Something I have seen a lot recently in the chat threads has been

"xNL is full of nits, how can you win a stack off players that won't stack off?"
"xNL is full of regs, how can you beat players that play the same as you?"
"xNL is full of short stackers, how am I supposed to win if I can only play preflop and flop poker?"
“I run so bad, my sets never get paid off, they always hit their flush, waaa, waaa, waaa”

Well maybe it’s time to take a step back and look at your game from a different angle. What if I said that maybe it’s not the games that are bad, and it’s not the variance, but maybe YOU are playing the wrong strategy for the game you are in… or to put it another way, maybe you are simply not good enough yet for the game you are playing.

If you’re whining that 50NL isn’t beatable, just have a browse around the midstakes forum and check out the monthly graphs in there… unless you’re suggesting that 400NL or 1000NL are actually harder, then after seeing how the guys up at those stakes do on a monthly basis, you will have to admit that your stake can be crushed, given the correct strategy.

It’s a very hard thing for a poker player to do, to admit that you are not actually that good, but it can be one of the most liberating things you can do for your game. Once you strip the ego away and realise that the problem behind your lack of success is not the game itself, or the players, or the goddam shortstackers, but YOUR approach to the game, and YOUR leaks, then, and only then, can you start to fix it.

Now I’m not going to be advocating any particular strategy, because every game is different, and I’m no expert myself. What I will do is try to give you some idea into what kind of area you should be looking at.

1: You have problems playing against regs. This is because the regs are good at the game, but also because they play a similar style to you, therefore they have a good idea of what you’re doing at any particular point. But…. These guys are not robots, they are human beings. They have flaws, they have leaks, and most importantly, they probably struggle in exactly the same areas that you do. So think about the kind of spots that you really struggle with, and try to put your opponent in the same kind of spot.

2: You don’t get involved with nits, because you can never win their stack without coolering them…. Maybe it’s time to stop trying to win their stack, and time to start exploiting their aversion to stacking off without the nuts?

3: You’re reviewing your play, and it’s ok because you’re only losing because you’re getting sucked out on in big pots…. Everybody loses 200bb pots to suckouts, get over it. Ok, you may have had more than usual, but have you ever dug a bit deeper in your session reviews, to that big chunk of 35bb pots that you lost because you can’t fold TPWK, or that section of hands where you failed to get the fish’s whole stack because you didn’t value bet your monster enough?

There’s obviously lots more to this subject, but this post is getting far too long already, but maybe there’s enough here for one or two of you to take away and think about.

very very good and true post!

Excellent reminder for all of us.

Well done.

Nice post. Good reality check for everybody.

Sticky this topic and provide it's link to anyone who complains.

Many of us expect to win too much way too quickly

Exactly! The sooner you realise that it's not your God given right to win money at poker, the quicker your game can improve.

+1. Tommy Angelo said it best: "The only thing you're entitled to is a seat at the table."

I needed this ty...

Tommy Angelo seems like the kind of guy I could form a mancrush for. I am going to investigate further and purchase anything he's written

Really good, Ron.

Super solid post Ron, we should split the forum into "uFR - Whiney players" and "uFR - Real men"


As soon as I read this...
...I insta think of this...


Can't disagree with any part of this.

Sorry, but I am ahead of range. If you had said 100BB, then I agree, but only because we shouldn't be ahead of range for 100BB.

Nice post. Agree 100%.

Yeah, was just a random example I picked from the air.

Replace with... "but have you ever dug a bit deeper in your session reviews, to that big chunk of xxbb pots that you lost because you can’t fold xx"

It will be different for everybody, my point was that we all have leaks that aren't the obvious 'bleeding stacks in massive pots' leak.

Nice post, Ron!

And +1 to the Tommy love, can't wait until his book arrives.