Extreme Luck Shift?

[EverettKings]

I agree with Strasser: if you keep playing K9s, let alone RAISING that trash, you can expect to see numbers that lean towards the second sample (3/30). I would only play K9s if I were in a blind or shorthanded, and I would never raise it except in shorthanded situations. It looks pretty, but it just aint that good of a hand, kid.
So work on your preflop play, including tightening up and mucking things like K9s, QTo, and small pairs unless the conditions are right. Theres plenty of posts here to steer you in the right direction, so get crackin', and good luck.

[technogeeky]

[ QUOTE ]
I agree with Strasser: if you keep playing K9s, let alone RAISING that trash, you can expect to see numbers that lean towards the second sample (3/30). I would only play K9s if I were in a blind or shorthanded, and I would never raise it except in shorthanded situations. It looks pretty, but it just aint that good of a hand, kid.
So work on your preflop play, including tightening up and mucking things like K9s, QTo, and small pairs unless the conditions are right. Theres plenty of posts here to steer you in the right direction, so get crackin', and good luck.

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K9s is obviously a hand that I bluff with. I wouldn't raise K9s in any condition in regular play, but I will try to push people out with it.

[Colby818]

I lost KA on the flop K6A to J6 except I pushed in. Who the hell calls this stuff?

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First, people call _everything_ online. Just a fact of life, especially at the low limits. I just got through with a run of every all in going the wrong way. My favorite was a large AA all-in(~2k in chips) after a raise and reraise getting beat by AQo catching 4 cards to the flush.

These streaks do happen. It'll turn. For me, last night I ended a steak of 10 tourneys where I only had one 3rd place finish with a streak of 5 straight cashes. Even then, I had two games where I made it to over half the chips on the table without winning. So, I still feel like I'm partially in the slump.

As for your bankroll question, I'm willing to play at 10 times the buyin. I've seen that as about the lowest number and I've seen as large as 100-150x suggested. For me though, if I bust my bankroll this week, I can buyin again next week. I make a fair amount of money, and I have budgeted some money to chase this hobby. If whatever you've got is all you've got, or it's going to be weeks or even months before you can push more if you bust, I'd err on the side of caution. I'd say minimum 50x to move above the minimum level.

One other thing I will do, to quench my thirst for bigger games is to move up a level when I'm playing well. If I can win back to back games or cash in 5 or 6 consecutive tourneys, I'll play one at the next level. I'll play at the next level until I lose one. Moving up a level will put a drag on your profits for the day, but it can be refreshing to play at the higher level(sometimes against better talent).

[Colby818]

K9s is obviously a hand that I bluff with. I wouldn't raise K9s in any condition in regular play, but I will try to push people out with it.

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Yeah, I might tighten this up too. If you want to be successful long term, you might want to pick your spots better. I'm a fairly tight player, so I won't comment on what I would bluff with, but what I try to think of is what flop do I want to see if I play this hand?

On that hand, I don't really want to see a K, for fear of being outkicked(though your bet may have weeded out those people). I'm about neutral on seing a 9, I certainly don't want to see it with a 10 or J. A pair of 9's makes me pretty happy. Other than that, I'm looking for 10-J-Q, trip 9's, trip K's, or at least 2/3 of my flush(and even then I really want one of the 3 to be the A).

So, you need a dream flop to play the hand after the flop. That seems like a losing bet way too often. Try to bet on hands that you are going to be comfortable playing after the flop. If that's only premium hands, start there, then expand your play outwards as you get comfortable with more hands.

Right now, I'd start tracking your losses. If you aren't going to use Poker tracker(which I don't believe tracks Poker room), then always request your summary. Make a list of every hand you lose more than 3BB on. See how often your list of hands like K9s show up and you'll learn not to play them... or at least not to play them the way you did.