What do you think of my poker strategy ?

I've been playing poker for over 2 years.During that time I read a lot of books and advices and I think they are mostly useless and a waste of time.My strategy is simple.I go to the poker room with the intention and the confidence that I will most likely win between 70 and 140% of my initial buy-in.I play mostly 2-5 no limit with 100 dollars initial buy-in.Sometimes I will play 2-4 limit again with 100 dollars buy-in and there I play more aggressive poker.If I go down to 40 dollars I will buy for another 60 and if I lose everything I leave with the maximum loss for the day of 160 dollars.On winning days I would make between 75 and 120 dollars,rarely over 200.Why don't I try to win more?Because I usually end up losing not only my profit but even the initial buy in.So far that's the only way I've been able to win consistently.The problems arise when I decide to go for the big bucks and throw discipline out of the window.Usually then I lose up to 300-400 dollars and I need at least 10-14 days to get back on track.Now let me tell you the reasons why I decided that for me this is the only way to make money playing poker.I believe that personally for me being aggressive,check-raising,re-raising,chasing flush and straight draws is a recipe for disaster and will ruin my portfolio sooner or later.I bluff rarely and only after I convinced anyone at the table that I'm a tight player.I also believe the luck on poker table run in streaks.When you are hot you should try to maximize your profit and bet aggressively even if you don't always have the best hand.When you are not lucky all kinds of nasty things will happen to you.You will be outdrawn,somebody will beat you with runner-runner,your preflop pair of Aces will be cracked and so forth.With my style of playing it is pretty boring, sometimes I win the predetermined amount of money in just a few minutes but most of the time I have to play for hours and hours.I win mostly by
trapping and sandbagging my opponents.So my question is do you find anything wrong in my play and if you do what exactly and how do you think I should improve myself ?

Better than Otter strategy. Oh, and learn to use line breaks.

Buying in for $100 in a 2/5 game is some serious short-stacking. If you're not a hit-n-run type of player, I suggest buying in for more or moving down stakes. Just from skimming over your "strategy" it seems you have much to learn. Luck may or may not come in "streaks" as you say, but you can't afford to think that way. Playing your cards differently whether you're hot or not isn't the right way to play. Making the most +EV play is.

Start by reading the digest in this forum.

This thread hurts my eyes

Sorry, your strategy sounds kinda iffy. First off, you're buying in for 20bb. One of the big problems with short-stacking is that the blinds reduce our stack by so much, that by the time we get a good hand, a big chunk of our stack has bled away. Sometimes by the time you pick up a hand, you'd only have 40% of your stack, and even if you do double up, you only have 80% of your original stack back. Short-stacking can be profitable, but usually you win so little that it's not really worth it.

And please put spaces between your punctuation. Proper formatting makes things so much easier to read.

Oh, what's the otter strategy btw?

Doubt we'll hear from op again. Strat sucks!

I appreciate the comments so far but instead of simply posting one liner maybe you should try to tell me why it sucks.Let's put aside all this useless as I said earlier poker books and articles and focus on what's really happening at a real poker game.Let's presume the best case scenario.You just started you had a few good hands you even managed to bluff one time ( in Florida that's very unlikely because the maximum buy-in is a hundred dollars so it is difficult to push someone of a hand ).You are up 250-350 bucks your confidence is up in the sky you feel like you can do anything and you start pushing,betting on draws,re-raising and suddenly the chips in front of you disappear like the last winter snow.I've seen that thousands of times at the tables,I've done it myself many times but what I haven't seen yet is a consistent profitable aggressive player who bets the odds and does all these things that the books recommend.They all go broke after certain period of time.Maybe you've seen it but I haven't.And I'm not talking about these so called poker stars they show on TV, I'm talking about real cash poker player.But by all means prove me wrong, I'd love that !!!

Welcome to FTR!

First off, I'm interested in your goals in poker. What do want out of it? What are you willing to put into it?

I'm also curious how much have you won/lost overall, as well as if you a bankroll set aside. How many of your hands do you choose to play? What kind of hands do you chose to play?

You say that "most of the time I have to play for hours and hours", have you figured out your per hour win rate. Seems to me that when you only buy-in for $100 and leave with as little as $70 in winnings (when you win)that your per hour rate would be very low. Beside the fact that I don't believe you know the right way to play short stack poker, it's seem to me that a reg job with set wages might be more profitable on a hourly basis. The why you play you will never make any real money.

Originally Posted by JR9477

Welcome to FTR!

First off, I'm interested in your goals in poker. What do want out of it? What are you willing to put into it?

I'm also curious how much have you won/lost overall, as well as if you a bankroll set aside. How many of your hands do you choose to play? What kind of hands do you chose to play?

