Problem: I Can't learn poker

Originally Posted by OngBonga

I'll add this nugget...

When I flop a set, my thought process is "how to get the money in?". Literally the first thing I'm thinking about is villain tendancies. Is he bad or good? What will he do if I bet? What will he do if I check? That's when I start thinking about his range, and the board texture.

If you "always" do a thing in poker, then you're making exactly the same mistake as you did when you got fucked opening AQ x3.

Well thanks for being nice and respectful guys. I was really afraid this thread would come off as a "whine thread" something that I'm notorious for in my skype groups but hopefully it hasn't come this way.

I agree with the line that but for the stone cold nuts, there really isn't any "Always do this" and "Never do this" in this game.

Well I think if my coach/friend lets me play my own game, because you can clearly in that picture I provided between now and February 15th I've made about 60 buy ins at 25nl in 71,000 hands, that if I can move this success at this stake level to 50nl then I'll be making for me what would seem like a solid income.

RIght now the only thing I'm working on in my game is not getting upset or whining and bitching if I get bad beated. It was quite remarkable that I didn't whine at all that day I lost 4.5 buy ins at 50nl and didn't whine once, literally weeks ago I would have been in a funk around the house over it, but that's what I'm working on atm.

Originally Posted by JimmyS1985

Well I think if my coach/friend lets me play my own game, because you can clearly in that picture I provided between now and February 15th I've made about 60 buy ins at 25nl in 71,000 hands, that if I can move this success at this stake level to 50nl then I'll be making for me what would seem like a solid income.

Just so you are prepared, be aware that it is generally not the case that you win at the same rate (in bb/100 hands) when you move up in stakes. Just like you'd expect to be crushing 10NL harder than you crush 25NL. The 10NL players are generally not as good and you can win more, albeit smaller, bets from them. So when you step up to 50NL, expect the players to be generally better* and that your winrate in bb/100 will probably be less than it is at 25NL. So long as it's not 1/2 as much, though... it's still more profitable to keep at 50NL than it is to step back down to 25NL... since stepping down to 25NL would be 1/2 the value per bb.


*As you have said yourself, if you can beat 50NL at a decent rate, you can earn a living income. This applies to everyone. So the step from 25NL up to 50NL is a bigger step than most others. There are actually pro players (meaning they earn their living playing poker) at 50NL. There are fewer recreational players (fish) in the player pool.

Originally Posted by JimmyS1985

I agree with the line that but for the stone cold nuts, there really isn't any "Always do this" and "Never do this" in this game.

It seems you're missing the point somewhat. Even the stone cold nuts isn't a case of "always do this", unless you're calling an all in of course. If you flop the nut flush, for example, the question of whether to bet or not is based first and foremost on how you expect your opponent to repsond. You don't want him to fold. Is he likely to if you bet? Then check. But you don't want to miss value. Is he likely to call a bet? Then bet. You have to ask the question "what will villain do if I bet or check" pretty much every time you face that decision.

If you "always" do this or that, then you're playing a robotic face-up style of poker, which, while it might be profitable at low stakes, you're going to be exploited to fuck higher up because skilled players pay attention to what others are doing and adjust their game to suit the opponent they face. That's why always checking or betting a set on the flop is bad. You should be doing both.