Took me 5+ years to earn my first million playing live poker. If i had to start from scratch today, I'd get there way faster. Not because the games are easier, but because i finally learned what actually moves the needle.
Here are the 9 lessons that would’ve saved me years of spinning my wheels:
Lesson 1: Throw Away Balance
Everyone at your table is fundamentally unbalanced. Our job isn't to play GTO. our job is to figure out HOW they're unbalanced and punish it relentlessly.
Rock paper scissors example:
If villain plays rock 10% too often, you play paper 100% of the time. Poker's the same.
- If they underbluff, you overfold.
- If they overbluff, you overcall.
- If they overfold, you overbluff.
Here's what this looks like in practice:
Villain opens in the LJ, you call from the BB with . the flop comes , you check-call. Turn , check-call again. River . You check, villain checks back .
Most players miss this. but if villain's checking back ten-high on the river, where are his bluffs when he DOES bet? He opened from the LJ. is probably the worst suited connector he has here. Takeaway: This guy massively underbluffs rivers. Overfold to his triple barrels.
Another example:
- You open on the BTN with , villain calls from the BB. The flop comes .
- You cbet half pot, he calls.
- Turn , you overbet the pot, he calls.
- The river is the . Villain DONKS half pot into you after you showed pure strength.
- You call, and he shows .
What this means:
When he donks on a nut-changing card after we have double barreled, he's underbluffing massively.
But when he CHECKS on that river? now you can bet super thin with your value, because flushes are donking. And, you can empty the clip with queen-high because his range has way fewer flushes than you think.
lesson 2: Maximizing Every Edge Can Minimize Profit
Don't be an ass.
Early in my career, i was THAT guy. Seat changing for $4/hr more. Table changing for better games. I was predatory. and it cost me long-term. Recreational players aren't poker smart, but they're life smart. They know who the good players are. If you're constantly changing tables to sit on their left, they won't want to play with you. Think long-term or stay at mid stakes forever.
Also: fast-roll your hand when a rec says "you're good" on the river. You're not unlocking secret knowledge by making them turn over their bluff. you're just being a dick. We want recs to have fun. That's why they're here.
Lesson 3: Good Poker is Ugly
You have to be willing to look stupid to win the most money.
Example: Donking multiway as a PFC.
Fish limps from the LJ, fish limps from the CO, reg isos from the BTN, you call from the BB with . Both fish call. Flop , you flop middle set.
"Donking isn't a thing in equilibrium." Correct. but we're not playing equilibrium.
- If you check, both fish check to PFR. BTN checks back tons multiway.
- Even if he bets with KK, now you're in a shit spot.
- Call? We lose out on value.
- Checkraise? You shut out the fish behind.
Donk here. You build a pot against the players you WANT to build a pot against.
Lesson 4: Be Authentic
Early in my career, when someone asked if i was a pro, I'd say "Nah man, I do music full-time, just playing for fun." That was horseshit.
I was playing 40+ hours a week. poker WAS my income. But i was terrified to admit it.
Here's the truth: Recs already know who the pros are. By denying it, you just look slimy.
The guys who leaned into it hardest (Mariano, Rampage, Brad Owen) now have seats in every high-stakes game in the country. They never shied away from being pros. they documented everything. and now everyone WANTS to play with them.
Be public, be authentic, document the process. doors will open you never imagined.
Lesson 5: The Carter 2 Theorem
Lil Wayne said it best: "If we too simple, y'all don't get the basics."
I wasted YEARS chasing fancy plays and advanced concepts when i should've been drilling fundamentals.
The three fundamentals that actually matter:
- Learn how to range villains.
- Build defaults to save brain power.
- Build a repeatable thought process.
Everything else is noise.
Lesson 6: Poker is Not Freedom. It's Work
"I want to play poker so I don't have a boss."
That's bullshit.
If you want to succeed at poker, you have to BE the strictest boss on planet earth.
