My big leaks, how do I fix them?

[Zeldark]

Well it sounds like you said your problem yourself. Aside from what others have also suggested, perhaps you should read hands at a higher level?

For a long time I've been practicing and getting good at just reading what my opponents had. Lately, I've been giving extra effort to thinking about, what do they think I have and what do they think I think they have. I find it helps a lot.

Are we getting closer to the problem?

[00Snitch]

why dont you post your 200k stats from pokertracker? some of the experienced posters can probably pick something out. (i love stat posts too, must be an aussie thing [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img])

/* makes a comment about ab pimpin' session reviews again */

[img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

seriously, one of these days i am gunna get sick of losing so much and do a session review. i really think i need to stop multitabling too.

[EGO]

Aussie, I discovered your post today, and it's what ultimately led me to post here in the micro limit forum. Fantastic post, and I'll be thinking about these things in the days to come.

My problem is that I should know this already. The thing that set this thought off in my head was something that Harv posted in SSL, about the three adjustments that people need to make when the competition gets tougher. One of these things was recognizing when you are beaten, and I've realized that this is one of my biggest leaks. I am paying people off WAY too much with second best hands.

These aren't 2nd pair undercard kicker hands, or busted flush draw A high hands. I don't often go to showdown without at least a pair of some sort, and the cards I play pre-flop tend to make these the top pair sort of hands. The times I do go to showdown with less than a pair are typically in value check situations against overly aggressive opponents. I know how to fold when my prospects are grim.

As far as multiple tables are concerned, I suck at multi-tabling. It took me a year to realize that I just can't beat these tougher games without giving the game my full attention.

I've been thinking about the session reviews. They might help.

[EGO]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Review of thousands of my own hands in PT show that (EV-wise) that I'm generally playing the correct cards in the correct spots. I try to play solid poker.

[/ QUOTE ]

I suspect that your thousands of hands were not as correct as you may have thought. And maybe "solid poker" isn't what you think it is.

[/ QUOTE ]

Aaron, I figured to get a better reply from you, and was actually hoping that you would reply. I've always enjoyed the thoughts behind your posts. You are correct, however, that the tens of thousands of hands (hundreds of thousands sounds a bit braggish, since I've only played about 220K) that I've played probably were not 100% correct.

I review each day's play, doing EV calculations for most of the pots where I lose more than two big bets, and also for many of the hands that I win. I also do EV calculations for my opponents in the hand. I play about 300 hands a day, sometimes 400. I've been doing this for the past couple of months. There are times where I think, when replaying a hand, that "this just HAS to be -EV" for him, but when I do the math, it's often worth a small amount of positive EV. When you count the implied odds that my erroneous style of play offers, many -EV moves by my opponents become +EV.

If I could only learn when to fold when my hands that are ahead on the flop become -EV (or even really super low EV) on the turn or river. Part of this, I suspect, is failing to make the adjustments required to beat the tougher games.

[EGO]

[ QUOTE ]
why dont you post your 200k stats from pokertracker? some of the experienced posters can probably pick something out. (i love stat posts too, must be an aussie thing [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img])

/* makes a comment about ab pimpin' session reviews again */

[img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

seriously, one of these days i am gunna get sick of losing so much and do a session review. i really think i need to stop multitabling too.

[/ QUOTE ]

OK. I don't have my first 100K or so in the DB, never got around to restoring my databases when I had to reformat my computer last year.

Stats 01

Stats 02

[OziBattler]

EGO, thx for the comments re: post.

I had a think about this thread whilst out for lunch and my gut feel is that you have spent alot of time analysing your game and that you are getting frustrated. It seems to me that you sort of know what your leaks are but are having some issues plugging them yourself.

Accordingly I recommend the following prescription. Get involved in the forum more. post some hands that give you grief, reply to as many hands on the forum as you can. You may cop some tough love but youll learn from it. Maybe your leaks are like what ive had in which case they arent easy to spot by just posting and replying to hands. This is where session reviews come into the prescription as session reviewers stand a better chance of picking up trends that cant be seen by just posting a single hand. It can take multiple sessions to see the trends.

In the end it may just be a matter of making that fold that you know you should make instead of calling just to be sure. Heres something to try...play your normal game and make note of those times when you knew you should fold and make a note of how many times you were right. I did this and I found that a vast majority of the time when I thought this i was right so now I can make that fold and not throw away another bet or 2. It all adds up.

Do you find you are constantly thinking about your previous losseS? I know I did so if you are like me it may even help to draw a line in the sand. Set your BB/100 to zero and start afresh.

I know that I can be quite stubborn and for quite a while last year I was being stubborn and thought that my game was solid where the truth was that i was reasonable in most areas but spewing even 4BB/100 hands thanks to paying off when it is apparently obvious I Was beat in small/medium pots is enough to kill a win rate.

parting thought stolen from a poster better than I: if you dont ocassionally fold a winner then you arent folding enough

goodluck

Z

[EGO]

I don't post many hands, and I'll definately give it a try, particularly when I come up against a hand when I'm reviewing my own play. I can think of a few from just today.

Part of the reason I want to make better folds, is because if I can only expect to make 1-2BB an hour with really good play, then every big bet counts, and is hugely important to my overall bottom line.