Trust me, you want me at your table

I'm really having trouble.

Thousands of hands with fake money, hours and hours of poker on TV watching and learning, some books some DVD's.

Going to real money on FTP, I consistently lose. Been playing real money for about two months.

I suck. I can't get my head around a consistent strategy, and I'm constantly getting beat.

I'm very unhappy.

What's my next move?

I'm really having trouble.

Thousands of hands with fake money, hours and hours of poker on TV watching and learning, some books some DVD's.

Going to real money on full tilt poker, I consistently lose. Been playing real money for about two months.

I suck. I can't get my head around a consistent strategy, and I'm constantly getting beat.

I'm very unhappy.

What's my next move?

sorry about the double tap

What limits are u playing and how big is your BR are u using good BRM?

sindri_93 said:

What limits are u playing and how big is your BR are u using good BRM?

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I play .25/50 NL.

Wrong game for a rookie?

What would be good BR management? You got me there ....... really don't know what that is.

I typically enter games with $50 and only rarely leave with more. In the two months I have played, I would guess I'm out about $1K (play just about every night).

Well i thing your problem is bad bankroll management its just as important as your poker skils,because u have to plan for the downswings/bad beats by using BRM.

Read thease articles and u should start understanding BRM
Online Poker at Full Tilt Poker - All Promotions: Chris Ferguson Challenge
https://www.cardschat.com/f49/bankroll-management-71029/

sindri_93 said:

Well i thing your problem is bad bankroll management its just as important as your poker skils,because u have to plan for the downswings/bad beats by using BRM.

Read thease articles and u should start understanding BRM
Online Poker at Full Tilt Poker - All Promotions: Chris Ferguson Challenge
https://www.cardschat.com/f49/bankroll-management-71029/

Click to expand...

Thanks sindri, I'll read up.

Hey Noob ... yeah I would highly recommend moving the .05/.10 game or the .10/.25 for starters. I play on FullTilt regularly as well ... you will see a nice solid game at .10/.25 and you can gain a lot of knowledge of how this particular room tends to play.

Also, I have heard that the pokerstars room is much more fishy, so perhaps you might be better off there.

Third- I highly recommend the Harrington cash game books. Read them, study them. They will infuse you with knowledge.

Finally - read these forums. My play has dramatically improved. Watch the videos posted in the videos section, some top power CC users here post some fantastic stuff.

Good luck~!

icemonkey9 said:

Hey Noob ... yeah I would highly recommend moving the .05/.10 game or the .10/.25 for starters. I play on FullTilt regularly as well ... you will see a nice solid game at .10/.25 and you can gain a lot of knowledge of how this particular room tends to play.

Also, I have heard that the PokerStars room is much more fishy, so perhaps you might be better off there.

Third- I highly recommend the Harrington cash game books. Read them, study them. They will infuse you with knowledge.

Finally - read these forums. My play has dramatically improved. Watch the videos posted in the videos section, some top power CC users here post some fantastic stuff.

Good luck~!

Click to expand...

Thanks Ice.

You know, going to the lower level is probably a good idea. Even at the .25/50 table, I get into hands that get the 'pucker factor' going and it puts me off.

And reading up is what I will do. I have already found a number of interesting threads that are helping me to sort out my thoughts.

Thanks again.

(I have no Harrington books yet, but I'll check 'em out)

Your next move is to observe the play at Full Tilt's cash tables. Observe how the game's played at your current level(bottom right?). Then figure out a way to win.

I'd say the best thing about Full Tilt is how easy it is to find the pros. I mean, you can just spot them in red and watch them play for hours. You watch them win, watch them lose, and figure out how they do either. I'm just saying, you can learn a whole lot just from watching.

Poker on TV is hyper-edited. You're not seeing whole games or tournaments, just highlights. It's not like watching basketball or baseball where you see the whole game plus slow motion replays with everything explained. You get to see some hands and if you're lucky the commentator's smart and you learn from him or her(usually him).

But all in all I'd say just observe. Observe for awhile before you dive in, then observe once you do. Play the table you're at(or find one that suits your style, but good luck). Since it's all pretty situational there's no silver-bullet to make you win. Of course you can change the dynamic at your table, but that's tricky and can bite you on the bottom.

But another possibility is that you're trying too hard to play by the books. I read an article from Phil Ivey that pretty much said you should read as many books as you can then forget them at the table. I believe he means you should learn as much as you can from books but be yourself when you play. It makes sense in my head. I just can't articulate it clearly.

