What is my problem?

[Murs]

I want to know why I cannot succeed at online poker. I am a successful real-life player, but why can't I make money online?

I once had a nice couple weeks and won about $1000, but soon went down to 100, back up to 500, back down to 50 and now I am at 200. I don't want go through anymore swings like that! I just want to steadily increase my bankroll.

I play limit and no limit holdem. Limits at .50/1 and NL .25/.50. I am disciplined but I always seem to get beat. I play on pokerstars and like the site, but sometimes I get into cold decks and wont see a hand for an hour. When I play I like to play about 3 or 4 tables at a time, is this a problem?

I post and view these forums everyday, so I am hoping someone can help me. Thanks for reading.

Murs

[Corey]

I can really only say thats part of poker. Dont let the bad beats get to you and dont be a so called "fish" as in calling loose calls.

[|~|ypermegachi]

personally i'd like to know how it's even possible to swing 1000BB playing limit...

how much of that was limit and how much was NL? even if it was all NL, 1000 bucks is a 250x max buyin downswing! which is huge!

are you playing too many hands? too many loose calls?

i'd suggest cutting it down to 2 tables. it'll allow you to focus better and easier. once you're playing 4 tables you become a mindless zombie.

[lonnie]

Murs,

I have only been playing since July, so take my suggestions with a grain of salt. I have become a solid .50/1.00 limit player just recently, but I can relate to a lot of what you are saying. I do have a few pieces of advice for you.

1. Buy pokertracker and use it. It is 55 dollars and well worth the money.

2. My best guess - you are probably playing way too many hands. When I first started I would routinely see 50-55% of the flops. I learned a little about starting hand requirements and got it down in the 30's. I learned some more and dropped it down to 25%. Currently it is at 18%. The more I learn about positional play, dominated hands, etc., the fewer I play.

3. Play 2 tables at a time max. 3 or 4 is too many, especially if you are not making money. Try and play just a few and play them well.

4. You need to study implied pot odds. Once I understood them better, I stopped laying down so many hands in raised pots until it was clear I was beaten. A lot of times it is correct to make calls in raised pots that you couldn't make in unraised pots. I used to never go for inside straight draws, now I check the pot, estimate the final pot and my chances of winning if I hit my draw, and go for it. A lot of these kinds of calls are very close. The more times you make the right decision, the more money you make.

5. The .50/1.00 games at PokerStars are relatively tough. I'm sure the 1/2 games are tougher than at other sites also. Not very many multi-way pots. You are probably getting dominated by better players there. Try the .25/.50 game at PokerStars for awhile and see how you do. Definitely consider moving to Party, their marketing is much stronger, so their players are much weaker.

6. Go to the Hand History forum and the Limit Holdem forum and post some hands. Nobody here can help you much without hand histories and key statistics like : PFR %, VP$IP, W$@SD, etc. These are important numbers that can be good indicators of which parts of your game need the most work.

7. Stop playing limit AND NL. Pick one and specialize for awhile. They are totally different games with different starting hand requirements, pot odds, everything. Learn one at a time.

Come to the limit forum and post some hands for us to cut up.

[BoondockSaint]

When I play I like to play about 3 or 4 tables at a time, is this a problem?

Well this could have a multiplicative result and expose your weaknesses faster assumming you can play the same way at 4 tables as you do 1. It in itself is not the problem because I play 4 tables and have never had a problem making money.

When you are good at doing it obviously makes you a lot more than 1 table. You probably arent getting the same profit on each table as if you played them by themselves 1 at a time but say you get half that x4 your still making twice as much.

Yeah someone said get pokertracker and I would recommend it. I have never used it because I have never had to but if I was in your spot I think it could help a lot exposing maybe little leaks you have or a couple major ones. Another thing is I wasnt multi tabling until I was already a successful player. If I couldnt get down a real good average of winning playing 1 or 2 I would not be playing 3 and 4.

Looking at honeys I noticed he said something about playing at party because they are easier. Everything I have heard about sites suggests this is true and also I have made most of my money on party so that also suggests they are easier. Maybe I would be a losing player on stars if I played there exclusively. All the reviews I have read on stars say the fish pool is very small and that poker room has the best players of all online poker rooms. Be careful.

[Murs]

Thanks for the advice guys, you are all elping me become a successful poker player.

[astrodon]

elping

Were you exhaling when you said that?

[zenbitz]

If you are a sucessful B&M poker player, then my best guess is that the reason you are having trouble online is 4 tables.

You may be used to watching and tracking the action live, but this is impossible on 4 tables. It's not too bad on 2.

Also, I just started on PokerStars, and without easily available hand histories, I find the action hard to follow. Party is much easier because they have a history window - if you blink (or snooze) you can just scroll back and see what people do. Also shows all mucked cards in a showdown.