How to Beat Online Poker in 2019 (Your Step by Step Guide)


As we enter another new year I know a lot of people will be vowing to finally beat online poker in 2019. But unfortunately winning at online poker these days isn't quite as straight forward as it used to be.

In order to beat online poker in 2019 you need to be playing in the right poker games, using the right poker strategy and studying to improve your skills away from the tables as well. In order to beat online poker in 2019 you are also going to need a solid game plan for how you are going to climb up the stakes each step of the way.

Don't worry though because I am going to cover it all in this article. This is your step by step guide for how to beat online poker in 2019.


1. You Gotta Play in the Right Poker Games


All right first things first, if you want to consistently start winning at poker in 2019 then it all starts with playing in the right poker games. This is something that is more important than your strategy, tilt control, your "luck", bankroll management or anything else.

And this is because poker is a game that is played between people. Please, please, please always remember this very simple fact.

Because what this means is that your poker winnings will be the direct result of the people who you consistently play against.

If you put the 6th best poker player in the world up against the top 5 best poker players in the world every single day guess what is going to happen?

He will get crushed. He is the fish, the mark, the spot, whatever you want to call it. He will eventually lose all his money.

And remember, this is the 6th best poker player on planet earth who we are talking about here!

Why is this going to happen? Because he was silly enough to pick a poker game to play in that happens to have the only 5 poker players in the world who are better than him.

I think you get my point by now.

Look, even if you take nothing else from the rest of this entire article please remember that you absolutely have to find poker games with bad players in them if you want to win at poker in 2019.

I know I have been beating this horse to a bloody pulp in recent years on this blog, in my books and my YouTube videos but I have to keep saying it even if only 1 out of 10 people reading this article takes it seriously.


Many people still choose to ignore this very simple fact about the way the game of poker works. And they pay a massive price for it. It is the reason why they never achieve the success they want.

Look, even if your poker skill level is low right now, if you consistently play against people who are worse than you, then you will win, guaranteed.

In poker, we call the process of finding players who are worse than you "table selection." And of course I have already written the entire "Ultimate Guide" to table selection for you.

So there are many things to consider with poker table selection:
  • Playing on the right poker site
  • Finding the fish 
  • Getting the seat directly to the left of the fish

Playing on the right poker sites is pretty easy. I look for small to mid size poker sites that are known to have lots of pure gamblers on them.

By the way if you play low stakes live poker then this is pretty much any poker room on earth. I have never seen a $1/$2 live game for instance without at least one clear recreational player in it.

With online poker it is a bit more hit or miss though.

So online sites that have a sportsbook attached or offer extensive casino gambling games are something that I look for because they tend to attract the gamblers.

There are also many app based online poker games these days where some of the very best games can be found.

Finding the fish is usually very easy if you are using a HUD (as you should be if you take online poker seriously). Just look for the players with a VPIP of 40+.

If you can't use a HUD or you are playing on an app, just look for these 5 dead obvious signs of a bad poker player.

Lastly, getting direct position on the fish is a step that many people fail to take yet it is so crucial. And as I have mentioned before, this is why I and many other pros often look for short handed tables instead of sitting on wait lists.

Fish are much more likely to jump on random short handed tables. They just want to play. They don't want to wait. So I jump on those tables as well (usually 3 or 4 players), quickly identify who the fish is and then change seats to get direct position on them.

If you follow all of these tips for playing in the right poker games it is literally impossible not to crush online poker in 2019.

Please understand though that it takes some effort. Nobody is going to just tell you exactly where the best games are, what tables to sit at and so on.

Because guess what? Then word will get out and all the sharks will quickly join and devour the fish. Finding the fish is your #1 job in 2019 if you are truly serious about beating online poker.

There is nothing more I can say on this topic.


2. You Gotta Have the Right Strategy to Beat Online Poker in 2019


Alright, let's talk poker strategy now for 2019. The best strategy for low stakes poker games is still the same as it always has been, TAG (tight and aggressive).

So what exactly does this mean? Well here are some of the highlights:
  • Tight starting hand selection
  • Highly aware of your position at all times
  • Aggressive when you play both preflop and postflop
  • Well timed bluffs against the right players and on the right boards
  • Utilizing tilt control strategies

I would suggest that you just binge watch my 4-part series on How to Crush the Micros on Youtube (part 1 below):


It's a few years old now but the exact same strategies apply in today's games. Make good hands against bad players and bet them. And conversely, know when to get away when you are beat!

