Post from a newb.

Well for my first post I wanted something that would not be newbie BS. So I am going to start off with the basics.
Name is Kris, I live in Salt Lake City. Played alot of "friendly" games of poker at friends houses alot. Every Friday night for a year and a half. So I had thought about playing online for a year or so. Just like most I " Googled" and FTR came up. Was reading alot ( had a few migrains to show for it ) and a friend recommended Pacific because of the Play Money and they ease of use. I have been playing on there for 3 weeks now in the " Play" area. I only play MTT and SnG. ( FR as well ). On the Free Rolls ( No Deposit on any site yet because BOTH CC have "No Gambling" blocks on them GO Figure! ) Will Wire transfer some time this week if I get the time.

As I have been playing I am placeing higher and higher every tournament ( FR). I have never been ITM yet but I am getting closer. Highest is 39/500 so far. Now after looking at everything afterwards of these FR, I sit for about 20-30 minutes going over the history and seeing where I went wrong. For instance
Blinds where 25/50 I had PP KK . I bet 300, everyone folded. Now the "table read" was pretty loose, So I was surprised there was no callers. But then I feel I should have only went 150 raise. I am second guessing myself more often. ( Esp on Flushes ).
My one big question then is:
Should I be second guessing what I know before and after a hand?

I see a few posts reguarding "similiar" things but involve AK so on and so forth. I am not talking "big" hands but your average hand as well. Being a technical person I tend over think things way to much. Is this normal or should a person have the attitiude of " I made the choice now live with it". Do I regret choices I have made, Yes ( Ex Wife being on of them ) But should I do it in poker?

That was alot and I didn't mean to ramble, but for a first post my hope is not to be to noobish.

You should know from a year and a half that poker is a thinking man's game. You're always thinking. Online its even worse because instinctual reads are so much harder to make. Thinking is such a must, however, don't let this thinking destroy your play. For instance if examining something that you did wrong learn from it but don't get down on yourself. Poker is also very much a game of confidence.

Also, its important to remember that just because you didnt get the required result, you didn't necessarily play it 'wrong'. As i'm sure you know, poker is far from a game of definites, and if you read the table as ultra loose, maybe you were right and on any other hand in the entire tournie, u might have got calls, who knows. As AJ says, the important thing is to learn from everything that happens and try 2 adjust your play accordingly. The best players are constantly learning and adapting their play.

Hope this helps.

I was thinking on the same page, as a " learn from the experiance. " So I am not in the wrong. confidence has not left because I still play and Enjoy it for what it is. " A challenge" to figure out the other person.

Makes me feel better.
Thank You.
Kris

It's not easy to know if you did something wrong without a good means to verify it. Like that 300.. maybe it was too much, or maybe they just all happened to have shit hands. And if you had thrown 150.. maybe you would've gotten 1-2 callers, or maybe 6 people would have joined in, kinda ruining your chances. Who knows?

Feedback from the game itself is tricky. Say you make a decision, but you lose. Does that mean you made the wrong decision? Who knows. Or say you win. Was is a right decision now? Maybe. Maybe not.

I think there are only three real ways to evaluate your decisions; The first being experience. If you have duked out 100k hands, you should have gotten a pretty good feel for what you can and can't do, what works and what doesn't, and how to play this kind of table like this and that kind of table like that. The second is feedback from people who know. Friends, or here on FTR. The third is that you calculate the odds and analyse hands by yourself to get a grip on things. This is ofcourse tricky.. if you don't do your math correctly or don't factor in all the appropriate variables, you can draw some pretty bad conclusions.

Generally I think a combination of all three is a good idea. Play a lot, as there is no substitute for experience. Ask feedback from others, so you don't stray too far into your own crappy variation of the game. And do your own analysis.

Seems like you're doing just that, so if you give it some time, you should be good :)

I think the over thinking thing can be a very big problem. I found that I spent alot of time second guessing as well. I woulkd watch hands where I fold 45s and then realise that "oh shit! I had folded a flush or a straight, and two pair won" then I started playing more of the bad hands. Hindsight is always 20/20, dont let that mess up your game. When I started playing those bad hands, cause I would have won the last two times, then I would be sitting there stressing over the reraise and what if i don't get the river. Let the folded cards disappear, and use the time to watch how they bet the cards they have for the next time you go in on the hand with them and trust the first thoughts, thats always the right one. Finding out your wrong is never as bad as finding out you were right, second guessed and changed your mind.

Welcome,

Analyzing your play is how to become good at poker...just do not base your decisions on short-term results. Short-term results can be very decieving. If the play makes money over the long term, this is the key. Losing after raising with AK preflop might give you the impression that you shouldn't raise with AK....over the long term, raising is essential to making more money.

Enjoy.

I am letting it all go more so. I lost out in a FR but I can honestly say that I was Glad the guy who beat me, Did it with Turn Queen, Here nore there. I am letting it go and I made the right call and it did not pay off. no Big Deal. I acually have a smile, kind of morbid that I am happy I lost...

I'm a newb myself. The hardest thing about MTTs that I'm finding is coping with going out to bad beats towards the end, when the final table in sight, when your opponent makes all the wrong decisions, but catches a card that sends you crashing out after hours of play. Just gotta console yourself with the fact that in the long term, your play will probably be more profitable than his...