Breaking Even/Stuck. What to do?

mrdeedreid

mrdeedreid

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6max micro limit SNG's had been going well for me for the last month. However, during the last few weeks I've been breaking even. Deposited $100 a little over a month ago. I'm fluctuating between $250-$300 right now. Having trouble keeping it going.

Wondering if others have had a similar experience.

If so, what have you done about it?

Besides HH analysis, watching vids, commenting on others' HH.

I'm thinking..

Checking out other sites? (tried Lock Poker, big mistake.)
Experimenting with other game types (i.e. 9man, HU, Cash etc.)?

I'm comfortable with the limits I'm playing and the game type but maybe I need to branch out a bit more and see what else there is...and get a HUD. A HUD might be helpful.

Share your thoughts. I'd appreciate it.
 
babydrago9

babydrago9

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What poker room are you currently using?
I think you should try different game types. 6max SNG's are typically hard to use an edge over the rest of the field to make a ton of profit, whereas cash/HU/bigger field tourneys you can really do with being better than others using your skill as a long term maker of profit, mainly because you see more hands.
If you really think that SNG's is your specialty then you should purely just play more games whenever you can.
 
mrdeedreid

mrdeedreid

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I'm on 888. I'll give other game types a go. It's a bad day for me. :(
 
Arjonius

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Play what you enjoy and that fits within your personal schedule. Changing games away from what you're used to is likely to mean you'd be playing something you're not as good at. Does that seem like a good strategy for making money?

Running at b/e for a while isn't necessarily a real problem. The key is to determine if you're off your usual game. If not, then the most likely scenario is simply that you're running bad.
 
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matt0216

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So in a little over a month you've gone from $100 to $250 and you're getting concerned with a b/e stretch?

Every player will go through b/e and even losing stretches. Some will go on for thousands of games; that's just how the game goes sometimes.

It's important to continue learning/working on your game throughout these stretches. As a start, I'd continue working on the fundamentals. Make sure you have an extensive understanding of as many ICM situations as you can, specifically regarding to bubble scenarios. Just keep reviewing hands. That's all I do. I mark 50-100 spots each day I play and then run them through an icm calculator. Just messing with the ranges in that many hands every day really lets you get a solid understanding of how different situations should play out ICM wise.

I don't want to say that changing games would be a bad move, but doing so because of a b/e stretch is certainly not a good reason. In my opinion, you should just keep at it awhile longer and learn to embrace the variance of SNGs. ;)
 
sj_pi

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So in a little over a month you've gone from $100 to $250 and you're getting concerned with a b/e stretch?

Every player will go through b/e and even losing stretches. Some will go on for thousands of games; that's just how the game goes sometimes.

It's important to continue learning/working on your game throughout these stretches. As a start, I'd continue working on the fundamentals. Make sure you have an extensive understanding of as many ICM situations as you can, specifically regarding to bubble scenarios. Just keep reviewing hands. That's all I do. I mark 50-100 spots each day I play and then run them through an icm calculator. Just messing with the ranges in that many hands every day really lets you get a solid understanding of how different situations should play out ICM wise.

I don't want to say that changing games would be a bad move, but doing so because of a b/e stretch is certainly not a good reason. In my opinion, you should just keep at it awhile longer and learn to embrace the variance of SNGs. ;)

I've bookmarked an online ICM calculator website.
Not sure if I can post the link here due to the forum rules.
Should it be used during the game or how best to utilize it?

Secondly, you mentioned about marking spots, are there any specific trait of the spot you look for when marking. For ex: lost or won hands etc.
Thank you in advance.
 
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matt0216

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I've bookmarked an online ICM calculator website.
Not sure if I can post the link here due to the forum rules.
Should it be used during the game or how best to utilize it?

Secondly, you mentioned about marking spots, are there any specific trait of the spot you look for when marking. For ex: lost or won hands etc.
Thank you in advance.

It's not a great idea to use it while you're playing, may even be against the rules for some sites. I would just focus on the games and then review afterwards.

I mark any close spots with many of the hands being on the bubble. I'll also mark what I consider "standard" spots just to ensure I haven't picked up any bad habits. Doing that will help in maintaining confidence in all your decisions. I definitely don't just mark hands based on whether I won/lost. I usually end up marking hands that are in progress (via PT4) so I don't even know the results at the time.

I guess one of the main things I look for are spots where villain calls/shoves a range much different than I expected. I'll mark a spot like that just so I can reevaluate what range I should be playing based on the new information I have.
 
BigJamo

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I would just mix it up a little.

Keep within your roll, but a change is as good as a holiday.
 