The bottom line is that learning how to play a solid TAG strategy for the micros is not difficult. And there are tons of good advanced poker training programs these days to help you as well.

I have coached over 100 students before in the past at these stakes. I have found that many people "claim" to know how to play a solid TAG strategy but they make fundamental bet sizing and starting hand selection mistakes that just should never even happen.

Make sure that you know exactly what you are doing at the poker tables in 2019. There should never be any guesswork involved in what hands to play, how much to bet, when to call, when to fold and so on.


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3. Improve Your Poker Game in 2019 (Study Smart)


Now of course there is only so far you can go in poker with a basic TAG strategy. If your plan is to move up in 2019 and beat mid or high stakes games, you are going to need to learn a lot more.

Something that really separates the very best poker players from everybody else these days is how often they are studying and improving their game away from the tables.

Poker is very similar to many higher end jobs these days such as IT, business development or consulting. If you are not constantly upgrading your knowledge and skill set you will get left behind.

It really is that simple. Poker is always evolving and anybody who thinks they "know it all" will quickly become tomorrow's fish.

So this is why I spend a lot of time these days studying my game away from the tables in PokerTracker, studying poker training courses, reading poker books and getting advice from other winning poker pros.


With PokerTracker this is very easy. I do regular poker session reviews. And even more importantly I am constantly studying the hands of the players who I think are the best I have played against.

With this program you literally have the keys to the vault at your fingertips. Find out what the best players are doing differently than you, and just straight up copy them!

Regarding poker training programs and materials, my new Elite Poker University is arguably the best beginner/novice poker training program available in the world today. 

And it is very affordable as well which is the best part.

There are 17+ hours of advanced poker lessons, hundreds of step by step example hands and downloadable "cheat sheets"

If you are serious about taking your poker game to the next level, enroll today.


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And as for poker books, there are lots of them for math, high stakes, GTO, mental game and so on. But I am pretty much the only well known author out there who writes poker books just for strategy at the micros.

You know, the games that you actually play in.

So for anybody struggling at NL2 or NL5 (or $1/$2 live) I would highly recommend reading Crushing the Microstakes and the getting the optional video course as well.


What Else Can You Do to Improve Your Poker Game 2019?


Here are a few other ways to improve your poker game in 2019:
  • YouTube
  • Twitch
  • Forums
  • Hire a Coach
  • Form a Study Group

As mentioned above, I put out micro stakes poker strategy videos on YouTube every single week. There are tons of other good poker YouTubers out there these days as well.

Twitch is a streaming platform where you can watch lots of top players play. Check out channels like Lex Veldhuis for instance or Jamie Staples. These are good players and you can literally just watch them play.

Forums are a bit more hit or miss and I don't really recommend them overall.

But there are some good smaller ones out there such as my own. For a bigger poker forum with a decent learning environment for beginners, check out CardsChat (the only major poker forum that I still post on semi-frequently).

You could also hire a coach. Or my personal favorite suggestion to improve your poker game in 2019, form a study group.

I have talked about this a lot before. I think networking on social media is the best way to form a study group these days and get advice from other good winning poker players.

If you take poker seriously then you should be on Instagram and Twitter talking to other good players.


4. Your Step by Step Game Plan to Beat Online Poker in 2019


So if you really want to crush online poker this year then I highly recommend having a game plan for how you are going to do it.

As I have said before, I think it is possible for somebody who is highly dedicated and willing to put in the work to go from NL2 to NL100 in a single calendar year.

NL2 by the way is the $2 maximum buy-in game with 1cent/2cent blinds. NL100 is the $100 maximum buy-in game with 50cent/$1 blinds.

Now, NL100 is the first stake where a good poker player can make thousands of dollars a month with regular play. In other words "replace your job" money in most countries on earth.

This is something that I discuss specifically in the "going pro" section of my new poker book, The Micro Stakes Playbook.

It is important to try and get to NL100 as soon as possible!

But even more realistically, I think that most people could go from NL2 to NL25 in a single year where a good poker player can still pretty easily make $500 to $1000 a month.

Not bad for playing a silly little card game on the internet! So the first thing you are going to need is a bankroll plan for moving up. Here is what I suggest.

