Am i just being unlucky?

just to add i play about 30% of my hands.. is that too low?

30% is pretty loose - I'm more in the 15-20% range on a 9 or 10 handed table.

These percentages always don't tell the full story, but if I see someone coming into that many pots at my table, I know they are playing quite a few hands that are weaker than what I am throwing away, and I'm looking for an opportunity to make them pay for it

30% is way to high. Slow down and watch the game for a while. You will learn when it's time to play just by watching...................

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Sorry guys, but I give in!!!

Ronaldadio I`m sorry i`m annoying you but just understand that i`m starting to be totaly confused. I figured i played too tight now i`m being told i`m not tight enough.. lol

OK, one last try...

A lot of things you say are correct, but correct to an extent.

Poker, hand by hand or game by game is not an exact science.

The Worlds greatest poker player can go weeks without winning due to a thing you will get used to called `variance`

Pot odds is a good example.

Say you are delt AA. One other guys pushes all in so you call. At that stage you will be about 5:1 fav.

So, lets brake that down. For every 5 times you play that hand, u will win four, the other guy will win one.

However, due to the nature of probability, there is not a law that says this must happen in this order. This probability will hold up over a long long period of time, but there is no set period (hope I`m not losing you here?)
So you could play this 5 times in a tourny and lose 3.

Having said this, if every time you got your chips in the pot u were a 5:1 fav you will be a rich person - fact!!!

There is no correct % to play. It is all dependant on situations. These situations include your hole cards, your position at the table, the way others are playing, you chip size relevant to the blinds, and the list goes on.

I have won tournys where I have only played 10% of my hands, other times it has been as high as 40%.

So, to put that into perspective, if u were gong to play 20% of your hands, and you had reached your 20% quota - are you going to throw away your AA when u r chip leader, on the button and the short stack has pushed all in for 10 times the big blind, everyone else has folded? "I`m gonna fold `cause I`ve played 20% of my pocket cards" - no!!!

You mention Dan Harrington. He is suggesting people new to poker tighten up. Example... you are delt A3 in late position. You limp into a flop of 6 people. The flop is A79. A less experienced player would struggle to get away from your pair of aces. So what Harrington is saying is don`t get involved in hands that could get you in trouble.

Interesting thread here. Freerolls and play money are a lot different than real money games. Your AK will hit one on the flop 40% of the time. I will treat AK like almost any two cards untill i see the flop or feel i can fold out most of the other players with a raise. Any major reraise or all in i will fold to early in the tournament. DO NOT go on tilt against one player because he pushes a lot, you never know what he is pushing with. Wait till you have a hand you can push with (preferably after the flop) then you can make a lot of chips from this player.

If i had an AA or KK i probably would have called this guy and been busted out like you were thats where the gamble comes in. Some you win and some you dont.

Freerolls are fun but in real money the freeroll player will usually lose its a completely different game! Been there done that learned the hard way.

Was playing Full Tilt WSOP freeroll game one 225 players big blind took me all in came back to come in second and a seat to the next level. Next level 800 + made it to 3rd place before a stright on the river took out my AA (note to self stop thinking AA is a great hand LOL)of course i needed to be in second to advance to the final level.

First post here looks like a fun forum :-)

thanks guys for your advice. i`m actually slowly trying to figure it out and slowly i`m catching on to it... as you guys are saying there is a huge amount of maniacs playing in freerolls. And it kind of sucks but they do get lucky a lot.. I`ve realized to play even tighter then i play with my friends or casino. Be careful of straights and flushes they all wait for them and they dont respect 3xBB raises. I only go all in now if i`m absolutely sure i have the nuts... lol but i`m still learning..

ok here's what i`m still confused with guys... Now that i play tight.. I seem to be eaten too often by the blinds... basically i wait for premium hands( droped my playing hands to about 23%) but they dont come.. What do you do when you wait for so long and you keep getting .... 92, 42, 73, Q2 , J4, K4, A3o, ? Should i try to steal? problem is there are players with more money and some wackos who would call anybodys all in with whatever they have that stealing is really hard to do (unless i`m mistaken). Eventually when I do get my KK, I raise 3xBB to see an A's on the flop and a guy raising me half a pot.. Jesus can i get a brake??? I need tips guys! thanks.. Seems to me now i`m playing too tight..

It sounds like you are stealing with different bet sizes than your "normal" playable hands. The raises when you are "stealing" should be exactly the same as a raise when you are just opening the pot with a hand that is playable. You shouldn't be pushing your entire stack to steal.

What you are really looking to do is change your playable hands based on position. In the earliest positions (right after the blinds) only play your most premium hands, and bring them in for a raise if you are first to act. As your position improves, lower your hand requirements, but still bring them in for a raise the same way when you are first into the pot. By the time you get to the cutoff and button, you should be playing your weakest opening hands, again this is assuming you are first to put chips in.

They don`t get any luckier than anyone else, this is just your perception.

I play maingly a tight game early in a tourny, but I could name a lot of times when I `got it wrong`, called a reraise with AKs, other guys turns AA and the flop comes down 10JQ and it holds.

Like everthing in life, people will only remember the times something cost them big.

If you get knocked out of a tourny by someone who caught their miracle hand he is a dick - if u final table and hit the money big u forget that hand when u pushed flop with your A with Q kicker - other guy turns AK and u hit your Q on the river.

I dont watch the % of hands played that closely that will depend on the cards your delt. If your playing the right hands you will see your % in the short run go from 5% to 50%. Long run in the 20 % area. I would suggest the Full Tilt Stratigy Guide for reading there is a table showing the hands by position which is a good starting guide.

Wally