[StriderTacticaL]

Well I made my first ever deposit yesterday online in pokerstars for $50 dollars which was the western union minimum. I am usually a pretty good player live and I've watched the excellent tutorial on pokerproweb.com for turbo NLHE tournaments. I practiced with play money a lot (I know it's differnent but still) and my hopes were really high that I could make money playing online poker.


My bankroll was wipped out on the first day.


I made another deposit today and this time I addressed all my mistakes and was quite sure I wouldn't go broke again, but I did later tonight. I am now down 100 bucks which is quite a lot for me espcailly for only 2 days. I think I played perfectly but I lost almost every single tournament except for 2. I followed the extremely tight and extremely aggressive strategy (basically all in or nothing) and on average I only play like 4 hands per tournament. But I don't seem to be profiting at all. I also feel I am pretty unlucky cause I often get outdrawn by my opponents. Sometimes I catch no real hands at all and just get blinded down.

I was wondering if anyone could share some advice or strategies on how to improve my online poker game or address any problems I may have because I am so tempted to make another deposit and try again but I don't want my money going down the drain. I really can't figure out where I went wrong but out of 10 tournaments I would only finish in the money like once.

Right before I went broke for the second time I played a $6.50 turbo (I usually play the 3 dollar ones for budget) and I came forth. I almost finished in the money. I was the shortstack and had pocket kings so I went all in and I was called with an A 7 of diamonds which then gave him a winning nut flush.

If I have any clue I think playing the $6.50 turbos is a lot better cause theres slightly less people and I tend to do a lot better for some reason.
Brandon

[track1697]

Sorry to hear about your bad luck. There isn't much you can do about getting outdrawn. However, if your playing extremely tight in smaller table SNGs and in Turbos that could be one of your problems.

With the blinds increasing rapidily in turbos you can't sit and wait for great hands. You will end up getting blinded out like you did. Also I'm not a huge fan of your extremely agresive strategy of going all in on every hand. A player that is paying attention will notice your playing extremely tight then when you finally make a move by going all in is not going to call unless he has a monster. Id suggest mixing it up and also making smaller bets and you might have better luck.

Plus there are great articles on this site you can read that might help your game before you start up again.

[Acorn89]

I agree with Track that you can play that tight if you are playing turbo sitngos. They is no way that you can only play 4 hands a tourny and expect to win with the ever increaseing blinds especially in a turbo tourny. You also have to remeber to that when more players get knocked out you want to decrease your starting hand value. Your tight strategy my be good for the first couple rounds of the sng but after a while you really need to start playing agressivly so you wont get blinded down.

I would strongly recommend that the next time you give the online poker thing a try you stick to cash games. That way you dont have to worry about the increasing blinds and you can play your tight style of poker(and get paid off most of the time)

[Thinkerbell]

I agree with Acorn, to get your feet wet playing with real money, start at the cheap cash tables. That way, you can control how much you lose if you're having a bad day. Or you can switch tables if there's a player that's driving you crazy or catching all the cards. On the other hand, if you're catching cards and doing well

I went through a lot of losses when I first started playing with real money. I think the old saying "Scared money can't win" is true. If you're too worried about losing your bankroll, you're probably not playing your best. So start with the amount of money you feel comfortable losing; if you're not comfortable losing any, that's a sign you shouldn't be playing at real money tables.

[StriderTacticaL]

Thanks guys for the replies. Well what I usually do in the turbo sit&go's is to try not to get very involved whilst it's still a full table. ie. I would often fold low pocket pairs because I know someone will raise later down the line. I do realise however as the number of people gets smaller I can start playing lower hands which is what I do. Sometimes I also realise that I won't be getting those perfect hands and I just play with whatver I feel is the best I would get. Usually when I get to 3 handed I usually play very aggressive with anything 'decent' to pick up the blinds or just go for a 1 on 1. I guess I am one of those high percentage players. I remember one time early in a tournament I picked up Aces and I went all in, I was called with kings and as usual a king came up on the flop. pfft


I think your cash game idea is very good. I remember last night after loosing 3 $3.40 turbos in a row I decided to try my luck at the cash tables again (which screwed me in my first deposit) and remembered that people say it's important to sit at a table with right type of blinds 'your buy-in should usually be at least 40 times the big blind'. I sat down at a .25c/.50c table with 15 dollars and managed to get up to 55 bucks within 30 minutes. I guess maybe I should do that more.


Well thanks again guys, I try again soon.
Brandon

[StriderTacticaL]

Hmm I'm also thinking about just sticking to fixed limit tables. I figure if my bankroll isn't so large and I don't wanna risk it all fixed limit is good. I had very good results playing fixed limit before I went broke. Do you guys think money can be made playing fixed limit?



Brandon

[Lytspeed]

Originally Posted by StriderTacticaL

Do you guys think money can be made playing fixed limit?

Money can be made playing any poker, as long as your strategy is solid for that style of play. If it's not, money can definitely be lost. Study and education is what it's all about if you want to make money playing online.

[StriderTacticaL]

Oh, yeah. I know it's been sounding pretty money greedy and stuff in all my posts, I do actually also play cause I think it's a lot of fun obviously.