Hi Guys, I am a fairly inexperienced on-line poker player, and it finally seems that I can have some success at poker with Sng's but I just dont understand why.

Anyway for what it is worth here is my story perhaps it can inspire some players and maybe you guys can explain why.

I started to play poker about 3 month ago, like many people I read a couple of books and articles here and there on the net, then I had a go a ring games at Pacific.
After a lucky start I quickly realised that it was not to last, I would slowly win or survive to suddently loose all and more to what ppl refer as “bad beats” I don’t think they are bad beats, whatever, I was loosing..
1400 Hands and $200 later I decided that the players at Pacific were a bit too loose and it was time to try somewhere else.
Believe it or not I found out that the players at Party are a bit tighter, I tried limit and NL, I tried tight, loose, passive. aggressive, crazy, creative, scientific, anything I could try but it seems that in average I loose 10BB / 100 no matter what I do.
About 4000 more hands and an extra $200 later I was seriously questioning the viability of on-line poker, I spoke with various ppl while playing and read some stuff on the net and it seems less than 10% perhaps even less than 5% of the on-line poker players break even or win.

I don’t play poker to make money, I have a job but I found poker to be intriguing and challenging. When I started I knew I would be loosing some money but my expectation was basically to learn the game and then be able to break even. My new discoveries seemed to indicate that perhaps I was not as smart or dedicated than I thought I was and perhaps the top 5% is just not where I can belong in on-line poker, even at low stakes. The idea of shoving $100 every month in an on-line casino to pay for my fun just does not attract me.

So here we are I tilted at NL, money ran out no hope ahead in the future, bye bye poker it was nice to meet you but lets go different ways before I hate you.

The problem here is that I talked to some friends and collegues about poker and how tremendously interesting it was etc.. and a couple just started playing…. And they ask me questions about poker !?!

Didn’t I tell I loose at poker ??
I cant help you….
Oh hold on…
What ??? You did not raise with your AA ?
Off course some stooge limped in and beat you with 2 small pairs
You gotta be agro else you will loose
(… hum hold on me the no hope looser is giving advice ?)

Cant help it I love this poker stuff, and now that I have stopped I have plenty more time in my hands, and TV is soo boring.. and Poker is just so much more interesting that Backgammon…

Hold on…. I remember reading some story about some looser called Kowboy or something like that, he turned his luck and started winning, little google and here we go, www.livepokerforum.com hum… that guys is just like me, but hold on he does SnG’s. I never played a tourney let’s try ! oh ! hold on you don’t have a bankroll anymore….

Ok ok $100 into Party this is the last I put in NO MATTER what but first lets do some research about the Sng’s. That Nashvegas dude in BTP seems to know his business lets read some more.
Look ! in BTP they all talk about how bad are the low stakes Sng’s players… well I am sure they talk about me… I am just gonna feed these guys… what the hell they seem to share their knowledge and look like good guys. Anyway this is the last $100 I ever play, I did not get drunk for 2 weeks and that easily covers it, man, I could find plenty of reasons to spend the $100 here we go.

Lets start $5+1,
Geez these guys are mad, hahaha he went all-in in a multiway pot with Q9o is this guy mad ??, steady eddy, patience patience patience, ok here comes a good hand, you are not a wimp and you can just eat these guys, raise !!, omg they folded ?, usually they NEVER fold at ring games. I like this stuff, no panic steady eddy you are ahead, man these guys respect me so much I cant believe it ! Here come another pot, and another, hold on this idiot just raised pre flop and now raises only 10% of the pot ? this is the same guy that went all-in with Q9o ? yep it is, your stack is MINE and sure it became mine. Oh that is a nice fireworks but where are the players ? You mean I won that’s all ? oh cool lets do it again. 2nd ? not bad I like this stuff.

So I went on and played about 20 $5+1 sng’s about 48%ITM 60%ROI my account never went under $100, I had a few losses but now it is time to do $10+1. I seem to not win as much and definitely a lot less 1st position, I even had bad streaks where I lost 5-6 sng’s in a row.

My current stats are:

$5+1 , 21 Tourneys, 31% 1st, 5% 2nd, 13% 3rd, 35% 4th 5th
$10+1 38 Tourneys 13% 1st 16% 2nd 18% 3rd 24% 4th 5th

ITM 40%
ROI 46%
Net win $228

I know this is only like 60 Sng’s and I still can loose it all but when I play I feel in control, I accept the cards and find the players to be quite predictable. In other works it is fun to play.

For now I will play $10 till I have $400 or 500 and I will move to $20 or 25.



Now what I just cant understand is why do I suck so bad at ring and I am ok at SnG ?



Ps: It seems that I went on and with this, I justwanted a few lines.... I hope it is not too boring and perhaps you too cant become another Kowboy

Same reason some people can putt well and other can drive... But very few are great at both... It's a different game, and if you've found what you're good at, you're already 3 steps ahead of the game... Honestly, I wish I was where you're at...

(Some guy that ISN'T Phil Ivey) is considered one of the best (if not THE best) cash player in the world... But, he often sucks it up in tourneys...

Thanks for the feed back, I come form a non english speaking country were we say something like "You cant have the goods and the money for the goods" well what I feel playing on-line poker is what the cab driver just told me tell me when he got me back home drunk.
The cab driver complains because he has to work long hours and at night to make... lets say an acceptable income, sure he works long hours night etc.. but hold on that guy just did a 2 weeks course an he is out there working and making more than twice what my wife who is a pre school teacher does and who spent 4 years studies to get there...
Sure she only starts at 6:30 and does not pick up drunks (like me) still I dont feel too bad for the cab driver....

At on-line poker it is exactly the same many many ppl expect to read one book spend $50 and then it is the freeway to cash, please give me ppl that play like idiots and feed me money but I dont want unconsistent players, nobody come in with 72o unless I have the nuts. There is so many players out there yelling because they play agains clueless or noobs player or whatever just because they got...... or they are too...... I let you fill it in.

I think we have to make a choice, it would be great to be the One eyed King in a Country of blind ppl and perhaps it was possible a couple of years ago as I have heard or read many ppl saying but I recon today you still can be the two eyed prince in the kingdom of one eyed players with marginally more work than a cab driver....

I gave it another go to the ring games and lost another $20, my mini loose streak at SnG seems to be gone and I am back ITM, I just dont get it SnG is just soooo much easier than ring... perhaps I need to try higher limits at ring but at least now it is a mystery to me...

Cactusjack, what is a significant ammount of time 1000 10000 100000 hands ? As I mentioned earlier I could very well still be on the honeymoon and I am still ready to get a whack on the face...

Cheers

I don't know - I have to agree with the people that say that SNG's are becoming harder and harder to beat on a regular basis as time goes by. Is it because more and more people are reading the more and more books that are coming out and playing more and more at the ever-incrreasing volume of sites?

I haven't been playing long, and as of right now am only a break even player at $10 SNG's, so obviously not good enough to comment too much, but I used to be a losing player and play like a "fish".

Is there any hope for long term profit for me, the 500,000,000th person to take on poker as a means for extra cash (I'm thinking long term, I treat my play as a mini-business of sorts and do everything planned)? Or am I just chasing rainbows??

I dont think you are chasing rainbows. If you are taking the game as seriously as you say, and are truely a break even player now then you are close. Keep studying and analyzing your own game too.

Oz- dont try higher limits if you are losing money now in rings. If anything go lower limits.