Poker Articles

Hello everyone! My name is Michael Berra, however, a lot of you may know me as “_johnnydrama_” or “_TheFinisher_.” A lot of you may also know me as a young punk who loves to run his mouth at the tables, but in all honesty, I only run my mouth online because I am only 5’7” in real life and if I said anything in person, someone would shut me up real quick. Anyway, I contacted Adam a couple weeks ago about writing an article for Pocketfives because I felt my story would relate to a lot of people. So I hope you guys not only read the words I am about to write, but also think about why I am saying them.

I began playing poker when I was 17 years old. I played very small stakes games with my friends and really didn’t even know anything about the online world until I was 19 and in college. When I was 19, I had a buddy transfer 50 dollars on Ultimate Bet which I lost in about 20 minutes. Two weeks later, I had him send me another 50 dollars which I lost in about a month. I felt like poker was not the thing for me and decided to get a real job. After long hard hours at work, I thought I would read a couple of poker books and give one last try to poker, so I had my buddy send me 50 more dollars. From that day on, I have made a great living playing poker and being a student at the University of Missouri-Columbia.

I started playing poker the old fashioned way, grinding out 5 dollar sit and goes and working my way up. Before I knew it, I had a bankroll of 4,000 dollars and for a poor college student, I thought that was fantastic. I began playing 2-4 NL on UB learning more and more about the game. I would be a frequent observer of the 25-50 game trying to imitate the style of Green Plastic (who I was happy to meet in Aruba and now call a friend) and TheAwesomest (who I have still yet to meet). Before I knew it, my main source of income was from poker and I considered myself a “poker player”.

You will now find me playing on BODOG at the 3-6 and 5-10 NL games; however, this thriving in the poker world did not come easy. After making a lot of money in the spring and summer of 2005, I became an absolute disaster. I was spending my money like Stu Unger in his glory days. I was putting in late night blackjack sessions on Bodg and would love dropping hundreds of dollars buying shots and drinks for all of my buddies. I never thought what happened in the fall of 2005 could ever happen; I would go on the coldest run of cards ever. After killing the 5-10 and 3-6 games on Bodog for 6 months straight, I LOST for 4 straight months. And when I say lost, I mean I almost lost everything I earned and needed some advice. I talked to Green Plastic and he told me to lower stakes and tighten up. He told me to stop being an idiot with my money and invest a portion of it each month. This could have been the best advice I ever received.

I ended up going back down to the 2-4 NL game on Ultimate Bet and building my bankroll back where I needed to be. I then moved back to Bodog for their 3-6 NL game and have been grinding it out there ever since. I tell myself no matter what I make/lose a month; I will take out a certain amount of money for spending at college, my car payments, and mutual fund investments. I finally realized that poker is not only a game, but it is my job. I needed to manage my money and by doing that, I was becoming a more intelligent poker player. I love poker and without it, I can’t even imagine the lifestyle I would be living.

Now the reason I wanted to write this article isn’t because I wanted to tell all of you about my poker career, but I wanted to inform you of something a lot of you have found out the hard way. Poker is the most inconsistent game ever created. I wanted to inform you guys that being a great poker player isn’t all about making the most money, but it is managing your money the best. A lot of my buddies ask me if I miss playing the 5-10 NL games and making 6 k a day and the answer is simple, NOT AT ALL. Now I’m not saying I am not the same idiot that buys shots for all of his buddies and racks up obscene bar tabs, but I am saying that by using my new money management skills,  I am able to do this without going insane. Take my advice everyone, Going Broke is NOT fun. Be smart and Check your Ego when it comes to poker. Poker is a great game, but make sure you control poker and not let it control you. Good Luck at the Tables Everyone!