Finding out you're a break even player

lemonPeel · #1 07-15-2005, 06:05 AM

Anyone out there like me who deep down believed himself to be a winning player at low-limit tourneys, sitngos and live low limit cash games find out that after 5 months of trying pretty damn hard to find out you just play well enough to keep your money?

Did you feel kind of depressed, or did u find relief that you don't lose any money?

As for me, I really am obsessed about poker. I think about it all day, I dream of it at night, I relive my worst beats and think about all the what if's that a few coin flips in a MTT would of become had I won those. Do I have a problem? I'm really getting to the point where I'm a little scared that my whole life is all about a card game that if I didn't play wouldn't matter because I neither win nor lose at it.

einbert · #2 07-15-2005, 06:13 AM

Try taking up NLHE. The variance:WR is a lot lower and it's nice to get a fresh feel for poker. I have been playing it since I went on a pretty bad run in LHE. It also really freshened up my game and got me more motivated to play, might do the same for you.

lemonPeel · #3 07-15-2005, 06:19 AM

[ QUOTE ]
Try taking up NLHE. The variance:WR is a lot lower and it's nice to get a fresh feel for poker. I have been playing it since I went on a pretty bad run in LHE. It also really freshened up my game and got me more motivated to play, might do the same for you.

[/ QUOTE ]

The live version you mean? I play boat loads of MTT and they are usually NLHE. I'm kind of scared to play 100 buy-in NLHE at the local card rooms around here because of the fact that you could lose your whole stack at any time in the hand. Although, I have started playing alot of Omaha8 or better and hi-lo 7 stud which is very interesting so far to say the least.

Bascule · #4 07-15-2005, 07:09 AM

Don't feel too bad, at least you're beating the rake. Being break-even lets you work on your game without expecting to lose money, and if you enjoy playing for it's own sake then you're not in a bad situation at all IMO.

Lurkmaster Flex · #5 07-15-2005, 07:17 AM

Get a rakeback program and play on one of those skins, it really helps the limit mindset. IE: I played well today, got rivered like a mofo and still broke even. I made $XXX in rakeback so the day was still profitable.

Webster · #6 07-15-2005, 07:25 AM

Sorry - the belower is more for a Limit - ring player - not a tournament type NL player.

If you are not LOSING money there is hope - 5 months is a long time but not THAT long. It's a very fine line between breaking even and being a good player at 1.5BB/100 or better.

It's only 1 Big Bet and that can easly be leaked away SOMEWHERE.

Do you have Poker Tracker????

Grinderswarehouse - NOT just another BLOG

AL5AcE · #7 07-15-2005, 10:25 AM

I recommend you stay away from MTTs if you're still trying to build your bankroll. Even if you are a really good player, you could possibly play 20+ MTTs and not cash depending on field. That is not too good for your confidence either. I know they can be very addictive, but stick to something more consistent, like 1 table SNGs or a full ring cash game (LHE or NLHE). MTTs are the swingiest way to play holdem, and you don't want to be caught in that while trying to restore your confidence.

BigEndian · #8 07-15-2005, 10:47 AM

NL can be played profitably in a wide range of styles. Depending on your style and the tables you play at, NL can have a lot of variance. The smallest varience style that I know of is used often by the seats in the low limit NL games online - nut peddling.

It's also why, generally, the small stakes NL forum in 2+2 is a snoozer.

- Jim

Paxosmotic · #9 07-15-2005, 11:11 AM

[ QUOTE ]
As for me, I really am obsessed about poker. I think about it all day, I dream of it at night, I relive my worst beats and think about all the what if's that a few coin flips in a MTT would of become had I won those. Do I have a problem? I'm really getting to the point where I'm a little scared that my whole life is all about a card game that if I didn't play wouldn't matter because I neither win nor lose at it.

[/ QUOTE ]
The problem with this, and the reason you're a break even player, is that you think about poker the wrong way. You spend all day thinking about the fame and the fortune of it. "Oh man if I had just laid down that AJs I'd have been in the money, sweet!"

I think about poker all day, too. I had two twenty minute conversations about the 75s suited hand from yesterday (one with Einbert, the other with invictus33). Indepth stuff. I practice different situations that can come up with a hand like KJs in early position and how to keep from paying off a second best hand. All of these things ensure I'm a winning player. I don't think about winning, I just do it. Stop thinking about ways to spend the riches you're going to have once you win a MTT and use your brain for something more productive during the day. Study the game, don't dream about it.

flair1239 · #10 07-15-2005, 11:30 AM

I think it is more of a case of your not as good as you would like to be or as good as you think you may be when you are running well.

If this is the case welcome to the club. You need to try to divorce yourself from your results and just think about how you played or are playing. I have had winning periods where I have played worse then periods where I have sustained heavy losses.

It can be frustrating and disheartening at times. I would reccommend reading Psychology of Poker by Al Schoomaker. I would also reccomend "Inside the Poker Mind" by John Feeney. Basically they both say that as your understanding of the game increases, your frustration level will be easier to control, because you will know what has happened and why it has been happening.

For instance in my case, my time at 5/10 full has been a wonderful experience, but also very trying as my overall results are not very satifying to me. Yet at the same time Out of the four months I have been at 5/10, (2) of them have been huge one. But the other two have been very mediocre.

Many times during my mediocre periods I catch myself doing things where I almost immediately say "That was really dumb". So my problem is simple. I am capable of playing well, but I am not consistent, as it is easy and relaxing to go on autopilot and just play cards and relax.

While for me to play well, at this point actually takes a lot of mental effort. Observing multiple tables, taking notes (physical and mental), monitoring table texture, being concious of how those paying attention might be percieving me, conciously switching gears, leaving tables where I have destroyed my image. All those things take thought.

But anyway, think seriously about how you play. Read some of those books I mentioned and think about how some of that stuff may apply to you. Then think of a way to change. IT does not have to be overnight. It is a long continous process.