What a difference a week at FTR makes

Hi all,

Just wanted to say how happy I am to have stumbled across this fine site.
In one week of reading/lurking I have gone from being a slow losing player to a steady break-even player. Okay so I'm not making money yet but at least it's not costing me while I better my game and that is Huge IMO.

I play the micro tables .10/.25 at Stars and some $5+50 SnG's. In the ten days since my first (and only) deposit, I am over 25% of the way towards the 100% cash bonus. I've heard it said that Stars is a tough site to play on but regardless I'm happy to break even at a series of tables where my game can improve, rather than take my chances amongst wild players and poker software that throws out more flushes than 2p's.

Anywho, my thanks to all the experienced players who take the time to post here for the benefit of those of us starting off.

Cheers!

Did you read the Sticky's in the beginner Digest. Particularly the Bankroll management thread. I'm not saying, I'm just saying. Chances are, like most new players, you don't have $500 in the account. Especailly since

I have gone from being a slow losing player to a steady break-even player

In the ten days since my first (and only) deposit,

and poker software that throws out more flushes than 2p's.

You may want to lose this attitude too, or you will never win. Even if for some unexplained and impossible reason, it did this, take advantage of it don't complain about it. But from many here that have 100,000's of hands on record. It doesn't happen. Not even in a 1K hand session, EVER.

Yeah cheers Trainer, I read 'em alright

I perhaps should have been a bit clearer. I have been playing holden online for a year or so on and off. I won at times but always lost overall. I played on shitty sites like PaddyPowerPoker.

I know what your saying that perhaps its too early to call myself a break even player. However, I've played more hands since joining Stars than I had in the 6 weeks prior to that and I am fairly confident about keeping my BR alive. This is because when I lose more than I'd like to, I drop down to the .05/.10 tables. It sometimes takes a while but I can rebuild my BR without any hassle.

All that said, I could still be jumping the gun here. I'm just excited at the difference in the quality/consistency of my play since applying some of the concepts/strategies I picked up here.

Thanks 4 the reply

Originally Posted by Trainer_jyms

and poker software that throws out more flushes than 2p's.

You may want to lose this attitude too, or you will never win. Even if for some unexplained and impossible reason, it did this, take advantage of it don't complain about it. But from many here that have 100,000's of hands on record. It doesn't happen. Not even in a 1K hand session, EVER.

Yes, ok. Exagerated statement here. PaddyPowerPoker for example however, does make you hesitate calling an all-in with AA. Bad beats are a lot more common here.

Now before you say it, I have no problem with bad beats. It's part of poker. Play that site if you like. Unless its been overhauled very recently youll see what I mean

Do you really think bad beats are more common on some sites than others? I'm not trying to be a wise ass...asking a serious question.

In my experience yes I do. Also a lot of the players I play with in live tourneys agree. That is where I heard about pokerstars and why I stopped playing paddypower.

I could be way wrong of course, but thats just how I saw it.

Someone needs to make a sticky of explaining to noobs that on-line poker is not rigged. If it's already up there in the stickies, that's great, I just haven't had the need to read the stickies in the beginners circle for some time.

Everyone must understand that you will be dealt more hands per hour on-line than in live games. What results is your mind thinking that you see more crazy boards and bad beats than what you think you see in live games. The same shit happens in live games as you see on-line if you compared 100 hands in live and 100 hand on-line.

The sites are not rigged and they do not favor the good or the bad player for any particular reason. It's not so that the site can open up more tourneys to make more money on the rake. They do this by having the blinds increase quickly. Which is legal.

If it was rigged, ask yourself why you see the same names at the top of the leader board week after week? These guys are very skilled and they have no affiliation to the sites so there is no reason for the sites to help them win. Their skill helps them to win or at least puts themselves in the position to win.

Ghandii, you may think that you are not saying that the sites are rigged, but when you say that the sites are intentionally dealing bad beats, that's code for rigged.

BTW, variance will hit you smack in the face at some point and you will go bust if you do not stick with good solid BR management. If you are playing tourneys and cash above your roll, variance will make it so that you can't move back down because you will be broke.

I am glad you joined FTR and your games improve.
However 1 week is very small sample size, dont think you improved just because of 1 good week.

The two themes you will find recurring over and over in FTR
1. Poker is a long term game
2. Bankroll management

Because those are critical to your success in this game

Originally Posted by Ghandii

In my experience yes I do. Also a lot of the players I play with in live tourneys agree. That is where I heard about pokerstars and why I stopped playing paddypower.

