Why do i ****ing suck at NL cash games?

I just cant seem to win. I either
A) Win a few BB playing tons of orbits
B) Just flat out lose.


I wanna be good at cash games!


I cant upload the HH file to cardschat, its to big. Post your e-mail and ill send it there.

If you are better at tourneys then you might be playing to tight in cash games.
I used to be the same, but a cash game isnt about seeing how long you can last.

It seems to me that "tight is right" MORE in the cash game than in tournaments, due to the fact that the blinds do not go up. Read Matt Hilger's essay on why loose wins tournaments here.

OP: perhaps a bit of a switch in mind set for the cash game: look to stack your targets, rather than just win pots. It might seem a bit paradoxical, but in a tournament I never really think of it as a primary goal to bust someone out. But this is just the mentality I think you need for the cash game.

The cash game has been rough for me as well, I've had both winning and losing streaks, and analyzed why in both. For me it all comes down to, knowing when to play, when to quit and disciplined bankroll management.

I've had to confront my personal demon and admit I don't have the bankroll to play cash games, I sometimes will play for fun but "limit" my investment to what I can afford to lose. ( I am the fish you want in your cash game )

Nickel and dime poker bores me and I play badly, 1/2 limits is what interests me at my current level of thinking, the max buy-in is 200 and I figure I need at least 2000 in BR in order to keep records and adjust my playing or not playing to effect a profit.

But life is what it is, I have to buy my baby new shoes, pay the mortgage and keep my life comfort/quality levels up to a certain standard. Until I can afford to leave 2000 alone and prioritized for poker only, I play tournaments and am sharkbait in cash games.

I stay within my BR managment scheme in tournament play and I do ok, I'll stray into a cash game rarely, sometimes win (I call that luck), sometimes lose (unlucky or bad play) until I have a proper bankroll I can't honestly say that I "worked" it with skill for a profit. Confidence is so key to how you play, constant monitoring of your record/journal and game adjustment where necessary helps that confidence.

Self-control/BR managment = Shark
Gambling/no BR management = sharkbait

Right now as it stands if I lose a cash game I can't complain, I'm gambling sometmes I lose sometimes I win. Once I win a big enough tourney and my life is in order, once I set up the proper bankroll I'll have better confidence in developing a sharks attitude rather than gambling.

There's more to the poker addage than whats on the surface when they say; "How well you play poker is scored by a lifetime." As in the larger context of your life, the closer you are to the "now" in poker relates to your bankroll. How big or small is it? Where did it start, where is it now? Which way is it going, up or down? Are you being honest with yourself?

Oh oh ... I'm getting too philosophical .. better stop here.

Good luck

I have the same problem in cash games misch.

I never seem to get the big score in them either. Like I'll be all in about to rake a huge pot and get rivered. Or I'll have monster after monster and just win the blinds. Then I think I have someone and make a bad play and go busto.

Of course this is all at almost micro limits where pretty much anything goes. But I've had it happen at 1/2 NL as well.

I'm realizing more and more everyday that although I love this game, I have kind of hit a wall and I don't know if I will get much better. It's kinda like golf, I can play it and do ok, but I will never be a pro. I'm only good enough to not really embarass myself. And poker is pretty much the same.

^^^

my advice try playing fixed limits!

Send a session to me and I'll take a look. Don't expect some magical formula for winning, but I'll see if I can find any leaks or whatever.

taylor.chuckts@gmail.com

Are you playing too loose?

Preflop?

Getting too aggreesive at the wrong times with draws against strong bets?

Sent, although it was only 1 session, that tends to be how all my sessions run. Ill play 1 or 2 more sessions($25NL) and send those to you too if you dont mind.

k, i got some shit to do, but I'll try to take a look at it later tonight or tomorrow.

sdfl;kgja;lskdfgj;sdflgjksdf'g


4 page post lost.

haha i hate that :/

Ditto!!

Just played for over an hour and ended ~+$3

Sent to Chuck.

Why are so many people giving me advice that they think will help when they havent even looked at a signle HH? I know 2 sessions is small but its better than nothing.

My suggestion:

Bring the MINIMUM amount to the table until you get better at it. You will think you're an idiot for doing it when you have a good hand, but at the same time no one can put you in for like $20, only $5. I personally like sit-and-go tournaments, but have won a few $100 in 1 day playing just normal cash games with $0.25 / $0.50 blinds.

I'm beginning to think that the difference between cash play, and STT or MTT is about the same as the difference between speed chess, and chess by mail.

I avoid cash games online. And if any general approach about your cash play helps, please share it.

I used to sit down at live tables when visiting Nevada, but those were time killers, and I had an expense account. Usually broke even.

I find tournaments loose and prefer cash games. My strategy on low stakes tables (anything below $20/40) is to generally see flops cheaply and build up the pot when i have a good hand.

I dont enter many pots but when i do i usually win them and rarely showdown without a big hand.

misch,

Briefly outline what you think the main differences between tournaments and cash games are, and how this affects your general strategy.

The problem with this is that shortstacking will not make you much better at poker. A lot of effective ring game play is based on postflop actions (much more so that in donkaments), and by applying such a restrictive limit on your postflop actions by shortstacking, you're hindering the learning process.

I cant play NL cash either - annoying because I like to think i'm quite good at most variants of poker (maybe not good, just better than the average donk which doesn't take an awful lot), but NL cash is a loser for me. I think the reason is that a lot of NL ring players are multi-tabling waiting for a big hand - if you play looser because of this and pick up the blinds, then you're only winning $1 or less a hand - if they fight back and you decide to take a stand, then you lose $5 or more. I haven't got the patience really, I cant get excited about playing $10 NL so play $25 or $50, probably more than my bankroll strictly allows, and i tend to close out winning sessions when up 1/2 a buy-in to make sure show a profit, but i'll keep playing when i'm losing and will lose a whole buy-in. To be honest, i've given up trying, i make money playing H2H games, and win plenty of 1 table SnG's and I haven't had the urge to play Rings for a few weeks now.

Misch, you already have my email address. Send me a few sessions - I'd be happy to take a look at them for you.