I suck

proudpapa · #1 03-25-2007, 08:53 PM

I've been playing free online poker for awhile now, but it got incredibly boring -- or easy. On FTP I built a free money roll into the millions. So I decided to put $60 of real money into the site. ANd I stink. In a week, it's already half gone. At first I tried my loose-aggresive style that did well for me before -- bluffing when I thought I perceived weakness, playing lots of assortments of hands (I'm not an ATC player by any means, but I hate just hating for premium hands to come to me). But I got slaughtered -- part of that was because I got NO cards. Seriously, the worst stretch in awhile. ANd I took some horrible beats when I did gets cards. But now I'm just going through a stretch where I just seem to suck. I try to play more conservative, and I end up getting blinded away. I open up my game, and I get killed.
Maybe I should just stick with free poker.

Ibanez8185 · #2 03-25-2007, 09:17 PM

What stakes?

kr8tos86 · #3 03-25-2007, 09:27 PM

[ QUOTE ]
At first I tried my loose-aggresive style that did well for me before -- bluffing when I thought I perceived weakness, playing lots of assortments of hands (I'm not an ATC player by any means, but I hate just hating for premium hands to come to me). But I got slaughtered -- part of that was because I got NO cards. Seriously, the worst stretch in awhile. ANd I took some horrible beats when I did gets cards

[/ QUOTE ]

Poker is about the sacrifice of fun to seek long term profits. Blaming bad beats and no cards does nothing except feed you ego when you question why you lost. Playing free games are very different from playing for real $. Analyze what you did wrong. Read books, post questions and improve you game. Every winning player does this.

proudpapa · #4 03-25-2007, 10:15 PM

I do/have read the books, and am CONSTANTLY questioning/analyzing what I'm doing wrong (it's why I'm posting my first post here). I know that bad beats/bad cards happen, and I know that good play should balance that out. I just don't know what, overall, to do differently to start reversing my fortunes.

Stakes, by the way, are very low. .5/.10 cash games, $1 or $2 SNG tourneys on FTP.

ottsville · #5 03-25-2007, 10:16 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Playing free games are very different from playing for real $.

[/ QUOTE ]

ottsville · #6 03-25-2007, 10:25 PM

[ QUOTE ]
I do/have read the books, and am CONSTANTLY questioning/analyzing what I'm doing wrong (it's why I'm posting my first post here). I know that bad beats/bad cards happen, and I know that good play should balance that out. I just don't know what, overall, to do differently to start reversing my fortunes.

Stakes, by the way, are very low. .5/.10 cash games, $1 or $2 SNG tourneys on FTP.

[/ QUOTE ]

Read the appropriate forums here and especially read the FAQs/stickies in each.

And learn to run hot.

metsfan88 · #7 03-25-2007, 10:33 PM

if your into tournaments go to the multi-table tournaments forum and check out the pxf hand histories thread. Should be one of the first ones. It is very valuable. After I watched one I entered a 18man/1.20 sng and won it by just copying what the guy did in the video. just be patient and try to get the most out of your good hands. Then once you build a decent stack you can open up a little bit.

snoopdawg · #8 03-25-2007, 10:48 PM

[ QUOTE ]
.5/.10 cash games, $1 or $2 SNG tourneys on FTP.

[/ QUOTE ]

So you are playing $10 with a $60 roll? You should be playing $.01/.02 this early in the game. gives you lots more time to figure out what you are doing wrong.

ispiked · #9 03-25-2007, 11:25 PM

If I were you, I'd put some money on Stars and play the .01/.02 NL game. Yes, winning $2 when you go all-in may not be as cool as winning $10, but it will allow you to play lots of hands and get a feel for the game.

I started out in January in the same spot as you and went busto. I thought I had an idea of how to play -- I'd read the forums, read GSIHE, etc. -- but looking back I had absoultely no idea what I was doing (I still don't).

It's easy to convince yourself that you know what you're doing when you really don't. Reading the forums and analyzing stuff will help, but there are so many situations you're going to get into that you haven't seen before and the only way you can learn to deal with these is through practice. Yes, knowing the basics can help a lot, but if you really want to excel you need play. A lot.

proudpapa · #10 03-26-2007, 09:35 AM

I appreciate all of your feedback (and my apologies if this is the wrong forum -- I thought about posting in micro-limits, but even they're talking about much higher limits than I'm comfortable with. If there's another forum to post this stuff in, please let me know).

I have a mac, so I can't play on poker stars. And the lowest cash game limit on FTP (that I can see) is .5/.10. Right now, I'd play lower if I could.

Last night I sort of had a decent SNG. I decided to play my usual game and was able to build a decent enough stack until the blinds got so high that it was push all-in or fold. I finished second, which felt like a good way to stop the bleeding. Best $3 I've ever made.