Do you want to make $1,000 a month playing small-stakes online poker? Is this even possible in 2024?
Well, it is. And we will show you real-world data on how it’s done.
MeTaJIJIucT is one of the best small-stakes grinders. They play big volume, show consistent winnings, and crush the games at PokerStars.
We will walk you through how they do it and, more importantly, how you can, too. We’ve broken down their numbers and deep-dived into the process they implement across hundreds of thousands of hands.
In addition, we will show you how MeTaJIJIucT could have made even more money if they’d switched to GGPoker.
Consistent Profits at 10NL: A Winning Blueprint
MeTaJIJIucT has a formula that works. A winning blueprint, if you will.
Just take a second to admire their graph over the course of 2024.
It doesn’t get any better than this.
At the lower stakes, consistency matters. There are tons of games around the clock. The overall standard is poor, and contrary to belief, money can be made with very little risk.
MeTaJIJIucT has won $6,700 in 2024 alone. In May, they won a staggering $926, not including any bonuses or promotions, which likely pushed this well over $1,000.
A win rate of 18.9 bb/100 over 339,000 hands is what dreams are made of for online poker players.
A breakdown of their numbers shows that this is not rocket science, and you can implement this basic strategy to crush the lower stakes.
Let’s jump in.
Tight Aggressive Preflop Play: The Foundation of Success
Preflop is a huge part of small-stakes online poker. Because of the relatively low sums of money, players are generally less cautious, so on the whole, play more hands.
MeTaJIJIucT has adopted a Tight-Aggressive (TAG) strategy where they are patient, wait for strong hands, and are aggressive with these hands.
Here, we can see more of how they adopted this strategy.
A 19 VPIP (Volume Put in Pot) and 16 PFR (Preflop Raise) is peak TAG behavior.
The graph below gives a visual representation of MeTaJIJIucT’s starting hands based on table position:
Next, we want to consider the 3bet percent of 6.8%. This is lower than most, meaning they are waiting for premium hands before trying to build the pot.
Let’s compare that to someone like Andrey Kuklin, who we covered as one of the best mid-stakes cash game players on GGPoker. They have a 3bet percentage of 12, almost double.
At the mid-stakes, this is needed, as your opponents are stronger, so you need to balance your range.
For MeTaJIJIucT at 10NL, the games are much weaker, so they can wait before getting paid with stronger hands.
That makes sense, right?
This isn’t a groundbreaking strategy here. MeTaJIJIucT waits for big hands and is aggressive when they connect.
Mastering Position: How to Maximize Profit
In poker, position is power.
The luxury of acting last in any betting round is a massive advantage. Knowing what your opponents have done before your decision simplifies the game.
MeTaJIJIucT is a master at this, and we can see this from their Cbet (Continuation Bet) percentage.
A Cbet is how often you bet the flop after making the initial raise.
The table above gives us an overview of MeTaJIJIucT’s continuation bet stats on all streets.
We want you to notice two key areas:
- Flop Cbet IP (Continuation Bet In Position) = 74%
- Flop Cbet OOP (Continuation Bet Out of Position) = 39%
This shows us that they are playing aggressively in position. It allows them to win more pots without having to go to showdown.
As you can see, when they are out of position, their Cbet drops to 39%, almost half that when in position.
Being cautious out of position means they have fewer difficult decisions on the turn and river. They can price opponents out of draws and build pots when connected.
Aggression and Continuation Betting: Controlling the Flow of the Hand
One of MeTaJIJIucT’s biggest strengths is their aggression post-flop.
This changes based on whether they are in position or out of position in Texas Hold’em. We know from their relatively conservative VPIP of 19 that they are mainly playing what we would consider premium hands (pocket pairs and Broadway combinations) or, at worst, connecting hands (connectors and suited connectors, Ax suited, etc.)
Let’s jump back to their Cbet numbers for a minute and look at how they work all three streets.
In position, they are betting on the flop at 74%, turn 48%, and river 55%. This is what we would classify as aggressive.
But why are they doing it?
It’s twofold.
First, they generally play strong starting hands, so it’s likely that when they connect on the flop, they create hands with a high showdown value.
Second, they have position. They can assess how opponents have played and act accordingly, be it betting for value or bluffing when the board is dry, and their opponents allow them to do so.
Out of position, we know that they only Cbet 39% of the time on the flop. But they are much more aggressive on the turn and river, at 53% and 62%, respectively.
This is because if they decide to Cbet OOP, they likely have a strong hand, so they want to build the pot. With a 39% Cbet, they aren’t bluffing very often here.
Their ability to adjust their Cbet frequency and maintain a strong post-flop discipline helps them control the pot. Thus, they rarely get them into tough spots on the turn and river.
It’s simple but extremely important to make $1,000 a month playing online poker at 10NL.
Winning at Showdown: Selective Showdown Play
We’ve spoken at large about MeTaJIJIucT’s aggression in hands being the catalyst to their continued profits at these levels.
