Applying what I've learned

[EMcWilliams]

Over the past few months I have realized that I need drastic improvments in my game, as I was in a game that should be pretty easy to destroy, and yet I wasn't winning at the rate i should've been. Additionally, I deposited money online and quickly lost all of it ($100 which I know isn't a whole lot, but i still lost it). It was right after this loss I decided I was tired of being a, dare I say, Fish, and found this website and started to read it nearly religiously. Under the advice of some of the players here, I purchased several books, i.e. ToP, HoH, SSHE, and read each and understood and retained 70% of what I read (I am in the process of re-reading). However, I still run into the same problem....Applying everything! I know I shouldn't get involved with certain hands in certain situations, and that I should bet this here, fold this there, but when I get to the table, I fall into my same old habits, and then after the game when I analyze what happened,I sit there and think about how bad some of my plays were. How many of you ran into the problem that I am talking about, that you know in your head what you should do, but yet you for some reason cannot, just cannot apply what youve learned. How did you fix it?

[BlakAces]

Two things: 1. DISCIPLINE 2. Follow your gut feeling. If you know you're beat, fold. You can't do anything to get rid of those bad beats, you have to live with them. So major guidelines are, don't play too tired, if you start getting bored and find yourself playing many mediocre hands out of position, either get some rest or swallow your losts. But the hardest thing to do is folding when you know or even think that you are beat. And don't forget that applying concepts that you learn in books to micro limit games won't always work, they're different types of games... Hope this helps a bit. Good experience helps us all. BUT BE DISCIPLINED!!! /images/graemlins/mad.gif

[EMcWilliams]

Thanks....I think of a lot of it comes from my lack of experience, but when I do play, I still forget a lot of important concepts, that I know, which is annoying. Im sure more experience will change that, but I was hoping for some other suggestions

[Shoog]

I'd suggest reading Crazy Mike Caro, there is a section in Doyle's SS2 that may help you adopt some guidelines and restrictions on how and under what conditions you play. His observations about "threshold of misery" or other gems such as "You don't get paid to win pots. You get paid to make the right decisions.... If you don't throw any hands away, you're probably going to win more pots than anyone else - right up until you go broke."
or "You see, the latest laboratory research suggests that cards lack the physical strength to reposition themselves. So, even if they were determined in their tiny brains to make your life miserable, their muscles are too weak to follow through."
chrs,
/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

[johnc]

Reading and studying is one thing, but transferring that knowledge to the table is quite another thing. I would suggest, in addition to poker tracker data, that keeping a "diary" of your play and honestly look at what you did correctly (whether it resulted in huge gains or not) and how you screwed up (once again, regardless of results). Review your play and brush up on aspects of your game that may be costing you or you aren't yet confident about or don't have a clue. Re-read SSHE as many times as time permits. Lastly, get your time in at the tables and concentrate VERY HARD at the application of this knowledge. There is no amount of studying you can do to make up for experience gained.

[BigChris407]

I'm a newbee myself and have taken a similar path with the books and have begun reading this forum at least twice a day. All I have to add is that there is a difference between reading and understanding a concept and being able to tell, know of feel if that concept should be applied at a certain time. The more I play, the more times I get burned in a situation, the easier it is for me to notice it next time. I've still got a lot to learn but I know that much.

[SpeakEasy]

Patience, patience, patience.

Practice, practice, practice.

Give yourself a large enough bankroll to give yourself a decent chance of weathering the downs with the ups. More than $100, unless you are playing .10/.25. or lower.

[DeadRed]

Take this advice for what it's worth. I am not an expert player nor have I posted much here. But I do consider myself a semi-successful poker player and semi-competent educator. I am getting from you a very similar story to one I often get from my students.

[ QUOTE ]
and understood and retained 70% of what I read

[/ QUOTE ]

This is not true. You may have understood the English words on the page, but you admitedly did not comprehend it enough to put it into practice. This is not an uncommon phenomena, nor something to be worried about. It is usually fixed with one major ingredient: PRACTICE.

A second problem may be trying to start at a level (both monetarily and skill-wise) that is not right for you. All those books you mentioned contain a lot of information. Much of it can be conflicting at times and difficult to sort out. Take a breath, step back, deflate your ego if necessary (not a dig, I've had problems with this as well) and drop back to basics. My first book was the often-maligned "Winning Low-Limit Hold'Em" by Jones. It teaches you a lot of "weak-tight" strategy. Definitely not optimal poker, but what I considered a "How to sit at a table and not lose your ass in 30 minutes for Dummies" kind of book. Basic stuff you can take to a .05/.10 table and do fine with. Let the more sophisticated stuff creep into your repetoire slowly. Remember, the "pros" make it look easy, but they've been doing this for much longer. Some of these people have misplayed more hands then you or I may ever play total. Keep on grinding it out, take it slow, and make sure you've completely digest the current bite before you take the next.

Happy Poker. DR.