Losing Interest in Online Poker

wow how do you know they were correct decisions?

The other players showed, one hit a flush, the other a set.

Originally posted by Calzo94
The other players showed, one hit a flush, the other a set.

Hi, Calzo...

And therein lies the problem.

Looking at the results of a particular move to decide whether or not is correct works well in some games, but in poker much less so.

You MUST think in terms of ranges and reads.
I'll grant you that your laydown of AK vs QQ may have been the result of reads.
In that case good fold.

Making a bad play and winning is a death trap if it encourages you to make those same bad plays again.

Making good plays and losing will happen. The trick is not minding that it happens.

The skill in poker comes in knowing what your opponents range is likely to be, and playing against that range. The skill is also in picking good spots to represent hands you don't have, but you have to set those up in advance.

The FUN in poker comes from learning the skills and trying yours against the competition -- oh yeah, and taking their money.

Find "The Mental Game of Poker" by Jared Tendler. Follow it through.

Best of luck!
--VS

well game is hard

Thanks Vorpal! You're probably correct in what you say, I feel I may well be dwelling in moments in which I play well and get sucked out on and allow it to effect the rest of my game if a similar situation comes up again, resulting in the wrong decision.

I'll be sure to check out the mental game of poker and can hopefully apply it to help me improve!!

Cheers! ♦

Originally posted by Calzo94
The other players showed, one hit a flush, the other a set.
I set up Vorpal Nicely here you walked right into it with your very predictable answer

It also shows you didn't master leveling yet ♠_love:

Originally posted by LemOn36

Originally posted by Calzo94
The other players showed, one hit a flush, the other a set.
I set up Vorpal Nicely here you walked right into it with your very predictable answer

It also shows you didn't master leveling yet ♠_love:

You're quite right -- I not only have not mastered it, I don't really understand the concept all that well.

Using this as an example, could you perhaps explain it for us?

Thanks,
--VS

I would also appreciate an explanation as well. I was definitely dwelling on the hands too long but surely if you feel you have a read on your opponent and are sure they have the best hand (which I was after watching how they played at the table) then you should fold? I can understand sometimes you may have to call it down but shouldn't it depend on the opponent you are up against or am I totally misunderstanding?

Cheers

I presume you are playing SNGs/MTTs?
Maybe you could try cash games? Not cashing in tourneys for some time can be quite frustrating, so I think cash games are a bit easier for the mind. But of course you need to correct you poker mindset first, as VorpalF2F pointed it out already and LemOn36 set up so beautifully

I have been playing MTTs recently although I used to play SNGs, which I did have success at but just didn't enjoy playing.
That's my thinking behind playing cash as well, if I can sort out my mindset then it may well be worth a try! Also could be a welcome change to try something new so may even look to learn some of the other variants of poker

Cheers

Originally posted by VorpalF2F

Originally posted by Calzo94
The other players showed, one hit a flush, the other a set.

Hi, Calzo...

And therein lies the problem.

Looking at the results of a particular move to decide whether or not is correct works well in some games, but in poker much less so.

You MUST think in terms of ranges and reads.
I'll grant you that your laydown of AK vs QQ may have been the result of reads.
In that case good fold.

Making a bad play and winning is a death trap if it encourages you to make those same bad plays again.

Making good plays and losing will happen. The trick is not minding that it happens.

The skill in poker comes in knowing what your opponents range is likely to be, and playing against that range. The skill is also in picking good spots to represent hands you don't have, but you have to set those up in advance.

The FUN in poker comes from learning the skills and trying yours against the competition -- oh yeah, and taking their money.

Find "The Mental Game of Poker" by Jared Tendler. Follow it through.

Best of luck!
--VS

Absolutely couldn't agree more with this post.

Each time you were ahead (AK v JT and JJ v KJ) pre flop approximately 60/40. I believe you can take heart from that as you played two of the most powerful hands (among others obviously) that you can play.

However, in my opinion if I was you I'd be looking at in what situation did you lose and compare that with how much you lost.

For example, you make a standard raise with your AK and get called by a player (style unknown for sake of argument). Board comes: A89 rainbow.

You've flopped top pair. Did you raise big enough to protect this hand from draws and get called? Did you try and slow play it and allow your opponent in for free when the turn brings a 7?

