Long and heavy poker content

[HajiShirazu]

I would just like to say that I agree with most of the stuff you have said about the games, winrates, etc., which is why I don't play as much limit holdem nowadays and hardly ever play full ring.

[Exsubmariner]

Harv,
I'd like to say you have my strict attention. Please keep talking. Please rest assured I have far more than adequate bankroll for 2/4. I only ever spend 20% of my poker money as a general rule and I don't even do that every month.
What you say about six max is also right on. I looked back at my 2nd database for 1/2 and saw I wound up with a 31% VP$IP on 6 max. I did not start out this way, I started out about 26%. But I think as time went by and more swings happened I became sloppy in my preflop selections. This probably lead to greater exaggerated swings in a downward spiral that destroyed whatever real win rate I had going. I also think that you are correct about my assessments of players I decided to bluff being horribly incorrect. I am perhaps trying to outplay those who don't know how to fold with any kind of holding at all. Whatever you're doing, you've got my wheels turning and have got me willing to go into my data and take a hard look at what I could do better. Do you think move up to 2/4 or go back and take a fresh crack at 1/2 for another 100K, going maybe a couple tables at a time?
I know this is asking quite a bit, but would you be willing to look at my data offline and offer a little coaching perhaps? Could I PM you?
Yours Sincerely,
X

[Exsubmariner]

Do you play mainly SNG's or did you go to NL?

[Harv72b]

[ QUOTE ]
Do you think move up to 2/4 or go back and take a fresh crack at 1/2 for another 100K, going maybe a couple tables at a time?

[/ QUOTE ]

I was one of those annoying types who went the reverse route of the masses and read a couple of books on poker before I ever sat down at a real money table. As a result (it helps that I'm generally a fast learner), I started winning right away, and with the exception of the expected downswings, I've kept on winning ever since. I'm still playing today on my initial $20 deposit.

What does that matter? My first "real money" action was on a .02/.04 table at Pacific; it didn't take me more than a few hundred hands to figure out that this game wasn't really that different from the play money tables. So I moved up to .05/.10. I beat it. I moved up to .25/.50 and beat that, too. I discovered deposit bonuses and this brought me to the party skins, and forced me to sit at .50/1 tables. I beat those, and quickly moved up to 1/2.

Once I got to 1/2, and then limits above that, I quickly learned that there were different skill sets that I had to learn in order to succeed at each level. At 1/2 it was all about value betting and knowing when to release my hands. At 2/4 it was learning to aggressively protect my mediocre hands when it was possible and recognizing when someone had just drawn out on me. For 3/6 I had to learn the art of blind battles and the dangers of the turn raise. 5/10 (which I primarily played short-handed) was all about how to get a quick read on my opponent's hand and extract the most when I was better vs. losing the least when I wasn't. 10/20 brought more situations where it was correct to slowplay, and learning how to recognize (and defend against) quality bluffs. 15/30 is all out psychological warfare, where aggression is key--and where you have to be able to use your opponent's aggression against him without setting yourself up in the process. I broke even over about 5k hands of 15/30 before deciding that I just wasn't ready for it yet.

What I'm trying to say is that the plateaus that another poster mentioned are very real, and if you stay at 1/2 forever you are not going to improve your game. That's fine if you're just interested in a little supplemental income, or the tedium of 8-tabling 1/2 for 40 hours/week in order to make a living. But honestly, if it's about learning & being a better player, take the shot at 2/4 and see if you can pick up the lessons you need to survive there. You've got the bankroll, and you probably aren't going to learn anything in 100k more hands at 1/2 that you didn't learn in the first 200k. If nothing else, just the increased bet sizes should help you get your VPIP back under control (and the lower percentage of the rake will up your real money earnings). Set a stoploss at whatever portion of your bankroll you feel you could lose without crushing your psyche, or just give yourself X number of hands before you evaluate your performance and decide if you're ready for 2/4.

[ QUOTE ]
I know this is asking quite a bit, but would you be willing to look at my data offline and offer a little coaching perhaps? Could I PM you?
Yours Sincerely,
X

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm not nearly good enough at poker to even consider coaching, and I'd be doing you or anyone else a great disservice if I tried. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] There are several posters around here who do coach professionally, and who are far better qualified to help you in that regard. I just type quickly and use a lot of big words, so people think I'm smart or something. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[cnfuzzd]

harv, you forgot to mention your awesome ability to run really well during an OIC....

peace

john nickle

[Exsubmariner]

Harv,
Could you please elaborate on what you mean when you say "Protecting my mediocre hands when possible." I find this difficult to do in limit. Not so much in no limit, all you have to do there is make a properly sized bet. But in limit, if you attempt to checkraise to protect your trips against a flush or str8 draw, a savvy player will just check behind you or if you raise when acting last, especially on the flop, they are going to have odds to call that 1/2 BB anyway and just get married to the pot. I don't quite get what you mean. I don't really think of limit as a game that lends itself to hand protection tactics very well.
A good bluffer will just raise or reraise should a scare card hit, regardless of their hand.
Thanks,
X

[odellthurman]

Every guy wants a long and heavy poker.