NIGWAFC Posted October 23, 2006 Share Posted October 23, 2006 Okay guys, having trawled through a few of the threads on here its pretty obvious theres a lot of folk with quite a bit of knowledge on the game. Seeing as Betfair is down at the moment (the only site Ive played on to be honest) thought Id just throw my two pence worth on the game. Got 'hooked' on the game over a year ago, and - much to my dismay - lost a small fortune on the min/max tables. Started playing on the low tables - 25p 50p etc, and it soon became apparent that all and sundry were simply going for everything, so it simply wasnt worth playing them - as your 2 pair on the flop would get beat by someone with pocket 2s, catching a 2 on the river. Tried to reap my money back by upping to the £2 and £3 tables without success, so ended up calling it quits and jacking it in. Then just over a month ago, one of those boredom sessions set in, and I decided to have another crack. Decided to go or the £5 table and before I knew it Id amassed a nice £1300 having started with £400. Needless to say I got a little carried away again and - hey ho - found myself down £600 in just a day! So the question was, did I try and recoup it (yep the old gamblers Ill win it back honest attitude) or call it quits again? So yep - youve guessed it - I went to win it back (doh!). However this time it worked out right - thankfully. Okay, I didnt reached the £1300 that I originally made, but Im back on £800 - and am safe in the knowledge that theres enough to cover the missus's shopping trip to the Trafford Centre I let her go on the other week - pheww! Anyway, have noticed that most folk tend to go for the straight forward tables, ie with no min/max. Having played the min/max tables, theyre something Im accustomed to now, and am a bit reluctant to jump off em. Is it general consensus that the 'straight' (sorry cant remember the proper term for em!) tables are better, or do some folk actually prefer the min/max? Obviously I aint no pro, but am just curious as to peoples stories on getting in to the game, and their current state of play Are most folk making on it - or do others lose on a constant basis? Have folk found themselves taking out a 2nd mortgage, or have folk found themselves paying off their mortgage? Theres obviously a lot of money being made out there - but by the same token there must also be a lot being lost. To be honest, as for myself - am going to try and get to the £1000 mark then call it quits. Well at least for a while anyway. As much as I enjoy the game, Ive found that Ive spent far too many hours in front of the pc trying to make a quick buck - and I dont think the missus is getting too happy with it ;) If anyone else has any stories/suggestions/quips please feel free to pass them on - be interesting to hear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penelopeys Posted October 23, 2006 Share Posted October 23, 2006 Re: My Poker Story - and I dont think the missus is getting too happy with it ;) Only one way around that... get her a laptop and set up an account for her too :ok I wonder what would happen if I lived with a guy who didn't like poker :unsure Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaF Posted October 23, 2006 Share Posted October 23, 2006 Re: My Poker Story Mate - nice post and plenty of food for thought. Have to be honest - I HATE your approach, and even worse for someone with relatively little experience (as I get the impression you have). I think the first critical step you need to consider is some kind of bankroll management!! Generally, poker is a game which has high variance and you seek to eeek out a SMALL edge. Your objective is to win in the long run, whilst appreciating that you can (and will frequently, no matter how good you are) lose in individual sessions. Your approach, is IMO a losing one, regardless of how good you are at poker. The approach we encourage is to start at (or near) the bottom rung. Play for a MAXIMUM buy in of x% of your bankroll (where x depends on the games you play and the variance you experience). There are a couple of interesting threads that I strongly urge you to read - How to Start Out in Poker without risking your own cash Stages of Development If you have some kind of Bankroll management, then you will be able to withstand the variance that is completely normal within the game (and essential in bringing the bad players back :ok) and then it is just a question of whether your expectation is positive or negative - whether or not your style of play has found an edge over your opponents!! So far as 2 pair being outdrawn by 22 - it happens - that's poker. You will win x% of the time (and lose y% of the time) and so long as you are betting at the right odds (with the Pot Odds you are offered) then regardless of the result in any specific instance, you will end up a winner if you withstand the variance. If you are ahead when the money is going in, you may lose the battle, but you will win the war!!! Not sure what you mean by standard or min/max games - I presume you're comparing Limit/Pot Limit and No Limit? Most of us play no limit - I take it you're playing Limit? Limit is a far more mathmatical game and it is harder to make people fold hands or bluff them off the pot. As you know - chasing your losses is wrong - and will destroy you - SO STOP DOING IT :tongue2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaF Posted October 23, 2006 Share Posted October 23, 2006 Re: My Poker Story Obviously I aint no pro, but am just curious as to peoples stories on getting in to the game, and their current state of play Are most folk making on it - or do others lose on a constant basis? Something like 80% of players on the internet are losing players. I think (and hope) that something like 80% of PL'rs are winning players. The key reason for this is not playing beyond your means/bankroll and searching out "value" (we focus on tournaments more than cash games) - even if that means freerolls. There are tournaments EVERY night with many thousands added to the prize pool .... they're a good place to play :ok The PL leagues (Mansion and Sporting Odds at the moment) are low buy in ($1 or $2) but with hundreds ($1000 for mansion) added. Sporting Odds run their Champions League 3 times a week which has an overlay loads of other similar tournies out there....... One question for you - why do you play? What do you want? Is it purely financial (to win) or for the fun/adrenaline too? Would the social (and competitve) aspect of a PL league for example "give you your fix"? Or do you NEED to be playing for big money? