, and the situation is exactly the same; very unlikely Villain has a 4. This time I go for a 1/2 pot bet, or 38c... intuitively it seems like I don't want to go too high, lest he leaves the pot because he was expecting something else. Villain calls.
River: Qd, Kc, Td, 4c, 7c
Villain checks, and I check behind because at this point I'm worried about the possibility that he could have a flush. After all, that's something he wouldn't have acted on before, and could be what he was waiting for after the turn. I felt this was a bad decision as soon as I made it, but I was just scared of downside risk.
Showdown
Villain reveals Ad8d, and I win the pot.
My main questions are - I made bet sizes of 3/4 pot and 1/2 pot, but I didn't have great justification for those. What thought process should I have for determining those? - How do I gauge the risk of Villain having a flush on the river, and what should I have done?

Hi all,
Not sure if this is the right place to post this, probably a sports betting sub, but I feel like this pertains to gambling in general and you all might like to hear my story.
A couple weeks ago I was sent home from work for flu like symptoms (don’t worry my test came back negative), but during that time I really had nothing to do. Sports were off and as much as I like poker, I’m just not very good at it. I love video games, always have, and Counter Strike has been a big part of my life. So I decided I’d put $150 in (my normal deposit amount), and just have some fun with it. On the first day I hit a $10 parlay to win $850. After that it was a blur, massive gains, some losses, but yesterday I looked at a $10k balance. I decided to gamble on one final spin of the roulette wheel. I put $1000 on black, by far my largest bet outside of sports (previous was $500 on blackjack), and my heart jumped out of my chest when I saw it hit black.
I withdrew everything in Bovada, and told the other I discussed bets with that I’m taking a break. For me personally, things were getting pretty intense. When you’re throwing around a months worth of salary on a game, things start to feel a little different.
Nevertheless, I’m very lucky and happy that I’ve come this far. It was an exciting and exhilarating journey, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Just for my health, I have a couple questions for anyone that has any input.
When sports betting, how do you not overwhelm yourself with the dollar amount of bets you’re placing? When I started sports betting, my largest bet ever was $100 until this past run. After betting thousands on games, I’m not sure if I could ever do it again, betting so much on an individual game.
Does anyone else here have a similar experience? I’d love to hear more similar stories. Also, just to clarify my position in life, I’m right out of college, so to me making that much is a very big deal.

**Note: If you are coming from an email the discord link may be broken. The one in this post should be fine (or just click here)
AlgoHoldem's range modeler is now live! Invites have been sent out. (If you haven't gotten one there is still a good chance more will be sent out in a second wave). Important information pertaining to the release below:
Release Info
1 - Most poker clients should be supported for hand history uploads. Check out our FAQ on the front page to find a list of all of them. If you are having trouble uploading a supported client please contact [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])
2 - If you haven't already join our discord! We are looking to form a small community for like minded users to learn, discuss, and add their input for the improvement of the software. I will actively be on there to listen to questions/feedback. Feel free to follow our twitter too if that's your thing.
3 - Expect a max latency of ~45 seconds (worst case) for loading a hand if you're not waiting in a queue. We realize this may not be ideal for a lot of people. We will be working hard on optimizing this in future updates.
4 - There are additional limitations as it pertains to the beta to the ones in this guide. See below:

1. Models are currently only specific to stakes (low and mid) as there isn't enough data to confidently provide accurate analysis for modeling stakes + clients together. This is generally fine because stakes are a higher indicator of player tendencies compared to clients.
2. Models are only trained on limited data that might not cover all situations fully. (30k hands for mid stakes and 15k for low stakes). One of the easiest way to see this is to look at raise tendencies on the river for hands that are the nuts (It will not be a full 100% raise like it should be). This will be eventually solved through more data; just keep note that river hands have a lot less training data than preflop hands (even more-so for nutted river hands which is why the above is happening)
3. Most of the trained hands come from Zoom/Zone poker so the range assessments will be a little bit different when using it as a direct comparison to regular cash games. This will be solved with more data from different sources.
4. Currently the range modeler evaluates 2 different bet ranges for raises/bets. Bets/Raises in between .3 and 1.2 pot should have sensible range outputs. Keep in mind that this is just a rough guideline and is no means applicable to all situations. In the future we are looking to support 4 different bet ranges (when we get more data of course).
5. Currently only supports 6max cash. We will be looking to support different modes / tables sizes going into the future.

