Hey guys,
Let me begin by apologising for this garbled post. It's my first and I'm all excited. My name is Jamie and I played poker for the first time in May this year. I fell in love with it and of course, lost. Here's a continuation of my **** story so far.
Since that first time I've played online sit n go's and cash games at a micro level and in both types of game I usually played 6 max. At first, I won a lot of sit n go's and found them rather simple. I also found 2nl simple too! This allowed me to build a reasonable bankroll for the micros pretty quickly. I was playing pretty tight on 888 specifically and trying to learn as I played. However, I struggle with Tilt (in Poker and in life!) and this quickly decimated any form of bankroll management and of course my winnings too. Shooting up the stakes chasing losses, losing my tempter and making ridiculous deposits meant that eventually, I naturally fell into the minus. Perhaps I should walk away but unfortunately, I really like this game.
So I still play, win, tilt, lose and have switched to focusing on heads up play within the last two months. I also started playing on Full Tilt (seems a bit empty?) and Poker Stars as opposed to 888. I much prefer heads up and feel that this is the direction I want to go in long term. Just to give you an idea of my current level of idiocy in this area, I stupidly ignored bankroll management and decided to look at Cap Cash games yesterday on Poker Stars. I observed a few people who always seem to be sitting at 50nl waiting and I took notes on the ones I felt were vulnerable even to a beginner like me.
I sat with the first, began to take his stack and then he sat out. At various points throughout the day I sat in with him again and he instantly sat out every time. Today, he again sat out instantly whenever I joined. Feared already? What a wonderful feeling. If only it was justified.
I then focused on the second person and he initially made a dent in my stack. However, I felt he was going all in with any ace and any pair and realised that with a little patience (and some luck), I'd take it back and bust him. I did exactly that.
The third was more difficult but he was essentially doing exactly the same thing. He was sat with 10 dollars and I took that and his next four reloads too. All smiles! Later on in the day we played again and I'm sad to say that he managed to outdraw me NINE TIMES IN A ROW and he took 90 dollars from me leaving me with but 10 to play with
Oh and of course, this tilted me to the max.
All tilty I sat with a fourth person that I'd taken notes on who incidentally, seemed like a real nice guy. The fact that he was and that we chatted as we played seemed to keep the tilt at bay and I took his first ten dollars. He reloaded with $50 and once I'd taken that too he exploded with anger shouting abuse via chat. This must have either impacted me or revealed to him just how useless I am because I immediately lost everything but my original ten to him within 15 mins....I left and went back to find person 3. I finished with 70 dollars and called it a night.
This morning I tilted it all off and I'm down to about 2 dollars. Yes I was unlucky in certain spots but I feel it's more likely down to tilt or a lack of skill.
Ridiculous stories aside though, I realise that it is a complicated game that requires proper study and I am generally a 'why' person anyway who wants a firm and proper understanding of things rather than quick answers. Therefore, I bought the following books in the hope of gaining some insight;
The Mammoth Book of Poker - Mendelson
Sit n Go Strategy - Moshman
Super System - Brunson
The Mathematics of Poker - Chen
Expert Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Vol 1 - Tipton
The Mental Game of Poker -Tendler
Back in early summer I read Mendelson and Moshman and I found them both relatively helpful. The Moshman book was obviously more specific to what I was doing at the time and this introduced me to concepts that I felt I would definitely need a firm understanding of if I was to progress. I am yet to dedicate the proper study time to some of these concepts and that is holding me back. I know this. I bought the others this week.
My question is; If I get my tilt under control, how do I actually be sure that I have any potential? What kind of study plan would you guys recommend? Are these books too advanced for me? What do you recommend generally as a path to improvement?
FYI, I don't use a HUD because I can't afford it right now and I kind of feel that putting a winning run together prior to getting software would make the purchase feel like a worthwhile investment. I can't afford a coach so that's out as an answer to my troubles by the way!
Thanks for reading and any replies will be much appreciated. If you can't be bothered, I don't blame you!
Take care,
Jamie