Raidion,

Just work on your game and fix any/all leaks. As long as you are properly rolled for the games that you play, you just need to focus on playing your "A" game as much as possible.

In the long run, improving your skills so you increase your long-run expected win-rate is the only way to survive the inevitable horrific downswings that could hit you like a hurricane at any point in time.

In my biased opinion, the absolutely best way of avoiding the biggest stings of negative variance is to work extra hard on stealing a ridiculous amount of money in good bluff spots. People at LLSNL grossly underestimate the number of small and medium pots that can be stolen if you have the drive and awareness to spot those common yet highly profitable bluff spots.

Even if you run like dog poop in all-in situations and keep running into the wrong side of coolers, yoi can still turn a profit by being a beast at bluffing small and medium size pots.

I agree with this big time. People say you can't bluff at low stakes. It's true there are certain players you shouldn't try and bluff, but there are plenty of players that you can. Also always be very aware of your image and who is paying attention. If I have been playing tight for a few orbits I'm much more inclined to fire bullets against a player that I feel has noticed that I've been tight.

No table or situation is ever the same. Poker isn't played in a vacuum so general statements like you can't ever bluff at 1/2 are shortsighted and dumb imo. Adjust and outplay the players at the table, that is what poker is all about.

Here is my very abbreviated story. I have been a member here forever, more a lurker than anything.

I just started playing again after a 4 1/2 year layoff. I was killing it online before Frist did his Internet Gaming bill, for instance in one of my last tournaments on Party poker, I chopped a nightly $22 40k guaranteed for 7k. Subsequently, I started playing live. I quickly moved from 1/2 --> 2/5 -->5/10 when the $100 limit was in effect here in Florida. I was doing quite well, playing 5-6 times a week. I was laid off from being a bond trader as UBS closed 1/2 their Orlando municipal trading desk 8 months after promoting me, and was chilling in between jobs.

In late 2008, I just was getting very bored with poker. I never considered myself a pro, I don't think I was good enough even though I made money at it. I was in the middle of a big hand and my cell phone was stolen. They (Hard Rock Hollywood fl) had it on camera and did nothing about it. I got fed up and just quit.

My Dad, who was playing regularly, said Aug 31, "come play poker with me, I will stake you."

He lent me $500 and I started playing 1/2 again. Here are my stats so far just playing Fri/Sat the occasional Sun night on a holiday weekend:

I use Poker Session Logger for Android, and try and get it accurate as possible. I do admit sometimes I forget to start the session but always adjust it as close as possible later.

21 Sessions
Profit:3054
Hrly Profit: 40.72/h
Stnd Dev: 110.53/h
Total Time 3d3h0m
Longest session 6h36m
Best Session:785
Winning Sessions:15

I do my best to hand read with the maniacs I play with and put myself in good situations. That said, I play too nitty and know it. I have recently finished Playing the Player and am now reading Doug Hull's book which is essentially a follow up. Anyway, I know I have tons and tons of work to do before I move up this time around.

You lost me at being a bond trader and dad staking you $500 at 1/2.

Sorry I was just trying to give a brief background on me. I am not bragging, I am definitely not a trader that was making 8 mill a year. Hell I am not even doing that any longer.

Edit: I had $500, My Dad was trying to get me to play again, as I/he didn't think I ever would again. I suppose it sounds like I didn't have $500 to play, that's not the case.

Further Edit: So as not to get off on the wrong foot in this forum, if you think I wasn't telling the truth, Goofyballer, a mod in the small stakes NL/PL forum and I go back a long way and I am certain will vouch for the veracity of my post.

dangerous advice to someone who's skill level is not significantly above the field.... looking for spots to make buff "plays" in an overly aggressive manner is one of the biggest leaks that I see in friends that are break-even players

ECGrinder,

If you are willing to learn the good bluff spots, you will find out that successfully bluffing small to medium size pots where no one has anything (or anything good) will save you during sessions where you are card dead/taking bad beats/getting coolered. Inevitably, all poker players go through soul-crushing downswings where they can't seem to win any big pots.

You are correct that mediocre players shouldn't try to bluff too much because they are bad at hand-reading and other skills that are necessary to bluff successfully.

At the same time, however, I was directing this advice towards a player (Raidion) who is probably significantly better than the other players in his player pool.

As far as practicing what I preach...several of my local LA students who have personally watched me play on their 5/5 NL or 5/10 NL tables would tell you that I win a RIDICULOUS amount of $$$ with airball.

The truth is that there is a gold mine of money to be made from bluffing the right spots in 2/5 NL and 5/5 NL games. If you don't want to take the risks of prospecting that gold mine, so be it. But then don't complain about all the bad beats and coolers that you will suffer at some point. If you only count on winnning with the best hand and coolering fish, then you will always be at the mercy of variance.

Sounds like part of my game that I would like to improve upon! This might not be the right thread, but could you somewhere explain a few of the bluff spots that you are talking about? I'm guessing that you are going beyond the simple stuff, i.e. I've been card dead, tight image, increase cbet%, squeeze, etc.

Here are a couple posts I made on bluffing:

These are just based on my observations at 1/2 and 1/3 where I think I could get people to fold better hands. But unlike ATsai, I am by no means an expert. I am like you in that I am trying to improve this part of my game and find more spots for this. In my last session, I was able to use a tight image to raise a c-better and a caller with just a flush draw and get two folds. Using your image is one of the best weapons when bluffing.

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh...5&postcount=11

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh...1&postcount=12

This is a specific thread for specific things but I think the biggest bluff spots you should start looking for are when you you have low relative sdv and 4 card flush and straight hits then work from there.

do you pay state taxes where the casino is located?

Each state is weird. Really specific to your sitch. Has to do with number of days in the state, amount you won in the state, whether you are a pro, etc. Impossible to answer.

I doubt many cash players are filing multi state returns but I suspect if you have a big score in, say, a Borgata MTT you will need to/should file in NJ.

All my poker clients are CG players.

Best quote ever

^ this x1000000

One thing I would like to add when doing this is "Know your Opponent".

Not usually the bragging type, but damn it, I'm proud of myself. This is my last 90 days:



90% 2/5NL, with some random PLO and other stakes in there.

Sick run dude. Nice to see you made it out of your slump.

Just killed a 7-game win streak with my 3rd biggest loss this year.

Biggest win this year: 372bb
Biggest loss this year: -141bb

I feel like, compared with GG's numbers, and the numbers of a local pro, this says that I'm not playing enough of an "aggressive, hand reading" style.

is this with a stop loss coz that seems like a redic tame biggest loss. I generally go with 300bb stop loss for the day and don't play longer than 10hrs. will bend this if the game is good and I think I'm playing well.

Do you play short staked games? It seems unbelievable that you have never left a session this year down 1.5 buyins.

This is 2/5 (100 max raise) since I started using an app and actually keeping track

Total Game Count: 25
Average Buy in: 50bb
Average Re-Buy #: 1
Average Re-Buy: 72bb
Average Per Hour Win Rate: 12.8bb/hr

4 Worst Sessions: -260bb, -240bb, -97bb, -23bb
6 Best Sessions: +283bb, +231bb, +225bb, +207bb, +180bb, +179bb

I am megafish according to anyone that has ever responded to any of my posts. That being said I admit im running pretty well.

Have a friend who can get me into private games in a moroccan casino with 8 terrible players guaranteed at stakes that can go as high as 15/30...
Rake uncapped at 3% though....
thoughts?

Can you get me in?