Poker Coaching for $3/6

[Josh Harler]

I hope this request isn't inappropriate for these forums. I apologize in advance if it is.

I am a $3/6 player on PP. I've read a variety of 2+2 books: HPFAP, SSH, TOP. After almost 80k hands in the 6 months I've been playing seriously, I'm fairly sure I'm a winning player. The problem is that I'm not winning as much as I could be. I don't have exact statistics, but my BB/100 for $3/6 is sitting at around 1.5 after 20k hands and for reference my BB/100 for $2/4 is somewhere around 1.25 after 30k hands.

Part of the reason my BB/100 for these limits is low is because I've experienced some pretty severe downswings. I've been through a two-month period where I lost a significant amount of money and after about a month of recovery from that, I just recently had a 3-day, 200BB downswing. I'm not going to cry about bad beats and rigged poker sites. In fact, I know that the majority of my losses came from the odds working against me. It's hard to make a profit when your four flushes and OESDs hit about half to a third of the time (or worse) that they should, is it not? However, I know that there are many leaks in my game and I'd like them fixed.

I've read about arrangements where the player requesting help would send a bundle of hand histories to a more experienced and successful "coach", and the coach in turn would give advice to the player based on actual hands they've played. I'd like to set up an arrangement like this.

If anyone here has done something like this, I'd like to hear your comments on how it worked for you. If you are someone who would be interested in being my "coach", then please send me a PM. Thanks for your help.

[Lost Wages]

I don't have exact statistics

You must get PokerTracker.

Part of the reason my BB/100 for these limits is low is because I've experienced some pretty severe downswings.

Everyone who plays poker experiences severe downswings, it just goes with the territory. It's factored into everyones win rate.

I've read about arrangements where the player requesting help would send a bundle of hand histories to a more experienced and successful "coach", and the coach in turn would give advice to the player based on actual hands they've played.

Hand histories are not good for diagnosing play because they are "readless". If you want to improve then your best avenue is to get involved in this forum. Post some hands that gave you trouble, read the other posts and, perhaps most importantly, respond to other posts. You will learn a lot by putting your reasoning into words and if you make a mistake, someone will be happy to point it out. Stick your neck out a little and don't be afraid to get corrected.

Lost Wages

[Josh Harler]

I do use PokerTracker. What I meant is that I'm at work right now, so I don't have access to my exact statistics at the moment. I don't obsess over my BB/100, so I don't know exactly where it stands because I haven't checked it in a while. The last I remember, my $3/6 BB/100 was around 1.5 or so. I could post the exact number tonight when I get home.

I mentioned my downswings so that it would be taken into account when looking at my BB/100. My BB/100 were much higher before my downswings. I'm aware that everyone who plays for any significant amount of time will have them. I guess I should mention that I had a 350+ BB upswing as well.

I realize that a lot of decision making comes from reads. I use PokerTracker and PlayerView so that I have each players Rating/VP$P/Aggr, etc. on the table when I play. Someone reviewing my hand histories can get somewhat of a read of the players based on their actions from prior hands and I can include my notes on each player if needed.

Here's my problem with posting individual hands. I'd have to know outright that this hand demonstrates a problem I have. If I knew that, I could fix it. I could reference my books and search these forums and find the solution.

I'm more interested in someone finding the consistant mistakes that I'm making. SSH states that you could check-fold every time you get a Royal Flush. This is a huge mistake, but costs you relatively little. I'm looking for the small mistakes that add up to costing me a lot.

I'm not a complete newbie. I feel that I am a more than decent player. I'm just trying to find some of my small leaks and fix them. Perhaps I'm not being aggressive enough in some circumstances, or perhaps I'm being too aggressive in others. Perhaps I play a little too loose on the flop after a preflop raise. These are the type of things I'm looking for.

[Lost Wages]

Here's my problem with posting individual hands. I'd have to know outright that this hand demonstrates a problem I have. If I knew that, I could fix it.

Yes, this is a common lament. The solution is in my first post. Read the forum. Read the hands that others post and reply with what, if anything you would have done differently and explain why. Then read the other responses and compare them with yours. If you disagree with someone try to figure out which one of you is right. If you think that you are then tell them so and explain why. It doesn't matter who actually played the hand, the concepts are the same.

I promise you that if you do this your play will improve. You will be playing a hand, about to call or fold or whatever and a little voice will pop into your head; "You know, those jerks at 2+2 would flame me to a cinder if I just called instead of raising here".

This is not a quick or easy process.

Lost Wages