I'm a new player. Bought in for a few times and I just broke even so far. Went last Friday, because that's when people get their paycheck and drink.

I play really tight, because most of these players on this level at my poker room are terrible. They don't like to give up their hands so bluffing is pretty much impossible at my skill level.

Bought in max for 200$, sat there for 5 hours going up and down. Some guy was catching all the good cards and taking everyone's money. Think I only got 10 good hands the entire time. Finally got sick of it and left up 40$.

Planning and going back this friday, buy in max for 200$ try to get up at least 100$ and leave, buy some headphones and take a break. I love this game, usually pick things up quick but I get confused and I have no idea what the other player has, so sometimes I make bad calls.

Any help would be appreciated.

What exactly are you looking for help with?

This is a bad plan just because it's very unrealistic. Winning $100 in 5 hours of live $1/$2 would take winning about a dollar for every hand you see, which is a pretty high bar to set.

Like OilSpill said though, not much advice we can offer based on the OP.

All I see is 'Wah Wah, I only made $8/hour, I'm so unlucky'...I suggest you lower your expectations if this is your idea of a frustrating day at the tables.

not any advice

Then why did you post

Statement 1-competition was terrible because they wouldn't fold and played a lot of hands
Statement 2-other players were just getting lucky and catching cards

Is it possible that maybe you don't understand how to play low limit nlhe?

hey he is asking for advice. so
mine is to log a lot more hours to get a better feel for things.

keep playing super tight as you might as well win while learning.

unless you go on tilt you play when the game is good and quit when it is bad or for personal reasons.

dont bluff that is good. and try to figure whether they like their hand or not. that is the first clue you need to get.

I'm not sure why someone waltzing into BQ gets hammered for a post like this. It's Beginner Questions.... everyone was there at some point.


OP, check the stickied threads. It's a good place to start. Have an empty glass and get ready to learn from those better than you.

I see some good things here ...

1) He realized that someone had the 'hot seat' and didn't try to force 'the luck' towards himself by changing his range of hands played.
2) He realized that he was frustrated and 'immediately' cashed out for the day.

These are two very important aspects of a winning player IMO (in my opinion).

Going forward ... Stay with it in this current manner and make sure you are paying attention to hands even when you already folded. Try to guess what 1 or 2 players might have and see if you are close if the hand goes to showdown.

BAD, BAD, BAD ... It's never really good to go into a session with "I'm going to (or worse, 'need to') win $100 today." This will either lead to bad play or the entry of 'scared money syndrome' into your life. I'm not saying don't have a loss/win bar but typically you should stay at a table if you feel it's a winning 'situation' for your style of play AND you have the right mental state of mind to play good poker ... even if you've lost a few hands. You may be too new to the game to 'see' or feel these spots consistently but it does need to be thought about.

What happens if you double up the first hand? Have you 'ever' doubled up? Have you ever even been all-in yet?

Yes, read the stickies and other hand posts. Remember that poker is a game of deception and incomplete information. Typically at low limits most bets are exactly what they seem to be .. strong or weak .. and you can make your decisions based on the flow of the hand. But as you play more you will be able to see what some players are trying to do to get you off your game. The more/longer you play a session the more your opponents will try to counter your play. As a tight player you may pick up a bunch of small pots on the Flop, but when someone plays back at you (raises) those will be the hands that make or break your sessions. The more you play the more you will be able to 'see through' those moments and be less confused. Understand that you will be confused and folding is OK in those spots until you are more comfortable. It's tough to call and 'be wrong' and fold and 'be wrong' as well, just remember that each time that happens you need to try and find something to learn from it .. and then move on. If you let it get to mentally, then it's time to go!! GL

The hard part about poker, especially live poker, is that you can do everything right and still lose money in a session. You can jam aces pre and get called by QT offsuit and the guy spikes a queen on the flop (happened to me tonight). So, setting a goal of money to win isn't going to be too helpful to you. If you catch cards and play well, you will feel great. But, if you play well and lose you will think you did something wrong or aren't good enough, etc.

Set your goal to play the best you can without being to aggro. Good luck man

We started a 6-handed table yesterday and AA came up 3 times in the first 20 hands ... all of them got cracked (2 by me!!) Same guy lost with them twice!!

In the next 5 hours AA came up another 11 times (that we know of) and only got cracked 1 time.

'Guy' from above ended up getting them 3 more times and left ahead for the session.

It's all about timing ... If he had gotten pissed early he never would've made it back up the mountain. GL

This is an OUTSTANDING result.

Keep up the good work.

So if you've been playing for about 100 hours and you're break even is it good?

I thought aces beat queens.

Don't think this needs an answer but yes, OP is a new player. Breakeven is an excellent result.

To elaborate further, most people don't count their results when they first start out. When someone talks about their win rate, it usually starts from the time of a big night after they have some mastery of the level of play. If they added in all their losses when first started out, their winrate would be much lower. I'm sure everyone has lost a few buy ins when starting in poker by calling off with TPWK or SP. If he is break even after 100 hours, most likely he is now a winning player after absorbing the first losses.

That's a great result.

Im new to the game and i have only had the opportunity to play live at a local casio on 3 occasions, that being said the "competition" at my local is basically pretty weak, most afternoons it's middle-age guys and seniors who are playing with what seems like "gut feel".

what i found helped was i looked for "patterns" of behaviour (bet sizes/calling), i also kept note of how their behaviour (range/bet size/aggression) changed based on their stack size, given that these guys get real loose/wild once they get down to around half their buy-in, or they just lost a big pot and their desperate to make back their loss.


EG: one of the old guys had a "system", he was extremely aggresive pre-flop, yet his "system" kicked in after the flop, as he would bet about twice the size of the pot if he made top pair or better(set), if he hit middle pair he would bet the pot, bottom pair he would bet half pot, if he missed the board he would just check.

even though his range was extremely wide, the actions he took once he saw the flop, made it really clear what state he was in. when he was on a draw he c-bet around half the pot, if he made his draw he would go insane and bet 2 or 3 times the pot or just shove all-in.

all i can say is look out for betting patterns, im sure the "pro's" or people who really know the game wont be so easy to predict, but for recreational players (atleast the ones i played with), will on some level have a personal "system" in their heads thats relatively repetative.....though that can be ditched if they are way down, or chasing a loss, ie: their on tilt.


but like i say this is based on my very limited experience with live poker at a local casio, so i would defer to those with most experience.

you are right. poker plays are player dependent. and those that played based on mechanical rules dont do so well.

Advice? Hell, just keep playing as often as you can at whatever stakes you can realistically afford. Pay attention to the table. Don't get drunk or stoned. Don't watch TV or zone out on your earphones. Again pay attention to the action , Especially when you are not in the hand. Over time you will likely learn a lot of lessons, some painfull , some very positive and you will get better at poker. It takes a while to become a decent rec player. Sounds like you have a good shot at it. Good Luck.