When to call it quits?

[GeniusOrCrazy]

[ QUOTE ]
However, by breakeven I assume you mean you are at least beating the rake and that your BR is the same as you started with. That means you have been playing better than average. So congratulate yourself.

[/ QUOTE ]

If so have u been making use of rakebacks, bonuses etc? i do not really know too much about them as i dont play cash games very much at all but there is an excellent post here http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showfl...e=8#Post9247698 which is definately worth a read if you have not already. the section on rakebacks and bonuses is especially good and a real eyeopener.

hope this of some help.

[proudpapa]

[ QUOTE ]
What about dropping down 1 level? Maybe playing against slightly worse players will give you a push in the right direction and get your bankroll climbing.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm playing the lowest level possible at FTP ($10NL), which makes the losing/breaking even that more frustrating.

Thanks for all the advice from everyone. If 10k hands isn't enough to evaluate my winning/losing, that's good to know. What type of month-to-month goals should I set that are realistic?

[Rek]

"What type of month-to-month goals should I set that are realistic?"

Many may disagree with me here but I would say no goals at this stage. You have only been playing 5 or 6 months. Carry on learning, playing but more importantly enjoying.

If you are good enough the results will show themselves. If not you're still having fun.

Too early to say what your goals should be and setting unrealistic high goals at this stage can lead to dispair which turns into poor decisions.

Just make the best decisions you can at each stage and see what happens

[gotmarc]

Okay I'll admit 10K is not an ideal sample. This is why I'm not totally convinced about Global Warming, but I digress. I don't like to take a pool of 100,000 hands and decide what to do from there. It becomes overwhelming.

Here's what I suggest. Right now is perfect too. It's back to school time and you can buy like 50 spiral notebooks for a quarter. Every session you play you write down your results in one of these notebooks. Make sure you put the date, amount of time played, the game, limits and the amount you won or lost. Actually I just write my total bankroll in the top margin.
Then I write notes on my play and my opponents play. Be specific don't just say Zebra420 is a donkey. Write he bluffs too much, he's a calling station, doesn't call often enough, squeeze didn't work, et cetera. I like to write in the first person. " <font color="red"> I made money in this session because</font> the player to my left min-bet and I called with a gut shot." Or <font color="red">I lost money in this session because </font> I called an all in bet with an OESD. Or better yet I hit my straight, but it was still a -EV play.

I got this idea from Annie Duke's autobiography and I think it has had a great impact on my results. What you begin to realize is that certain plays don't work well against certain people while other's work way more often than they should. A lot of it has to do with image, but it all comes down to evaluating mistakes, both yours and you opponents. In fact a lot of poker authors have said this but I think there's a tendency for neophytes to overlook this and ask what should I do with this specific hand? The answer is (even in the books) it depends. Well. . . you need to find out what it depends on.

I find it also keeps my BR in perspective and keeps me from going on tilt. If I get stacked (yeah it happens sometimes) I can just flip through the pages of my notebook and say oh well I still have more money than I had two pages ago.
Before, if I lost five bucks at $0.01-$0.02 I'd steam and try to win it back at $0.10-$0.25 with hands like 8 [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]2 [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] Whatever you do don’t do that.

[Steeler- Fan]

I've just started to play myself,I've been only playing for just over 6 weeks(10,000 hands).Maybe you're doing what I use to do when I got back to even or maybe went up a little.I use to get over confident and began to play looser than my natural TAG style.

Which made me go back down to even par,or went into the negative.Only then did I begin to play my A game again,once I got back to even and went up a little,same crap happen I got over confident again,and went back down.

Once I caught myself in this pattern,I put an end to it and I've shot right up and haven't looked back.

Hope this helps.

[raze]

Post some hands dude

[GoogleEmployee]

If we all win then where are the losers?

[Hitsurume]

Honestly,

I think 10Nl is a tough game because there are too many TAG's in FTP; although I hate to admit, i'm one of them =P

But definitely i'm in the same place you are, around 10K+ hands, and pretty much break even. Thank lord for Rakeback and my deposit bonus, but my bonus will be ending soon =\.
I'm hoping the next 10K or 20K hands things will change, and I will learn more about better table selection, because it SUCKS when you see 3 TAGS at the same table as you, and 2 of them is like 6 or 10 tabling the 10NL games, I MEAN COME ON!

Haha, just a small rant

[proudpapa]

[ QUOTE ]
Honestly,

I think 10Nl is a tough game because there are too many TAG's in FTP; although I hate to admit, i'm one of them =P

But definitely i'm in the same place you are, around 10K+ hands, and pretty much break even. Thank lord for Rakeback and my deposit bonus, but my bonus will be ending soon =\.
I'm hoping the next 10K or 20K hands things will change, and I will learn more about better table selection, because it SUCKS when you see 3 TAGS at the same table as you, and 2 of them is like 6 or 10 tabling the 10NL games, I MEAN COME ON!

Haha, just a small rant

[/ QUOTE ]

It seems like if you're not in against TAGs, you're up against a lot of shortstackers at 10NL. I still haven't figured out the best way to play against them.

[SellingtheDrama]

Here's a few thoughts for OP and the many others like him.

1)Poker is a game of decision making - not making money. Focus on improving your decisions - preflop, flop, turn, and river...I guarantee that you are weaker at some than others. Work on it [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

2)Reading books is a great way to get the framework for how to play - but it is NOT everything. It is all about applying the theory that you learn in books to the tables. Those that can - will win.

3)Breakeven is pretty impressive - as noted, the average player is a loser by the amount of the rake.

4)Six months isn't really alot of time pokerwise. After six months I thought I had figured out the game. About a year later I realized that I didn't know crap and started working harder than ever on my game.

5)Make sure you are getting what you want to out of poker. It's a rough road at times getting good at this game, and it takes a ton of time/effort to get there. Make sure its something you enjoy doing, because otherwise it probably isn't worth doing!