2 weeks in, and i've won....um.....nothing.

Alright fella's,

So far, you're advice has been spot on so i wanted to see what you have to say about my situation so far.

I've been playing Paradise now for 2 weeks, and i've stuck to the $2 NL ring games whilst i find my feet.....trouble is im still trying to find them.

I started well, doubling my stack quickly in a 1 hour session, then for the next 7 days i did nothing but lose. I re-read my poker bible, re-read some forum posts on here and realised my mistakes and tightened up my game.

I am now back to where i started on my initial deposit, but i'm not really seeing much profit.

I think its a mixture of not spending enough time online (Nagging wife and 9 month old baby need attention don't you know!) and not being aggressive enough when i have a good hand. Perfect example of this happened last night.

I had pocket 10's, and raised small to entice them in. All called, and i flopped Trips. There was nothing else from the flop that concerned me, so i checked, hoping to draw everyone else in and increase the pot. This worked, so allowed the 4th street to come cheap, and this left 2 hearts in the community. I check raised some guy, who then went all in.

I thought "YES!" and called.

Jammy f*cker got a flush on the River and i lost the lot.

Now, i'm fairly certain i know my mistake here was not being aggresive on 4th street and therefore scaring the flush drawer away, and i should just accept that sometimes bad beats happen, and good solid poker only seeing 15% - 20% of flops where good hands permit it is the way to go....but.....i also think i might just be playing / talking crap!!!

over to you guys.......!!

If he's going all in with a flush draw then he's playing badly, obviously you had to call, the majority of times you win in this situation so don't beat yourself up over this one too much. You don't want to scare away a flush drawer who will pay over the odds to make their flush, you just have to make sure you bet enough to give them incorrect odds. As he went all in he did this all for you, this is the sort of opponent you want.

ok thanks, at least i was on the right track then. Its just frustrating that i feel like im actually playing the best poker i've ever played but still getting sucker punched by that sort of luck.

From what i've read though, profits can take months of good poker not just a few weeks. Guess i've just gotta stay disciplined......

There's a lot about poker which you can't instill through books or a forum. Instincts are built through experience. You can be good at math and beat Limit, but no limit will own inexperience all day. Have patience, and feel the improvement.

ok thanks, at least i was on the right track then. Its just frustrating that i feel like im actually playing the best poker i've ever played but still getting sucker punched by that sort of luck.

You made the right play, but you have to expect those sort of beats in 2$ nl. To these guys, it's only 2$ to catch what is, in all likelyhood the nuts or close to it.

IMHO, the amount of knowledge you will gain from these tables is minimal as you will see all kinds of crazy stuff. (I see all kinds of weird stuff at 25$ NL/20+2's on empire)

The flip side of this, and it's kind of a catch 22, is that you must play within your bankroll and if this is what your BR allows, then so be it.

Why not try some low buy-in MTT's or maybe the 5+.50 sng's or 5+1's on party or it's skins. A MTT win, even a low buy-in can give your BR a significant boost and help you move up to where people actually start to play poker.

You might have more success there.

I make a much healthier profit in 20+2 sng's then 25NL simply because they suit my aggressive style better.
I am not a camper and like to see a lot of flops for cheap (a la Negreanu... although I am in no way comparing my skill to his).

Through ~80sng's a month I have a 70% ITM and a win rate of about 30%.

I am by no means one of the better players out there, but I have been playing for about 6 months now.

Lost 400$ in first 2 months (chalk it up to education), but have been making at least 2x that per month for the last couple of months.

So keep your chin up, and give serious consideration to trying some SNG's. Maybe you will find they suit your style more.

If you decide to try some SNG action, be sure to read ripptyde's strategy post about SNG's.

I used a lot of advice from there, and it really helped my game.

This site truly is a gold mine for Hold em in all shapes and forms.
Use it, study HH, (from work like me ) and apply it to your game and you WILL see results.

