Poker is beginning to bore me (help FTR regs!)

You all know my poker story by now, i was a reasonably sucessful bonus whore when whoring was good, built a br played 100nl and 1/2nl when it was super soft and made a good br and lots of profit followed by 80odd thousand dollars on a BBJ win

However...

ive become sloppy. i play maybe 10-15k hands each month (lame versus my university numbers of 50k per month) plus whenever i sit down at 1/2 2/4 it takes me 10 minutes to wake up and play decent poker.

Im happy with my game after i took it apart at christmas and put it back together and am a proven (at last) winner at 1/2nl and 2/4nl. My 1/2 winrate is pretty good, but my 2/4nl is pretty modest.

So where am i going?

Well, i now get very little time to play poker, maybe 10-15 hours per week if im lucky and every time i sit its either at 10pm for a 5 hour grind after 8hrs at work on a friday night or for an hour before tea on a weekday, where i dont get any rhythm.

So im considering my options and want to know what a lot of the established players on here think. Ive always made it clear ill make more from a 9-5.30 job than poker can provide (im never gona win the sunday million as i suck at mtt's) and true 10 table grinding on stars is going to make me $500 per mon th which seems kinda lame versus my 2k+ months last summer.

So anyone want to help here? Im considering HU poker to get in the hands versus bad players that should up my winrate, but again im scared ill get sloppy because i dont play so much.
Any advice?

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Originally Posted by Miffed22001

10 table grinding on stars is going to make me $500 per mon th

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does 10-tabling 10 hours a week really only net you 2.5 buy-ins per month at 200nl? isn't that like 30k hands?

Take some time off and after a week or so you will be itching to play again. Because of my job picking up and a new baby, I am also finding less time to play, but thankfully the level of play is the same and like riding a bike, you won't completely forget how to play.

Have you tried a different game for a change (Omaha?)

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Originally Posted by Ltrain

Take some time off and after a week or so you will be itching to play again. Because of my job picking up and a new baby, I am also finding less time to play, but thankfully the level of play is the same and like riding a bike, you won't completely forget how to play.

Have you tried a different game for a change (Omaha?)

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i normally switch to 5 card draw when i get bored, but its the rigmaroll of sitting in front of a computer screen when i truly dont feel like it thats killing my love for the game

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Originally Posted by martindcx1e

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Originally Posted by Miffed22001

10 table grinding on stars is going to make me $500 per mon th

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does 10-tabling 10 hours a week really only net you 2.5 buy-ins per month at 200nl? isn't that like 30k hands?

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i did 600 hands per hour at fr (i cant possibly 9 table 6max like many can and still remain a winning player, ive tried already) by 2.5bbs/100 (generous at best) but i was thinking more like 100nl at maaaybe 3bbs/100 still only gives me 6-9 buy ins per month if im generous with the numbers.

Anyone have any good HU stats for winrates?

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Originally Posted by Miffed22001

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Originally Posted by martindcx1e

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Originally Posted by Miffed22001

10 table grinding on stars is going to make me $500 per mon th

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does 10-tabling 10 hours a week really only net you 2.5 buy-ins per month at 200nl? isn't that like 30k hands?

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i did 600 hands per hour at fr (i cant possibly 9 table 6max like many can and still remain a winning player, ive tried already) by 2.5bbs/100 (generous at best) but i was thinking more like 100nl at maaaybe 3bbs/100 still only gives me 6-9 buy ins per month if im generous with the numbers.

Anyone have any good HU stats for winrates?

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It's hard to nail an expected win rate at HU. If you datamine and use careful table selection you can have a double digit win rate.

I'd forfeit the modest earnings @ your current stake and drop down a level until you pwn the shit out of it. With practice Miffed, you personally should be able to grind out a solid +4bbpt/100 @ 100nl. That's like $80/hr if you 10 table FR. I apologize if this paragrapgh doesn't make sense and/or applies to you.

As for playing your 'A' game from the start of your session, I recommend a brief workout of the body. Try putting headphones on and listening to some good grinding poker music.

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Originally Posted by BankItDrew

I'd forfeit the modest earnings @ your current stake and drop down a level until you pwn the shit out of it. With practice Miffed, you personally should be able to grind out a solid +4bbpt/100 @ 100nl. That's like $80/hr if you 10 table FR. I apologize if this paragrapgh doesn't make sense and/or applies to you.

As for playing your 'A' game from the start of your session, I recommend a brief workout of the body. Try putting headphones on and listening to some good grinding poker music.