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WiZZiM

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So in a little over a month you've gone from $100 to $250 and you're getting concerned with a b/e stretch?

Every player will go through b/e and even losing stretches. Some will go on for thousands of games; that's just how the game goes sometimes.

It's important to continue learning/working on your game throughout these stretches. As a start, I'd continue working on the fundamentals. Make sure you have an extensive understanding of as many ICM situations as you can, specifically regarding to bubble scenarios. Just keep reviewing hands. That's all I do. I mark 50-100 spots each day I play and then run them through an icm calculator. Just messing with the ranges in that many hands every day really lets you get a solid understanding of how different situations should play out ICM wise.

I don't want to say that changing games would be a bad move, but doing so because of a b/e stretch is certainly not a good reason. In my opinion, you should just keep at it awhile longer and learn to embrace the variance of SNGs. ;)

Play what you enjoy and that fits within your personal schedule. Changing games away from what you're used to is likely to mean you'd be playing something you're not as good at. Does that seem like a good strategy for making money?

Running at b/e for a while isn't necessarily a real problem. The key is to determine if you're off your usual game. If not, then the most likely scenario is simply that you're running bad.


^^ this stuff here.


Also, if you change games as soon as you don't profit for a small stretch, you will never stay in any game for any length of time. I'm on a 700game breakeven stretch in 6max turbos, at first i had leaks, i still have leaks but i feel overall i'm playing great.

What helps me is to just go over bustout hands, if i see i'm just running into tops of ranges i won't worry about things too much. if i think i played it great, no big deal, the poker gods will reward my patience soon enough :).

if you want to succeed, keep working on your game, fixing little leaks here and there. post some more hands to help you grow as a player/learn to think about situations etc. Poker is like anything in life, the harder you work, the more you will get out of the game.
 
mrdeedreid

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So in a little over a month you've gone from $100 to $250 and you're getting concerned with a b/e stretch?
Haha. I knew that was coming. I was getting impatient, I guess. Just wanted to get past that $300 threshold so bad. That was my goal for the last few weeks. Didn't know what was going on.

Every player will go through b/e and even losing stretches. Some will go on for thousands of games; that's just how the game goes sometimes.
This reminder is exactly what I needed to hear. Thanks.

It's important to continue learning/working on your game throughout these stretches. As a start, I'd continue working on the fundamentals.
Fundamentals for sure. Going through Gordon's Green Book. This book can't get anymore fundamental. His final table poker training videos help too even though they are so old.

Make sure you have an extensive understanding of as many ICM situations as you can, specifically regarding to bubble scenarios. Just keep reviewing hands. That's all I do. I mark 50-100 spots each day I play and then run them through an icm calculator. Just messing with the ranges in that many hands every day really lets you get a solid understanding of how different situations should play out ICM wise.

I don't want to say that changing games would be a bad move, but doing so because of a b/e stretch is certainly not a good reason. In my opinion, you should just keep at it awhile longer and learn to embrace the variance of SNGs. ;)
Gave it a day to think about it. I'm gonna stick to what has been working and put more effort into proper study. Plus, I like short tournament play.


Read everyone's advice/thoughts. Thanks for taking the time, guys.
 
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matt0216

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Glad to see you're gonna keep grinding sngs.

gl.
 
Arjonius

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Haha. I knew that was coming. I was getting impatient, I guess. Just wanted to get past that $300 threshold so bad. That was my goal for the last few weeks. Didn't know what was going on.
This doesn't seem like a particularly helpful or useful goal. How important is it, especially in the big picture context of your poker "career", whether your BR reaches $300 for the first time this week, within the next month or even the next few months?

What's more, it's even possible that having such goals can be counter-productive; e.g. if it encourages you not to play your A game by becoming either tighter or looser than is best for you.

Just play good poker and the money will come.
 
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sylpoker1

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I have been having similar problems for a few months now too. I seem to play all kinds of things, and then end up with my same original b ankroll. I guess, this is a good thing in a way too, instead of just losing the money, but it is frustrating at times.
 
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This has happened to me from time to time. You need to find why you are not getting paid on your good hands. If you are getting paid you need to find out where the money is going. I did a few things. First don't play too many hands out of position. The next thing is you might be playing too cautious when you have the best hand or a good hand. Instead of checking back on the river throw an extra bet in if you have a good hand. You don't want to throw away good opportunities to pick up more chips.
 
zveri666

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I had a similar problem a while back with SNGs. The mosteffective way to continue improving ur BR is to start playing MTTS.. That switch worked great for me, and i quickly improved my bankroll drastically.
 
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