Consistently beat limit poker? Time to quit online? Post sshe worse.

[comstock]

Tons (hundreds) of hours online, mostly 1/2 limit (two tables usually). Occasional runs of good fortune surrounded by masses of bad. Read multiple books, the last of which was SSHE. Read it cover to cover and actually started doing worse. Have a good working knowledge of pot odds and out odds and stay within those bounds.

Actually had a guy at the table say, PokerTracker says you're A Rock. Great...yeah, serves me well. Waiting for real cards and raising preflop "when I should" got me the blinds everytime...which was better than the few times I'd get called and sucked out on.

After some hundred hours of this (multitabling hours) I moved to NL. Same thing. Hours upon hours of cold cards or good hole cards but with all raggedy flops.

Hitting 4 to a flush on the flop (36% chance to hit) only to miss 9 times out of 10 - no exaggeration. Followed up by some dude hitting a runner runner flush to kill trip kings.

Going 50+ straight PP hands without hitting a set, then when finally hitting a set and having the best hand on the flop, going all in to protect the hand (isn't this what all the NL people say to the limit players who complain about being sucked out on?) and having a sole opponent call and hit his gutshot straight. This btw was my last hand online, the one to finish me off.

This isn't short term bad luck or variance, unless you can go 100+ hours with this kind of crap. I'm not talking one or two bad sessions, or even a week's worth. I now wonder whether I should give up online completely and stick to B&M...

Maybe limit poker is just bingo after all and I should move to NL only...But I was convinced that if you played "smart", based everything on pot odds and out odds, etc. that limit poker was a game that could be beaten consistently. Starting to wonder...

Maybe I play TOO much. Down big and debating whether or not to go back.

[chief444]

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This isn't short term bad luck or variance, unless you can go 100+ hours with this kind of crap.

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[img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]

[ghostface]

100 hours two tabling is like 10000 hands.

You can go through 25k hand downswings.

[edtost]

book reading does not a good player make.

[buzzbait]

Are you using PokerTracker yourself? If not start using it. Also, post hands here. Only then can people people tell you how you are playing and if what you are experiencing is a downswing or due to your play.

[comstock]

I realize that, but never ending pursuit of knowledge combined with 100+ hours a week actual play should be a good start....

[Kaz The Original]

100+ hours a week?

[comstock]

of table time yes. don't forget multi tabling.

[PokerBob]

Post some hands.

Also, just because you should make a flush 3.5 out of 10 times doesn't mean you will. 1 in 10 is bad, and unlucky, but not obscene. Your sample size is too small, as I am sure others will tell you.

Also, if you truly understand odds and the like, you will know that such variance is possible.

[jason_t]

It sounds to me that you lack understanding of a few basic principles.

0. Maybe your playing at too high a limit. Since you are posting here, that implies you are playing 2/4 at least. Can you beat 1/2? .50/1? If you can't beat those games you can't beat 2/4.

1. SSH is a godsend. It completely changed my game for the better and I'm sure most players at this forum would say the same thing. If you started doing worse it's either short-term variance or are failing to correctly apply principles in the book. Reading a book is not enough to make you a strong player.

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Have a good working knowledge of pot odds and out odds and stay within those bounds.

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There is more to SSH than pot odds. Reread the postflop play section. You probably aren't pushing your edges hard enough. Learn to read hands. You probably are taking some hands too far.

2. If someone told you that you are a rock, then you are playing too passively preflop. Look at the SSH chart (p. 80) and follow it to a T until you learn how to adjust for table features and then later introduce situational rasies (isolating a weak player, etc.). But make sure you read the Preflop guidelines to understand the principles behind the plays you make.

3.

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Hitting 4 to a flush on the flop (36% chance to hit) only to miss 9 times out of 10 - no exaggeration. Followed up by some dude hitting a runner runner flush to kill trip kings.

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No offense, but I'm sure you are exaggerating. Mathematics doesn't lie. She is a cold-hearted uncompromising hot bitch, but she doesn't lie. If you flop a four-flush, you will draw your fifth card ~1/3rd of the time. If you've flopped 1000 four-flushes, I will never believe you that only 100 came in. Never. That's not to say it's impossible, just like flipping a coin heads 1 000 000 times consecutively is not impossible it's just incredibly unlikely. It's the Law of Large Numbers and it's your best friend. Yes, people will hit runner runner flushes on you. But in the long run, your set of K will hold up and you will take down the pot. You want those people trying to draw out on you! That's where some of your money is coming from!

A set of K is not invincible. Pocket aces are not invincible. Don't get frustrated when they are beat. If you go on tilt, leave immediately. You will play badly and lose more money and the cycle will continue.

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Going 50+ straight PP hands without hitting a set

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Since you are vague about the number, I'm sure you're exaggerating a little. To not hit a set over 50+ hands would be pretty unlikely. Would you believe someone if they said they rolled a die 50+ times and didn't roll a 6 once? That's on the approximately of what you are talking about here. (It's roughly 1300 to 1 that you don't hit a set after 50 tries with a PP, and 9000 to 1 that you don't roll a 6 after 50 tries with a fair die.)

4. [ QUOTE ]
Maybe limit poker is just bingo after all and I should move to NL only...

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No, and if you really think this then you don't understand the game at all. Bingo players just sit there and push buttons when a number is called; they certainly aren't thinking. You can't play winning poker by sitting there and pushing call or fold or raise without thinking. It's a very analytical game, and you have to put hours into thinking about the game yourself to understand it. It's not enough to apply a bunch of dogmas and to read a chart that says if you have 5 outs to the nuts and the pot is laying you 8.2:1 then call. And the game is certainly not a crapshoot, if that is what you are trying to imply by comparing it to bingo. Read pp. 7--8 of Hold'em Poker for Advanced Players (HPFAP in this forum).

5.

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Maybe I play TOO much.

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If you have a gambling problem, seek help. Please.