What's your strategy?

[Man o' War]

Rather than hijacking the thread asking http://forum.sbrforum.com/players-ta...0hrs-week.html

I thought it would be best to take the conversation regarding strategies when playing poker.

I detailed a strategy that I have been following for a few months now with decent success outlined below...

I play 1 unit per day. If I lose that unit, I am out for the day. If I double my money I stop playing straight away also. If neither have happened and I hit 150 hands, I stop playing whatever the result. Statistically, I have been very poor after that amount of hands and I have had decent success with my system.

Some weeks I would be around the 20 hour mark, other weeks I would be less. For example, last night on my first hand I got pocket aces. 3 people went all in and I followed. I won, and picked up 3 units in one hand. A playing time of 1 minute where other nights I will play the full 150 hands with little loss or gain.

I can happily admit that it has it's positives and negatives but is working well for myself.

1. What is your strategy?
2. Do you start with a certain % of your bankroll?
3. When is it time for you to get up from the table and finish your days poker?

[TheLock]

I'm no pro but I'm not a donkey.

I play Tight Aggressive poker and always keep a firm grasp on position. I don't see as many flops as a LAG type player but when I am in a hand I play it aggressively and don't give my opponents the proper odds to draw out on me.

I have been running relatively bad lately. My last 3 session have ended like this:

1) get stacked to set over set vs LAG

2) lose set over set

2) Raise to $17 at a 1/2 table with K/Qs in late position and get 3 callers. Flop comes K6K

I lose all my chips to pocket 6's.

So my strategy is not foolproof thanks to variance.

But yeah, TAG poker is my strategy. It's time to get up from the table when you're

A) Tilting

B) Playing with scared $$

C) Been playing for a long time and you're up a nice amount

D) The table has lost all its weak players and it's a shark fest

[Man o' War]

I'm no pro but I'm not a donkey.

I play Tight Aggressive poker and always keep a firm grasp on position. I don't see as many flops as a LAG type player but when I am in a hand I play it aggressively and don't give my opponents the proper odds to draw out on me.

I have been running relatively bad lately. My last 3 session have ended like this:

1) get stacked to set over set vs LAG

2) lose set over set

2) Raise to $17 at a 1/2 table with K/Qs in late position and get 3 callers. Flop comes K6K

I lose all my chips to pocket 6's.

So my strategy is not foolproof thanks to variance.

But yeah, TAG poker is my strategy. It's time to get up from the table when you're

A) Tilting

B) Playing with scared $$

C) Been playing for a long time and you're up a nice amount

D) The table has lost all its weak players and it's a shark fest

Thanks for that. It looks good.

Good times to get up from the table too. I personally had a hard time knowing when it was time to get up and what a nice amount was and that's why I've adopted my current strategy.

[donjuan]

1% of mine is on the table every single day as a maximum. Once I lose that I'm gone. It works much better for me than anything else has.

That wasn't what I meant. If you lose 1% of your bankroll in 1 day you're done? Why? What difference does it make whether you buy in again today or tomorrow? If the game is good, there is no reason to not buy in again unless you feel you aren't playing well. All that matters is your hourly rate and you approach your true rate by playing more hours. The case I was referring to was if you have enough of your bankroll on the table that you become -EG even though you are +EV at the table.

[Man o' War]

That wasn't what I meant. If you lose 1% of your bankroll in 1 day you're done? Why? What difference does it make whether you buy in again today or tomorrow? If the game is good, there is no reason to not buy in again unless you feel you aren't playing well. All that matters is your hourly rate and you approach your true rate by playing more hours. The case I was referring to was if you have enough of your bankroll on the table that you become -EG even though you are +EV at the table.

You're making good points but surely people have to put a limit on themselves and some sort of financial management strategy. All the good sports handicappers have limits and daily maximums so why should poker be any different?

I'll admit that 1% of the bankroll is low but I'm making a profit over a set period where I am sure many have failed to. I am a long time poker player but it was more for enjoyment where I have recently been turning it into a nice little earner for myself and learning a lot along the way.

I will start calculating my hourly rate and get back to you and see how I fare.

[donjuan]

You're making good points but surely people have to put a limit on themselves and some sort of financial management strategy.

Yes, you need to have bankroll management strategy. But that strategy should not involve anything to do with daily losses or gains. All of the poker you play in your life is just one giant session.

