n00b question

I've read GSHE once and SSHE 4 times, yet I feel totally lost. Sometimes I feel I know a few things about what I'm doing, but most of the time I just don't know what to do.

Shouldn't I be better after reading as much? I've also played 30 or 40k hands. Half of those before I started reading though.

My roll goes from $60 up to $90 playing .10/.20, just to drop down to $60 again after a few days with crappy cards. I tend to get these streaks of bad hands, sit for hours just folding.

I want to improve my game but don't know how to anymore. Maybe I'm not fit for poker /images/graemlins/frown.gif

[GrunchCan]

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Maybe I'm not fit for poker

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My original response was rambling & disconnected.

I wanted to say three main things.

First, humility is one of the most important parts of learning to play winning poker. You need to be able to admit that you probably suck at poker. This admission enables you to improve.

Don't fall in to the easy trap of blaming your losses on variance. Assume they were due to bad play (probably tilt-induced to some degree). Then make an effort to improve.

Second, reading is an important part of learning. But it's not the only part. You also need to self-criticize, and discuss poker with people better than you.

Third, the 2+2 forums are a gold mine of strategic advice. I've looked through some of your recent posts, and it doesn't look to me like you are really mining the gold that is here.

Get active in the micros forum. Try posting your own strategy advice to other peoples' hands. If your wrong, you'll be corrected. That's a great way to learn. Post some of your own hands, and get advice on them. I'll see you there, and once you're involved, you'll learn more and more what you need to do in order to improve your poker.

It's not that you aren't cut out for poker. You just haven't learned how to learn poker yet. Get over to micros & start making yourself known there.

[aargh57]

I'm thinking that maybe you should reread the GSHE book again. When I started I read WLLH about 6 times or more (along with some other crappy books). I think SSH may be a little too much if you don't think you're grasping the material. I think if you just take it step by step you'll be alright. Go over the basics, pot odds, counting outs, starting hands, betting for value, free card, semi-bluff. Next time you get a hand that you feel lost, post it here and get some help in the Micro limit forum.

Also, go over those hand quizzes in the back and try to answer some of the hands posted in the Micro forums. A poster suggested a while back to answer 5 hands a day and you'll really get better at your game. If you feel self consouse (sp?) about posting just decide what you'd do and read the responses. I don't do five every day but I try to do at least two or three. Just hang in there, study some more and it will eventually come along. If half of your hands were before you started reading breaking even over only 15-20k hands isn't that bad.

Have to say I'm a noob too. My limit game sucks, but I'm keeping at it. I've read GSH and SSHE once through as well as HOH.

I've been playing Limit a lot(and spewing way too much), I try to review my hands with poker tracker and study at least an hour a day. It's like seeing some of the puzzle but not all.

Aggression is the name of the game, but blind aggression is a mistake that costs. That's my biggest weakness. I tightened up my starting requirements and seem to be back on the winning path. Mainly I figured I needed to stay away from marginal +EV until I'm better at reading hands and dumping the weak ones if the pot odds aren't there.