Get your n00b out, uNL--Volume 2

[Shattered]

Thanks a ton for doing this.

I play well at the beginning of a session (I'm around 8BB/100 over the last 15k hands), but the moment things start to go poorly I start tilting, first subtly and then become really retarded aggro against everyone. I spew off a couple buyins at least every third session. The upshot is that I have massive swings and my graph looks like a lollercoaster with 6 BI up or downswings in less than 1k hands in my graph being totally standard. Here are the hands I have on this computer, all at 25 NL and fairly representative of how things are going: http://img165.imageshack.us/my.php?image=25nlhl8.jpg
I've been grinding microstakes for about 25k hands and I have the talent, technical skill, and the roll to move up, but tilt problems (and thus confidence issues) make that seem like a bad idea. Do you have any advice so that I can overcome this hurdle?

<font color="orange">No easy answer here. it could be your playing style or a myriad of other variables here. Just continue to focus and play solid poker, try your hardest not to spew. </font>

<font color="red">Psych is so important in poker that they have their own forum. Id suggest you check it out - its on the sidebar there. You need to make peace with yourself and stop yourself tilting or you will fail at poker, no question. I struggle with this also but I am so much better than I used to be. When I feel im tilting I just instaclose my client. Sometimes I'll even kill it from the task manager to avoid having to close individual tables. Just get out of there.

Getting sucked out is something you will have to come to terms with. I am also MUCH better at this now. You must learn to lose. One thing that really helped me is playing over-rolled. I just had a huge tourney score so I am way overrolled for 100nl, and atm I am practising some stuff at 50nl. So its almost like the money is irrelevant because I cant go bust. So when Im playing lag and I lose 3bi (like yesterday) it means nothing and I am unaffected. Playing within your roll is a good way to train yourself not to tilt.

[Arcturus]

Question 2: I feel that my biggest problem with playing online is that I always feel like if I don't figure out what to do correctly, I'm going to run out of time. It is obviously different on the forums, where you can spend minutes analyzing a hand and figuring out the correct play. There is so much to take into consideration when playing any hand that I always seem to forget something. I kind of equate it to "test anxiety". Has any of the moderators experienced this (or still experience it) and how did you overcome this problem?

<font color="blue">I dont really have any suggestion other than beginning to plan your hand when you raise it and what you want to achieve on certain flop textures </font>

<font color="red">When I first started multi-tabling I was awful at it, and was constantly timing out. Now, I play 6 tables and almost never time out. Two main things helped me:

1. Realise that you have much more time than you think. Most people try and fold their hands as soon as the hole cards appear, and generally try and take every action asap. Just slow your tempo down a little. Count to three before you do anything on a hand. You'll find that you'll rarely time out, even though you've slowed down. Realising that its not nearly as hectic as you think is important.

2. Play simple. Most situations in poker dont require too much analysis. Learn to simpify your choices - this comes with experience. Once you have played many hands you'll know how to react without thinking just because you've been there so many times before.

3. Plan your moves. If you are playing a hand, nothing should come as a surprise for you. Say youre on the flop, and youre betting. Whilst waiting for him to decide what to do, think "if he calls here, I will do X, if he raises, i will do X" etc etc. Think ahead.

[bozzer]

how do i calculate reverse implied odds? (i just mean the calculation, not the estimation.)

<font color="blue">Hmmm, I dont know if you actually can calcuate it, I think is more of a situation deal. </font>

<font color="red">RIO is a misnomer and cannot be calculated like "real" odds. It just means that "this hand is gonna get real expensive for you".

[kaz2107]

not sure if this is the spot or wut...

have the well threads been banned or has there just been no interest from good players to do them??? if that is the case would one of a few of u mods pull some strings and get one or 2 sick players to host a well in unl?!?!!?

<font color="blue">Most good players have done one already. Any suggestions ill ask. </font>

<font color="red">uNL is short of "regulars" at the mo. We cant just stick any old noob in there yaknow. Feel free to request a poster you would like to see in the well.

[kaz2107]

[ QUOTE ]
not sure if this is the spot or wut...

have the well threads been banned or has there just been no interest from good players to do them??? if that is the case would one of a few of u mods pull some strings and get one or 2 sick players to host a well in unl?!?!!?

