Nonzero

In 2020 I lost $17,000 in the stock market. Then I learned to invest properly and rebuilt. This year I had $20,000 set aside to buy a car in cash, and I decided a year of decisions would be worth more than the car.

So in 2027 I’m using poker to learn expected value, probability, and how to decide under pressure. I’m a bartender, not a pro, and I’m starting with almost no experience. The downside is capped at $20,000. The upside is whatever I become by the end of it.

Winning means getting measurably better at making decisions, on and off the table. The money is tracked honestly, but it isn’t the scorecard. The full reasoning is in The Nonzero Year.

The rules

1. Leave at three buy-ins down in any cash session.
2. No alcohol at the table.
3. No sessions after a late bar shift or on under six hours of sleep.
4. Sessions are six hours, max.
5. Never add money beyond the monthly budget. Never borrow from next month.
6. Winnings are swept out when I leave the table and never go back into the bankroll.
7. Every session gets logged within 24 hours, including the ones that hurt.
8. Grade the decision, not the result.
9. No real-money online poker.
10. Tilted means done.

The money works out to $1,666.67 a month. Unused money rolls forward. A bad month can’t borrow from the next one. When a month’s money is gone, I stop until the first.

The ledger

Follow along

Day-to-day sessions, reviews, and the money go on social as Mr. Nonzero.

Risk On

Risk on is a market term: you’re in, and you’re betting on yourself. The skill isn’t always being in. It’s knowing when the odds are on your side and sizing the bet so you can play again tomorrow. Made to order and shipped by Printful.