... why am I losing?

I've been playing recreationally on stars for c. two months at .05/.10 NLHE, I deposited $100 ran it up to c.$160 and then ran it all the way down to zip collecting $10 of my initial bonus on the way. This was over the course of 3300 hands so not a lot, however my HEM graph shows that my non-showdown winnings are good but I am consistently negative EV when I play to showdown. I've been reading strategy books and 2+2 but I think that my problem is more fundamental in that I am playing too many hands and not laying down enough against aggression, so after that preamble my question is:

How do I construct a range that I should be playing? Should I play push/fold for a while?

Thanks for any help you're willing to give.

Perhaps try starting at a lower level game. Also start reading through: The Official Unofficial Beginner's Toolbox Thread

Hi.

You were playing 10nl with a $100 BR?

This is generally considered a bad idea as you only have 10 full buy-ins, and this is not enough to survive normal variance/downswings.

With $100, 5nl (.02/.05) is a better game for your BR. Though, if you're just starting out, many would suggest spending some time at 2nl first.

Try sticking more with ABC poker at this stage as well.

People have different views as to what this means exactly (ABC poker) but, generally; playing good hands, folding bad hands and avoid making fancy plays and bluffing. At this level, they wont generally be effective as alot of people will call anyway.


If you want to play 10nl, you should deposit more.
20 buy-ins tends to be the suggested minimum for a level (so $200 for 10nl). But, even if you do this, it's probably still a good idea to spend time at 2nl or at least 5nl to get some experience.

Thanks guys, I'm reading through the beating the micros thread linked to in the official unofficial beginners thread that Ice W0lf linked to. It appears I may have "got ahead of myself"

Looks like you might be trying to bluff too much as well. Not so neccessary at the micros

dont play cash games.

play single table tournaments.

period.

or...

play cash games...

or multi table sngs.

Or whatever game he wants to play.

period.

Don't play push-fold, you won't learn anything that way.

At uNL, learn to fold things like AT, unsuited broadway cards and weak suited aces in early position. Don't play suited connectors unless you're in position, you can see a flop cheaply and you'll be in the hand with deep-stacked opponents. Don't bluff unless you have a reliable read on your opponent and learn to let go of weaker hands like TPTK or bottom two pair when faced with resistance. Don't slowplay AA/KK, either preflop or postflop. Finally, try not to limp in very often. Low PPs and suited connectors/suited one-gappers are good to limp in the right spots at passive tables, but in general a raise is a better play for a number of reasons. Be tight, be disciplined, be aggressive and be clever.

Yes, play what you want to play. At the beginning you really shouldn't be overly concerned with non-showdown winnings as any kind of meter to success at the micros.

At the micros it basically means your showing a profit at non-showdown winnings because other players (beginners) are folding more often to your bets/raises than you are to theirs. At this level the most important thing you can be learning is how to extract with solid hands because people will pay you off.

That being said, it's not usually a good sign to have a great non-showdown winning graph with only that specific thought in mind.

Read through the links and advice, and control calling bets where you don't have the odds to call, or feel you may be way behind but "feel lucky."

Knowledge, and Self Restraint are all you need to win at poker.

At the micros you need more self restraint and a little knowledge, as you climb up you need more knowledge but this is where you cut your teeth on if you can control yourself.

This is completely true. Winning uNL players aren't players who consistently make clever plays and out-think their opponents. They're players who don't make many mistakes, and who capitalize on the mistakes of others.

Thanks all for your help. So what way should I go about setting myself a range of starting hands, should I take the list from the "Beating the Micros" thread?

There are quite a few starting hand charts out there if you want somewhere to begin, the list in that thread is as good as any. I just had a look for the one I used when I was starting out but it turns out it's a limit hold'em chart, which I never knew in the three months I used it. Haha.

I've never seen a 'non showdown winnings' red line like yours (at the micros). If I could tell you one thing, it would be to value bet more. Basically value bet until you get raised and then fold. Easy game imo.

I've taken the advice and dropped back to 2nl, after a bumpy start I seem to be doing better there recently. I've found in general it's way more difficult to steal or push people out at the flop but conversely a lot easier to get vilains to stack off when I am way ahead.

I haven't had a lot of time to play and have only played about 1500-1600 hands at this level so far, so my plan is to get my BR up to a minimum 100 100bb BIs - so $200 but not to move up before I've got 10k hands minimum under my belt at this level. Does this seem sensible?

In terms of reading etc, I've put all the strategy books on hold for the time being until I have more experience and I'm reading all the threads in uNL (like Vermeer's moving up the micros 2010). I've also ordered Harrington on online cash games, I know it's not out yet but does anyone think that once it is shipped I am ok to read it or if it will be too advanced at this point?

Thanks
#REF'd

Just by looking at your graph, you are driving people out of the pot when you are ahead and are putting in a lot of money when you are behind.

Bluffing in micro-stakes is mostly suicide unless you can represent a strong table image, personally when I play micro stakes I play basic ABC poker, and not really try to mix it up-- dont try anything fancy it will fly right over the heads of your opponents and be a total loss.

I don't see anything wrong with reading and studying the game. Regardless of stakes, it's never a bad idea to read good strat advice that forces to think about the game and find ways to incorporate it into your current level. I think it's critical to have a solid foundation in poker theory and to know what is the "correct" way to approach general situations.

It is important to know what you do at 2NL, although wins money at that level, can be "suboptimal" at a higher level. It is vital that people just starting out do not form bad habits that will be hard to break later on.

OP do you play FR or 6max?

I started playing 6 Max, I've been playing FR recently. On balance I think I enjoy 6 Max more, but I don't have enough data to do a meaningful comparison on where my results are better due to switching down the limits.

Does anyone disagree that moving up prior to playing at least 10k hands at 2nl is a bad idea?

Cheers

IDK I think it depends more on your BR than on your hands played