I've no discipline on online poker

eirebhoy

I've been playing poker 18 months now. Bar one pub tournament I've only played online. I wouldn't play that often, usually 1 month on, another 3 months off.

Anyway, I pretty much play heads up 95% of the time. I feel I'm a pretty good player at 5/10/20 level. I should really keep stats but I definitely win a lot more than I lose. Maybe 2 out of every 3 games. My problem is that when I do lose a $10 heads up, half the time I'll go up to a $20 game. If I lose 2 $10 games in a row then I'll go up a level 100% of the time. If I do go up a level and lose that I'm likely to go up another to try and win my money back. Within half an hour my bank could be clear. Here's my play from today which sums me up really:


Deposit $43.
$5 heads up - Won, balance 47.75
5 dollars isn't enough for greedy me, too boring.
$10 heads up - Lost, balance 37.25
$10 heads up - Won, balance 46.75
$10 heads up - Lost, balance 36.25
I'm getting nowhere here. Ah there's a Blackjack icon.
A few games of blackjack, balance $68
$20 heads up - Lost, balance 47
$30 heads up - Lost, balance 15.50
Last throw of the dice...
$10 heads up - Won, balance 25
$20 heads up - Won, balance 44
ah, the blood goes back down from my head
$10 heads up - Won, balance 53.50
$10 heads up - Won, balance 63
$10 heads up - Won, balance 72.50
$10 heads up - Won, balance 82
$10 heads up - Won, balance 91.50
$10 heads up - Won, balance 101
$10 heads up - Lost, balance 90.50
I had to forfeit that previous game to talk at my front door for 10 minutes so what do I do...
$20 heads up - Won, balance 109
$10 heads up - Lost, balance 98.50
$10 heads up - Won, balance 108

--

As I said I think I'm a decent player. Better than the average $10 player on the internet. If I constantly played $10 I'm sure I'd be in a profit but I can't help myself when it comes to tilting. Is online poker just not for me or can I sort out my discipline?

Marq

move up levels.

breadmonkey

Get a decent BR either by depositing or grinding, stick to it religiously and record your results.

StephenInsane

I don't blame you for having no discipline. Online poker is as boring as sin.

StephenInsane

Especially heads-up, zzz...

eirebhoy

Marq wrote:

move up levels.

Can't afford it. I've actually gone up as far as $200 heads up on heavy tilt. The most I've ever deposited into poker has only been about €100 though.

breadmonkey, what's a BR?

Marq

bankroll. you're right, if you can't either discipline yourself to grind throught the levels or deposit enough to bankroll yourself for a level that means something to you, then you will never succeed at online poker.

Flushdraw

Does your play differ if you play a $5,$10 or $20 game? If you raise from the button with AJ and the villain 3 bets, what would you do at each level?

My guess would be at $5 you push, $10 you call and $20 you fold. If this is along the the right tracks then youre playing with scared money and you should just concentrate at a level where a couple of loses is inconsequential to you.

My advice would be to get 12-15 buyins at levels before you move up. Play $5 until your bankroll gets to $150 then take a shot at $10 HU, stay at $10 until you get to $300 then play $20 HU and so on.

If you fall below your BR level, move down levels until you build it back up sufficiently. If you're a winning player, you should be moving up the levels pretty quickly and start making some money soon, providing you keep BR discipline and stay away from blackjack.

StephenInsane

Mind telling us how you got on at the $200 game?

bohsman

So discipline yourself, no point coming on crying that you dont have any, I found myself saying that about playing small cash games online, Id play badly and blame it on the stakes, I eventually forced myself to play properly.

BR=bankroll search the forum, prob a few links in the sticky aswell.

eirebhoy

bohsman wrote:

So discipline yourself, no point coming on crying that you dont have any, I found myself saying that about playing small cash games online, Id play badly and blame it on the stakes, I eventually forced myself to play properly.

I'm doing nothing more than looking for advice.

StephenInsane wrote:

Mind telling us how you got on at the $200 game?

It made me realise that going up in stakes certainly is going up levels. Completely out of my depth and lost.

Flushdraw wrote:

Does your play differ if you play a $5,$10 or $20 game? If you raise from the button with AJ and the villain 3 bets, what would you do at each level?

My guess would be at $5 you push, $10 you call and $20 you fold. If this is along the the right tracks then youre playing with scared money and you should just concentrate at a level where a couple of loses is inconsequential to you.

To be perfectly honest I don't put a lot of thought into the game. I play more on instinct than anything else. I know how foolish that sounds but I really can't answer the above question. My play just differs depending on the opponent. If he's a guy that bets and raises all the time I'll very rarely take the initiative. If the player is tight than I'll be the one forcing the game.

I'll follow your advice and see how I get on anyway.

RoundTower

keep better records

RedJoker

Once you get into proper bankroll management you'll wonder how you ever got on without it. Nothing other than disciplining yourself is gonna work, try playing two tables if you feel bored.

Mellor

You are playing outside you means.
You balance is $108, pick a number id buy-ins and stick to it. 30 for $5, 40 for $10, 50 for $20 maybe

only play $2 heads up until you are at $150. If you find this too boring, then tough this is grinding at heads up, if you play like you are above you will go bust. varience is too high. If you lose two in a row, dont move up levels, concentrate on winning the next 3,
this will increase your patience, and help with tilting

jimmii

A 66% win rate is exceptionally high. Anything above 60% is considered very good so you should be able to move up the levels steadily at first. With $100 in your account play $5 games until you reach $200. Once you get in that mind set that you won't let yourself play higher until you reach your target it should be easier to avoid tilting when you lose. Discipline is as important as skill in poker. If your really winning at 66% then it will only take you 30-40 games to get to $200. After that you have to assume your win rate will drop but it shouldn't drop too much at $10 & $20 as those players are still pretty weak. Once you get to $50 you might find that it drops to around 55% but profit it still profit. If you can keep your head together and stop tilting maybe we'll see you at the $5000 HU games one day!!