Taj 5/10 Advice

[dmk]

...maybe 6 hours was just too short.......if you understood the game, this would be blatantly obvious.

[Lexington]

I recognize that you were being sarcastic as was I, hence the silly smiley face and I do agree with you. I guess this all comes back to just making good decisions at the poker table like I first read in Krieger's book last year. I have had losing sessions but my winning sessions have always outnumbered them, probably by about 2.5 to 1. I have about 150 hours playing in B&M's which I'm sure isn't alot compared to alot of other people and the hours I've played probably doesn't constitute as long term, but what is long term. How many hands or hours is long term? I think many of us (myself included) focus in on one or two losing sessions.

The only reason I continued to play on that night was because I was still able to make good decisions. Looking back on that night I realize that if I hit just one draw I would've been back in it and the majority of this thread wouldn't exist. But like you said "the results are results" and that's what I started to focus.

If anyone has any tips for dealing with really loose tables (not just not a few players), I'm all ears and would appreciate. Or am I just being paranoid and too short sighted as I can't remember a table being that Loose.

[bdk3clash]

Have you read "Small Stakes Hold'em"? It's pretty much written for exactly the type of game you described.

[Lexington]

no, not yet. I have two of other Sklansky's books and a few assorted others. To be honest (maybe I'm naive) but I never expected to encounter a table like that at 5/10 level. I read most of Lee Jones though. I know he advocates raising preflop with AK, and AQs preflop. Would you guys still do this knowing very few players if any would fold.

[razor]

EVERY SINGLE time.

[bdk3clash]

What, you never expected to find/play at a loose and aggressive table? That's my favorite type of game, mainly because it's the most profitable, and to me, the most fun. I actively seek them out.

Yeah, of course I'd raise AKo/AKs/AQo/AQs at a loose table, and I'm not doing it because I expect anyone to fold a hand they would have called with if I had just called. If they fold, that's cool, and if they call, that's cool too.

You should carefully read (and reread) "Winning Low Limit Hold'em," play a bunch of hands, post ones that troubled/confused/frustrated/interested you to the Small Stakes forum, play some more hands, read "Small Stakes Hold'em," play some more hands, post more hands to the Small Stakes forum, play some more hands...

I think as a beginning player playing online is a great way to learn because you can get so many hands in such a short amount of time, even if you're only playing one table, compared to live play, where it's easy to fixate on a particularl hand or two. The Party $0.50/$1 is a great place to start, and you might even be able to build up a bankroll as you learn.

I would speculate that most players who learn to beat the Party $0.50/1 and $1/2 games can beat most live games up to about $5/10, though it's just a hunch.

[dcJohn]

[ QUOTE ]
Have you read "Small Stakes Hold'em"? It's pretty much written for exactly the type of game you described.

[/ QUOTE ]

I just wanted to echo this point. I was out in Vegas over Labor Day and played a lot of 4/8 and 8/16 at Bellagio, along with a few hours over at the Mirage. Ed's book was a godsend. While it's a fantastic book for learning at any level, I found it fit the conditions at the Vegas low-stakes tables more than I typically find at Party (which is downright rock-ish in comparison to the zany stuff I saw there).

If anything, I'd say the one big thing to add is the real need for an adequate bankroll to take the variance and a good mental game when playing this sort of table. You're going to get bad beats. Lots of them. And the last thing you want to do is let that throw you off your game or get angry and try and frighten away what are potential cash cows.

I followed Ed's thinking (I think) pretty by-the-book throughout the time I was there, and while 40 hours of gaming is a small sample, I walked away with a solid 4 bb/hr average that I'm faily confident would continue to hold up at those games.

John

[Lexington]

Thanks BDK, I could probably use sharpening in some situations that I encounter. Alot of times I have a trouble remembering the specifics of exact hands in the B&M's which prevents me from really dissecting them. How many hands do you typically average online per hour?

[sluttysteve]

Thanks all. From what I hear I'm confident I can beat the 5/10, so it's just a matter of sitting down with a large stack and playing some cards. I guess I'm worried cause my casino experiences haven't been awesome, mainly cause I wasn't as good as I thought I was back then. (Playing 5/10 kill at Foxwoods with a $200 stack, lost it all on three suckouts.)

[Glenn]

Lexington,

You have to understand that a lot of us here hear that same line about not being about to beat bad players over and over. Most of the people who say things like that are clueless because they refuse to admit their own faults. It can't be that they are not playing well enough, it must be that the game is not beatable. This is why you received a number of somewhat nasty responses, because people like me believe people like that don't deserve to be helped. From your posts in this thread, you don't seem to fall into that catergory. If you have trouble with your game, there are lots of people here that will help you. When someone posts a question, people are usually very nice about it, but when someone states something incorrect as fact, it tends to get a little brutal as you learned. So don't be discouraged by the fact that we are a-holes, you can learn a lot here [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]. Where in South Jersey are you (or is that Jersey Shore, PA?)...I am about 20 minutes from AC.