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This is my general line of thought, i think i can 12-14 table without losing the winrate if i play 100nl, instead of 1/2, just not sure 4bbs/100 is a realistic target.
Probably mix in HU poker at a non-US site for a mix of when not runing os good perhaps.

what's with the facination with HU? baller fr 10 table fr ftw

pff I reckon your young. work all day grind all night sounds kinda sad to me. It also sounds like you have a conflict with expectation and possibilities. Play less tables play more poker? Either way, you have finite energy so consciously choose where you spend it. Take a break, re-evaluate.

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Originally Posted by Miffed22001

i normally switch to 5 card draw when i get bored

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Have we played?

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Originally Posted by Fnord

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Originally Posted by Miffed22001

i normally switch to 5 card draw when i get bored

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Have we played?

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possibly on stars although i dont know your SN.

Also, i normally inhabit the 5/10+ games on the ongame network which doesnt allow americans :(

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Originally Posted by Fnord

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Originally Posted by Miffed22001

i normally switch to 5 card draw when i get bored

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Have we played?

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Are you Fnord on FTP? I think you were sitting at an Omaha table with me the other night.

take some time off

take some time off

take some time off

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Originally Posted by Fnord

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Originally Posted by Miffed22001

i normally switch to 5 card draw when i get bored

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Have we played?

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actually i remember your sn now so no, not since 100nl about a year ago

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Originally Posted by grimes390

take some time off

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bravo at making your first post a triple post!

The triple poster is right.

I got sick of grinding, so i withdrew my bankroll and forced myself not to play through march.

So here i am, about 25 days later, itching to play again :)

Just make sure you use your poker winnings to buy stuff you want and not just to pad your bankroll, i realised that it makes poker a lot more enjoyable when you can see what you are playing for.

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Originally Posted by ChrisTheFish

The triple poster is right.

I got sick of grinding, so i withdrew my bankroll and forced myself not to play through march.

So here i am, about 25 days later, itching to play again :)

Just make sure you use your poker winnings to buy stuff you want and not just to pad your bankroll, i realised that it makes poker a lot more enjoyable when you can see what you are playing for.

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dude i bought a house...

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Originally Posted by Miffed22001

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Originally Posted by ChrisTheFish

The triple poster is right.

I got sick of grinding, so i withdrew my bankroll and forced myself not to play through march.

So here i am, about 25 days later, itching to play again :)

Just make sure you use your poker winnings to buy stuff you want and not just to pad your bankroll, i realised that it makes poker a lot more enjoyable when you can see what you are playing for.

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dude i bought a house...

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OIC

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Originally Posted by Miffed22001

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Originally Posted by ChrisTheFish

The triple poster is right.

I got sick of grinding, so i withdrew my bankroll and forced myself not to play through march.

So here i am, about 25 days later, itching to play again :)

Just make sure you use your poker winnings to buy stuff you want and not just to pad your bankroll, i realised that it makes poker a lot more enjoyable when you can see what you are playing for.

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dude i won two bbj's... wtf is 'padding' bankroll

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Originally Posted by Ltrain

Take some time off and after a week or so you will be itching to play again. Because of my job picking up and a new baby, I am also finding less time to play, but thankfully the level of play is the same and like riding a bike, you won't completely forget how to play.

Have you tried a different game for a change (Omaha?)

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'padding a bankroll' is just leaving money in your roll after a big win, or adding to it.

I don't think that dropping down to smaller games or adding more tables and playing mindless poker is the answer.

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Originally Posted by pankfish

I don't think that dropping down to smaller games or adding more tables and playing mindless poker is the answer.

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nh

That, and I find when I mix in a HU game I focus almost solely on the HU table rather than the others... I can't imagine playing well on 10 FR tables while playing even 1 HU table.

Dude, we are in a similar boat. I worked myself up from 10nl to 400nl within a year and now I cannot be bothered anymore. If I play I only play 100nl or 200nl (although I am rolled for 600nl now) and its not even the fear of loosing money. Although I still play occassionaly I hardly put in the numbers anymore and a good month is playing 10k hands. I will potter around for a bit and then see if I can bring up the motivation for setting a goal i.e. be a 1000nl regular by year end otherwise I might just spend my poker money on something useful.

When all your doing is memorizing situations poker is boring.

What do you say about whenever you do crappy in a bunch of games and then you feel like giving up? Let me tell you I am pretty close to that point.

