In poker, success stories are the most popular. Players often talk about how they rise from the bottom and win a lot of money through perseverance and hard work. But there are exceptions.
My poker history began around the time the first WSOP was shown on TV. I've been playing for 12-13 years mostly NL2, sometimes NL5 and rarely NL10, I've never played more expensive.
I read Sklansky, Harrington and Miller, watched a bunch of videos, bought a tracker and a calculator.
And even after so many years I lose a lot of money for such limits. I'm trying to play well, but the brutal 95v5 beats really frustrate me.
I literally lost all my money playing online poker, including my life savings. I want to make one last attempt to win back everything and even a little more. So I set a goal of $16k. I need support and advice.
I opened a topic in micros, but it was deleted when they realized that this was not fiction.
If you're wondering why I chose that name, a guy who's been making money playing poker for years told me that I'm the biggest loser in online history, if you count in buy-ins.
Most readers on the first pages of the topic took what was happening, rather, as a joke:
It's variance, bro! Everything will change soon, don't back down.
I don't believe you can lose 170bb/100 at NL2 over 250k hands. Unless on purpose.
– The regs from Ukraine and Russia probably have your photo hanging on the wall, and they kiss it every day ...
For some reason, I really want this to be true.
– What I liked the most was how he pointed out the shortfall of 82 buy-ins… How much is that in NL2, $164? He doesn't care about the rest of the $8,600, let's put it down to variance!
“Maybe the charts are just upside down?” I get sick just looking at them. The distance is impressive too.
– Just throw it all out preflop and you'll get your win rate up to -140-150bb/100, then you can be considered the "Most Single Day Player in History".
In the first topic, which was not deleted, but only closed, the new hero was compared with an equally legendary player from Russia (https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showpost.php?p=54820074&postcount=52).
– This is all true, – answered the doubters (https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showpost.php?p=54931147&postcount=16) sp00kym8 (https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showpost.php?p=54931459&postcount=25 ), is a well-known user on the Finnish forums, has been writing there for over 10 years. For a while, he can play plus at NL5, but after a couple of bad beats, he shoves everything in a row and starts depositing.
This was also confirmed by Bloodmoney: (https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showpost.php?p=54950689&postcount=93)
OP has been writing on the Finnish forums for a long time and hasn't learned anything in all the time. His preflop all-ins are "revenge" on the players who steal his blinds.
At first glance, this seems unrealistic and funny. But I've been reading his story for many years now and it's obvious to me that it's actually very sad and not at all funny. And all this is true.
He was repeatedly tried to get help in a variety of ways, but all to no avail. In the end, it all comes down to advice to quit online, but he does not listen to anyone. He will never become a winning player. And he really needs professional help.
Paisting, I repeat, stop playing online, get a job, you can still live normally.
Players who were lucky enough to be at the same table with the topic author shared their experiences (https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showpost.php?p=54933720&postcount=36):
I played NL2 with him at partypoker 2 or 3 months ago. He was even labeled as a reg or a bad reg because he played normally long enough. But he seems to have a huge problem with tilt. In one of the sessions, I took a stack from him, after which he started shoving everything preflop and insulting me in the chat. Thanks to him, I got 800BB, the others also had huge stacks. Paisting quickly lost about 2,500 BB, then said he hoped to play with me in the future and left.
After the session, I found a thread from December 2011 where it is mentioned (https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/29/news-views-gossip/best-micro-grinder-855296/index5.html).
So everything seems to be true. Paisting plays well by NL2 standards until it starts to tilt.
Someone tried to give rational advice: “Find an old Blackrain79 book, I think it's called Breaking the Micro Limits. Forget everything you know about poker, read it, strictly follow the strategy, and focus on NL2.
Paisting in a series of posts answered some of the questions (https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showpost.php?p=54933970&postcount=39) and revealed more details (https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showpost.php?p= 54956667&postcount=107) about his life:
I assure you, if I manage to win back, I will not play another hand. If I could go back 10 years, I would say to myself "Never play!"
