This seems to work for me (1/2 NL)

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smuryof

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I'm new to the game. I've been playing 1/2NL cash since around October (6 months) at various casinos and card houses. 71 hours logged so far (yes I kept a log from the start.) I've done a lot of reading online to teach myself pot odds, correct position play, etc. - all the basics before diving in.

So, my night typically goes like this:

- Buy in for the max ($200 or $300)
- Limit my play to 2 hours
- Stay totally silent for first ten minutes or so, or till I hit my first hand
- Play tight-aggressive during that time, very tight during the first circuit to get a good label on as many players as possible
- Always wait as long as possible (without delaying play) before checking my cards, so as to see what people are doing and get an unbiased read on what action to take.
- When I do hit my hand, I start becoming more chatty with everyone at the table, while simultaneously opening up my range to suited connectors & one-gapped suited connectors
- Start semi-bluffing until I get caught. Works for a while, usually. Most of the time, the other players have put me on a tight range, high cards and high pocket pairs only
- After getting caught, I continue to play a wider range, but tighten up again post-flop
- Usually about that time, I patiently wait until I hit a good flop, two pair or make a low set for instance
- I can almost always shove and get called, people think I am bluffing at that point especially if I stare hard at the board when I make my move.
- Hence my two hour limit, at that time I can usually stand up, log my win, and still make it home in time for dinner.


Following that pattern, I've been logging pretty good wins the past 20 hours of play. My log is now up $1097 for all-time at this point.

What do y'all think?
 
Kruel7y

Kruel7y

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It's very nice. that means you are the live player, right? Unfortunately my country doesn't exist casinos.
Good luck.
 
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smuryof

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Yes, live player. I have never played an online game, microstakes or otherwise.
 
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John Bor

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cool, but I think that it may be hard for you
 
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smuryof

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As far as being hard for me, it definitely takes patience and discipline. But I also challenge myself, during that time, to make a study of other players at the table and start telling myself a story about each one. I find it sooo interesting sometimes.
 
TheNutz4You

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As far as being hard for me, it definitely takes patience and discipline. But I also challenge myself, during that time, to make a study of other players at the table and start telling myself a story about each one. I find it sooo interesting sometimes.

I like your 2hr approach, read your response in the other thread. makes a lot of since, leave the table when your mental edge is dropping.
 
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Jorg3

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I see you have a very good game strategy and you are doing very well in what you do. And I congratulate you.
 
vvalente

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I would like to play cash tables live, but I my country is not allowed. We can only play tournaments organized by poker associations.
 
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EvE2K

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Well, if you want to play and win in live poker - patience is a very important thing. This is a great decision to limit your session to 2 hours max. So you will keep your mind clear. But for me the most important thing is a bankroll management. If you want to be a good poker player - keep trying to stay on the limits you can play. Lots of people loose their bankrolls, when they go higher limits. Good Luck.
 
milka1605

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If you are so good at playing then continue and good luck to you. Many on the contrary lose money. I'm not friends with cache. I do not like playing cash.
 
Jhon Lozano

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I think your strategy is excellent, but I can not help because in my country there are no casinos where you play Poker, and the only tables where I play are virtual.
 
Aaron Soto

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Im at -692$ on 1-2 NL. Such a hard game. Im running like shit. Pmaying like shit too. Good idea to have 2 hour sessions. Keeps you from going on benders.
 

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Beanfacekilla

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I'm new to the game. I've been playing 1/2NL cash since around October (6 months) at various casinos and card houses. 71 hours logged so far (yes I kept a log from the start.) I've done a lot of reading online to teach myself pot odds, correct position play, etc. - all the basics before diving in.

So, my night typically goes like this:

- Buy in for the max ($200 or $300)
- Limit my play to 2 hours
- Stay totally silent for first ten minutes or so, or till I hit my first hand
- Play tight-aggressive during that time, very tight during the first circuit to get a good label on as many players as possible
- Always wait as long as possible (without delaying play) before checking my cards, so as to see what people are doing and get an unbiased read on what action to take.
- When I do hit my hand, I start becoming more chatty with everyone at the table, while simultaneously opening up my range to suited connectors & one-gapped suited connectors
- Start semi-bluffing until I get caught. Works for a while, usually. Most of the time, the other players have put me on a tight range, high cards and high pocket pairs only
- After getting caught, I continue to play a wider range, but tighten up again post-flop
- Usually about that time, I patiently wait until I hit a good flop, two pair or make a low set for instance
- I can almost always shove and get called, people think I am bluffing at that point especially if I stare hard at the board when I make my move.
- Hence my two hour limit, at that time I can usually stand up, log my win, and still make it home in time for dinner.


Following that pattern, I've been logging pretty good wins the past 20 hours of play. My log is now up $1097 for all-time at this point.

What do y'all think?


I like it!

The only question I have, is why do you only play 2 hours? Those 2 hours can yield a ton of info and reads to exploit your opponents and make some big profits in the long term.
 
