Is micro limits just a question of luck?

[Dagaco]

So what is the secret? I play on stars mainly sng and some micro stakes cash games. I know we all get bad beats but if the majority of the time i have my chips in middle with the best hand and still get outdrawn, what do you do? Im not a stats man and i dont know how to use the hand converter so i cant post any examples. Its just pure frustration that seems to go beyond bad luck. Im currently reading small stakes hold em and have read theory of poker and HOH. Just not sure what to do next.

Thanks for your comments

[AKQJ10]

I'm just coming back after a hiatus so forgive me if this turns out grouchier and less supportive than intended.

This is such a common genre of FAQ that we really need to improve our resources to answer it. Or maybe they've improved and I need to learn my way around the resources. (I love that Beginners was bumped up the menu!)

For now I'd direct you to Ed Miller, Getting Started in Hold 'em, toward the end: "Can a game be too good?"

In short, you're experiencing either <ul type="square">[*]variance where the long run is longer than you may think at first (I'm battling this too, and it's destroying my confidence!)[*]not playing as well as you think -- and online games are certainly getting tougher[*]some combination of both[/list]
If you wish, feel free post questions of the sort, "My sample is N hands and my winrate is X" but I can almost guarantee you N is too small to tell much unless it has at least five digits. (If you don't know N, then you don't have the tools to effectively measure whether you're winning or not.) Focus on playing well and eventually you'll win if you don't give up first. Eventually is a long time.

[Dagaco]

You're pretty much on the money. I dont run poker tracker or equivalent so I have no idea what N is. Trust me you reply is not nearly as grouchy as I feel. I just dont know how many more donks i can handle who: call PF raises with 39o then call on flop, where I have trips and have put in 2/3 of the pot, with a gutshot and hit. They are everywhere and they do not fold. If it helps its destroying my confidence too.

[shymijo2love4]

OP how many hands have you played ? It took me 20k hands before i finally know how to get good profits in the Micros. You have to be a good hand reader and you have to get in there and bet even when you dont have a good hand orelse you will become to predicatable if you only bet your top hands. So know how to bet with good, marginal and bad hands also be able to put your opponents on certain range of hands. This all takes alot of playing and practice. Teaching you how to bet will take alot of time but read NLHTAP two times and then try to apply what you learned, at the same time read NLHTAP for a third time. Then i guarantee with your knowledge you learned from the book and your experience of trial and error of playing what you have learned you will be a better player.

[AP0CALYP5E]

Read up on short stack poker.

[Poker Plan]

[ QUOTE ]
You're pretty much on the money. I dont run poker tracker or equivalent so I have no idea what N is. Trust me you reply is not nearly as grouchy as I feel. I just dont know how many more donks i can handle who: call PF raises with 39o then call on flop, where I have trips and have put in 2/3 of the pot, with a gutshot and hit. They are everywhere and they do not fold. If it helps its destroying my confidence too.

[/ QUOTE ]

So PLEASE tell us what starting hands (be SPECIFIC) you would like your opponents to join the pot with????

Seriously: This type of comment on fellow opponents comes up time and time again. And it really shows a totally incorrect mental approach to winning poker. You need to go right back to the very fundamentals of where the money comes from. Once you have that figured you will realise that the bigger the differential between your mistakes and your opponents mistakes- the more profit you make.

Your frustration and your anger stems from your Ego complaining because it thinks it's been hard-done-by. The first step to becoming a long term winner is a reprogramming of your Ego- the difficulty in doing this will vary depending on how you have let it develop over your lifetime.

All the above is posted with sincerity and respect.


Ian

[PJo336]

[ QUOTE ]
Your frustration and your anger stems from your Ego complaining because it thinks it's been hard-done-by. The first step to becoming a long term winner is a reprogramming of your Ego- the difficulty in doing this will vary depending on how you have let it develop over your lifetime.

[/ QUOTE ]

[AggroFish]

I'm reading this thinking, okay this is a joke right? Then, I realized that I've seen the same question/complaint about the donks sucking out too many times before.

Bottom line: you WANT these people in the pot with you. Suckouts seem to happen too frequently, but really it all evens out eventually. Keep reloading and jamming the pot with the best hand, you'll get paid.

[AKQJ10]

[ QUOTE ]
Your frustration and your anger stems from your Ego complaining because it thinks it's been hard-done-by. The first step to becoming a long term winner is a reprogramming of your Ego- the difficulty in doing this will vary depending on how you have let it develop over your lifetime.

[/ QUOTE ]

Excellent advice. I'd go so far as to say that this aspect of the ego is what drives poker and what makes it profitable. People who are bad players can't admit to themselves that they are bad players. Also, machismo (which is a form of ego) can drive a lot of really bad decisions at the table -- being too aggressive, for example, or refusing to fold because you might be getting run over. Not every bad player is too aggro, of course; in fact more are probably too passive. But ego can drive horrible calls too. ("No way he's bluffing me out this time! I'll show him!")

This is the reason why I'm pretty adamant that good poker players should divorce themselves from the language of machismo. It only complicates matters if you think that society questions your manhood for folding the 4th-nuts when you're convinced such fold is marginally correct. Societal admiration for your manhood can't be cashed out at the cage on the way home.

And yeah, Ed Miller addresses this kind of stuff too. OP should read him as often as possible.

[Dagaco]

I can understand your comments but I can promise you its not ego. I have never been egotistic and I consider myself level-headed. Meaningless to you but there you go. I also understand that I want those idiots in the pot but how many times does one have to reload $100 -$200 and keep losing it before turning into a winning player? And no its not a joke. But your comments are appreciated.