Stupid session - shrug it off? (NC)

[jively]

I'm still playing $0.50/$1 6-max. I took one shot at $1/$2 which didn't go so well. I don't play that frequenly and don't build up a lot of hands quickly. My play at $0.50/$1 6-max is about -1 BB/100 over a not great sample. $0.50/$1 full was about 4 BB/100 over about 10,000.

My bankroll was about $850, and I decided to take another shot at $1/$2 full. I'm playing at UltimateBet trying to clear the initial deposit bonus. The bonus clears faster if you are the first to sit at the table. When I was playing $0.50/$1 6-max I would find an empty table, be the first to sit, and begin when opponents joined. It started heads-up, but always got to 5- or 6- handed pretty quickly.

For my first session, I decided to try the same thing at an empty 10-handed table. I was the first to sit. An opponent came. The session started. It never got above 4-handed. [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

I started down, but got back to even after about 15 minutes. Then in the next 15 minutes, I lost $90 (45 BB). I stopped, feeling mad at myself for getting into $1/$2 short; a lot of heads up and a little 3- and 4- handed. Later on I reviewed my hand history. In the 45 BB loss, I lost about 4 big pots where I was 75% favorite on flop, but the villian caught a good card on the turn or river.

So, it was stupid, but a 45 BB loss in SH happens frequently, right? Losing $90 is not too bad from $850, so I should just shrug it off, and not make that SH mistake again. Right?

Thanks,

-Tom

[Peter Harris]

[ QUOTE ]
and not make that SH mistake again.

[/ QUOTE ]

make what mistake again - getting your money in as favourite?

I can't tell if this belongs in micros, here or BBV.

[deception5]

There is crazy variance in heads up and 3-4 way. 45BB is completely normal. You have to ignore the results and decide if you were being outplayed or unlucky.

You are making significant adjustments between the shorter and fuller games I assume, right?

[Levarkin]

This is pretty close to BBV, but I think there's enough 6-max content to justify its presence. Having spent a reasonable amount of time in both $0.50/$1 and $1/$2 myself, I can say from my experience that making the jump is a bigger step than going from $0.25/$0.50 to $0.50/$1 or from $1/$2 to $2/$4. There's a lot of passivity at $0.50/$1, and aggression tends to be more mindless. So I'm not surprised that you're struggling a little.

Having said that, $1/$2 is where you begin to move beyond the fundamentals, and develop the "big boy" skills like hand reading, and, occasionally, psychology. So I'd say that if you really feel like you're struggling at $1/$2 - and we know that a bad session isn't enough to indicate that you're struggling, it's more a feeling you get that you're in over your head - it's either because you still don't have a solid foundation of fundamentals, or that you're not making the bigger-game adjustments. You'll find that people on these boards don't spend much time discussing things like "am I getting the odds to call here with 8 outs?" A more common comment would be "okay, put this guy on a range, and tell me how often I'm ahead." That's because most people have developed the fundamentals pretty well, and they've moved onto reading their opponents.

So I can't tell you what your problem is, but if you're a winner at $0.50/$1 (which is far from certain at 10,000 hands), you probably just need to add the reading dimension to your game. If you're just feeding off of your weaker opponents' mistakes while still not playing a sophisticated game of your own, then more studying is needed.

One more thing: what's the matter with 4-handed? The number of people in the game shouldn't affect your comfort level and success, only how you play. 6-max is all about flexibility, and 4-handed situations come up often enough. Best to get used to them. The adjustments you make to go from 6-handed to 4-handed are just an extension of those you make to go from 10-handed to 6-handed.

[ImsaKidd]

Tom (that's your name, right?)

Get the F off Ub if you're going to bonuswhore. You have the perfect sized bankroll, use it for something more productive than that slow bonus.

1: party/empire deposit+IGMPAY This is 4 $100 5x raked hands bonus. I'm guessing you already did these, if not, do them now.

2: Bet365. Get $100 in here and do the signup bonus at .5/1, then you can do the Jan $50 bonus at 1/2 if ya want. Also, there is a super easy $200 casino bonus here too, with a $400 WR. Your expected earn from the BJ bonus is like $190. I know some people are complaining about bet365 because they narced on some peoples january bonus for being too tight, but this isnt a problem at SH. Total bonuses from the $100 deposit is about $350, PLUS all the profit you make from your play. I turned 100 into $650 in a week.