Start at NL2 with 30 buyins ($60) and move up to the next limit at these bankroll numbers:

NL5 - $150
NL10 - $300
NL25 - $750
NL50 - $1500
NL100 - $3000

Now to be honest, there is still a decent chance you go broke or have significant swings in your bankroll even if you follow these numbers to a tee.

This is why I always recommend using very conservative bankroll management such as 50 buyins or even more. But I think 30 buyins is the bare minimum someone should use to give them a realistic shot of moving up several stakes in 2019.

Now of course what goes up must come down as well.

A huge, huge mistake that many people make is not moving down when the inevitable poker downswing comes. When the cards go south on you (as they will many, many times this year), you also need to check your ego completely and move back down when you fall below these numbers.

You should expect to fail at moving up and have to move back down again 2 times for every 1 time you succeed. Yes, that is right. You should expect to fail 2 out of 3 times when attempting to move up.

This is completely normal and happens all the time even for the very best poker players in the world. Take it in stride, it is part of the game.

Move back down for a few days or weeks, grind it back, and try again. This is how winners approach the game of poker.


5. Tilt Control is Crucial for Your Poker Success in 2019


The final piece of the puzzle for your poker success in 2019 is tilt control. Tilt, which refers to the feelings of frustration and subsequent poor play that we all face at times, is the #1 reason why most people fail to win at poker in the long run.

Tilt is the absolute ruthless killer of bankrolls and dreams in this game. If you do not learn how to keep your tilt in check in 2019, you will not succeed in this game, period.

In fact, Daniel Negreanu even mentioned in his brand new training program, how learning how to manage his emotions better at the tables was so crucial to his success.

So the first thing to recognize before you play a single hand of poker in 2019 is that you are going to take countless bad beats this year.

Yes, even right before the final table for the 10th time in a row and yes even to that fish who has given you 8 other bad beats in the last hour.

And yes, even when your pocket Aces have been cracked 15 times in the last week too!

This is how the game of poker works sometimes and you need to accept this as "what you are signing up for" when you play this game.


Many people simply cannot handle this kind of variance and they end up throwing away bankroll after bankroll. This is indeed why this game will always remain so profitable, because so much of it is simply in your head.

So if you know that you have problems with tilt I would first of all recommend setting a stop loss in 2019. By this I mean that if you lose X number of buyins, you quit playing poker for the day.

What number of buyins you choose for your stop loss is kind of up to you. For me personally, during normal times I set it at 5 buyins. When I am in a prolonged downswing and I know my fuse is shorter than normal, I usually set it at 3 buyins.

By removing myself from the game when I know that it is not going to be my day I stop myself from playing when I am am in my worst mental state.

This is the time when most people end up throwing away 5, 10 or more buyins and truly destroying any success they could have had in this game.

It is absolutely necessary that you learn when to remove yourself from the the poker tables in 2019. Recognize that there will be many days where it just isn't your day to win.

Instead of sitting there for hours on end trying to chase back your losses when you are in a poor mental state and playing your worst, cut the session short and go do something completely different.

This is something that I discuss in much more detail in Crushing the Microstakes.

One of the biggest reasons why I have some of the best results in online poker history at the lower stakes is because I never allow myself to play when I am on tilt or in a poor mental state.

I get to play against them when they are at their worst. But they never get to play against me when I am at my worst!

Do you see how big of an advantage this is?


There is No Such Thing as a "Stop Win"


Now, let me also state that the exact opposite is also true. People often ask me what kind of stop win they should use. And my answer is always the same.

There is no such thing as a "stop win" in poker!

When the cards are falling your way and you are winning big you should keep playing for as long as you possibly can.

One of the biggest mistakes that people make is cutting their winning sessions too short and playing too long during their losing sessions. This is the exact opposite of what you should be doing.

Don't make this mistake at the poker tables in 2019. Play as long as you possibly can when things are going well and quit early when you are getting crushed and feeling the tilt coming on.


The Secret Weapon Against Tilt in 2019


Alright last but not least. And I know this is everybody's favorite topic!

If you truly want to take your tilt control (and therefore poker) serious in 2019, then you have to get serious about being the best version of yourself every single day.

For me personally, I am up by 8am most mornings (often earlier). And the first thing I do is head straight to the gym alternating cardio, weights, cardio, weights every single day.

