S
stg1969
Rock Star
Silver Level
Hi all.
Ive been playing poker for about 5 years on and off, and ive always been a SnG and Tourney player, and Ive always lost money at cash. Not every session, but overall. With SnG's, I probably make a slow profit, which i then either piss away on cash, or have a mad evening when ive been drinking and play above my roll.
I used to think I was good, but unlucky, that was in the early days...I thought I was a TAG, but then discovered I was just kidding myself.
Here are some of the things ive done over the last 4 years.
1) Never withdrawn money.
2) Told myself I was a TAG, when really I'm a TAGFISH.
3) Constantly played above my BR.
4) Made every excuse under the sun for losing. Unlucky, Bad Beats, Bad day, Kids put me in bad mood, wife put me in bad mood, cat ran across my path, I wasnt concentrating, I was tired...blah blah blah.
5) Got wound up constantly by idiots, and spent more time talking in the chat box than thinking about poker.
6) Gone to bed with that sickening feeling of having blown my roll...
_______________________________________________________
Now, down to the epiphany (for those of you still reading, thanks).
Cash games...
Cash games have ALWAYS scared me... SnG are easier, you can only blow what youve bought in with..and i'm decent at tourneys too... but every single time I play cash...I do so many things wrong, fold when i shouldnt, bet when i shouldnt, check, call when i shouldnt...the list goes on.
Ive recently opened a Stars account (up until now ive played solely on PKR)...with the sole object of playing cash games only and keeping a record.
This is what has happened to me. Mostly cos of advice from this forum.
I deposited $100, and instead of playing 10NL or even 25NL, I'm playing 2NL..and guess what?????
I'm playing without fear, I'm playing 4 tables, chat is instantly turned off (i dont even say nh, or ul or anything), i'm here to play poker, not make friends...
I'm betting properly, I'm playing proper TAG, I'm 3 betting in position (instead of just calling), i'm folding A7off when someone has already rasied the pot, I'm c-betting the flop (and its mostly working), and importantly, I'm folding things when i think i'm beat, and i'm coming over the top of people when i think they are c-betting with air.
And its working!!
Dont get me wrong, i'm still on the end of some coolers and bad beats, of course, and i'm not suddenly saying I'm Phil Ivey..I'm not that naive...but i'm winning every session, i'm averaging around 25BB per hour, and yeah ok, its 2NL, but i'm really proud of myself. IT just seems so simple, ABC micro poker, 4 tables going, not gettting bored, and grinding slowly upwards.
The key now is not to get creative or arrogant, build my roll up to 40BI for 4NL and try that.
Thankyou for all the advice over the few weeks, especially re BR management.
(PS... when i go back to PKR for SnG, i now actually feel there's more pressure in those...lol)
Cheers
Steve
Ive been playing poker for about 5 years on and off, and ive always been a SnG and Tourney player, and Ive always lost money at cash. Not every session, but overall. With SnG's, I probably make a slow profit, which i then either piss away on cash, or have a mad evening when ive been drinking and play above my roll.
I used to think I was good, but unlucky, that was in the early days...I thought I was a TAG, but then discovered I was just kidding myself.
Here are some of the things ive done over the last 4 years.
1) Never withdrawn money.
2) Told myself I was a TAG, when really I'm a TAGFISH.
3) Constantly played above my BR.
4) Made every excuse under the sun for losing. Unlucky, Bad Beats, Bad day, Kids put me in bad mood, wife put me in bad mood, cat ran across my path, I wasnt concentrating, I was tired...blah blah blah.
5) Got wound up constantly by idiots, and spent more time talking in the chat box than thinking about poker.
6) Gone to bed with that sickening feeling of having blown my roll...
_______________________________________________________
Now, down to the epiphany (for those of you still reading, thanks).
Cash games...
Cash games have ALWAYS scared me... SnG are easier, you can only blow what youve bought in with..and i'm decent at tourneys too... but every single time I play cash...I do so many things wrong, fold when i shouldnt, bet when i shouldnt, check, call when i shouldnt...the list goes on.
Ive recently opened a Stars account (up until now ive played solely on PKR)...with the sole object of playing cash games only and keeping a record.
This is what has happened to me. Mostly cos of advice from this forum.
I deposited $100, and instead of playing 10NL or even 25NL, I'm playing 2NL..and guess what?????
I'm playing without fear, I'm playing 4 tables, chat is instantly turned off (i dont even say nh, or ul or anything), i'm here to play poker, not make friends...
I'm betting properly, I'm playing proper TAG, I'm 3 betting in position (instead of just calling), i'm folding A7off when someone has already rasied the pot, I'm c-betting the flop (and its mostly working), and importantly, I'm folding things when i think i'm beat, and i'm coming over the top of people when i think they are c-betting with air.
And its working!!
Dont get me wrong, i'm still on the end of some coolers and bad beats, of course, and i'm not suddenly saying I'm Phil Ivey..I'm not that naive...but i'm winning every session, i'm averaging around 25BB per hour, and yeah ok, its 2NL, but i'm really proud of myself. IT just seems so simple, ABC micro poker, 4 tables going, not gettting bored, and grinding slowly upwards.
The key now is not to get creative or arrogant, build my roll up to 40BI for 4NL and try that.
Thankyou for all the advice over the few weeks, especially re BR management.
(PS... when i go back to PKR for SnG, i now actually feel there's more pressure in those...lol)
Cheers
Steve
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