How to turn $33 into $1,000!
PokerStrategy.com member and microstakes specialist DemonRax just completed his Bankroll Challenge. Here, he tells us all about it.
Last time out we shared the story of how bonecore successfully completed his Bankroll Challenge, today we have another recent winner.
Microstakes expert DemonRax began his challenge on October 12 and on February 24 he finally turned his $33 starting roll into $1,000. He has already started a new challenge to get to $5,000.
We caught up with the man himself to learn how he did it, and what comes next.
Hi demonrax, well done on finishing the challenge. Is this the first time you reached $1.000 with your Bankroll?
demonrax: Thanks! No, I think this is the third or the fourth time I did it in my six years playing poker online, but every single time it was a long climb from less than $100 and usually starting at 2NL. The first time it happened was in May 2011.
"It happened too fast"
How happy were you with the speed of your challenge?
demonrax: It happened too fast to be honest. Although it took around four months, if you check out my plans in the blog, I gave myself around 6 to 8 months to do it. I got really lucky in several ways and that helped me to reach my goal faster.
First of all, I got really lucky at the tables. Prior to the challenge I had a big downswing at 10NL and was running around 17 buy-ins below EV. That’s when you know it’s a good time to start a challenge! My profits at the tables across all limits are bit less than $400 but just around $100 by EV, so I got it all back at the right time.
Secondly, I got really lucky around the other tables too. The rest of the profits of around $600, I got from playing Spin & Go’s for fun, tournaments and freerolls on the weekends and also from lots of bonuses and promotions.
And last, but definitely not least, I got lucky off the tables when the friend of mine and a PokerStrategy.com coach, asimos lent me a helping hand after we agreed on a “coaching for profits” deal.
Outside of Poker, what is your biggest hobby to spend your time on?
demonrax: I have lots of hobbies but the most important is to play games. I’m talking lots of different kinds of games, I’m a gamer at heart. Be it videogames for fun, card games, table top games and even sport, I love it all. One of the games that is really important to me is Go which teaches you a lot of things you can try to apply elsewhere in life. In that sense it’s similar to poker. In videogames, I prefer a well written story and emerging world that can take you on an interesting journey. Also games like Dota2, which I prefer to watch rather than play. It’s as competitive as a real sport and you need a lot of attempts to get better. In sport, my favourite game is basketball which I play a lot, but I also watch Rugby, American Football and Formula 1 racing too, as well as some hockey and boxing.
I’ve been playing guitar for more than 20 years now too. That’s probably the hobby I’m best at. I was playing acoustic and electric guitar in couple of bands and have been studying a lot of classical music recently too. Guitar is my lifetime companion. She’s a loving and patient friend who is always near me and will wait silently for days without complaining, before I pick her up and we have a nice, warm conversation, just the two of us.
Speaking about spending time, we heard that you were involved in something very big - the CERN!
demonrax: It's true, I was a physicist, working with nuclear and high energy/particle physics. In 2002, after finishing my bachelors, I joined the team at St Petersburg State University that was working with CERN. Later that year I went to CERN, Switzerland for the first time to join the ALICE collaboration at the Large Hadron Collider. I was working in those two collaborations for years up until I finished my PhD in 2010.
I had a great career, travelling around Europe and meeting good people, it was a dream job for any physicist. Doing the night shifts at the LHC test runs is one of the memories I’ll always cherish. Going down in the 130 metre elevator shaft to the ALICE detector chamber is another one. It was a great time!
Talking through the decisions gave me a huge boost
What gives you the edge over your competitors at the tables?
demonrax: I have always worked hard on the technical side of the game. The hours I put in, the notebooks I’ve written and the books I’ve read several time. I love learning new things and when opportunity arises, I jump in and try to absorb as much as I can. But the mental game was always a problem for me and stopped me from being successful. Now when I get some help and advice from the coach it feels like I’m doing better, at least in terms of discipline and emotions. I’m also an open person and don’t hold any secrets or try to hide anything, so I began streaming my sessions on Twitch. Talking through the decisions and being responsible in front of the viewers helped me make sense and gave me a huge boost in terms of discipline and confidence.
If someone wanted to do the same challenge, which 3 bits of advice would you give?
demonrax: These are for micro limits. Play your most safe ABC poker and you’ll be fine. Don’t go far ahead learning new tricks or sick moves at the tables, just play solid and talk it through, describing to yourself why are you taking this line, etc.
Fold as much as you can! Folding is the best way to win at micros, no matter what you hear from advanced coaching and videos. Money saved, money earned. I had to learn it the hard way, so don’t waste your time and learn to fold.
Find a coach. If I could give a single piece of advice to anyone, it would be this. The best coach will be honest with you and care about your results.
What learning material would you recommend and who is your poker inspiration?
demonrax: I haven’t thought about it for a while to be honest. I used to watch all those High Stakes shows and WSOPs but nowadays I don’t. The guy I was most impressed with was Phil Galfond. He’s a modest, smart and calm person, which is basically the best way to be I think.
As for learning materials, it's like I said, you don’t need tricks and stuff. Any ABC poker book, video or articles at PokerStrategy.com is enough to get the technical part of the game. The mental game is a whole different beast however. I have no idea how to get better there, popular books didn’t help me on that. I guess just being honest with yourself, look for the problems and work on them is the way to go.
What's your biggest pot won & lost - how do you feel thereafter?
demonrax: I have never lost more than 140bbs in one hand and have won around 200bb couple of times. When you stick to your plan and stay disciplined, these are just rare occurrences and you don’t really care about. The online poker grind is a lot different to the poker shows, but I'm not sure if that is a good or bad thing.
What would you like your final achievement to be in Poker and, with your next challenge already started, will you approach it differently because of the higher limits?
demonrax: The ultimate goal in poker for me is to get as high as I can so I could play as much as I can, without losing the joy of the game and still have modest but steady income. I am actually quite close to that. In terms of numbers, being a winner at 100NL Zoom is about right. But there's still a lot of work to be done.
Honestly, I have never really dreamed of hitting a huge tournament or winning a lottery. I believe in day in, day out hard work and hard earned profits over a long period of time instead of getting a “one time” lucky hit.
My new challenge is to get my $1000 bankroll up to $5000, which will include going through limits from 25NL to 100NL. I have never done that before. I have reached 50NL a couple of times in recent years but was never able to beat it. Now though, I'm confident that with the new discipline and knowledge I have, a good friend and coach behind my back and all the support I get from the community, plus my blog readers and viewers, I have a decent chance to beat it by the end of the year.
Thanks to everyone who’s been there for me, especially asimos and vonki. I really appreciate your support. Good luck to everyone both at and off the tables! See you, Jay.
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