update and some help please

[jimmym]

Ive been playing low level cash games since the beginning of the year on pokerstars and ladbrokes, mainly 10/25 25/50 and some 50/$1.

Running pokertracker since the start I have built up a nice database on regular players at this level. being new to cash table poker after years of tournament poker I am starting to find my game a bit now and again using pokertracker starting to select a few players who I win against to play.

Allthough I am realy only up a few hundred playing around 40 hours a month around $3-60 a hour I really want to stick to this as I feel I can build a decent roll, my tournament play I feel has improved no end since playing cash tables as I now play more aggressive and go for the win instead of place money and I have mainly stuck to low level pl omaha and seem to do well in all of these, since my change in my play I have won around $2000 which is about $1300 profit, my weakness is sit and gos and I must be down around $1000 since the start of the year and as of today have decided to leave these alone until I find out what I am doing wrong (again using pokertracker to anilise).

I need a few pointers though about cash tables, I am finding that some of the lower level tables are difficult to build on, I am winning but its a chore, when I move up above the $1 I can play tight aggressive and patient but dont feel comfortable and this situation is costing me money.

I know we (or you) have mentioned this before but playing at levels on cash tables what roll should I be looking at, I remember 6 max buy ins being mentioned, which is what I am doing at the moment.

What would you say is the min hands required to get a true impression of how a player usually plays?
Would you consider moving up levels based on the cash you are winning,,the hours/hands you play at a level.

Does running pokertracker on yourself scare you? I say this after realising that I nearly never raised a hand,check raised or showed much aggression after loading many thousand hands I played, this I feel helped me in playing as I have now changed completely and have turned into an aggresive player.

My worry about moving up is this aggression though,

I mentioned last week that I run a small poker league at this time mainly with players from work and its growing a bit, I am running a site so members can keep updated and to be totally honest have used some of the info from here when giving tips.

I find that since I have started this I now play alot better as I feel I need to, otherwise players wont bother with my site.

I am not telling anyone on this forum the name of my site (TP only), this post is not about that, I still need to be part of this forum to learn and improve, which after years of not taking in what is on offer here I am finally doing.

So to wrap this up please look at what I have hi-lited in bold and give me some pointers please.

[ChipFish]

Quite honestly, I read your post, and would put money down that you will be a much better player as time goes on.
You appear to be doing all the right things in my opinion.
Using PTracker to improve yourself is a big thing that many don't do.
Talking amongst your friends is a Great thing that again many people don't do, aside from bad beat stories.

I'd say you are on the right track with where you are going for sure.

Here's my opinion on your questions:

playing at levels on cash tables what roll should I be looking at,
There is no right answer.
It's whatever makes you comfortable.
Some go by the 20-25 Buyin rule, others go with less others go with more.

What would you say is the min hands required to get a true impression of how a player usually plays
Around 50-100 in a current session will give you more than enough to have a general idea of how a player plays. (you should be able to figure out how a player plays (lag Tag passive etc) after 15-20 hands tops you should be able to figure this out once you get the hang of it.

After a few hundred hands on a player you should have a pretty good idea of how they play the majority of the time.


Would you consider moving up levels based on the cash you are winning,,the hours/hands you play at a level
I would move you based on cash I am winning I suppose....
If I played say xx,xxx number of hands, I wouldn't move up until I a) had my alotted number of buy-ins for that level, b) was satisfied with my play, c)was not on a losing streak, d)and was comfortable with the next levels $ amounts.

Does running pokertracker on yourself scare you?
No.
Sometimes it surprises me, sometimes it confirms what I was thinking, sometimes it helps me learn something new, sometimes it doesn't do anything for me.

Hope this helps.

[Talking Poker]

For simplicity sake, I'm just going to add on to what Chip said.

[jimmym]

playing at levels on cash tables what roll should I be looking at,
There is no right answer.
It's whatever makes you comfortable.
Some go by the 20-25 Buyin rule, others go with less others go with more.

Well, there is no right answer, but there certainy are wrong answers - and "6" is a wrong answer. I'd recommend at least 20. 50 would be better, but at least 20. You can "take a shot" with 10, but you can't guarantee that you won't go broke if you play like that, which is what most people are really asking when they ask about Bankroll Management.

Thanks guys, this is why I am not feeling comfortable. were did I get 6 buyins from.

with 50 hands (and often, even less), you should have a decent idea how loose/tight and passive/aggressive a guy is, and that's the most important.

I am glad you said this as I agree.

If you play 1 million hands of 1/2 and are still breaking even or losing, it's not time to move up. This is where bankroll management comes in to play.

I understand the importance of bankroll management now, I hope I can put it to practice, so am sticking to 25/50 as this allows for the buy-in rule you both mention.

When I meet the buy-in rule for the next level thats when I move up and up and up.

Does running pokertracker on yourself scare you?
No.
Sometimes it surprises me, sometimes it confirms what I was thinking, sometimes it helps me learn something new, sometimes it doesn't do anything for me.

No, but numbers generally look how I want them to look.

does this not suprise me. Again thanks TP and CHIP, great info for me.

[melioris]

jimmy-nice post. this place is a great source of info.

For running PT on yourself, check out . I try and do it every month, but I am happy if I get to it every two months.

Check out the videos, at all levels. At the upper levels, listen to how the players are thinking and try to understand the thought process throughout a hand. On the lower levels, take notes and post them, and then compare them to what others say. If you are interested, check out juice's vid and look over the chart i posted there.

The best thing you can do it lose any inhibition and post hands. Lots of them. I know that me giving this advice is shitty as I don't post enough hands, but post hands, you will not regret it. Learn to play TAG style first, and then experiment. But nothing beats $25 and $50 6-max like TAG and table selection. Get the fish on your right and punish him. I wait list tables and if the seat that comes up isn't to the left of the fish, just get back on the waitlist.

And I have said this in almost every post it seems, but you should open a rackback account a FT (or any other site with RB) dump your entire bankroll on that site, and grind it out. RB represents a huge % of your month wins at microlevels, playing anywhere else is just a waste.