FH13 said:
First by doing what you're doing already. Back before I started playing I had probably read around 2-3 of the best poker books of that time plus thought about how I wanted my game to be and what I was comfortable with playing. I stuided around 6 months before even playing a single hand.
As for how I have mostly started and built up to $5000+ multiple times over the years before withdrawing and spending it. I had no desire to play much above 50nl cash and as for MTT's I've played as high as the Sunday Million when it was a buy-in of $215. I enjoy spending my money not building a
bankroll forever and my goal was never to make a living off playing I had day job and I like my day job. It's easier then poker at level I'd have to play to earn as much money. Most people don't know but in most countries you'll have work 2-3x harder to make living playing poker then you will at a day job and most people ain't willing to work that hard.
Here's how to get started....
1) Deposit $50. If you can afford more that's great but $50 will get you started at 2nl cash. If you can't adapt and beat 2nl you likely not a winning player at this point and shouldn't be playing higher you'll only light money on fire faster. I started playing a simple TAG style and still do. Once you learn how the player pool plays and their tendencies you can start to build exploits into your game. Building exploits into your game is where the money is at. Building your
poker game is like building Rome.....it wasn't and won't be built in a day, a week or even a month and it will be an on going process.
2) The race for is too at least $500 playing cash even if your goal is only playing MTT's you should play cash till at least $500. Why? Cash is less variance which is easier on newer players mentally. A lot about poker is mental and not tilting and 2nl will get you some cheap experience. At this point keep playing
freerolls when you have the time to help you get experience and help build your bankroll. Obviously keep studying and do hand reviews to catch and fix leaks. You're going to go from 2nl-5nl-10nl. How you handle your bankroll and when to move will depend on you, your win rate at the current level and how comfortable you are with the swings. For me I do on the aggressive side because I know I'm winning player, I'm comfortable with big swings and have a good mental game. 2nl=$50-$150-$200. 5nl=$150-$250. 10nl=$400-$500. When shot taking at the next level up I use 5 buy-ins at the level....I loss them time to move back a level. Rinse and repeat.
3) Now once you have $500+ things open up a bit for you. You're going to start playing $5.50+ MTT's on weekends while when you play during the week keep playing cash unless you have an unlimited amount of time to play MTT's during the week. Most of us rec/hobby players have full-time so are limited. Personally even if you have time for MTT's during the week I'd still stick with cash it helps for variance if you're a winning player. I usually win enough playing cash during the week to afford my weekend MTT buy-ins plus a bit of profit along the way.....so my bankroll was always mostly growing even if only small growth each week.
Why start with $5.50 MTT's? Well time is money and even if you win or final table micro MTT's you're not getting paid enough for your time at $5.50 you're making enough to pay for your time when you final table and/or win an MTT. Once you have $500 freerolls are waste of your time....think of freerolls like training wheels on a bike. When you first start to learn as young kid to ride a bike there comes a point where you don't need them training wheels any longer. A $500 bankroll is that point.
As your bankroll grows and you keep winning keep moving up in cash stakes and MTT stakes. Rinse and repeat.
4) The next big deal for you now is when you reach and are beating 50nl. Idk what too tell you here and if you reach this point congrats you've worked your ass off and earned it getting this far is really hard. I've played 100nl a few times this is where the competition ramps up. But first take a victory lap and celebrate if you can't reach the next level you can still make decent money where you're at if you're at least double tabling which you should be and have been doing for awhile.
5) Now you also while study
poker strategy to improve your skill and ability you need to add working on the following and on yourself personally cause most people suck and are terrible at all the following things. And well you have to get at least decent at these things or you'll never be a winning player long term. Some of these things you maybe good at already.
Bankroll management
Mental toughness/tilt control
Patience
Discipline
Game selection
I've gone from $50 to $5000+ a number of times over the years doing the above and all I play is a mostly 15+ year old TAG strategy nothing special nothing fancy and I haven't even studied to advance my game in 15 years. My studying for a long time now has just included hand reviews to keep my game on track and the bad habits away.
If you plan to play on GG you really don't need a HUD I believe you can study and do hand reviews in GG "Pokercraft".
There you go I think that's it and I don't think I missed anything. If you can reach beating 50nl cash while at least double tabling and can be a winner in MTT's you built a dam good side hustle congrats very few rec/hobby players ever make it this far. You got any questions and something isn't quite clear please feel free to ask I'm happy to help if I can. You have any poker knowledge or strategy questions those are likely best for someone else as there are much more knowledge and better players here then me for that part. I'm likely the least knowledge winning player when it comes to 2026 update knowledge.
The very the last thing. I've brought(haven't read yet) but will recommend it because everyone does. Buy the book Modern Poker Theory it's based on GTO which in today's poker world if you wanna go higher then 50nl-100nl+ I feel you're gonna need to at least know the concepts and study it some. I plan to at some point.
Best of luck with your poker journey hope some of what I offered for advice helps you.
Cheers!!!