BTW I'm not really sure what good a consistent strategy would do. If I play the same no matter what I lose big time. I only win when I play to suit the table I'm at. Not the same way the table plays, but to take advantage of the way the table plays. Even then, it can be tough to get a read and just one new player can shift things around in a negative way.

what poker programs have you been watching on tv...? Poker Superstars International on FSN is a horrible example of how to play (cash or SnG...) due to the point system... PAD is fairly legit in terms of how play builds, but if you really want to learn anything from television poker i'd say watch the aussie millions cash games. Some that i've seen have included pros such as Ivey, Antonius, Hansen Elezra, and even Durrrr... since they're playing with their own real money, you'll see some of the most well thought poker on television. Not many cash games on tv... this is very interesting..

what games have you been playing and for what level of money. Are playing no limit ring games? Stay away from these. You need to play something soft. With micro limits. Some sit and gos. Some Multi Table Tournaments. Full Tilt has one for $1.25 with 90 seats and they give you a double stack of $3000 plus the money starts at the top 20% (18). Play 20 or 30 of these. Play some free rolls. Get used to seeing a lot of cards. A lot of different type of players. bodog has a 10 SNG for 2.20 called a beginners event where 5 people come in the money. I have yet to come in under 3rd.
poker stars has micro tourneys for 10, 25, 50, cents. THey also have a sit and go for 10 cents for 360.
THis is the way I started. I started coming in the money in some freerolls at the same time reading and asking players better then me what to do.
Never give up. Dont blame donkeys. We all suck out. Its part of the game. Observe like the other posters have said. Experiment. THe worse you can do is lose.
Get Hand Histories of your game and look at where your weaknesses are. Eventually it all comes together. Nothing comes easy.

TheNoob said:

I play .25/50 NL.
In the two months I have played, I would guess I'm out about $1K (play just about every night).

Click to expand...

Ouch. I'd advise that you play MAX NL10 and probably NL2 wouldn't hurt if you have only played a few months. Even ~3$ SnGs might be a good idea to try and get into the groove. I would personally advise that you deposit 100$ or so at a poker site and do your best to play with good roll management (ie. <NL5 or 3-5$ SnGs) and try to work on building a roll without going broke. As you increase your roll, you can increase your limits. Not trying to endorse anything, but maybe take a break from full tilt and try another site like Stars or anything else that takes your fancy. Often it is hard to rid yourself of negative connotations associated with a particular site and this could be hurting your play as well. Confidence is very important in poker, and if you don't feel that you can win at full tilt it will make it very hard to do so. The reason i suggest Stars is that the lower stake SnGs are very fishy and easy to make money on/learn how to play. Maybe try sites like pacific poker, bodog, or iPoker network, which have some awful players (ofc it depends where you live).

I don't think there is any need to try and read up on alot of books. It obviously doesn't hurt at all, but being a winning player at lower stakes isn't very difficult if you understand the basics. And you can easily get a grips on the basics of poker from forums/internet articles + play experience. You really should probably post some HHs from some sessions you play and im sure somebody would take a look. Not easy trying to figure out where your leaks are without some hand examples. But plz move down in stakes because you really do not want to be one of those poker players who lose thousands of $$s (ofc everybody loves those ppl but there are plenty and you don't have to be one of them).

And btw do not try to learn anything from poker on TV coz that is just going to confuse the hell out of you. They show exciting and out of the ordinary hands on TV, and the players often play loose/huge raising range, because they are so familiar with each other's play and so mixing it up is required. This is not how these players would be playing if they were playing NL50 online.In a big tournament you are only seeing a very small % of the hands that are actually played. Most hands are alot more straightfoward and standard than the "exciting bluffs" etc that you might see.

I've been playing about a year. I started with NLHE but after a while started exploring other games. Turns out that my "natural" tendencies fit much better with other games - Omaha hi/lo for example. So you may want to explore a bit, see if there's something else that will fit.

I'd suggest starting out at 10nl until you get the basics down cold and start gradually increasing your bankroll by working your way up the limits. There is an excellent article in the golden archives section on how to beat these limits, I would read that. Also take a look at the bankroll management article, it is more important than most people think. Post hands in the forum that you're unsure of, the only dumb questions are the ones left unasked.

ChuckTs' 10k strategy guide covers how you should play very well. It's a condensed version of what you'll get from reading a book.

A lot of new people get in trouble with bluffing. At the $.10/$.25 and lower levels, you can make a profit without ever bluffing. Just let them call you down when you have a good hand. Obviously, letting them call you down when you have a bad hand is a bad idea. The only time I bluff is when I specifically see things that make me know that my opponent can lay down a hand. Never assume that someone is smart enough to fold when all signs show that they are beat.

Read lots (especially here at cardschat) and definately drop down to the lower limits, dont think of it as a step backwards but of a way of helping your game.

We all need to regroup at times and take a breath.

Often with tv poker is only show the action hands and leave out the hours of small pots that are won or blind steals from the button, simply because it doesnt make for good tv.
Whilst at the same time it is these same pots that can often be the building blocks to the big hands.
That is why there are just as important and need to be learnt as well.

Good luck and enjoy the game