advice on play
 

I am fairly new to poker and was just wondering what some of the most common beginer mistakes are. I rarley had a loosing sesion for about the first 6 months of my playing. The past few sesions that I have played in I have lost quite a bit. I can't really figure out what I am doing wrong and would like to know what I might be able to look for. Thanks in advance.

Re: advice on play
 

The biggest mistakes beginners make are playing too many hands and playing too passively. I suggest you read HPFAP. Figuring out a solid preflop strategy might be a good place to start. There is a chance you were nothing but lucky for the past 6 months. If that is the case, some reading and study will put you on the path of lifetime winner.

Allan

Re: advice on play
 

Don't read HEPFAP(Holdem Poker For Advanced Players) yet. That book is geared towards midlimit games. Read Lee Jones' Winning Low Limit Holdem first. That book will have much more relevant strategy to the games you're playing in. Once you can beat low limit games and are playing 3-6 and 5-10 online, THEN read HEPFAP.

As far as how to correct your game, you haven't given nearly enough details to get accurate advice. It could be the natural cycle of cards, you could be playing too loose preflop. You could be taking hands too far. There are so many things that could be augmenting your losses that makes this post too vague. Post some hands here and we'll show you what you're doing wrong.

Re: advice on play
 

Try reading this essay by David Sklansky, it sure helped me.

http://www.twoplustwo.com/dsessay6.html

And this one by Ray Zee:

http://www.twoplustwo.com/zee2.html

Re: advice on play
 

There is a great deal of short term luck in poker. As the authors have written, this is necessary to keep the games going. This has the following two affects [] the best players will often lose, and [] the worst players will often win.

If you rarely had a losing session your first 6 months you were extremely lucky, at least as far as your varience is conserned. Getting a few losing sessions in a row is inevitable, and does NOT mean your play has deteriorated.

Although, of course, it may.

The real danger, as you gain confidence, is playing too many hands.

- Louie

Re: advice on play
 

Thanks for the advice. I played this weekend. I thought I might have been overestimating my advantage over the other players. I got too cocky and was playing too many hands and taking them too far just like yall said. I have started reading Low Limit Holdem. I tightened up on my hand selection and, I did really well this past sesion and think I figured a lot of it out.