5 - Most of the above limitations are due to limited training data. If you would like to help out, feel free to donate hand histories in bulk! Contact [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) if you're interested. (Bovada hands are preferred but any hand histories will do).
​
And that's all! Enjoy the software! (and even more important; improving at poker!).

LAPTOP QUESTIONNAIRE
Total budget and country of purchase. $750 - $2000 US (Midwest). Obviously lower price the better. Range is pretty wide because I just don't know if I actually need a gaming laptop to accomplish what I want, or if a regular laptop would work fine. I'd imagine I need a gaming laptop though.
Are you open to refurbs/used? No.
How would you prioritize form factor (ultrabook, 2-in-1, etc.), build quality, performance, and battery life?
Most important is performance by a wide margin. I don't want stuff crashing and lagging in the middle of poker hands and stats not loading up accurately. Would also like to be able to run sims in pio during off hours.
Battery life isn't that important as I'd imagine I'll usually be near a charger, but I'd like to get at least 2-3 hours of heavy use on a charge.
Build...idk... Just want it to work seamlessly.
How important is weight and thinness to you? Not at all. Aesthetics don't matter on this purchase. Really just want an efficient machine that is reliable.
Do you have a preferred screen size? Not a strong preference but probably at least 15 inches. Will probably connect to multiple monitors sometimes as well.
Are you doing any CAD/video editing/photo editing/gaming? Yes. Gaming
List which programs/games you desire to run.
Android emulators. Not sure if it will be through BlueStacks, Nox, or something else depending on what I find works best. Pokertracker 4 Pokerbros (through emulator) Pokkerrr2 (through emulator) Above is primary activity and below are occasionally
Pio Ignition (bovada) America's Cardroom
If you're gaming, do you have certain games you want to play? Poker
At what settings and FPS do you want? This is almost exclusively for poker and poker related software. Not sure if any of this applies but their should be a real time heads up display ( HUD) tracking all hands and statistics on players imported into PT4 and viewable on each table. Usually playing anywhere from 4 to 8 tables at one time but would like out to be feasible to do more.
Any specific requirements such as good keyboard, reliable build quality, touch-screen, finger-print reader, optical drive or good input devices (keyboard/touchpad)? Good thermal management.
Leave any finishing thoughts here that you may feel are necessary and beneficial to the discussion. No desire for an apple product. Would prefer to stay on Windows OS.

Hi all,
Not sure if this is the best place to post this, but you all may enjoy my story.
A couple weeks ago I was sent home from work for flu like symptoms (don’t worry my test came back negative), but during that time I really had nothing to do. Sports were off and as much as I like poker, I’m just not very good at it. I love video games, always have, and Counter Strike has been a big part of my life. So I decided I’d put $150 in (my normal deposit amount), and just have some fun with it. On the first day I hit a $10 parlay to win $850. After that it was a blur, massive gains, some losses, but yesterday I looked at a $10k balance. I decided to gamble on one final spin of the roulette wheel. I put $1000 on black, by far my largest bet outside of sports (previous was $500 on blackjack), and my heart jumped out of my chest when I saw it hit black.
I withdrew everything in Bovada, and told the other I discussed bets with that I’m taking a break. For me personally, things were getting pretty intense. When you’re throwing around a months worth of salary on a game, things start to feel a little different.
Nevertheless, I’m very lucky and happy that I’ve come this far. It was an exciting and exhilarating journey, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Just for my health, I have a couple questions for anyone that has any input.
When sports betting, how do you not overwhelm yourself with the dollar amount of bets you’re placing? When I started sports betting, my largest bet ever was $100 until this past run. After betting thousands on games, I’m not sure if I could ever do it again, betting so much on an individual game.
Does anyone else here have a similar experience? I’d love to hear more similar stories. Also, just to clarify my position in life, I’m right out of college, so to me making that much is a very big deal.

Tonight, I deposited $100 into Bovada.
Played a jackpot sit and go won $400. Played another 100. Won another 400. Played another 100 won another 400.
Now I’m right at 1K in about 10 minutes and I go to regular poker. 1K buyin. I proceed to lose over a period of a couple hours. Not even good hands or anything memorable.
I simply play til I lose. The joy is there but I simply can not hold money in my pocket for the life of me. I’m good enough to win enough but I never withdraw. I have a problem.
Sorry for this rant, I wouldn’t say im mad but more in a questioning state because this isn’t uncommon. Gambling is life altering, whether it be for better or for worse
I’m 20 and my 21st will be my last day ;*{