Thank you for the post.I play poker 1-3 times a week and my goal at the moment is simple.I want to show profit in a long run.Not in every session not even every week but definitely a profit when a look 6-12 months back.As far as what I'm willing to put into it.Well what I love about poker is the challenge.Being able to outplay your opponents at the table.I have a Masters degree, I have no problem with studying and reading but in poker that's not enough.
I know that my game is missing many things, I just don't think that they are the things people have shown me so far.

Last year alone I lost 4872 dollars overall.I didn't play from November 2008 till the end of February 2009.So far I'm up for 2009.The amount is 2493 dollars.What bothers me is that I think that this may have nothing to do with how I play. Maybe I'm just lucky for an extended period of time.It is probably just a psychological barrier but still I'd like to find out how other people approach and play the game.

When I start the game I usually wait 20 min to half and hour to see if I will pick up pocket pair ( from AA to JJ ) with which to raise, force everyone out but a single person who will be willing to play all his chips against me.I will play every other pair with the hope of seeing trips on the flop.If I don't then I fold.

After half an hour if I haven't pick up a big pair I will open up a bit try to steal some small pot to pay for the blinds,play suited connectors and cards that can make me a flush or straight.If I'm on a draw after the flop and I don't have too much money left I might go all in.I try to do that with at least 60-70 dollars in front of me.This way I still have a slim chance that everyone might fold on me. If I lose and I have reached my daily stop loss I go home.There is always another day and my experience so far have shown me that I can easily recover from a small loss but I have a problem dealing with a big one.It affects my play negatively.

Max buyin is $100 and they spread 2/5NL? wow.

Most information in books applies much better to deeper games. For a 20bb max game, I'm thinking your strategy should work ok, but earn in a game like that is going to be extremely small.

You've commented on reading books that you don't sound like you got much out of. If you don't mind, could you list 'em?
I've read many many poker books and very few of them haven't taught me something.
BUT, this website offers you an incredible amount of poker knowledge, wisdom, application, theory, analyzing, strategizing, guidelines and more.
If you're really interested in advancing your play, I'd suggest picking 5 topics you feel you could improve at - one sounds like the idea of buy-in and cashout amounts.
Then take each of those topics and search words that have to do with that topic and read every thread/post/blog that seems like it has something to do with it.
It sounds stupid, but I'll promise you, the volume of what this site has to offer will blow your mind. The depth of knowledge will probably take some time for you to really appreciate. The attitude - heh, I'd be surprised if you haven't picked up on that already!
Good luck bud.

Originally Posted by Kijjo

You've commented on reading books that you don't sound like you got much out of. If you don't mind, could you list 'em?
I've read many many poker books and very few of them haven't taught me something.
BUT, this website offers you an incredible amount of poker knowledge, wisdom, application, theory, analyzing, strategizing, guidelines and more.
If you're really interested in advancing your play, I'd suggest picking 5 topics you feel you could improve at - one sounds like the idea of buy-in and cashout amounts.
Then take each of those topics and search words that have to do with that topic and read every thread/post/blog that seems like it has something to do with it.
It sounds stupid, but I'll promise you, the volume of what this site has to offer will blow your mind. The depth of knowledge will probably take some time for you to really appreciate. The attitude - heh, I'd be surprised if you haven't picked up on that already!
Good luck bud.

I like this website that's why I sign up here.

He said list the books. There are loads of Poker Books circulating the world. However, there is only a select few that solid, winning poker players even recommend on a regular basis. If you are reading the wrong ones and getting nothing out of it, no wonder. If you are reading the right ones, and getting nothing out of it, you may just be unable to learn any more.

Basically, it sure sounds like you are comfortable with your game, and want to be told that you don't need to do any studying to get better. I'll be the one to tell you that you likely play poker poorly, and have a long ways to go before you are even considered moderately decent.

Saying that no-one can possibly win by playing in another manner and that books are useless is retarded. The right books help, but it's your job to understand the concept the right books are discussing and learn how to apply that to the situations you are faced with.

Also.... WTF SS'r!!!

I think you're worse than me, which on the scale of poker skill makes you pretty terrible indeed

Originally Posted by Parasurama

I think you're worse than me, which on the scale of poker skill makes you pretty terrible indeed

he could be better than me though

I don't think you have a poker strategy.

I think you have a bankroll strategy.

I also think you have no idea how much money you've won/lost in the last 1000 hours you've played. Meaning that it's probably a piss poor bankroll strategy.

Originally Posted by daven

Originally Posted by Parasurama

I think you're worse than me, which on the scale of poker skill makes you pretty terrible indeed

he could be better than me though

hey who's the pro?

more people are replying to this guy's "strategy" than they are to my sweating thread? I am severely disappointed in FTR right now

You sound like a player that cannot make a profit in the long run. THIS is a recipe for disaster. Like this you will be a losing player (its not apparent now but it will be later). By the way i hate hit and runners