If I were you (and I'm about as far away from an expert as you can get) I'd be analysing the hand to assess what went wrong and at what point. At the end of the day if you played the hand perfectly with perfect sized bets and you got hit by a maniac then that's tough luck. The reason you play the percentages is to increase your profit over the long run.... a couple of bad beats is expected.

Sorry for the long winded post lol

Thanks for the response Webby!
Both the AK vs JT and JJ vs KJ were all in pre flop.
The latter I was a little short stacked so can maybe understand the call but the first hand I had over 30bbs. I raised, villain re-raised quite big which meant I had I shove or fold.

I still think you make a good point about analysing where I could have played certain hands better though. Obviously at micro stakes there will be maniacs who will call with draws no matter what the raise but I'm sure there have been spots that I could have played better and I should look into them more.

Cheers!

I am not trying to be rude or something ...your feelings are so normal and this is just the nature of human being thinking process :

by this post ,your mental thinking (unconscious ) is like this :

you are blaming luck to give an excuse to give up ,and escaping from the reality that poker is a so tough to beat and you still need a lottttt to learn and you are way behind ..

Poker need a life time to master and ton of hard work and there is always a lot to learn and there will be always a good days and bad days Just like life..

(just go read the pros blogs how they beat nl1k AND ADMIT THERE STILL A LOT TO LEARN)

to continue in this game you need a real passion and love to this game, So ask your self if you really love this game so you are ready to put the hard work to continue with it...

and there is a another thing ...dont try to convince people that poker isnt a game of luck if :
1-you are not really convinced in it : I mean :you are convinced just because you believe in poker and dont really Know the real math behind poker that it isnt a luck game in the long run (go study that ,it is out there in so many books ,there is a lot of math heavy explanations about expected value in the gambling word)
2-they are idiots

Good luck !

I think you've hit the nail on the head Jack. I feel I'm definitely improving but like you say, there is so much to learn at poker and I've barely scratched the surface!
Had a shot at 4 tabling some cash tables today (lowest stakes obviously until I get to grips with it) made a few dollars in a short period of time since the play is generally fairly obvious in most spots so hopefully I can learn and maybe even move up stakes!
I like your point about the luck element as well. Obviously I can acknowledge that there is an element of luck in poker, what doesn't have 'luck' involved? However, I also agree 100% that it requires so much more skill than people think, so yes, they are idiots!

Cheers!

Try a different poker format!

Yeah, I agree with trying a different format. Try cash games. You see more cards (e.g. in a SnG/tournament you got about 30 table revolutions before you're out of blinds if you didn't make any plays, no players go out etc etc. in cash games though you see about 66 table revolutions before youre out of blinds.

Double the cards for the same money and theres not the pressure on to ''makemoves''. BE patient and pick off the bad players which there are looooadsof with tight ABC poker with the occasional bit of ''creativity'' when you feel the time is right (position, stack sizes etc etc)

Cheers guys! Like I said just before, tried a few cash tables and enjoyed it more. Agree with you Webby, at the lowest stakes the players basically play their cards face up so it's a lot easier to play against them!
Into college early tomorrow to tie up some loose ends before starting uni in September (sick brag, I know ) then have the whole day to try and get used to the cash games before the World Cup kicks off at night!! ♦

Haha! World cup whilst playing poker.... not sure it gets much better

Don't put pressure on yourself though. Say you come home from college all excited to play cards with a new enthusiasm and then you don't get any hands in 6 table revs, then you get pocket KK and lose all your chips to AA (I hope that doesn't happen :)) don't be like AAAAAAGGGGHHH I waited for an hour for that hand and then all my chips have gone.

Take a break and read a poker theory book and absorb thatandwhen you feel good go back to it.

Just play tight. Top 15 hands (AA-22 and AK and AQ) to start. Raise with AA-88 and call with 77-22 trying to flop a set. you miss just fold. You hit practise making as big bets as poss. whilst keeping them tempting to call for the villains. Forget your bad beats..... extraction is the name of the game... that's the art in my opinion

Haha definitely! Going to be a cracking 3 weeks ahead!! At least have something to make up for the inevitable bad weather!

Thanks Webby! Hopefully all goes well but if it doesn't I have my drums to take it out on then can read some poker theory to get me in the mindset to begin taking over the world once more!!