I don't play as much poker as I used to. Like many members of the poker media, I got my start in a playing capacity, usually £0.10/0.20 while at university.
Over time, I eventually moved up to where they respected my raises - £35 tournaments at my local casino in Reading, United Kingdom.
And that's where I found myself earlier this month on a quiet Monday night, back in the first cardroom I ever played in, unaware of the massive pot I was about to play.
In 2021, I regularly played £1/£3 at my local casino and did pretty well. I didn't win enough to quit my day job, just enough to fund a new shower as part of a bathroom renovation — glamorous stuff.
But I used to keep track of my sessions in the iPhone Notes app. It was good but it certainly lacked some features, including the ability for me to track how my sessions went in real-time.
This time I set out to use the mobile app 'Poker Bankroll Tracker'. I recognised the interface as one I'd definitely seen before on social media, with other cash and tournament poker players using it as their go-to tracker app, but I'd never used it before.
I booted it up and within an orbit I'd doubled up - a simple hand where I check-shoved with top pair and an open-ended straight draw, ran it once and got my straight. Good thing to, as I was outkicked and needed the straight to win. Nevertheless, the graph went up.
Download Poker Bankroll Tracker
I put my newfound chips to good use, raise-folding ace-queen when a particularly quiet player made it "102 from the big blind over my bet of £20, but staying in the green as the table chatted about Premier League legends, Australians and the recent UKPL stop in the casino.
Regularly updating my stack in the app, it showed me I on a stack of £361. So, when after a limp and a raise to £5 I looked down at A♣A♠and raised to £25. A fourth player flat-called before a player out of the blinds made it £125.
The limper folded and action was back on the original raiser. Despite my double-up, I was the shortest stack of all the players remaining in the hand, and I knew that this player was aggressive and quick to fling chips into the pot — often blind before the next street was dealt. He raised all in for £403 and I didn't hesitate before shoving my last chips in the middle.
The player to my left hadn't had the best of nights, but still had more chips than me and opted to just call. The player in the blinds then raised enough to put him all in, and the player to my left called.
To my left, the aggressive player flashed his hand to some tablemates, and I overheard one mutter "deuces." A deuce in the window of a 9♥8♠2♠flop left a sinking feeling in my stomach, but the A♦turn saw things flip entirely. I was quickly running through various outs that I didn't want to see — straightening cards for the 8-9 on the flop. Spades, but I held the ace of spades.
As quickly as these thoughts entered my mind, the K♥hit the river. I held the nuts.
The 2♣2♦quickly appeared, followed by my A♣A♠before the player in the blinds showed K♠K♦— set over set over set. The fourth player, the player to my left, didn't show and left the table.
The dealer, slightly panicked, gestured to the floor as he prepared to count out the stacks and pots: "Watch this."
Pictures were taken, stacks were counted and in the end I quadrupled up by stack of £361. I updated my stack in the app, admiring another bump in the green line, and quickly putting the action into the Hand Replayer feature in the app to remember the action and stack sizes.
After an hour and 20 minutes I was up over £1,000 and while I gave some back, I ended the night booking my biggest cash game win ever. The app now shows my hourly (£382/h) and my ROI (478%) which may take some time to adjust to my actualplaying statistics. But I'm looking forward to using the app again as it gives me a proper reminder of how the session went. Yes, it probably won't be like this every time but when it does it's a great tool to help track your poker play.
Download Poker Bankroll Tracker
Note: this is an advertisement