Another Newbie introduction

[BigD226]

Hi everyone. Just wanted to introduce myself, similar to Snowslide in his first post,.

A little background: I started lurking this forum last June, read WLLH, SS1, and ITH. Started playing online at Party, Pacific, and Gaming Club at the .50/$1 tables with about a $150 bankroll, plus a few freerolls and the old $15 Pacific $25k MTT's. I ran up my roll to about $500 or so, and took a 3 month break from playing and learning in October. Before I stopped, I started hitting a downswing which is continuing right now despite my best efforts to apply newly learned concepts.

Fast forward to today...I still have cash in all my accounts, I will be using that plus some additional funds to follow the bonuswhoring instructions in Homer's post (thanks to Greg J for linking that!), and I have bought PokerTracker. Just finished reading SSHE, and plan to read it again once I finish TOP.

Overall my goals are very similar to Snowslide's, but I have a few questions:

- would it be a good idea to stop playing for a couple of weeks until I can finish reading TOP and re-reading SSHE, or is it worth it to keep "practicing" in the meantime (remember, I'm on a downswing).
- is it worth the time to re-read any of the previous books I listed (WLLH, SS, ITH) or to just concentrate on SSHE and TOP? Also, when would be a good time to pick up HEPFAP?
- Are rakeback programs worth the trouble for a player starting out at .5/1. and 1/2?
- What would be a good system for moving up in limits? I was thinking of making it a goal to earn ~300BB at each limit before moving up.

Thanks for reading...any comments or links to other threads are of course welcome.

[BUD]

I would keep playing i find many lessons i am learning get raffirmed while playing. keep studying top and ssh i have wasted alot of $ and time reading too many books, and applying important ones too little. wait til you not only remember most of these texts, but can apply it correctly and it shows from your poker tracker and win rates. i wish someone had given me that advice. as far as rake back is concerned, if you pass up on them now you will have a hard time getting them later when they are worth alot of $. your 300 bb is what everyone reccomends, if you can be patient enough for more that is great.
sincerely
bud

[BigD226]

Thanks for the reply. Out of curiousity, how often do you find yourself referring back to these texts (assuming you've read them multiple times already)?

[Chap_Stick]

Welcome,

Just wanted to say good luck and always keep learning. Absorb whatever you can from this site and books. And then play and acually apply what you have learned focusing on a couple small aspects at a time.

~Chap

[deacsoft]

[ QUOTE ]
Welcome,

Just wanted to say good luck and always keep learning. Absorb whatever you can from this site and books. And then play and acually apply what you have learned focusing on a couple small aspects at a time.

~Chap

[/ QUOTE ]

I second that. Welcome. We look forward to your contributions to the forum. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[BUD]

i refer back to these books not as much as i should. once a month or something.
bud

[OrianasDaad]

Welcome!

Downswings suck... hard - but you have to play through them. Remember that it's all about making the correct decisions at the table regardless of the outcome of the particular hands.

On to your questions -

- I'd play while working through the books. If you are worried about your downswing, then limit yourself to ONE table, so you can always make the correct decisions.
- I reread some of SSHE, TOP, and HPFAP every day, along with study of selected opponents using pokertracker. I'd also pick up HPFAP immediately. Many say that it doesn't apply to the online micro game, but I have found numerous times where concepts within the book do apply. SSHE is still the default book for these games, however.
- Ask about rakebacks in the zoo (internet forum). Read the FAQ at the top of the page.
- As far as moving up in limits, I move up when I have 500-600BB for the limit I'm moving up to. This creates a large buffer, so that even if I go on a 100BB slide, I still have the roll to play confidently at that limit. It's pretty conserative and risk-averse, but that's the kind of guy I am.

Good luck! Sounds like you are on the right track!

[jnalpak]

semi-hijack in progress....bump

SSHE, TOP, and HPFAP

besides TOP - theory of poker
what do the rest of them mean?
are there more out there?
what are the top ones to read?

[snowmen]

super system and hold'em poker for advanced players

[Holden97]

SSHE - small stakes holdem. miller, sklansky, and malmuth