Poker Journal #1: The Basics & Early Wins
Is it gambling or is it all about math and psychology?
It’s been about a month since I started taking poker somewhat seriously. People say it’s gambling—and yes, there’s definitely a lot of luck involved. But in the professional world, it’s really about psychology (reading people) and probability, and I really enjoy the decision-making and Hollywood acting aspects.
I’m here to document my journey, my learnings, and my winnings. We’ll see if this turns out to be a short-term infatuation or a legit side hustle. In this article, I will briefly explain the game, some basic strategies, and at the end, my detailed progress in the last three months.
Fun fact: my current favorite hand is Ace-Two suited.
Quick Overview of How to Play:
Each player usually buys in with 100 big blinds (so in a $20 buy-in game, the big blind is $0.20). Every player at the table is dealt two cards. The small blind is forced to put in half a big blind, and the big blind puts in a full big blind. This creates something to play for and encourages action.
The first person to act is “under the gun” (UTG), and play moves clockwise around the table.
The dealer puts out the first three community cards—this is called the flop. Players (starting from the small blind position) then take turns checking (bet nothing), betting (put in money), raising (bet more than the previous player), or folding (give up the hand).
Next comes the turn—the dealer adds one more card to the board. Another round of betting follows.
Then comes the final card, the river. There are now five community cards on the table. One last round of betting happens, and if two or more players are still in, the best five-card hand wins the pot. Each player builds their hand using any combination of their two hole cards and the five on the board.
Poker Seating Positions:
These are the technical terms for the positions of a 9-person-table; names are adjusted if there’s more or less people.
Poker Positions:
Different seats at the table come with different advantages. The most favorable position is the button—the last player to act—because you get to see how everyone else plays before making your move. This gives you the most information and strategic flexibility.
Basic Pre-Flop Strategy:
Always raise to three times the big blind pre-flop. This helps discourage limping—when players just call the big blind without raising—and keeps the pressure on your opponents.
Below are some poker hand ranges you should play pre-flop according to your position. Remember these are just some suggestions to get you started. You should add some variance to your plays so people don’t read you like a book.
Notice that when you're in a later position—like the cutoff (CO), for example—you can play a wider range of hands. This is because you get to see how everyone else acts before making your decision, giving you more information and greater control over the action.
If you are UTG or later, you are recommended to play these hands:
If you are HJ or later, you are recommended to play these hands:
If you are CO or later, you are recommended to play these hands:
Here are all my winnings and losses since I’ve studied poker:
April 12th: Satellite Sig HighRoller Tournament: 8th out of 31 players; didn’t play in the actual Sig tournament ‘cause I had to do my taxes (sigh).
April 12th: Cornell Blockchain Club Social Poker with the degens
$20 buy-in game with loss of -$14.3
May 2nd: Last Cornell Poker Club G-body (a room full of 50 guys and 3 girls)
$20 buy-in game with profit of +$12.90
In between:
PokerNow Friendly Sit and Play: no money; just points and pride.
So far I am ranked 474/7831. This is highly dependent on how much you play. I haven’t played that much tbh.
Watching A LOT of poker
Some notable players: Maria Ho, Xuan Liu, Celina Lin, Phil Helmuth, Daniel Negreanu, Tom Dwan, Frankie C., Phil Ivey, Tony G.
June 6th: Heads up with Andrew Zhao: profit of +$10.43
June 7th: Heads up with Alex Kumar: profit of +$51.30
June 9th: First time to the casino with Will Chen for the sole purpose of playing poker
8 people table, bought in with $200 (buy-in typically $300 but I only had $200 in cash), came out with $340; Profit of +$140
June 12th: Hosted a poker game with Aria Attar (~10 people) in SF
Buy-in $20, bought in again $20, won $69.50; Profit: +$29.5
June 22th: Playing with Kevin Wen and Maggie Bao
Buy-in $20, bought in again $20; Loss: -$40
Got coolered by Kevin
June 26th: Heads up with Alex Kumar: profit of $35.90
June 26th: Finished Game of Gold from GGPoker (10/10; super fun to watch)
We are currently up $225.53. Hope we will continue to be up 🤞🏼.
amazing article julia! we gotta run it back bc y did kevin rob us both🥲
god i love poker