Newbie looking for advice

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kiggans_412

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Hey everyone just wanted to take a second to introduce myself and ask you guys a few questions and see of I can stir up some ideas. Well first off my name is Jesse, and this is my first post. I am a 20 year old college student and I've been playing home games with a mix of online for a few years. So I'm basically looking for some insight as far as building a bankroll. I live in Pittsburgh and don't know of many home games so I usually play sng on bovada. In the last 2 weeks I've turned 25 into around 150 or so. That's with no consistent play. ( almost finals time so lots of studying) I probably average 4 or 5 sngs a day. So my real question is how could I be able to benefit from playing these? I turn 21 in march and my sister wants to take me to Vegas. So I have a few months of saving and playing to do. Keep it mind I'm in school for chemical engineering so I'm not just some idiot kid looking to get rich. I love playing cards and I would like to make it somewhat profitable. I have an easy spring semester so I was hoping to try and play a little more in addition to school and work. Thanks for taking the time to read this! Any insight is more than welcomed
 
yeezus

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Well the only insight i can give you is to play more.I mean you are obviously doing well with sng just have to play more the same way you ar eplaying now to maximize profits. I understand you have no time for playing hardly I am going to school for Biomedical engineering. So goodluck to you
 
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floweryhead

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If I was you I'd decide on a particular game type and structure and study everything I possibly could about it. Online strategies, Forums, books videos... anything. I started out playing Limit cash games and read everything I could about them and then started putting it all together and then reviewing thoroughly in HEM2. To be honest though, the amount of time and effort required to be a consistent winner at poker, if you applied that to your studies and your job that'd be more profitable and less risky. I, personally, spend way too much time improving my game. If I did everything I'd need to for all games (Stud, Stud8, NLHE, LHE (Cash tourney & SNG varieties, not to mention shorthanded and HU)) I just simply wouldn't have a life
 
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kiggans_412

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Don't get me wrong I've read a handful of books and have done a fair amount of research so far. I'm really surprised in my ability to, I guess, adapt my playing style on the fly. Like I said before I'm only 20 so my live games are rare for a few more months. I guess what I'm looking for is what type of prep or practice in my range is most comparable to a real casino.
 
Four Dogs

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Chemical Engineering? Very cool. My advice is not go down the rabbit hole. Focus on the school work. The world needs more smart kids like you figuring out how to make shit than how to squeeze a few more shekels out of broken down old farts like me.
 
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kiggans_412

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Oh trust me school is my main thing but I love playing cards so the way I see it is I'm gonna play either way. Might as well try to make a little money instead of losing it.
 
psychotie

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If u really want to try to advance u need to practice as much as possible.
Take poker as a task .
U could plan pokertime in ur weekly agenda , like a sport training, and after playing time u try to analize ur gameplay and adjust if nesessary .
gl on and off the felts
 
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kiggans_412

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So basically treat the game like a class? Study strategies, put them into play, pick apart the outcomes. Find strong my points. Then find weak areas and practice those so they become stronger?
 
Sil3ntness

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So basically treat the game like a class? Study strategies, put them into play, pick apart the outcomes. Find strong my points. Then find weak areas and practice those so they become stronger?

Yeah. Try to learn at least one new thing a day and build upon that. Always can improve your game and reduce the leaks.

For me it's frustrating when I go card dead, but I just need to stay patient and wait until I'm in position with workable hands.
 
Rain92

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Yea study stuff and practice. Just playing wont make you any better as you wont realise your mistakes while the other way round also is not beneficial.
 
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kiggans_412

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Gotcha. Now how does this approach sound. So I'm playing usually double up sng on break from studying I usually play the same levels. If I were to like go in and practice different strategies like say for this one I would focus on say more post flop plays, or try bluffing more. Not exactly that but hopefully you guys get what I'm trying to say. Like learning a new skill then focusing on using that. Then combining that with another one to build a basket of tricks.
 
Sil3ntness

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For double up SNGs it's basically survival mode. Hopefully you're not one of the short stacks towards the end. If you are, get ready to play the shove or fold game depending on how many BBs you have left. Last thing you want is to get eaten alive by the antes/blinds. If you get really low on big blinds and wait too long for premium hands the big stacks will call your premium hands with crap cards because they are getting good pot odds if they are in good position. That will put you in a bad spot to get your pocket aces/kings/queens & etc. cracked in the final phase of the double or nothing.
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I like DONs (double or nothing) though, the fun part is when 6 people are left. The shortest stacks are fighting for the final 5th spot; or even all 6 are fighting to stay live.
 
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kiggans_412

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I have a love hate type thing. The ones I've been playing are 6ppl so top 3. I generally have no problem getting ahead or close but the last few I've played I've folded a ton an basically doubled up then when it's like 4 left everyone just pushes preflop and picks the blinds up. I've gotten a set of T and A both cracked by some jagoff who pushed with garbage and caught straights or flushes
 
WallA

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I don't think I've seen anyone mention anything about bankroll management, you've probably done your research on it already obviously, but discipline is all I can say haha. What school do you attend? I go to Santa Barbara City college right now, transferring over to UCSB in 2017.
 
WallA

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I have a love hate type thing. The ones I've been playing are 6ppl so top 3. I generally have no problem getting ahead or close but the last few I've played I've folded a ton an basically doubled up then when it's like 4 left everyone just pushes preflop and picks the blinds up. I've gotten a set of T and A both cracked by some jagoff who pushed with garbage and caught straights or flushes

Sorry for the double post haha, but I have the same problem I always double up and try and sit back and only play the strongest hands but right before the bubble, everyone just goes around and picks up the blinds preflop shoves and I'm eventually forced to call when I get that hand and it gets busted by garbage.
 
