| 18+ | Play Responsibly | T&C Apply
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
header-bg

Blackrain79: How to Build a Poker Fortune a Few Cents at a Time

Nathan “Blackrain79” Williams has played six million hands of small-stakes No-Limit Hold’em online with some of the highest win-rates in history.

In his new book Crushing the Microstakes Williams shows you exactly how to replicate those results.

This is a book geared towards the beginner, designed to help newbies build a bankroll and a solid understanding of the game while sticking to the lowest stakes.

Surprisingly, it’s a niche that’s been largely ignored in poker publishing. Especially surprising since the micros are home to more players than any other stakes on the Internet.

And while a lot of strategy writers might have played the micros early in their career, they’ve long since moved on to bigger games. Williams makes a living playing low-stakes and has a proven track record crushing the very lowest.

That’s the experience that he brings to bear in this book and because it’s so current, and specifically geared to the madness that is micro-stakes online poker, it stands apart as a unique tool for beginner online players.

From University Grad to Microstakes Master

A university graduate who found poker at the relatively old age of 24, Williams grew up in a suburb of Vancouver, Canada and turned pro in 2007.

He got his first bankroll selling the play chips he had accumulated on partypoker for $60 and since making the move to PokerStars he’s earned almost $30,000 at NL2 and NL5. That’s 1.5 million big blinds at NL2.

Nathan Williams
Experienced? Williams has played six million hands of online poker.

While that doesn’t represent his total winnings it does put him among the biggest micro-stakes winners ever on PokerStars.

According to Williams he’s the biggest.

“When PTR came out my exploits at the lowest stakes became public knowledge and it became interesting for people to talk about,” Williams told PokerListings.com in Vancouver.

“I guess because no one was playing as many hands as I was and getting such high win-rates, people just thought it was crazy,” he said. “At the very lowest stakes I have the most winnings ever on PokerStars, at 2NL and 5NL.”

What to Expect from Crushing the Microstakes

In Crushing the Micros Williams shows you the moves that made him famous, including spazz-shoving all-in with the nuts into miniscule pots, and opening for 10X raises against players who don’t know the difference between 3X and a 300ZX.

Higher-stakes players may scoff at some of the advice, but Williams knows a lot more about the micros today than they do. Heed his wisdom and it will pay dividends. He’s drawing on his experience playing the same games, as well as what he’s learned about teaching as a coach at DragTheBar.com.

Nathan Williams 3
Williams also coaches at DragTheBar.com.

Coaching and writing strategy books, helping fish and newbies to become better players, seems to be at odds with trying to make a living playing poker but Williams maintains that no matter how much material is made available, there will always be players willing to lose their money.

“I realized that the players you make the most from playing lower stakes are just recreational players. They’re not joining training sites or reading forums or buying my book,” he said.

“Sure, the regs in these games will continue to get better by using books like this, but the recreational players really aren’t doing anything to improve, and that’s where most of your money is coming from at the micros.

“And I don’t subscribe to the opinion that anyone can just join a training site or get some coaching and expect to be as good as the best regs. There’s always going to be a pecking order in poker,” he continued.

Studying Crushing the Microstakes will help make sure you don’t get stuck at the bottom.

Nathan "BlackRain79" Williams Interview Transcript 

PokerListings.com: Hello Nathan! Let’s start with your backstory. Please tell us a bit about where you came from, before getting into poker.

Blackrain79: I grew up in Maple Ridge which is a suburb of Vancouver, BC and I was really into sports growing up as a kid. I was really competitive.

I went to Simon Fraser University and did a degree in History and Philosophy and I ended up getting into poker when I was about 24.

It was pretty much the same story. A friend of mine showed us Hold’em at a party and I ended up getting really lucky and winning, and found partypoker online the next day, this is in 2004, and started playing with play money.

Nathan Williams 2
"At the very lowest stakes I have the most winnings ever on PokerStars, at 2NL and 5NL."

I played that for about a year and was winning a lot just playing tight and I ended up finding a way to sell play chips so that’s how I got my first small bankroll. I sold like 5 million play chips for $60.

Eventually I moved to PokerStars and started playing the lowest stakes they had which I think was 1c/2c and just employed my strategy of playing super tight and it worked.

