Over the last 6 months, I have been trying to take my poker game more seriously but a few items worth noting:
1. I have no desire or time to become a full-time professional poker player (im over 50 years old and eyeballing retirement within the next few years)
2. I watched some basic coaching tips on youtube and bought poker tracker 4 and that first month I noticed i was winning more frequently. Smaller wins but winning regardless.
3. I play tight and aggressive with a basic strategy (not trying to reinvent the game) I usually play for an hour or two during the week a longer session on the weekend.
Over the last 3 months, I've been getting my ass kicked on a consistent basis. Im great at winning small pots, but when im a 80/20 favorite after the flop only to get met by a cooler or get outdrawn or rivered is bewildering to me.
Ive taken breaks every now and then when I start to get frustrated.
Any suggestions on what to do to make my bankroll last?
What is so belwildering? You are SUPPOSED to lose when you get your stack in as an 80/20 favorite — sometimes. To be exact, one out of every five times. Of course randomness doesn’t work that way. One out of five can be that you go like 75-2 for a while then go 5-8 all of a sudden, and maybe lose 4 in a row during that downswing. You probably thought nothing of it during a hot streak since that’s how it is “supposed to go”, but it really isn’t supposed to go that way. You will remember a bunch of losses clumped together because you were expecting to win ALL of them, but that expectation is wrong.
I’m sure you have plenty of areas to improve upon; focus on these and not on the coolers. Coolers are inevitable. There is nothing you can do about them. Downswings also are inevitable; it is the normal variance of poker. Improving your win rate will make them shorter and less severe, but you will always have them. The only thing you can do is make sure your bankroll is large enough to survive them. Online it is recommended that you have about 30 buy ins or more. If you are playing 10NL, for example, you should have at least $300. You don’t need to have it in an online account all the time. If you have funds you can afford to lose and are willing to deposit as needed, then that counts. Ic you go on a downswing you can also drop down in stakes to maintain a roll.
I think this is typical of Players who start to care more about their 'play'.
IMO you start to win less chips because you care more .. which sounds weird for sure. But when you start to reduce spots where you were the (undeserving) winner that you're now folding out in AND perhaps winning less due to 'correct' betting sizes then the variance in the larger spots tends to sting more.
The key for anyone looking at their game is the game play itself and not the results. Then start tweaking to increase the win sizes now that you're avoiding the marginal losers that sometimes become 'oversized' stack paddlers.
I'm a bit right field for sure but I've run into your comments quite a few times after players move from the loosey/goosey/sandwich approach and start to want to play 'poker' instead of cards. GL
I am over 60 years old and and like cubfan2121 no desire to play professionally. I also only play a few days of the week, and usually no more than 2 hours. and I do play microstakes on line 10 and 20 NL. After getting my winning up to 700 dollars, I have won and lost the same 200 dollars for almost 2 years! At these small stakes, you have to expect these bad players to chase you down on turn and river. And yes , always the 80/20 favorite or close to that. I just reanalyzed 9 situations in which I was the favorite pre and after flop and lost them all. the last two finished me. with the last one being I flopped a full house in the big blind special. fives over fours. The opponent was playing A6o. I made pot sized bets for max value. The turn and river was A and A With that being said by stemba70 above, I know you are supposed to lose sometimes, but it gets ridiculous. So how do I deal with it? I say F it all! I withdrew my money and will live to fight another day. Like next summer!
