Advice needed from all you small stakes grinders (PLEASE).
 

Hi gang,

I visit this forum on a daily basis trying to read as many posts as possible to improve my game. Reading the posts here has really helped me geat better and improve rather quickly, and I would like to thank you all for that.

Before I start I just want to let everyone one know that this is not a post crying about bad beats and variance. So I moved up from NL50 to NL100 in March of 07 and playing part time I was able to build a roll for NL200 in a short amount of time. So I continued to play NL100 because I wanted to crush it before I moved up to NL200. Well, In July I had a huge downswing and lost about 12 buyins playing. I reviewed ALL my hands and realized that about 4 of them were because of bad play but the rest were just tough situations ( -4buyins all in preflop with KK vs AA yada yada yada). The trend has continued in August and I've gotten to the point where I have lost total confidence. I've even gone as far as moving back down to NL50 and I can't win at it.

Any advice on what I should do to regain my confidence and grow my roll again?

Thanks for the help,

Val

Re: Advice needed from all you small stakes grinders (PLEASE).
 

Switch sites, I'm serious.

Re: Advice needed from all you small stakes grinders (PLEASE).
 

yeah, its all been on FTP. How do I know when its right to return?

Besides that any other advice?

Im actually doing decent on stars but no rakeback offered there.

Re: Advice needed from all you small stakes grinders (PLEASE).
 

take a 1-2 week break. play no poker, but review your game and make sure you have the fundamentals in perspective.

this really helped my game a lot (especially after running/playing bad + lack of confidence) hope this helps.

Re: Advice needed from all you small stakes grinders (PLEASE).
 

thanks for the advice.

Re: Advice needed from all you small stakes grinders (PLEASE).
 

pokerstars FPP's are basically rakeback

Re: Advice needed from all you small stakes grinders (PLEASE).
 

Really analyze your data for about a week instead of playing. Find your holes, and your opponents holes.


And tighten up for a while. You can beat SSNL by being a nit (although you might not win much).

Re: Advice needed from all you small stakes grinders (PLEASE).
 

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Switch sites, I'm serious.

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Hey Thac, why?

Re: Advice needed from all you small stakes grinders (PLEASE).
 

Tighten up and move down. Just because you have the roll for something, as you pointed out in OP, doesn't mean you have to be playing it. The way things are going at tables, 12 BI downswings are kind of common nowdays.

Move down to 25 until you win 20 BI. Move up to 50 until you make another 10 BI there. This is all for self confidence issues primarily, because I'm assuming your bankroll isn't the issue.

Re: Advice needed from all you small stakes grinders (PLEASE).
 

played a decent amount of hands? per limit/overall?

Re: Advice needed from all you small stakes grinders (PLEASE).
 

lol i just had a 30 BI downswing playing the worst poker of my life :/

FT'd 2 tables and still made >4k on the month though lol.

not just had it but last month.

I am so thankful that I have poker tracker now. I used to tilt so much often just because i didnt have the discipline to care because i knew i would always win the money back and what i made was still insane for my age.

high insight man.

Re: Advice needed from all you small stakes grinders (PLEASE).
 

coaching

Re: Advice needed from all you small stakes grinders (PLEASE).
 

What's your sn.

Re: Advice needed from all you small stakes grinders (PLEASE).
 

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pokerstars FPP's are basically rakeback

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if you're Supernova and play a bunch of hands [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

Re: Advice needed from all you small stakes grinders (PLEASE).
 

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Switch sites, I'm serious.

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Hey Thac, why?

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It's more of an emotional thing. The different software and the different players make for a completely new game. It'll generally make you forget about all of your unluckiness/bad run.

Re: Advice needed from all you small stakes grinders (PLEASE).
 

dont go to stars their little blinking on the [censored] players to act is so tilt inducing.

TG for FT.
I loved Pokerroom too...more than I can say.

Re: Advice needed from all you small stakes grinders (PLEASE).
 

lol go to everest if you can or the ongame network, 50NL there is very soft. 100NL too. I really hated stars for some reason

Re: Advice needed from all you small stakes grinders (PLEASE).
 

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played a decent amount of hands? per limit/overall?

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played over 100K hands from NL50-NL100 and ive been running at 2-4PTBB/100.

Re: Advice needed from all you small stakes grinders (PLEASE).
 

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coaching

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Started working with someone and this individual thinks that my overall game is pretty good, just need to be more creative to "crush" these limits.

