How much have you lost at Texas Hold 'Em?

We had a little discussion in the office last night while watching some poker on TV, and it came to light that a former scribe at the paper had lost a couple thousand dollars playing online poker over the last several months. At this point, a couple of the desk guys said they had lost about a grand apeice playing online.

I'm a fan of poker, but I don't think I could survive in those rooms without polishing my skills. But it made wonder, who else is losing fists of cash playing online poker?

 

Just about everyone who plays.

I have two friends who play for a living, and they essentially live off suckers who play exclusively online. These guys play for 10 hours a day, go to Vegas a couple times a year, and go to local cardrooms a couple times a week.

And online, they look like any other schmuck out there. They always come out ahead on the online game. Always.

 

In the online games, you always have to worry about the donks who will call any raise with any face card and shitty kicker. That's great until they suck you out a few times, then you want to kill a mother fucker.

 

I've lost $150, but that was me playing drunk and not giving a shit. When I am sober and making an effort, I'll never lose much. It's one of the nice things about the game. You can largely control your losses.

I know a hot topic on college campuses across the country this time a year is kids blowing their financial aid checks in Internet games.

 

I've been playing hold em for nearly three years now (an average of once a week, exclusively in card rooms around town, never online) and I'm just about even, maybe a couple hundred to the good.

Funny thing is, in tournaments I'm well in the black, but in the eight or 10 times I've played 2-4 or 3-6 I'm down a couple hundred.

Stupid limit hold'em.

 

It's a Darwinian mother.   Well-capitalized, mature players can and will last a long time.   The impulsive swingers are
overwhelmingly likely to get kllled.   Admire those who play smartly, and follow the scene, but stay away from
serious participation.

 

Go to the library, get SuperSystem II, and read Jen Harmon's chapter on limit hold-em. It helped me a lot.

Sklansky also has a good book on low-stakes hold-em.

 

Limit is sheer discipline.

You will only play monsters, or good hands from great position.

you will not get mad when donkeys suck out. You will say "nice card" because you know their money will flow your way in the long run.

You will sit ofr long periods of time, because you know the odds are more in your favor the more you play.

Being great a limit takes a special. special person, IMHO.

Memorizing the starting hands and the odds is easy. Not letting anything shake you off them is next to impossible.

 

Always enjoy reading your thoughts on gaming, Ben.

I'll never play online for money. I'm just not that good.

My mistake, such as it is, is playing regularly with my friends for shits and giggles. The few times I have played at a casino, I usually get flushed out pretty quickly because I'm in the habit of staying in with just about anything. Give me a face card I'll usually stay in for the flop. It's become a joke among our friends...hey, look, BYH won again with two pair, 2s and Jacks. Of course, it's a lot tougher to stay alive playing that way at a casino. I went to a friend's bachelor party in AC last year and after I got my ass kicked at Hold 'Em one of my buddies asked someone back home if I always played poker that badly.

I give myself $40 to lose in our pussy ass games and that's it. Usually, that's enough for a few hours of entertainment--we're there as much to hang out and give each other shit as we are to win money--but I got knocked out in a hurry a few weeks ago and was pissed because I knew it was the only time I'd be able to play that month due to travel. So last week, I tried to play a bit smarter, and my initial $20 ante lasted all night. Didn't win anything, but played all night on the same $20.

(I also wore sunglasses and a hat pulled low over my head  )

I know, I know: I'm a puss.

 

I thought you're supposed to open with just about any two cards in limit hold 'em. That's my problem with limit; I play way too tight and the people I see raking pots are people who play 10-8 of diamonds whose third 8 hits on the river. :-\

I've never played no-limit, non-tournament hold 'em. That might be interesting, either to the good or to the bad.

 

Since there's really no way to bet a donkey off a hand, you play tighter in limit than you would in no limit.

 

Geez, Satchel, you'd hate playing with me.

If I have two of the same suit, I almost always stay in.

Of course, nine times out of ten, my 8/10 of diamonds is rendered irrelevant by the four six and nine of spades on the flop.