Rush or no rush?

[schroedy]

At limits from $10/$20 to $20/$40, mainly shorthanded games, I am up a LOT in the last two weeks (somewhere around 2.5-4.0 big bets/hour (I don't keep THAT detailed of records, just a monthly total of earnings)).

Coincidentally, about a month ago I made a resolution to myself which I have kept, NEVER to put any money in the pot unless I was the favorite, or unless pot odds justified a call. Specifically, I have tried to focus on always being ahead before the flop (obviously not always possible, but a laudable goal), and then just make sure I don't lose too much, if any ground, later on (rather than trying to wring total value out of every holding after the flop).

So my question is: with faster deals on the internet, and more deals in the first place because of shorthandedness, are these sustainable earn rates or am I basking in the glow of an extended lucky streak?

(I have made some incredible hands in the streak -- quads three times, a Royal Flush, etc. but I have logged some hours as well. I have also had my share of disappointing rivers, or been unlucky enough to catck KK against AA and the usual sort of things that cost a lot of chips for an aggressive player.)

[JTG51]

Specifically, I have tried to focus on always being ahead before the flop (obviously not always possible, but a laudable goal)...

That is definitely not a laudable goal. In fact, it's a very poor one. There are lots of times when you would be making a significant mistake by folding a hand that clearly isn't ahead before the flop. A suited connector on the button after several limpers is one example.

As for your question, it's definitely possible to make well over 4 big bets per hour playing multiple tables online.

[bugstud]

but given that it's shorthanded, it's not nearly as bad as an idea.

[JTG51]

No, not as bad, but still bad.

[James282]

It is impossible for us to speculate on what your expectation is because most of us have literally no idea how you play since you have never posted here. Your expectation could be 6 BBs an hour. It could be -10. It's impossible to say after 2 weeks and even moreseo because we have no clue how good you are. As for your goal, it seems obvious that you would want to make calls based on pot odds and bets when you are ahead. Time for some new goals.
-James

[schroedy]

Like others before you James, you got sidetracked on the strategy. I have developed and honed my strategy over the last 4-5 years. I was NOT seeking input on the strategy. For me the strategy of getting ahead and pushing hard (and basically not screwing around with hands that MIGHT catch up) is working. (In the games I am talking about there are not many multi-way pots, and that is the kind of game I like and look for.)

I was also not asking what you thought of me as an individual player. I have been a net winning player for over 2.5 years now, if it means anything to you. My win rates have been more in the range of .5 to 1.5 big bets per hour per table when I played the wide variety of hands that are generally recommended (also at lower limits). As I focused with more intensity on the strategy of getting ahead and betting hard when I am (I call it the "prison sex" approach), like I said, I noticed that my rates, as they say in the stock trading world, "went parabolic."

My question was more general. In the internet card rooms that you are familiar with, can a sound and aggressive strategy (whatever you think that might be) produce win rates of 4 Big Bets per hour (per table, by the way) consistently, or is schroedy on some huge lucky streak?

For obvious reasons, I would prefer that you do not "know me." [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

[nykenny]

[ QUOTE ]
My question was more general. In the internet card rooms that you are familiar with, can a sound and aggressive strategy (whatever you think that might be) produce win rates of 4 Big Bets per hour (per table, by the way) consistently, or is schroedy on some huge lucky streak?


[/ QUOTE ]
my two cents are that 4BB/hr/table is hard to achieve if not all improbable (notice i refrain from using "impossible").

Personally, I have played quite a bit of online poker recently and had my share of success. I am by far not considering myself a great or even a very good player. But i am decent enough. I have a running win rate of about 8BB/hr online since November 3, 2004. So that's about 4 months. on average, I have probably spent most of my time 3 tabling (until very recently I boosted that to 4-8 tabling). I feels like i have a win rate thus far of somewhere between 1-2BB/table/hr. The games I played since Nov have been a mix of 3-6 up to 15-30 and I float up and down at will. The reason I share this is because I feel that given the level of action (fishiness), there is only so much "dead money (bad money)" on the tables for you and there might be a mathematical barrier.

Even if the mathematical barrier is above 4BB/hr, one will alomst have to play perfectly to have that much edge. In the game you describe (not too many multiway pots), this goal might just be too hard to reach.

Kenny