i quit...for now.
 

i can't take it. i'm done. down hundreds in days. haven't caught a decent f'in hand in days, haven't had so much as high pair, i've only been able to beat the worst fish on the planet. Full Tilt seems to be filled with good players...has anyone else had that experiece there?

Re: i quit...for now.
 

move down and to another site?

Re: i quit...for now.
 

[ QUOTE ]
down hundreds in days. haven't caught a decent f'in hand in days, haven't had so much as high pair

[/ QUOTE ]

You know I have been down several hundred dollars for a while and I seriously considered quitting. However, these past few months I have learned so much that I am now really optimistic about my game in spite of my aweful results. I may not even be a break even player yet, but I can see that with enough study and practice I can become a winning player. If you are serious about playing poker, I highly recommend finding a poker coach to accelerate the learning process as much as possible. Maybe take a break from playing and just read hands here online and read books. Learning should be priority #1.

Re: i quit...for now.
 

Are you being honest about your play? Or is it really just a bad run of cards? Or, could it be a combination of the two? Most popular hold'em texts, including SSHE, recommend that you divorce your results from your actions. Are you doing this? If money is becoming a factor in your decision-making, you may want to play micros while you improve your play. You can become a better player in a pretty low stress situation.

Re: i quit...for now.
 

yeah, i think that these are all good recommendations. I think that i have a pride problem with moving to the micros but I don't really want to quit. I would consider highering a coach but I would not know who to contact and what sort of credibility they have. I am definitely results oriented and the bad run of cards has injured my game significantly. I am reading SSHE which is great and helping me to understand elements of the game that I did not really coinsider as much before so I hope that I can genuinely improve with the right education. I think that moving down and backing off will be good suggestions.

Re: i quit...for now.
 

If you find a good coach let me know [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Re: i quit...for now.
 

If losing hundreds in days bother you, then you're probably playing too high.

That said, I would say Full Tilt is bit tougher than most sites. You should definitely be at the fishponds over at Party or Paradise.

Taking a break is probably a good idea. Read and study, but don't play. Then take a week and don't read, study, or play. Return fresh and play 10,000 hands or so and review your play. Make your return at the micro's and then step up from there.

Re: i quit...for now.
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
down hundreds in days. haven't caught a decent f'in hand in days, haven't had so much as high pair

[/ QUOTE ]

You know I have been down several hundred dollars for a while and I seriously considered quitting. However, these past few months I have learned so much that I am now really optimistic about my game in spite of my aweful results. I may not even be a break even player yet, but I can see that with enough study and practice I can become a winning player. If you are serious about playing poker, I highly recommend finding a poker coach to accelerate the learning process as much as possible. Maybe take a break from playing and just read hands here online and read books. Learning should be priority #1.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think this is really good advice. If you like poker, you have to look beyond what's happening now and realize that if you continue to read, learn and apply it, "there'll be other days" down the line, when you'll know more and play better. It's a process. Everybody, even the best guys who play for huge money, are constantly learning new things about poker and their own game.

It can be depressing, especially when just starting out, to go through periods of time where you are "card dead," and it is tempting to think it's only you to whom that happens. But the game is random, and it happens to us all. A thing to do when it happens is to use that time well, watching other players and noting what they are doing. Pick the guy you think is the best on that table and watch everything he does, noting what he plays, raises, calls with, etc, and make some notes. It is a good habit, and will help you develop the ability to read hands and players.

I have seen other posts of yours, and you seem like a bright guy. If you hang in there, you should be OK. And don't be silly about not dropping down to a level where you can manage without strain. If you aren't winning, you want to play at the lowest level and gradually work your way up. You have to respect your own play and your own money. Regard it as "tuition" for now, because the making money is going to come later whn you are more experienced and better.
For now, hang in and work on your game. Read and re-read SSHE, TOP and HEFAP. I can't begin to guess how many times I have read and referred to each of those books!

Just my $.02 worth...

bc [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Re: i quit...for now.
 

Don't quite just because you're down a couple hundred. You need a better reason than that. (Assuming your bankroll is still above 250BB for your limit)

I've been playing at Full Tilt the last month or so. The players there are generally tougher than at most sites. I see way more turn raises and check/raises and much less just calling down and donk bets than any other site. An average table would have just 2 guys who are 30%+ VPIP and there are very few maniacs. Table position is critical there because you need to get on the left of the bad players. Also, it's hard to switch tables to a better one because they only have 3-5 2/4 tables going at any one time. If the waiting list is short, I leave the table and try to get back on in better relative position to the weak players.

If you can turn a small profit playing you're doing ok at FT. Throw in bonus and the unmentionable and you'll be making just as much as you would at Party without either of those.

My suggestion would be to take a short break to relieve the stress of the downswing and play at one of the weaker sites like the Action Poker Network or iPoker Network for a while.

Re: i quit...for now.
 

God's speed.

Re: i quit...for now.
 

[ QUOTE ]
Full Tilt seems to be filled with good players...has anyone else had that experiece there?

[/ QUOTE ]

When you play on Full Tilt, you're actually only playing with Ivey, Ferguson, Matusow, Seidel, Lederer, and others playing under assumed screennames and avatars. This is why the games there are so tough.

