Quote Originally Posted by Ltrain View Post
Good luck learning; it is a long process and you can always get better.

I recently started playing again after 3 years due to the birth of my 2nd child and have been going back to my fundamentals a lot. For what it is worth, here are some fundamental tips I try to keep in mind every time I play that may help:

1. I played for my whole first year going through swings up and down before I finally got good enough to break out of this cycle. It is not enough just to be a "good" player, you need to be good enough to beat the table and the rake. The more hands you play, the thinner your overall edge preflop (the more you will rely on post flop skill) and the more rake will eat into your expected winrate. Think about the rake as part of your poker strategy (i.e., if you blindsteal and everyone folds, most sites do not charge a rake).
2. Heads up, you are playing the person more than the cards. As the number of players increase, the more you are playing the cards and calculating odds. What hands do well with less players (reverse implied odds), what hands do well with many players (good draws)?
3. Position rules, especially in NL. You can play a wider range of hands in position since you have the advantage in hands that miss. If you find you are calling OOP waiting to "see what happens on the flop" you are bleeding money and should fold preflop. Unless it is a multiway flop you will not hit enough to make the call profitable.
4. If you are reading books or articles (there are many great articles on this site as pointed out above), always keep in mind the context of the books or articles. Moves that may work with one level or player may not work in your circumstance. Understand the "what" but also the "why".
5. Consistency is important. Learn to manage tilt, it is a part of the game. If you are on a losing streak, look back at your hands to see what happened. If you were ahead and got sucked out or had good equity going all in, fine, but if you go all in or called down badly beaten, you need to re-evaluate your play as you probably found a leak.

Again, good luck!
Hi and thanx ,
the help and info you guys have given has been brilliant.
So i give my progress as its the right thing to do.
The balance isn't getting gobbled up in fact sometimes its in a positive balance .like 3 steps forward and 4 back ,but lets put like this
I HAVE A WEEKLY BUDGETED AMOUNT I PLAY WITH AND BEFORE EACH WEEK I WAS GOING IN WITH THAT AMOUNT.SO NOW EXAMPLE .

WEEK 1EPOSIT SAY 40 LEFT WITH 20

WEEK 2EPOSIT 40+THE 20 OVER =60 ,LEFT WITH 35

WEEK 3EPOSIT 40 +35 =75

OK its still a loss but its progress and each week i have more left than the previous.and WILL get to the stage where i might en have too deposit .

SO IM DOING THIS PLAYING THE 19 CARD STRATEGY ,PROTECTING THE BIG BLIND AS IN VIDEO,AND USING YOUR EQUATION OF PUTTING A VALUE ON THE CARDS AS YOU SAY ALL PLAYERS HAVE THE SAME DECISION ITS HOW YOU PLAY THAT SET,
I ALSO ADDED 2 WILD SETS THAT ALWAYS SEEM TO COME UP ON FLOP,WHY?? I DONT KNOW,BUT I VALUE THEM AND IF THEY COME UP ON BB I WILL 4BET AN AVERAGE CALL,AND MOST OFF THE TIME THEIRS NO NEED TO GO ANY FURTHER AS VILLAIN FOLDS.

YOU MIGHT ASK WHY THE FALL IN BALANCE WHEN IT SHOULD BE INCREASING ,MOST OFF IT IS STRAYING OFF THE RULES ,GOING UP IN STAKES ,CBETTING CRAP CARDS IN CASE THEY FOLD.

SO NOW IFF YOU COMMIT A HAND,WELL ITS COMMITTED THEIRS NO USE LIMPING OUT ,EXCEPT ON A ALL IN .

IT IS STRICT DISCIPLINE ESPECIALLY IFF YOU SEE PEOPLE TRIPLING TERE BANK ROLL ON CRAP.BUT THEY ALSO USE UP THE WIN PRETTY FAST,BY CALLING ANY CARD.

I APOLOGIZE IFF MY SCRIPT IS UNCLEAR,I HAVE BEEN BERATED A FEW TIMES OVER IT AS ,ONE OFF OUR CHAIRMAN SAID YOU ALWAYS WRITE ASSUMING

EVERYONE KNOWS WOT YOU ARE SAYING,BECAUSE YOU KNOW DOSNT MEAN THEY KNOW ,

ANYWAY DOES THAT S TRAGEDY SOUND GOOD OR A LOAD OF DUNG