I am not good at poker. Hello folks my name is Hristivoje Pavloic. Most of you know me by All In Pav on most sites. I primarily stream on the twitchpoker platform
​
It all started in 2015 when poker was just a hobby for me and i was living with my parents. I was a complete nobody and just loved the game. I studied and worked my ass off and then one magical day Kevin Martin gave me a 68 dollar donation and it meant the world to me, as my existance wasnt even worth a grand that day.
​
Then i decided to study hard, put in the volume and study DTO and get a few nerd friends to join me like Henry and Travis. They made the road to success easier to deal with. We gave up partying, going out, spending time with girls to the point my own mother even questioned if i was gay or not, but thats another story.
​
I managed to win 6 figure profit in 2017 2018 and 2019. thru sheer luck. I admit it. The trolls were right all along. I actually lookedback and remember alot of the wins i gotten to profit money. Back when i won 50k on the ACR tourney i had 2 big blinds and should of went out in 16th place for like 7 grand, but i kept getting AK and JJ to move all the way up. Or what about the time i had 1 big blind on the money bubble in the bovada 88 dollar? to win 8k or the time i had 1 bb on the money bubble in the 109 wednsday 50k on ACR and took it down for 11k? Or what about the time i should of busted the tourney i won recently but got it in with 20% twice and won both? My point is just these examples show that i won over 120k here and without this sheer luck id of lost money for the year like i am now in 2020.
​
I constantly am shortstack, I just play push/fold and survive and ladder up and get lucky. I know deep down im just a giant luckbox. Look me up on all your databases guys, when do i bluffshove a river? I never do. I am a nit and play abc poker. I have ran good for 3 years and its now hitting me because im not getting that string of luck i had previously.
​
Alot of you defend me and tell me to cheerup but the truth is i ran hotter than the sun for a couple yrs and now if i run average i will lose money. I need to find it in myself and drop down and play where i belong in the $33. However i can afford the big games and have sponsorship to support this downswing Im currently on. Im actually a slight winner i think to be honest but will lose 6 figures if i continue to play games i dont belong playing.
​
I always say how consistant i am and want to be the best but it hurts to realise the truth.
​
I urge everybody out there to not take what i say seriously from thus point on. Now remember, i dont do handshakes people!

Bovada switched their bonus program and in my rewards tab I had a $25 bonus to claim. This bonus couldn't be used for poker. I'm wondering if since I took that promo, even though it couldn't be used for poker, will they require a rollover on poker deposits? I'm going to be REALLY heated if I make a deposit and decide to cashout and they hit me with the rollover rule BS. Anybody have any info that confirms that this doesn't affect poker? Or any info from Bovada's site that confirms yes or no?
Edit: When I go to my rewards tab it says I have no active rewards. I hope this is good news, but I'm going to be very upset if I make a $500 deposit and when it comes time to cashout they hit me with the rollover requirements. I hope this isn't the case since the bonus I accepted was only able to be used for everything EXCEPT poker.

I just have a couple of questions regarding which poker site to use as a US player. I've tried Bovada and while I like their software, I didn't like the deposit bonus which seem to make your funds locked or as bonus funds. Funds to withdraw stays at $0 even though you're making a profit which looked weird to me.
So I was wondering if people could tell me good poker sites for cash games as well as tournaments and what sites have solid deposit options which will actually reflect in your account the way it is and fluctuate based on your play and not get stuck like Bovada.
Edit: I also tried the casino games on there to work through the bonus offer and went from $50 to $250 but the playable balance I had at $50 essentially went to $0 on Bovada making me spew money only on Casino games and not on any poker related games which kinda sucks so.

