A new beginning

[Guest gazza271]

Right this may be long winded so bear with me, Also any CONSTRUCTIVE criticism would be welcome........... ( oh sh*t what have i left myself open to.....) I've been thinking a lot about various threads and especially "The what sort of player are you" one. After thinking about it I'm still not sure,I could be a mixture of all. Add this to initally that i played poker for fun and was not overly concerned about the money. Now however, I believe i am totally hooked and as all of you i love the game. Now this is where my problems come in, I still consider myself as relatively new as i have only been playing for about a year and i read the post from experienced players with interest. My problem seems to be that i do OK BUT i want to do well, i want to do better than ok. I want to be winning frequently. My PB was winning the Virgin freeroll, 400 odd entries and i came first and won $275 and it felt GREAT......I had a big sh*t eating grin on my face for hours. Since then i have had a 2nd and 3rd on eurpoker for half decent amounts but that is it. I quite often finish in the money,albeit not final tables but small amounts and am in credit for my "poker career" Now the burning question is how do i make that step up and consistantly make final tables and win tournaments ??????? Below are some honest pointers as to my own opinions as to how i could improve but i am fully aware there is a lot of very good players on here and i value you're feedback so feel free to criticise/praise/assist etc. First of all many of you will realise that i am partial to a Stella or two... well i think that affects my poker playing. It may make me a better lover:$ but i think my poker is suffering as a result and so i need to prioritise. Sod the missus but poker requires £ so i can go to Vegas, eh FT !. As of tomorrow all work days will be stella free! Secondly, I suffer bad beats the same as many of you, However i think a lot of mine may be down to impatience and playing hands when i should be folding. Not a lot i can do about that except promise to be more patient. I think point number two may be a result of point one!!! Thirdly, I have several of the important books, ie SS2 etc but have never got past the first few chapters. That will change and these books will now have perminant residency in the small room. Fourthly, I think that whenever i reach the latter stages of a tournament i keep watching the leaderboard and "limping" into the money, Should i not be playing normally and if i go out on the bubble so be it but at least i wont be shortstacked on the final table. This is a serious post despite some light hearted comments and i would appreciate any advice at all and look forward to seeing all PL'ers on the final table at WSOP 2007

[The Quiet Man]

Re: A new beginning Hi again Gazza, You're sounding troubled - don't be, just enjoy it!! :nana I'm not good enough to tell you what to do mate, all I can do is tell you what I do. 1. Drink and Poker does not go together - end of story!! :cry 2. Do not linp into the money, just play the cards as you would normally - most people will fold to a raise anyway!! 3. Patience is the big key for me - only raise when you have a hand worth defending! (unless you're getting short stacked of course) 4. Try not to go all in pre-flop - if you have a big hand make a raise, see the flop and if it looks favourable that's the time to go all-in!! That's enough advice for one night - just came in 99th in Europoker Dollar added for around $7, well worth playing this one as 200th place got $4.50!! :ok Gazza, you're a good player and you probably know what you're doing wrong anyway - just enjoy it mate, we might be in the crematorium next week! :loon