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Originally Posted by Miffed22001

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Originally Posted by Ltrain

Take some time off and after a week or so you will be itching to play again. Because of my job picking up and a new baby, I am also finding less time to play, but thankfully the level of play is the same and like riding a bike, you won't completely forget how to play.

Have you tried a different game for a change (Omaha?)

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i normally switch to 5 card draw when i get bored, but its the rigmaroll of sitting in front of a computer screen when i truly dont feel like it thats killing my love for the game

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Bold is key imo.

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Originally Posted by BankItDrew

I'd forfeit the modest earnings @ your current stake and drop down a level until you pwn the shit out of it. With practice Miffed, you personally should be able to grind out a solid +4bbpt/100 @ 100nl. That's like $80/hr if you 10 table FR. I apologize if this paragrapgh doesn't make sense and/or applies to you.

As for playing your 'A' game from the start of your session, I recommend a brief workout of the body. Try putting headphones on and listening to some good grinding poker music.

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It's closer to $50/hour.

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Originally Posted by pankfish

I don't think that dropping down to smaller games or adding more tables and playing mindless poker is the answer.

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Then what is?

my feelings this month have been that because ive played a fair volume of hands (16 tables of fr 100nl) ive felt as if everytime ive sat down at the computer, the session is worth something.

Before, ive sat down grinded two hours of 4 tables 6max ring and played 750 hands which felt a bit worthless

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Miffed22001

my feelings this month have been that because ive played a fair volume of hands (16 tables of fr 100nl) ive felt as if everytime ive sat down at the computer, the session is worth something.

Before, ive sat down grinded two hours of 4 tables 6max ring and played 750 hands which felt a bit worthless

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Some of that may be fr vs. 6max. I used to play limit 6 max before switching to NL and the swings can really get to you after a while.

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Originally Posted by Miffed22001

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Im happy with my game after i took it apart at christmas and put it back together
..............

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I'm just curious as to how you might go about that?

Just some quick tips would be great - dont get into anything too long winded I don't wanna hijack

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Originally Posted by Taxi

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Originally Posted by Miffed22001

.............
Im happy with my game after i took it apart at christmas and put it back together
..............

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I'm just curious as to how you might go about that?

Just some quick tips would be great - dont get into anything too long winded I don't wanna hijack

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you need to have a look at what you want to acheive and in what game.

Then you need to find a framework that is a winning one, take the bits you like from it and start using it.

For me i went on 2+2 (gah!) and found an optimal 6 max game was playing something like 21/17 or so being aggressive.
So first i put my preflop numbers right, steal lots in position, raise EVERY time someone limps and you have cards you would open with on CO/BTN and c-bet all the time firing lots of second barrels etc etc

I moved down to do this to stakes where i didnt give a shit other than making sure that what i was doing was what i wanted to do i.e spewing a buy in at 25nl didnt bother one bit, it might have done if i was playing 200nl.
So, find a style you want to play
Take that style apart, preflop is the best place.
Make sure your aggression is good enough for what you are doing, naked aggression is sometimes the easiest thing to forget if you dont like your game much
learn to 3-bet light, just do it with ATC cards then you have to represent on EVERY flop
examine you results and start to see where you are making mistakes

hope that helps, i did itfor 6max but key for me was preflop numbers, 3 betting and aggression

also, i forgot, the below links you to the best post written on poker ever.
You can always go back to this and plug leaks
(sorry to link away mods)

http://archives1.twoplustwo.com/show...45&page=0&vc=1

Sweet cheers Miffed thats great

gonna take a few weeks off first see if I can get this perma tilt out of my system, probably watch a ton of videos or something.

/hijack

Agree with miffed that link is fucking legendary. I also took my game apart in a similar way after ~80k hands of breakeven poker. The shit works

i agree with you. maybe its because im running bad, although ive ran a lot worse and never had less motivation to play. i think if i won a donkament or something id get the fire back.

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Originally Posted by Miffed22001

my feelings this month have been that because ive played a fair volume of hands (16 tables of fr 100nl) ive felt as if everytime ive sat down at the computer, the session is worth something.

Before, ive sat down grinded two hours of 4 tables 6max ring and played 750 hands which felt a bit worthless

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Miffed, sorry to hear that things are down for you. I don't have much advice except to think about the qualities present in a session when you enjoy it (and play well) and try to maximize on those variables. I just hope it comes together for you soon.

Good luck, man.