not catching cards

[RustyCJ]

I am very new to poker, been playing online about 6 weeks. Started with .5/1 and the past 2 weeks I've been playing 1/2 5 handed tables, which I enjoy much more and have done better at.

the last few days I cannot come away with a winning session, I get down very early in my sessions, get frustrated and I know it gets me off my game. I feel I am playing weak tight, I have a fear of losing, some hands I get a solid part of the flop only to have some bozo catch an inside straight on the river, this is happening repeatedly the past few days.

Advice for a newbie?

Thanks in advance


Thought I might throw in my PT stats too for 1/2 5 handed tables

Total hands 4456
Vol put $$ in pot - 28.68
Vol put $$ from SB - 42.15
Folded SB to steal - 84.73
Folded BB to steal - 70.63
Att to steal blinds - 14.17
Won $$ when seeing flop - 31.56
BB/100 hands - 1.16
Went to SD % - 30.55
Won $$ at SD - 54
PF raise - 8.57

78 total sessions, 32 winning for 41.03%
43 hours played 1.2BB/hr 1.16BB/100 hands

59% of table on avg seeing the flop

I am currently losing .04 at the SB and .14 at the BB

[naphand]

Frustrating isn't it... /images/graemlins/mad.gif

It's a part of the game that there will be periods when you just cannot seem to win. When you are running cold, you MUST play your good hands strongly as they are not appearing very often. Try to think of the suckouts as just a temporary loan to the fish playing them. Don't be afraid to lose hands against them - force them into making mistakes.

Your V$IP could be a little lower - maybe 20-25% esp. if you are running cold. I've had bad spells SH when my V$IP figure was 15% and I think on one day it was 6%. THAT was a bad spell. Just be patient - take more breaks to cool off and settle down. The temptation playing against poor players who keep sucking you out is to get mad and try to get back at them. WRONG. Sit out on the table for 5 mins, get up and walk about or just lie down, fix yourself a drink.

What is worse than poor cards, is a lot of suckouts, as it's more expensive. But there is nothing you can do about that except just keep playing right. If you are in a mental state of almost permanent tilt (and its easy not to recognise this) then take a couple of days off or play some more full table poker to slow your head down. Or play some micro-limit games and vent your frustration at a low risk. Also, don't play draws unless you are getting the right odds. Stop playing low pairs outside the blinds or OTB (without limpers), forget those inside straight draws unless you have a good sized pot and 2-3 other players still in. If you have a good hand and think you are up against a draw, RAISE it up - you have to kill their odds.

Your figures suggest you are playing fine for the limit but do POST SOME HANDS up here on the forum, otherwise you no-one can really help you apart from little pep talks like this.

FYI the last 2 days (1,046 hands) I have hit precisely 1 flush draw, and been beaten by flushes, it seems, every time 3-suits fell on the board. Of the 8 straights I have made, 3 have been split pots and 2 beaten by Rivered flushes. I have lost 60BB playing TP. I have been pretty mad at times, but overall I am pleased with my play, there have been only a handful of hands I think I played poorly, yet I have lost quantities of BB to appalling players who limp in every hand and beat me with 63o for a FH and 83o for a straight. Somehow, I am just 20BB down. Hehehe..... /images/graemlins/wink.gif

Always review your hands in PokerTracker. I can see that the 20BB I am down could have been a profit if I had played 10-12 hands better. The difference between profit and loss is very fine, and can amount to as little as 3-betting one hand instead of calling, or folding to a CR, or value betting the River against 2 opponents who are calling with 2nd pair.

POST SOME HANDS FOR REVIEW!!

[stripsqueez]

i think your pokertracker stats look ok - i think your raise % is too low - i rarely play pre-flop unless its for a raise - no cold calling a raise outside the blinds

your win % when seeing the flop looks very low to me which means that you may have been experiencing a lot of bad beats - i reckon it should be more like 37% or higher given the number of hands you play

stripsqueez - chickenhawk