guess i'll never get this game

[txraven]

Thanks for all the replies. They helped alot. After reading the posts I decided to play a few SNGs. On Pstars I played 1 $5/9, $5/18, and on FTP A$5/36. In the two Pstars sng's I finished first. Although I was able to win most hands I was leading in and I did take a few hits but was able to keep the pot relatively small so it didnt hurt as much. I did manage to suckout once also to stay alive( although I was ahead preflop with AA). In the FTP sng managed to finish fourth and in the money, could have done better but pushed a marginal hand to try and chip up. I think my outlook was alot better after your posts that allowed me think str8er while playing. So thanks again all.

[mmbossman]

One idea that Harrington recommends is to be slightly more cautious or selective with your hands when going up against the big stack. Try to play more pots against smaller stacks because 1) They will be more likely to fold to aggression when they hold marginal hands, whereas a bigger stack may look you up, and 2) they can't knock you out. This strategy falls apart once the Ms start getting small, but when mostly everyone has Ms over 15, risking your whole stack against another big stack when you're only 60-40% to win isn't smart. Obviously if you get a monster, get your money in good, but a hand like middle pair high kicker is less volatile against a smaller stack.

[Daniel2k7]

[ QUOTE ]
but when mostly everyone has Ms over 15, risking your whole stack against another big stack when you're only 60-40% to win isn't smart.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't think giving up 60/40 edges in online MTTs is good poker. You certainly do not want to flip against someone who has u covered when it is not necessary as ur both deep. But if you are a favourite to double up ur stack u should not avoid a confrontation.

[BarryLyndon]

Tx,

There are several ways to approach this game. After a long time, I'm just starting to realize that the best way (for me, at least) is to just be a student of it and try to enjoy it for the strategic implications. Play within your bankroll and never let BR pressure get to you. If you feel pressure on your bankroll, then move down where you can just get playing and learning. When you make a big score, then move up, where the play will probably be just as [censored] annoying (see my recent "Vaginas of the Poker room" post).

Variegate your game. I dedicate most of my time to MTTs, but I also play NL 6-max and SNGs. Let me tell you, SNGs are a fine way to understand a few things about stack sizes and the art of selective late game aggression. Also, they are just a nice quick 1 hour tourney-like thing where the players are (usually) miserable. It's like one poster said from the psych forum - "if I only played MTTS, I'd [censored] kill myself." Good advice - playing different games WITHIN your bankroll is a great relief.

Poker is a mega-frustrating game. The key to dealing with the frustration is to just try to keep analyzing what you did right or wrong with your hands and play within your BR. That's it.

[Fuzzwah]

[ QUOTE ]
edit: just an example, if I take my top win this year out of my database, my ROI goes from 104% to 40%. If I take the top 3 out, it goes negative. That's the fine line that we're walking.

[/ QUOTE ]

I found this very interesting and my results are basically the same. I'm wondering though how many tournaments you've played total?

[JoeyJoJo Shabadu]

[ QUOTE ]
Tx,

There are several ways to approach this game. After a long time, I'm just starting to realize that the best way (for me, at least) is to just be a student of it and try to enjoy it for the strategic implications. Play within your bankroll and never let BR pressure get to you. If you feel pressure on your bankroll, then move down where you can just get playing and learning. When you make a big score, then move up, where the play will probably be just as [censored] annoying (see my recent "Vaginas of the Poker room" post).

Variegate your game. I dedicate most of my time to MTTs, but I also play NL 6-max and SNGs. Let me tell you, SNGs are a fine way to understand a few things about stack sizes and the art of selective late game aggression. Also, they are just a nice quick 1 hour tourney-like thing where the players are (usually) miserable. It's like one poster said from the psych forum - "if I only played MTTS, I'd [censored] kill myself." Good advice - playing different games WITHIN your bankroll is a great relief.

Poker is a mega-frustrating game. The key to dealing with the frustration is to just try to keep analyzing what you did right or wrong with your hands and play within your BR. That's it.

[/ QUOTE ]

This was the best advice ever right now. I decided to go back to single table sng's which I used to own at party and I did and feel much better.

Not kidding or sarcastic... some solid advice that was bang on for me. Thx Barry.