Hey guys, I'm somewhat of a new player (about 350 hours logged online and live games), and I was wondering if some of you could evaluate my game based on not much information. Perhaps you could find some leaks in my approach to this game.

So I started to try to play 1/2 no limit live seriously about 6 months ago, and I've spent probably about 5 to 9 hours a week on average playing. At first, I noticed I lost probably too much because I was calling with decent, but not great hands, and after a few months, I was down probably 2,000. At worst I was probably down 4,000 until recently where I hit a lucky streak (runner runner kinda ****) and I'm probably down more like 3,300 now.

I have, however, won an unusually large number of high hands in the poker room I go to, and I've probably made 1,100 or so total from those.

So as of very late over the past 6 weeks, I've been doing a lot better I feel like because I'm just in these situations where I just know I should fold, and if I call or something, I'm just gonna lose. I've lost a good deal of money bluffing a bit too much in the past, and realize that other people probably don't bluff as often as they seem, and I should probably give them more credit for what their hand strength really is. I know the basics, like trying to stack off preflop with Aces and such, but I feel like I'm just not that good.

I do, however, really like playing this game, and it's just really fun to me. I go in with the intent of trying to play as well as I can, but ultimately, I don't let it affect my life and I have stop losses for the 1/2 (usually $200 max).

There's this lady who works in my poker room who is supposedly a beast in poker, and she suggested me "all you really gotta do is just play tight. play tight, play tight, and play tight again". Ever since taking her advice, I've noticed a general improvement in my play in that I stopped losing so fast.

I've taken a few stabs at the 2/5 (bout 5 hours total), and I was surprised at how it seemed to be a lot easier for me, but then again, I got a couple of fairly lucky hands.

So when I play 1/2, I like to go in with $100 - $120. I realize that I'm not comfortable playing deep stack. I like to evaluate the overall situation and just focus on playing pretty tight, and might make a small bluff every half an hour or so. I try to stack off when I hit a set or something, and try to get up to $250 - $300 or so, and then leave.

Don't know what else to say, but please ask. I want to eventually be that guy that's able to leave a nice 5 hour session with about $900 - $1000 in chips after bringing in like $150 to the table. People kind of see me as a hit and run guy because if I get to $300 in half an hour, I'll pretend to stay around for a few more hands, and then just leave.

I realize that this is a brutal game with a crazy amount of variance, so crazy that it's almost like torture, but it's one of my favorite forms of recreation and I would like to be good at it. My overall table image is usually tight, but might make a large bet all of a sudden because of a good hand, and overall kind of a humorous person.

by the way, I'm not familiar with all of the terminology used on this site, but using context clues I can tell what certain terms mean. I've tried to study some of the posts here, but I never feel like any of the advice really helps me. I have a hard time understanding some of the people's logic in some of the moves they make.

My "bankroll" for poker is exactly $700 right now, and I'm not exactly sure if I should buy in for more or something. I have part ownership of a business that I make a good living off of, so I'm not worried about my "liferoll" at all, and I get about $1,000 a month from a certain investment I made that I use as free-spending money each month. I might use like $400 of it total, and $600 for poker, assuming I lose 6 times in that month with 6 $100 buy-ins. 600 a month is pretty much the most I'm willing to lose, and it just feels bad losing. So, any suggestions or advice? The lady that helped me apparently has sessions where she might turn $500 to $5,000 in 5 hours at 2/5. Wish I could be like her lol

Making this post won't really help much.

Suggestion is to read before you post.

Yeah, I can tell there's not much to go off on, but I guess the only thing that could specifically help me for now is to post a hand I was in that I was having trouble with.

Here's an example of what I'm thinking.

Suppose everyone at the 1/2 has about an equal amount of chips (200). Someone raises to 20, then someone else raises it to 50. Someone else calls his 50. I'm the dealer with A K suited, with $200 behind me, and I'm seriously thinking about folding at this point because I just know someone has a good pocket pair. I feel like AJ - AK are good hands, but just terrible to go all-in preflop against someone else because you're technically behind someone who has just got pocket deuces.

You really should read stickies and every posts in the "best of" before you post again.