I bought some Two Plus Two books from the PokerStars store, Theory of Poker was the first book I ever read, and I saw the address to the forums on the back.

I started really learning a lot from the forums and I started playing a lot and mass multi-tabling and moving up.

I quit my job in 2007 to play NL100 and I ended up playing millions of hands at the lower stakes. I guess I didn’t really have the right work ethic and I kind of just hung around the micros.

And then when PTR came out my exploits at the lowest stakes became public knowledge and it became interesting for people to talk about.

I’ve been blogging for a long time and in 2010 I got involved with coaching and now I work with DragTheBar.com. Then I had an idea for a book and wrote Crushing the Microstakes in 2011.

You mention your ‘exploits’. Tell us more about why you caught people’s interest.

I guess because no one was playing as many hands as I was and getting such high win-rates. And people just thought it was crazy.

I think it was just the sheer number of hands. I’ve played about 6 million hands online. And most of those are at NL25 or below. At the very lowest stakes I have the most winnings ever on PokerStars, at 2NL and 5NL.

Are there other people putting in that kind of volume at the micros?

There are actually yeah. In a lot of countries out there where the American dollar goes a lot farther there are a lot of “professionals,” even at the lowest stakes.

If the dollar goes four times as far where you live it’s definitely possible to get by playing these really low stakes.

By writing a book like Crushing the Microstakes you’ve got to be contributing to the rising average skill of the players, essentially making it harder for you to earn money. Do you believe that there will be a time that games are unbeatable, or at least much harder to beat?

For years I actually stopped posting in strategy forums, so did a lot of players, because everyone was kind of scared the games would just get too tough.

But after a while I just realized that the players you make the most from playing lower stakes are just recreational players. They’re not joining training sites or reading forums or buying my book.

Nathan Williams 3
"Recreational players really aren’t doing anything to improve, and that’s where most of your money is coming from at the micros."

Sure, the regs in these games will continue to get better by using books like this, but the recreational players really aren’t doing anything to improve, and that’s where most of your money is coming from at the micros.

And I don’t subscribe to the opinion that anyone can just join a training site or get some coaching and expect to be as good as the best regs.

There’s always going to be a pecking order in poker. Dusty Schmidt said in a blog post about a year ago that he thought the games are as hard now as they’re ever going to get and I agree with that. These recreational players are always going to be there to play.

Now that you’ve been making a living playing poker for a while how happy are you with your decision to pursue it professionally and spend a big chunk of your life playing?

I got into poker for the same reason as a lot people. I loved the freedom and the independence that poker offers. I haven’t exactly gotten rich playing poker but I don’t regret it at all.

I knew that the corporate nine-to-five gig wasn’t for me even though I did get a degree so the freedom and the control over your own destiny that poker has was really appealing.

In poker if you’re willing to take some calculated risks and put in the work you can play all day and all night and move up stakes and give yourself a pay raise. There’s a ton of benefits if you can make it work.

Do you feel like poker is a viable way to make a living for young people who have the brains and the work ethic that it takes to play poker day in and day out?

Five years ago it looked more optimistic to play poker professionally but even now in 2012 I don’t think my opinion has changed all that much.

If you’re young and disciplined and want to take a shot at this I don’t think there’s any reason not to. You don’t have to give up your life to try poker or anything.

I really feel strongly about going after what you want, that’s how I’ve tried to live my life, and I don’t regret getting into poker. I’m in my thirties and I’m really happy with the decisions I’ve made.

Related Articles

Unibet Poker Open 2023
Unibet Open Bukarest 2023 – Here we go!

Unibet Open Bukarest alkoi pari tuntia sitten, pahoittelut että blogi pääsee vauhtiin myöhässä. Syytetään Lufthansaa, joka onnistui eilen jättämään matkalaukkuni Frankfurtin kentälle. Nyt on laukku saatu tänne Bukarestin Marriottiin ja…

November 30, 2023 | Juhani Tyriseva
Unibet Poker Open 2023
Suomalaisten chip count, Event 1

Ville Mustonen 65K Aleksi Naski 265K Samuli Hietala 330K Jarno Jokiniemi 85K Max Avela 260K Kai Lehto 105K Feras Abid 130K Topi Palenius 95K Atte Franssila 85K Markku Vihavainen 50K…

