Problem adjusting to aggression in SH games and very frustrated

[Hoi Polloi]

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Also, I don't know how other people do it. But I can't multi-table more than 3 or 4 at time with 6-max


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There was a very revealing thread recently where it turned out the vast majority of regular posters here don't play more than 3 or 4 tables, with a great many playing only two. I'd always felt I was in the minority since I can't keep up with more than three tables at all.

Guy.

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And I thought it was just a question of how long one breast fed. Go figure.

[Palomino]

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Also, I don't know how other people do it. But I can't multi-table more than 3 or 4 at time with 6-max


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There was a very revealing thread recently where it turned out the vast majority of regular posters here don't play more than 3 or 4 tables, with a great many playing only two. I'd always felt I was in the minority since I can't keep up with more than three tables at all.

Guy.

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I've come to the realization that I'm a borderline losing player when I play 6 tables and a winning one when I play 3-4. (Granted, the 6 table thing was a small sample size because it just didn't work out for me.) The HUD is great, but if you play like a complete robot at 6 max you will get eaten alive. Not to mention, playing 30% of the hands with 6 tables you are averaging playing 2 hands at the same time all the time. That takes away too much focus from each individual hand.

Take this for what it's worth, I know I have a low post count, but I have been browsing this forum for a long time...hoping to contribute more.

[cdlarmore]

I would say it depends on limits, If i am playing 1/2, I can run up to 7 tables profitably, but who cares about 1/2. If I run 2/4 - 5/10, I can run 3 tables with success, 10/20-20/40 is one table, 2 if im running well...

[DING-DONG YO]

I single table about 90% of the time 4-6 handed and 100% of the time HU and 3 handed.

[Palomino]

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I single table about 90% of the time 4-6 handed and 100% of the time HU and 3 handed.

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I need to use this advice, but sometimes I just see that 4 tables all have at least one uber fish and I feel like I'm missing out if I don't sit there as well.

[Frogic]

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I've come to the realization that I'm a borderline losing player when I play 6 tables and a winning one when I play 3-4. (Granted, the 6 table thing was a small sample size because it just didn't work out for me.) The HUD is great, but if you play like a complete robot at 6 max you will get eaten alive. Not to mention, playing 30% of the hands with 6 tables you are averaging playing 2 hands at the same time all the time. That takes away too much focus from each individual hand.

Take this for what it's worth, I know I have a low post count, but I have been browsing this forum for a long time...hoping to contribute more.

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I think the ability to multitable is a mixture of experience and how often you did similar things in your early years. A friend of mine who I stake currently plays 5-8 tables 10/20 to 15/30 6 max on party. When he first started playing he would tell me over and over again that he couldn't play more than 2 tables because he would get lost. I explained(with the help of another friend who plays a lot) that he just isn't used to it. It then went up to 4 tabling where he said that was the max. After a little reminding of where he was a year and a half before he then got a second monitor and went up to more tables. I recently went over to watch him and when I think he is going to time out he catches himself with like 5 seconds to go. He also makes fairly good reads that when asked he'll say something like 'this guy always raises here with middle pair'. I think it has gotten to the point that his winrate is barely effected by the amount of tables.

The reason I mention video games is that it feels like a very similar skill. Its almost like gaming nerds have trained themselves over their formative years to be successful multitables. Anyone who is really into fighting games understands the quick multi-level thinking that goes into poker, and can make those decisions in a VERY quick manner.

Frogic

[Palomino]

I'm sure this is true. I was able to fairly easily handle 6 tables if I was playing full ring, but the action at 6 max tables is so much faster...especially since I've recently moved to UB with their lightning quick software. Moving from stats like 18/12 to 30/20 require a huge adjustment. I tried to 6 table right away when I started playing shorthanded and I know this was my biggest mistake. It is a lot easier to learn a new style playing 2-3 tables than 6! Rookie mistake obviously. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] (and maybe I shoulda started with 1 table, but I don't have the patience for that.

[dragon14]

checkit888,

Thanks for the kind words and encouragement. My post probably really belonged in psychology.

Perhaps it's just the nature of the game but every winning streak I've had in my career has been followed by a dramatic downturn (the graph is always a straight drop down). I had been on such a roll that I figured the next 150-200 BB drop would hit and then I'd be back to winning again. Instead the losing streak (at limit) is double what I'm used to.

For the next month or so I plan on playing live mid-stakes LHE and 100-300 buy in NL at a local casino and sizing up the competition. If it's weaker than online maybe I'll just be a B&M player for a while and allow my tendonitis to improve.

[checkit888]

Dragon,

Obviously your downswing is severe enough that its affecting your online game. As I said before, we've all been there. Consider yourself fortunate that you're still in action. Other pros and joes have simply just busted out of the game completely.

I know after I stepped away from the online game it was for the better. After losing half of my winnings trying to play the big game at 50/100 and 100/200, I was in such a screwed up state of mind, that 30/60 could not satify the action and chasing the money I just lost.

Now that i'm back in the game, that lost winnings is in the past, and doesn't affect me anymore. hopefully, that will happen to you with your live game.

Your skills with online poker will simply crush the live games. Bring a book or mp3 player, as the pace will be a lot less demanding than what you're use to online.

[DrewOnTilt]

Dragon - a couple of thoughts here:

First, I'm going to echo the assertions that the 20/40 and 30/60 games on Party were generally not passive. Either you practiced superb game selection, or by chance you just managed to always catch the passive tables. Most Party tables played pretty much the way you described the Stars tables in scenario #2 in your post. They were profitable because people bluff raised in all the wrong spots.

While it's true that the games have tightened up a bit, there are still profitable games to be found at the mid-level limit hold'em games.

Second, I can feel your pain in regards to your downswing. I just recovered from one myself, and my downswing was much longer than yours. From August of last year through December, I lost money 4 months out of 5. In January I had a winning month online but got killed in live games, plus I had a brick of cash stolen from me at the casino (ouch). For the first 3 weeks of February I won a small amount but played like crap, and to be quite honest was about ready to quit poker for good. I finally caught a heater around the end of February, and have recouped all of my losses in just under a month.

In order to keep from going bat-[censored] insane during that rough stretch, I heeded the advice of many 2+2ers and made major adjustments to my approach to the game. It wasn't just that I was running badly, I was PLAYING badly as well, and I'd bet that the same applies to you. Don't get me wrong; during my bad stretch every door card was an Ace, every semibluff raise made against me seemed to turn into an actual hand while my semibluffs seemed to never come through, and I don't even want to think about how many times I made a rivered set that also gave the guy who semibluff checkraised me on the turn a straight or a flush. On TOP of all that, I was spewing chips like a drunk monkey.

I put aside Limit for awhile and picked up No Limit, like you have done. I'm not great at it, but I turn a small profit and now have that as part of my arsenal. I moved down - WAY down - in limits as my losses widened, at one point playing limits that I had not touched in almost 2 years. I took some extended time away from poker. I got coached. I reread all of my poker books several times over.

None of the above brought about my recent heater, but ALL of the above allowed me to keep my sanity during the worst swing of my 4 years of poker play. I could've just as easily quit poker forever, or even worse blown through my whole bankroll as many others have done.

Don't despair, but DO use this downswing as a chance to re-examine yourself, your game, and why you play. Also, take a look at the Stoxtrader videos again, especially the heads-up and more recently posted Limit videos. They are much more applicable to the current slate of games available on Stars and Full Tilt than you seem to think.