Maintaining profits

JH1 · #1 07-25-2007, 07:41 PM

I seem to be having trouble maintaining my profits at the tables lately. I usually play quite well the first 1/2 hour or so, usually gaining 1/2 to a full buyin. Then I slowly start to lose it back. I try to change my play up a bit, but I'm thinking that other players are finding betting patterns in my play or something [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

I'm curious about what you guys do to keep those profits from dwindling away, ie change tables often, drastically change gears/playing styles, just key on the fish etc.

I've thought of setting stop limits, but I know you guys don't recommend them because the game may still be good. I'm starting to feel like I should get up and leave once I hit 1/2 a buyin, but if there's a better way I'd love to learn about it.

knightmare_37 · #2 07-25-2007, 10:19 PM

30 minutes is usually good for 30 hands of poker or so? I'd chalk it up to variance and not worry about it.

Arjonius · #3 07-25-2007, 10:39 PM

The first thing I'd suggest is that you keep records to make sure that the pattern you think exiest actually does, and that it's happening over a decent number of sessions.

Cry Me A River · #4 07-25-2007, 10:57 PM

[ QUOTE ]
I try to change my play up a bit, but I'm thinking that other players are finding betting patterns in my play or something

[/ QUOTE ]

What limits are you playing?

Since you're posting in the beginners forum presumably you're playing small or micro stakes. Chances are the players you're playing against are not paying any attention to how you're playing and you should stop messing with your game.

JH1 · #5 07-26-2007, 12:51 AM

I am playing micro stakes. Mostly 10NL and 25NL full ring and I switch back and forth from semi-loose aggressive in LP to tight aggressive in EP depending on who's in the hand. I do keep track with Poker Tracker and my session usually starts off like this:

1. Wait for the BB to come around and use this time to take notes (I buyin full)

2. Usually lose about 4-8 BB over the course of a few orbits while I adjust to the flow of the table

3. Once I find the fish I wait for hands I'd like to play against them and win anywhere from 30-100 BB over the course of the next 1/2 hour, my PT stats for the session usually say 25ptBB/100 over the first 50 hands

4. This is where I don't know what goes wrong. I try to keep playing my game and adjusting to the table but it's like several players start to target me. This is usually apparent when two or three players to my left start to float me a lot, and I'm not an overly aggressive maniac so I'm still trying to value bet them.

I then usually end up with QQ or KK against AA or a set and lose half of my profits which of course is purely variance and my ptBB/100 drops down to a normall rate of about 7/100. I would like to keep playing at these tables because the fish keep reloading, but it doesn't help when you have better players getting in the way.

I think I need to work on how to recognize when a player has a set or overpairs because I have a tough time telling them apart from all the times they're just floating me with a draw or air. Would it be smart to switch to super TAG at that point or just change tables?