I know about Blackrain79, he won a lot of money in NL2. But he knows nothing about modern poker. He advises playing tight and raising good aces 5x or more. But even idiots with NL2 won't pay that. They monitor the actions of opponents.
I need some good preflop books and maybe some live training.
The details of my life, where I'm from and my personal relationships don't matter. I am unemployed, without children and wife. What I have is time to play.
– I take a lot of instant loans, – he explained (https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showpost.php?p=54956667&postcount=107) where he takes the money (https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showpost.php ?p=54958657&postcount=117). – Now I have some funds for the party. Enough for the game if you can avoid big losses. I get a small unemployment benefit that goes straight to rent. I hardly spend money on food, I eat once a day. Sometimes I take out additional loans if I need clothes, unexpected expenses, or medicines. Therefore, it is very important for me to return this $16k.
Drakelol posted two hands (https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showpost.php?p=54949939&postcount=86) with the hero.
A lot of questions were caused by a hand with K3.
“It was the result of past actions,” explained his push (https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showpost.php?p=54971284&postcount=134) Paisting. – The big blind called all my raises from the button, SB and BB. Then he called all the bets on the flop and on the turn. Often with air. You can't let them crush you.
Paisting, you are a real legend, – admired SmallPeePee (https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showpost.php?p=54957704&postcount=113), – glad to see you here lol.
I remember you from when you first started playing (~2012) at partypoker, you were shoving stack after stack on tilt at NL2-4, shoving for 100bb. I still remember it, like your nickname.
Then there was a site (forgot the name) that collected data from partypoker. I was shocked by your chart. You were down about $45k (I honestly don't remember exactly) at NL2-10. This was at the end of 2012/2013. I even took a couple of screenshots. They must have been saved on the old computer.
For me, you were a real legend, always wanted you to sit at my table. Surprised you're still playing poker and losing 15k a year at NL2-4 xDDDD
For me, you are definitely in the top 3 online legends.
I wish you all the best IRL.
Paisting admitted that sometimes he has winning days, but he never finished a month or at least a week with a plus. And since April, I started posting regular reports and hands (https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showpost.php?p=54975878&postcount=150):
Terrible start to the month. Played 4.5 hours, 3.1k hands and lost almost 50 buyins. Very disappointed. Every month I hope things will change, but it's always the same ***. This month, I set myself the goal of winning, but even now, from the first session, I will have to recoup.
Then he found another reason for his failures (https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showpost.php?p=55060187&postcount=238):
I often wrote to the party support about bots, but the same nicknames continue to play. They tell me that it is impossible to use bots and not leave traces. But I remember an old video showing bots playing at the party. I would like to believe that I play with people. But I doubt it, since they steal 50-70% from the button and cutoff, and they don’t adapt to resteals.
Readers once again advised him to quit poker if he does not want to end up in this style:
Paisting did not pay attention, in April he had no time for this:
I don't understand how it got so bad. 90 hours and 48k hands. And no reward for hard work in front of the computer. I feel sad and disgusted at the same time. This is not a fight against blind thieves, but against real bandits.
This is NL2. The entire month played only this limit. There were many nights when I lost all-ins. Flips, moves, I always ended up under these stealers with 65-80%.
Suspicions of trolling and a protracted hoax continued, but Paisting rejected them (https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showpost.php?p=55097931&postcount=385):
Whoever thinks so, play 50k hands on NL2 yourself and post your charts here. It is very disrespectful to call someone who lost everything and scored a bunch of credits a troll.
Many here admire players who play 70-90% and don't throw anything away. The last session started well. I won $23, hit the boards well and won some coin flips. Then GenericSN from Poland, who also writes here, sat down at my tables and started raising all hands from the button and cutoff. Specifically to ruin my game. He raised not 70-90%, but 100%! In every hand, at every table. 3-bets were answered by calling or 4-betting. And in one hand I shoved a weak ace, I was better, but he moved in on me. He didn't fold at all on the flop. Because of such a game, from +23$ I dropped to -23$. He must be very pleased with himself.
