Poker wants me to win

09.08.2007, 17:53 0

Something weird has been going on in my poker life lately. I started a few weeks ago playing FL in 10/20 in Titan. That went alright, but variance didn't allow me to move to the next level; I got to about $85 three or four times, to go back to $39 the next night, to $89, etc... Problem is, I have loads of very stressing work right now, and poker distracts me from what I should be doing - I don't intend to make a career our of playing poker.
So, some days ago, I decided to enter a SNG for about 2/3 of what was my BR at that time: $23.5, one of titan's jackpot SNGs. The idea was for the SNG to result in one of two: A) to lose most of my money, crippling my BR but allowing me to DO WORK, or B) to win back a lot of the money I lost, and some on top of that.
This is a NL SNG, though, and I have been playing FL exclusively for a while now, so I don't know how I will do. Long story short, what began as a plot to stop my procrastination ended in a first prize of $60.
That was nice! I had about $75 now, which I quickly turned into $90 that same night playing ring games. The day after that, I moved up levels. 25/50 was tough! I went back to $75 very quickly, and very quickly I realized I was again wasting time in poker, playing for nickels. So, I moved up a notch, and decided to risk my money in a second SNG, this time a $50+9 one, the Jackpot SNG with the highest buyin. After a few rounds of fooling around, feeling out the table, I was leading by a small margin. After that, I dominated until HU, where we had basically the same amount of chips. Finally, I got dealt 96s, one of my favorite hands (don't ask why, I don't know). I raised a third of my stack, he reraised the 2/3, I push all in PR. He helt K4, the flop comes 294, rainbow. The turn, 5 and the river, 6, and I won $150.

It seems every time I INTENTIONALLY blow my money away, it comes back to me, tripled! Maybe I should be self-destructive more often. I know it's not a very shocking story or anything, seeing as it's not a lot of money, but maybe you'll appreciate the irony of winning only when I want to lose.

4 replies

_Anonymous_

09.08.2007, 18:22 0

This kind of thing is common for people who can't beat the game long term. Losing their roll (as far as losing players can be considered to have a bankroll, and I'm afraid you're probably one of them until you find the patience to at least keep to strict bankroll management) is more common of course, but they either stop and don't have a story to tell or redeposit, in which case this happens after a repetition or two.

Many players who have made these lucky strikes proceed to move up to bigger games, where they briefly contribute, lose it all and either stop or go back to the beginning of the cycle with a new deposit. A few find that they really do want to win and learn the skills and discipline necessary and will some day play those same limits and dominate them, but the short cut never gets them there.

If "playing for nickels" is a waste of time for you, then playing higher is a waste of time and money.

Puschkin81

Joined: 14.04.2006

Posts: 4,523

09.08.2007, 18:58 0

Hi gabrieldain!

Howard is right! Please stick to the bankroll management!!! If you don't know what this is, please read this article:

http://www.pokerstrategy.org.uk/strategy/fixed-limit/10/

"Playing for nickles" is the most important thing to learn the game. If you don't beat the low limits you will never beat the high limits. You have to invest time and effort to become a winning player in poker. If you don't want to do this because you think you cannot work anymore I recommend that you stop playing poker. But I think that even if you only invest 1 hour per week into poker you can improve your game and become a winning player.

Good luck at the tables!
Puschkin81

sismis

Joined: 27.10.2006

Posts: 351

10.08.2007, 01:26 0

i think he should try 200$ SNG.

just kidding. imo its sometimes easier for rookie with common-sense thinking to beat high limit players becoz of their agression and maybe even thinking you are a fish but ofc this wont last for long time coz they will take all your money sooner or later unless you understand completly what is going on. try to guess exactly what opponent has on flop and fold when you dont have strong hands or very strong draws and you will beat low limit games in no time.

_Anonymous_

10.08.2007, 15:16 0

if you want to gamble, try the roulette tables, I think they give better odds ♦

(just kiddin)

[Closed] Poker wants me to win