An area of data that is key to understanding how and why, but often overlooked, is the win rate at showdown (WonSD) and went to showdown (WTSD) percentages.
- WTSD = 26%
- WonSD = 60%
26% WTSD tells us that MeTaJIJIucT is aggressive throughout and looks to win hands early. They rely on aggressive post-flop play to win little and often, forcing opponents to fold if they show weakness.
When hands go to showdown, they win these 60% of the time. This links back to their small starting hand range (19 VPIP), opting to play premium hands based on position. This means that, when the time comes, they often have the best hand and ship the chips.
This is one of the main reasons they avoid big downswings.
They aren’t bluffing all that often. At stakes like 10NL, there’s no need.
Metal Fortitude: Patience and Discipline Win the Day
To become a consistent winner at online poker, you must have a strong mental game.
You will lose hands. You will lose hands you are strong favorites to win. You won’t win every AA v KK situation when you’re all in pre-flop.
Mentally, you need to be OK with this. The quicker you do so, the better you will.
MeTaJIJIucT has one of the most consistent win rates that we’ve seen. Let’s take a look at 2024 alone:
| Month | Hands | Win $ | bb/100 |
| October 2024 | 4.9k | 52.9 | 10.7 |
| September 2024 | 45k | 774.6 | 17.2 |
| August 2024 | 42k | 565.4 | 13.3 |
| July 2024 | 34k | 507.3 | 14.9 |
| June 2024 | 48k | 879.3 | 18.8 |
| May 2024 | 38k | 926.9 | 24.5 |
| April 2024 | 27k | 800.7 | 29.5 |
| March 2024 | 41k | 898.0 | 21.9 |
| February 2024 | 30k | 790.0 | 26.6 |
| January 2024 | 33k | 508.3 | 7.5 |
You can only achieve this level of consistency by being disciplined and accepting that you will be a winner in this game if you make the right long-term decisions.
If we were to give just one bit of advice on how to make $1,000 a month playing 10NL online poker, this would be it.
How GGPoker Could Help MeTaJIJIucT Make Even More
MeTaJIJIucT plays almost exclusively on PokerStars. They are crushing 10NL but leaving money on the table by opting to play here instead of GGPoker.
Here’s why:
- GGPoker has softer games: PokerStars is packed with solid grinders, even at the lower stakes. The games are historically tough and can be hard to beat. Games at GGPoker are much softer with fewer grinders, and the potential for that win rate to soar.
- GGPoker has better promotions: New accounts to GGPoker can claim a huge welcome bonus worth up to $600 and a $50 free play chip. Use the exclusive GGPoker promo code VIPGRINDERS to claim this.
- Get exclusive access to a $250 freeroll: Low-stakes players should access as many of the best poker freerolls as possible to boost their bankroll. At VIP Grinders, we can give you access to an exclusive $250 freeroll as soon as you sign up.
- More traffic: GGPoker has 3x the number of players that PokerStars has. More players equals more games. Waiting times are nonexistent, and you can play multiple tables simultaneously to get that volume in.
And finally, GGPoker allows you to claim up to 60% in rakeback.
We ran the numbers using our rakeback calculator to show how much extra MeTaJIJIucT would have earned if they had access to the 60% deal with GGPoker.
| Total Hands 2024 | Average Hands per Month (Up to October) | Rakeback Deal | Number of Hours Per Day (Based on 4 tables at a time) | Rakeback Earned (per month) | Rakeback Earned (per year) |
| 342,900 | 34,290 | 60% | 4 | $386.26 | $4,800.48 |
As you can see, if MeTaJIJIucT had been playing at GGPoker, they could have won an additional $386.26 per month based on their average volume.
At these stakes, that is an insane amount of money to leave on the table.
If you haven’t already, register a new account with GGPoker today and claim your 60% rakeback deal to massively increase your overall earnings.
How to Make $1,000 a Month Playing 10NL at GGPoker: The Blueprint
Here’s the blueprint you need to start making 10NL a month at GGPoker:
- Adopt a tight-aggressive (TAG) strategy pre-flop. Play premium hands and take advantage of being last to act.
- Master positional play by being aggressive post-flop (high Cbet percentage) and applying pressure when you have the advantage. Be cautious out of position to reduce the frequency of tough spots.
- Only take hands to showdown when you have a clear equity advantage. Use your aggression to win smaller pots before the showdown.
- Have at least 30-40 buy-ins as part of a solid bankroll management process. Don’t be afraid to take shots at higher levels, but move back down to rebuild if they are unsuccessful.
- Exploit larger, weaker player pools at sites like GGPoker.
- Ensure you have a rakeback deal, such as GGPoker’s 60% offer for all accounts.
- Do not tilt. The best players in the world accept that you cannot always win. Don’t let losing pots affect your sessions; your win rates will be as impressive as MeTaJIJIucT’s.
MeTaJIJIucT is a real-world example of winning money consistently by playing low-stakes online poker. Now, it’s down to you!
