Stars 1/2 - Are my stats terrible?

[JSampras1]

I understand why to play and what hands to play. I play 5/10 and 10/20 limit and i played probably several hundred thousand hands at 5/10 for like 6 months a few years ago and then i quit for like a year and a half. So i understand how to play.

I just said I should be positive because I am looking at the hands i am playing and the people who are at my tables and a lot of them are playing total crap, and playing that crap very badly.

So I thought I would ask people to look at my stat line to see if I am making big overall mistakes, and they did, and told me i'm playing too tight. So i'm trying to figure out where I need to get more hands and which hands i need to add.

Would u rather me just post about taking bad beats, and then complain about stupid players? I'm not asking for donations, and thanks for being such a jerk and not helping me out. I appreciate it.

[Smurph64]

When I said donations I was referring to donations from the players you were up against not from the posters in question who answered you. I answered your post when you posted hands without being a jerk and I don't think I was being a jerk here but so be it.

Clearly you have a thin skin, I have taken a lot more heat than I dished to you here as many can attest to. Your thin skin seems to be prevalent in your defensive stance.

That is the attitude that is going to kill you, not the cards. We all have bad crap happening to us but with every post I see a huge leak in your attitude and that is what I am addressing.

If you think you can win because you should win, because the others are really bad and you think adding hands are going to change all that, I think you need a wake up call.

Being results oriented is just bad thinking. I don't care how many hands you have played, in fact I would suggest it is probably a bad thing for you because you have ingrained so many results into your thinking process that it is extremely difficult for you to adjust your game in an appropriate way.

The game of tight is right is really long gone in this poker online world of today. If you don't understand motivation, betting patterns, and the tendancies of yourself let alone your opponents, you can add as many hands as you like and it won't make much difference.

1/2 by the way is the worst level to play at imo. If I suggest anything to anyone is that one should skip 1/2 if at all possible.

In your case I suggested moving down because you are going to see even more bad players, you are going to have even more bad beats and you will need to start developing reading skills, metagame games skills that seem to be lacking in your limited input on these boards.

If you think I am a being a jerk then by all means ignore what I am saying, it affects me not. I am trying to help you here.

You can be defensive or you can look at why I am saying what I am and see if there is a grain of truth in it.

Your choice.

[abby318]

[quote





1/2 by the way is the worst level to play at imo. If I suggest anything to anyone is that one should skip 1/2 if at all possible

[/ QUOTE ]

why should a player moving up through the levels skip $1/2? what is so bad about this level? just wondering cause a recently moved from .50/1.00

[TimovieMan]

[ QUOTE ]
why should a player moving up through the levels skip $1/2? what is so bad about this level? just wondering cause a recently moved from .50/1.00

[/ QUOTE ]
The lowest limit you can play live is 2/4 and a lot of those ABSOLUTE FISH (ever played live 2/4? they are BAD!) play the same limit online.
Hence the good players have the same qualities at 1/2 as they do 2/4, but 2/4 holds more fish and is generally better...

[Smurph64]

plus the rake is less costly.

[JSampras1]

Smurph, I appreciate the time you took writing your responses. Still your posts basically boil down to you think my attitude/game/hand reading sucks, and i should drop down to micro-microstakes because i'm not a good player.

I admit, I'm not a very good player. But I was running 3.3 bb/100 over my last 30k hands at .5/1 before i moved up, so i was surprised to still be down over 14k hands at 1/2. I really didn't know if i was just going through a downswing or if there was something in my stats that was fundamentally wrong.

I asked an honest question about my stats to try to improve my game which is what i thought this forum was for. Every other poster gave me useful feedback and concrete advice on what they thought is wrong and what i should be doing, and I'm already working on making those changes.

Since your first post you basically told my game sucks and i should drop down to .05/.1 where i belong and forget about trying to improve, because I suck so much it won't even help. That's your opinion, which is fine. What you think of me is none of my business, and i don't really care. I'd rather ask and have people trash my attitude/game etc. and hopefully get some helpful advice than just play, lose and complain.

