Cant win consistently, or understand pot odds too well.

So Im not a complete novice but Im certainly no shark, which is what I want to be.

Heres my stats

http://www.officialpokerrankings.co...lts/33DAB163F2BA4DBA99E892628212E7F9.html?t=2


I been playing heads up and losing a fair bit sort of tilting so I made this thread. Any sort of threads, links, resources/advice would be much appreciated thanks.

Im just wondering do I keep playing or read up more first, As you can see ive placed a fair few times but im still just losing lots of money with the volume ive been playing and losing.

Currently now have just under 100 dollas, or so about 80 to last me, what stakes should I be playing at heads up and sit n gos ive been playing the 2 50 dollas tournaments which are pretty much winning flips half the time and erm, 3.50 heads up which at times im being dominated at, and getting frustrated by just how aggressive people are and getting trapped when i think i have a read. so frustrating!!

Are you doing better in HU SNGs or MTTs? What is your reason for playing so much HU? If I am reading your stats correctly, you seem to be profiting in MTTs.

You are playing to high for your bankroll. you should have about 100 buy ins. Understanding pot odds are an absolute must, without them theres no basis for decisions.

id suggest you read a bit and than as become more ready to play sngs not heads up so maybe doubles meaning 10 man tables and five pay outs when you win that keep moving up but start at a couple bucks or less in the 10 or six man sngs with 5 or 3 paying etc.. for a bit

100 buyins is the standard most follow for bankroll management in tournaments. So you should be playing .80 and less. You do seem to have better stats at mtt than hu, I'd personally focus there get better and improve. Then maybe tackle hu after you gain some sustained traction. For your heads up game a book I enjoyed is Heads Up No-Limit Holdem by Collin Moshman. You also mentioned your tilting and for that a good read is the Mental Game of Poker 1 & 2 by Jared Tendler. To better understand the math of the game Mathematics of Poker by Bill Chen is worth the purchase. Best of Luck

Your stats don't look bad for a new player really.

You should really focus on 6 max ring games ( capped is usually soft competition ) and STT for grinding a bankroll.

The MTT's are great, and rewarding when you're on but the swings will fluctuate your roll a lot and obviously the tilt from suckouts, and missing the bubble do nothing for the learning process.

As mentioned above: Keep reading.
Spend about half of your day strictly on soft competition 6 max cash games. It will pad the swings of tournament play, or better yet speed your bankroll.

Spend the rest of the time on STT's.

Reward yourself with an MTT allowance for a day, or weeks worth of disciplined play.

Believe it or not working your way from MTT to cash game player will make you a broke shark quick.
Absolute grinding is the best way to become a shark/rounder through the learning process.

dturner100, can you please explain why you say that 6-max games are better for a beginner than full ring games? I frequently hear the opposite.

I'm not a cash game expert but I'm definitely profiting on a regular basis.
6 max competition is way softer.

John, a coach on here who wrote "Polished Poker Vol I" recommended 6 max to me, and I've had a steady profit since along with reading his book.
Also capped games make it harder to lose your entire stack in one go.

Obviously neither 6 or 9 max will make your game better but if you play good fundamental game your profit at a 6 max will be bigger faster.

dturner100, what if a player is still trying to figure out how to play good, fundamental poker? What if they are just starting out? I know that many, if not most, good players say similar things to what you have said about 6-max, but do you think that a beginning player would be able to capitalize on the benefits of playing 6-max? A capped game is lower variance, so I can see how a capped 6-max game has advantages over any No Limit game, but what about capped 6-max when compared to capped 9-max? Similarly, would a beginning player be able to fully benefit from playing against fishier players? Does the fishiness of 6-max games outweigh the lower variance of Full Ring games? Would you even consider Full Ring games to be lower variance, irrespective of having or not having a capped betting structure?

Again, being a 25+ year MTT player I don't claim to be an expert on cash games but to answer your question:

Yes, I entirely believe the variance to be higher in full ring cash.
In it's simplest form winning poker is information, and discipline.
For a beginner 9 players is obviously harder to mentally track than 6.
To be honest I've never played 9 capped tables ( live or online ).
I've had years where I've better than broke even as well as new comer friends stepping into full ring and broke even or better at 9 but for me personally and most newer cash players 6 max has seemed easier to advance in.

dturner100 said:

Your stats don't look bad for a new player really.

You should really focus on 6 max ring games ( capped is usually soft competition ) and STT for grinding a bankroll.

The MTT's are great, and rewarding when you're on but the swings will fluctuate your roll a lot and obviously the tilt from suckouts, and missing the bubble do nothing for the learning process.

As mentioned above: Keep reading.
Spend about half of your day strictly on soft competition 6 max cash games. It will pad the swings of tournament play, or better yet speed your bankroll.

Spend the rest of the time on STT's.

Reward yourself with an MTT allowance for a day, or weeks worth of disciplined play.

Believe it or not working your way from MTT to cash game player will make you a broke shark quick.
Absolute grinding is the best way to become a shark/rounder through the learning process.

Click to expand...

So just deposited again, and thought id try the ring games, started off good, but then eat into my roll pretty quick, u know the only ring games capped, are 10/25 5 min buy in, id need 500 dollas to play proper brm :/

Ur right about the MTT's and heads up is difficult again cant consistently win, stuck between a rock and a hard place of what to play maybe 50 cent turbo sit and go's?

dturner100, thank you for your thoughts, and thanks for the book suggestion, even though it was more of a mention. I have seen the book before, likely on these forums, but I didn't download it. I have now downloaded it, in case that wasn't clear.

fancisbakn, where do you play? There are capped NL2 games on Winning Poker Network sites. Nevermind, I see that you're at pokerstars. I am a bit confused. Aren't you finding success in Tournament-structured games, besides Heads-up? It looks like SNGs are what you are inclined toward, at the moment. Unless I am reading your stats incorrectly, you have also fared well in MTTs. What exactly are you trying to decide on? Is it what buy-ins to play or what games to play? What buy-ins you should play depends on your bankroll, and what games you should play depends on what you are able to find success in, which looks like SNGs. That's the most sensible solution that I can think of, until you are comfortable with branching out to other games and structures.

Well I am actually down alot, I lose more MTTs than cash, I guess I could try SNG's.

francisbakn said:

Well I am actually down alot, I lose more MTTs than cash, I guess I could try SNG's.

Click to expand...

Even if you like MTT's you can do the 18, 45, etc sng's on stars.

Obviously I can't play there anymore but last time I was on PokerStars the 45 seat SNG was extremely soft competition all the way up to $15 buy in before there got to be many skilled players.

Not to stray off topic but when you play STT or MTT sng's at stars if you play systematic tight aggressive you should be cashing in better that half of your tournaments.