Bit of poker advice needed

[mathare]

I've just started playing online poker again after a break of several months. Why did I start playing again? I think I should start by explaining why I stopped first - time. I had umpteen dozen other things I wanted to do with my time so I stopped grinding away at the tables for only a few dollars gain a night. I wasn't focusing on my game so I quit for a while. One thing I didn't do was quit reading about the game. I have more than my fair share of poker books and I have been reading a few of them plus Poker Player and Inside Poker magazines which I subscribe to. It occurred to me the other day that by now I must know the game well enough to face the tables again so the other night out of boredom I fired up a couple of 10 pays 5 NLHE SnGs. Since then I have played a few more of those and tonight fired up a $0.50/$1 10-seater limit hold'em cash game.

And now I am at a crossroads. Where do I go from here?

I still have to do most of that stuff that stopped me playing a few months back but if I can make a few quid from the cards then why not play now and then. I'd certainly like a steady poker income, even if it is only a bit of beer money. And with that in mind where do I focus my game?

I used to play limit hold'em for one main reason - it was easy. Little focus required, ABC poker was enough really. But that's rather dull isn't it? Certainly is $0.50/$1 which is where I have spent most time playing. Why that level? I thought I need to prove I could beat that before stepping up to $1/$2 and then up to $2/$4 etc. Can I beat it? I don't know. I have focus issues and need a certain excitement level to keep me going. I consider myself risk averse but I do need to get a bit of a gamble on now and then. I am about break even at those stakes over around 4000 hands which makes me think I am crap at that variant of poker.

I experimented with NLHE cash games at low stakes ($25 max buy-in or less so $0.10/$0.20 etc) a while back and bombed a couple of buy-ins before running back to the safety of limit poker. To me NLHE cash games require more focus, concentration on the hands and the players at the table. I have Poker Office so I get stats on the HUD so I can categorise players roughly but I don't think that's enough.

And throughout my poker career I have played SnGs and felt comfortable with them. I understand good tournament strategy and while I don't run an ICM calculator alongside the tables I do have a pretty good feel/instinct for when to fold and when to push. And I have made a reasonable profit at these tables. I recently started to play the turbo 10 pays 5 tables and they are treating me quite nicely. I can let one run a few levels then fire up another and multi-table a couple, aiming to keep two on the go at most times.

So I don't know whether to start to concentrate more on SnGs and forget cash games or give NLHE another go know I now a lot more about the game. I want to build a bankroll from not a lot really but am I wasting my time trying that with cash games? Are they too full of fish with no idea what they are doing so some of the usual tricks and plays don't work on them? Is the luck factor too high down there because the skill factor is too low? Do I need to up the stakes to make me concentrate? I am slowly building an SnG bankroll but should I stick with the 10 pays 5 tourneys or go back to the standard 50/30/20 payouts on the 10-seater SnGs?

Or should I stop playing the game and get on with all the other things I should be doing? I know what would make me more money in the long run. After all, if I write all the software I have planned I may be able to get the mortgage paid off sooner, then I can give up work or go part-time and have a lot more time at the poker tables. But deep down I know I want to prove to myself that I can play this game and bring in a few quid doing it.

All thoughts and advice welcome.

[vegyjones]

Personally, I think you should start to concentrate on the No Limit games.

Most f the strategy you have read is probably based on No Limit.
You say you know how to play the Limit.
You have a better understanding than most of the chances and probabilities in the game.

Set yourself a lmit of 25-30 games, and if you're still uncomfrtable with it,
you may want to consider going back to the afety of limit games.

[mathare]

I decided to play a bit of NLHE cash games and also the turbo 10 pays 5 NLHE SnGs this afternoon/evening. I've lost a little on the cash games and cashed in each of the SnGs I've played. I'm now 10 out of 12 on those SnGs these past few days and I enjoy them a lot more than the cash game grind. I think that answers my question above really doesn't it? Now I just need to worry about when I am ready to step up the levels...

[piggy]

i read somewhere that to play your best poker you should play at the entry level you can just afford to lose so the returns are high enough to keep you excited.

[mathare]

i read somewhere that to play your best poker you should play at the entry level you can just afford to lose so the returns are high enough to keep you excited.Makes sense. That said I can keep interested enough in the turbo 10 pays 5 SnGs I have been playing even though they are only $5+0.50 and my tourney bankroll is over $300. I slipped in a $10+1 by accident but didn't notice any difference in standard. I may keep playing the $5+0.50s but I may slip a few more $10+1s in to try and build the bankroll a bit faster. At the minute I am pretty sure this is the right way forward as I can multi-table them and rattle through several in an evening as they are done in half an hour - that way bad beats and dumb plays are over with quickly and I can move on rather than dwell on them as I may in longer (slower) tourneys or cash games.

[jasonpariah]

Youve probably answered your own question already but I thought Id add my 2 cents.
If you have a focus issue then the faster turbo games are allways going to appeal more.Another alternative is short handed poker as again your getting involved a lot more in the action.
Yet another option is other variants of poker such as draw or stud.Learning many variants impacts on your overall game in a great way.
My personal way of allieviating the boredom is to multi table between 8 and 12 tables at a time(trust me you dont have time to lose focus.LOL),this way I am able to maximize my focus.

[sportingprofit]

To be honest there is only so much you can learn from reading books. There is no substitute for grinding a a bunch of hands. You can get the fundamentals from books, but hand reading and exploiting players tendencies come from grinding 1000's of hands. I would recommend NLHE cash games over sng's tournaments as they are a much more convenient way of playing as you can join and leave when you like.

If you want to elevate your game video training sites are a great way of doing so, sites such as cardrunners.com and deucescracked.com give out great content for what is a relatively small fee and is a great way to invest.

I do not want to sound like an advert but I believe they charge around $250 for 6 months and are well worth the investment. I joined Card Runners 6 months ago and quickly moved up from 10NL to 100NL in the space of 6 months and am able to make £25 playing 6 tables of 100NL.

They really help you hammer in the fundamentals and build a style which beats the online games.

Even from an entertainment only basis they are great to watch some of the best online players play against other top players and how they think about a hand.

I would also recommend joining 2+2 and reading through the strategy forums aswell as posting hands yourself as there is alot of good free advice given.