By poker_boy | 10 Comments
Last updated: Friday, November 19, 2010 | 139 Views Tags: aces, cash games, full house, fulltilt, madman, next card, pot, scenarios, time 3
What’s this week’s poker question? Let’s dive straight in…
Question: I have come to the determination that skill is a part of poker, but it seems to me luck plays a bigger part. I had a morning 3 hours session of online poker today where I was playing 1/2 NL cash games, 2 tables at a time. 3 scenarios:
1. I had pocket aces on the button. There was a raise to $6 and two callers after. When it gets to me I raise to $24 and get one caller, just what I wanted. The flop comes out 10, 9, 6 rainbow. I bet $40, the guy goes all in for $110, I call. He has 7 8 of hearts. I lose entire pot.
2. I have pocket 9s. A raise to $6 preflop by a player after I limped, I call, it’s just the two of us playing. Flop is 9, 5, 2. I check my top set to slow play, he checks. Next card is a 10, and I bet $12. He raises me to $30, I call. River is a 2, I bet $50, he goes all in for his remaining $125, I call, he shows pocket tens for the better full house.
3. Loose player playing like a madman. He just lost a big pot. He goes all in for $60 preflop. I call with A J on the button. He shows A 3. We’re playing on fulltilt where you can run it twice, and we both have the option to do that checked off. He gets a 3 on both times it’s run, I get no jacks. He wins it all.
This is just an example of what I’m going through playing online poker. I’m good, and I’m getting my money in when I should be, but nothing is working out for me. In the past two months I’ve gone from $3,200 to $1,700 playing solid poker. Any advice?
1. I had pocket aces on the button. There was a raise to $6 and two callers after. When it gets to me I raise to $24 and get one caller, just what I wanted. The flop comes out 10, 9, 6 rainbow. I bet $40, the guy goes all in for $110, I call. He has 7 8 of hearts. I lose entire pot.
2. I have pocket 9s. A raise to $6 preflop by a player after I limped, I call, it’s just the two of us playing. Flop is 9, 5, 2. I check my top set to slow play, he checks. Next card is a 10, and I bet $12. He raises me to $30, I call. River is a 2, I bet $50, he goes all in for his remaining $125, I call, he shows pocket tens for the better full house.
3. Loose player playing like a madman. He just lost a big pot. He goes all in for $60 preflop. I call with A J on the button. He shows A 3. We’re playing on fulltilt where you can run it twice, and we both have the option to do that checked off. He gets a 3 on both times it’s run, I get no jacks. He wins it all.
This is just an example of what I’m going through playing online poker. I’m good, and I’m getting my money in when I should be, but nothing is working out for me. In the past two months I’ve gone from $3,200 to $1,700 playing solid poker. Any advice?
Answer: Let your opponents keep playing like this and just keep playing solid poker. Eventually youll get more money from them than they will from you.
Youre complaining about bad beats but that happens to everyone who plays. My aces got cracked by queens few days ago by a 2 outer on the river and I havent played since. The key is stop playing once you feel the beats have affected your strategy.
I know its frustrating, but I bet youre still an overall winner right? Making money is not the objective in poker, the objective is making correct decisions.
Youre complaining about bad beats but that happens to everyone who plays. My aces got cracked by queens few days ago by a 2 outer on the river and I havent played since. The key is stop playing once you feel the beats have affected your strategy.
I know its frustrating, but I bet youre still an overall winner right? Making money is not the objective in poker, the objective is making correct decisions.
Comments
10 comments
Mike Smith
November 19, 2010
Online poker is a waste of time and money.
November 19, 2010
poker is about losing money
November 19, 2010
Its called variance and many top players go through downswings and upswings.
The reality is if there is a mathematical chance you can lose a hand then be cautious and play within a bankroll that you can afford to lose. Nothing wrong with playing as long as you accept that you can win a lot as well as lose a lot. So don’t chase your loses and play within your bankroll.
November 19, 2010
Advice? You could stop whining, I suppose.
You played 3 hours on 2 tables at once, and you are showing 3 hands?
You realize that on hand 2 as you described you got $6 in the pot while you were ahead, and $155 in the pot while behind, right?
Just stop playing, there are a lot of swings in poker, and you need to be able to handle the swings to play well. Obviously, you can’t handle them.
November 19, 2010
"I have come to the determination that skill is a part of poker, but it seems to me luck plays a bigger part."
Of course in a 3-hour session, luck will play a bigger part. Skill only plays a big part in the long run.
Two months sounds like a long time. How many hours have you averaged per week in the past two months? If a lot, then it’s probably you and not the cards. If not many, then keep grinding, don’t go on tilt, and see if the slump ends. If you’re a good player the slump will end.
But with $1,700 left you should move down to .5/1, you don’t have the bankroll for 1/2.
November 19, 2010
Well you can’t determine your skill level on a 3hour session, hands like that simply happen. But if you are amazed that they do, then I doubt you grinded your way up too 200nl. And a 3200 roll is too small to play 200nl especially considering the current state of the games (as in they are a lot tougher than they used to be).
I would move down to 50nl, maybe 25nl even. Get 20k hands in at each stake and only move up if you are winning. Unless you don’t like playing anymore then you should simply stop obviously.
November 19, 2010
Ignore the first 2 posts and read the ones below them. The fact is, you need to be honest with yourself and your results. If you have been putting in a lot of hours and hands, like 30,000 hands+ in the past 2 months and are losing, then you are probably not a winning player at this limit. The fact is, 1/2 NL online is a fairly tough game at most sites. It is NOT like 1/2 live, where players are very bad and comparable to the smallest online games like .01/.02 NL. Imo, with $1,700 move down to .25/.50 NL and move your way up by winning. If you’re not a winning player at a level, then study more and ask for feedback on your trouble hands (obviously not these types of hands) and post them on 2+2. These hands are so basic, no feedback is required. Obv luck plays a role in the short-term, but 300-500 hands is piddly squat. A lot of online pros play 10x this much a day and they can still have losing weeks/months.
November 19, 2010
Why stop if you could maintain and do good strategy on the game. The chance of winning is in your hand whether your good or not it all defends on you.
November 19, 2010
I’ve been there man. You just have to roll with the punches and learn from it.
November 19, 2010
Stop until you stop tilting.
You are, again, talking about the short run. In the long run, those plays against those cards will be huge winners for you. (Except the 99 v TT. That will usually lose.) You remain results oriented.
I think I’ve suggested before that you drop down in limits so that when you get stacked, it’s not so painful to you. Then you can make these plays and roll with the punches. At least, that usually works for me.
I had a nasty run this morning that had me too tilted to play. So I stopped. I think I’m over it enough to play again…soon. Will see.