My brief poker history and the most recent happenings
About a year ago, I decided that I want to learn how to play poker. Somewhere I figured out that it was a "skill" game and that a person could win sustainably long term, as long as they played better than their opponents. Of all the casino games, this is the one where I feel like a professional "gambler" could make a living.
I started out playing for play money on Pacific Poker and then eventually Party Poker. I watched the 2003 World Series of Poker and became fascinated by Phil Hellmuth... so I bought his book (Play Poker Like the Pros). Alot of people in poker think this book is awful, but I still rank it as the best book for beginners. In short, the book taught me the basic strategy that is the foundation for my current poker game.
So, full of confidence... I bought in for $50 at Party Poker and promptly lost all of my money. In hindsight, I made two major mistakes. I played alot of the Party Poker's one-table sit-and-go's, which are a true gamble in that their structure is so fast that skill is less important than luck (or at least it seems that way). My other mistake was that I did not fully grasp the tight-aggressive concept.
After losing my bankroll, I bought in for another $50 and promptly lost that too. So, I am now stuck for $100, which wouldn't be that big of a deal except that my wife decided that she can spend whatever I lose on whatever she wants. So, I'm really stuck $200. This certainly did not give me alot of incentive to buy in for me. But, I'm REALLY competitive and I bought in for another $50; I lost that in two days (again, playing sit-and-goes). Because I am not one to quit (this is a problem in poker, but rather useful in most other aspects of life), I bought in for another $50 and lost it too. Now, I'm stuck $200 ($400 with wife's doubler) and it only took me about two weeks. I intelligently take a break from real money poker at this time.
I spent the next month re-reading Hellmuth's book. I eventually formulated a better game plan. First, I would only play Phil's "Top Ten Hands" plus small pocket pairs, A-x suited, and KQ. This is essentially Phil's "beginner" and "intermediate" strategy. I would also ONLY play $0.5/$1.0 limit hold 'em at Party Poker -- that is, no more sit-and-goes. I would also bet these hands aggressively earlier in the hand, but fold frequently if I thought that I was beat.
So, I bought in for $50 for "one last time". It was a Monday night and my wife dropped me off at home before she went to get a haircut. I immediately caught a bunch of great hands and I had doubled my buy-in by the time she got home. This was great and I felt like I could finally start winning at the game, but I then started losing again. For the night, I think I broke even. But this was a start!
After quitting for the night, I decided to re-evaluate my play. I considered the fact that I was losing the majority of money when I was in the blinds and I would play aggressively with a weakish hand. I would play it aggressively if I caught a good flop, but I would usually lose because the players at Party Poker love to chase and I was getting caught. So, I decided to play alot more cautiously in the blinds the next time, but to otherwise continue playing the same way.
The next week or so, I managed to win $350 or so playing $0.5/$1.0 limit hold 'em. I was able to pull out all of my previous losses and I was able to get my wife off of my back (seriously, she wasn't complaining too much). Since then, I've been able to slowly build my stack. I played primarily $0.5/$1.0 hold'em for several months until I felt skilled enough (I had plenty of bankroll by then) to move up.
Right now, I play primarily $0.5/$1.0 at Poker Stars and $2/$4 limit hold'em at Party Poker. I'm playing the lower stakes at Poker Stars because I bought in for $100 and I am trying to slowly build my stack there. After about a month of playing, I have a net winnings of $2.50. I am not taking the game as seriously as I should. I have also been losing at Party Poker for about 3 weeks. This is all part of a dry spell where the quality of my game has declined because I'm being too impatient. This means that I am playing too many hands and I am being too aggressive with them. Hopefully, I can turn this around soon. I know that I still have the skills to play. I played a home game last Friday and I essentially played "perfect poker" for 4 hours. I made several great "reads", laying down monster hands when my friends sucked out on me. It was a game of relatively low stakes against bad players, but still... it gives me confidence.
