Frustrated gambler advice

I have been playing online now for a couple of years and never did too well. Then about 6 months ago I decided to take my hobby more seriously. I have read a few books on no limit holdem. I was pretty amazed at how diffrent the hands played out and what I saw after spending some time investigating the game. I feel like I have a pretty good grasp on the true fundementals of the game and wanted to use the sit and go's to pratice, learn and gain experience.
One problem I find the lower limit games to be very hard to play. Everyone limps in, you will get called any amount at any time on a whim. Every hand has the possibility to be turned into a coin flip. So I moved up to some higher stakes tabels. I find these easier to play at but I am not really good enough to hold my own and could go through a good portion of $ playing there.

Any suggestions as to the best way to improve?

[Bigdaddydvo]

Go to SNG forum and read the FAQs to start.

Moving up limits because it's tighter and "people respect your raises" is really awful. Beat the 10s consistently and move up from there.

[yellowjack]

You must realize that you're making money when they make mistakes in terms of EV, i.e. opponents calling a big raise preflop with garbage is +EV for you. I don't suggest playing too high until you have a good grasp of this fundamental concept, and how being aware of this ensures your success at any level, and any gambling game.

Sorry if this sounds repetitive to you, but the reasons you listed for moving to higher stakes tables don't show that you understand this.

Thanks for the quick responses.
A couple of question. I hate to be the newb but I looked around and could not find the sng faq.
Also not to sure what +EV is. Are you are talking about offering unfavorable pot odds and being constantly called with semi weak hands?
Thanks again for the response I appreciate the advice.

[yellowjack]

EV is the money you gain/lose in making a play, over all possible cases. Take for example this very simple situation:

A heads-up no limit hold'em game between two players with no blinds or antes. <font color="red">Player A</font> is dealt Ah Ad and goes all-in for $10. <font color="blue">Player K</font> calls the all-in with Kh Kd.
On average, with some help from twodimes.net, we see that the AA will win 82.36% of the time, lose 17.09% of the time, and tie 0.54% of the time. Conversely, the KK will win 17.08% of the time, lose 82.36% of the time, and tie 0.54% of the time.

EV of Player A
0.8236*(<font color="red">+$10</font>) + 0.1708*(<font color="blue">-$10</font> + 0.0054*(+$0) = +$6.528 (= $6.53 rounded up)
Player A will win $6.53 on average, each time he is in this situation.

EV of Player K
0.8236*(<font color="red">-$10</font>) + 0.1708*(<font color="blue">+$10</font> + 0.0054*(+$0) = -$6.528 (= -$6.53 rounded up)
Not surprisingly, Player K will lose $6.53 each time he is in situation.

This explains how the donkeys calling allins with trash eventually lose. In this example player K didn't play the hand incorrectly at all. And that's the thing, you can play a hand correctly and still be behind because you have no idea what your opponent has. However, as long as you are +EV against the range of hands you think your opponent could have (i.e. any pair, AK or AQ) then it's correct to call even though you may get unlucky.

In the case of making big raises preflop and getting called by garbage, it's not that simple. Postflop play cannot be simplified very well. However, you can figure out how much money they are losing by making that preflop call after you know their hand, by using the above idea.

Hope this helps.

[sofere]

[ QUOTE ]
Thanks for the quick responses.
A couple of question. I hate to be the newb but I looked around and could not find the sng faq.
Also not to sure what +EV is. Are you are talking about offering unfavorable pot odds and being constantly called with semi weak hands?
Thanks again for the response I appreciate the advice.

[/ QUOTE ]

The SNG FAQ is the second sticky post from the top of this forum.

If moving to SNGs, the best general advice is very tight early, very aggressive late when opening the betting. Get very familiar with ICM and how to use it. If your willing to put a little money in, buy SNGPT...I can't tell you how useful and eye opening that program has been (It pretty much does ICM analysis for you).

[DDH]

Just putting more emphasis on what has been said about moving up limits. Becuse of my bankroll, I started out at the 5s, played those till I had anouogh money to play the 10s, and played those till I know have a large enough bankroll to play the 20s.

Yes, the play in the five is very loose and carefree, but use them to work on making good poker decisions. Yes, I'd get sucked out, yes, I got beat with hands that people have no reason playing, but as long as I was making the right decisions I felt I was okay. And I learned more and more through playing how to make those decisions. Then I moved up to the 10s, the play was a little more sane, and I was a little better player then when I started the 5s, the same was true for when I started the 20s. I learned more about poker and how I wanted to play and my style in the 10s and when I had the bankroll to move up to the 20s, I was a better player then when I started the 10s. And now, in the 20s, I'm still learning. Things that I may have been able to do in the 10s won't work as well, so I have to learn new things.

Read the books, read the threads listed here, and most importantly, don't expect to happen quickly. I've been playing for about 15 months now, and while I'm a better player now then I was, I still knwo that I'm nothing great. I'm not a bad player, but I hesitate to label myself as anything better then "above average." But I'm learning, and I know I'm getting better. That's the most important hting for me.

[SonnyJay]

Just a quick note on the buyin level:
If you're playing a $5 SNG that's a 5+.50, then it's fine, but if you're playing Party you're much better off playing the 10+1 instead of the 5+1. Beating a $1 rake in a $10 tournament is much easier than doing it in a $5 tournament. If your bankroll can support it make sure you aren't paying more than 10% rake.

-SonnyJay

[Cactus Jack]

[ QUOTE ]
I hesitate to label myself as anything better then "above average."

[/ QUOTE ]

Me, too. But that's because the average is so low. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[Felipe]

I don't play NL but I recommend you buy these very fundamental and important books:

T.O.P.
HoH1

They will pay themselves off soon.