The key though is to just get out there and do anything to get your heart rate up and get those endorphins pumping.

Maybe you hate the treadmill though? Ok.

So go join a Crossfit gym, take up rowing, yoga, tennis, jiu jitsu, whatever. You can even just head to your local park and probably find some interesting things to do.

Me a few days ago in Lumpini park (Bangkok) lifting some tires!


I know that all this physical activity gives me a big leg up on my competition at the poker tables because my mind is a lot more clear, I feel more confident and I am less likely to get frustrated and go on tilt.

I also sleep far better and am much more energetic, relaxed and positive every day. There is literally no better thing you can do for your poker mental game (and your health in general).

I also take eating right very seriously for my poker career. There really isn't even any excuse anymore in the age of "Uber Eats" (or FoodPanda as it's called here in Thailand). You can simply order healthy food right to your door!

And of course getting a good night's sleep simply goes without even saying. This is mandatory if you take poker seriously.

I personally do the exact opposite of what most people do. I set an alarm on my phone at night for when I must go to sleep. I do not have any alarm in the morning.

Look, as Doyle Brunson famously said "Poker is War, People Pretend it is a Game."

If you aren't working just as hard away from the poker tables as you are at them, then somebody like me is going to crush you when it comes to the mental part of the game.

Real poker pros and semi-pros understand that winning poker these days is a total lifestyle decision.


Final Thoughts


Beating online poker in 2019 is not easy, I won't sugar coat it. There is more competition than ever and the games are not full of fish like they were in past years.

However, there is still a lot of money to be made in poker for those with the drive and work ethic to succeed.

It all starts with playing in the right poker games. You have to play on the right poker sites, find the fish and then get direct position on them.

Following that you also need to make sure that you have mastered a solid tight and aggressive strategy at the poker tables in 2019. Your preflop decisions in particular should all be automatic.

Furthermore, make sure that you are constantly upgrading your game away from the poker tables this year by reviewing your game PokerTracker and studying some advanced poker strategy.

Next, you need to have the right poker game plan in 2019 for both when to move up and when to move down. 30 buyins should be a bare minimum but more is always better.

Lastly, you need to make sure that you take your tilt control very seriously this year. Not every day is going to be your day. Some days the best thing you can do is just cut your losses and throw in the towel.

Conversely, on the days when you are crushing your opponents and playing your best you should step on the gas pedal and play for as long as possible.

Lastly, living a solid healthy lifestyle away from the tables is a huge part of success these days in my opinion. This is how you win the mental game at the poker tables and beyond in your life.

That's all I got!

Thank you very much for reading if you made it this far and I wish you all the best at the poker tables in 2019, unless of course you are on my table :)

Lastly, if you want to learn how to consistently make $1000+ per month from low stakes poker, make sure you grab a copy of my free poker cheat sheet.


Let me know in the comments below how you are going to beat online poker in 2019. What stakes are you playing right now and where will you be by the end of 2019?

How to Beat Online Poker in 2019

42 comments:

  1. Hi,
    i ran 2 freerolls to $2.2 took down one $0.25 satellite to make $27.5 first place. Got coolered QQ vs KK, KK vs AA i dropped to $18. Next 2 rounds i gambled all the money to casino. How to overcome this feeling of boredom because i been in poker for 10 years and still not making much of it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey Moan,

      For me personally I treat poker like a job. So there is no "boredom" and I never gamble in casino games. My aim is simply to grind it out and make money over the long run.

      I think it is important to have this approach to the game if you want to be successful in poker. Individual days don't matter. Some days you will lose, some days you will win. But over weeks, months and years if you employ a solid strategy, play in good games and stay disciplined (i.e. tilt control), you will win.

      All the best in 2019.

      Delete
  2. Hey man random question , If you played on partypoker Pokertracker dont work on ZOOM CASH GAMES?I can track my gameplay but nothing appears under the players,at regular cash games it works but useless cz of hidden player names ,on tournaments it works like normall,Is it normall and actually dont works on zoom or there is a setting that am missing? I play Zoom 5NL around 60K hands now the past 8 days with no HUD Literally MONDAY TO SUNDAY 8 hours a day No day off 4 tables and winning ,but if HUD was working would be great (btw wtf partypoker zoom is way more harder than pokerstars by miles,people floa very light ,specially in 3 bet pots )

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Hey Antony,

      HUDs aren't allowed on all poker sites. You should check first if this is really important to you. For me personally, I always prefer using my HUD but playing in good games is more important than anything else.

