Help by newbie really wanted!!

I just read a post of a newbie who "only" won 560 $ with his first 40.000 hands. This was absolutely frustrating for me!! In the moment I am at 30.000 hands and I lost 400 $. The issue is not the loss, the real issue is that things seem to get worse every day!
When I started playing poker in May 2005 I first read "Winning low limt poker" by Lee Jones and "52 Tips ..." by Barry Shulman, before reading TOP by D.Sklansky and "Internet Texas Holdem" by Matthew Hilger. I was playing roughly even for two months. But then it became worse every month. Reading more seemed not to help. In November I am at - 5$/100 BB, which is the worst result ever. I only play 0,5/1 $ in 10 player tables on CoralEuroBet and Carribean Sun.
What I do not understand is that my stats seem to be alright. 23% preflop rate (saw flops all hands), 56% wins at show down went to SD 31%), W$WSF is 33%. My aggression factor is below 0,71 (preflop 0,30), but I am working on it. My question is, what should I do to improve? I really want to understand what the issue is? One seems to be that I often loose expensive hands. The last example was nuts FH to quads (2 sixes in the hole). But is there some other fundamental mistake that I make?? Or how do I find out what is wrong?? Thanks for your support in this issue.

Read SSHE.

Read and post hands on these boards (in appropriate forum).

Review your hands on your own after each session.

Lower your limit, and practice there.

Think about what you're doing as you play and why you are making a particular play -- don't just do it, because it felt right.

Good luck.

[DrewOnTilt]

[ QUOTE ]
I just read a post of a newbie who "only" won 560 $ with his first 40.000 hands. This was absolutely frustrating for me!! In the moment I am at 30.000 hands and I lost 400 $. The issue is not the loss, the real issue is that things seem to get worse every day!
When I started playing poker in May 2005 I first read "Winning low limt poker" by Lee Jones and "52 Tips ..." by Barry Shulman, before reading TOP by D.Sklansky and "Internet Texas Holdem" by Matthew Hilger. I was playing roughly even for two months. But then it became worse every month. Reading more seemed not to help. In November I am at - 5$/100 BB, which is the worst result ever. I only play 0,5/1 $ in 10 player tables on CoralEuroBet and Carribean Sun.
What I do not understand is that my stats seem to be alright. 23% preflop rate (saw flops all hands), 56% wins at show down went to SD 31%), W$WSF is 33%. My aggression factor is below 0,71 (preflop 0,30), but I am working on it. My question is, what should I do to improve? I really want to understand what the issue is? One seems to be that I often loose expensive hands. The last example was nuts FH to quads (2 sixes in the hole). But is there some other fundamental mistake that I make?? Or how do I find out what is wrong?? Thanks for your support in this issue.

[/ QUOTE ]

How much have you worked on your postflop play? Many new players make the mistake of focusing too much effort on starting hand selection and not play after the flop. Read, reread, and memorize all of the concepts regarding postflop play in Small Stakes Hold 'em.

[binions]

[ QUOTE ]

How much have you worked on your postflop play? Many new players make the mistake of focusing too much effort on starting hand selection and not play after the flop. Read, reread, and memorize all of the concepts regarding postflop play in Small Stakes Hold 'em.

[/ QUOTE ]

+1. Excellent advice.

In addition, you likely fold too much on the river in big pots. It also sounds like you are not aggressive enough.

[kirahvi]

[ QUOTE ]
23% preflop rate (saw flops all hands)

[/ QUOTE ]

Too loose imho, especially if your postflop skills need work.

[ QUOTE ]
My aggression factor is below 0,71 (preflop 0,30)

[/ QUOTE ]

Raise more. If you think you have the best hand, raise. Remember to be aggressive on every street, including preflop and postflop.

[MJL]

Lee Jones was the first read I had and it cost me $. The book was great to get down the basic principles but I found myself playing tight but very passive. I also misscounted outs because I thought I had 8 on my OESD but the 2 spades on the flop actually cut my draw to 6 outs etc..
SSHE by Miller is good.
You must learn to take charge of the hand thru CONTROLLED aggression. With your aggression stats you are most likely allowing others to out draw you and control the hand.
Keep reading, analyzing and discussing. You will improve. Your not the first to have this frustration.

[QTip]

Linky (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showflat.php?Cat=0&Board=micro&Number=3812872&Sear chpage=1&Main=3812872&Words=+QTip&topic=&Search=tr ue#Post3812872)

[Bob T.]

First, you are making two fundamental mistakes.

Your won at showdown is way too high, especially in games where there are frequently more than two players at showdown. You are folding way too often. (see if you can find Ed Miller's, 'Why you guys aren't crushing the game' post in the archives.)

Secondly, you are way too passive, which means that you aren't giving your opponents enough opportunities to fold incorrectly. It also means that when you do bet or raise, you are probably so far ahead, that your opponents are going to have the opportunity to fold correctly, or at least slow down correctly.

When I started playing, I thought that the large pots always went to the other guys, and that it was just bad luck. The truth is, the large pots went to the other guys, and it wasn't just bad luck. Now more often than not, the biggest pots come to me, and I don't believe that it is just luck. If you play more aggressively all the time, your opponents won't know exactly where you are when you are betting and raising, and they will make mistakes like threebetting top pair when you have a set, or trips when you are full, and the monster pots will tend to go to you.

The way you are going to find out exactly what mistakes you are making, is not by posting statistics, but by posting hands. Post one or two hands a day. Post hands that you think you played well. Post hands that you think you played poorly. Post hands that you didn't know what to do. Read and respond to other players hands. Figure out which posters have consistantly good advice, and read a lot of their posts. Figure out which ones are clueless, and read their posts too, and decide what you would do differently. (Some of the clueless ones eventually become good posters, and you can grow with them.)

Remember that the game is changing, and things that might have been good advice 5 years ago, might not be good advice right now. There are some plays that I made all the time a couple of years ago, but I think are not correct in the game as it has changed. Most of the books that you are going to read were written at least that long ago, so some of the stuff in them, probably won't add to your bottom line. Think about everything.

Finally, about five years ago, I was stuck $400, and dug my way out by playing $.50/1.00 and I have made regular withdrawals from my online accounts ever since then, and I am a long way from the most talented player on these forums.

Good luck,
play well,

Bob T.

[WriterBoy]

It's very possible that you are just _trying too hard_. If you go in thinking "this is where I _should_ be by now" then you will make small mental errors that cumulate over a session.
For instance, maybe your down a hundred and get frustrated, you say, "but these guys are terrible" and what happens? you push small edges too far, or call even when you are sure you are beat.
things like that. the only reason i even mention it is because i suffer from this type of thinking myself, and it cost me money in the beginning.

[Bob T.]

Oh yeah, read Qtip's post.

Thank you very much! This really helped! Especially the remark that the game keeps changing! Are there tendencies that can be observed??

[BoxLiquid]

I liked the post about the "controlled aggression".

Try to find your leaks. Sooner or later you'll know when to drop your aces and you'll get better at hand reading.