“I’m from Canada,” corrected genericSN (https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showpost.php?p=55099252&postcount=390). – But I did win 19 buy-ins yesterday (a little bit from other players).
Paisting slowed down a bit in May (https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showpost.php?p=55161415&postcount=411):
It turned out about 24k hands in 38 hours. Few hands and few hours, but a very big loss. 36 short buy-ins doesn't affect my mood either.
Superstealers with stats above 70% didn't fold anything again. But in the last couple of weeks they have disappeared.
The terrible news is that partypoker is going to have a big change in June [HUD ban – approx. ed.], so my 10-year career will end here. I'll have to look for a new site, because of this I'm depressed. But I don't want to think about it. Before the reform I will play as much as I can.
In July he moved to 888 (https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showpost.php?p=55247229&postcount=546):
My first week here. Lost too much already. A few players don't fold anything and still have a lot of luck with their boards.
One is called casimiro32, he opens all hands from the later positions. My 3-bets are called. I opened it on purpose to see what it plays with, showed Q8. He called my pushes with K-high, J-high and pairs. He opened late yesterday, I shoved JJ on the BB, he called with 77 and caught the 7 on the river. I think he will give me all the money as soon as I get there.
I will try to win back this money, and then I will look for a new site, this software is complete ***. You can't play more than 6 tables, it's just a middle finger to the players.
He never moved to another site, and the first full month at 888 did not bring anything positive (https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showpost.php?p=55326894&postcount=765):
Complete failure. The person who recommended this site to me did it on purpose. Luzrate here is just incredible. You cannot play more than 6 tables. Opponents call big bets on the flop and turn, then get there on the river. They team on Skype and use tips, for example, a player with the nickname OxiDima. Support repeats the words “we are investigating” like a mantra, but nothing happens. The same players are at the tables around the clock. Something needs to be done about this!
Nothing changed again in August (https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showpost.php?p=55396587&postcount=898):
My schedule for last month. Less than 20k hands, but the minus is again huge. Shortfall of 23 buy-ins.
Thanks to everyone who advised classes with a coach. I will contact him soon. I don't want to one day be the guy who lost $1.2 million in one session. ChimneyBarrel is the Finnish player Lars Luzak, he said that he was sitting at the table with $20k. Then this guy got hooked on him and Lars Luzak started shoving against him with 55% equity. His rival made countless deposits and left when his $1.2 million vanished like ashes in the wind. Everyone congratulated the Finnish player, as if he is some kind of hero, although he was just lucky. I don't know anything about Omaha, but I think it's just luck if you shove every hand with a 55% chance and your opponent doesn't win any of those pots.
A couple of days later, Paisting boasted that several suspicious accounts on 888 were closed because of his tip. True, just in case, they blocked him too, but only for the duration of the investigation (https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showpost.php?p=55427368&postcount=935).
“They thought you were part of the gang, too,” suggested one reader.
"I'm sure they thought you chip dumped lmao," the second one backed him up.
“No,” said Paisting (https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showpost.php?p=55430152&postcount=947). – They made it clear that it was the nicknames that I wrote about here. There were a couple more that I didn't mention. They closed a lot of accounts permanently, and I received more than $500 in compensation, so they need to be completely sure.
Soon he was unbanned, but due to the investigation he played little (https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showpost.php?p=55523978&postcount=1118):
Terrible September. Played only 11 days and lost over $500. That's a lot, even though I played less than 20k hands. The graph shows that at first there were small hits, for example, I lost 25 blinds with aces. Then the pots got bigger and that affected my play. A 20 buy-in shortfall already seems like a standard for 888.
The only positive thing is that the cheaters are gone forever.
One reader offered to buy Pasting a new laptop if he would stream. He gladly agreed. (https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showpost.php?p=55480577&postcount=1108) But in the last message, he wrote that the new computer never reached him. While he continues to play a lot, (https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showpost.php?p=55602028&postcount=1127) but the October schedule has not yet been.