Disclaimer: This is likely going to be the most boring section but year 3 is where it starts to get good (which I can make it more humorous) and I will type it up while I play tomorrow. But as long as interest in these threads is here I will invest the time in making them. A couple comments in the first one said it was nostalgic, which I agree, its kind of why I am even writing these. These were the actual good days of poker before government decided to fuck it up for everyone, poker is a shell of what it used to be and it will never return to its glory days without government fucking off. There is no entry point for new players these days, there are no advertisements on ESPN, no play money hustles or low stakes games online full of fish (now full of bots or bot like regs) or mega field mtts for people to get excited about. Also processing power has grown so much that problem solvers are becoming prevalent in decent stakes games. Jump online and play some NLH, it is insanely unfriendly to anyone playing less than perfect (plo is the only way to play online now, lets make it bigger than NLH!). Your every leak will be exploited. Its just not going to come back. (No one tell me bovada is soft either, fuck the anonymous stuff, 4$ rake no rewards system, they deserve no business, globalpoker is the only one worse) Also worth noting every single event I cover is real. The only thing that can be false is dialogue (for humor usually) and potentially altered hand histories due to lapsed memory.
Oh and since I bashed two online sites I will plug one. Coinpoker.com - learn how to use crypto and join up. The software is solid, traffic a bit slow for USA time zones but its growing a bit. I have no affiliation aside from playing there and would enjoy more traffic in USA peak hours.
Year 2
I am now a 20 year old gun slinger in the wild West of online poker. I am grinding sit n gos and mtts and cash games. I am a jack of all trades, and a master of all games. I am playing plo stud8 nlh it didnt matter, I just wanted to learn every game. I was a genuine student of poker, it consumed my brain at all times. I wake up at noon to slide into my chair and start grinding, still living at home with my dad in my ear telling me to get a job because “there is no future to gambling” to which I retort “you got it wrong pops, its actually no gamble no future, and I am gonna gamble for mine”.
I am in the backwoods of Oklahoma. I have no clue when high speed internet was invented but I sure as hell didnt have it in 2006. I was still using dialup as it was the only option available. I grind a lot of mtts and sitngos, and when Poker Stars releases a small patch or update I always paid the piper. I would leave the website open 24/7 so disconnects often would leave me screaming at my computer banging my head as updates downloaded for 5-20 minutes usually. Often I would be ITM in an mtt or holding AA/KK somewhere praying to the poker gods that everyone else disconnected and was feeling my struggles as well.
Nevertheless I am becoming a winning player. I have erratic account balances ranging from 300-1000$ while I play $1-10$ mtts (and occasionally jumping into a 20$+) and cash games at 10nl/plo mostly. I dont exactly recall the tourney that allowed me to cash out $3,000 off of Poker Stars, but it happened at some point that year. I remember the day it came in the mail pretty well. I got in my piece of shit 1998 Ford F150 (that I drove from age 17 to 23ish until I gave it to a friend who had his car stolen, it finally collapsed at 310k miles, I abused that truck, it literally had so many original parts on it, including the spark plugs amazingly) and drove into town head held high with my prize sitting on my lap. I couldnt wait to get to the bank so they could ask me where I got all this money from (which is ironic because a year later you had to lie if you wanted to retain your bank account). In my mind, as a 20 year old who has never even held 1000$ of my own money before it felt like I was going to be cashing the biggest check they would see all week.
I arrive at a Bank of Oklahoma, walk in and head to an open teller. She was an elderly lady probably in her 60s. I hand her the check and give her my account info and she starts punching away on her computer. She asks me how I want it, and with a smug grin on my face I say “in cash”. She gives me a blank stare then reaches into her drawer and pulls out a stack of $100 bills. This was the moment I had lived for, this was the moment my year plus of sitting in a basement ostracized from society grinding it out on my leather ass was for. She leans in to start counting out $3,000 and time is moving so slow for me. My bottom lip is literally shaking watching her count this massive sum of fiat, it was at the time the greatest moment of my life (over losing virginity, over the first time feeling the euphoria of MDMA, over anything). It felt so fulfilling. Pixelated cash turned to physical cash and I was on my way. Making the hour drive to the city to buy some cocaine and hang out with friends.
Short version of the weeks that followed that event, cocaine and home games for pennies. The money ran dry and my nose wore raw. The cocaine was rarely good obviously but thats to be expected in 2006 and in the Midwest.
Towards the end of the year I am going to a friends house to play after a weekend of partying and poker. We played at the casino the night before and have had little to no sleep in two days. Hes not a well seasoned super pro who has cashed a $3,000 check like me but he dabbles a bit. Its Sunday and were gonna grind a few tourneys, one in particular was a freeroll for anyone who earned X amount of FPPs over a set period of time. Everyone who makes final table gets a $12,000 package to main event. So we saddle up and jump into this (if my memory serves me correctly) 26,000~ player field. Luckily it had a good structure with plenty of play, 5 minute levels was going to allow my sharpened skills to shine. Laptops out, chargers plugged into a power supply we were underway. We felt like Louis and Clark setting out to traverse the western USA. We were gonna chart our maps on our way through this large field and claim our prize. We rarely say a word to each other through the first hour, were dog ass tired from the partying and high stakes 1-2nl at the casino the night before.