Re: Advice needed from all you small stakes grinders (PLEASE).
 

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What's your sn.

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homerun5. yours?

Re: Advice needed from all you small stakes grinders (PLEASE).
 

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What's your sn.

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homerun5. yours?

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In all capital letters? I remember you.

Re: Advice needed from all you small stakes grinders (PLEASE).
 

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What's your sn.

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homerun5. yours?

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In all capital letters? I remember you.

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thats me. you?

tell me more, what did u think?

Re: Advice needed from all you small stakes grinders (PLEASE).
 

i like to take a day off then play on a site i haven't played in a while/ever. that way i have to start from scratch because i don't have reads on people and they don't have reads on me. there's no excuse to do fancy plays or accidentally overanalyze a situation. it's just ABC grinding which combined with a drop in stakes + fewer tables should be just the thing to get a nice winning session and restore your confidence. do this for as long as necessary then attack your normal games again with a better mindset.

Re: Advice needed from all you small stakes grinders (PLEASE).
 

As people have mentioned, take a little time off. Maybe use that time to read a poker book. Whenever I come back from a break I feel fresh and view it like I'm starting all over again.

Re: Advice needed from all you small stakes grinders (PLEASE).
 

[ QUOTE ]
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What's your sn.

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homerun5. yours?

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In all capital letters? I remember you.

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thats me. you?

tell me more, what did u think?

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I don't have notes on you on this computer, but on my last computer I think I had you as a somewhat bad player. I'll check PT and give you an update, I hope I have hands with you on this comp.

Re: Advice needed from all you small stakes grinders (PLEASE).
 

Okay, I only have 750 hands on you that I found, but it looks like you're calling the river too much. These hands are datamined but it just seems like they're bad calls in general.

AKassassin folds
HOMERUN5 raises to $3.50
Four2it calls $3.50
JuanEman folds
BBTrainer22 calls $3
you got me now folds
*** FLOP *** [7c Ac 8c]
BBTrainer22 has 15 seconds left to act
BBTrainer22 checks
you got me now adds $23.30
HOMERUN5 checks
Four2it checks
*** TURN *** [7c Ac 8c] [Ks]
BBTrainer22 has 15 seconds left to act
BBTrainer22 bets $10
HOMERUN5 has 15 seconds left to act
HOMERUN5 calls $10
Four2it folds
*** RIVER *** [7c Ac 8c Ks] [Td]
BBTrainer22 has 15 seconds left to act
BBTrainer22 bets $50
HOMERUN5 calls $50
*** SHOW DOWN ***
BBTrainer22 shows [5c 4c] a flush, Ace high
HOMERUN5 mucks
BBTrainer22 wins the pot ($128.50) with a flush, Ace high



takthemoney calls $1
mortqrus folds
Tacrolimus folds
jet_3 calls $0.50
HOMERUN5 has 15 seconds left to act
HOMERUN5 has requested TIME
HOMERUN5 raises to $5
takthemoney calls $4
jet_3 folds
*** FLOP *** [Qh 9d Td]
HOMERUN5 has 15 seconds left to act
HOMERUN5 checks
takthemoney bets $1
HOMERUN5 calls $1
*** TURN *** [Qh 9d Td] [9s]
HOMERUN5 checks
takthemoney bets $13
HOMERUN5 calls $13
*** RIVER *** [Qh 9d Td 9s] [7c]
HOMERUN5 checks
takthemoney bets $39
HOMERUN5 calls $39
*** SHOW DOWN ***
takthemoney shows [9h Js] three of a kind, Nines
HOMERUN5 mucks
takthemoney wins the pot ($114) with three of a kind, Nines


Those are your two biggest losses. Your preflop game looks pretty solid (16/13), but your W$WSF is only 32%. Probably just variance, but I think you revert to a calling mode when you're not sure where you're at in the hand, and it just bleeds money slowly.

Re: Advice needed from all you small stakes grinders (PLEASE).
 

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Your preflop game looks pretty nitty(16/13)

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FYP

Re: Advice needed from all you small stakes grinders (PLEASE).
 

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Okay, I only have 750 hands on you that I found, but it looks like you're calling the river too much. These hands are datamined but it just seems like they're bad calls in general.