-J

Re: i quit...for now.
 

Hey brew,

Well, if it makes you feel any better, I just got back from a session from hell at the casino. I dropped 50 big bets in just over 2 hours. I only pulled in 3 pots total the entire time I was there, and one of them was a chop.

It was rather demoralizing, and a depressing early drive home!

But driving home I spent the time analyzing my play. There's really only one hand that I got out of line on and spewed some money. All the other hands I feel I played well and just ran into a horrible string of bad luck. Somedays it happens.

As long as you analyze your play, and feel that you are playing well, the results will come in the long run. If you just start looking at results all the time, short term variance can really get you down.

So I guess what I am trying to say is, don't worry too much about it. The swings happen. Focus on playing well, and the money will come.

Poker is a game of decisions, not results. Strive to always make the right decisions, and the results take care of themselves in the long run.

Re: i quit...for now.
 

play 6-max... its not rocket science.

Re: i quit...for now.
 

Thanks a million for the positive response . I really don't want to quit and I do feel that I need to reassess my game. I am finishing up SSHE for only 1st time and there are so many concepts in there that I am just beginning to implement into my playing. I read TOP and HEFAP but I am certain that I need to reread them. I think that my first reread will be SSHE and really get into more depth regarding my post flop play. I have to accept that I have some rather serious holes in my game and I think that I am just beginning to understand whre they are, but to apply the techniques consistently under game conditions can be difficult at times. I am going to move to the micros to see if I can really clean up some of the mess and make some stronger moves progressively.

Is there a section in SSHE that you found to be particularly insightful? A concept that you felt really opened your eyes? I would love to discuss the book.

thanks again,
Brew

Re: i quit...for now.
 

Hey, brew!

Glad to hear you are in for the long haul! [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

There is no one part in any of the books that is extra special, those three books are dense with info. They are full of good stuff. It kind of depends on where you are in your game and what your own problems have been. In SSHE I found that the parts on protecting your hand resonated with my problems. The entire section on flop and turn were very good. There really isn't any filler in there.

I'd make sure, if I were you, to have a solid concept of what hands you want to play in each position (EP, MP, and LP) and how you plan to bet, call or fold, and why, in each case. The section on counting outs is good too. Hell, they all are!

I keep those three books by my chair in my house, and kind of re-read them in rotation. Plus I always take a pen and a couple 3X5 cards in my pocket when I play (live only, for me) and if I run across a problem or a question, I jot it on a card and look up stuff on it later.

I think you will find this forum and also (perhaps especially, now in your development) the micro forum very helpful. Don't uderestimate or in any way low-rate micro. There are some very good players on that forum, who take their game very seriously and who are in a position to be very helpful to you. Share your thoughts here. maybe post afew hands. Count on getting good solid help.

I sure wish you the best and will help you any way I can

bc

Re: i quit...for now.
 

Thanks Bill,
I progressively read SSHE as I play and review my outs cards as I go along. I don't have all of the basic outs and break even odds memorized yet so I have them laid out infront of my monitor.

I just read the hand quizzes and located a mistake which I should not have made. I think that a considerable amount of the errors I make are psychological and I really tend to over play hands. I like the first question in the self quizzes on the flop which opens with A7s. That is probably a prime example of a mistake which I would commonly make, as a matter of fact I think that I just made that mistake. Yuck!

How long have you played for and made a really concentrated study of the game?

Re: i quit...for now.
 

Brew,

I have been playing LLHE and attending this forum for about 4 yrs. There are plenty of good posters on the SS forum, and you want to pay attention to what they say. I would point particularly to the moderator, "W.Deranged" (when he's around!) and Haupt_234, but there are many others too, and you will soon understand who offers the good advice and can follow their posts.

Play at lower limits for a while; something like Party 1-2, or even lower, as you read and add to your knowledge. When you are steadily showing a profit at a level, you can think about moving up a notch. You had mentioned some losses in your earlier post. Maybe it would be good to recoup those before you move up.

And I would again gently tug your coat in the direction of the Micro forum. Each of the 4 levels of HE forums has it's own ecosystem, and the players at those levels have unique problems to their level. For example, while I occasionally browse the High forum, it's mostly for entertainment, because those guys play a much different way than prevails in the games I play.

At the micro level you are going to find plenty of other bright players who have problems similar to yours, and you are more likely to receive an explanation, than a terse "bet the flop."

Finally, there will be those days where nothing goes right. I had to smile reading SixForty's post about his bad day, because I had the same kind of day myself on Saturday. Six is a good player and a good poster, and you can learn a lot from how he responded to a bad day. And always remember, "The sun don't shine on the same dog's a$$ every day!"

Good luck, brew!
bc [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

Re: i quit...for now.
 

"The sun don't shine on the same dog's a$$ every day!"
Damn!

I am going to drop down and grind my way back through the limits. I misjudged the progress which I made through some fast results and I think that I need to be more concerned with consistency at this point.

I think that I will play for change basically at first, work on my study of the various problems that present themselves, develop my sense of my opponents and work out the kinks piece by piece. I know that I can't win all the time but I don't think that the swings need to be so severe.

thanks bill,
Brew