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIGWAFC Posted October 23, 2006 Author Share Posted October 23, 2006 Re: My Poker Story Fair comment GF. Yep, your right - I do have little experience. Probably one of the reasons why I posted to be honest! I shall duly be reading the links you suggested - hopefully it'll see me in the right direction. And yep, I did mean Pot/limit compared to no limit. Your words have been duly noted, and in time to come I'll let you know how Ive gone on - all being well Ill heed your advice and become somewhat of a legend in years to come! :lol And Pen, I hate to think what would happen to our bank balance if I let my missus on the game too! :eek Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIGWAFC Posted October 23, 2006 Author Share Posted October 23, 2006 Re: My Poker Story One question for you - why do you play? What do you want? Is it purely financial (to win) or for the fun/adrenaline too? Would the social (and competitve) aspect of a PL league for example "give you your fix"? Or do you NEED to be playing for big money? Well, err, to be honest - a bit of both I suppose. Theres certainly no harm in checking out the PL league as you suggested. Ive played on the friendly tables, ie where no money is involved, but obviously the adrenaline rush isnt the same - however in a decent league set up I suppose it may be different - and less costly! I'll check it out. I guess I started to just have a bit of fun - and then found myself making some money, and thought 'hey this is good!'. Then I hit the 'oh no - this aint so good', and moved on to the 'Id better make that back, else Im out of pocket' mode. One things for sure, I dont want to end up telling the missus we aint going on that holiday next year, so - as you rightly say - its time to change my attitude me thinks. Cheers again :cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slapdash Posted October 23, 2006 Share Posted October 23, 2006 Re: My Poker Story One question for you - why do you play? What do you want? Is it purely financial (to win) or for the fun/adrenaline too? Would the social (and competitve) aspect of a PL league for example "give you your fix"? Or do you NEED to be playing for big money? Good question. I suspect I may be a (slightly) losing player overall, although I'm probably no worse a player than lots of PL players who are winning players. I don't play to win money, I play for enjoyment, and I'll play in tournaments with a slightly higher buy-in than many players here or "unusual" tournaments (Omaha, 5-card stud, etc.) that I'm fairly sure I expect to lose money in, if I think I'll enjoy them. I'm fairly sure I could make a profit if I chose games to play in with that in mind, but I doubt I'd enjoy it as much as I do at the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaF Posted October 23, 2006 Share Posted October 23, 2006 Re: My Poker Story Nigel - the Mansion league starts this Thursday - would be a good one to join if you're around :ok Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIGWAFC Posted October 23, 2006 Author Share Posted October 23, 2006 Re: My Poker Story My God! I just read you link to Valiants thread and I feel a complete fool! So THATS what freeroll is all about!!!!!!! Sometimes it just takes a bit more investigation to check these things out. For some reason I - and no doubt others like me too (or at least I hope!) - thought the freerolls were only open after an invite, or that you had to pay in to them (doh!). Unfortunately I aint around on Thursday (am off to Nottingham for a few days with the missus) so cant make that, but will deffo look out for others. Ironic thing is, that had Betfair not been adminning their site, Id never have posted my post, and discovered what had been standing in front of me all this time - the ability to play poker and win money without shelling out your own! Bizzare but I shall now be departing to bed safe in the knowledge that I can still enjoy the buzz of the game - and cash my chips in on the min/max tables tomorrow morning! Punters Lounge; Quality. :clap Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sherry009 Posted October 24, 2006 Share Posted October 24, 2006 Re: My Poker Story hi nigwafc just wondering were in wigan u are from as im from wigan as i have never seen u on the cryptologic site is probably the stakes u play at i play on inter poker which is the same skin as betfair well till next week:ok i play at 15/25 25/50 and im a pretty consistant winner on there as i play around 5 tables at a time i play more or less only premium hands because u get paid off the ppl if u find the local atms on there and there is a few!!! i dont look for the quick win in a night like some ppl do i look at my profit for the month including my rake as that is also a profit. look forward to hearing from u pal where do u play live in wigan if u do?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedonist Posted October 24, 2006 Share Posted October 24, 2006 Re: My Poker Story My God! I just read you link to Valiants thread and I feel a complete fool! So THATS what freeroll is all about!!!!!!! Sometimes it just takes a bit more investigation to check these things out. For some reason I - and no doubt others like me too (or at least I hope!) - thought the freerolls were only open after an invite, or that you had to pay in to them (doh!). I did the same as you, started on Betfair around July last year, spent 3 or 4 months on play money tables, then some sit and goes and low level cash games before I discovered freerolls on poker.com, won my first cash there (12 cents :nana :nana ) and have not looked back. I think Valiants post should be made compulsary reading for all new players, wish I had read it when I started. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAN DAN Posted October 24, 2006 Share Posted October 24, 2006 Re: My Poker Story I think you will love playing in the Tourneys. Mentioned by GaF briefly is the Champions League on Sporting Odds. It runs every month, so time to get ready for November's. It is played every Sunday, Tues and Thurs at 8pm and costs $3.30. The quality of play is VERY good and the extra prizes for finishing in the top 20 at the end of the month are awesome. Your best 5 scores count, I would recommend it as it is great fun and a good way to get to know many PL'rs. I don't play cash as I hate big loses and you sound a little the same, win your way into something like the Midlands Masters and you could be in line for a possible big pay out anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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