3: Blackjack casinos in general. The party casinos (planetluck and starluck) both have EASY $100 signup bonuses and $100 IGmpay bonuses. Another +$400.

Just a few suggestions, PM me if you want more. I've been whoring for 2 months and I'm +2.5k or so. Even got enough $$ to take shots at 1/2, and I've made it my regular game now.

[milesdyson]

moving from 1/2 to sh full ring 1/2 and 0.5/1 starting when it's heads up then becoming more like short then becoming full and changing stakes. while you are capable of playing 0.5/1 sh maybe 1/2 5-handed and 2/4 full are making your adjustments wrong. if you want to play sh play at sh tables don't play full tables short and let them vary between 2-9 players. you are possibly not developed enough yet to allow tables to change seats taken at any time. 0.5/1 sh is offered at party and so is 1/2 sh and 3/6 sh. they skip 2/4 sh so should you play 2/4 full when it's sh? well if you do you have to start hu w/ rake vs. 1 player or 2 players where variance can eat your br. then all of the sudden 2-->10 and you are 2/4 full w/ tight players and not developing your sh skills. 2/4 full sh is not like 3/6 sh.

[Peter Harris]

[ QUOTE ]
Blackjack casinos in general.

[/ QUOTE ]

what are the clearance requirements on BJ? do you need to count or just use a strategy guide? Isn't it more +EV to clear a slow bonus playing poker than a faster one playing a -EV game?

I agree with the IGMpay bonus, but I'm from the UK, IGM is for US only [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

[Beastmaster]

Good advice so far... I would reiterate the bonus idea.
You have better opportunities than UB. Go to some other sites mentioned above and the bonus will clear fast at 6max. While you're clearing the bonus you can improve your game at the .5/1 and 1/2 level. If you hit another -90bb streak the $ from the bonus will keep you above water.

[jively]

[ QUOTE ]
1: party/empire deposit+IGMPAY This is 4 $100 5x raked hands bonus. I'm guessing you already did these, if not, do them now.

[/ QUOTE ]
I've done all of these and the other former Party skins. Did the bet365 starting as well.

I don't have any Party reloads right now, and I wanted to balance the bonus with soft tables. (I look at the bonuswhores.com site a lot, with the "quality of games" section.)

[ QUOTE ]
3: Blackjack casinos in general. The party casinos (planetluck and starluck) both have EASY $100 signup bonuses and $100 IGmpay bonuses. Another +$400.

[/ QUOTE ]
I've thought about this, but longer term I want to move up in poker (if I am a winning player), and not just make the money from whoring. Plus poker is a skill that can be used on vacation in Vegas, AC, Connecticut where online blackjack whoring isn't.

-Tom

[ImsaKidd]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
1: party/empire deposit+IGMPAY This is 4 $100 5x raked hands bonus. I'm guessing you already did these, if not, do them now.

[/ QUOTE ]
I've done all of these and the other former Party skins. Did the bet365 starting as well.

I don't have any Party reloads right now, and I wanted to balance the bonus with soft tables. (I look at the bonuswhores.com site a lot, with the "quality of games" section.)

[ QUOTE ]
3: Blackjack casinos in general. The party casinos (planetluck and starluck) both have EASY $100 signup bonuses and $100 IGmpay bonuses. Another +$400.

[/ QUOTE ]
I've thought about this, but longer term I want to move up in poker (if I am a winning player), and not just make the money from whoring. Plus poker is a skill that can be used on vacation in Vegas, AC, Connecticut where online blackjack whoring isn't.

-Tom

[/ QUOTE ]

The wagering requirements are super low. All the cryptos have BJ bonuses that are monthly (will hill, intercasino, ukbetting,totalbet, littlewoods)

There are also some smaller $30 bonuses that are monthly as well. I basically followed the cashable blackjack bonuses list on www.casinodave.com (I am in no way affiliated with this site, its a good guide for BJ whoring)

I would check it out. You can flat bet 2-3$ per hand and see if you like BJ or not. If you run super bad, the bonus usually breaks you even. I'm +1k doing the signups (just started on the 14th of Jan).