How do you get away from hands?

Firstly a little history..........

I play $0.10NL, over 15k hands my win rate is 2.1bb/100. I feel I know the basics and am improving but feel I really should have a higher win rate before even thinking about moving up. I play a pretty standard TAGG game at this stage and tend to pick up a bunch of small pots, a few larger pots and almost all my losses come from a small number of big pots.

Sometimes those losses are from getting unlucky. However, after going over HH's and running leak buster I'm left with no doubt that my major leak is getting too attached to hands and going to show down when I really should be folding. My W$SD% is only 47%.

I guess I tend to think people are bluffing too much and when I have a decent hand like 2 pair or trips(and tbh a few too many times with TPTK!!!) I tend to call even when possible straights or flushes are out there and the villain has taken the line that makes it seem obvious he's made it because "folding seems weak".

I have read the thread "put your opponent on a goddamn range" and I'm practicing that!

I'm pretty sure the problem is mental rather than any deficiency in basic poker skill so I'm wondering what sort of things I can do, read or try in order to fix it? How do you all make yourself get away from a hand?

It takes some experience to estimate your hand strengh based on board texture and your opponents range.
Obvious spots are obvious, like AK on KT4 6 2 is not the same as AK on K46 3 5

And there are like a million steps in between.
Play less tables and spend some time going through all the possible hands your opponent could have. Count combos when it's easy. You just need to do it over and over again. There's no secret that will turn you into a superior fold machine that I know of.

Originally Posted by oskar

There's no secret that will turn you into a superior fold machine that I know of.

Damn! And here I thought that my fold button was an awesome secret to keep

Originally Posted by Shotglass

Damn! And here I thought that my fold button was an awesome secret to keep

shhh don't give it away

definately aim to be beating the game for a better rate before moving up.

I don't place a whole lot of trust in PTR's figures, but a quick check shows the top winner for all time at 10NL has a win rate of ~12bb/100 over 750,000 hands (screw playing nl10 for that long hey?). There is also numerous players in the 7-10bb/100 range over 200K+ hands. I would also guess there's hundreds that acheived that and moved up after only 20-30K hands.

I would consider that the discipline and patience required to fold 2nd bests is a skill that doesnt necessarily have to be developed at the poker table, just applied there. I developed a good chunk of my discipline by slaving over a piano for hours mastering chopin when i was barely into my first year of highschool. You can consider concepts from the rest of your life and make them work for you at the table.

As far as poker specifically, making a fold is good for your psyche and it will keep you on your A game. Even if you got bluffed, chances are the villain wont show and thats when you kick in some arrogance and tell yourself that you were 100% right and made a great lay down. You'll be filled with confidence in your game and make better decisions in the coming hands.

Beyond that, I'm playing the same level as you at the moment, and while I think there's money to be made by soul reading, its not very much. The bulk of the profit is coming from villains that spaz into your made hands or call your raises with obvious second bests.

Next time you have a decent hand and villain bets $3 into you on the river when its gone flush, consider that at the 2bb/100 winrate that your currently logging, your going to need to play 1500 more hands to cover that $3 if he has a flush. Or you can fold, watch him muck, believe your right that he had a flush and love that he called the flop and turn with horrendus odds.

the simplest way to learn to fold and play poker, but not the best or the profitable one , is to do like me: get to 25nl and lose your BR there, then build it up again, lose it again, built again and lose it again,.... after this believe me you will learn to fold, assign ranges , count combos. after 3 BR lost in 25nl ( thats over 1500$ lost in 2 months ) cause you play like a jackass ( worked 2,5,10nl cause there are even worst idiots then me) you will learn to play poker

or you could just start doing it now in low stakes and save yourself from mind fcking like happened to me

Thanks for the replies. I guess post flop discipline is just something I have to work on.

I like your idea a lot Scott.

Try reasoning youself into folding. How many times did you catch your villain trying to bluff you for your whole stack while you were having a mediocre hand like TPTK? Probably not too many in comparison of all that times you got coolered with various weird straights, two pairs, overpairs, etc. If he is playing like he wants your whole stack then he thinks he can take it, and until you get a read that villain is a spewing fish, give him some benefit of doubt with your weakish holdings.

I often find myself in trouble because I like to think that unknown villains are 3betting my premium holdings with crap, and specially when they squeeze in multiway pot and im holding like AK, KK, QQ. Or when its opposite, when I 3bet them with those holdings and they 4bet/shove. But the fact is, every time they make a move I get a split second thought telling me: this guy is full of crap, or this guy has aces, or this one has kings. And guess what: I guess correctly like 98% of time, but I still make a bad move. You just gotta find that tiny thought in yourself, telling you what's the right move, while your paranoid personality tries to convince you otherwise.