This is a bit of a frustration post, but I suck at poker and I'm getting kind of sick of it. I used to love poker. I loved the stats, I loved the strategy, I loved it all, but now I'm slowly getting sick of it.

For the past couple years, I've tried to work on my game. I've read super system and parts of Applications of No Limit Hold-em, I subscribed to Upswing, and bought poker tracker. I constantly review hands, have tried to have rock hard discipline, tightened my range, and generally put a lot of work in, but I just cant seem to beat this game (2NL) and its only more frustrating how easy everyone says the micros are.

My graphs look like 2008 stock portfolios. Just enough of a peak to give hope, followed by tremendous downswings. I'm bleeding -19BB/100, -16.5/100 AI-E adj., and I cant seem to switch it off. I'm kind of at the end of my rope with the game, but I'm still sucked into it. I've learned enough were its hard to leave, because there is still hope, but I just haven't been able to break through the ceiling. I know I have a ton of leaks, I know poker is a game of constant improvement and numbers never lie, but I just feel stuck. It's not even fun anymore. I feel like I know too much to think its a game of luck, and am too frustrated to admit its a game of skill.

I guess the point of this post, if there is a point, is to find out if anyone else has been at this point, and if they've come back from it. Or, is it time to just forgo poker for a while.

Read crushing the micros from blackrain79, you will own nl2

Are you trying to get too tricky and fancy? Beating those super micro's more than likely is just playing ABC super tight poker.

I've been playing NL10 for over a year and am down 5 buy ins. I feel similarly about the amount of work I put in, and feeling badly about myself when I hear people claim how easy it is to crush these games. Personally, I think two big reasons why I'm losing are 1) getting fancy and 2) multitasking while I play rather than giving it my full attention.

One thing to keep in mind is that, in a way, numbers can lie. It takes a really big sample size to get accurate numbers, so it is possible that you are just getting unlucky.

My advice would be to stick with it. At NL2 you can afford the amount of money you lose. You're only going to keep getting better. Eventually you will beat the game and it'll feel really rewarding.

I know you say you love the stats so I'm sure you've done this at some point but have you posted your stats in the stats thread?
You must have some glaring leaks that would be shown in your stats.
How many tables are you playing? Are you playing too mamy tables or playing for too long to try and get out of 2NL and end up playing your B/C game too much?

I just can’t fathom this. There has to be very few Rec players/fish/generally loose players playing super micro stakes. I have never heard in my life a rec player say “oh, I bought into a .02/.05c game Online last night! It was really fun!”. No, they said “ I heard about this website you can play online poker on. I bought into a 1/2 game and played it out for a few hours it was cool”

I’m new to the online game but it seems to me the only people playing micro stakes are people like yourself; serious players with a small bankroll trying to get good at the game. Not fish. So my point is, ABC super tight is not going to work against a bunch of good learning poker players. I just deposited 600$ for a .10/.25 bankroll and so far I have noticed they are the nittiest games I have ever seen! And I know one thing from playing with nits live during the day, you don’t “outnit” them. Play aggressive.

So if aggression and bluffing is the better strategy in micros then you should be playing less tables overall because it takes more focus to play LAG then nit.

Once again I’m totally new to online but my 2 cents

I've just come off a short session at 5nl and the tables were pretty nitty.

That being said there are plenty of recs and fish at these levels too.

How often do you see players who don't top up as they lose and just play until they get short stacked and then shove it in. They're definitely not studying the game in any way.

Even though the games were nitty tonight there were still a couple of 55/2 and 33/30 players about. Again, not serious players.

Poker isn't easy. ABC doesn't mean playing one way. It means playing straight forward but what that means differs depending on the players you're up against.

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As I recall, 2nl is very beatable using a basic approach which at least starts something like this..

[*]Find the big Fish(50+VPIP low PFR)- iso the big Fish with any picture- stack the big Fish with TP
"stack them" means bet F, bet T, bet R in such a way that all the money is naturally all in by the end.

[*]Find the normal fish (~30 TO 49 VPIP low PFR) -iso them with a tight range -stack them with TPTK, BUT!!! respect their raises.!!!


[*]If you spot any calling stations, (maybe good stats pre but cant fold post) stack them with TPTK , but respect their raises.

[*]Setmine the nits- (make a set on the flop or fold.) for stacks ..if made, raise and reraise big asap.


[*]dont get setmined


[*] To begin, Leave everyone else alone. Avoid regs and ~AGs and otherwise giving action to any nits who are raising.. If you cant, then at least keep pots v small until you have the nuts, then overbet it like a bad bluff- even on the most obvious boards!!Never call anyone elses bad bluff overbet.


[*]Treat unknown players as if they have the nuts.

dont quote me on the details, but it is something like that.. and its all about the stacks

coach

I would be lying if I said I didn't punt some creative bluffs from time to time. I think my biggest leak is overcalling, but for the most part its only against wide agro players.

If I was you, I would look for a winning player to shadow for a while and spend more time here.

Value bets are your friend. You don't have to bluff. Simply bet when you have a strong hand, and you will get called. Bluffing at the micros is almost always a spew. The money doesn't mean enough for a lot of those players to fold. Don't make hero bluffs and don't make hero calls, and you'll start to see winning results.

If you are losing at NL 2, you have major leaks, there is no question about it. Challenge yourself to find one mistake that you are making and fix it, then repeat. Blackrain79 has a ton of free content to help you with that.

Over Ten years ago, I'd play online on a regular basis.
I made a modest amount playing the smallest possible stakes over about a 2 year stretch. I didn't really study and I didn't use HUD or any other software. It was just fun and easy. The vast majority of people came to have fun. People would be like, hi xb12, where you been, on vacation?
It was a different world. Now, everyone that plays online is an aspiring pro. Sure, you'll run across the occasional fish but it's just not the same anymore.
I have an account and use it as practice for in between casino visits but for me to dedicate a significant amount of my time to internet poker our day's, why don't you just throw me in a jail cell, I'll be happier!

Start by posting hand reviews here. Its very possible that you may understand the concepts that you are learning, but just are not applying them correctly.

Also, the strategy you use at 2NL should be a bit different from the strategy you will use at say 25NL. I know for a fact that you can beat 2NL by just playing super tight and getting value from worse hands.

Site selection, Game selection, too many tables, too many desperation bluffs, can't fold top pair, tilt.

play one table of NL10 with a bunch of whales rather than 4 of NL2 on a nitty site.