11 replies to this topic

[The President]

Hi guys,

does any one have any tips for analysing your own game? I have been on such a big downswing recently, but i was convinced it was just variance, but now im wondering if its more than that.

I really want to improve my game as im sure there are some huge flaws in it, cos im just loosing money at the moment. my problem is, how do i recognise where my biggest weakness are? sometimes i just dont know if i have made the right play or not, not matter what the outcome of the hand is.

whats the best way to analyse my game, and change those bad habits? all tips are appreciated

thanks muchly

[donk4life]

Hi guys,

does any one have any tips for analysing your own game? I have been on such a big downswing recently, but i was convinced it was just variance, but now im wondering if its more than that.

I really want to improve my game as im sure there are some huge flaws in it, cos im just loosing money at the moment. my problem is, how do i recognise where my biggest weakness are? sometimes i just dont know if i have made the right play or not, not matter what the outcome of the hand is.

whats the best way to analyse my game, and change those bad habits? all tips are appreciated

thanks muchly

First you have to figure out why you are losing money..

Are you just getting unlucky and losing races or getting outdrawn?

Or are you making bad calls because you are so determined to win in your drought?

If you are just having bad luck then there really is nothing you drastically need to change..

If I were you, I'd especially pay attention to how you play the mediocre hands..

[kkot]

If I were you, I'd especially pay attention to how you play the mediocre hands..

And post any hands that you had trouble with in the appropriate forum.

We have some really smart guys here who are more than willing to help out.

[The President]

First you have to figure out why you are losing money..

Are you just getting unlucky and losing races or getting outdrawn?

Or are you making bad calls because you are so determined to win in your drought?

If you are just having bad luck then there really is nothing you drastically need to change..

If I were you, I'd especially pay attention to how you play the mediocre hands..

Thats the thing, im not sure what it is that im doing wrong. Im getting outdraw sometimes, but similarly im making bad calls and bad bluffs. Ive played so many hands over the last few weeks that i cant really remeber anything significant.

I feel like i need to go back to basics, but since going on this run ive been on ive had to drop down levels, and i really struggle to concentrate and play a tight game onn lower stakes, since its just so much more boring, especially after playing a pretty LAG stlye recently.

however i dont think its my LAG style thats the reason im doing badly, since i used to win quite a bit of money playing like that.

I suppose that when you playLAG badly you loose a whole lot more then if you wre playing tag, which is kind of why i guess i want to go back to basics as i think im really off my game at the moment.

im rambling on.....

[No_Neck]

Poker Tracker is really good for finding leaks and fixing them.

[aucu]

One thing that helped my limit hold'em game was Wilson's turbo texas hold'em program, it can really help with a lot of the basics by pointing out and breaking a lot of fundamental problems.

Havn't used it for a few years though.

[The President]

Is pokertracker really that worth it? what exactly does it record that is so helpful?

[Zach6668]

Is pokertracker really that worth it? what exactly does it record that is so helpful?

Uh... everything.

Your stats, villains stats, stats you've never heard of before...

It also archives every hand you've played and makes it very easy to find specific hands and to review sessions, etc.

[Ray Flavin]

If you are losing, alway plug big leaks FIRST, then move to the smaller ones

1. GAME SELECTION, are you playing too high to make the right play, are you playing tough games. If you are playing tough games, don't expect a good earn. Are you playing too high for your bankroll.

2. GAME ADJUSTMENT are you adjusting to the players, or are you making the same "plays" no matter who is there. You must know that certain plays work better at certain tables than others ... make sure your not on autopilot.

3. BASICS are you playing too many hands, starting with the wrong hands in the wrong position, overplaying when you know your beat, or not calling when you are sure that you could win more times than you would lose.

4. FLOP, TURN RIVER are you making mistakes late in the hand? For mistakes later in the hand, I like to switch to other games (Omaha, and Stud 8). By switching to these other games for a little while, I find that I think more about the play on the turn and river.

4. IF ALL OF THESE are OK in your mind, don't discount that you could be running bad. We have all had weeks where we never hit a draw, never flopped a set, and generally ran card dead ... if the cards are bad, spend time documenting other players for later use.

hope that helps.

[psujohn]

Poker Tracker isn't magic. It doesn't look at your hands and say "you made a mistake here". I does gather some basic stats that are helpful in pointing you in the right direction. For example it can tell you if KJs is losing you money. It can also give you positional stats so you can see if you're losing a lot of money out of the blinds.

Something that's very useful (though I don't do it often enough) is to use PT to go back through hands that you played. You can look at hands where you lost money but it's more useful to look at any hand you played and at each decision point ask yourself if you made the right decision. If you call on the flop with a draw take the time to calculate pot odds, make a reasonable estimate of implied odds and see if the call was the right one. If you had the lead and got drawn out look at your bet sizes and figure out if you offered the villain the right odds to call. If you got trapped look at the hand and see if there were any warning signs you missed. If you look through a hand and honestly can determine the correct action at a particular decision point post it in the appropriate strat section and you'll almost always get good comments.

Also people severely under-estimate the learning value in commenting on other people's hands. Go to the strat section and read just the original post in a thread. Post - or at least figure out your response - and then read the other responses. There's no shame in posting "I think you should fold" reading the other replies and then adding "After read the other replies I agree that you should push". Situations where you change your mind are often areas of your game that you need to look at further.

[mikeysong]

write a journal, whether public or private, and be very honest.

post some hands or share them with friends and discuss how you could've played them better.

Don't think you play perfectly. Always consider how a hand could be played better or differently.

[Money022]

Don't...bluff.