AKassassin folds
HOMERUN5 raises to $3.50
Four2it calls $3.50
JuanEman folds
BBTrainer22 calls $3
you got me now folds
*** FLOP *** [7c Ac 8c]
BBTrainer22 has 15 seconds left to act
BBTrainer22 checks
you got me now adds $23.30
HOMERUN5 checks
Four2it checks
*** TURN *** [7c Ac 8c] [Ks]
BBTrainer22 has 15 seconds left to act
BBTrainer22 bets $10
HOMERUN5 has 15 seconds left to act
HOMERUN5 calls $10
Four2it folds
*** RIVER *** [7c Ac 8c Ks] [Td]
BBTrainer22 has 15 seconds left to act
BBTrainer22 bets $50
HOMERUN5 calls $50
*** SHOW DOWN ***
BBTrainer22 shows [5c 4c] a flush, Ace high
HOMERUN5 mucks
BBTrainer22 wins the pot ($128.50) with a flush, Ace high



takthemoney calls $1
mortqrus folds
Tacrolimus folds
jet_3 calls $0.50
HOMERUN5 has 15 seconds left to act
HOMERUN5 has requested TIME
HOMERUN5 raises to $5
takthemoney calls $4
jet_3 folds
*** FLOP *** [Qh 9d Td]
HOMERUN5 has 15 seconds left to act
HOMERUN5 checks
takthemoney bets $1
HOMERUN5 calls $1
*** TURN *** [Qh 9d Td] [9s]
HOMERUN5 checks
takthemoney bets $13
HOMERUN5 calls $13
*** RIVER *** [Qh 9d Td 9s] [7c]
HOMERUN5 checks
takthemoney bets $39
HOMERUN5 calls $39
*** SHOW DOWN ***
takthemoney shows [9h Js] three of a kind, Nines
HOMERUN5 mucks
takthemoney wins the pot ($114) with three of a kind, Nines


Those are your two biggest losses. Your preflop game looks pretty solid (16/13), but your W$WSF is only 32%. Probably just variance, but I think you revert to a calling mode when you're not sure where you're at in the hand, and it just bleeds money slowly.

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Yeah, your right about my river calls. I've noticed it is a leak that I am trying to work on. I've developed it since I started running bad. As far as my overall game if you think i am no good I'd like to get some details on that.

Unless I had FPS which happens every once in a blue moon I usually don't get out of line and put most my money in while ahead when I do.

Re: Advice needed from all you small stakes grinders (PLEASE).
 

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Your preflop game looks pretty nitty(16/13)

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FYP

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I do play like a tight nit but run mostly from 19/16 through 17/14.

Re: Advice needed from all you small stakes grinders (PLEASE).
 

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What's your sn.

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homerun5. yours?

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Strangely enough I don't have you in my db. I have 20K hands at 50s and 51K hands at 100s.

Oh well..

Re: Advice needed from all you small stakes grinders (PLEASE).
 

Time off (atleast a week) then when you come back make sure that you really want to play. Dont just play because you are bored and nothing else to do. Realise that after a break you are prop not going to be playing great and its going to take between 5 and 10k hands to really get back into it. Atleast thats what ive always found.

Re: Advice needed from all you small stakes grinders (PLEASE).
 

I just saw this post from lefort (from a BBV thread about HEK) and think it's true and could apply here.
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Nice post... but dude, you`ve been around long enough that you should know that variance is so huge. You obviously ran hot back in the day, then ran awfully for a while, and now are running well again. Dont get lost in the swings and tell yourself youre playing "your best", "much better", or "horribly". Ive never understood how players who have played so many hands can do this... I mean you generally apply the same knowledge every time you play. Unless you are on monkey tilt, you are generally always playing your "best".. if you make a "big call" where quite often you will be wrong, and you are right, you are "playing great".. but when you are wrong, you are "playing bad, on tilt, etc.." Just accept the fact that poker involves a ton of frequencies and short-term luck.. atleast thats how I see it..


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Variance is way bigger than people think/want to believe. When you're running well you think you are playing well and when you run badly you think you must be playing badly.

So, take your beats like a man, use bankroll management and keep evaluating your play. Downswings tend to focus the mind, you want to make sure very dollar spent is well spent. Was that cbet +EV?/Could I have gotten more value from that set? etc. If you do this, you should come out the other end a better player.

Re: Advice needed from all you small stakes grinders (PLEASE).
 

i had a similar situation to this. the thing that helped me the most was watching the vids in the sticky here. they reminded me that solid ABC poker is the way to win at small stakes. now i watch a vid before every session and it REALLY helps me get in the right mindset.