<font color="blue">Most good players have done one already. Any suggestions ill ask. </font>

[/ QUOTE ]hmmmm let me think about it for a night or so and i will brainstorm 3 or 4 names that i would love to have in the well

[HY77]

What is a well thread?

<font color="blue">Similar to this in that posters can ask questions regarding poker and life to a single poster. </font>

[AZplaya]

recently there has been alot of buzz about "gator dollars" both here and in SSNL. While I thought Claytons posts were solid, I feel that they apply far more to NL$200 and up, were there are a ton more regs and people actually pay attention to your play. How concerned do you think an NL$10 - NL$50 player should be with earning "gator dollars?"

<font color="blue">Link PLS </font>

<font color="red">Seriously, lol at gator dollars. Id forget about it and just play good poker. The basic notion of gator dollars is that if you play like a moron you wont make any money. You dont need a name for that.

[HY77]

Is there a way for me to merge my PokerStars and PartyPoker graphs into one (using PokerGrapher)?




I'm finding that I'm not improving much. I think that I have to play more hands but apart from that I don't know what I can work on.

<font color="blue">You need to merge your names in the PTDB. Make one the alias for the other and then it will make them together. </font>

[creamfillin]

I still struggle with AK OOP when facing a 3bet. Against an unknown at say 10NL/25NL I think I'm apt to fold OOP agaisnt a 3-bet because most of there 3-betting range is very tight. Is this too weak? How bad is taking a flop OOP with AK?

<font color="blue"> I think in more aggro games you can shove here a lot PF. If you feel that the villain is a. capable of folding say a QQ, JJ b. Is 3 betting a wide range, then a shove is good. If you feel he is 3 betting with a wider range, then shoving is good. IF he is a tightwad then folding might be tight but ok. </font>

<font color="red">I 4bet or fold and never call. This is totally opponent specific, but never call.</font>

I also suck at playing middle pair OOP in unraised pots. I seem to get myself in trouble when I start check calling because the other person never seems to shut-down. Do you guys tend to lead MP on a drawy board? What about dry ones?

<font color="red">Well if he is not shutting down, just fold because your mid pair is no good? c/c flop and c/f turn is totally fine

[Peleus]

What do you think is the most effective way of trying to improve your game? I'm currently reading books (HoH I+II, SS, PNL, TOP), signed up for card runners and watched their vids (Brystmar's SSNL series etc), and reading the forums trying to grunch a few hands, and of course playing.

<font color="red">Theres really no great answer to this question, you just need to learn to think. Its like anything - if you ask me how to get good at math, well, you have to understand the questions, think about the process of getting the answer, then practice practice practice. Poker is the same - you have to learn to understand the problems, learn how to solve them, then do it a million times over.

One thing that will help you is to stop searching for "the answer" or "the thing to do every time in this spot" and learn to analyse every single situation indepenently. FWIW HoH is an awesome book and will help you immensely. I still read it from time to time.</font>

Is there any good framework for analyzing your hands, and perhaps spotting leaks? I feel as though I'm playing decent ABC poker, but I'm feeling that my learning curve has slowed a lot, and although I sometimes read some concepts in books I find it impractical to apply them at say a 25nl level.

<font color="red">Just keep playing good ABC poker, dont worry about anything else. The thing about loosening up is that it suddenly becomes apparent to you. For eg, theres a line you've been taking with 2pr that just NEVER gets you paid, your opponents always fold. Then suddenly you think hey, I can do this with any two cards here - so you raise any two and pretend you have 2pr, and just like before, they fold. Thats how you start to deviate from ABC poker.

As for spotting leaks, post hands on 2p2. Thats the best way. </font>



What the best way to study the hands you've played, and improve from them? I have Poker tracker of course. Looking to put serious effort into improving my game, and I'll do anything practical to do so ($200/hr coach not practical).

<font color="red">Just look at the hands you lost and try and understand why you lost money. Was it a cooler? Did you overplay your hand? Should you have folded somewhere? If you dont know the answer, post on 2p2 and see what everyone else thinks.