Please help, need advice (long)

[David04]

After reading your posts, I think that you are not ready to turn pro.

Jedi:

How do you know that I am not good enough to be a poker pro? Have you seen me play? Have you seen or heard anything about the way I play? Maybe there's a magazine article about me somewhere that I don't know about.

The bottom line is, I know I am at least decent. I also know I'm not the best, never said I was.

What's not okay is you making an uninformed attack on the way I play.

I appreciate the fact that you have taken time out of your day to try to offer some advice that you think might help me. But please, limit your response to things you are at least half-way knowledgeable of.

I will not attack you on subjects I know nothing of. Please extend to me the same courtesy, that's all I ask.

[EStreet20]

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First off, what the heck does "BB" stand for?

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You are not ready. Read up on hold'em. This statement alone lets anyone here know that you've never made it past the first few pages of any decent book on poker, hold'em or otherwise.

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After reading your posts, I think that you are not ready to turn pro.

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Thank you. I hope you read the part where I said that I do not want to go pro. I am now just thinking about the possibility of making some extra money on the side playing poker.

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First off, what the heck does "BB" stand for?

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You are not ready. Read up on hold'em. This statement alone lets anyone here know that you've never made it past the first few pages of any decent book on poker, hold'em or otherwise.

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Uh, how about David Sklansky's "Hold 'Em for Advanced Players" and David Sklansky's "Small Stakes Hold 'Em?"

Are those decent books?

If you notice, right after I asked that question, I guessed that it meant "Big Blind." I was just unsure of the usage here, if it was what I thought it was. I'm actually still unsure of how it is used in some contexts.

Furthermore, some people have an innate talent for some things. I, for example, am very good at understanding people through body language, tone, and other factors. This is mostly due to the fact that I have met hundreds of thousands of people in my life.

Reading books on poker is not the only way to become a good poker player. Just like reading books on art is not the only way to become a good artist. Some people can pick up a guitar and make good music without a single lesson, through good old-fashioned practice.

I am interested in becoming a better poker player, and that's why I have read a few books on the subject (very good books, I might add). And that's also why I am here, writing on these posts, having to defend myself against people who seem determined to discourage me, for some unknown reason.

But thanks for your positive input.

[EStreet20]

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How do you know that I am not good enough to be a poker pro? Have you seen me play? Have you seen or heard anything about the way I play?

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We've heard you admit to not knowing basic terminology. On top of that, your talk about how you do in live games, where the play is generally a million times worse than online, and the fact that you're proud of wins there while you also admit that you're not confident enough to leave money on the table in a limit game leads me to believe that you'd get eaten alive (and go dead broke) playing 5-10 or even a limit or two lower online, and with the winrate you described in live games you couldn't support yourself.

Either way, good luck

Matt

P.S. I'm not talking trash, simply answering the questions I quoted from your post.

[Zetack]

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Great,

Its unfortunate about the things that you did, I guess we all have skeletons in our closets and we just have to make better decisions as life goes on and learn from our wrong doings.

BB = Big bet or Big Blind

The typical standard is to have a bankroll of 300 BB or more for whatever limit your playing so if its 5/10 300 BB would be 3k. Coming from a brick and mortar background I would suggest coming in online and playing 2/4 or 3/6 to start, its a whole new world online and you will have to adjust. You will be amazed by both the swings and amount of hands you will seen in just one hour. Jumping into 5/10 prolly isn't the best idea. I tried to do the same thing and it was freaky different and I have grinded my way in live games over 3 years from 3/6 to 5/10 to 10/20 to 20/40, and well I think if you start at a lower level for a set amount of hands like 25k or so and see your results you will prove to yourself that you are committed to the game and are willing to work at it. If you just go to 5/10 like u said and lose (this may not be for me is what you said) I think thats the lazy's way out. You have to put in the time to get better and I will 99.99999% gurantee that none of these guys on this forum had no poker experience and jumped into the higher level games and succeeded. Just my .02 cents

Seth

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Thank you, Seth, for explaining the "BB" thing to me.

As for the rest...well, I have played many 9/18 games at commerce, and actually have never lost money there. I only lose at 6/12 occassionally, and I tried 1/2, 2/4, and 4/8, with minimal success. I feel I am most comfortable at 9/18, but normally only have the funds for 6/12.

What I do is bring $300 to a 6/12 table, double up, cash out, secure my winnings in my vehicle, and walk back to the casino (reminding myself that I will not, for any reason, retrieve the money I just left in the car to play more poker). Then, I sit back down with $300 at another 6/12 table, and when I come up to $450, I move up to 9/18. If I get to this point, I am generally having a good night. So I normally pull a "hit and run" on the 9/18 table (VERY aggressive play for a short amount of time), and typically cash out with a 300% profit for the night.

Of course, that is on a good day.

So, do you still think I should stick to the lower stakes? I am pretty sure that my best live game is 9/18, as I have NEVER lost money at a 9/18 table. The lower stakes just end up really ticking me off, with all the river chasers catching miracle cards through oblivious play. It takes a lot to tick me off, but the players at really low stakes really seem to push my buttons (inadvertantly, I'm sure).

