A Losing Year — And How I Fixed My Bankroll

He knew the concepts, had read about GTO, understood pot odds and expected value. Still, the year ended negative. By his account this feeling is the most dangerous one, because it leads to two wrong conclusions: either "I can't actually play", or "it's just bad luck". Both stop you from looking at what happened outside the hand itself.

He played stakes that required several times the bankroll he had. Under normal variance that means a statistically ordinary downswing wipes out a large part of the balance — and then decisions start coming from fear. The rule he eventually adopted is in the bankroll management guide: a minimum buy-in count per stake, and moving up only after a meaningful sample, not after one good session.

The repeating pattern was almost identical every time: a big loss, then another hour of play "to close the gap". He describes that hour as one where he is no longer really making decisions — textbook tilt. The change was writing down two numbers in advance: a maximum session loss and a maximum number of hours. When either one runs out, the session ends — even if the table is good.

He dropped one stake below where he had been playing, set 20 buy-ins as a floor, and kept a simple session log. By his description, the most significant part was not the money but that the log exposed how heavily his losses clustered in late-night hours. Stopping before midnight did more than any strategy improvement. In parallel he went back to basic opening ranges and to reviewing hand histories to see where money was leaking.

His message carries no promises: he did not become profitable because of a trick, but because he stopped losing in places that have nothing to do with poker. If you are in a stretch like this, it is worth reading about responsible gaming, then continuing to the third journey: first final table. All journeys: player stories.