September 16, 2023 | Juhani Tyriseva
Unibet Poker Open 2023
Voitonjako on selvillä

Ensimmäisen sormuskisan WSOPC Event 1, voitonjako on nyt selvillä. Turnauksen palkintopotti on 183.360€, ja 47 parasta pääsee rahoille. Turnauksen voittaja kuittaa mukavat 38.510€, ja min cash on 1.100€. Tällä hetkellä…

September 16, 2023 | Juhani Tyriseva
WSOP banner
WSOP Schedule 2020

The 2020 World Series of Poker kicks of in Las Vegas on May 27th. With a time frame of more than 7 weeks and 100 tournaments this will be the…

August 21, 2023 | Arved Klöhn
WSOP banner
Pikku tauon jälkeen jatketaan

Pidettiin pieni tauko, nyt peli jatkuu tasolla bb ante 4K, blindit 2K/4K. 111/573 pelaajaa.

July 25, 2023 | Juhani Tyriseva
melvin shroen live reports from The Festival in Nottingham 2023
PokerListings set to do Live Reporting from The Festival Series in Nottingham (13-19 February 2023) 

Melvin Schroen - Live Reporter For the first time in the history of The Festival Series, an event series is being held at the Dusk Till Dawn Pokerclub in Nottingham.…

March 22, 2023 | Melvin Schroen
PokerListings Awards 2022
PokerListings Operator Awards – Winners 2022

Since 2020, we have been awarding the best poker operators and innovators in the poker business with our PokerListings Operator Awards. Every year the operators are nominated and awarded in…

January 11, 2023 | Bjorne Lindberg
Oliver Hutchins Wins the Trophy in the €500K GTD PPC Malta Main Event (€71,000)

Oliver Hutchins Wins 2022 PPC Malta Main Event United Kingdom's Oliver Hutchins won the trophy in the €500,000 guaranteed PPC Malta €550 Main Event for €71,000 after a back and…

April 7, 2022 | Jason Glatzer
All Poker News
2013-09-14 02:35:33

do you want to play microstakes day in

Tino
2012-02-15 09:21:40

Before you pour scorn on this guys achievements, go and take a look at his blog and see his overall HEM stats.
Why move up in stakes and maybe lose money when you are already crushing a limit and doing nicely from it thank you very much?
Now a published author and a small stakes poker coach, I think he has done more for the game of poker than you ever will.

Jeremy
2012-01-20 12:15:11

I bought Crushing the Micros a few days ago, and I am already on page 160. It’s an easy read, and you will learn a bunch. It’s a great book for beginning players, players who now have to play the micros because of bankroll issues, or players who just struggle in cash games.

I used to be a decent winner at 25NL, but that was several years ago, when the games were much juicier. Since Black Friday, I’ve had to play much smaller games, and have been struggling to make a profit at 2NL & 5NL. Since reading Nathan’s book, my BB/100 ratio has really improved. It’s only been 5000 hands or so, but I am feeling more comfortable playing cash games.

Buy the book. It’s only $20!

zani
2012-01-19 00:14:10

probably he wanted to achive something no one else has done??

amazing

Brian G.
2012-01-18 22:53:32

30k is good money for 2NL. I would kill myself before I got that far.

jj85
2012-01-18 16:46:49

That looks like Vancouver but it couldn’t be … no clear sky in January IMO

No durrrr
2012-01-18 16:44:59

@JK

Yeah pretty he doesn’t just pay NL5 bro. I’m sure he’s made more at NL10, 25, 50, 100 … DUCY?

JK
2012-01-18 16:17:46

Amazing feat to be fair….but why grind it out there now when you can make a whole lot more with your larger roll.Stupidity at best for a pro!30 K in 5 years for someone turning pro.RETARDED.Although great achievement to begin with.

Hank
2012-01-18 16:00:46

$30k at the micros really is quite amazing. Just the patience to play that many hands with all of those utter donkeys. Well done Nathan.

acesacesaces
2012-01-18 15:26:02

sick sick sick, how can you spend that long at micros!? true love of the game? Although I think most people reading this would be overjoyed if they made like $5k a year playing poker …

Comment on that

Your message is awaiting approval