Example: I was down on my luck one night. This chick to my left (only playing because her bf was playing and had no idea how to play) at a 1/2 table had K 3 off-suit. I had pocket Aces. I think she was on the button, or close to it. Anyway, some idiot had raised ahead of me, and I (obviously) re-raised. She cold-called three bets pre-flop with K 3 off-suit.

The flop comes blank blank 3, giving her a pair of 3's. The idiot who raised pre-flop bets, I raise, and she CALLS! The same thing happens on the turn and river, only the river was a King, giving her two pair, to beat my pocket Aces. The only reason I didn't get up and start strangling her is because she was actually kinda hot, and I had been hitting on her (her bf was playing 20/40 on the other side of the casino). It probably wouldn't have helped me to get her number if I had attacked her. I didn't get her number anyway, so in retrospect, I should have choked the witch.

Anywho, what do you think? Still going with the 3/6 games?

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Its very tempting to call you an idiot. But the truth is you just haven't been exposed to some of the basic concepts of the game and ignorance is not the same thing as idiocy.

Its worthwile to learn how to play low stakes poker, your typical conditions there will arise even in higher stakes games on occasion (or more frequently) and you ought to know how to play those conditions.

Lower stakes games are (generally speaking) easier games. When you have a lot of bad players makeing bad mistakes there is a much greater profit potential. It may be swingier, sure, but you aren't there to play one game, you're there to play many games over a lifetime, and so over the long term you want the games full of bad players playing badly.

Do I want somebody cold calling two raises with K-3 off when I have AA. You bet your ass I do. Do I want them calling two bets on every street with bottom pair? You bet I do. Am I disappointed when they hit a five outer to beat me on the river--sure, a little. But do I want them to do it again when I get AA? You bet I do.

On a side note, if you get 3000 bucks together jump into 5/10 and lose it do you really have to decide poker is not for you? You could start smaller, learn the game well and keep moving up as you improve? Also, there seems to be a consensus that 5/10 online is a tougher game than 5/10 live.

Anyway, good luck to you, hang out and learn some stuff, and enjoy poker as a sideline to your regular job.

--Zetack

[DemonDeac]

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After reading your posts, I think that you are not ready to turn pro.

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Thank you. I hope you read the part where I said that I do not want to go pro. I am now just thinking about the possibility of making some extra money on the side playing poker.

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well in ur original post you said u are considering being a professional and defined a profession as someone who plays poker and poker is their only source of income. and then u say here that u just want money on the side.

which one is it?

that said, from what ive read,i dont think you're ready. dont take offense to it. this all seems to be short term play. professional poker is a long term thing, something you do not seem to have dealt with

[bdohaney]

I am just a novice, here still, but in addition to everything everyone else has said, you are not in the right mindframe to play winning poker. You are playing because you NEED the money, to the point of desperation (if scamming people on e-bay isn't desperate, I don't know what is.) Get a job. A real job, EARN some money, play poker because you enjoy it, read books, study it, and once it truly becomes profitable just playing for fun (once you start making more money than you do from your job CONSISTANTLY, and have a large sum of that money saved up.) Then you could consider going pro. Until then, all you are doing is fooling yourself.

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How do you know that I am not good enough to be a poker pro? Have you seen me play? Have you seen or heard anything about the way I play?

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We've heard you admit to not knowing basic terminology. On top of that, your talk about how you do in live games, where the play is generally a million times worse than online, and the fact that you're proud of wins there while you also admit that you're not confident enough to leave money on the table in a limit game leads me to believe that you'd get eaten alive (and go dead broke) playing 5-10 or even a limit or two lower online, and with the winrate you described in live games you couldn't support yourself.

Either way, good luck

Matt

P.S. I'm not talking trash, simply answering the questions I quoted from your post.

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Who said I wasn't confident enough to leave money on the table? The only reason I take my chips and cash out is to be safe. I am fully confident of my skills at the table. I just don't have a bankroll, and I'm pretty sure it's a smart move to cover your nuts when it comes to bankroll.

As far as my win rate, what do you mean? That I typically see a 300% profit on a good night? Is that low? I seriously don't know. It sounds good to me. Making $150/hour is a lot better than what most people make at just about any decent-paying 9-5 job.

As for whether or not live play is easier than online play, well, if the way people play at these sites for fake money is any indication of how horrible they play for real money, I'll be making a lot more than $150/hour online.

For example...I have been on vacation at my mother's house in southern Florida since last Tuesday. I started playing free games on jimfeistpoker.com (a Canadian site) with just $1,000 starting money. I have been playing an average of about 3 hours per day, and am already up over $8,000, playing 5/10 games. That number would be higher, but people there raise aggressively with the crap-end of a 2 8 8 flop (meaning they have a deuce in hand). That kind of stuff throws me off. Perhaps they are just playing like retards because it is free to do so. I would like to think that they are just like me, trying to learn how to play real poker, and practicing for the real money games.

Maybe I'm wrong, though. I don't know. That's why I'm asking you guys for help.

It would be nice if everybody stopped attacking me and helped me out. Look at the name of the thread if there's any more confusion. If you get the urge to attack me, just remember that I have asked nicely for your help, not your insults.