      Delete
  3. Is it allowed to use a hud at partypoker or unibet? Am thinking about moving away from poker stars to hopefully find some softer games (and hopefully some better luck). I play a solid 21/18/4 game but managed to get stacked early in each session after some truly unbelievable bad beats and end up playing catch up the rest of the session. I own and follow your books so I think my strategy is OK, but maybe the competition is just getting better. I can usually play an hour of zoom to get up 150 BB but then manage to lose it sll in a single hand in go broke spots. Thanks

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A reply to my question would be much appreciated. Thanks Nathan.

      Delete
    2. Hey sorry about the late reply. Unibet does not allow HUDs. With Party I always struggle to answer this as they seem to change their policy a lot and sometimes it even depends what games you play. So best to check with them first.

      Thanks a lot for supporting my work, I really appreciate it. All the best at the tables in 2019.

      Delete
  4. Hello Nathan!

    I own all of your 3 books and I really like your content. You helped my game a lot! I reached my 60$ to 1K BR-Challenge Goal couple of years ago because of your guides. I never played Zoom Poker that much though and I haven't found much about it on your site either. I decided to play mainly Zoom Tables this year, starting again with 60$ on NL2. I played only around 10K hands but it seems that I either play worse than couple of years ago although I apply your strategies, or the players got better. It is hard for me to "crush". Do you think 10K hands could just be a bad run if I run under 10bb/100 on NL2? I barely showed any profit at all and sometimes even a loss in the first couple of thousands hands although it is just NL2.

    I had a winrate between 15-20bb/100 on NL2 (no zoom) some years ago and it felt much easier. Thank you for your thoughts and good luck for the new year! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There’s just so so much content now for poker players to learn that it’s made the game harder even at 2nl. This is why you should devote some time studying, be it after a session or away somewhere else. You need to study more in order to learn more than those 2nl players.

      Delete
    2. Hey Andy,

      That's awesome, glad my poker advice helped you so much!

      I wrote a massive guide to Zoom poker which you can find here:

      https://www.blackrain79.com/2015/07/zoom-poker-strategy-essential-guide.html

      Overall Zoom poker is going to be harder than regular games because you cannot table select or seat select. However, this can be offset by the convenience of Zoom poker and the ability to put in much more volume. It's kind of a personal choice.

      To answer your other question, I don't consider 10k hands to be a statistically significant sample size in poker. Your results (good or bad) could very easily be just due to variance.

      Delete
  5. So for the beginner based on your buy in guide, do you mean that we shouldn't move up to 5nl unless you win$90. Thanks in advanced and good stuff with your box and sites

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If you make 90$ profit with a 60$ bankroll, you will have 150$ which are the recommended 30 Buy-ins for NL5, so that will be enough to start playing NL5.

      Delete
    2. Hey MVC,

      Yes, like Andy said it means you need to win $90 at NL2 (45 buyins). Then you will have a total bankroll of $150 which is 30 buyins for NL5.

      Delete
  6. Thanks Nathtan,
    I 'm winning on 888 5nl soon moving up,to 10nl and losing at 10nl on pokerstars. Only deposited omce on both sites.The rakeback on 888 is annoying. What do you think of PartyPoker?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Great advice for poker and a balanced healthy life! I’ve been playin NL10 minimally for past couple months and even played NL 25 and NL 50 and managed to win some. My question is what if I have way beyond the 30 buy-ins but just not on the site is that ok or should I only play in games with enough money on the site? I basically wanted to see if I can win over many sessions at NL 10 and I’ve done that so now I’m trying to decide what to do... thanks!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You need to have your B/R on the same site you want to play at the higher levels. Knowing you have x amount to play at the higher stakes could possibly cost you if you were to think about actually how much this would leave you if you lose this hand your playing. Playing scared is the term. If you had all your BR in one place and if you were Rolled enough to play at said stakes, it would or could help when faced with a tricky spot for a lot of cash.
      Always play knowing losing a buy in or five buy ins wouldn’t affect the level your playing, so you can make the correct decision time after time.