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kiggans_412

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It's the most annoying thing ever lol. But I'm pretty decent with management, especially since I only play online right now. If I go broke I'll only deposit what I can afford, when I can afford it.
 
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floweryhead

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I don't think I've seen anyone mention anything about bankroll management, you've probably done your research on it already obviously, but discipline is all I can say haha. What school do you attend? I go to Santa Barbara City college right now, transferring over to UCSB in 2017.


BRM (Bankroll Management) is very important, however, also consider your comfort zone. For example, if you entered the Hotter $2.20 on pokerstars you could win over $1K for first place, but just because you now have a much larger bankroll doesn't mean you'll be any good at the level your bankroll now permits, so take your comfort zone into consideration and play at a level for a long while until you have a positive win rate and a large enough sample to be able to incorporate variance.
 
WallA

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BRM (Bankroll Management) is very important, however, also consider your comfort zone. For example, if you entered the Hotter $2.20 on Pokerstars you could win over $1K for first place, but just because you now have a much larger bankroll doesn't mean you'll be any good at the level your bankroll now permits, so take your comfort zone into consideration and play at a level for a long while until you have a positive win rate and a large enough sample to be able to incorporate variance.

I wish I could win the hotter on Pokerstars for $2.20 and take home 1k for first lol, but I can't even play there...
 
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floweryhead

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I wish I could win the hotter on Pokerstars for $2.20 and take home 1k for first lol, but I can't even play there...


Hopefully the U.S. will come round at some point. I miss the volume before you all disappeared.
 
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badalhoco345

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First of all and the most important do not put the poker first then the studies. Try to complement both. Play the more tournaments you can allways with the same style of game, adequate him to the style of your opponents. Very important: define your tournaments and ´define your hands to play. Try to play more in weekends and good luck in the tables and specially in the studies.
 
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ablack_la

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Start Playing cash games

I've always been a lurker on here, just reading posts, but I wanna comment.
Start playing cash games. SNG's are fine for starters, but you need to be able to play well on all streets. Cash games are the real deal, real poker. You'll have to learn to manage tricky hands like top pair, overpairs, weak two pairs. These hands get cracked alot so when you play cash you have to get good at knowing when to value bet them and when to fold them. You'll learn to manipulate the size of the pot, not let the pot get too big when you don't want it too, yet still give draws improper odds and extract value from worse hands. I used to play SNG's, since I switched to cash years ago I can't stand them. When it gets to jam-or-fold time in SNG's it's just bingo.

Another big plus to cash, you can sit down when you want/quit whenever you want. This was a big one for me as often I didn't have time sometimes to play the tourney all the way through.

So you can continue playing SNG's, but start to play cash games too. Great cash game players can adjust to tournament play well, but alot of great tourney players struggle in cash games. Negreanu is the best example. Hellmuth is another one.

Come learn the joy of the calling station/loose passive players in the cash games! :marchmell
 
Sil3ntness

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I've always been a lurker on here, just reading posts, but I wanna comment.
Start playing cash games. SNG's are fine for starters, but you need to be able to play well on all streets. Cash games are the real deal, real poker. You'll have to learn to manage tricky hands like top pair, overpairs, weak two pairs. These hands get cracked alot so when you play cash you have to get good at knowing when to value bet them and when to fold them. You'll learn to manipulate the size of the pot, not let the pot get too big when you don't want it too, yet still give draws improper odds and extract value from worse hands. I used to play SNG's, since I switched to cash years ago I can't stand them. When it gets to jam-or-fold time in SNG's it's just bingo.

Another big plus to cash, you can sit down when you want/quit whenever you want. This was a big one for me as often I didn't have time sometimes to play the tourney all the way through.

So you can continue playing SNG's, but start to play cash games too. Great cash game players can adjust to tournament play well, but alot of great tourney players struggle in cash games. Negreanu is the best example. Hellmuth is another one.

Come learn the joy of the calling station/loose passive players in the cash games! :marchmell

I'm actually the opposite. I was originally a cash game player, but got bored of it. Don't get me wrong, I can tango & dance with the "sharks" at the cash game tables, but I just prefer the blind/ante version of NLHE.
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Yeah there's a lot of shovefest going on in STT, MTT & SnGs, but the beauty of that is when you actually make it to the flop heads up against someone that only knows how to shove/fold. It's like going up against a fish out of water haha.

You need thick skin & a lot of heart to play with turbo tournaments & definitely hyper turbos. You will get runner runner'ed, flushed on the river, beat by any two cards, river rat chasers, but making it to the final table is a sweet feeling.
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I guess in cash games you can get a similar feeling when your stack is 2-3x your original buyout and everyone is at 100 BB :D

I just prefer tournaments over cash games. I believe I'm better in cash games and could make money doing it, but I play for fun. If I need money, I'd get a 2nd job to go with my current full time job!
 
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ablack_la

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If us unlucky americans had a REAL online poker site, There are deep stack cash games with antes. 100bb max buyin is def not the best format for NL cash.
Bring back pokerstars!
 
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Sil3ntness

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If us unlucky americans had a REAL online poker site, There are deep stack cash games with antes. 100bb max buyin is def not the best format for NL cash.
Bring back pokerstars!

Yeah playing on Pokerstars would be nice. Playing globally would be a lot more fun than playing the same US guys/gals over and over :(
 
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