[Jeff Oneye]

I think you've pretty much identified your problem. You're not practicing table selection and expecting a mechanical, straightforward system to win because it used to be successful. I've played all these short-handed limits (and unfortunately lost money) at Pokerstars and was draining chips until I shed my self-defeating habits.

I'm not from the school that says you absolutely, positively MUST use Poker Tracker. I doubt it could hurt, however. If you frequent Pokerstar's short-handed limit games you will invariably end up playing many of the same competitors day after day. Also, a trained eye can spot the tough competition without exceptional effort or time. While I could use a HUD, I find it advantageous (and simple)to make liberal use of the notes feature. Writing down little idiosyncracies and patterns can be worth quite a bit. Of course, you probably can find added benefit by supplementing your notes with Pokertracker stats. I don't find this to be a necessary condition of winning, unlike other folks I've associated with.

Pokertracker's usefulness is severely undermined if you're unwilling to commit to a rigorous and honest self-evaluation, which includes finding costly defects in your strategy. Knowing what is and isn't a problem is an art in and of itself. You have to be cognizant of the fact that different games will require substantial deviations from your normal game. At the 5/10 level, proper position charts won't help much without understanding their substantial limitations.

How well do you multitable? I find that I can succesfully hold my attention to about three tables simultaneously. Maybe you can start really low and work your way up from there. This way you can better gauge your competence at varying levels. You could concurrently start building your notes/database as many 6-max limit players will move up and down limits.

Your past performance is really irrelevant. It's about the here and now. If you let your ego direct your limits/game conditions, especially at a tricky site like Pstars, you will continue to bleed chips. A new environment obviously demands a new ideology. A rational approach to today's game will demand an ever-increasing appreciation of flexible, creative, intuitive and played-based strategies-instead of the rigid, mechanical, and robotic methods of yesteryear.

Jeffrey "People and things cannot disturb us; we upset ourselves by believing they can disturb us."