Impossibly Horrible Bad Run

Welcome to the forums, TheTall, and sorry about your bad run. We certainly all know what you're talking about.

It's great that you are making an effort to develop a solid strategy. Keep in mind, though, that good bankroll management is even more important than good strategy. From what you were describing, it seems to me that you did not follow solid BRM, because losing that much money in such a short time or even going broke should be virtually impossible if you manage your bankroll correctly.
If you did pay attention to bankroll management, what were your exact guidelines?

Also, I'm a little surprised that you have been using the Short Stack Strategy. From what I've heard, this strategy may have been profitable a few years ago, but has since become obsolete. Most people recommend playing with a full stack nowadays.

From what I read, the strategy is supposed to be incredibly hard to counter. The way the strategy works seems quite mathematical and unrelated to how your opponents play, so I thought it's age didn't matter much.
As for bankroll management. For the reasons I mentioned before, I cannot deposit a large amount of money. I deposited $20 on Stars a couple of days ago. I was playing SSS on NL2. After growing it to about $45 I moved to NL5. Ive been playing NL5 till I lost everything today. I play 4 tables at once with 40BB on each and rebuy once I fall to 30BB.

Originally posted by TheTall2338
From what I read, the strategy is supposed to be incredibly hard to counter.

That's what the articles say, and it may have been true at the time they were written.
I can't really tell why exactly the SSS is considered obsolete by now, but that seems to be the official position on this site. I'm sure a coach or an experienced member could back me up on this and explain the exact factors why the SSS is not that profitable anymore.

I also forgot that the SSS had less strict bankroll management guidelines than other strategies; it seems like you did follow a consistent plan after all.

You mentioned something about losing $250 in your first post. Are those your all-time losses?

Yes. I used to play on 888Poker. I played some cash tables at the beginning then moved to SNGs. I lost the first few deposits because of my idiocy and I admit that. But I think my smaller bankrolls didn't help at all as at some point I would have a bad run like the one I mentioned and lose most if not my entire bankroll.

I went from LAG->TAG->pretty much a nid(with SSS). Still no luck. I win a bit and lose a lot.

SSS is not MSS
in zoom you can't play proper SSS and even MSS is a bit awkward as 50 big blinds buyin is too much

Originally posted by TheTall2338
From what I read, the strategy is supposed to be incredibly hard to counter.

Hi, TheTall...
Sorry to hear about your bad run.

Tomaloc said it best...

Part of the problem is that playing MSS and SSS requires that you have a certain mix of opponents at your table. No more than one other short stacker, and preferably full ring.

Your targets are the early-to-mid positions who come in w/ a raise.

6-Max doesn't work well with the short stacks, I don't think (some people may have been able to make it work, but I'm not one of them).

If you are playing true MSS, then the others at the table can pretty much tell by your actions what your range is.

In zoom, you cannot control who you play against.

Have you taken advantage of the free money offers yet? If not, go for it, and get building again.

You can also go the freeroll route. Poker770 has some very soft SnGs that run pretty much continuously that you are free to enter. They pay next to nothing, but it adds up.

Best of luck!
--VS

imho, playing anything else than BSS, having a stack as deep as possible, is counter productive at zoom poker. Zoom has a very specific dynamic that isn't well suited for SSS and MSS because the blinds are going to wear you down. You have to be able to attack and defend the blinds properly at zoom and you just can't do that with shallow stacks.
If you like this format and want to keep playing it, start at nl2, play a couple of tables and take a boat load of notes. Seriously, don't hesitate to pause the game to write detailed notes. Study the preflop dynamic and work on your postflop game and you should be alright. If you feel you are tilting for whatever the reason, pause the game and evacuate the stress. Playing tilted will just cost you money at zoom. Also be prepared for some wild swings.

GL