A Word From Jim
I have known Mike since 2013 after he read my book and contacted me directly. I immediately knew he was going to go far in poker by the way he was dedicated to improving and his constantly asking questions and thinking critically about his play.
I am now proud to call Mike a friend and am thrilled to have him be a part of the Automatic Poker Team. I can think of no one more qualified to help students take their game to the next level.
Mike’s Story
I started playing NL on Full Tilt between 2008-2009. At first, I played a 65bb stack but soon switched to a 20bb short stack strategy. During this time, I remember looking everywhere for books, sites, or any reliable resource that was dedicated exclusively to a cash game short stack strategy but did not find any.
After Black Friday, I had to play on Bodog, which required stacks to be 30bb, so I adjusted and continued to play a 30bb strategy. In 2013-2014, I found and purchased a book on Amazon called “Automatic Poker”, which seems to be exclusively for short stacking: it was almost a dream came true! I read the book in about a couple of hours and started using its strategy right away.
I started at 5NL and moved to 10NL after winning 30 buy-ins, then to 25NL after winning another 30 buy-ins there. I found that I was able to beat every stake as I moved up. 25NL to 50NL then to 100NL, then to 200NL, then to 400NL, then to 600NL, then to 1000NL, all while learning and using the exact strategies in that book. By 2014, I was a regular short stacking at 400NL+ and earning a significant side income.
Career advancement in my “normal job” (QA Manager for food/beverage manufacturing) and having my second kid in 2016 left me no time for poker. So, in 2018 I took the leap and decided to quit my normal job. I started studying and playing poker full time as a professional.
I then began learning 50bb play so that I could play the 2000NL cash games on Ignition. My results were really good with careful table selection. In fact, my win-rate is even higher than the lower stakes. I currently play the bulk of my volume at 500NL, 1000NL, and 2000NL (With extreme table selection).
The funny thing is, I don’t really do anything much different than what I learned back in 2013. I do currently use PioSolver, PokerSnowie, and other resources in my studies, but 75%+ of my strategy is the still based exactly on the fundamentals found in Automatic Poker.
In 2020, I have also since begun playing PLO with a 30bb stack. My poker goal is to grind/beat the highest stakes of both NLH and PLO using a simple 30bb strategy.
Here are my latest stats played over the last year or so:
