Beginner's mistake

I've playin for a couple of weeks now on Absolute Poker. I started out with a $200 deposit, and it's been a wild ride. I've gone as low as $40 and climbed back up to $250 a couple times. I was getting frustrated with the $1/2 tables because I wasn't getting anywhere with my BR, so I decided to give one of the $10/$20 a try with $200 (despite the voice inside my head screaming not to). I did pretty well at first, going up to $300. Then when I came down to around $110, I went all in with three 2's on the turn (wtf was I thinking? I think a lack of sleep had something to do with it ). One guy called me and ended up catching a 2-6 straight on the river! That brought my adventure to an abrupt end =[

The loss brought me down to $2 in my account, and I've been playing small $.10/.20 tables ever since. Now I'm at $21...it's gonna take a while to get back up there. I'll be kicking myself for the next week or so, but I think I've learned a valuable lesson...for a hefty price. Bitch whine moan weep...ok I'm done complaining..How do you guys deal with taking forever to build up your BR? How long did it take you to get where you are now?

See sig (and the accompanying thread if you'd like a more detailed look).

Looks like you're making good progress! How much time are you spending on poker everyday? I'd like to play this as a hobby, but I don't know if an 30-60 min. a day will get me anywhere. You guys seem pretty hardcore :P

How much I play varies according to my school schedule.

I played a total of about 3 hours this weekend (estimation...on the high side, I think), and probably 5 hours last week. I've had a lot going on, so that's cut in to my time, and I also refused to play until I figured out why I lost so much money last weekend (turns out I was playing stupid poker...that'll do it to you!).

I'd guess I average around 15 hours a week.

I'm trying to learn the game well enough to go pro eventually, so I may well be more hard core than a lot of people.

Oh, and just so you know...it's not reflected in my sig/that thread, but I started out similarly - built up to $200 from a $25 deposit over xmas break, then moved up a level when I wasn't ready. Lost all but $10 of it and then started back on track as best I could from there.

I also have my own unique buy-in system for playing "above my limits" while still playing within my means. Most people don't like it and I get yelled at all the time by people singing the praises of the max buy-in, but I frequently buy-in with the min. amount or close to it. My reasoning is that I think I'm a better player than many people at the levels I can't yet afford, so I play there anyway and buy in with such an amount that I'm still a threat, but not a huge one and I'm not risking too much of my roll. It can work amazingly (like this morning when I turned $20 into $75 in 16 hands), but that requires the perfect table.

How is Poker Tracker working for you? and what is Casino Whoring? Is tracker worth the money?

Poker tracker has helped me spot a few leaks and has helped me track a lot of things about my play. I'm not one of the people who says it'll make back it's cost in no time at all, but over the long term, I think it does. It's certainly nice to be able to easily check data nearly any time I have a question about a given type of hand.

Casino whoring refers to the process of signing up at online casinos exclusively for the purpose of earning bonuses to increase your bankroll. Frequently blackjack is involved.

I will, if you dont have poker tracker, then you are really really missing out.

Originally Posted by longhornjas

The loss brought me down to $2 in my account, and I've been playing small $.10/.20 tables ever since. Now I'm at $21...it's gonna take a while to get back up there.

Stay at this level for a while. It will force you to tighten up your game, which is important. Even if you're Gus Hansen, you have to tighten up once in a while.

Set a goal and stick to it! To be comfortable at 1/2 NL, you need significantly more than 200. So set a realistic goal before you move up from .10/.20 to .50/1. Build that $21 up to about 200 again, and you might be ready to move up. But I think 1/2 is a little ways off.

Hang in there -- you learned an important lesson in memorable fashion!

Originally Posted by Molinero

Set a goal and stick to it! To be comfortable at 1/2 NL, you need significantly more than 200. So set a realistic goal before you move up from .10/.20 to .50/1. Build that $21 up to about 200 again, and you might be ready to move up. But I think 1/2 is a little ways off.

Even .5/1 with a $200 Roll is suicide. I'm not even properly banked to play there for max buyin.

Originally Posted by JeffreyGB

Even .5/1 with a $200 Roll is suicide. I'm not even properly banked to play there for max buyin.

Silly me...I meant to say .25/.50, which admittedly is still somewhat of a stretch for a BR of $200. Still, though, it's playable.

Why skip .10/.25?

You got frustrated at 1/2 so you went to 10/20!?!

WTF.

Are you one of those guys who could end up losing his house in a poker game? Sure sounds like it...

haha, i don't intend to try that again for a long long while =)

Originally Posted by Molinero

Set a goal and stick to it! To be comfortable at 1/2 NL, you need significantly more than 200.

Nice preachin' there. How 'bout practicin'?

1/2 NL requires 10 X max buyin (200) = $2,000. Bare damn naked silly minimum.

longhorn: I had $8 in January and now have $1,400. If you don't like the levels your current BR allows, then work an extra couple hours, or smoke less, or whatever, and add $100 to the roll. Then another $100. Grab a bonus somewhere (casino whoring). It doesn't take forever.

You will not play "right" if you're worried about the amount of money at stake in any particular hand. You need to be able to push, to bluff, to vary your play and screw around. If any given hand represents a noticeable % of your BR you can't do this stuff, and you will lose.

Originally Posted by evman150

You got frustrated at 1/2 so you went to 10/20!?!

WTF.

Are you one of those guys who could end up losing his house in a poker game? Sure sounds like it...

I see it all the time. What do you think the guy that sits down for $132 at the 3/6 table ($150 default buy-in) is doing? These guys almost always dump money, although the odd one gets lucky and leaves with a profit.

Don't be that guy.

Originally Posted by LeFou

Originally Posted by Molinero

Set a goal and stick to it! To be comfortable at 1/2 NL, you need significantly more than 200.

Nice preachin' there. How 'bout practicin'?

Hey, this is "Do as I say, not as I do" time here!