All the good sports handicappers have limits and daily maximums so why should poker be any different?

No logical winning sports bettor has a daily limit or maximum. Kelly is what it's all about.

I'll admit that 1% of the bankroll is low but I'm making a profit over a set period where I am sure many have failed to.

The point is that you are leaving a ton of money on the table with your strategy. A winning strategy isn't always the most winning strategy for that situation.

[Man o' War]

Yes, you need to have bankroll management strategy. But that strategy should not involve anything to do with daily losses or gains. All of the poker you play in your life is just one giant session.

Surely there is a point that you say "That is a big enough loss" and that is it for the day.

No logical winning sports bettor has a daily limit or maximum. Kelly is what it's all about.

Well there are plenty of differing opinions on that matter.

The point is that you are leaving a ton of money on the table with your strategy. A winning strategy isn't always the most winning strategy for that situation.

I'm not leaving anything on the table. Example: If I have $10k in my Poker bankroll I will enter a table with $100. If that is gone, then so am I. The $9,900 remaining is not played with.

[donjuan]

Surely there is a point that you say "That is a big enough loss" and that is it for the day.

Why? Whether it's today or the next day, as long as you have the same EV in the game, it doesn't matter.

Well there are plenty of differing opinions on that matter.

I said amongst the logical. If your goal is to grow your bankroll optimally, there is little disagreement.

I'm not leaving anything on the table. Example: If I have $10k in my Poker bankroll I will enter a table with $100. If that is gone, then so am I. The $9,900 remaining is not played with.

By leaving money on the table, I meant that you are not making as much as you could.

[Man o' War]

Why? Whether it's today or the next day, as long as you have the same EV in the game, it doesn't matter.

I'm in this for the long haul through tight money management. I'm not expecting massive gains but I'm definitely not experiencing massive losses.

I said amongst the logical. If your goal is to grow your bankroll optimally, there is little disagreement.

All I know is that my bankroll has had a steady increase using this system and if you are to argue against consistent profits, then you are leaving me bewildered.

By leaving money on the table, I meant that you are not making as much as you could.

I agree here but by the same token I am not losing the amounts I could be either. I look at most of the sports bettors in here and their returns for a lot of hard work are minimal. Good weeks produce only a handful of units. I have been doing that consistently with my poker and are yet to have a losing week.

I'm respectful to your opinion but the discipline this system has brought into my game has been a good profitable thing.

I'd love to hear what your approach is to poker be it online or live.

[donjuan]

I'm in this for the long haul through tight money management. I'm not expecting massive gains but I'm definitely not experiencing massive losses.

Exactly, so it doesn't matter whether you lose 5% of your bankroll in one day in 5 hours than losing 5% of your bankroll over 5 days playing 1 hour each day. It's the exact same thing and the only thing that matters is your hourly rate (beyond expected growth considerations, of course) and it doesn't matter whether those hours are played next year, next month or today. As long as you are a +EV player, you should want to play more hours, which means not quitting based on arbitrary rules that don't allow you to play many hours.

As for my strategy, so long as I believe I have +EV in a game and that my expected hourly rate in the game is a reasonable use of my time (if my expected hourly rate is $2, I'd rather find a different game or find a better use of my time), I'll play as long as the game is good or until I feel like leaving. If too much of my bankroll was on the table at once (-EG), I'll stand up and walk away. I'll also walk away if I'm tilting or have something else affecting my play, but I'm pretty good about controlling my emotions and not tilting. The amount of buy ins I'm up or down for the session makes no difference to me with respect to my decision to keep playing and neither does whether I am up or down money.

[Man o' War]

Exactly, so it doesn't matter whether you lose 5% of your bankroll in one day in 5 hours than losing 5% of your bankroll over 5 days playing 1 hour each day. It's the exact same thing and the only thing that matters is your hourly rate (beyond expected growth considerations, of course) and it doesn't matter whether those hours are played next year, next month or today. As long as you are a +EV player, you should want to play more hours, which means not quitting based on arbitrary rules that don't allow you to play many hours.

Totally agree. As far as sports go, I have had years behind me betting on games. Trying to make an income from Poker is something I am relatively new to. I am not new to the game by any stretch. I had played sporadically and found that the longer I played, the less I won. Capping it has had very positive results as most weeks I am averaging 5 units. Improving bankroll by 5% a week is decent going IMO.

