Casino whoring bad for your poker play?

[Adde]

I've had a poker break for 6 weeks and done some casino whoring instead. Now I'm done and back to poker. I had a Empire bonus to clear, and went ahead with a slow start by playing 3-4 tables of $0.50/1. After 700 hands I was about even money (not counting the bonus), looked at the stats, and boy, was I loose as a...guy who plays waaaay to loose?

After playing fast paced blackjack and video poker, and even more, autoplaying with no effort whatsoever, after that I seem to have lost my grinding feeling. I want action, and thus I play way too many borderline hands in poker.

Anyone experienced this, and how did you tackle it? Guess I should re-read some books as a starter.

Adde

[DcifrThs]

Doesn't sound like casino whoring is your problem. if you want action and don't want to grind, no amount of "not whoring" will fix that. that is a fundamental problem. how to fix it: FOLD MORE! stop playing 87o...in fact, tighten up so much that ou will slowly have to start adding hands to be playing about right.

on a side note, i don't think the EV i sacrificed NOT playing party while whoring was worth the bonuses i got & then cashed out. its all about opportunity cost and it didn't add up right in my head so....no more whoring...

in sum: every time you get the itch to play a marginal hand say "HellNO i won't THROW" (money in the pot that is). then muck the hand. don't play ATo early...not even AJo, like i said, get used to playing so tight (relative to how you play now) that it hurts.

-Barron

[Adde]

Grinding was never a problem before, just after the casino whoring trip. I need to get back to that old feeling. I actually read "I won't THROW this hand away" before I got to the paranthesis. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

I agree, if money earned at poker is more than casino whoring, then casinos are out. But I started with the casinos for another reason, I was burned out on poker, and for that casino whoring is a good remedy. Now I just have to deal with the hangover.

Come to think of it, one problem may be that I slow started at the lowest limit, I probably should head to my usual 2/4 right away. Easier to fold when it costs more to not.

Thanks for your input!

[The WET BEAVER]

It also depends on where you whore at. The people who whored at choice got focked by a Murphy game.

[Spartacus]

I know EXACTLY what you mean Adde. Although, I did not take a break, the casinos DEVALUE your money and make you much more prone to playing looser. Before I whored my first casino, I protected my BR like a mother hen sitting on her eggs. After doing the casino circuit, I think nothing of depositing $100 for a quick bonus run, so playing 500 hands at .5/$1 for $100 is very hard to do.

Can you play any other games? Maybe try Omaha 8 or 7 Stud 8 or better. These games are ridiculously weak at the .5/$1 level and you won't pick up any bad habits for your normal HO game.

Just a thought, FWIW............

/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[Adde]

Thanks Spartacus!

Never been into Omaha or Stud, perhaps I should. You got any quick pointers to good online strategy stuff?

Adde

[serling]

Hi Adde --

I also have done this and had to stop because I realized how stressful it was getting sucked out on blackjack (a much worse feeling than in poker). Auto-play did the trick, but it was amazing how much I could lose simply betting $4/hand. I'm not a very good casino whore.

Not to mention 10-J looks awfully good as a poker hand when you've played thousands of hands of blackjack.

You might consider playing a few tables heads-up or against two other people. Playing loose is much more forgiving and keeps up the action pace.

serling

[lostinthought]

Adde -

Long response -

I've have found that when I have to step down limits (e.g. when I cash out a large chunk of my bankroll) I have a hard time adjusting to the game. I was playing 5/10 regularly about a month ago before I took a trip to Japan. I cashed out quite a bit of my bankroll, and decided to start over with $150 when I got back. Part of the reason was just financial, but another part was wanting to build a bankroll the way you're supposed to, which is what I've never strictly speaking done before... 2.5 weeks later I am bankrolled to play 3/6 and almost 5/10. Going through all the levels like that has force me to be on my toes in terms of adjusting, and its been really instructive..

if you're or any one else is interested, here's my blog link:

www.livejournal.com/users/510offsuit (http://www.livejournal.com/users/510offsuit)

Comments greatly appreciated (post your 2+2 name in your message if you have to post anonymous).

My goal is to get to $10000, using solid bankroll principles, and a variety of games, from only $150 without ever going broke.


Short answer to your question - buckle down and tighten up. These low limit games are way beatable..

[Adde]

Serling: I most definitely recognize that too, the blackjack suckout, the worse of all suckouts. Also, after starting with autoplay it is hard to go back to manually clearing bonuses at non-autoplay casinos. As for shorthanded, good tip.

Lostinthought: you're right, of course, buckle down and tighten up. Looking at your blog, think I might try that too (bankrolling, not blogging). Thanks for inspiration!

[BIGRED]

I can relate to your story. Before I discovered Poker, I used to play a lot of Blackjack where the action can be very fast. If you sit down at a BJ table with $500, a typical BJ player isn't leaving the table unless he loses all $500, or multiplies it by many folds. A typical BJ player won't be happy with 3 unit bets per hr win, as a Poker player would be with a 3 BBs per hr win. The mentality of a house gambler is very different from a Poker player in my opinion. A house gambler typically wants to win big and fast, where as a Poker player is happy to grind.

So, when I started playing Poker, I used to sit down at a poker table ready to lose everything I had in my pocket, to risk winning perhaps twice, three times that in that one session. Of course, looking back, I realize how stupid this was. Basically, I was playing Poker as if it were another gambling game. My starting hand selection was basically non exixtent. Oh sure, I knew when to raise, but I also cold called multiple bets if I had anything to stay with becasue I wanted to see the flop no matter what... /images/graemlins/confused.gif. I soon realized this is not the way to go and have since cleaned up my game tremendously.

Anyway, my point is this. I agree with the original poster. If you play a lot of house games with fast action, it's understandable that much of the decipline you need to play good Poker might get eroded away. But I think, as long as you realize this, unlike me who had no idea when I first started, then it's not hard to get back on track.

[Audi]

[ QUOTE ]
Come to think of it, one problem may be that I slow started at the lowest limit, I probably should head to my usual 2/4 right away. Easier to fold when it costs more to not.

[/ QUOTE ]

That may be it.

I try not to differentiate too much between casinos and poker rooms. Both +EV, right?

I also tend not to play casinos only one month, followed by poker rooms only the next. If I'm in the mood for some fast-paced action one night I'll play VP, if I feel I can cope with the grind I'll play HE. Mixing the two during the same day might help?

[lostinthought]

[ QUOTE ]
Lostinthought: you're right, of course, buckle down and tighten up. Looking at your blog, think I might try that too (bankrolling, not blogging). Thanks for inspiration!

[/ QUOTE ]

Adde - yeah, for about one year that I have been playing, I had been hopping around trying all sorts of stuff. I turned out slowly winning, but there were times I was adequately bankrolled, and times that I wasn't. Building up always sounded so daunting - most limit jumps require winning 300BB, which as a recreational player (20-30 hours a week) seems like it would take forever to move up. On top of that, I had an easier time beating 2/4 than I did .5/1 earlier on, but I eventually learned how to adjust.

I had been playing winning poker for about a year (1000 actual hours under my belt) and had read pretty much all of the classics and then some. I am convinced that if I have an adequate bankroll, practice good game selection, and play winning poker, that I will do well.. and not suprisingly, having a goal and working towards it has somehow made it easier than puttering around. I've been pleased with my results so far, but I would greatly appreciate comments from people around here... I am feeling comfortable so far, but when I get past 5/10 into mid limits and into 100$ and 200$ sngs, I will be challenged, but I am looking forward to it..

good luck