Frustration!

[nUFamn]

Let me begin by stating that I absolutely love playing NL Holdem... usually with a group of friends, .10-.20 to .50-1 blinds, with a $10-20-or-40 buy-in. We play with lower-stakes blinds, but I suppose we're all fairly aggressive and the pots get fairly large at times.

My frustration stems from the fact that I've been developing a cycle lately... I start out doing pretty well, playing conservatively and calculating, trying to read peoples' inner thoughts, all that. But each of the last three games that I've played in, while I usually double my chip stack soon after the game begins, I end up slumping and losing my stack slowly.

I think that I just need to work on my patience primarily, as well as gaining more experience and just refining my skills in general. I've started calculating pot odds. I need to learn when to stop chasing a pot (i.e. by "living" the pot odd way.. I've only used the method in one game so far, so I obviously need to put more time into it).

Anyways, any tips or co-miseration from players showing the same symptoms I am would be appreciated! :P

[givememyleg]

Welcome to FTR g.

If you're anything like my friends (I don't know if you are) when they get a big stack early on they feel the need to play every single pot from then on. They basically either piss away their chips or get a good run and never stop. Like you said just be patient and play the same smart game.