I bust my entry in the second hour, humiliated by the poker gods I look over at my friend in disgrace to let him know he is on his own, only to see him fast asleep sitting out at his table. I grab his laptop and feel my heart thud and my jugular swell as I have been revitalized having a second chance at this tourney, so long as he doesnt wake up.
I quietly accrue chips, soul reading my digital opponents and swiping their blinds. An hour passes I am still alive. Another hour and I am full thrive. Another hour and it seems I wont be deprived. We get down to 1000 then 500 then 100 people left standing. I awake my friend to show him what I have done, much to his surprise. He was excited but knew that I was the captain of his ship now. He fell asleep at the helm, so his ship now belonged to me.
Now to the hands I remember pretty well.
Two tables left. Not a ton of play but I am one of the bigger stacks. 15ish left and I am in the blinds with 66 when some asshat rips from the cutoff. It will cost me 3/4 of my stack (tbh I cant remember how many bb, it had to be 6-10 I would think, a 5 minute level turbo with 26k people back in 06? Had to be shallow) but I nut up and call.
My 66 is ahead of his QT but he finds a way to win. Now I am on deaths throes seeing this 12k package slip out of my grasp.
Aside from a pivotal pot that I won with K9o (ripping shallow) I remember no other hands but I assure you no one was all in or had someone all in more than I did at those final two tables. It tailed off with me comfortably sliding in from 11~ left to 9. I remember agonizing so many all ins, laughing when I won and yelling FUCK!! when I lost. More highs and lows over that 20-30 minutes than I had ever thought possible, and wouldnt feel again for a year or two. This 12k score was by far my biggest to date. We fist bumped and despite having no sleep we went out drinking and playing 1-2 like a couple of punk 21 year olds that we were. Kind of a side note but I have had many threats to me at a poker table, I am a bit mouthy (in the name of humor, but the humorless get angry).
Since it was my friends account we chopped the 12k. He proceeded to become a 200nl pro for the next few weeks. Sitting with the likes of Sam Simon (of The Simpsons, he was a frequent Poker Stars player) and melting off a good portion before tapping out.
I proceeded to continue to chip up from there. Then I had some issues on Poker Stars. While playing some 180 man sitgos I was talking to someone in chat. Who then found me on my cash tables to ask me what I had in a hand. Needless to say I broke collusion rules (worse than that, he lingered and was telling me his hands and I would tell him mine like a nimrod). Wasnt exactly intentional but I received a life time ban on Poker Stars and they sent me a check for my account balance. Not my proudest moment, it was dumb but honestly resulted in a net positive.
The end of the year I turn 21 and am grinding FTP and I am thinking about moving out of my folks house. I never get a fat roll together but I am winning here and there and blowing money like an idiot kid who has no concept of tomorrow. I was downloading new poker sites (the resulting net positive from losing stars)
One last story from this year. This is genuinely my favorite one I ever tell (and I tell it occasionally to this day in certain situations with people I dont think will get offended and they set themselves up for it)
I walk into a card room and get a 1-2 seat. I grab chips and head that way, and I end up drawing a seat directly to this old mans left. The old man was my grandfather. I had spent minimal time with this man in my life. Less than most people do with grandparents who live fairly close. He was a gambler though, stocks or cards. Rumor has it (never heard this from him only my mom and other family) in the late 70s or early 80s he sells a plot of land with a few oil drills on it and heads to Vegas where he spends 6-9 months playing poker and comes back busto. I never asked him about this story, if true I am sure he was felting himself to Brunson or Slim or some of the other old timers. The land yielded him a few hundred thousand dollars. The funny part is that piece of land is still pumping oil in 2019 (he fucked up). He recovered in life though, he never lived poorly. Owned a house on a lake in Oklahoma and dated meth addicted women 30 years younger than him my whole life. Just a standard version of a sugar daddy I suppose.
Anyhow, we greet each other and exchange a few words before just getting immersed in the game. Hes not exactly an old man coffee player, I do know his favorite hand is 910 though from poker discussions we had previously. About an hour into the session I have barely played a hand. I look over at him and say “man I just keep getting 92o 83o 72o over and over”. He then turns his head towards me and looks me in the eyes and says words I never will forget. He says (using fake name here) “Johnny, there aint one guy at this table that gives a fuck what youre folding” and looks away. I wasnt shocked at the cold response. He was a brash and dry person. Never told a joke that I remember. I never forgot it though and when people try to complain about their cards I tell them “I will tell you what my grandpappy told me, aint nobody at this table gives a fuck what youre folding”. Even though it was kind of cold, truer words rarely are uttered at a poker table. The last thing I care about is someones bad beats or card dead hour or wtf ever else. We are all so self involved that we think people care to hear a bad beat story or whatever, but they dont.
Part 3 in the next day or two.