      Delete
    2. Hey thanks for your input! I guess I sorta don’t like keeping that much money on a site since I was one of the people who had their funds frozen on full tilt for a few years...

      Delete
    3. Thanks Student1!

      Good question. That's a bit of a tricky one to answer. I personally often do the same thing. I have money spread out across many sites so I don't always have exactly 30 buyins for the game I am playing on poker site X. But my total bankroll is always way over 30 buyins.

      So to answer your question I think it is ok for experienced players who are hunting for good games. However, you do run a much bigger risk of potentially busting your account on one particular site. If you think that will affect you mentally, then maybe you should not do this.

      Delete
    4. Thanks Nathan, I will probably give it some thought or weigh the risks. I had seen your sites that you recommend playing on but 888 I can’t play on since I’m in USA outside of Jersey it says I can’t so what site do you recommend I saw someone said party poker you get a lot of rake back so should I try there?

      Delete
  8. I plan to put more time into studying. (I did email you asking if I could have all 3 of your books via Kindle for a discount because it was electronic, but I did not receive a reply, so I guess it was a no), but I still have plenty of training to keep me occupied. I’ve already seen great improvements in my game and I’m keen to learn more about what how a pro would play a hand compared to an amateur. So spending lots of time studying is my plan.
    Then hopefully try and start playing more volume which is my badbeat at the moment. Being now 40% disabled means I have a lot of medication which in turn knocks me out. I can sleep upto 16 hrs a day, which kind of messes up any poker I’m able to play. But it is what it is.
    I shall let you know how I get along and I will continue to read your emails. Good luck for 2019 and maybe I’ll catch you playing the lower limits. I’m sure there’s enough fish for the both of us......

    Plaza

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good game plan for 2019 Plaza!

      Sorry about not replying to your email. I try to answer every single one. I have been receiving a huge amount lately. Decent chance it is still sitting in my inbox.

      And yes, I often provide a special discount when people email me about buying all 3 of my books.

      Delete
    2. It was still in my inbox by the way. I answered your email now :)

      Delete
  9. Is it possible win at 25nl 1-2 bb/100 or even 0.5bb/100 playing ABC poker tight agressive ,never triple barell bluff ,have a very tight 3bet calling range TT+ AK and when calling just looking to hit and float sometimes 1 street on low flops where he might miss and try take down with a bluff,try maximize value with strong hands and make good laydowns even with strong hands when you think you beat ,and NEVER LET TILT CHANGE ANY DECISION ON THE TABLE have a high 3bet and resteal agressivly ,but never double/triple barelll bluff when i dont hit only when i have a good draw ,pretty much ABC not stupid bluffs.I know maybe its not the best way to play because as you move up cbets in 3bet pots and in generall dont get much respect but if i cbet 1/2 pot i need it to work 1/3 of the time ,so still can rurn a profit no?,when ever i try play a wide 3bet calling range like all A2s+ AK-AJ KQ and 22-TT (specially in resteal spots)and range call and float alot in 3bet pots,and try take it down ,i always get mad when i loose because i see alot of loose stupid hands and the just call anything ,Specially when am the 3bettor and is a low flop/turn/river and deside to tripple barell bluff i get called down very wide with 22 and makes me mad,and feels like im throwing money away by bluffing ,and in regular 2bet pots i dont really continue with 2nd pair when someone is agrro even tho i have a good idea of his range and deff dont hit the flop ,i rather just fold because if he keeps betting and i call wide ,and loose i get mad easy and feel i played wrong.And feels like im not following my solid plan and that what tilts me .Thats why i choose to play a straight forward ABC Style.I obviously going to change my style once i see my ABC is nt working.Cz i know if im gonna play and fight for my red line non showdowns ,im gonna need to know exactly what am doing and not just calling just because,gonna need a much beetter understanding of the game ,poker is like math ,u cant just move to more advanced strategy if you dont the basic fundamentals missing .I remember your advice in the video series of yours thats what i follow ,just dont bother with second pair and marginal hands when you not sure .I remember you saying ,one of the biggest reason of your succes at the micros ,is folding a alot ! ( i hope i remember correct and im not talking crap hahha ) i play 5NL now and gonna move upm 10NL in a week as i can see im winning .I know i have lot of room to improve specially from the blinds and for sure gonna go all in getting training material ,because i made a risk and quit my job and play full time now even tho i wasn't sure if i could even win in the longrun.But i donk care i will make it because i need to! I play around 6.5-7.5K hands a day 7 days per week .NO REST till i make it .It helps playing lot of hands per day because loosing streaks when come dont feel to long . : ).Advice ? Thanks,if am ever gonna get a trainer it will be you ,no one els understands the micros better than you!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I usually play ZOOM at Pokerstars, this year I was thinking about playing at Party Poker. But I`m an user of Pokertracker. Should I stay at PS with HUD or change to PP without it?

