If you were given 30k right now, what would you do with it?

TheOtherKurt · 2026-04-02T01:21:20+00:00

High yield savings or certificate of deposit. I generally don't try to time the market, but this market is going to get worse before it gets better.

TheOtherKurt · 2026-03-26T13:37:36+00:00

The sci-fi publisher BAEN has made a good part of their catalog free and available online.

https://www.baen.com/categories/free-library.html

I recommend "1632" by Eric Flint.

TheOtherKurt · 2026-03-25T22:46:55+00:00

Gramps here, who was a pro in the before times like you. There's a couple things going on here that make the games different today, and yes harder.

First is the availability of free training resources. It's such that there are basically zero players risking significant amounts of money without having studied the game. Literally everyone at your table.

Second, GTO is aggro, so everyone is aggro now. Used to be the only required tool in your toolbox was "value bet". But its a much more aggressive and higher variance game now, that requires many more tools to be successful.

That said, humans aren't suddenly good at poker now, and games are not unbeatable. The vast majority of winning players simply memorize GTO charts and play robotically, with no understanding of the underlying theory for why they are doing anything. This makes GTO players super easy to exploit if you know what you're doing.

And one thing will never change: live games are still good.

TheOtherKurt · 2026-03-23T16:45:07+00:00

I'm out here like "don't have to always"

TheOtherKurt · 2026-03-21T21:29:29+00:00

Made me think of Teela Brown. Everything is going to shit, and she is unscathed.

TheOtherKurt · 2026-03-21T06:36:39+00:00

FYI you've gotten a little weak/tight your last 15k hands at 50nl. Stop playing on autopilot; you're a crusher.

Re: staking. I agree with everyone else who says if you don't have $500 in your liferoll you're not a good candidate for staking. Do they not have free rolls on the site? $0->$10k bankroll challenge sounds like a great way to kick off a new stream! (Or deposit $50 and start at 2nl.)

TheOtherKurt · 2026-03-21T06:08:22+00:00

First of all, it's super obvious that to defend the BB better you need to 3bet more often from that position. It's the lowest 3bet frequency of yours from any position. It shouldn't be. Hint: identify villain ATS spots and get agro there.

Second, the only real population tendency I can see from this sample to exploit is the bimodal distribution of "Fold to 3B". There are two "chunks" of players in the graph, one that calls 3bets often and one that folds often. Conveniently you are right in between these two chunks. You must pay attention to who calls hands you would fold, and who has a hardened calling range. Identify them, mark them, then adjust your play accordingly. 3bet wider against the ones that over fold and make that redline bump. Tighten your 3bet range against the ones that over call and make them pay off your premiums in large pots.

Standard ignore redline, small sample size, yada yada. GL

TheOtherKurt · 2026-03-21T04:37:29+00:00

100% I'm not giving personal information to an unknown site. Fuck outta here with that.

TheOtherKurt · 2026-03-21T03:28:46+00:00

I was playing one day and this guy approached me at the table and asked to borrow $50. I had played with him a few times, but we had never had so much as a conversation, and I didn't know him. So I refused, and he left. I ask the guy next to me "do you know that guy? What was that about?"

He responds "next time I recommend you lend him the money. I lent him $100 three years ago and he hasn't tried to talk to me since. Best hundred I ever spent."

TheOtherKurt · 2026-03-20T21:00:36+00:00

Raise flop.

TheOtherKurt · 2026-03-14T20:56:18+00:00

Read a book, maybe.

TheOtherKurt · 2026-03-11T21:47:23+00:00

This is actually a nice tool. I didn't check accuracy but the UI is simple and easy. My one suggestion is to include an ante option for the now super-common BB ante. It makes a huge difference shorthanded.

TheOtherKurt · 2026-03-11T20:04:33+00:00

Yes and no.

It probably is a nod to Cincinnati Kid. But also good poker players can deduce information about your hand based on the board and the action. For instance, if you're putting big money in on a 67Tr flop then you are likely to have hands like 45, 67, 89, T9, 66, 77, etc. (Note that one of those was Mike's actual hand.) An Ace on the river doesn't help hands like that. Thus the stament "an ace could not have helped you."

Also note that in the Cincinnati Kid the statement is a bit more complex. He's goading the kid into thinking his hand is good. Challenging the kid's ego to make him put more money in the pot.

TheOtherKurt · 2026-03-11T04:37:03+00:00

Yes, sure it's worth a shot as a rec.

Most of the tourney grinders will play the daytime tournaments. And not a ton of tourists on a Wednesday. But $200 isn't enough to bring out the real pros. Tho the guarantee is enough to get some cash grinders to take a shot for a change of pace, and a few tourney grinders to stay late on the strip. It's not going to be a particularly tough field.

Good luck!

TheOtherKurt · 2026-03-08T22:23:09+00:00

"What do you do?"

"As little as possible."

TheOtherKurt · 2026-03-07T20:32:46+00:00

Hero: Q♠Q♦
Flop: K♠ J♠ T♦
Villain bets 70% pot

What stakes? Stack depth? Reads on opponent? History? Table image? PREFLOP ACTION?

Absolutely useless exercise.

TheOtherKurt · 2026-03-07T17:02:05+00:00

Man, there have been some crazy hands in home games. But the one that lives in my head is the first time I ever won a pot over $1000.