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smuryof

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The two hour limit is really based on self-training. I was not used to the level of attention / calculation / strategy that it takes to win this game consistently, and the mental energy that needs to go into that. But like anything else, as I gain more experience and these things become easier / more second-nature, I can go longer. I'm already getting more comfortable, two months after my post, as these things have started to come to me more easily. Last night I played for six hours, but that was too long - I think my edge dropped after the first three hours.

I guess I would say this: For a beginner, I think it's important to train yourself hard in things like tracking the pot total (you should ALWAYS know what's in the pot, within 5% I would say,) pot odds, reading opponent ranges, memorizing opponent habits, taking advantage of position and implied odds, YOUR table image and how to exploit it, etc., and limit your play to keep sharpening that edge.

I believe that pushing beyond that range can easily introduce slop into your game, and we want to keep it as clean as possible especially during that early training phase at the 1/2 or 1/3 live tables.
 
Diegol

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Well if that works for you i think is a good strategy is a way to play anti exploited, but you doesn't play enough hands to say you are in a good path, in live poker 71 hours is around 3000 hands
 
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titiduru

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I'm new to the game. I've been playing 1/2NL cash since around October (6 months) at various casinos and card houses. 71 hours logged so far (yes I kept a log from the start.) I've done a lot of reading online to teach myself pot odds, correct position play, etc. - all the basics before diving in.

So, my night typically goes like this:

- Buy in for the max ($200 or $300)
- Limit my play to 2 hours
- Stay totally silent for first ten minutes or so, or till I hit my first hand
- Play tight-aggressive during that time, very tight during the first circuit to get a good label on as many players as possible
- Always wait as long as possible (without delaying play) before checking my cards, so as to see what people are doing and get an unbiased read on what action to take.
- When I do hit my hand, I start becoming more chatty with everyone at the table, while simultaneously opening up my range to suited connectors & one-gapped suited connectors
- Start semi-bluffing until I get caught. Works for a while, usually. Most of the time, the other players have put me on a tight range, high cards and high pocket pairs only
- After getting caught, I continue to play a wider range, but tighten up again post-flop
- Usually about that time, I patiently wait until I hit a good flop, two pair or make a low set for instance
- I can almost always shove and get called, people think I am bluffing at that point especially if I stare hard at the board when I make my move.
- Hence my two hour limit, at that time I can usually stand up, log my win, and still make it home in time for dinner.


Following that pattern, I've been logging pretty good wins the past 20 hours of play. My log is now up $1097 for all-time at this point.

What do y'all think?

I think you are awesome! Most people play poker for quite a while before starting a log or even reading and developing a strategy. You started the right way, doing your homework first. Respect! However, 72 is not a lot of hours, so don't expect your wins to consistently go up from here. Good luck!
 
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reggie_g

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2 hrs of play you cant complain man when you have good results, usually live playes seat between 4-8 hrs
 
Beanfacekilla

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Well if that works for you i think is a good strategy is a way to play anti exploited, but you doesn't play enough hands to say you are in a good path, in live poker 71 hours is around 3000 hands

It's like 2100 hands, and that may even be an overestimate. I might be splitting hairs, but live poker is slow as ****.
 
quick

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Sounds like a great starts and always good to have a plan in place when starting out, this type of planning and attentiveness will serve you well.

However, as others have correctly pointed out there's a few things to consider:

At only 70ish hours of live 1/2 play I was killing it live, I thought I had been missing out on a golden ATM. It doesn't last and losses will come...and they can keep on coming. And coming. I think at around 70ish hours of 1/2 live I had peaked at about $1400 profit, now dropped down to around $600 profit after about 140 hours. Granted I had a few months in between with no live action but consider that my last 3 sessions, I lost at least one full buy in to a runner runner straight and a turned gutshot while making the villian pay dearly for them and last night got coolered by my turned boat becoming quads for someone else and a 4 way all in with the nut straight made with a redraw to nut flush on turn losing to some guy with Q2 suited. So the beats will come, you will make mistakes and even when you make the correct move you'll still lose an entire stack sometimes!

Also consider the 2 hour time limit. I find it's not enough live to develop an idea of some of the players styles, plus if you're doing well , why leave?! Better to set up buy in stop loss rather than a hard stop time limit. Missing out on lots of potentially good spots as the session progresses! The biggest problem I see with such short sessions is how do you know you're a good player? Anyone can sit down and hit a huge hand on river, double up and leave...so is your profit luck or skill? I mean sure you're protecting the profits in that session but what's to say you don't sit down next week and lose all that previous profit in 3 hands? And some will say even if you're having a rough session, if the table is juicy and you feel mentally in control and not tilted, keep playing.

Also consider losing the "I get chatty when I hit my hands" thing, that's just a tell waiting to get exploited if someone pays attention I think.

Overall if my post is TL;DR, my biggest points are to prepare mentally for the inevitable losing sessions where you will lose large chunks of money even if you played a hand perfectly and to not limit yourself to some arbitrary time limit..

Best of luck!
 
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