If you have a gambling addiction problem, you’d better curtail that gambling streak in you, and you better do it fast.

I know I’ve been there. Right now I’m playing ” lousy” 1/2 NL, but I am making $80 an hour. While some players may almost be doubling my hourly rate, I have almost no risk of ruin and I am really enjoying life. I plan on moving up to 2/4 soon. I know I can beat that limit pretty easily, but I just want to be ultra comfortable with my bankroll.

I’ll probably move up to 5/10 NL when I have 30k behind me and 2 or 3 months of bills paid in advance. I am not going to be Stu Ungar. Hell no.

There’s a quote I always think of whenever I have a bad day, maybe it will help you. Hell, if you’re a Calvin and Hobbes fan here it is: “You know Hobbes, even my lucky rocket ship underpants didn’t help me today.”

What? Are you playing below 7bb/100 nowadays?! if you do, you should not call yourself a card player, you have some nerve. In my humble opinion, 3bb/100 is about the maximum sustainable win rate in the 10/20 6 max games. I think anything upwards of 4bb/100 is pretty much impossible over the long term. I think the 2+2 posters that play the game feel the same, although its been awhile since i read their forum.

So if you are nowhere near this level, this is what you should be shooting for. Do not feel happy about yourself unless you make at least 2bb/100, this is where the good online poker players reside. Anyone below is a fish. So go back to the blackboard, study your leaks and your opponents’ strengths to determine what it is that you should change in your game in order to achieve a higher win rate.

It may sound tough, but it is possible if you put the effort. Good luck.