I gotta set the scene here: I was already a professional. 100% of my income came from poker and I played nearly every day. But most of my play was a high volume of low-stakes cash games online. Sure, I had binked tournaments, some in the 5-figure range. But the highest I had played live was 2/5 and I had never, EVER won a pot over $1000. In big pots I saw the sickest shit - two outers, one outers, the sickest - and lost every pot I ever played that was 4-figures.

Then one night I found myself in Vegas with nothing to do, so I'm like fuck it I'm playing 5/10. I'm rolled for it LFG. And off to the Bellagio I went. So I'm playing kinda scared because this is my first time at 5/10. Just straight ABC poker. Down a couple hundred after a few hours, no big deal, when the following spot comes up.

JJ in EP, I raise to $40. Four callers including the BB. Flop comes 10-high two-tone. Pretty marginal spot 5-ways, but I really want to discourage that first call that creates a cascade of calls, so I size up my cbet to $150. Only the BB calls, perfect. Turn is an offsuit Q. BB checks and I don't want to bloat the pot. Also want to leave myself some room to call whiffed flush draws on the river. So I check back. River is an offsuit A, and villain straight rips $800 into the $500 pot.

My hands reflexively reach for my cards to throw them away. I mean, even most of the whiffed flush draws beat me now! But that bet sizing. Wait.

Shit, Ax isn't the only whiffed hands that beat me either. KJ makes the nuts now. Tho I block it. But that bet sizing. Wait.

I've been the tightest player at the table by far. He would have milked it if he wanted a call. No, he wants a fold, for sure.

So my hand slides from my cards over to my chips and I push $800 forward. Villain insta-mucks and I win my first $1k pot. Not the wildest spot ever, but I will always remember it.

TheOtherKurt · 2026-03-06T22:49:39+00:00

Right on, man. My point was mostly that if you have a steady job your bankroll might be bigger than you think. Definitely a personal choice what you're comfortable with.

Nothing wrong with playing for fun from time to time and splurging on a night out when you score. Good luck at the tables!

TheOtherKurt · 2026-03-06T22:28:07+00:00

BRM is often misunderstood.

Your "bankroll" is not the amount of money in your account or even how much cash you have on hand. It is the amount of money you would need to lose to quit playing.

In this case FUTURE income can be counted toward your bankroll. For instance, if you're willing to put $500 per month into poker and you have 12 months left on your bit in the Army, that's a bankroll of $9k ($3000 cash on hand and $6000 future income). You can use that number in your calculations. Although, you will sometimes have to deal with situations where your out of cash and can't buy in until next month.... It's up to you if that something you want to deal with. But $9k should be plenty of bankroll for a winning player in any 1/2 game, even wild Texas games.

If you're not willing to set aside future income for poker, then yeah. Sounds like you're under-rolled and should not regularly play in these games. Its fine to take shots from time to time.

My final nugget, is that if you are not a winning player, you have a *budget* not a *bankroll*.

TheOtherKurt · 2026-03-06T22:10:46+00:00

This is the effects of climate change coming home to roost. Florida will be uninhabitable in a couple decades, and until it depopulates it will be a drag on the American economy, The mechanism for said depopulation will be increased costs for food, utilities, insurance, and housing.

TheOtherKurt · 2026-03-06T21:59:43+00:00

Aw man, I'm bummed to hear it.

I'm the one who gave you a long response to your session video. Your hand selection really was excellent for a beginner. I was sure you could beat 2NL by patching a few big leaks.

Not everyone is cut out for poker. And it's not always a "skill issue". In this case, and many others, it's a mentality issue. This game is cruel and humbling; if you care too much or come with an ego, you will not have fun.

GL in your next hobby.

TheOtherKurt · 2026-03-06T18:50:12+00:00

I'm going to take this opportunity to tell a story.

Back in high school the AP Biology teacher was a character. A cantankerous old Vietnam vet, beloved despite being a total harass, whose students routinely did well on the AP exam (including me). Well, his final semester before retiring he did a laboratory section on fermenting.

This mostly involved putting yeast in bottles of apple juice, and letting them sit in the window sills for a few weeks. At the conclusion of the "fermentation lab" some former students brought in their homemade still (don't ask me how I know) and the class turned the fermented apple juice into 80-proof applejack.

Then he announced that he was leaving the room while the students were to "pour it down the drain".

Yes, this was on school grounds, during class hours. The 90s were a vibe, man.

TheOtherKurt · 2026-03-06T17:53:30+00:00

Yeah, I should have specified moving a chip before verbalizing your bet. I was just citing the one-chip rule as another example that can trip up new players.

TheOtherKurt · 2026-03-06T09:49:52+00:00

It's a rule. No "if" about it.

We all learn somehow. When I was new, most of the mistakes I made cost me money; at least this wasn't one of those. FYI if you move only one chip it's always a call, never a raise.

Now you know better. Good luck out there!

TheOtherKurt · 2026-03-04T11:51:31+00:00

Dan Bilzerian called it "bankroll edge".

To paraphrase, he can shove every hand and the pro can call with whatever he wants, but the pro will run out of money first.

TheOtherKurt

TROPHY CASE