Any helpful suggestions to my game in Texas Hold'em?

Question

I have been playing online and loosing some money. Not a lot just paying $2.20 to get in this tourney and have played quite of few of them. Anyway I keep loosing and loosing. Getting tired of it.

I tend to play pretty mellow. I don't like to be too aggressive because it usually back fires on me and I get knocked out quicker.

I usually try and call the big blind before the flop with OK hands (Ok meaning K,8 or Q,8 or J,10 or 10,9 etc.) and I will raise about 2 to 3 times the big blind when I get a good hand (good hand meaning KK, AA, AK, KQ, etc)

I do not really bluff that much because it usually back fires on me. So I don't know what I can do to get better really. I want to get good some I can start making some money online.

Any helpful suggestions from people WHO ARE ACTUALLY GOOD on how I can improve my game from the info I gave?

(I play No-Limit by the way)

Answer 1

If i were you i would stop playing,,

Texam holdem are pretty much based on luck..

Answer 2

1. The lower the limits the crazier the play.  You hear it again and again that pros have an easier time beating other pros than they do beating amateurs.  If you're playing $2 entries those players are MUCH closer to beginners than players who are skilled.  Also, they'll call your all in with just about any draw, reasoning: "It's only 2 bucks!"  So, you have to account for that!  Let's say you have A K off from the BB.  There were three limpers around to you.  You don't want to play three people with AK; so, you raise it 3 bets and ... well, all of them probably call because that's what people do in a $2 tournament!  

So, now the flop comes an Ah 9d Td.  You have top pair and a king kicker.  But look at that board.  There are straight and flush draws on the board.  It's classic poker to bet HUGE hear to get someone off their drawing hand (i.e., 4 to the straight or flush), but you can't do that here!  Amateurs don't fold to big bets, even all in bets, when they have these draws.  So, you have to adjust your game.  You had three callers for a raise preflop.  The pot is okay right now.  You'd like to win that, right?  There's NOTHING you can do to win it right here and right now, right?  RIGHT?  Don't try going all in!  So, you must play it OPPOSITE of the way you normally would!  Try to keep the pot from getting too big.  Try to be there at the end with a CHANCE to win the pot.  If you bet half your remaining chips and the turn comes another diamond or another card toward the straight then you're dead!  But if you check and that same card comes, you've saved money, right?  

Daniel Negreanu calls this game "small ball."  Try to keep the pots small.  Be ever mindful of what can hurt you.  Be willing to lay down top pair, top kicker to a threatening board coupled with a big bet.  You have two options in this game:

1. Play balls to the wall, trying to run over people and keep getting called and sucked out on or

2. Slow it down some.   The example I gave above is a perfect illustration.  Remember, this is ONLINE poker.  It's controlled by a computer algorithm.  They controll who gets what hands.  They create action by doing just what I described above; i.e., giving one person top pair, top kicker, another the flush draw, and the other a straight draw.  Only one of you is going to win!  Each of you has about a 33 percent chance (based on the three people being in the hand with a chance to win, not card odds).  If you only have a 1 in 3 chance of winning and NO CHANCE of getting them off their hands then why push the action?  Slow....

Note: It never hurts to go all in when you have the nuts.  The same idiots that call on draws will call you with  your flush when they have top pair, top kicker.  So, if you're laying down the losing hand at the right time and they aren't then you're money way ahead, right?  

Note 2: Be careful about FLOPPING the nuts and thinking that it's okay to go all in there.  No, no, no!  Again, it's a computer algorithm controlling the action.  The LOVE to set people up.  Just as I can imagine the setup hands, they can create them with their program.  Example:

You hold A K off and the flop comes Th Jh Qd, giving you the nut straight--AKA "the tree trop."  What if your opponent ALSO has AK, but his is suited hearts?  He not only flopped the nut straight, but he ALSO flopped the nut flush draw.  Remember, there is the nuts as a starting hand (AA), the nuts after the flop, a different nuts after the turn, and the only nuts that matters after the river.  That's when we award the checkmark for the winning hand!  Don't be fooled by your awesome flop hands!!!  Again, slow, careful, even suspicious of the computer algorithm.  Contrary to what some will tell you, it IS fixed.  

Make sense?

Answer 3

The first thing I can say is to STOP PLAYING ONLINE!!

Online players are by far the worst players that play. They play by the "Better to be lucky, then good". They chase cards till the river, call everything when they have nothing to call with, and hope to get lucky. Playing online isnt "real" to them. When your playing LIVE people tend to play better, cause you can actually hold your chips, read tells, and actually be able to play the REAL GAME of texas hold-em.

Watch the live events on TV, watch the "online" players play who go to these tournaments. You will notice they make some of the worst calls/bets, and they dont stay in the tournament to long, or their luck runs out.

The same top players in the world are the tops players pretty much every year. They dont play LUCK.. the play skill. Online is all about the worst players thinking they know how to play and just trying to get lucky. Go play LIVE pocker, and you will see a huge difference

Answer 4

Study the game. There are TONS of books out there.Start out with Doyle Brunson's book.  If you want to make money at poker, it will take a lot of work. Learn the math. If you suck at math, you probably will never be a good player. Recall is vital. You have to remember how players play in certain situations; but in addition to that, you have to remember how you played in certain situations, and change it up sometimes. Practice. Practice. Practice.

Expect to lose money for a while, so make sure it is money you can afford to lose. A "while" varies from person to person. Part of it depends on how quickly you pick things up in general, but mostly it depends on how much you play. The more experience you get, the quicker you will get a "feel" for the game. You'll recognize nuances that are completely over your head at the moment. One of those biggest nuances is when to bluff. You HAVE to bluff sometimes.

Remember that even the pros lose more tourneys than they cash. So get used to losing, and shrug it off.  

If at all possible play live games at a casino.

Winning at poker on a consistent basis is much more difficult than most people think. It looks easy on TV, but it takes a lot of work, dedication, and discipline. If you don't consider yourself the smartest person in your circle of friends, I would just stick to playing for fun, and give up on the pro-poker player dream.

Answer 5

Experience is truly the best teacher in Texas Holdem. Every time you play, after a tournament, try to analyze what you did right and what you did wrong and keep a list if it helps.

K8 Q8 are not that great of hands to call with, even if they are suited. Early on in tournaments, the best players play a type of poker called Tight-Agressive. It means to play only premium hands, and to play them by betting agressively. There is a lot more to tournament strategy based on the stage you are in and they types of players.  

Here is a link to a page of free poker strategy.

http://www.thedoverpro.com/poker-strateg...

Answer 6

lol i was just playing that with my boyfriend.

well i beat him lol plenty of times and the computers too.

so i guess im good

i usually dont bet higher until i know for sure that i got something like more than two pair... and on the computer they tell you what you have and what the highest thing you could have

so that should help you a lot

so .. um yeah.. good luck