    ReplyDelete
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    1. If you want to actually make money leave pokerstars ,partypoker gives rakeback! you can make an extra $200 just playing 5NL if u put in the hours

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    2. Ah this might answer a question I have as well. Are you saying it is not possible to use Pokertracker4 at party poker?

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    3. Honestly i didn't make it to appear on my tables on zoom but you can track everything tho(hands/winrate etc...),regular cash games it appears on the tables but anonymus ,so its useless ,only tournaments its normal .Anyway for some reason yesterday after 70k it randomly appeared the hud on one of 4 tables ,but later went away ,so i dont know maybe im doing something wrong ,check it out for yourself ,might work for you.I got to warn you partypoker is much more harder than pokerstars that was a suprize ,literally they float everything your 3bets get 0 respect and float all day till river ,if you ok at adjusting then you will be ok ,but the non hud its a little bit annoying but anyway,,like i say ,The rakeback is worth it! ,Very clean straightforward rakeback every sunday! If you pay in rake $25 you will get 20% so $5.For $50 u get $10 $75 u get $15 for $100 u get $20 and at 150$ rake u get 25% so $37.50 and at $200 $50 ,That is besically the most i think you can get a week at 5nl .If you play 7 days a week 8 hours a day 4 ZOOM tables at around 850-900 hands/hour u can manage to get the $50 , The rakeback go up to 40% depending on the Limit you play ,double limit?double rake you pay double rakeback and higher rakeback percentage.So if you want to compare to pokerstars ,for $50 a week at partypoker ,u would get maybe $7 at pokerstars maybe less ,and its much different having pokerstars complete random prizes and absolutelly no way way of knowing how much you making plus pokerstars gives more rakeback to fish-loosing players for depositing and dont matter how much hands you playing and total volume has no effect ,so besically the more money you pay pokerstars in rake by playing ,the less you will get lol ,,at partypoker everything is clear and makes it easyer to play for long hours because you know exectly how much you need to get the rakeback more volume ? more rewards that simple ! hope it helped

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    4. just signed up for pp to get the 100% bonus. I do not even see a place to save the hand histories locally on the pc so use of a hud is basically out. besides that, so far from what i have seen - the competition at partypoker is way tougher than pokerstars! will probably lose my BR before i see any of that rake or bonus. live and learn... oh yeah, unless i am doing something wrong - you cannot even see VPIP of a table so table selection is basically impossible. and no waiting lists for tables???

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    5. i know,no waiting list,thats why i play zoom ,but boy the are so agro and loose ,yep nothing appear on table for meeather

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    6. Don't fall into the Party Poker bonus trap like I did. I have been playing Fastforward NL5 on 2 tables for two days straight at 3 hours a day. I am already playing (and losing) above my BR at NL5. After 2 days my bonus is 1% complete and they give you 30 days to complete it. So to have any chance of earning the complete bonus to get the hundred dollars,I would need to jump up in stakes bigtime with my remaining 60 dollars,which is going to result in me busting even faster. In summary, due to this, along with the highest possible difficulty level of PP Fastforward, near impossible to win a big hand with less than a full house, and some extremely suspicious drawouts,no table selection, no hud, I would not recommend PP to my worst enemy. Sorry but they are scammers who make it nearly obvious what they are up to. Amen.

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  11. Thanks Nathan, I appreciate your time and generosity. I didn’t realise you had such a fan of followers and tons of emails. That sounded wrong, but was not meant to come across like that. I’ll be more patient in future.
    Keep up the good work you’ve created and Best wishes for 2019 in your business.

