Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie
Hi there,
There is an issue with role permissions that is being worked on at the moment.
If you are having trouble with access or permissions on regional forums please post here to get access: https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058365403/you-do-not-have-permission-for-that#latest

Poker bugbears

  • 01-11-2005 5:33pm
    #1
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,307
    ✭✭✭


    Something I've been thinking about for a while:

    What are the poker games / variations / structures that you play without seeing much or any return-on-investment, but continue to play because you hope to turn things around, get lucky or simply 'cause you enjoy it?

    I know where and how I make a great ROI playing poker: NL Hold 'Em Single Table Tournaments (online). I make a decent profit each and every month. At the stakes I play at (between $10 and $50 tables), I often sit down and realise I'm probably the best player at the table after the first two or three levels are gone.

    MTTs, online and live, are a different story. I played lots and lots of online MTTs in the early part of the year, with a very poor record, losing a bunch of money (particularly in my efforts to win satellite tournies). I made a bunch of money early in the year playing live MTTs, only to fizzle out by early June, not making many final tables since. I recently crossed the 'still in profit for the year' line into 'down for the year' on my poker spreadsheet with regards live MTTs. And unlike my STT experiences, I often sit down at a live MTT and think 'hmm, most of these players are probably better than me' after a few levels.

    However, and this is where I'd like other boardsters thoughts with regards their own games, although I no longer play online MTTs, I truly enjoy live MTTs and have no plans to curtail my trips to my favourite tournies. The numbers are clear - I should stick to STTs and nothing else, but I can't help myself. There are just so many things I find more attractive about live MTTs compared to online STTs!

    What are your poker bugbears? And have you taken any steps to concentrate on what works for you, even if it is not as enjoyable / interesting?


    please don't kick me out of fistfull of shamrocks, my nizzles!


Welcome!

It looks like you're new here. Sign in or register to get started.

Comments

  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,806 Lafortezza
    ✭✭✭


    The variance in MTTs is massive, you might not make the money in 80 $100 buy-in tournaments and then win the next one to put yourself in profit. The "long-term" possibly isn't long enough to know exactly how good you are at Mtts. imho.


  • Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators Posts: 21,254 Dub13
    Mod ✭✭✭✭


    I am like you Paul,I grind away on the Single Table Tournaments mostly between $10 and $50 tables (I am trying to stop playing below the $20 buy in,as there are to many lunatics).I also love Live MTT and don't play many on line MTT ( mostly satellites).You just cant compare the two.

    My live MTT problem is/used to be ( ;) ) finishing in the top couple of position's,far to many bubbles and 7th,eights etc.I am working on this and have noticed some improvement's.MTT are getting so big now that one or two wins and you will be back in profit.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 82 rrtt
    ✭✭


    I gave up playing online MTT's about 9 months ago. I now only play STT's and omaha cash games. I feel confident that i will win when I play both these games and my profits have been more consistant. I will never go back to playing MTT's regularly.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 251 staringelf
    ✭✭


    the only ones i feel comfortable with making money at are online STT's. the ones i play for fun (although not as often as i'd like) are live MTT's, just for the sheer fun of them. online STT's can get quite monotonous and boring if you play enough of them so live play reminds me why i love this game so much. i don't think i can make much in them though because i haven't really studied them as much as STT's.

    same goes for cash games...they're a whole different kettle of ballgames to STT's and i don't know how to play them to win in any sort of long term fashion. although that doesn't stop me thinking i can though when my STT game starts going down the drain every couple of months..:D


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,886 Marq
    ✭✭✭


    According to my database, my largest ROI is in live MTTs. My most consistent return comes from online NL hold'em shorthanded cash games (which is why I play them for a living).

    My worst return comes from Live Super-Satellites, which overall I am losing on for the year. Having said that, this is from a very small sample size.
    All PLO cash games seem to be bad news for me as well (though this could have something to do with a tendency to only play them while drunk).

    I have found that online STT's do not yield anywhere near as much return for me as online cash games, and as a result I've barely played them all year. I have been considering playing a spate of them before christmas, as I think that my overall tournament play has suffered a little of late, and as I very rarely play MTT's online, it might be a good way of staying sharp.

    I'm significantly up for the year, but I think that if I had had the opportunity to analyse my performance in each type of game at the start of the year I would be up a whole lot more. I expect that next year, with the knowledge I have now about my profitability in different games, my return for the year should be substantially higher.


    btw, many people have asked me recently about how I am getting on playing poker for a living. To those of you who were asking, the first month since returning to college (october) and only playing on weekends, actually went rather well: I finished 18% ahead of target, and a good bit above what I really needed. september was nowhere near as good because of my trip to Barcelona, but I lost less than I had budgeted for there.


  • Advertisement
  • Closed Accounts Posts: 4,013 kincsem
    ✭✭✭


    My favourites are low value Sit & Gos ($10; $20) preferably with 27 or 45 players. Just playing a risk-free game can get you to the final table. Playing more than one at a time is not for me. It is not a business. Recently PokerStars announced 180 player Sit & Gos but so far I have not seen them. They are probably week-end games.

    Multi-tables are ok but I often get in the money after about 3 or 4 hours graft and earn about double the buy-in. Nice practice and an ego boost but little else. Fourth is my best. One of my MTT cashes was when one player on my table (before the break) bought in 100 times (Johnster). I was praying not to be moved off that table.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,401 jtsuited
    ✭✭✭


    I've been making good profit at small stakes nine-handed NL holdem cash games. But i've also been finishing ITM in the odd online MTT. According to my records, my cash game playing(online at least) has yielded me far more profit than my former STT 'grinding'.
    Yet i still continue to throw money away in the Fitz.
    But hey, i lose less than if i was drinking!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,666 Imposter
    ✭✭✭


    Nice topic but i'm after giving myself a shock!
    This year my biggest earner has been bonuses :)

    MTT's are my biggest earner but that's slightly skewed by my win on PPP. STT's are also in a pretty good profit but I don't play them much as I find them boring.
    Cash games are my only losing online game but if the bonuses are included they are well in profit (I don't think that's too much of a cheat because you won't clear most bonuses without playing cash games). A decent enough run until the end of the year and they could be in profit ignoring the bonuses.

    The reason I was shocked is that I thought cash games were my biggest earner but it seems that that is only because of the bonuses. In 2004 and early 2005 cash games were my only games in profit!


Welcome!

It looks like you're new here. Sign in or register to get started.
Advertisement