is there a such thing as an unlucky person???

[Ray Zee]

most people that are hard luck misperceive things. they lose because of bad playing and remember selectively. review your playing. many times tight players lose because they start with good hands but play them poorly. like going too far or not raising out the third player who puts them in the middle or such stuff. i sispect you get into too many pots becasuse you like action and lose because of that and put the blame on the good hands that went down. losing with jacks three times in a loose game is the expected outcome with this hand. good luck.

[racingspider]

Hiya MzLisa. I remember seeing you yesterday on PartyPoker. Your play, as I recall was pretty good, you seemed to be making the right decisions. It was only play money, and your play seemed fine.
If you want to boost your confidence, play a home game. Gather some friends and such and try some nickel and dime. That can be a real boost in ego [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]
Anyway, practice, practice, practice. The fact that you are here getting advice puts you above many players. You've recognized something isn't working right and you've started the self-evaluation. You'll find out what it is soon enough I think.

[JPNet]

I posted a similar story a few weeks ago and got some very good advice, some pointers to some other posts etc. that really helped.

I have had those sessions where I get pocket KKs 6 times in 4 hours and lose every one, usually to someone who cold called 2 or 3 bets with a 46o and made a str8.

I think the single most important thing that I learned here was that these streaks happen to everybody, no matter how good a player you are.

However, I also got some replies that caused me to think about my game and whether I was really playing as well as I thought I was. I took a couple of days off, re-read WLLH, and TOP and read more of the posts here.

A couple of the posters commented that if you can't "Crush" the micro limit tables, over a longer timeframe than a few sessions, you are going to get killed at the higher limits. The specific advice was to start at .05/.10, .10/.20, .25/.50 and try to double your bankroll before moving up and to make sure you had the 300bb bankroll for the level you are going to play at. In a nutshell, move down, not up, until your confidence returns, you have reflected on your skills, and you have built your bankroll. When you do move up a level, and your bankroll gets thin, move down until you build it back up.

When I review the long term, which isn't all that long for me, it helps to realize that even though I haven't played above .25/.50, and even though I have had some of those frustrating stretches where I lose 30-50BB in a session to 92o etc., I remember that overall I am up a couple hundred dollars, and I am learning, and improving, without putting large amounts of money at risk. Plenty of time to move up later when I am better prepared.

[MzLisa]

hi there Ray Zee, and every one else

I have been looking at my stats more recently in my real money games and here is an example of one:

Ok on a pretty good day,
My % of flops seen are 30%
My % of flops won are 38%.

Bad day:
% of flops seen 20%
% win was like 28%

This was just two of the days i remeber that about my stats.

I dont think i see too too many flops, I play group 1-2 hands according to Holdem book, in any post. and raise.

I play KJ, late pos.
I play AJ raise in LP, i will call in MP too.
AQ same as AJ
9-10 LP, if im dead last i will raise.
QJ, trouble hand i play very carefully in MP or LP
I dont play many suited connectors Im trying to wait till I get better at the game.( so thats no 5-6,7-8 and stuff like that)
KQ non suited, i call in EP but will fold a raise to a solid player.

I try to keep it simple, i have stopped playing J9 cuz its proven unprofitable for me.

I may add 7-8 in lp though to mix my game up. and thats about it.

As for raising to get someone out the game, HA!!! they dont fold they will never fold.

[N4CER1]

Ya here in Oregon we call it the hillbilly factor...If you get 6-8 callers in most pots you will need to get lucky, because a pair usually won't hold up...some Hillbilly draws out on you. It would be best for you to take $10.00 to $25.00 (low limit) and put into a Pot limit game like at Party Poker...These games only get 1-3 callers per hand and you hands will stand up like they should...In Oregon if will say a live game has 7 bad players in it it is a H7 game.....for 7 Hillbilly's.....Even the best pro canot beat a game with 7-8 callers in each hand that you get in low limit.....Good luck in Pot Limit.............

[John Ho]

If you have read all the books and think you understand them and are still losing money at low limit tables for any significant period of time you need to either 1) reread the books thoroughly or 2) give up because you have no talent for the game

Those low limit games are so easy to beat that if you lose 500 bucks or so playin 2-4 or 3-6 you might wanna give up. Just one man's opinion.

I don't care how many people are chasing. When you have AK or AQ and flop top pair you should bet all the way and expect to scoop a huge pot a good % of the time. But don't call 2 bets cold on the turn anytime unless you have at least 2 pair or a pair + nut flush draw. Otherwise, with no pair fold on the flop but with the nut flush draw raise a multiplayer pot for deception/value or with AK you can call till the river with 2 overcards to a gutshot straight otherwise OUT on the flop. Low limit games are like atms that dispense small amounts of money. Just grind it out with big cards and pairs and don't gamble with marginal hands.

Trust me I used to crush those games. It is easy but takes loads more discipline than most people have. You never make fancy plays and are mechanical. But your success at poker is measured by how much money you win. Nothing else matters...thus you must find a way to win money no matter how boring it is unless you want to be a fish. When you get good at the low limit games you can move up and then the real fun starts. You can make money and have lots of mental stimulation playing poker. It only gets better as you move up. But only if you have proven you can win at lower levels.

Of course there is nothing wrong with playing for fun. Just don't expect to win money consistently.

PS - Lisa I saw the magic word in your post - "tilt." If you tilt either learn to control it or find another hobby. People who tilt consistently can't beat any poker game. Perhaps tournament play would suit you better if you can not control your tilt. In the last 5 years I have gone on tilt (I define a tilt as lasting at least 1 hour) 2 times and each time it cost me at least $2000 at 20-40. Assuming you are a good 20-40 player making 2 big bets an hour on average you see that one 2-4 hour tilt session takes about 24 hours to make back.

[John Ho]

Sorry normally I don't criticize other people's posts since all opinions are welcome but your post is wrong. To say a good pro much less an above averageplayer can't beat a game with 7-8 players on every flop is the worst message you can give to beginners. If one can't beat a game where 5 people after the turn aren't getting right odds to chase the best hand but do it anyways then no game can be beat! If you are playing a 3-6 game with a $3 rake you actually need more players in the hands because in tight games the rake will eat you alive over the long run. More bad players=more expectation for the good players.

[gamboolman]

Miss Liza,
All I play is the microlimits, and poorly at that !! In my opinion at the lowest limits it is very common to experience 200 BB negative swings. Remember these are the beginning levels for poker players and are full of humungous shoals of fish, and also a lot of people who just want to play for fun, and thus will chase. So when it seems that the Chasers From Hell have been running you down and beating up on you, they probably have been. Play tight and try to avoid e-tilt. E-Tilt is a terrible condition, and I am a charter member of my local ETA chapter. It is quite a sight to see all of us busted out computer railbirds cussing/discussing our latest bad beats at our weekly meetings. We are all recovering Etiltalholics, and will be for life. Microlimits prove that chaos theory is a fact.
Hang in there and remember -200 BB's ain't nothing but a thang!! Don't mean nuthin!!

[umdpoker]

yes, of course there is such a thing as an unlucky person. everything in the world has some sort of distribution. there are people that have more stuff go right for them. this is no excuse to not work though, because n the long run, you should end up having the same luck as the next guy. so if you play a million hands with the same skill as guy#2, you should be close in amount of win or loss. however, it will not likely be the exact same amount. using the formula for normal distribution, i am sure that out of the billions on earth, there is one person that could play well forever and still lose. the good news is that you are probably not that guy.

[daryn]

i have around 25,000 hands in pokertracker and my aces hold up around 80% of the time. to say that they get cracked 2/3 of the time is just complete nonsense