If the thread annoyed people I apologize. I wasn't really sure how else i could get the feedback i needed. I have been working really hard at my poker game and it's disappointing to still lose.

Thanks everyone for the helpful advice. I'm going to try to make the changes you suggested (except dropping down to .5/.1 [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img])

[Vex]

[ QUOTE ]

Also my big problem is so many pots are raised that yes, KJs is a money maker, but lets say i limp/call a raise, if the flop is K high i will probably either win 1 small bet or lose several big bets, which is terrible.

I still don't know how to get around that. I will keep workign on it though. Thanks!

[/ QUOTE ]

Treat it like the marginal drawing hand it is. Steal with it, or limp with it. Flop monsters or good draws with it, and with just one pair throw it in the muck when you run up against real resistance.

As others have pointed out, your stats are very tight and very aggressive. So try mixing in some passive play. KJ is a good hand for that.

[gutte169]

I think you have a great attitude, and it would be in your best interest to ignore advice in this tone. You're actively seeking help and have provided your personal stats for people to look at. Anyone who is disecting your "attitude" based on the fact that you've posted your stats and the fact you defended yourself and your game is providing marginal help.

The fact is, downswings and break-even stretches happen. No matter how good you are and how perfect you play, you're going to get beat by the cards for a while at some point. 14K hands is really not 'that' many. There are a lot of players who play that many in a week. Keep playing and keep your head up.

My recommendation, for what it's worth, is to play .50-1 6-max. If you have any leaks, playing 6-max will make them easier to find and easier to fix. You'll master c-bets, blind play, blind stealing, etc. at double the pace.

Anyways, good luck.

Edit: By the way, 16-10-2.5 is fine. Just be willing to slow down here and there rather go hog-wild when you're behind.

[JSampras1]

Thanks a lot gutte! Really encouraging post [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] I played some 6 max nl and it was really an interesting experience, so i think that's a really good idea to mix in some 6max limit to improve some stuff.

Anyway thanks a lot for the advice there. I'm actually not down TOO much, but like i said I know that if i'm not winning long term, it's not because of luck, it's because of leaks. Hopefully i'll get em fixed!

[Smurph64]

All I can say is good for you for looking down instead of up or out to fix your game. Glad you can take the advice of someone who says the same thing but compliments you at the same time.

I will reiterate that stat fixing is a thing of the past. If you fix stats in an attempt to improve your game rather than fixing your game and letting the stats go where they may you will be totally exploitable by anyone who watches stats.

The single level metagame philosophy expounded in the books from the past is no longer feasible in my opinion.

It is no longer possible to play the bonus and rakeback levels of .50/1.00 and 1/2 as well as can be expected if you do not alter your play for your opponents.

You probably can still get away with preflop strategies and survive but if you don't improve your postflop play exponentially while doing so then there is no way you will stand a chance at 6 max.

6 max by the way requires you to play around 25 to 30 percent of your hands and raise preflop with 20 to 28% if you want to beat it and the blinds and the rake consistently. Essentially without rakeback the blinds cost you two positions so speaking bluntly you need to show profit from UTG and Hijack.

If you have played at the stats you have shown to date, its a huge learning curve to play 6 max.

I played fr at 30/15/2.5 for 150k hands and showed a 2bb/100 profit despite paying 5bb/100 to the rake up to 3/6.

It was only after I took time off for a few months and studied and practiced with Poker Academy for a very long time that I made the leap to 6 max. I spent countless hours watching btspider, Mr. Wookiee, and Dr. Matt (str8fish) before I started playing 6 max well. Now in fact you can watch videos from some 6 max guys on their coaching sites and its unbelievably helpful.

At 1/2 6 max I am running into difficulties and as many have told me its a really strange level. I am 3bb/100 below it and above it, but down .5/bb with 1/2 after 10k hands there. (Still profitable with rakeback and bonus but if I had more in the roll I would skip it. As it is now I pick games above or below it as much as at 1/2 to build my roll up)

So all I am suggesting if you do play 6 max drop down even lower than .5/1.00.

It has been the advice of many to me and its been extremely appreciated.