I feel like everyone is laughing at me.
I'm riasing a lot and hitting nothing.
Raising when I should.

This is typical.

Played ok, right?

Party Poker 0.50/1 Hold'em (10 handed) converter

Preflop: Actuary is UTG+1 with Qh, Ah.
1 fold.

Flop: (7 SB) 3s, 9s, 9h (3 players)
SB bets, Actuary calls, MP1 calls.

Calling here sux, I'm sure.
I've had about 6 hands in a row that I raised and don't bet or call ther flop.
So maybe I just called here outta frustration.

Turn: (5 BB) 8d (3 players)
SB bets, Actuary folds, MP1 folds.

Final Pot: 6 BB

It's not really about this one hand..more about missing every time you raise pf..and what that does to your image...Cool, right? more players will call when they shouldn't. Just feels crappy, I guess

tell me I"ll connect enough to make it worthwhile to raise this

These night you miss every flop, ..I swear sometimes I"d rather get 87s, much less agonizing

Also, I've noticed I make more on tight/passive tables. I probably don't know how to maximize my profits on looose tables . Is that screwed up?

actuary, don't be too bummed out, cold cards and cold streaks happen.

that said, i raise the flop almost every time in hands like above. on a paired board, i will consider folding to a three-bet, but i will most always call a three-bet and reevaluate on the turn if villian leads out again.

aseem

yeah, the one thing I do as well when I am running bad is not make plays I normally would if running good.

I bet in this hand you didn't even take the time to think about what the SB was betting did you? All you were focused on was the fact that your AQsuited missed yet another flop and missed the turn.

I'd bet 95% of the time you are winning this hand preflop, flop, and turn.

Raise the flop, call a 3-bet. I'd probably bet out the turn if it was checked to me especially with an innocent looking 8 falling.

I think you need to take off the SSHE training wheels for a week and try playing by feel. I personally think you use the book to often to make your decisions and when it comes down to actually having to make a table feel play you are completely lost.

Just kinda an observation I have seen..Don't take offense.

interesting.
no offense taken

I'm impressed that you observe so keenly.

It's true I lack feel.
In this hand though...you think he SB is just auto-beting a flop that probably missed me ?

Would you bet if you had a 9?

Even if he has a 3 you still have 6 outs to play for.

Not advocating you just toss your money around, but it's okay to make a bad read and call down and lose 2bb every now and again. If he was playing 103suited, atleast you know what he is willing to bet and call with in later hands.

Another observation.

Maybe your table selection isn't working towards your advantage. Seeking out loose tables was one of my problems as well. The looser the table, I thought I should definately make more money at. It just wasn't the case. The way I play just doesn't work with loose passive tables. Loose aggressive, tight/weak, tight/aggressive...no problem. Loose passive table though, and I am just spewing chip after chip away.

Go through your pokertracker stats and find the sessions where you were +BB for the session. If you are finding that all those sessions had tight weak players...seek out those tables.

I feel this way often. It's okay (and even good) to call them down occasionally with A-high to make sure you aren't getting bamboozled. It will also make you feel more confident in your future folds.

I had a night like that the other night. Raise raise raise PF and I think I hit top pair one time and the guy folded to one bet on the flop :-)



Yeah, pretty much. This is a classic example of where to raise with overs. You get lots of benefit from raising here.

1) the guy behind you probably folds, increasing your chance of winning with top pair

2) you probably get a free turn

3) info - if he 3-bets and leads, you're done with it

Jeff

I would raise that flop (especially when frustrated).

A 9 wouldn't have been bet into the preflop raiser, but check-raised (or rather slowplayed. at those limits, lots of slowplay going even with a 2 flush on the board. no fear).

So we probably have someone semi bluffing his flush draw (probably not a 3). Your hand is probably still the best and you have 6 cards to improve.

I raise to eliminate a case 3 and know where I stand. I reevaluate if 3 bet or bet into on the turn (read, I fold). If checked to on the turn, I bet, fold to a check raise. To reevaluate if a heart hit the turn. As i'm a coward, if unimproved, I'll check the river even if the villain flush didn't hit in case he would have hit a pair on the way. I fold to the flush.

I'm sure we've all had those kind of nights. I've had those kind of weeks.

I think I'm on the same cold spell as you are right now.

I had about 9 fairly good winning sessions in a row (averaging about +$40 per session). But the last 3 have been awful.

Last night, playing NL, I was doing the same thing as you...raising preflop when I should. Had many A-K, A-Q, JJ(3 times), and many other lower PP. I could just never hit a flop. Out of 208 hands, I won 4 hands. Four freakin' hands!

Yes, I'm sure there are some holes in my play, and if I had some hands to post I would. But 99% of the problem was that I could never hit anything. I'm trying to push through it, but it's very frustrating. Some people say i should take a break for a few days. Maybe so, I don't know.

I don't know if there is a bad beat section on here, and if so please forgive me, but this is the hand that was the last straw for me last night:

NL (.25 bb)
I am MP with A 9
UTG calls
I raise to $1.25
BB calls
UTG calls
Flop comes J 5 4 (I flopped the nut flush)
BB bets $4
UTG folds
I figure if he's betting $4, he's probably got a Jack. I raise to $8.
BB goes all in (he's got me covered).
I call all in with my last $12.

BB shows 10 10

Turn: 10
River: 10

I just reached over and turned my computer off. Didn't even close the program. It was the most pissed off I'd been in awhile. And it wasn't so much losing that one pot. It was just that it capped a whole night of that kind of crap.

Bad beats like that happen. You can't stop them, and they are going to show their ugly faces alot. I flopped quad 8's and got out-drawn by running 9's once. You just have to walk away, and wait a while to regain your focus.

However, about the question on not flopping anything, there is something that you can do about that. If you need to actually hit a flop to win hands, you are playing too tight. Especially when the flop is complete rags, you should be raising with your big aces instead of letting your opponent take control of the betting by raising into you. Re-raise them, and then make them make a decision. If they flopped trips or an overpair, you will know very quickly. But most of the time, they will just have useless overcards like you. If they start re-raising you with nothing, take advantage of it the next time YOU have the overpair, and milk the chips right out of them.

You are right. I probably am playing too tight at times. But I think it just comes from the many, many times that I did exactly that and got burned. Every time I'd have a medium pocket pair (8-8, 9-9, 10-10), an A or K would flop. I'd either bet at it, or raise their bet, and eventually get burned. So, yes, I probably am playing scared sometimes.

Also, when I got my bank roll up to $400, I started playing 1/2 (I am using the 200bb method). But when it dipped below that, I continued with 1/2. In the last few sessions it is down to about $170 (I also cashed out $100). I need to drop back to .25/.50 for a while to regain my focus and to rebuild my stack. It's just so hard to go back to that after I've ben so used to playing 1/2.

Anyway, thanks for the advice. I will certainly take it to heart.