When to call it quits?

[mocky]

OP you never say if you are from the US or no? Because if you are not their are much fishier sites than FT,and its all about finding the fish!

[archcity]

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

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Move up a level. Other's may rip me for suggesting it, but it worked for me.

I moved up and went from -10bb/100 at 10NL to +7bb/100 at 25NL.

Most people try to justify a move up, because they say they just can't play with all these bad players (ie donks making crappy calls and sucking out all the time). That is the wrong reason to move up.

I moved up because I was frustrated with the stakes. Grinding for an hour and making $2 didn't cut it for me. As a result I would force the play and try to make things happen rather than letting game come to me. Also bluffing away $5 or making a bad $8 call just didn't hurt enough. Looking back, the best way to describe it was I was constantly on tilt - just sitting down at the table or even if I was having a huge session.

When I moved up to 25nl things just started to click. I could think more clearly about what I learned and the consequences of my actions. The game came to me, rather than me trying too hard to double my stack. I wasn't frustrated - if I played for an hour and made $5 it felt good, not like a waste of time.

So take a couple of buy-ins and give 25nl a shot. It didn't take me 10,000 hands to figure this out. I felt more comfortable with the game almost immediately. Even when I had a losing session, I felt I was playing better poker.

[Rek]

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

[/ QUOTE ]

Move up a level. Other's may rip me for suggesting it, but it worked for me.

I moved up and went from -10bb/100 at 10NL to +7bb/100 at 25NL.

Most people try to justify a move up, because they say they just can't play with all these bad players (ie donks making crappy calls and sucking out all the time). That is the wrong reason to move up.

I moved up because I was frustrated with the stakes. Grinding for an hour and making $2 didn't cut it for me. As a result I would force the play and try to make things happen rather than letting game come to me. Also bluffing away $5 or making a bad $8 call just didn't hurt enough. Looking back, the best way to describe it was I was constantly on tilt - just sitting down at the table or even if I was having a huge session.

When I moved up to 25nl things just started to click. I could think more clearly about what I learned and the consequences of my actions. The game came to me, rather than me trying too hard to double my stack. I wasn't frustrated - if I played for an hour and made $5 it felt good, not like a waste of time.

So take a couple of buy-ins and give 25nl a shot. It didn't take me 10,000 hands to figure this out. I felt more comfortable with the game almost immediately. Even when I had a losing session, I felt I was playing better poker.

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You are right - many will rip you for saying it but I totally agree PROVIDING you are still properly bankrolled.

I believe you cannot play optimum poker at levels too high or too low for you. If it is too high a level you worry about losing money and too low you start pushing to make things happen.

It is a tricky one though because normal theory and advice will tell you to beat one level before moving up.

What you need is to find the right level for you where you are BR correctly and play to your optimum. Wow, that sounds easy but it isn't. Good luck

[dedenburn]

*grunch*

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I love playing

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Considering that you are breaking even, this says there's no reason to give it up. Your game will improve, but unless you're a pro, then the money is probably secondary to the enjoyment of the game.

Sounds like you're doing well for a relative noob. Congrats, and keep it up.

[proudpapa]

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

[/ QUOTE ]

Move up a level. Other's may rip me for suggesting it, but it worked for me.

I moved up and went from -10bb/100 at 10NL to +7bb/100 at 25NL.


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It's something I've thought about, but my bankroll is at $270 right now -- I'd be too worried about losing to play right. I'm playing out a bonus right now and have been thinking that I'd try it if I can reach $350.

[MrBump]

First of all, break-even over your first 10,000 hands is pretty good. Most beginners wouldn't achieve that IMO.

You say, you have pokertracker, but do you actually use it properly to review your sessions and identify your leaks ?

This is what I recommend:

1)Open up pokertracker, click on the preferences tab and make sure nothing is filtered out of your database.
2) Click on the Game notes tab and then on the "Get all" button. Sort the "Net" column by biggest losses and review the top 20 or 30 biggest losing hands you played and identify why and how you lost that money. Was it a bad beat, a standard loss that is impossible to get away from (set vs set, KK v AA etc) or was it being too lose preflop.

I did this recently and discovered over 50% of my biggest losing hands were me overplaying a single pair ! A huge leak which I am now in the process of plugging !


Another piece of advice: Get a blog, and write up each session on that with at least 4 hand discussions - your 2 biggest losses and your 2 biggest wins. Having a blog forces you to review your sessions and as people start reading it, you will get feedback too.

GL

[abcjnich]

10k hands is barely anything. I started at 10nl on ftp and never really got anything going. I think I won about 80$ over 18k hands. Over this time I was also playing sngs and I won about 600$ from them. After a while I got tired of the high rake from 10nl and from the small profits of sngs and tried 25PL. 30k hands later at 25PL I was a winner of 8ptbb/100.

All this happened about 3 months ago, now I have a 15k+ bankroll and I mostly play 1/2hu nl because I make more money/hour there than anywhere else.

[P0kerJunkie]

I'm pretty new myself, but I don't think there's anyone who just cannot become a winning player. With enough time, effort, and determination, I think anyone can become a winner. As previously stated, 10k hands isn't enough to be drawing such huge conclusions- keep playing the game because you love it and keep trying to improve your game. Keep in mind that the singular best way to improve your game is to play play play play, and then play some more.

Hope to see you at the final table soon

[archcity]

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It's something I've thought about, but my bankroll is at $270 right now -- I'd be too worried about losing to play right. I'm playing out a bonus right now and have been thinking that I'd try it if I can reach $350.

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You are frustrated at 10NL and thinking of calling it quits. Take $25-$50 and give it a shot. If you feel uncomfortable then go back.

I think I had $150 and was frustrated losing at 10NL when I moved up. I figured if I busted my bank roll, I could probably use a break, and buy back in sometime in the future when I won a home game.

I tried again to make an early move to 50NL, and quickly realized it was a mistake. I just wasn't comfortable and my decisions were made with the $50 buy-in in mind rather than just making solid plays.

[Rek]

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I'm pretty new myself, but I don't think there's anyone who just cannot become a winning player. With enough time, effort, and determination, I think anyone can become a winner. As previously stated, 10k hands isn't enough to be drawing such huge conclusions- keep playing the game because you love it and keep trying to improve your game. Keep in mind that the singular best way to improve your game is to play play play play, and then play some more.

Hope to see you at the final table soon

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You make some good points. Keep playing is the best way to learn. Study and try to put into practice what you learn and enjoy. However, not everyone can be a winner. It is just not possible.