- Nobody's going to tell you to show up saturday after getting crushed for 8 buyins Friday night.
- Nobody's going to tell you to study 8 hours Sunday morning after playing till 2am.
- Nobody's going to tell you to keep grinding even though you're already up $15k this month and only played 23 hours.
You have to be that person.
If you're looking for easy, go work a 9-5. nothing wrong with that. But don't confuse "no boss" with "less work."
Poker is 5x the work for 2x the results.
Freedom is the PROCESS, not the result.
If you're not excited to study every day, if you're not excited to put in 40+ hours even when you're up (or down) huge, you won't make it.
Lesson 7: We Are Not the Hero
your opponents don't think about you. they think about themselves.
they're not adjusting based on YOUR actions. they're adjusting based on what happened to THEM.
Example:
- You open on the BTN with , villain calls from the SB.
- You cbet flop, overbet turn, jam river as a bluff. villain tank-calls with offsuit. You lose a big pot.
- Next orbit, you open on the BTN again. THIS TIME, a different villain calls from the BB.
- You cbet flop, bet turn small, get to river with a bluff.
Most players think: "I just got caught bluffing last orbit. Maybe I shouldn't bluff here." Wrong.
The BB wasn't in that hand. the BB was buying Pokémon cards on his phone. The BB doesn't care that you bluffed.
It's about THEM, not about YOU.
But here's when it DOES matter:
- Same hand, but this time the BB is in the hand where you bluffed.
- AND on the very next hand, they get it in good with AK in a 3BP and get stacked by 98s with a runner-runner flush.
- Now they are stuck. Now they are tilted.
THIS is when you don't bluff him. Because something happened to HIM.
Pay attention to what happens to your OPPONENTS, not what happens to you.
Lesson 8: Respect is Expensive
In live poker, playing too much defense costs more than playing too much offense.
Example:
- You open on the BTN with .
- A nit 3bets from SB.
When I first learned theory, I'd think "BTN vs SB, I should have a polar 4bet range here. This should be a 4bet."
So I'd 4bet. then the nit would jam. and I'd light $225 on fire.
- Playing defense = Following equilibrium against someone who's not playing equilibrium
- Playing offense = Assuming they're too tight and folding A3dd
Which one lights more money on fire? Defense does.
GTO is exploit. Exploit is GTO.
If you tell a solver how your opponent plays, it gives you a GTO strategy that's also max exploit.
Most live players:
- Call too much weak stuff.
- Raise too much strong stuff.
- Underbluff.
Start by playing offense against 90% of the pool. If you run into a strong player, pull back.
It's cheaper to start offensive and pull back than to start defensive and push forward.
Final Lesson (#9): The Sky Isn't Falling
My first big downswing hit when i moved from 5/5 to 5/10/20.
I went 600-700 hours break-even after never going more than 150 hours without winning. I wanted to quit.
My girlfriend (now wife) told me: "Every time something gets hard, you quit. Music, now poker. I'm not letting you quit this time."
So I showed up 70 hours a week. 10am-6pm at one casino, 7pm-midnight at another. Six days a week. I came out the other side.
In poker, you're upstuck most of the time. You have less money right now than at some previous point. That's just the reality.
Make peace with it.
Focus on the process.
The results will come.
You might be thinking, "Sure, keeping going must be easy with a limitless bankroll," but that's not the right way of thinking. At whatever level you enter the game of online or live poker, bankroll management can make or break your journey.
The reason why keeping going is a problem for plenty of players? They didn't start with a reasonable bankroll, over-extended themselves, and now face pressure with dwindling reserves.
So, if you're starting now (or have already started), take your bankroll more seriously. Begin this mentality today.
- Play low stakes, even if it doesn't feel worth your time. This is just a starting point.
- Blend study and play, and forget about hoping for an upswing.
- Start to specialize in a format, and hone your strategy for it.
- Select soft games, where your edge is maximized. We'll provide several rooms below.
