My name is cmfcpa......and I'm a fish

[cmfcpa]

My Story:

Always been interested in card games (rook, rummy) however until recently I've only played poker a few times with friends, but so many wildcards, everything was just luck..could not stand it.

Always watched the WSOP on TV and loved it, then started watching WPT.....the rest is history.

Joined PartyP last June with $100(yes I'm a big spender) made $20-$30 in a week thought I was smart. Went up to $3/$6 game got smashed to $13 and deleted the icon off my desktop....ego put in check.

Came across Katy Lederer's book(Howard's sister). Rekindled my interest. I then read "Fifth Street" and "Poker Nation". I did not realize how much work went into playing or how anaylitical it poker was. Being a CPA, I decided this might be for me.

I bought Ken Warren's Texas Holdem book. I've read some discouraging things about this book in these forums. However, for a guy who in mid-January had never heard of "Pot-Odds" and did not know what the name 5th street meant the book was just fine.

Anyway I took my $13 left from Party and with my knowledge gained about starting hands I worked it up to $100. I told myself when I got to $100 I could start playing $1/$2 and playing two games at once. I'm sure I've got ADD. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

I've bought some more books; Low-Limit (Lee Jones?), TOP, Super-System. I downloaded "Poker Tracker and have about 1200 ring hands and 23 $10 and $20 tournaments.

I've learned the starting cards pretty well. I'm just learning about the value of suited connectors. Though my Poker Tracker sample is small I was down (outside the blinds) $30 playing AXo......at least I'm learning.

By last Friday I was up to $400 in my bankroll. Then the cockiness set in.....and down I went. I got too loose. Actually probably not to loose as per my books. Once I committed to betting I found it hard to stop......I'd go down the river.literally. I would play tight-aggressive, but when the aggressive got going I would not know when to stop.

This week I'm working on reading the board and learning when to fold after the turn and the river. These big bets without the poper odds were killing me.

My Questions:

Using the Poker Tracker Info. Is there a place that can tell me what my #'s ought to be...i.e "best practices".

I see flop outside blind about %15 of time..probably OK. But what about the other stats like:
Won win saw flop
First action after flop
Won at showdown
When hands fold

Tournaments: I enjoy the NL $10 tournaments more than anything. I think I kindof have a feel for them. I've played about 20 with an average finish of 4th. Obviously losing money.....but if you take away my first ten tournaments I'm ahead $20. I'd say OK since I have no clue what I'm doing...especially when it gets head-to-head. Does anyone consistently make money at these? I can't find where poker tracker keeps up with the time, so you can come up with a per hour rate.

My Dream: I alocated $24 at PP to go on the WPT cruise. I played in the one-table $24 satelite. I finished second won $38. So I bought into another and won an entry into the $150 satelite tonight. This tournament tonight looks like its going to be about 1,000 folks. I've never played in a multi-table tournament. Have no clue how it works. This is a lot of pressure..the cruise and all...:)

I need some advice. Heeeelllpppp

Chris Moneymaker (wannabbeee)
Carl

[Nottom]

Welcome to the forum.

First thing I should say is that you've found your way here so you're already a few steps ahead of 90% of the poker players out there.

The most important thing I can probably tell you at this point in your poker career is to not overplay your bankroll. Every new player who starts to win thinks they are the next Phil (insert lastname here) and starts to move up in limits before they are ready. Don't do this.

The rule of thumb is that you need 300BB (Big Bets) to play comfortably at a given limit if you are a winning player, although I think there is nothing wrong with moving up if you have 200BBs for you new limit and are willing to drop back down if you start off on a bad note. So with your $400 you could have probably taken a shot at a 1/2 game, but anything above that is asking for trouble.

If you prefer SnGs then 30-40 buy-ins should be a good place to start as well, so you should be in good shape playing $10 tourneys.

Learn to beat the smaller games and as you start winning and building you bankroll you can start to move up. Don't get in a hurry unless you've got a bunch of expendable income to throw into the game. Its a lot cheaper to learn at .5/1 than it is to learn at 3/6.

And don't fool yourself with everyones favorite excuse, "I can't beat the micro-limit games because the players will call you with anything and they always suck out with trash hands." Trust me, these are the players that make the games good. It may be frustrating to see your AA lose to 94o for the 4th time in a row, but they are playing a losing game and will lose all their money eventually and a lot of that money will come your way if you are playing a solid game.

As for the PPM super tonight, not much I can tell you other than good luck. Bring you best game, avoid marginal situations where you could lose all your chips, and if you do happen to be near the top of the leaderboard as this thing is wrapping up go into an ultra-tight shell and let the other players knock themselves out. (You also might want to check out the tourney forum for a quick cram session)

[MaxPower]

Ken Warren must be cleaning up. Beginners always seem to buy his book first. I think it is because it is the thickest book, so people assume it must be the best.

Its nice to see someone on this board who is honest about his abilities. My main suggestion is to be patient. It takes time to learn the game. However, you don't seem to be a patient person.

Many of the posters you read here who seem to know what they are talking about were clueless 6 months ago. I've been playing for 5 years. Even though I won money in all of those years, I look back on where I was a year ago and say, "Wow, I wasn't very good then." I still make plenty of mistakes now. Be patient and seek out opponents who play MUCH worse than you.

Forget about the stats. Focus on what's important - making the right decisions at the table.

[cmfcpa]

[ QUOTE ]

Ken Warren must be cleaning up. Beginners always seem to buy his book first. I think it is because it is the thickest book, so people assume it must be the best.


[/ QUOTE ]


It was the cheapest at Barnes. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

At the time the $30 books by 2+2 guys seemed awfully expensive. Plus who would buy a book named "Super System".......corny.

[Cosimo]

Another important issue for new players to understand is statistics. Poker isn't very dependable. Pro players at live games can have MONTHS where they lose money. Don't expect to be ahead after 1000 hands just because you are a good player. The fact that you aren't guaranteed a steady income playing poker is the main reason why you need a huge bankroll.

It takes a good player 16,000 hands to have a 95.5% chance of being ahead. Let's say that you play at two tables at a time, get 60 hands per hour at each table, and play for thirty hours a week. That's only 3600 hands. You'd still have a 1-in-6 chance of being behind after a week, even though you are beating the game.

Poker is a grind. Be ready for big swings.

[ML4L]

Hey cmf,

This might be too late, but search the "Tournament" forum; hopefully there's already a thread for tourney newbies...

If not, nottom's advice was pretty good. Play a$$-tight at first. Don't play crap like suited connectors and Ax (suited or otherwise). If you're going to playing drawing hands, draw CHEAPLY. The most important thing is that you can't win if you're not around at the end. Survival is your number one goal.

Aside from that, there are many situations where strategy will be similar to single-table (i.e. you can be a bully if you have a bigger stack, all-in strategy when shortstacked, etc.).

Good luck.

ML4L