    Plaza

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  12. Hello Nathan, thanks for the Update for 2019.
    My goal this year is to beat NL5 over 100k hands, didn't want to set the goal too high at first, but of course if possible even more ;)

    One question though: Most recommended poker sites these days restrict HUD usage or outright have them banned. Do you offer any more learning material on how to get ahead in those games anyways in your programs or somewhere? (I've read two of your articles on the topic)
    Most study material I am using right now focuses so much on HUD stats etc. which I find kind of outdated so I was looking for a more streamlined and efficient strategy guide to orient myself quickly.

    Just started out on Partypoker today (unfortunately had an account already from a few years ago so I couldn't use affiliate links) so I'll see how it goes.

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    1. Hey Gwel,

      Glad this post helped! Yes, a lot of my articles and even my books focus on poker strategies that don't require the use of a HUD. Basically you just have to play a more ABC game or collect reads the old fashioned way like you would in a live game.

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  13. Hi Nathan, Thanks for the great content, I follow it all. I finished 2018 on a bit of a high. Felt I was beating 10 NL, was happy watching my roll grow, then I also placed in a big tournament which allowed me to cash out half my roll. But since 2019 hit I'm experiencing a down swing which is just like wow! I had a 10bi losing session followed by a series of 5bi's. This hasn't happened to me before. I pretty much watched all of my profit from 3 months grind disappear in a week. It's pretty devastating. Suddenly I'm not hitting any hands and when I do then someone has a better one, aces cracked sequentially by people flopping sets. Getting KINGS and some always has aces.. I don't really know where to go from here. I'll have to drop back to 5NL for sure, I see you covered this in your article but it doesn't really make you feel like carrying on in those situations...I dunno

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    1. Thanks for reading DaFrench glad I could help!

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  14. Hey Nathan, great content as always. Just wanted to dropped by to say Happy New Year. Best of lucks in this new year!

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    1. Thanks Jorge and all the best to you in 2019 as well!

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  15. Nathan what are some of the poker apps you talk about. Are they different to stars party 888 etc Mike

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    1. Ya there are a lot of apps these days that people are playing on that have soft games. Different from Stars, 888 etc.

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  16. Nathan, when you are reviewing hands with PokerTracker, how do you know what is the adequate decision you should have taken? Do you use Pokersnowie for that? When I’m reviewing my hands it’s difficult for me to realize which would have been the correct move.
    Thanks, best wishes from Spain!

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    1. Hey Julio,

      Experience, split testing the lines I take and studying good regs.

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  17. About the bankroll management part, the problem with a “reach a number before starting to play XX limit” plan is, that it has you playing a higher limit with a certain bankroll during a downswing than during an upswing.

    If for instance you deposited 60$ and now have 130$, you are still only allowed to play 2NL which mean, you are playing very conservatively with 65 buyins for the limit. But if you deposited 60$, worked it up to 151, started playing 5NL, and now only have 70$ left, you can still play 5NL, even though you only have 14 buyins left.

    This makes little sense to me, because it is exactly during a downswing, that you need a solid bankroll. Nobody feel bad about increasing their bankroll with 25% in a day, but losing that same amount is going to hurt and put most people on tilt.

    I also think, it makes sense to differentiate between limits. You dont need as much of a bankroll for 2NL and 5NL, because these games are still very soft, and the monetary impact of a big downswing insignificant. Having to redeposit 60$ is not great, but its not nearly as bad as having a bankroll of 2.000$ and then lose 90% of it.

    Finally I think, there is some argument for differentiating between games as well. PLO is extremely high variance and require a larger bankroll than NLH. And even within NLH there are differences. 6-max typically see higher variance than full ring, because there is more wild action. Zoom games see even more variance due to deep stacked play, and also lower winrates.

    With all that in mind, a reasonable bankroll plan for playing online NLH micro stakes cash games could look something like this, where the numbers are meant as the absolute minimum, there must be in your account at the start of any session:

    5NL full ring: 100$
    5NL 6-max: 150$
    5NL Zoom: 200$
    10NL full ring: 300$
    10NL 6-max: 400$
    10NL Zoom: 500$
    16NL full ring: 480$
    16NL 6-max: 640$
    16NL Zoom: 800$
    25NL full ring: 1.000$
    25NL 6-max: 1.250$
    25NL Zoom: 1.500$

    These numbers become rather conservative, as you move up the limits, and especially if you insist on playing Zoom. But in todays tough games its better to be safe than sorry, when the money start to get even a little bit serious.

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