Newbie looking for help

[JackKingIt]

I’m very very tired of working my job. One day I was dropping my girlfriend off at a new clients, she’s a babysitter, this new client had a fabulous house, nice car and other major signs of money. Turns out he’s an online poker player! That was enough for me to hear. I have been working at a terrible job for three years. Before that I have over a decade of atrocious jobs ruled by overwhelming stupidity, harebrained politics and little to no hopes of making any money. I’m now ready to dedicate all the energy I have to something else and Poker is it! I’m not looking to become a millionaire, I just want more than what I have now. (Which is not much.)
However After reading bits of a few books I’ve developed a technique that is not working! I started with 1 cent Hold’em games and my starting capital is over %50 gone! How can I figure out what I’m doing wrong? I seem to get a decent amount. (Sometimes even doubling what I start out with.) But I always seem to lose it all within a combination of 3 hands! Like I just ended with a game where I started with a buck. Ended up two dollars, 2 minutes later I have none! What is a newbie is doing wrong when he’s whining about this happening?
I have Nick Grudzien’s book but I‘m looking for some techniques to help me with the low tables (1 and 2 cent games) while I try to understand this book. Any suggestions? Where is a good place to start and research. I have a decent grasp of the game, but still loose track of the terms. Is there a good place to look those up? Please if anybody can help me out that would be awesome!

Sincerely,
Johnny T.

[HollywoodAsh]

If you're serious about getting into it fully then you need to give yourself the best chance. Read up on the game properly as it sounds like you know what you're talking about to a degree but there's a lot more for you to learn.

For tournament play I suggest you read Harrington on Hold'em (Volumes 1, 2 and 3), David Sklansky's Theory of Poker and Doyle Brunson's Super System 1 or 2(I haven't read the 2nd one but as far as I know it's an update to the previous one so I suggest probably read the 2nd!).

Also to track your online hands and evaluate them I suggest you grab either PokerTracker or PokerOffice as they will show you where you're going wrong and helps fix your leaks.

Lastly I would suggest you just take your time with this, don't quit your job and put all your money into it 'cos that's a quick way to go broke! I think the general consensus is that you have to have around a $10-20,000 bankroll to do this professionally.

Hope this helps!

[Rek]

You can't just decide one day you will be a pro player and live a nice lifestyle. You can certainly improve your game with study and experience but how far anybody can go will depend on their committment and talent. I don't know if you have either but time will tell.

In the meantime work hard at your existing job and look to progress because you may never make a pro poker player.

It is a bit like seeing a pop star living in a nice house and saying "ok I am going to get singing lessons and be a pop star". Some make it and thousands don't. There is no magic formula. Get real, try to improve, the rest will take care of itself if you are committed and good enough.

[GFresh]

I think you need to educate yourself a bit before you can understand the concepts. Pick up Getting Started in Hold'em by Ed Miller and read that first. Then actually apply what the book says and give yourself enough of a hand sample size and bankroll that you can see results. Learn to play tight, fundamentally sound poker before you get fancy.

[hihimichelle]

yeah, i think talent is the key. I remember Ivey saying no amount of books, reading, watching will result in you becoming great. Most of it is talent, once your getting into some decent sized money. Even 10/20c most people know the basics and you can't win much money at those levels. Well, not enough to earn a living. Ye, read and educate yourself and hope you've got a hidden talent for it. Most of it is the reading side of it, betting patterns etc you can get pointers - But its a very difficult skill to develop. Now only do you have to beat the competition, you also, have to beat the rake. I wonder how many players can make a decent living from it? 10% max? and what about all the losers who get themselves in debt.

ahah my point is even at 10/20c i've won quite a bit. Who from, usually a complete and utter fish who you get a micro levels - u only need one at the table. I won't be seeing those at the higher levels, if i moved up.

[allyasia]

read some book
2+2 become your church, which you will attend daily.
start off playing lowest micro level,
try to beat the game, and move up.
also invest in tacking software, such as PT or HM

[JackKingIt]

WOW Thank you very much for your responses. You guys have given me a lot of info to start out with.
Nice to know the good books I should get deep into. I just have a few questions.
I’m very committed to this. The way I see it I’ll make money if I study hard, work hard and learn hard. (whatever that may mean) I’m not even to looking to make $100,000 a year. Just enough to have it as a job. Right now I get paid $12 an hour (and I work 15-20 hours a week.) I usually end up with about $400-$550 a month. Making more than that is my goal. After that we’ll see what happens. I’m going to come to 2+2 as much as I can. What is a good place for me to start on 2+2? Also is there a tutorial on how to use Poker Tracker? I tried to send my Hand History to it but it wouldn’t work. I tried importing my hand history but that wasn’t working. Speaking of which someone said I should get PT and HM. I don’t know what HM is.

Thank you guys again for your responses. I look forward to my poker future.

[JSmith2007]

I hate to say this and it may be impossible for you right now, but move up. I don't see how anyone could get a bankroll going on $0.01/$0.02 NLHE because people will call with 2 4 off and personally I think that is why you have such swings as $1-->$2-->$0. You really begin seeing 'players' at the $0.02/$0.05 NL tables (10x moreso than .01/.02) and could probably start there.

Another good thing to do is to read the hand histories and post hand histories in the micro NL forum. Most people will help you out and provide you the general consensus of what the best play is should you have a question about a certain hand.

As for your profit goal, that is incredibly attainable. It will not happen overnight and it will probably take alot of grinding to build your bankroll.


Good luck.

[JereLock]

HM = Holdem Manager ... I don't see the point in having Holdem Manager, as it is nearly the same as PT, only it is still in beta. It looks more promising than PT, and right now it is also free. So I'm using HM right now. If you already have PT, don't bother yet.

As for how to use PT, this thread contains a great analysis of what your stats mean and what you should be looking at in PT

[SunyD]

JackKingIt - Good luck to you. I mean that, no sarcasm. Alot of people are in the same boat as you, with a dream to make some extra money on the side playing poker.

A good piece of advice I can give you right now is to focus on learning the game and playing correctly, and dont be totally money-minded or results-oriented. I know that sounds crazy because we all play this game to win money, but you cant think about it so much when your actually playing. If you do, trust me, you will not win. If your serious, devote yourself to studying the game and let the rest takes its course. The fact is you will have some winning nights, and some losing nights. You might even have 5 losing nights in a row... but thats part of the game. If you play correctly, expect to build your bankroll in the long run.