That's all for now... I posted my yahoo e-mail address (frazwood@yahoo.com)... so if you want to comment, please drop me a quick message.
I started out playing for play money on Pacific Poker and then eventually Party Poker. I watched the 2003 World Series of Poker and became fascinated by Phil Hellmuth... so I bought his book (Play Poker Like the Pros). Alot of people in poker think this book is awful, but I still rank it as the best book for beginners. In short, the book taught me the basic strategy that is the foundation for my current poker game.
So, full of confidence... I bought in for $50 at Party Poker and promptly lost all of my money. In hindsight, I made two major mistakes. I played alot of the Party Poker's one-table sit-and-go's, which are a true gamble in that their structure is so fast that skill is less important than luck (or at least it seems that way). My other mistake was that I did not fully grasp the tight-aggressive concept.
After losing my bankroll, I bought in for another $50 and promptly lost that too. So, I am now stuck for $100, which wouldn't be that big of a deal except that my wife decided that she can spend whatever I lose on whatever she wants. So, I'm really stuck $200. This certainly did not give me alot of incentive to buy in for me. But, I'm REALLY competitive and I bought in for another $50; I lost that in two days (again, playing sit-and-goes). Because I am not one to quit (this is a problem in poker, but rather useful in most other aspects of life), I bought in for another $50 and lost it too. Now, I'm stuck $200 ($400 with wife's doubler) and it only took me about two weeks. I intelligently take a break from real money poker at this time.
I spent the next month re-reading Hellmuth's book. I eventually formulated a better game plan. First, I would only play Phil's "Top Ten Hands" plus small pocket pairs, A-x suited, and KQ. This is essentially Phil's "beginner" and "intermediate" strategy. I would also ONLY play $0.5/$1.0 limit hold 'em at Party Poker -- that is, no more sit-and-goes. I would also bet these hands aggressively earlier in the hand, but fold frequently if I thought that I was beat.
So, I bought in for $50 for "one last time". It was a Monday night and my wife dropped me off at home before she went to get a haircut. I immediately caught a bunch of great hands and I had doubled my buy-in by the time she got home. This was great and I felt like I could finally start winning at the game, but I then started losing again. For the night, I think I broke even. But this was a start!
After quitting for the night, I decided to re-evaluate my play. I considered the fact that I was losing the majority of money when I was in the blinds and I would play aggressively with a weakish hand. I would play it aggressively if I caught a good flop, but I would usually lose because the players at Party Poker love to chase and I was getting caught. So, I decided to play alot more cautiously in the blinds the next time, but to otherwise continue playing the same way.
The next week or so, I managed to win $350 or so playing $0.5/$1.0 limit hold 'em. I was able to pull out all of my previous losses and I was able to get my wife off of my back (seriously, she wasn't complaining too much). Since then, I've been able to slowly build my stack. I played primarily $0.5/$1.0 hold'em for several months until I felt skilled enough (I had plenty of bankroll by then) to move up.
Right now, I play primarily $0.5/$1.0 at Poker Stars and $2/$4 limit hold'em at Party Poker. I'm playing the lower stakes at Poker Stars because I bought in for $100 and I am trying to slowly build my stack there. After about a month of playing, I have a net winnings of $2.50. I am not taking the game as seriously as I should. I have also been losing at Party Poker for about 3 weeks. This is all part of a dry spell where the quality of my game has declined because I'm being too impatient. This means that I am playing too many hands and I am being too aggressive with them. Hopefully, I can turn this around soon. I know that I still have the skills to play. I played a home game last Friday and I essentially played "perfect poker" for 4 hours. I made several great "reads", laying down monster hands when my friends sucked out on me. It was a game of relatively low stakes against bad players, but still... it gives me confidence.
That's all for now... I posted my yahoo e-mail address (frazwood@yahoo.com)... so if you want to comment, please drop me a quick message.
posted by frazwood at 11:12 AM
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