Pushing for Profitability

    • Verre
      Verre
      Bronze
      Joined: 24.02.2009 Posts: 708
      Hello All,

      To start off with, I'm rather new to pokerstrategy. I previously played on full tilt very casually and cleared $400 over about a year. I decided it was time to start trying to play seriously and was pointed to this site.

      Here is my problem. I am an agressive researcher. I read books and articles about strategy. I am patient and can execute well. I play mostly STTs but would love to get into bigger SnGs and tounaments successfully (until till point the success I have is in STTs).

      I would like to have a more consistant profit. I run at about 6% but it seems to be up and down. My strategy varies over time and I find myself playing differently week to week. I have read so much that different things keep coming out in my play. I almost feel like I play other players games and not my own.

      I realize I'm a bronze on this site as I have only been here for a week or so, and I have tried the premium hand play, but I feel like I'm being blinded out. I have my real success when I am playing aggressive and this could be the reason for inconistancy and lack of success in the bigger tournaments. With that said I do play differently in tournaments. I play a lot slower.

      I need that little thing to push me over the edge. I feel I am right there. As a final note, I dont have much of a problem with tilt, although I do seem to go in waves of winning and losing probubly due to the fact that my game keeps varrying subconciously.

      (I tried to attach my graphs but it did not go over well with the site for some reason, what i was trying to get at was that I am up and down and break even.)
  • 2 replies
    • NickParkes
      NickParkes
      Bronze
      Joined: 07.07.2008 Posts: 1,526
      Hi Verre

      Having a decent background in STTs is definitely an advantage that you bring... The most important thing to remember is that these games are all about surviving through to the late stages and playing a good solid push or fold game... It's not necessary to double up before the late stage, this is handy, but definitely not necessary...

      The best thing that you can do to develop your game is to work on ICM, download the trainer lite first (NB!) and then the full version... post hands in the forum and comment on others hands... actively getting involved and working on your game will increase your understanding, gameplay and overall profit...

      oh, and obviously study all the articles and video.... as you move up in ranks there is soooo much content besides everything else available that if you put the time and effort in you will be rewarded...

      good luck,

      nick
    • Verre
      Verre
      Bronze
      Joined: 24.02.2009 Posts: 708
      After about 14 hours of studying my previous games and some other articles, I sat down and actually wrote out a gameplan. I made a list of hands to play and how to play them in different situations. When I was done i had 364 hands to play from the possible 1326. This gives me a 1 in 4 chance at seeing cards I like depending on possition.

      I try to play a "tight" aggressive game. I say tight but for the most part I am aggressive with almost any two cards when I know I have a good shot at buying pots. With all this understood I went to play some games.

      To start off the day I 4 tabled some 9 player STTs. I was playing tight and had built my stack up to 3200 when I was dealt KK on the button. The CU raised me 6x the BB and I put in a solid reraise of 3x his raise. I was pushed all in and I called. He flipped KQ and the river came 10-A-J. I lost half my stack. The next hand I'm in CU and I am dealt AA. The same player puts me all in preflop and I call. He shows Ad9c. First four cards are Ac10c2c, Turn is 4c and river is Kd. I am knocked out of my first STT with two bad beats.

      I tighten my play down and cash in the other 3, winning the fourth one. At this point I'm feeling ok with myself, I have put my money in good. I get a call from a friend letting me know there is a 6 handed tourny starting in 20 minutes. I sign up. 2040 players join the tournament.

      Not much happened during the tournament except I got bad beat twice for about half my chips (later I knocked both of those players out). I was stealing pots over and over again and was going in to 70 players left with second largest stack. I was dealt 10d4d on the button. I decided to 3x BB raise to steal the blinds as no one called behind me. I got action from the SB who had started to fight back with rags the last few hands and I was able to take a decent amount of chips from him.

      The flop comes 10c6h4s. The SB put in a pot size raise at me and I call. A 2d comes on the turn giving a full rainbow. The SB throws 15k chips out and I reraise him all in. He smooth calls with Kd4h. He has three outs and he says "****, You have been stealing my pots everytime, I have to make a stand". King drops on the River to give him his 3 outter. I feel sick to my stomache, instead of going from 140k chips to 210k I just dropped to 70K and find myself in 34th out of 69. I think to myself, "This has happened already, I will be fine".

      I go back to my pressure style of stealing blinds and small raises and build my stack back to near 90k. with 54 players left I have bullied one guy 3-4 times in a row. He fought back each time with rags and I took down the pots. This time he fights back with his regular reraise and I find myself sitting with pocket 4s. I think I can get him off this hand easy if i just push now. I run into a monster. He flips over KK and thats the end of my tournament with minimal winnings. I felt sick to my stomache because that was the first real mistake I made the whole tournament. I made others but i caught myself before they took any effect.

      I jumped right into a 6 handed STT game and quickly found my stack trippled by knocking two players out. I kept playing aggressive and kept running into mosters eventually ending in fourth. And I realized....


      .....All my problems that I have with my inconsistancy are due to the fact that I haven't been changing my pace of play from one tournament to the next. I play like I have been at another table, but it is the wrong situation for the table I am currently at. And all my questions have been answered.

      Thanks for your comments Nick much appreciated