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#1
10-10-2007, 04:13 PM
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Introduction
Dear 2+2 members,
This is my first post. I thought it would be best to give a brief overview of my history with the game of poker. I was introduced to texas holdem about 16 months ago when a friend taught me and several of my friends the rules to play, up until then I had only played draw poker several times. After playing 30 or 40 hands which were generally in the line of card pairing competitions with everyone seeing the flop and going until the showdown [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] I thought the game was interesting, but I left it at that... about 8 months ago, I remembered that there existed a game of holdem and I wondered whether I could play the game online. and thats where it all started... I am a former diplomat, I took a few years of my work to give myself some much needed resting time and obtain a masters degree on the way. so as I had a lot of free time in my hands I embarked upon what I coined "project poker". I decided to improve my game and perhaps make some extra money off it, if it was at all possible. I took an academic approach to the game my preparing myself a schedule of reading, playing and reviewing... I bought myself some books, then some more books and some more books... and then I bought myself some more books... What I have read until today: - winning low limit hold'em / lee jones - small stakes hold'em / ed miller et la - professional poker / mark blade - the psychology of poker / alan schoonmaker - zen and the art of poker / larry phillips - the evolution of a poker player / steven james - inside the poker mind / john feeney - weighing the odds in holdem poker / king yao - hold'em poker / david sklansky - real poker II / roy cooke - your worst enemy / alan schoonmaker - super system I / doyle brunson - getting the best of it / david sklansky I studied the books, reread and reread several of them to get the ideas sink in... I have about 25 / 30 more books on my reading list, basically every single book that is worth reading with regard to general poker topics, advanced limit holdem and shorthanded play. I truly believe that I haven't left a single book that is worth purchasing, not one... Though certainly not exceptionally talented, I consider myself a good student of the game. I have been playing exclusively on Full Tilt, mostly on the .25/.50 Full Ring Limit Holdem. I have taken a few shots at the .50/1 and 1/2 Full Ring Limit Holdem games but eventually stepped down to the lowest limit again to protect my bankroll after several losses. I use poker tracker and PAHUD to facilitate my game and analyze my play. I mostly two table, sometimes 3, and play 500 hands or so on the days that I play. I have a rakeback deal that helps me maintain my bankroll, which is right now 280$. My progress so far has been slow (to put it mildly) in terms of results, which I take seriously and try to analyze objectively. I have played 40.000 hands on .25/.50 Full Ring Limit Holdem for a winrate of 0.2 BB/100 hands which basically says I am a break even player at the moment. My ultimate vision of “project poker” is beating the 1/2 full handed limit game, switching to 6-max limit and go as high as my talents and capabilities permit, hopefully to 5/10 6-max limit holdem or possibly higher. I have assigned the next 2.5 years for this project, and as I have had difficulties in reaching my objectives on my own I decided to join the 2+2 community to seek help from your pool of experts. Thank you for bearing with me along this long introduction, beyazkus 
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#2
10-10-2007, 04:26 PM
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Re: Introduction
That is a really awesome story. My name is Daniel.
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#3
10-10-2007, 04:31 PM
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Re: Introduction
Welcome fellow nit. I have taken the same approach and am now moving up for the third time myself cashing out because I don't know how to handle my bankroll.
Your problem is not knowing how to make a bankroll. I say the first problem I would work on is multitabling. Its hurting your play. Multitabling is a different skill set that some have and some don't. Personally I am about 1.5bb/100 worse multitabling 4 tables and about .5 worse multitabling two. I suggest your win rate will go up without multitabling. Concentrate on table selection, and studying the table for betting patterns, learn to predict the actions of opponents and practice ranging them on each street. While learning there is so much to do online at the table that you don't need to multitable to not get bored. From my point of view those that don't multitable and concentrate will be better poker players when they get to the higher levels than those that grind quickly through the micros working their rakebacks and bonuses. The good thing for you is that you aren't afraid to post and I hope that you have a thick skin but being a former diplomat I think that is a safe assumption. I suggest participating in the hand review sessions when they come up. Grunching your plays on hand posts (that is to say posting a reply before looking at other replies) and occassionally posting your own hand that you are unsure of. Responding and grunching are by far the best way to learn. Don't be afraid of sounding completely stupid and being stubborn if need be. Even if you are wrong, which I often am, the good posters don't give up on you if they see you trying. Good luck and hope to hear from you more in the future.
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#4
10-10-2007, 04:38 PM
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Re: Introduction
Stop reading. Now. I mean it.
By my count, you've read 13 books and are planning to take that number to ~40. The problem is, 38.5 of those have no bearing on the game you're trying to play. WLLH (the first book on your list) is going to be your best friend playing .25/.50. Getting Started In Hold'Em (2p2 book, I didn't see on your list) is also good. About half of SSHE applies to what you're trying to do, but only if you're careful. The psychology, game theory, tells, etc., that you're getting from the rest of those books are like reading Newton's original presentation of the calculus to learn how to balance your checkbook. None of it applies. If and when you find yourself moving up many of those books will become appropriate. Now, they're just going to cause you to out-play yourself and lose $$$. Welcome.
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#5
10-10-2007, 04:57 PM
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Re: Introduction
I think for most players boz I agree with you. But being in the same mindset as the OP, I think, reading alot of books is the only way to understand the problem.
Knowing how to do something is not as important to some of us as knowing why. For me why is the most important and frankly the basic books don't touch on the why. I agree that the knowledge you gain from the other books may be suboptimal to your immediate play but my filter process requires me to study through a morass of information in order to truly digest the important parts of the books that will help me. If the OP can separate and focus on fundamentals then the side knowledge picked up from the other books will start to help him sooner than if he just went one book at a time. Its a memory thing really, you pick up on repeating themes and by filtering them through from different angles you get a better understanding of the original principle. Some people do better with absorption and so one book at a time works best for them. Its just a matter of knowing how you learn.
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#9
10-10-2007, 07:53 PM
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Re: Introduction
well i can see your concern about reading contradictory, irrelevant, or too advanced material. but for the books I've read so far I consider them my tier I books, which basically only lay the foundation. I surely but more emphasize on some rather than others and try to synthesize different material into a coherent structure. In effect it has given me a good base to lay my future reading on. my tier 2 books will be books like theory of poker, improve your poker, holdem on the come, how good is your holdem etc which are still relatively general intermediate books...
but when it comes to my tier 3 books such as holdem for advanced players, stoxs 6-max, mathematics of poker, tanenbaum'a advanced, malmuth's poker essay 1-2-3 etc. I certainly agree that a novice such as myself will gain more with some experience in higher limits...
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#10
10-10-2007, 07:55 PM
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Re: Introduction
hi there, i checked my pt database and it seems that we have only sat for 3 hands at the same table, but haven't played against each other. it is reasonable to suppose that you are mistaking me for another nit [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]
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