Hi everyone,

I'm 19 years of age, and have been playing online for just over a year now. I play cash 0.05/0.10 and tourneys with buy ins of $2-$5, with the occasional $8 buy in. I have had varying success in my short poker career, cashing deep in a handful of tourneys and playing solidly on cash tables. however, i currently stand at just over $300 down, and have had several losing months in a row. I feel i have a very good understanding of the game, concepts, betting patterns and hand-reading, and am confused as to why i am a losing player.

I have considered quitting for a few months, to read, watch videos and start from scratch - maybe i will identify and get rid of any bad habbits..? I don't need any beginner strategy help, such as starting hands, continuation bets, position play etc. i just feel i need a little bit of solid advice to turn me into a winning player. at the moment, i tend to have a winning month, then lose it all in the next month. tilt.? not really, i try to stay calm and make rational decisions.

basically, i am calling all you guys to share your knowledge and experience to help me fall back in love with the game! obviously, as i am a losing player, drastic measures must be taken!

any advice will be appreciated, thanks in advance for your time

Rob

How many hands are you playing? I suggest watching videos online and comparing your play to theirs. Could be variance but doubtful at those stakes.

i play around 100 hands a session, 3 or 4 times a week. i agree watching videos has helped me a bit, however i feel there is a fundamental flaw in my game; i am convinced i am making the right decisions, yet cannot make profit from week to week. how can i avoid the times when i go a week or so just blowing up and losing my hard-earned profit?

that is a very small hand sample. So you just play one table for like an hour every few days? Many of the people that are in the games you are playing, are grinding 20-40k hands per month and dedicate alot of time to studying, watching vids, getting coaching, joining skype poker groups etc. Even the nano stakes are tough nowadays so having some background and born ability won't come close to cutting it given the rake at the micros, and the fact that even though there are soft spots, you still need to know how to exploit them. Don't unlearn everything, just be open to adjusting your game, trying new things out, and taking in as much good info as possible. Also, playing one table is pretty monotonous so by adding a few more, you might resist the urge to call k9 suited out of the blinds against an utg open, even though it looks like the best hand you've seen in 20 min. You get yourself in more spots, and get more experience which ultimately is what you want to do, get better.

Tilt control- again the more hands you play, the less a run of a few tough beats or hands in a row will affect you. I suggest maybe dropping to 5nl, adding 2-3 more tables, start taking notes on your opponents, analyze your hands in HEM after your sessions, post hands on here or on DC or CR etc.... You can play great like you said for hours or days and then get two outed and go on monkey tilt and your whole thought process about how to play the game correctly shuts down. Pick up Jared Tendlers the Mental Game of Poker and keep grinding.

Thanks for the replies guys. I may have under-estimated the number of hands I play; I have cut down in the last few months, but have played over 16k hands in total, so there is definitely a fundamental problem in my game. I was considering moving UP the stakes- maybe to get away from the 'gambling' players and to get into more sophisticated, technical games. Would this be an option for me or should I just accept that I am not as good a player as I think? Cheers

Hey Rob, as far as cash games. i decided a while back that i was gonna try playing cash. i read a few books, and watched a ton of videos. i decided to try Leakbuster, and it has been really helpful pointing out alot of the things i was doing wrong, and helped me get my stats in the right areas. I started with a ton of leaks, but after using this have it down to just a few that are consistently coming up. It has a lot of full length training vids, and written info in it as well. Maybe give it a try.