I turn to 2+2 in the wake of Black Friday. I have had a bittersweet relationship with poker for the last 4 years. I consider myself a break even player that enjoys talking about the game. Over the last 4 years I have
moved from 10nl-100nl countless times due to bankroll management and skill issues. I would have a decent run at 6-max and I became a 6max player. I would downswing at 6-max and label myself a full-ring player. My break even
runs at full-ring caused boredom and I would then morph into a self proclaimed heads-up specialist. I found myself becoming inpatient with my poker growth. I was also embarrassed everyone was moving up through the limits leaving me behind so I began to take shots with a limited bankroll. I would also spend my bankroll on finding the "perfect coach". When my bankroll began dwindling I started looking for coaching/staking deals convinced that coaching would give me the edge I needed. Most of the backers had countless horses so the coaching was limited. Also, showing break even results to the backers did not help my cause. As my bankroll continued to drain and my confidence rocked I had to step away from the game.

My time away from poker was much needed. I turned off skype and pulled out of my weekly poker study group. Being away from poker allowed me realize that I was approaching poker from a skewed perspective. Who cares if I don't move up through the limits as quickly as others. I was ready to take a different approach to the game. I was going to be a student of the game and put in the hours needed to build a solid foundation. I started with 10nl and moved quickly to 25nl. I was going to start taking shots at 50nl and then we were hit with black friday. It is so crazy that I had even paid upfront for micro stakes full-ring coaching a week before black friday. Black friday at least slapped me in the face with the reality that there is not a poker coach that I can afford with a micro stakes bankroll that is going to give me a winning poker manual.

So, now that I can't play the game is this a sign to walk away from poker? Or, should I use this time away from the tables to study the game and get better? I feel I need to purge myself of all the skype poker talk, micro coaching sessions, study groups and just spend time working on my game. I want to use this time wisely so if/when online poker is available to us in the U.S. I won't fall into my same terrible habits.

I would like to devote time daily to poker study. I am a little unsure where to start. Should I focus on 6max, FR or HU? Here are the current poker tools I have access too:

Cardrunners
Cardrunners EV
Holdem Manager
Leak Buster

My goal with this thread is to gather advice and start a dialogue as work my way to rebuilding a solid poker foundation. I am a little overwhelmed where I should start or if I should start. I look forward to hearing your thoughts. Thanks guys!

Looks like you have some good tools at your disposal so start out by watching some videos on areas of your game that you unsure of.

I would run Leak Buster for your FR and 6max games and see what your biggest leaks are for each. Then decide, based on time you have to study, what game you can efficiently better yourself in. You should have a pretty good idea at this point what game you enjoy more, so if you are equally strong at both, go for the one you like playing.

Good luck. I wish you well in your studies.

LiquidMetal: I really appreciate your response. I just re-installed windows 7 and I working on importing all my data into HEM. I will be putting up stats and will spend some time in HEM and Leak Buster. I would say that I really love 6max but I have had greater overall success with full-ring.

I realize that an area of weakness for me is in poker math. I am curious if anyone has read: Owen Gaines - Poker Math That Matters .?

Well, it sounds like a good idea and plan. Are you going to eventually move to one of the sites still serving U.S. players, or wait until online poker is legalized in the U.S?

Spend some time watching videos, and since you have Leak Buster, definitely use this time to analyze your leaks. Post a lot of hands, and evaluate your current poker theories.

I haven't checked out that book, but I've heard some good things. The last poker book I read was The Mathematics of Poker by Chen, and that was a snoozer of a read tbho.

Any ways, I'll tag your thread and check in from time to time.

Thanks for your comments and willingness to check in. I plan on eventually moving to another US site. Thanks for the heads up on the Math book. I am going to give it a shot and will post my thoughts.

Hey Liquidmetal I took your advice and ran Leak Buster for both FR and 6max. The win-rates were similar. Based on that factor I have chosen to focus on 6max because it holds my interest. Here are the major leaks that LB is exporting based on my 6max DB . I am a little embarrassed to put my flaws out there but I want to be honest about where I am at and look for ways to improve.



This image was produced from Leak Buster

Yes, no problem. I'm still trying to figure out if I'm going to move so always interested in what sites people are considering over others.

I don't know if I'd recommend that book, just saying it was the last one I read. I haven't really read a poker book in several years.

Nice! You're better off playing something that you get enjoyment from, otherwise why do it. Don't worry about posting your flaws, we all have them, and discussing them is the quickest way to get better.

Btw, I had the exact same 3bet% score in Leak Buster as you do. Watch the 3 betting video again if you get a chance. Helped me out a lot.

Thanks for the heads up. My flop aggression is really standing out. I realize that my cbet is fairly low. I may not be understanding board textures. I am going to look at this LB video right now!

Yeah, not c-betting enough is throwing away money. There's a fine line. You're probably also not c-betting with middle pair and even bottom pair in position. People are sometimes fine w/ c-betting when they have almost no equity, but it's really most important to be c-betting when you have the best equity possible. There's a good module on c-betting, and then a couple of videos on flop textures that should help in Leak Buster.