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Here is a little background on me, I have been playing poker casually for about 5 years (couple times a month at home games), about 4 months ago work got really slow so I started playing almost every day in cash games, with my lack of experience in the casino at a cash game I was happy with my results for the first couple of months, if I played 5 days a week, I would at least double my original by in 4 times a week and never rebuy after losing in the same day (I found that if I did, I went on tilt... lol)

Then I went through a bad month, only cashing once or twice a week. So after a full month losing at cash games and back to even, I decided to play tournaments instead, it seems that tournaments don't have the same "priced in effect" as a cash game but maybe that's because I was playing 1/2, maybe for cash games I should try a higher stake. Here's my aces of the past to tourneys, I got them 7 times between the two tourneys. I won twice going to the river and twice by pushing everyone out preflop. Aces are better than a 43 % hand, aren't they?

Example one, 10 Handed, I have 7000 in chips second level of a tournament blinds are 100 and 200 I am out of position and get As Ah, all four players before me limp so with 1100 in the pot (including the blinds) I raise to 1200, everyone folds to the big blind who calls and then again to the player to my right, who calls. The flop comes 6c 7h 9c BB checks, middle player pushes all in for about 4000, now the tourney isn't very old but I have seen this player play a few hands that he shouldn't have called pre flop in the first place (I am assuming my raise preflop was big enough?) I decided that because of the range of hands I have seen this player play that I could put him on the straight, I had already seen him push twice and he had the nuts in the previous hands, so I folded. The BB called and I was surprised with what I saw, the all in had 94o... lol I felt like a dumbass... the BB turned over pocket kings and caught a third on the river. So even though I was out played by a ridiculous hand, had I stayed in with my pocket aces, I would have been beat by a set of kings.

Example two, 10 handed, fourth level of a tourney, blinds are 200 and 400, I am in the big blind with a stack of about 8000 and get the rockets everyone folds to the button (average aggressive) who raises to 800, sb folds to me, now, I have had some bad experiences with this hand trying to slow play it, so I would rather force him to fold and take the 1000 that's out there, so I reraise him to 2500, he pushes all in, well obviously I have to call, so I do for him to reveal AK diamonds.  I'm all in, he has me covered by about 300 and rivers a flush... I know that a AK suited is a premium hand and the other player did nothing wrong, I'm not going to say he donkey punched me, but, it did hurt. I can't say I did anything wrong, who wouldn't call an all in with pocket aces pre flop? But how do I end this luck? This has been the majority of my poker experience for the past month.

Example three, 8 handed, blinds are 1000 and 2000, I'm almost the short stack with about 12000, rockets UTG, I end up all in pre flop to get called by, now get this J4o... I was happy until the flop came JJ7, Turn A, river J.... I can go on and on about bad beats from slow playing them, but I learned my lesson on that. The only time I really do seem to win with bullets is when I push everyone else out pre flop, or at most only get one caller. I think that another part of my problem is that I am playing too tight with other hands, being new to tourneys and fresh off 1/2 no limit (a game that requires at least a set to win... lol) but I am learning, my rule of thumb now is that if I have a hand good enough to play in the first place, I raise - I never limp and only call raises with premium hands it seems to be working and I am having fun in the tourneys of the past month, finishing in the money twice (I would like to improve that number) and hoping my luck improves with bullets. I would also be very happy to look at any learning material you would refer or any advice of what you would have done different in the 3 hands. Keep up the good work on your website.

Tom S.

Answer:

Thank you for this story Tom, but I really doubt that you need my help. You have already answered a lot of the questions yourself while blowing off some steam - and sometimes you just need to get some anger out to put the game on the right track again.

The only advice I can give you is to focus on the things you actually can control. In example two and three you get your entire stack in the middle pre-flop with aces, and that is rarely a problem. In both hands you are about an 87 % favorite to win. What to do? Unfortunately your opponent managed to find that 13 % both of the times. You were unlucky but it will even out in the long run ... at least that's what they say.

Example one proves that you are capable of folding aces, something that many inexperienced players don't do too often. Was it the correct move? Well, in my opinion that's entirely up to what you think about the player on your right. I don't think many players would push with the nut straight in that position, but on the other hand, even fewer people would go all in with top-pair weak kicker. Could he do it with a flush draw trying to push you off just the type of hand that you are holding? Could he do it with two-pair trying to get you to call with an over pair? Like I said, knowing whether to call or fold against an out-of-the-blue all in like that is not easy. But at least you can fold aces when you think you are behind, and thanks to that, aces will probably become a winning starting hand for you in the near future.

However, I don't think that you played perfect poker in the other hands; the ones in which you didn't end up all-in with aces. I'm not saying this because I think you are a bad player -not at all. I'm saying it because no player in the world makes the perfect decisions all the time. So instead of focusing on bad beats, try to analyze your game when you actually could have done something different.

I can't say much about the other hands, but I can look at some of your statements and perhaps give you some advice.

"I would at least double my original by in 4 times a week and never rebuy after losing in the same day (I found that if I did, I went on tilt... lol)"

It's good that you know yourself and that you stop playing when you feel tilt tendencies. However, losing one buy-in in a cash game shouldn't bother you that much. If you play in juicy cash game, and perhaps lose once again against when you are 8 to 1 favorite, you should be able to shake it off, put new money on the table and exploit others' weak play. But if that's impossible, well, then it's probably best to just step away from the table as you do now.

"I was playing 1/2, maybe for cash games I should try a higher stake."

Sometimes it feels like it's easer to play at higher stakes since players there "know when they have to fold." But when you think about it; that is not really an advantage. Personally I would rather play against players who don't know when to fold. And your game should really work at the lower limits since you describe yourself as having a rather straightforward playing style with no limping and only calling with premium holdings. Nonetheless, if you can't beat the game at one limit, chances are that you can't beat it at a higher level.

Lastly, even though you have played quite a lot of poker the natural fluctuations may not yet have stabilized. Perhaps you have won a lot of "Sklansky Dollars" and have had positive expectation? My suggestion is that you stay on your limits where you play today (never chase losses), try to get the chips into the middle when you are a 87 % favorite to win and don't let the bad beats ruin your game.

Regards,
Clark Jensen
Learn Texas Holdem

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