Well Im in it about almost 3 weeks now. I started with $50, busted out, put in another $50, got down to about $35, the losses stopped and I am now sitting at $65 since I made several gains over the next few days at the lowest table in cash games at micro-stakes.
I had my first bad beat today, cost me the majority of a buy in, but at the other table I was playing I was doing pretty good so that helped soften the loss.
The bad beat turned an otherwise profitable session into a disaster in only 2
hands. I got delt AA, bet up the pot, long story short the guy who was going against me went all in on the turn, I matched and he got a full house on the river, otherwise it would of been my hand because I would of had 2 pair with Aces as my highest pair.
Then I got delt QQ, I bet up the pot, the guy goes all in again, same guy as last hand, I match him and he gets a straight with 7 8 starting cards.
So that was my first bad beat, I've since taken about a 2 hour break, just to not let my emotions get ahead of my gameplay or do something stupid like keep playing to "win my money back" (Thats evidence of a
gambling addict). While the 1st hand was just kind of bad luck, the 2nd hand was avoidable since there was an A on the river that ideally I would of folded to, plus the other cards did make a straight a possibility, and a pair of queens is nothing to go all in on, except maybe pre-flop. I must of had been on the "tilt" that everyone talks about since I was a little steamed that my AA had lost a major hand last hand. Pretty much though, I don't go on "tilt" because I take anti-depressants as part of the prescription medication I get so I don't fly off the wall with rage or anything even if I lose a major hand. Also playing for small amounts of money at the micro-stakes tables also might have something to do with it.
I may be a beginner but if I had to estimate, I have probably played about 250,000 hands of poker, possibly more, before I got into playing for money. Thats a rough estimate, basically I've been playing poker not for real money for years, so I think I am taking to poker for money much faster than someone who hasn't played much poker at all, so I generally beat these microstakes players with ease, even though I busted out the first $50 pretty fast, since beforehand I had been used to playing incredibly bad poker players even by micro-stakes standards.
I have had several major breakthroughs as a new player to poker for money. folding Ace-rag was a major breakthrough, as well as folding unsuited connectors. I'm also getting into exploiting superior position more at the table to steal the blinds and Phil Gordon's book is helping me get some other basics down. My mentor at the game is helping me with the Poker Jargon and acronyms that I do not understand. The bank roll, by and large and over the long term, is increasing even without 20 buy ins.
I've also read about the first 45 pages of the Little Green Book (which is ironically red) and I got two members from this website helping me with the learning curve.
I would like to find a good reference chart, like what are the chances of flopping a set if you have a pocket pair, if you dont have a pocket pair, how often do you flop 2 pair, and how to bet accordingly to
odds. Some of them I have a rough understanding of how to think about
pot odds and stuff. For example, if $.75 is in the pot, I have a 4 card outside str8 on the flop or turn, and someone puts in $.10 I believe that gives me about a 1 in 8 chance of getting the card I need to complete my straight so the odds are good.
I forget where, but I thought I read that you keep track of how many "outs" you have to make your hand stronger, multiply them by two and add 1 and you will have a rough percentage of possibility of making your hand with the next card on the turn or river. Could someone clarify to me how to figure out your odds of making your hand, and how to bet accordingly? Phil Gordon kind of outlines it in his book and it has been helpful thus far.
