PokerTracker Stats, help?

[genya]

Through about 1000 hands, my stats are as follows (this is $10NL)

VP$IP: 43.5
VP-SB: 46.8
W/WSF:26.8
Won SD: 43.1
PFR: 11.1
Agression W/ PF: .69
w/o PF: 1.8

where are the problems i my game? I realize my VP$IP is quite high but I have tried bringing it down with little success. Comments and Suggestions are appreciated.

[Piz0wn0reD!!!!!!]

your vpip is more than twice what it should be. I recomend you play poker strictky for fun.

[TrailofTears]

Well, a couple things:

1. 1k hands is nothing. A drop in the ocean. There are swings of 1k hands where you don't catch cards. It is good to evaluate based on what you have, but I am assuming that this is just because you only have the preview version of PT. If you can afford it, pay the 55 bucks for the full deal and keep logging hands.

2. What type of game are you playing? This is very important. Full-ring or 6max. Your VPIP will be higher (for most players) for the 6max, and this is an important distinction to make. My VPIP is somewhere around 35% for 25 and 50NL on Party. Some players are around 25% for the same game. As far as full-ring games, I don't know exact numbers but I would guess 5-10% less than the 6max games. Other posters should be able to help with this, as well as a search of this forum should yield some answers.

3. You say you have had trouble lowering your VPIP. No one can make this happen for you. Check your stats for different hands. You will likely see that hands such as Ax and KJ-QT are losers for you. These hands must be played in moderation, and position and discretion are key. You have to learn to drop hands such as these and to not complete from SB with absolute junk. Even for the small price, you are way OOP and unless you hit a miracle, you are left in a precarious position at best.

4. Post hands on here and see where you played them wrong. You will hear a lot of "fold PF" which is probably true in a lot of cases. Other than that advice, there are tons of players on here better than you or me to give very sound advice. Repeatedly hearing this will help it sink in and you will begin to recognize situations and how to handle them from these forums.

5. This is only based on my experience, so don't take offense. Learn to have no ego, no pride, and no hope. Letting go of hands that you thought were good and not making stupid calls in the hope of getting lucky are two things that I used to have trouble with. These are things that are caused by not thinking long term.

6. Along the same line, don't try to win your money back in one hand. This will lead to bad PF calls, and -EV decisions.

7. Welcome to the forums! I can tell you that these forums are 90% of the reason that I am decent at poker (the other 10% being that I am incredibly smooth with women - don't ask. It helps.) Take care and best of luck!

- ToT

[TrailofTears]

What was it like coming out of the womb with cards in your hands? I'm just asking, because some people (myself included) had to learn how to play poker.

[genya]

Thanks for the great comment. I think that even though 1k hands isnt much it tells a lot of the story. Most of my hands were about 8 handed, some 6 some full-ring. My concern is that al lower buy-in full ring games what kind of plays are the most +EV? I have made all-in calls PF with AA and QQ and taken down many of them (I consider those +EV moves) but i really dont like making the calls because of the huge variance they provide (aka losing your stack with AA). My biggest winners are AA, JJ, QJs, AKo, KJo, KK in that order. I play those and raise PF (maybe to 4xBB, 10xBB with AA) but I also play with descent hands, like K8o and 78s. Should i not concern my play with those and just play the big hands? Thanks for all the help.

EK

[Obliky]

I admit..im a new player too, but you do really have to cut down your VP$IP. Im quite pleased with myself because today i went from LA/A to S-LA/A in poker tracker, which is a definate step in the right direction.

The one book ive read which helped me to achieve this is 'Winning Low Limit Holdem' by L.Jones. Even though this is a book for Limit holdem i think the pre-flop advice is excellent as it is designed for very loose games and i would recommend getting a copy, after reading it i guarantee your VP$IP will drop.

Good Luck

Obliky

[Obliky]

If you think K8o is a decent hand then you definately need to read the book i suggested..K8o is a fold every time unless your in SB or BB.

[amoeba]

I would recommend folding K8 in the sb as well. you really don't have the implied value to hit 2 pair.

[TrailofTears]

Again, I can't tell you a lot about the full-ring games so maybe someone else will be able to help you with that. I can, however, say that K8o is not a decent hand. At all. That is why I said that KT and similar hands are not usually winners because if you hit either the K or the T, you still have no idea where you stand in the hand.

Also, the reason that I think 1k hands is way too few is because it is very misleading. I would be shocked if KJo and even QJs are in the top eschelon of your winning hands by 25k hands. Also, these are certainly not raising hands in a full ring game, except for stealing purposes. They are MAYBE limpers from late position. It really seems that you need to adjust your ranking and views of quality hands. This will undoubtedly lower your VPIP, which is probably your biggest leak from what we have discussed thus far. Just try posting a thread labeled "K8 is a decent hand" and watch the flames grow. I don't care what your stats or your memory of these hands says, they are not decent and certainly not among the ranks of defined profitable hands. That's my opinion, but I would guess it would be echoed by many others on this forum.

- ToT

[Obliky]

i was just including SB incase everyone folds to you..but good point