[winky51]

I did a lot of thinking about this. I continue to almost always start off down then come back up later within the hour. I think its partially because of the following.

1. your image is not set.
2. you have no information on your opponents.
3. you really can't bluff.

I think #2 is the most important. I know when I play if I have a read on a player, fish, LAG, TAG, I alter my play to each player. Some fish I will always fold without a strong hand to a raise, some I will always call just about because they bluff so much. When facing unknowns you don't know anything so you play incorrectly against specific players. I have seen players bluff the new guy at the table or raise on the turn top pair with crap kicker when I hold top pair top kicker or something similar.

All this extra information is what makes a solid player go 2+ BB per 100. If rake was taken out I would be profitable more than 50% of the time starting out within the 1st hour. Since you have to overcome the rake and lack information on your players you technically make mistakes. Thus lose money.

Just my theory. I expect to start off losing so it never affects me. The other night I turned my -$50 within 20 mins to +$230 in 2 hours at 3/6.