getting crushed

[MicroBob]

The internet generally has better players than the same level live.
This is because the REALLY beginner player online can play .50/1 or lower if they like.,...but live they have to play 3/6 or 4/8 or something.


Poker is not as easy as you might initially think....especially if you catch some cards in your first couple of sessions and think you are just a natural talent.

If you are able to pick up on many of the subtleties and complexities of poker in just a few weeks of study and table-time then you are significantly more gifted than most.


From your initial post and the questions you asked I woulld estimate that there is a 95% chance that you are not as good a poker player as you think you are.
when you say that 'you feel you are playing proper poker strategy' I would be willing to bet that you almost definitely are not.

This is not an insult to you....it's just a fact. We've all been beginning players at one point. Many of us still are.

Read through some of the discussions of the hand-histories that have been posted in this forum to get an idea of how in-depth an analysis of just a single hand can become.


There is also a likelihood that PART of your losses are due to just natural variance regardless of whether you are playing well or not.
It is very possible for a good player to have losing or merely break-even results over a stretch of 10k hands or more.


When you say you are getting killed you need to look at the specifics.
If you have lost 50 BB's (big-bets) in the course of 4 hours....well, it happens. In fact, it happens all the time.
If you have lost 400 BB's in the course of a few days....then it is more likely due to some significant flaws in your play.

If the concept of only breaking-even over a stretch of 10k hands and/or routinely dropping 50BB's in 4 hours is new to you then the chances that your poker skills aren't as strong as you might have thought just went from 95% to 99%.

[burntazure]

... just over the last couple of weeks. I first started at .5/1 then onto 1/2 and finally 2/4.

I had my bankroll up to 2500 and after my run at 2/4 it went to 2000. At that point I was pissed so I quit 2/4. Then I went back to 1/2 trying to earn some more 2/4 money.

So I guess the point of all this is that it happens. You have to be at a point where you are comfortable losing. For me it's at 1/2. I can get sucked out twenty times in a row, but because I'm so comfortable there I don't care & I know it'll turn around and I strongly believe I am better than most of the players there.

Having said this, I still want to gain a modicum of glory and triumph at 2/4. Since I got my ass kicked (losing over 100BB) I stepped back down to regain my footing.

Some conclusions: I recall losing alot with my power hands pocket As,Ks,Qs,and Js. I have a few theories on that. Either I didn't lay down when I clearly was beaten (indicating bad play on my part) or I was met with bad luck (i.e. my rockets losing to 106s on runner, runner flush (yeah I still remember that one)).

So I am regrouping at 1/2. I recommend a similar thing for you: you must find a limit where you can consistently beat it. Then move up from there.

And moving up, I think is easier for some people. It seems as though whenever I try it, initially I get crushed. It happened to me when I went to 1/2, although it was not severe and after a few thousand hands I felt comfortable. Now if I can just beat damn 2/4. So I will go through my losses and post hands that I found questionable probably over the weekend, and study others' posts.

Oh yeah, and if anyone would like to comment on my action, please do. Should I have just stuck it out or was I right in moving down? Just that I lost over 100bb & I think it affected my play. It's just that I thought losing over 100bb's at 2/4 was exceedingly rare (for a winning player) and thus the problem rests with my game. So any advice is appreciated & good luck to the poster; stick it out & find a limit you can beat & take it from there (hopefully my ceiling isn't 1/2)....


take it easy.

[Bob T.]

[ QUOTE ]
Oh yeah, and if anyone would like to comment on my action, please do. Should I have just stuck it out or was I right in moving down? Just that I lost over 100bb & I think it affected my play.

[/ QUOTE ]

If it affected your play, you did the right thing.

[MicroBob]

Agree with Bob T. You definitely did the right thing and it was affecting your mind-set/approach/whatever.

However, I just want to point out that it's not EXCEEDINGLY rare in that it is possible for a really good player to go on streaks of this magnitude and it happens enough that it isn't CONCLUSIVE evidence that you suck.

However, you are correct that it PROBABLY indicates that the problem rests in your game.
I just wanted to quibble on the term 'exceedingly rare' in regards to a 100BB set back.

Anyway, the 100 BB loss is enough of a sign that you don't belong or possibly weren't ready that you definitely did the right thing stepping back to 1/2.


Your approach of just "regrouping" back at 1/2 is exactly the right way to go about it.