Please

[Phtms]

Hi,

At first i would like to thank everybody here, i've been reading the forum for almost a year, and it was a very interesting reading.

I would also like to apologize for my language in advance.

Ok, here it goes...

I play poker for almost one and a half years. I started with partypoker, played for almost half a year, not really knowing what i was doing. After that i've started to dig deeper into theory and read books ( i've read and re-read SSHE for 10 times by now ). I've tried different types of poker and after a while i've picked limit holdem, because i couldn't cope with variance of NL. Then i've gradually moved to pokerstars.

I play tight agressive game according to PT, and my game has improved considerably.

The problem is that i still do not understant how to make money playing poker, not how to win pots (or win money). I struggle to explain what i want to say.

The more i play and study poker, the more i realize how little i know.

I can play a good game for some time, winning slow but steadily, then loose everything i made in one big downswing - and i'm back where i started. I'm no, well, loosing - that is for sure, but i'm not winning either. I cant do better than breakeven.

The only thing that reassures me is that i'm still playing those 10$ i've deposited back then when i started. I moved up to 500$ and now i'm back to around 100$ again.

I'm troubled by the fact that i do not do anything but work and poker, because poker seems like the only option to make some extra money considering my modest salary, and other circumstances. That extra 500$ a month from poker would do a tremendous difference for me. But taking into account the efforts i put into the poker, i cant do better than breakeven.

I do not even know what advice do i need.

Is it all about the bankroll management and the "long run"?

Do i simply have to continue with my game trying to do a little betther, winning 2$ a day, then, after 2 years, moving to bigger limits making 20$/day.. and thats where my 500$/month are?

Should i learn NL, where the leverage is higher?

..maybe i shouldn't play on pokerstars?

I know my post looks petty, but i would really appreciate some help. Maybe even some psychological help.

Thanks.

PS accidently posted it to BBV forum earlier, got pwned [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]

[dcasper70]

What game do you play (Limit, NL, SnG, other)?
What stakes do you play with your $100-$500 roll?
How many hands per week/month/total?
What are your PT stats (vpip, pfr, wsd, w$sd, bb/100, etc)?

[Phtms]

.25/.50 to .50/1 limit holdem
i play on average 4 hours a day, 4 tables.
Don't have PT with me right now, so i can't post the exact numbers. I'll be posting them a bit later.

[pzhon]

It doesn't sound like you are a winning player yet. It's an accomplishment to break even after the rake, but there is a lot more room to outplay your opponents.

My standard advice is to move down to a level you can beat. Don't be content to win. Make sure you understand why you are winning, so you can see it is not just luck. Then move up, trying to maintain that feeling of winning.

You say you realize there is a lot you don't know. Well, that's true for everyone, even famous pros. Can you point to some things you know and use, but that your typical opponents do not? When you see someone's hand at showdown (particularly when you folded preflop, and can be objective), think about what they had on each street, and how they acted. Would you have played the same way? You should see a lot of differences, and recognizing these can reassure you and help you to exploit your opponents' mistakes.

[DiamondDog]

If you're not sure that you're a winning player, I'd seriously question whether 4-tabling is a great idea.

1 table @ 0.000001BB/100 > 4 tables @ -2BB/100

Just a suggestion.

[Phtms]

I am at least a little better than break even.

I honestly think that i'm not winning enough not because i cant play poker, but because i know little about near-poker things.. like what site to play, what time to play etc. For example: there are more loose players on the pokerstars around midnight european time, and I'm finding myself wanting to sleep at that time already.. or, when you find yourself a loose table to play, not realizing that it became very tight a few minutes after you started to play.

Can these things be learned?

[Jzo19]

play on FT and get rakeback ..your leaving alot of money on the table by playing at stars ..imo

get pokertracker/PA Hud , on FT you can datamine ....after youve datamined for awhile you'll get enough stats that make table selection alot easier ...

[Phtms]

I have PT/PA Hud.

Why FT?

[xMars]

because u can datamine and get RB

[govman6767]

100 dollars is only 10 buys in's at the .05 .10 cent NL tables which is technically not enough bankroll to keep you safe from eventual busto.

Even at .50 1 dollar limit that's only 100 BB's some ppl can play with 300 I like to have 500 just to be safe.

Your underrolled and your big bad beats (which happen to everyone all the time) are wiping out too much of your bankroll.

If you read small stakes hold em 10 times ask yourself did you REALLY read it and UNDERSTAND IT. I've read lots of poker books and realized at some point I understood what they were saying but never played that way. (Im greedy)

If you really understand the concepts. All you would need is some rakeback, a drop down in limits and find 1 or 2 small leaks in your game and you should be well on your way to moving up.