I could be way wrong of course, but thats just how I saw it.

I'm afraid you are wrong - see the explanation above.

It is a natural human reaction to try and explain unexpected or unlikely events. It is a natural human reaction to try and blame someone else when things go wrong. These two things come together when live poker players, disconcerted by the speed and unfamiliar feel of online games, find themselves suffering more bad beats IN A SET TIME FRAME than they are used to.

I hope you're the kind of person who takes Sprayed's explanation above as common sense and adjusts his own view accordingly - I know from bitter experience that some people just can't be convinced of the honesty of the online poker deal. Let me explain why this is to their immense disadvantage:

If we make a mistake playing poker and lose money it sucks. But we can deal with it because we can identify the mistake and use it to help us become a better player. Hopefully next time we won't make it. Similarly, if we suffer a bad beat but can confidently put it down to variance, then psychologically we'll recover pretty quickly - we know that everyone suffers from the same whims of fortune.

However, if we lose a hand and put it down to the site rigging the deal, then one of two things happens. One, we get angry - not angry because we lost a hand but angry because we feel cheated. We all know what it's like to BE cheated, and our natural - and justified - reaction is a feeling of righteous ire and a strong desire to get even. Unfortunately, this emotion is the opposite of productive in poker, where we need to keep a clear, disciplined head, follow odds and reads, and NOT allow emotion to override ability.

Two, instead of studying the hand and looking for any mistakes WE might have made, we are denying any possible blame on our part. But if we're saying we don't make any mistakes, how can we learn from them? Bad beats are almost as useful - it can be just as instructive to look over a hand on which you suffered a bad beat and either discover that maybe you didn't play it optimally, or you DID play it well and there was nothing you could have done to prevent the loss. Both of these are useful and the latter should help you recover from your annoyance at losing the pot.

So, the thinking, winning poker player will understand variance and will treat lost hands as either "one of those things" - AA loses to 72o 12% of the time - or they will study lost pots for evidence of poor play on their part, and if they find it, they'll work on fixing it.

Thanks guys, consider my wrists duly slapped

I never conciously thought the site was rigged, but I understand how hand frequency increases can make everything look different. Maybe I just had it wired into my thinking.

Wow, you don't get away with jack shit here; I like it

Originally Posted by Ghandii

In my experience yes I do. Also a lot of the players I play with in live tourneys agree. That is where I heard about pokerstars and why I stopped playing paddypower.

I could be way wrong of course, but thats just how I saw it.

congrats on your progress. I lost money when i first started too.
Just remember to keep those feet firmly on the ground.

As for badbeats, i think stars is rigged. Well, seriously i dont, but semi-seriously i see stuff on that site i dont see anywhere else and ive played pretty much everywhere else.

Another reason you might suffer more bad beats at one site than another is the general style of play at the tables.

If at one site players are going call any bets to chase a draw, you'll be drawn out on more often. You'll also profit from chasing bad draws, but you may not notice that as much. When I moved to Full Tilt I was amazed at the number of really strong hands I saw at showdown. This was simply because players there are a bit tighter and less willing to go to showdown without a strong hand.

So if you're regularly seeing weird stuff at a site over a sizeable sample, don't cry rigged, just try to work out what the players are doing which is different, and use that knowledge to make money.

Originally Posted by flyingPenguin

Another reason you might suffer more bad beats at one site than another is the general style of play at the tables.

If at one site players are going call any bets to chase a draw, you'll be drawn out on more often. You'll also profit from chasing bad draws, but you may not notice that as much. When I moved to Full Tilt I was amazed at the number of really strong hands I saw at showdown. This was simply because players there are a bit tighter and less willing to go to showdown without a strong hand.

So if you're regularly seeing weird stuff at a site over a sizeable sample, don't cry rigged, just try to work out what the players are doing which is different, and use that knowledge to make money.

This is a very good point and post!

Youve been punished enough.

Welcome to FTR

Welcome to FTR, good to have you here! Post some hands for us to look at in the SNG forum if you're playing $5.50 SNGs.

My apologies if I came off a little too strong. Welcome to FTR.

Originally Posted by Sprayed

My apologies if I came off a little too strong. Welcome to FTR.

Appreciated but not necessary man.
I like the no holds barred attitude here. If I'm being a bit naive I'd rather be told than not. After all, I'm here to improve my game, not stroke my ego

Thanks to y'all for the replies, I'll post up some hands from my SnG's next week

Cheers!