Tilting when in profit (NL2 zoom)

[Schmerol]

Hey guys and gals

I'm still a noob pokerplayer and unfortunately still not profitable...
but i'm really eager learing play poker profitable as a hobby. i don't want to be just a gambler.

first of all i'm playing NL2 6-max zoom tables (max. 2), so i see a lot of hands in short time. The hands i play are mostely AA-JJ, combinations from A to J and A-Xs, but then and now hands like J9s as well.
recently i learned a lot through playing/watching/reading.

now i'm realizing a bad habit/pattern i have:

in the beginning i play pretty stable. doubling my buy-in is often the case. so i think my game is OK for now. i mean, its not great at all, but the fact that i make money at the beginning steadily is a good sign it is the mindset, which is slaying me.

somehow i have the feeling i'm playing to loose or holding to long to my pockets/draws (whatever) when i'm in the profit. its really frustrating. 1 or 2 bad moves and i'm really out the flow.

do you guys have some advice? good tips?
how can i be more aware, recognize myself tilting early?

i'm looking forward to your replies!

 

[Unashamed88]

Self awareness is an extremely important thing in everything in life not just Poker. So kudos to that you are trying to have some self awareness and identify weakness. Sounds like your falling victim to what a lot of new players do. You'll play a nice TAG ABC strategy and when it starts to work and make you money you start "feeling lucky" and start holding on to hands and draws in unprofitable scenarios. I recommend reading as much as you can about pot odds/implied odds/EV. It will also help you a lot to get yourself a free trial with a HUD and graph. It will help dissect your game and give you some ideas of where your "weaknesses" are.

 

[Schmerol]

Self awareness is an extremely important thing in everything in life not just Poker. So kudos to that you are trying to have some self awareness and identify weakness. Sounds like your falling victim to what a lot of new players do. You'll play a nice TAG ABC strategy and when it starts to work and make you money you start "feeling lucky" and start holding on to hands and draws in unprofitable scenarios. I recommend reading as much as you can about pot odds/implied odds/EV. It will also help you a lot to get yourself a free trial with a HUD and graph. It will help dissect your game and give you some ideas of where your "weaknesses" are.

thanks for the reply!

i actually try to get a little bit looser than TAG ABC. and it works fine as long as i'm not big in the money! but you're totally right - as soon as i've made decent profit, i'm feeling too save. or maybe i'm not that cautious anymore at some point.

i had a HUD trial (jivaro, just for the main stats as beginner). maybe i buy it, just 5 bucks a month.

pot odds are not that easy for me atm. trying to implement them in the game. it's still very hard to compare my hand equity to the pot size... i hope i'll get better soon

thanks again!

 

[MemphisGrind]

Hey guys and gals

I'm still a noob pokerplayer and unfortunately still not profitable...
but i'm really eager learing play poker profitable as a hobby. i don't want to be just a gambler.

first of all i'm playing NL2 6-max zoom tables (max. 2), so i see a lot of hands in short time. The hands i play are mostely AA-JJ, combinations from A to J and A-Xs, but then and now hands like J9s as well.
recently i learned a lot through playing/watching/reading.

now i'm realizing a bad habit/pattern i have:

in the beginning i play pretty stable. doubling my buy-in is often the case. so i think my game is OK for now. i mean, its not great at all, but the fact that i make money at the beginning steadily is a good sign it is the mindset, which is slaying me.

somehow i have the feeling i'm playing to loose or holding to long to my pockets/draws (whatever) when i'm in the profit. its really frustrating. 1 or 2 bad moves and i'm really out the flow.

do you guys have some advice? good tips?
how can i be more aware, recognize myself tilting early?

i'm looking forward to your replies!

Hey there,

A lot of players have this problem. They feel like, just because they are up a little they can "gamble" or widen their range a little, when in reality why would you venture out away from the strategy that gained you the profits to begin with.

Having a stack is a good thing all around, players play differently against you, which allows you to be more in control of the table. This is multifaceted though, because if you feel like you have ultimate control and don't know how to properly play having this control it will lead to a quick loss of your profits.

Your draw has the same outs when you're down or just bought in as it does when you're up. If you are not getting the right price to make a call then you have to make the fold. Same with PP's if your range is behind to villains range and you're still calling to "see their hand" or set mine for a terrible price then this is a leak that needs to get plugged ASAP because you're punting profit chasing winnings that if you just played your game will come to you anyways.

All in all I applaud you for being able to recognize your problem, and make steps towards fixing it. Most players would chalk up the punting of their chips after doubling up to variance, or bad luck when it's completely in their control.

Best of luck to you moving forwards and I look forwards to more posts.

 

[Nathan Smith]

Hey guys and gals

I'm still a noob pokerplayer and unfortunately still not profitable...
but i'm really eager learing play poker profitable as a hobby. i don't want to be just a gambler.

first of all i'm playing NL2 6-max zoom tables (max. 2), so i see a lot of hands in short time. The hands i play are mostely AA-JJ, combinations from A to J and A-Xs, but then and now hands like J9s as well.
recently i learned a lot through playing/watching/reading.

now i'm realizing a bad habit/pattern i have:

in the beginning i play pretty stable. doubling my buy-in is often the case. so i think my game is OK for now. i mean, its not great at all, but the fact that i make money at the beginning steadily is a good sign it is the mindset, which is slaying me.

somehow i have the feeling i'm playing to loose or holding to long to my pockets/draws (whatever) when i'm in the profit. its really frustrating. 1 or 2 bad moves and i'm really out the flow.

do you guys have some advice? good tips?
how can i be more aware, recognize myself tilting early?

i'm looking forward to your replies!

You kind of answered your own question. You know what the problem is - you play looser once you double your stack. So next time you double your stack tell your-self to play your same ranges. easy. BTW - if you want to become a winning player you also need to know how to play your wider range in position - this comes from experience. But you can't just play JJ-AA and be a profitable player.

 

[Schmerol]

You kind of answered your own question. You know what the problem is - you play looser once you double your stack. So next time you double your stack tell your-self to play your same ranges. easy. BTW - if you want to become a winning player you also need to know how to play your wider range in position - this comes from experience. But you can't just play JJ-AA and be a profitable player.

hey nathan, thanks for the input.

No, i don't play looser (range-wise) when i double my stack. i play looser than TAG ABC anyway. i'm trying to learn play more than JJ-AA but step by step. in late positions i often try a a wider range. But somehow when i'm in profit, i hold too long to my hands or am not that focused anymore!