Cheers,

Drew[/quote]

Surprisingly enough if you have broken even over two weeks playing, and you have little experience this is a victory in itself. So please dont knock it!
As said above experience will teach you where and when you need to be aggressive/drop the hammer etc. For now concentrate on playing the ABC poker you have read about in the books. Play this and your break even poker will begin to show profit eventually but you must perceveer (spelling!) with the play you are learning at the moment.
For now concentrate on playing the right poker. The profit will come.
As for the above hand. He gambled against your made hand. You will find that in poker there are few better things that you want an op to do. Just unlucky here he caught.

Keep at it. I played break even poker for months before I became profitable. It takes experience. The only advice I can give is make sure you are playing tight. This can make a huge difference to your profitability. When starting out it is very very hard to convince yourself to see only 20%-30% of flops. Yet that once simple change is what made the difference for me.

TT is not a hand you want to 'entice' people to play against.

Play straight forward poker at those tables. Very tight preflop, very agressive when you hit. They *will* pay you, you do *not* have to slow play. All the fancy moves in the world make no sense when practiced at a table full of donks.

So get patient and get grinding. Those tables are very profitable (relative to stakes) when played right.

Originally Posted by Miffed22001

Surprisingly enough if you have broken even over two weeks playing, and you have little experience this is a victory in itself. So please dont knock it!

Bingo. Well said.

Thanks guys, each and every one of you.

I feel alot more positive about my play now, and I so i tried the second Milliondollor freeroll at Paradise last night and My finishing position was a hell of a lot better. (previously came 900+ out of 3000) this time i was something like 412th out of 2000+.

It was the same story, that the blinds (200 / 400 + 25 ante) were killing me and so i played aggressively post flop with K,10s and lost to someone with pocket 10's, but as i feel i made the right play i wasn't too dissappointed.

Thanks again guys, hopefully i will have a bit more time to try a SnG tourny soon.....how long does one of those generally take? At present im not getting more than an hour an evening play time.....?

Don't feel bad, I've made probably $120 bucks off of $110 so far, but I'm at a break even point at the moment. They come and they pass, just keep up your A game and over time you'll win.

The SnGs on Paradise take about 1:15-1:30 to win in my experiance.

SnGs take about an hour to complete so they should fit into your time frame.

They'd probably be better for you because I wouldn't consider an hour of ring to be enough to turn a proft. I find I need to play 3-4 hour sessions to be profitable.

oh right, i always assumed they take longer.
If i sign up for a SnG but there are still 3 places left before it starts, does that mean it could literally start any time and i have to just sit and wait for 3 people to sign up?

and in that veign, is it best to be the last person to sign up and in essence get it started right away?

They fill up very quickly - if you're sitting down at the SNG nearest the top of the list, it'll be a minute or two max until it's full. There won't be one coming along before it, either, so just sit down and read your email, play ring or see if you can hold your breath until the tourney starts.

Ok guys, cheers for the info.
Where do you guys normally play so i know where to avoid?!?! ha ha

I'm currently playing the 10+1 at Paradise, come on in =) They're a great way to get more million points, you get 5 per $1 in tourney fees, so a freeroll entry every 20 SnGs at that level~

thats where i play most of the time at the moment....im just working on my BR to get enough to enter a few SnG's then i will certainly have a crack......!!

breaking even is a great way to start... just keep learning and get the practice

Another good way to start is to read every post by aokrongly on this site.

I'm closing in on my second week and I'm in the same boat you are.

Be patient. Not only good poker, but a good lifestyle. Don't try to force it.

(and I'm still pretty damn stoked that I'm banging out even so far)

Breaking even is a great way to start off learning.I know some people who dumped 30K their first year and it took them a year and a half to make that back and then to turn a profit.Just keep doing your hw and bonus chasing and you should be fine.

I know some people who dumped 30K their first year

umm, can we say someone needed to move down a few (lots) levels?