As for my strategy, so long as I believe I have +EV in a game and that my expected hourly rate in the game is a reasonable use of my time (if my expected hourly rate is $2, I'd rather find a different game or find a better use of my time), I'll play as long as the game is good or until I feel like leaving. If too much of my bankroll was on the table at once (-EG), I'll stand up and walk away. I'll also walk away if I'm tilting or have something else affecting my play, but I'm pretty good about controlling my emotions and not tilting. The amount of buy ins I'm up or down for the session makes no difference to me with respect to my decision to keep playing and neither does whether I am up or down money.

Thanks for that answer and I would hope that I can start moving into that sort of strategy over time. As I am at the infancy stage of making money from poker I believe my strategy gives me some structure and has worked well.

[daneblazer]

If there was only one piece of advice I could tell someone, it'd be: you have to have a much better hand to call a raise than you do to make one.

[DavidCopper]

Ok I am a normal poster on twoplustwo, but found myself reading these threads for a while. I play on FTP, and have been winning quite a bit of multi-tourneys the last couple of weeks. I won 2 tourneys and cashed in another 3.

This might sound dumb to some people but listen to this.

So I'm in the tourney with AK suited, dude raises. I have probably $21000 in chips. Instead of going all in, I raised for $20999, leaving one dollar in the my acocunt. Dude showed pocket 88 and I caught an ace.

I know that makes no sense, but every coin flip after that when I pushed all in except for 1 dollar, I won. It really shocked me, but it seemed to work.

I think that the system (FTP) recognizes an ALL IN hand automatically, and it has odds on how many times an ALL in will lose, therefore busting a player out.

Look, just try this method on FTP, and watch how many hands you win .

Very strange.....

[Man o' War]

Ok I am a normal poster on twoplustwo, but found myself reading these threads for a while. I play on FTP, and have been winning quite a bit of multi-tourneys the last couple of weeks. I won 2 tourneys and cashed in another 3.

This might sound dumb to some people but listen to this.

So I'm in the tourney with AK suited, dude raises. I have probably $21000 in chips. Instead of going all in, I raised for $20999, leaving one dollar in the my acocunt. Dude showed pocket 88 and I caught an ace.

I know that makes no sense, but every coin flip after that when I pushed all in except for 1 dollar, I won. It really shocked me, but it seemed to work.

I think that the system (FTP) recognizes an ALL IN hand automatically, and it has odds on how many times an ALL in will lose, therefore busting a player out.

Look, just try this method on FTP, and watch how many hands you win .

Very strange.....

Interesting. I often wonder whether the programs are rigged or whether they are just random.

I had a mate that caught pocket aces suited on a certain program. He contacted the company and they admitted there was a fault in that hand. Classic.

[20Four7]

Interesting. I often wonder whether the programs are rigged or whether they are just random.

I had a mate that caught pocket aces suited on a certain program. He contacted the company and they admitted there was a fault in that hand. Classic.

I watched a woman ask if her queen's were better if they were suited (this was live in a casino). The dealer said it was impossible. The deck was checked and 2 queens were hearts and no queen of diamonds was to be found. Someone screwed up large.

[McRich]

I'm in this for the long haul through tight money management. I'm not expecting massive gains but I'm definitely not experiencing massive losses.


All I know is that my bankroll has had a steady increase using this system and if you are to argue against consistent profits, then you are leaving me bewildered.


I agree here but by the same token I am not losing the amounts I could be either. I look at most of the sports bettors in here and their returns for a lot of hard work are minimal. Good weeks produce only a handful of units. I have been doing that consistently with my poker and are yet to have a losing week.

I'm respectful to your opinion but the discipline this system has brought into my game has been a good profitable thing.

I'd love to hear what your approach is to poker be it online or live.

Man O War. You have a bankroll strategy that works for you and makes you feel comfortable. Keep with it. I have used a similar strategy and I have played poker for 30 years. When I have dipped into my bankroll beyond my norm and I get crushed, I stop having fun playing poker and I take a break. I usually make this bad move once a year.

But I have kept my bankroll managed for a very long time so I can have some fun and win some money. Good Luck.