Hello all, thanks for taking the time to read my post.

I'm very new to the poker world, always really enjoyed playing home games with friends and at local pubs and seemed to have a natural ability (not bragging, just seemed to pick it up quick) so grabbed up a couple poker books and started playing more..

I'm aware one of the worst things to be in the poker community is a fish/bad player and losing player. I'm fully aware, and hate the fact, that i must be all of the above and need to find a way to turn this around, because same as you all i Love poker and i'm not willing to give up playing it.

I played poker recreationally for say 5 years, never really taking it seriously and just treating it as a fun pass time every now and then. I stopped playing for some time but a year ago logged onto pokerstars after seeing an ad, won $80 and decided i was a pro. What a tit.

Fast forward and for just short of a year I've been I studying daily, reading books, streaming pros & watching youtube highlights and training videos. I'm fortunate enough to have a bunch of free time at work so I've honestly spent maybe 4 hours a day studying, then i go home and jump straight into spin and goes or daily tournaments. From time to time i do OK, i replicate moves I've seen work, tried to invent my own, try to dissect hands as i play and try make the right decisions as often as possible - my highest point my bankroll reached $850 which is high for me. Not even a month later i was back to $0 and waiting to be paid to re-deposit.

What i don't understand is how i can do things right, yet lose so frequently. I appreciate variance is a factor in this game, and i would of course be lying to you if i said i got it in ahead 100% of the time but i never intend to get it in bad which is why i for sure get it in predominantly well/ahead but still lose a vast majority of the time. This post is being written after coming 953rd in the Sunday Million, which i satellited into, left £70 in winnings on my account, got it up to $220 over the space of 2 weeks, today i have lost maybe 29/30 games I've played and i'm down to $0.70.

Sorry for the life story guys, i would just really love some feedback. I've seen people with similar posts and they've been told to manage bankroll better (something i struggle with) or lower the buy-ins for cash games (something i don't enjoy playing so rarely do). I just want to know if there is light at the end of the tunnel, as I've said i'm not deterred and love this game so much, but i'm struggling to stomach the constant loses and no real improvement after such a long and dedicated period of time.

Hi MrJ,

I started playing poker in a very similar way. I have only been 21 for less than a year, but I have played over 250,000 hands of cash games and over 300 tournaments/sit n gos. I think that you show a lot of dedication with the studying and time you have dedicated, which only means losing sucks even more since you are so committed.

That said, tournaments are the highest variance out there. I personally think you should try sit and gos. You can play quite a few more of them and if you bust, it only took an hour or less rather than playing a tournament for 7 hours to bubble out and go home empty handed.

You can mix it up in cash games and try all the different types, but as a tournament player I would definitely go with Sit and Gos. Starting bankroll should be 50 BIs for a fairly loose bankroll or 100 BIs for conservative. You have cash flow coming in from your job so you can be a bit more aggressive with your bankroll management if you choose.

I would recommend getting tracking software like poker tracker or holdem manager so you can keep track of your progress, wins/losses, etc. They offer a lot of programs within the software that will help you find leaks and plug them.

One thing I do as a SNG player is to run the big hands through an equity calculator to figure out if I was getting correct odds to call postflop or to see if I was getting it in ahead preflop.

Spin and gos are attractive, but they are almost unbeatable in the long run unless you can win 36% of the time and keep winning big spins.


Good luck out there, man.

This is all over the map ... If you are truly new to this site then spend some of your study time working your way around the 'proper' areas for what you are playing and read the threads.

1) You are NOT new to poker. This will be the first turn-off when people read your post. Played 5 years, took a year off , came back, now a year later .. study 4 hours a day? This is not 'new' to poker.

2) You do seem to have a decent grasp on 'what' to do to improve but maybe you aren't spotting the things to change. Post some more information about hands you've played (in the proper forum) and get some feedback.

3) You aren't going to invent some of your own moves ... Yes, there are trends in poker regarding betting patterns and ranges and such, but there's no reason to reinvent the wheel at small stakes. Prove to 'us' (and more importantly yourself) that you can play tight, disciplined ABC poker before you 'make moves' at stakes where the players can't even 'see' or understand what you're trying to do.

4) What stake are you playing? You lost an average of $7 per session over 30 'sessions' ... how many hours/hands was that? Are you multi-tabling?

This is a very good place to get some help (and hope and/or reassurance) ... we just need something brought to us other than 'can you help me?' GL

Thank you for both for replying.

Oilspill, i'm going to take on board what you're saying, at this stage trying a new format and seeing where it takes me certainly can't do any more harm. I'll get a tracker on the go asap and will see about running an equity calculator on hands too, for sure i need to review games afterwards to see where i went wrong and learn. Thank you for your response mate - best of luck to you too!

answer20, this is my first thread on this site, only recently found out it existed and let me reassure you, i'm new to poker. I appreciate what you've said in point 1 but maybe i haven't explained very clearly so let me clarify:

When i played for 5 or so years, we are talking the most basic level of playing poker, 0 understanding of the game. I played amongst friends and in a pub where the best player was whoever won the most all in's on the night and i never even knew this was a game with a broader scale than the WSOP - which i saw on TV and just assumed was a richer format of masters which was unattainable to somebody like me.
Additionally my 'studying' for 4 hours a day consists mostly of me watching highlights of Tonkaaa/KevinMartin/JaimeStaples and videos by gripsed whilst arrogantly telling myself 'i can do this'. My post isn't intended to just vent, its me accepting I've spent a seemingly long time playing bad poker, learning very little, and now deciding to actually walk before i run.

I will for sure give more detailed information on hands and spots - though which would be the best area of the site to post it on? Again, this is literally my first time interacting on here so i'm not sure.

The stakes i'm playing and my poor bankroll management is the reason i'm on here to try to adapt and become better. In truth, the stakes varied massively. Predominantly i was sticking to $3 spin and goes, winning at an average of 2/3 or 66% and then when making more upping the stakes to the $15 buyin's. I lost $220 today though arrogance, thinking i could play the $60 and $30 spins. Turns out i can't to the same win rate - hence now being broke. With Tournaments i did the same, each profitable run meant i was attempting to satelliting into bigger tournaments, sometimes with success, mostly without.

Thanks a bunch for your response too buddy. You're right, i suppose my naive thinking is that i want to be great at this game, not good, so just copying other peoples play seems counter-intuitive. Though again i should be learning the fundamentals first before i reinvent the wheel like you said. I really appreciate you getting back to me, i'll be doing what i can to take it on board.

Step one.