Tell me something about me that sucks.

[lstream]

It's a little hard to give advice to a player who is more experienced than oneself, but here are some quick thoughts. First of all, in spite of us being at the same table quite often, we have rarely tangled so my sample size is small.

In some of your posted hands there is a very high level of aggression sometimes in the middle streets especially. I often wonder if I am missing something strategy wise when I see these hands, but often others chime in with the same concern.

At the tables, (again small sample size) I have seen you ease up on the river when there is a real good chance you are ahead - seems to me there might be some value betting opportunities slipping through your fingers there.

I think there is a general statement about the 2+2 mid level players - we seem to gravitate to a particular set of "rules" and style of play. Observant players might have a better read on us than we think. As a result, I think we kill the action in some of our big hands because people know what to expect from us. I think we have to make an effort to make it more difficult for others to put us on a hand. I know this is a little inconsistent with my comment earlier about the aggression where I bet almost no one can figure out what you are doing.

As jeff says - hang in there - you are too good not to be a long term winner.

Oh ya - one more thing. I think many of the players want to go out of the way to impress you so they are at the top of their game when you are there. They are hoping for an invite over - might have something to do with your SN. [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

[beset7]

[ QUOTE ]

At the end of the simulation there was a $40,000 spread between the biggest winner and the biggest loser. This means if u play 4 tables 8 hours a day for a year online, you're results can be up to $40,000 off playing 5-10 stud.

[/ QUOTE ]

While this is interesting, doesn't this tell you very little in actuality? It would be more meaningful to run a series of simulation with a TAG at a table of mixed player types. The simulation you ran just tells you about how the cards were running for a particular seat.

[MikeBandy]

[ QUOTE ]
Keep in mind too that there is much more luck in the long run than most people would like to believe.

[/ QUOTE ]
The $40,000 spread is a small percentage of the average amount wagered by the players. If you ran a simulation of 2,000,000 hands, the percentage would probably be even less. However, the amount of the spread in dollars would probably be even greater.

[ QUOTE ]
This means if u play 4 tables 8 hours a day for a year online, you're results can be up to $40,000 off playing 5-10 stud.

[/ QUOTE ]
Thanks for reporting your interesting simulation. It speaks volumes, doesn’t it?

[MRBAA]

If you haven't read it already, I'd recommend Barry Greenstein's new book, Ace on the River. It's got some good material on non-strategic differences between top players and the rest of us.

[beset7]

[ QUOTE ]
If you haven't read it already, I'd recommend Barry Greenstein's new book, Ace on the River. It's got some good material on non-strategic differences between top players and the rest of us.

[/ QUOTE ]

I was just going to post this. Also, I've taken to his suggestion that when running break-even or unsure of your edge against your opponents, even in limit games, it can be +ev to buyin for the minimum. I understand this is counter-intuitive, but if you read through greenstein's posts on this site he has some interesting things to say about it.

[Michael Emery]

[ QUOTE ]
I think you don't play as well when you are losing.

[/ QUOTE ]

Without a doubt this is your biggest flaw, Beer.

Mike Emery

[MRBAA]

This is what Greenstein identifies as one of the thing that sets the ultra-high stakes players apart -- the ability to still play well when losing. Sklansky also makes a big deal of it (in Poker Gaming & Life). I think it's much more important than most of us probably realize. I play alot of shorthanded and heads up stud online and sometimes I'll be just getting crushed by a horrible player who is catching cards. I may lose 2/3 of a buy in, and know it's unlikely I'll win that much back in that session. But by playing well, I might win back half of it, whereas by going nuts and trying to get even fast I stand a good chance of just losing even more. For many of us who have decent play knowledge, things like adapting to opponents and making sure our "A" game is our only game are probably worth much more than learning a bit more about odds and outs.

[jon_1van]

[ QUOTE ]
I may lose 2/3 of a buy in

[/ QUOTE ]

Not trying to be a dick here ...

But.

WHO CARES ABOUT 15 BB. I don't even start to think about how much I've lost until I've reloaded on 2 tables.


I think keeping a level head when 15 becomes 50,75,100,150,250 is where it might be hard to keep "level"

[MRBAA]

At a 2-4 table, if my initial $100 buy in gets down to $50, I'll think about whether the game is good and I'm playing well. If the answers are yes, I'll buy in for another $50. I never like to have less than 10BB on the table -- both because it is getting close to having less money on hand than I want to maximize a big hand and because I think it changes how some people play against me.

I've been playing "serious" low stakes poker for over 5 years -- so trust me, I've had big losing streaks. When I first learned he, about 2.5 years ago, I lost 80% of my bankroll, thousands of dollars. Read Barry Greenstein, who tries to play the same when he's stuck hundreds of thousands. Sorry if I sound unsympathetic. Most good poker players are.

Now if you're hungry, or sick or your kids have problems -- I have lots of sympathy for that.

I don't know if this is useful or not, because you're quite a bit better at this game than I am, but from the hands you've posted here, I think I've maybe noticed a couple of things. I think you might be overvaluing drawing hands and undervaluing big pair hands. I don't really like the jamming on third with a three-flush, and you could be folding the big pairs too early.

Occasionally, you seem to be suffering from a case of fancy play syndrome - the hand you have on the board at the moment with JKJ is an example. I know you won the pot, but just complete the bet on third and see what happens.

The other thing you need to do is to practice catching better cards. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]