POKER BOOKS

[bennymacca]

i have a question garth or anyone else

when i first started playing poker, i was playing the 5 and 10 buck SNGs. this was working well, and i was cashing a lot.

i cashed out most of my roll, and started playing the lower limit SNGs, for 1 and 2 bucks.

similarly, i started playing the 5c/10c cash games.

in these tourneys, i found that the swings were a lot bigger because of the very loose nature of the players.

so i decided to move up to the 10c/25c and the $5 tourneys again.

at first, this was working really well, and i was up a lot - my first few buyins were for a sizeable part of my roll, so it was a gamble, but it paid off, and soon could play these tourneys and still be within my roll.

but

at the moment, i am on a fairly big downswing, and my roll has just been crushed back to where it was to start with.

at the moment, i have taken a break from online, because of the bad streak - i still seem to tilt a lot, but i have a question

what do you think is the best way to go about rebuilding my roll? should i just grind the lowest limit and take the swings in my stride?

maybe the roll i am starting with is too small and its worth starting out at a higher limit? and depositing some more cash (that i can still afford of course)

is it worth/possible trying to build a big roll from less than $50?

maybe i wasn't good enough to be playing the higher limits, and i was just on a good streak to begin with?

any thoughts?

[muzzington]

Grind.

[Chelsea4thewin]

When i used to play i made sure i stayed away from all distractions when i played, that was rule number 1, no msn, no facebook, just poker and music on at a low volume

rule 2, never played after coming home from NPL after a few beers, i want to play everyhand and end up making some very poor decisions

my advice benny the cunt would be to play tight and grind, as muzz said

[bennymacca]

When i used to play i made sure i stayed away from all distractions when i played, that was rule number 1, no msn, no facebook, just poker and music on at a low volume

this is my problem i think

at the lowest levels, because the amount of money isnt that much, i find it very hard to keep myself switched on, and i find myself surfing the net etc.

i think at the higher levels i was a bit more switched on, which is probably why i had more success.

so i think the moral of the story is to not let myself get distracted and even though its micro limits, try to keep 100% concentration.

[Garth Kay]

Don't have the time to write a long winded post on my thoughts or explanations.

But stick to the limits your bankroll can afford.

If you crush the lower limits and build your bankroll up then you are prepared to move up.

Variance is the bane of all poker players and downswings are a natural part of your playing life. Learn to ride them and master your bankroll management.

[bennymacca]

Don't have the time to write a long winded post on my thoughts or explanations.

But stick to the limits your bankroll can afford.

If you crush the lower limits and build your bankroll up then you are prepared to move up.

Variance is the bane of all poker players and downswings are a natural part of your playing life. Learn to ride them and master your bankroll management.

thanks for the post garth - these are my thoughts as well, but it is pretty frustrating at the moment.

might take another week or so off, and sit back down and have a good crack at it again

[Chelsea4thewin]

whats everyones thoughts on putting money on these american sites with the $Aus so low, lose some of your profits if it goes back up soon

[bennymacca]

if you have a decent roll, cash it out now, and not 2 months ago

[Bacon]

back on topic, what's a good first up book to read? When i play, i'm rarely thinking about what my opponent is doing, i want more help on that.

[bennymacca]

im not sure as to what is a good book, some help would be good also

with regards to thinking about what my opponent is holding, just start simple - when you are at a table, just start guessing what the other players might have, especially if you have folded the hand.

start looking for what players do in certain situations, and re-evaluate what sort of cards they are playing with every card dealt.

if it goes to showdown, see if your guess was right - if it wasn't then re-evaluate.

a good tactic in NPL is to simply ask them what they had after the hand! you will be surprised how many times they will tell you straight out - and based on your other information, you can tell if they are lying - i.e if you fold to them on the river, and ask them what they have, a lot of people will say oh i had the straight. but the straight might have meant they were playing J8 or something, which you can work out whether it was in their preflop range.

so most people you can narrow down their cards pretty quickly.

the problem i have is predicting what people will do with their range of cards. a lot of the time i can work out that people have mid pair, but i make a mistake in how i play this, and they still call me down if i bluff to them - aka bennyjam

but yeah, books - i have heard super system is about the best to start with