Doomed to fail?

[OldLearner]

It's called the learning curve.

I have been a solid Limit Holdem ring game player for many years, but in the past several months, I have been attempting to expand my horizons into the shorthanded and NL arenas.

I have been doing a lot of reading and playing and am having moderate success. However, I know I have a lot to learn. All the little nuggets that you pick up along the way are really only useful when you learn and understand the contexts to which they apply. Confidence is the key, and this can only come from experience and a good understanding of what you are doing and why you are doing it.

My favorite analogy comes from golf. Many people take golf lessons and expect to see an improvement immediately. What usually happens is that they pick up a few "nuggets" or tips from these lessons and believe that it is the cure to their woes. In most cases, their games are worse immediately after taking lessons. They do not understand that they need to practice and play a lot until the things they have learned become a natural part of their game.

On that same topic, I also know several people that actually do practice a lot and are fantastic "driving range" players. However, they still struggle on the course. It is much easier to perform well when practising when the outcome of the shot does not matter to your score. There is no PRESSURE.

In poker, it is easier to make correct decisions in a Turbo Texas Holdem simulation than it is in a real game where the results of your decisions translate into REAL dollars.

The keys are being comfortable with your game and confident in it.

Have patience. Use this forum and the assistance of the excellent posters here (I do not include myself as one...yet) to garner the knowlege you need to increase your skills and your confidence in them.

[Mike]

Once you have a good foundation which you say you have, you must be very careful about what you are trying to incorporate into your game. Changing a small part of your game changes really it all. Few ideas are really good, some are very situation specific, and some just do not work like advertised no matter what you do.

Patience is a big plus as any worthwhile information comes in little drops and does not flow in rivers. Read very very carefully, especially what folks say that others have said. Many times they did say it but out of context or they are applying it to a different situation or game texture than is now being presented.

The difference between losing, breaking even, winning, and winning more is small changes in how you play single hands based on your competition. If you haven't all ready, you have to develop your own style not imitate anothers game. gl

[ericd]

Wow. I could have written this myself. Here is what I've been trying. I hope it helps.

1. I moved to 10/20. In general, I have found the players much more predictable.

2. I have tried to add 1 thing at a time. I am now showing a profit stealing the blinds and stealing small pots against 1 or 2 people.

3. I continue to study every day. Books that you have not mentioned are
- Super System by Doyle Brunson. The limit holdem is great
- Middle Limit Holdem Poker by Bob Ciaffone and Jim Brier. They give many examples of how to play different hands. Though you may not agree with them all you should be helped a lot.

4. I practice daily on Wilson software. It is excellent software and you can get a "feel" for how something might work.

5. Finally, I play as much as possible. The more hours at the table the more all this new knowledge seems to gel.

I hope this is useful.

[gunboat]

I know and sympathize with your quandry. Reading these books puts so many ideas in your head it is easy to start feeling you really know very little and have no business in the game. However, back up and try this.

Pick one or maybe two concepts and then look for when they might be correct to try. For example, the isolation play. Identify one or two players whom you would like to isolate. These will be the loose, aggressive type. Even if you are not in a position to isolate, imagine what you would do with what type of hand if you were in the proper position. Try to recognize if someone else is trying to isolate and what you would need to take advantage of this. Most of the advanced plays will come up only a couple of times per session and sometimes not at all in a session, but they can add greatly to your EV if you recognize them properly.

If hand reading is a weak area, concentrate on reading one or two players only. The ones to your immediate right and left are the most important players at the table as far as your position is concerned. When comfortable, expand to the players to your left as these are the ones that will be in the blinds (and therefore more likely to be in the pot) when you are in LP.

Good luck!