So I'm rated a sL-AA, now what

[bronxbomber]

[Tiburon]

I don't know what auto-rate rules you're using, but using mine (developed with the help of the Limit forum peeps here)



and almost any rule set I've ever seen, a VP$IP would be rated as "Tight."

You should be looking at your VP$IP, which at 15.75%, seems good. The question now is--WHAT hands are you playing? Look at the hands in your DB that have VP$IP's over 50% and that you're losing money playing. These may be leaks.

You should also look at your PFR%--are you raising enough? If you're sLAA (assuming old rules), you're raising about 6+% of the time pre-flop.

Also look at your pFA (post-Flop Aggression). Some advice? Go to the limit forum---look at some of the posts there about the limit auto-rates, and aggression numbers...


and

Compare yourself to others and learn from what you see!

Welcome to the forums!

[bronxbomber]

Tiburon, thank you again for your thoughtful reply (as with my other thread). I realized after I posted that I forgot to include the rules I was using - I'm using the BisonBison rules everyone seems to talk about (although I might want to take a look at yours since you seem so knowledgeable

I have much to learn, and you are helping me a ton. I'll review these things you've included. I'm sure there are plenty of leaks.

[Tiburon]

First off--knowledgeable? I just stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

Thanks for the compliment--check out the limit auto-rates sticky over in the Limit forum, and if you have any questions, ask them here or over there, and if you get really stuck, just PM me, and I'll help you if I can.

[bronxbomber]

Well, shortly after posting that and accumulating another 1000-1500 hands, it seems that my play has upgraded itself to a TA-A. Now it's time to dissect the various hands and see where I can tighten the ship even further, because although my icon has improved to a money bag, my overall profit is not yet climbing fast (although I did take a $15 freebie given at Gaming Club and turn it into a nice $120 in a few hours...not bad)

[Tiburon]

To get the most of PT, use my rules (link above) and GT+ to scout your table as you play. Remember, PT isn't just about how YOU play--it accumulates data on how others play. To familiarize yourself with the classifications, read excession's article on NL:
, then check out my auto-rate rules. You'll be better equipped to identify (and take advantage of) bad players.

This isn't meant to say that Bison's rules aren't good. In fact, much of my work was based upon what BisonBison (from 2+2) did, and I re-adapted it to fit what Andy (excession) did for NL. The current rules now identify players to stay away from (Ultra-Aggressors and TA's), as well as players to follow around like a puppy at the Playboy Mansion (Xtra Loose, Showdown Muppets, etc). Check out those other rules, and unlock the features of PT that you've been missing. Also, if you don't already have it, get Game Time Plus (GT+), a free add-on for PokerTracker. I don't recall the site, but I know you're over at the PT forums too, and there's a sticky over there with the latest release information.

And like I said above, if your VP$IP is 15.75%, you've been tight all along. Mine runs around 18-19%, but I'm one of the looser full-ring limit players here.

Continued luck!

[excession]

lol I run at about 26%Vp$iP in full limit ring...

[Tiburon]

You sLAG!!!!

[bronxbomber]

Tiburon, I have another request for help.

I have improved my play so that I am now as mentioned rated a TA-A over 11000 hands at 2/4 limit holdem, mostly played on Party skins.

However, my conundrum is as follows: I have actually LOST about $250 over this time period. Now much of this after review I attribute to a horrific run of bad luck sending me on tilt during a session where I lost most of that amount.

However, more of my frustration is the fact that despite my improved play and rating,I feel like I can play for hours and yet I'm spinning in circles in terms of actual won/loss $$ amounts, not winning anything.

How should I proceed to evalute myself and find what's going wrong? Or could it just be bad luck?

I'd also offer to post my stats, but I'm slightly afraid of others who know my usernames seeing my ratings/play. Although I guess you can black that stuff out, right?

Thanks in advance.

[Tiburon]

Hey BB--

Don't worry about posting your stats here. Generally, us BTPers tend to avoid each other, unless we're expressly screwing around (see the TW challenge). And anyway, I post my screen names in my sig--everybody here KNOWS I'm a donkey.

First--It happens. You run through bad streaks. Play your game and it will reverse.

Second--Don't play to make your numbers fit everyone else's ideal of solid play. When I did my autorates, the three groups that were the biggest winners were Ultra Aggressors (AF-T>1.75), Tight-Aggressives, and Semi-Loose Aggressives.

What you should do is examine the hands you're playing. Look at the hands you lose the MOST BB/Hand on.

This is my leak finder:

I look at all the hands I've played (in the main tab of PT). Look at all the hands that your BB/Hand is negative for. Then, look at all the negative BB hands, and look for those that have VP$IP's>50%.

It's all about being patient. I have sessions at 3/6 where I sit with $120, and within 20 minutes, I've already doubled up. I've had sessions where I sit with $120, get premium hands, and am down $60 within 10 hands. Be patient, find your leaks.

Look at each hand history--see where you made your mistake. Did you call an extra bet, did you overplay a drawing hand, or did someone just suck out on you?

[Cactus Jack]

Ok, now I'm no expert on anything, and I did NOT stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

I think it depends on the levels you play at, and the sites you play, as well as your experience and confidence. In 5000 hands on Full Tilt, I'm rated an Ultra-Aggressor. My VPi%P is 18.30, which I think is the most important stat, unless you're folding AA and betting K3. My AF is 2.80 which may seem very high, unless you know my philosophy is raise, bet or fold, mostly raise or fold. At $25 and $50NL, to win you absolutely have to be aggressive, or they'll play crap hands against you and suck out on you constantly.

Which leads to WtS and W$aSD. Mine seems low--22.30 and 46.84%, respectively. This may mean I'm weak/tight, or it could mean that I either win the pot before showdown or I'm releasing the hand. Again, it's the levels. At this level, the calling stations are prevalent, and they'll hang around a lot longer than we'd like. First, they aren't very good. Second, more than half the players at $50NL on FTP buy in for far less than $50, which means they'll not lose a lot of money when drawing. They buy in short to protect themselves from themselves.

Here's an amazing stat: won with AA 78% of the time, yet I'm down $47.05 with them. Either I'm playing them badly--NO, 100% preflop raise--or hanging onto them to long--again, NO, as I'm usually all in before the flop, or on the flop--or I'm getting a lot of bad beats. Guess which? My SD % is 50% and my win percentage at SD is 33%. I've had AA in the blinds a few times and the table folded all the way around. You either win a little or lose a lot most often. It's the nature of the hand and the nature of the competition.

Uh, what was my point? Oh, yeah, stats are a great thing to look at and are really helpful, but only if filtered by a lot of factors.

Or, maybe I should stay in a Holiday Express more often?

CJ

ps--I'm only at breakeven due to a streak of cold cards and my last hand losing the nut flush to a full-house on the flop when a moron called a raise with Q9o when UTG.

[Tiburon]