No confidence....

[symphonic]

I haven't been playing serious poker for too long, a couple months max. I've read a few books (WLLH, HEPFAP, TOP), and started out really hot winning quite a few live sessions (3/6). But after having a few losing sessions, and a failed attempt at trying to play online (The problem being I didn't give myself a proper bankroll to start with), I've suddenly lost confidence in my game. I sit down at a table now, and expect to lose, and this can only make me play worse. Does anyone else ever get like this after a few bad sessions? If so, how do you remedy it? Or do you just suck it up and keep playing your A game? I don't feel that i'm winning player yet, but I think i'm on a good start, I just need to figure out how to get more confidence in my game and abilities. I love hold'em, and I know the bad comes with the good, I'm just discouraged. Be nice [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[illunious]

Beating the $0.01/$0.02 games on UB for $12.00 was a great boost to my confidence (after losing my first $200 deposit on Party). Play at a limit you can beat and the confidence will come naturally.

[slavic]

If I'm running bad, I mean depressing levels of bad. Here is what I use to do.

I'd book a winning session.

Walk in play for an hour maybe thirty minutes and if I was up a little I'd stop. There it was a winner. Now I can go forth and be fruitfull.

Now I don't really mind that much anymore. It's funny I dropped 3 racks of red at a 20/40 game a few weeks ago. I reviewed my play mentally after each hand I lost and frankly I couldn't have played it better. (After all who calls 4 cold with 79s? and how often does top house lose?) I was destined to lose near the max on three hands and I did. It hurt the pocketbook but I'm convinced I played well and I move on.

[bigpooch]

For some people, the ups and downs of limit HE won't even
compare with those in real life! Cheer up: you can still
play something you enjoy, right? And if you play long
enough, things are bound to turn around!

[pretender2k]

I suggest the .01/.02 pl omaha 8/b on UB. Even winning $5 makes me feel better.

[illunious]

After re-reading my post: I should have mentioned it took me 2 months to win that $12.00.

I don't play Omaha, so I don't think that would be much of a confidence booster [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

[Kurn, son of Mogh]

I should have mentioned it took me 2 months to win that $12.00

Well, it *is* 600 bb. Same as taking 2 months to win $2,400 at 2/4. Pretty good.

[Fitz]

First, relax. It is far too early in your poker career to know if you are a winning player. Everyone has ups and downs, and the downs can be quite depressing. As a wise man told me early in my playing days, "Hold 'em isn't for the weak minded."

As for what you are going through now. Just take it easy. Take this downswing as a time to look critically at your game. We all have leaks; this is a good time to find them and plug them. Realize that anything can and will happen in the short term, and that the long term is a very long time. Players are going to suck out on you, and your aces are goin to get cracked; try to understand why these are good things, and why then NEED to happen to have a beatable game.

You are learning another very valuable lesson early in your career. The importance of building and protecting a bankroll large enough to play the game of your choice. 300 big bets is not a number someone just decided upon. Most of us who have played for any length of time have seen losing streaks this big or even bigger.

Confidence comes from being prepared. Read, study, follow this forum, and think seriously about the game. The more you learn, the better player you will be, and the better you will feel about your game. Don't play over your head either. You say you are playing 3/6 live; that is akin to .5/1 or maybe 1/2 online. Start small, learn to beat these games; keep good records so you can see the swings in your game. Build your bankroll slowly, and only move up in limits when you are financially and psychologically ready to do so. I started playing .5/1 3 years ago, and I have just recently achieved the bankroll, skills and mental toughness to beat 5/10 games online.

Post some hands, and pick the brains of the people on this forum; it is the best learning tool you can have.

Good luck,

Fitz

[sandsmarc]

I'm not sure any conclusions can be drawn from participation in any of these micro-limit online games. There's no money involved, how can it test your courage and performance under real pressure? To me this is not even poker. I suggest getting in some 2-4 home games and testing yourself against live opposition. And even this is somewhat of a joke since most live 2-4 games are loose and must be played robotically to beat. Poker doesn't even start until the 10-20 level.

Not that lower limit games can't be fun. But I would never even discuss one's "skill" at these levels because there really isn't any.

-Marc