Inital Results are In

and they indicate I suck at poker. That is a little harsh, not much, but a little.

After being turned down by the only poker coach that answered my cry for help (forum post)(he only coaches NL not limit) I went back to the Stoxpoker videos. Again I half paid attention to what he was saying and watched what he was doing on the other tables (he was 4 tabling) This seems to be working well for me. I have to watch them a few times because there is too much info to take in at once.

After making changes I belive it is all of the above. I am playing loose and weak tight at the wrong times, I am over aggressive at the wrong times, and I am running bad.

1. Loose, I was being stubborn and not giving up good hands when warranted. Why call two bets cold preflop on the button with ATs with an UTG raiser. I am probably 50/50 but why risk it when I'm running bad. Another is when I have top pair and someone caps the flop with me, I am probably beat and should just move on to the next hand. These situations spew chips that are hard to get back when running bad.

Tight, I need to limp with marginal hands when there are 4+ limpers. This will allow me the chance to get lucky and win a big pot for a small investment. I just have to give it up and not chase if I miss.

2. Over Aggressive with top pair or the like as explained above, but also with just bets. I am betting top pair and draws when the pot is small and am likely to be out drawn or my semi-bluff has little chance of working.

3. Running bad. This excuse is down to 33% of the problem, so I realize I have room for improvement. I keep it there though because even with the extra limping I am doing I am playing less then 15% of my hands (20% is normal) and I am winning less then my fair share of those hands. The exact percentage eludes me right now but I did check this last night with my poker tracker stats. I did beat the .25/.5 game last night for 2bb per hr but I believe this should be double if I was running normal and triple if I was running good. I was hoping to confirm this with my coach so if you have an opinion please enlighten me.


I'm working hard on the above before my trip. I am leaning toward leaving Fri. morning instead of Thurs. night. This will give me more practice and study time along with another good night sleep in my own bed. I just want to give myself the best chance to beat the San Jose games.