are players ever just "not smart enough" to move up?

[RikaKazak]

Stress/Variance/and overall winrate are my 3 factors.

For me I can play/beat NL 400 up to NL 2,000. People ask me all the time why if I beat NL 2K why I'm not there 24/7. For me it's because of the 3 above.

Stress wise NL2K STRESSES me out and many times I take it out on my fiance by being "cranky" all day [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] So basically I don't handle stress well.

Variance is NOT MY FRIEND. I hate it, and I also don't enjoy the game much. Hell, I don't even enjoy gambling "that much" so I would like to keep variance to a minimum.

Hourly: Well when I play 2K I generally 2 table it. But when I play NL400/600 (I mix them a lot) I 12 table. So why I may make 2-3 times more per hand at NL2K I can play 4-6 times as many hands at NL 400/600.

That's why I'm not a "balla"....but I have my reasons. And making 200-250 a hour playing poker ain't bad...even if I'm just a mid stakes grinder 75% of the time.

[excession]

'If it even matters I have a low level genius IQ'

It doesn't really. It means that you are good at IQ tests (and unless anyone thinks this is sour grapes the only IQ test I ever took I maxxed)..the skill set required to be a $1k+ NL player will have a bit of overlap with that required to get a good score in an IQ test (mainly the logical reasoning elements) but a lot of key skills - discipline, emotional stability, good concentration, killer instinct, reading of others, imagination and sheer balls just aren't part of the IQ test at all...

Of course some players may lack the necessary logical reasoning skills (equated to being 'smart' in your question) to move up. Plenty more will have those skills but will still be losers if they move up as they lack one or more of the other skills reqired..

My main issue is a lack of time. I'm a full time corporate attorney and father of two small children (2 yrs and 10 months old). Since the 2nd one has been born I have just had no time to study the game and precious little time to play. I only play for fun and intellectual R&R anyway. I've cashed out a fair bit and my roll is a bit over $10k at the moment. I am currently playing $100 NL, $5 HU league matches, some $30-$50 MTT's (as a Euro player with a job that I need to be awake for Mondays the big Sunday night MTT's are just no good for me), and batches of 6-9 $16 Stars Turbo SnG's as the mood takes me..I have been up as high as $500 NL in the past, but the game just has to take a back seat for me for now and I have no reason to bother with the grind at the moment.

[MNpoker]

[ QUOTE ]
I've kind of felt this way lately. moving around between 1/2 and 2/4, I have 13k hands now with a win rate of -0.31BB/100. The problem with 'studying the game' for me is that I really can't figure out where I'm going wrong. I used to play and had 25k hands from 2/4 to 5/10 and was beating the game for about 1.5BB/100. I really don't understand what I'm doing that's so different now than before.

[/ QUOTE ]

How much time was there between those periods? Is it on Party? I went from destroying the 15/30 game for 3+ BB / 100 for 50k hands (early last year) to winning less than 1 BB/100 the next 50K. (this year)

Some of it's luck yeah. But I blame most of it on:
- The ability to 12 table (I don't care if those players aren't as good as I am the ones they replaced were worse)
- The 6 max tables. This just isn't my game and that's where all the action went.

(Oh and Party makes WAY more per person per hand at 6 max, i.e. you pay more BB / 100 in rake at 6 max than you do at Full)
Party must have been THRILLED when the 6 max games blew up.

[MNpoker]

Well the obvious answer is: Yes

Just like most people could not become a doctor, professional football player, or even bowler for that matter.

There are very few people out there making $500K plus a year playing poker. There are a lot of people out there making $500K plus working.

My new question is what does it take to make $1M a year doing 'anything'. And is poker the best path for that? My answer was no.
So I went from playing 10 hours a week to 1 or 2, and from 15/30 to 50/100 down to 25NL and 50NL. Poker is a lot more fun now, even if I do make less at it. I didn't need the second job or the stress, and I found that's what it was giving me.

[Sponger.]

The people who win at the highest limits online didn't get there on accident. If you work hard enough you should be able to play pretty high stakes. Guys like aba, bruiser, BK, schneids, etc. work really hard on their games. Much harder than most of us are willing to work. Sure they're smart, but that only takes you so far I guess.

[krazyace5]

abas story

[MyTurn2Raise]

[ QUOTE ]
In my case, low risk tolerance combined with too much respect for the value of money. In BBV-parlance, I'm a vag. I'm working on it, though.

[/ QUOTE ]

this fits me and I'm just not that good at poker, too.

[2461Badugi]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
In my case, low risk tolerance combined with too much respect for the value of money. In BBV-parlance, I'm a vag. I'm working on it, though.

[/ QUOTE ]

this fits me and I'm just not that good at poker, too.

[/ QUOTE ]

I sometimes think of you as my holdem good twin. So I'm not all that surprised to hear you agree.

I'm trying to fix it by getting out of holdem entirely and spending more time playing games I'm good at.

[WhoIam]

I rely on MSNL for most of my income. The highest I play is $400 NL and I really don't have much trouble with it. The reason I don't move up is that I use probably 80% of my winnings for expenses, so my bankroll doesn't increase very quickly. If I were to inherit say, $40k, I don't doubt that I could get up to speed at 5/10 NL within a few weeks.

[lefty rosen]

The problem is your probably not doing anything wrong for the previous gaming conditions. The 2/4 games at Party have gotten really tight now. I gave up on them once they allowed 10 tabling?(not sure if it's 8 or 10) To make a profit in these games you need to be an elite player(almost).