Stuck in the Initial Deposit Range! Help!?

I consider myself an average player and i usually play 0.05/0.10 tables on fulltilt. Ever since my deposit about a month ago, i have been going from 50$ to 80$ and back down to 30$. Then back up. I can't seem to get over the 100$ mark.

Any advice?

Thanks

You are playing above your bankroll. check out this thread on bankroll management. Hope you make it past $100 and beyond!

Above his bankroll?

.05/.10 is the lowest possible on fulltilt I thought.

Just keep practicing and gaining knowledge on the game. You can learn a lot through books, magazines and forums like this one.

Without the benefit of any add-on poker applications like HUD, Poker Tracker, etc. you are in a fix. Munchrs is right, you are playing above your bankroll but because your stuck on FT (where you made your deposited) the best advice you could get would be to tighten way up! If you can read a few books or (if your strapped for cash) read through a few on-line articles you might gain some valuable insight into what your doing wrong.

Most novice to average players generally can find a hole in their game, residing in their starting hand selection. If you are too general with your hand selection, you will likely find yourself out-kicked; so you might want to upgrade your selection. What follows is just some general advice for starting hand selection in the three main positions, you may or may not already be aware of this, but since you asked:

Early Position - You'll need very high quality hands - i.e. TT+, AK, AQ and maybe KQ. Hands like AJ, AT, KJ and QJ are problematic with any signals of strength from players acting behind you in position, so your better off just mucking them pre-flop and waiting for better position to play them. Drawing hands like Suited Connectors and Ax are also problematic from this position because finding out how much it'll cost you to draw might end up costing you more than you think. There is an argument for playing 99-, but the odds of you hitting are fairly negligible and if raise/re-raised you may find yourself out of position with top pair looking at a drawy board while up against a bigger pair. Because you are limited with your BR, I'd suggest that you pass on these cards from this position till you increase that BR.

Middle Position - You can start to add to that EP hand selection line up with hands like AJ, AT, KJ, QJ and JT, but be careful. Having these cards suited gives them more strength with the number outs you might have, but again you will need to be cautious with any signals of strength coming behind you. Drawing hands are a little more acceptable for this position, but you will still need to be very cautious in your selection and table dynamics should weigh heavily in your decision making process; if the table is loose and aggressive - lay back, if the table is tight and passive call or push and in between choose carefully. Pocket pairs ranging from 44 to 99 are much more plausible but you will still want to get in cheap.

Late Position - You can open up a lot more in this position, pushing with high quality cards when the table limps and likewise calling a very wide range of drawing hands in the same scenario. But, you will need to respect signals of strength from players acting before you unless your holding a high quality starting hand. Stealing the Blinds or Buying the Button can be profitable, but fluctuated your attempts to keep from making your intentions obvious and only make continuation bets with a favorable board. Calling with drawing hands is also more acceptable and profitable, but because your bankroll is still relatively small you might still want to limit the number of drawing hands you stick with. Ax hold a higher level of strength, if no one raises in front of you, but you might still want to keep it at A8+ and play it tenatively if you hit top pair.

There's more to it, but this is just some general stuff that might help. Additionally, keep your bluffing to an absolute minimum. Most novice to average players bluff far too often and with the size of your bankroll you don't have the luxury of being found out too often. Hope this helps and GL!



NuRelic

Sound advice. I would also recoomend using the guide (except the BR mangement one) found on Howard Lederer's site. The Poker Prefessor.

Thanks a lot, i appreciate the advice. I do play a lil loose sometimes and chase too many flush and straight draws. I'll keep practicing.

Thanks again!

You can also check out our Poker Strategy - Poker Theory, Poker Articles, Strategies & Tips. for some shorter, quick reads. There will be a lot of info in there to help you fix holes in your game.

I had the same trouble. My problem was a lack of accountability.
When I was down, I would put my nose the the grindstone and win a bunch. But when I was up I was "only playing with winnings" so I loosened up and gambled more. That caused me to lose.

What fixed my problem was PokerTracker. Suddenly every loss showed up as a red stat, and all my idiot plays hurt my stats.

PokerTracker made me accountable for my actions. Everything went on my permanent record.

If you're having trouble for the same reason, try downloading the beta test of PokerTracker 3.

What's a good place to learn how to use PokerTracker? I just dled it...but I'm not sure how to use it. All I've managed to do is set up the autorate and take a look at which hands I win/lose with

google Poker tracker guide

Or check out this thread for a lot of great tips: http://www.cardschat.com/f13/pokertr...-thread-99765/

Perfect, thank you