I'll admit, I'm probably a weak player.

I play a lot of 5-10, 10-20 at paradise. I generally lose, unless im on a card rush. THe thing is, I get raised and re-raised by inside straight draws, vs my Top Pair best kicker, and drawn out by an A5 suited. But I really don't know what I'm doing wrong. In the long run, youre supposed to win with excellent starting hands right? Only problem is, It seems that in the long run I lose my profits, and then some. There has got to be something i dont know beacause I almost always get beat by trash. Is there a thing as a good trash hand? WHat am i missing here?

At PP $5-$10 and $10-20 just playing good starting hands is just the beginning of the battle. In order to beat these games you must play strongly post flop.

[eMarkM]

I play regularly at 5/10 and have held my own, but certainly not the foremost authority. One thing I've noticed at PP is at the 3/6 levels and below you can often get away with just playing good cards and come out ahead since too many others will be playing trash hands. With 5/10 and above you have to be a very good post-flop player to take the money home. There's an excellent thread started by davidross on the General Hold'em board called "can one limit make that much difference" that discusses the differences in limits.

My own personal experience is that I've had much fewer suckouts like you describe on 5/10 since most players are playing decent hands. You should post some of the hands that have frustrated you since your post is pretty general and it's difficult to give specific advice. You're being raised by gut shots? That could be just bad players, but could be a sophisticated player semi-bluffing, trying to push you off a hand if he thinks you're weak-tight. Again, without some hand specifics it's hard to tell how you might be getting outplayed.

5-10 on paradise plays out more like a bigger limit game similar to 15-30 or above. I was gonna list a bunch of stuff but we probably play alot together so i can't give out all the secrets. I actually wrote it all out then said am i nuts i cant give this info out. Everybody would have to much info, especailly on me. Other 5-10 paradise players might see this. I don't want the games getting any tougher than they already are. Sorry i cant give out more.

I play a lot on pp as well, mostly 5-10 but up to 15-30$ if the mood strikes me. The reason I won't go higher (or even play 15-30 much at all) is a) I'm not comfortable leaving a large enough bankroll online b)collusion, although unlikely, would be more expensive at higher limits and c) there's some great players at the higher limits. I've seen my share of fish too.

To address your question- to start, 5-10 is beatable. 10-20 used to go all the time but now it's rare to see a full 10-20 going (not the 5 max tables). I beat the 5-10 for about 2BB/hr, playing 2 tables. In fact, pp has sustained me for the last few months when my live game has hit the roughest downswing I've ever had (100BB up to 20-40, give or a take a few hundred) /forums/images/icons/frown.gif I mention this to address the beatability of the games. There are plenty of idiots at 5-10. One of the other posters mentioned that you might be getting moves put on you that end up getting there, but I think some of the time you are legitimately up against a fool that just sucks out on you. In fact, I've found myself playing robot poker quite often, b/c many times I'm facing some guy that just won't slow down, after I've shown strength. I hate this spot, btw- having a decent but not great hand, and you can't let go b/c last time the guy turned over Q3 sooted, paired his Q, and won the pot.

You do need to play well postflop. There's way too much to go into here on that. I don't even know if you need any advice on that score. Here's what I think will help-
- keep track of who the good players are- the ones who consistently turn over good and/or WELL PLAYED hands. Sometimes I'll see a guy turn over a pretty mediocre starting hand, but one that was well played post flop. With these guys, I'd advise you to give them credit for hands and just stay out of their way. No different than in a live game.
- with suckout artists- just keep your head up. Pound the pot when you think you're ahead- often you're right. I value bet ALOT online- I'm always amazed at how many calls I get on the river. I think this happens more online than live play, but maybe it's just me.
- let your losses improve you. I lost early on at PP but I'm convinced it has improved my live and online game to an immeasurable degree. I started off as a break even live player and a loser on PP, and now I consistently beat both (well, not live games lately /forums/images/icons/wink.gif )You can really improve you card reading skills, logical deduction, etc with online play. The tricky ones will, well, trick you sometimes, but that's the nature of the beast. Many times, though, I can watch a hand and on the river call the guy's cards/suit before he turns it over. When this happens it's a nice feeling. You know you've got a good handle on the game.

Anyways, you have some work to do- don't we all? Hope that "long run" comes in for you at some point soon. You can always type in Ni han sur, that works a lot for me to keep my humor up. I personally enjoy typing in ni han sur to someone who is probably a woman (nick is queen cat, jane5 or somesuch LOL).

Gluck.

Leon