Z Poker

I’m just about to give up on beating the 3/6 games at Hollywood Park. I do win, occasionally, yet lose consistently. I’m very tired of
losing to trash and never being able to bluff. I have studied Winning Low Limit Poker” to death, understand Jones’ concepts and have applied them religiously only to find consistent losses. I have not had a significant winning session in nearly 2 months. I play 6/12 in Vegas but found the 6/12 at HP to be nothing but the same shit play as the 3/6 – just twice as expensive, so I more frequently play the 3/6 when I’m home to avoid the bankroll dents. My question is: If you are a consistent winner at 3/6 (especially here in CA), what tips do you have? Keep in mind that I’m very familiar with the above mentioned concepts.

Answer 1:

I suggest two obvious possibilities for your lack of results:
1) Maybe you simply haven’t played enough sessions to be sure. It is not unusual to have a 2 month cold streak at low limit games -sometimes, it just seems like you can’t catch a hand. I’m not sure how many sessions two months worth is for you, but I have definitely had a few streaks of 20-25 sessions where I had only a handful of winning sessions. (And I beat the hell out of 3-6 in the long run).
2) Perhaps you are going on tilt? Based on your comments, it sounds to me like perhaps you are getting impatient and perhaps loosening up your play when you get frustrated. A typical 3-6 game truly is a waiting game where you simply have to show the best hand at the end. If you’re “tired of losing to trash and never being able to bluff”, you’re maybe playing the wrong game – that’s 3-6 for you. You must resist the temptation to “make things happen” and “let” them happen. (That doesn’t mean things like “don’t ever raise on the come” or “don’t bet the second nuts” – it does mean things like “you’re not going to be able to isolate that bad player pre-flop, and you better learn to recognize it and accept it.”)
So how do you improve your results?
1) Be patient – don’t get out of your game because of bad beats.
If you have to, take a 15 minute walk and come back with a new
attitude. You always want to be playing your best poker.
) In the meantime, work on reading other players – applying the “how to play” concepts of a competent poker book (I haven’t read WLLP, but don’t doubt that it provides solid advice on beating typical Hollywood Park 3-6 games) will only get you so far: eventually you have to start reading players. So pay attention to the other players – look at their eyes, faces, hands, betting motions, and listen to their voices, their words and other noises … try to learn general patterns that many players fall into and try to learn specific things that specific players do. (It’s a good way to keep from going on tilt too – it keeps you busy while you’re folding hand after hand.) Picking up reads is what turns break even “by the book” players into consistent winners.

Answer 2:

Basically laugustine is right, 3/6 is boring because you get to play very few hands and can’t really bluff; not to mention you are fighting against a rake and toke which will be a higher % of your winnings at this limit. If possible try picking loos(er) tables. You still won’t get to play many hands, but your winners should pay you off more.

Answer 3:

Perhaps you might try playing a bit tighter. If you look around the table and don’t see the fish, it’s you. Perhaps you might give more consideration to table selection. I also sometimes play 3-6 (and 6-12) at Hollywood Park and am modestly successful. (But at Omaha – not Texas hold ‘em. I play an average of one hand a round, exclusive of the big blind, which I almost always defend, just so people will not try to steal my big blind.) Sometimes before I get in a game I watch for a while. If I see people making mistakes that I would not make, then I want to join the game. If the game is very tight with few mistakes, unless I want to pay for a lesson, I may decide to do something else.