When I first started playing, I knew very little about poker(I was a complete lucky fish) and had continued to play this way for the last couple years. What can you expect having learned how to play on Zynga Poker! I'm not sure if Zynga was hurting or helping me(I recently read it is hurting me as people just spew chips constantly although not as much at the 100K/200K level), but regardless it has been my practice for my live games both 1/2 and 2/5nl. I would always manage to pick up some good cards no matter where I was and would rely primarily on my "reads", which to some degree is still my strongest weapon. I would mange to make upwards of 1-3k a month playing occasionally a few times a week, at couple hours at a time. Come last month when I first started understanding ranges, playing in position, understanding +Ev, the mental game of poker, and different styles of play(Lag,tag, nit, ect.), my win rate dramatically went down. I think my biggest weakness is that I tend to keep reverting to playing on feel more than I "should" as an adjustment to my game and my opponents game, but it feels like I'll actually play in a torn fashion when on the spot. I get into a pot I shouldn't be playing, and then all the poker coach voices come back mid stream. Maybe it's that I haven't mastered the art of poker meditation.... I always work out before my sessions to try and release some stress as that is apart of my warm up. Maybe I'm taking it all too serious now? When I'm laughing and having fun at the table and socializing I seem to play my best. I feel like I'm a "lag"/ "tag" player essentially, but am having trouble not spewing chips. I really need to get back in the swing of winning, as it seems rather counter intuitive that I would decrease in winnings when I become more educated. Any advice would be awesome.

This is really too vague a question. I would not be surprised if this thread got locked. Try posting some example hands from sessions where you felt "torn", and we can take a look at those, and maybe provide some insight.

walloftext lol

this should prob be moved over to beginner questions forum

when youre playing, tell yourself that youre only going to try to make the best +ev decisions, and dont worry about the results.. use logic behind every decisions, dont just say "i feel like...".. use live reads as part of your decision making if you need to

keep reading and posting in the strategy forums and youll see a marked difference in your play as you transition from a 'feel' player to a 'thinking' player (not implying you dont think about hands, but you will start to develop a formulaic process of figuring out hands)

the biggest factor of becoming a winning player is obviously understanding the fundamentals as you described, but it is also being able to understand your opponents.. without understanding the tendencies of your opponents, it will be nearly impossible to determine accurate ranges for them and making the correct plays against them will have you in doubt

[ ] sample size

It seems like you're trying to beat the game, force action, level yourself, etc. Just try to focus on each individual decision and make sure you're doing whatever's +EV.

Sorry for misplacement but this is helpful. I do feel like I am able to put people on pretty accurate ranges above average. I do feel like controlling emotion is a big challenge of mine. Going on these forums has been incredibly helpful. As well as reading books ect. I think I am too caught up in my old tendencies and keep reverting after roughly 3 hours of play. Which I am becoming more aware of. I guess I was just use to winning more often before I started becoming a "thinking player". For instance previously limping and even raising ATs-KQs in early position would not cross my mind. I could force others to fold. And more often that not I was seeing results from it. Now that concept has become tricky, but for some reason I keep wanting to play those hands in that position, even though now I know it's not +EV.

This sounds very accurate to my situation. It's been challenging leveling myself and not getting too "creative".

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/17...llsnl-1168186/

I would wager (pun intended) that you were just running insanely well over a small sample earlier while playing awful poker. You are now still probably playing awful poker, but things are leveling out. Start from the beginning and try to start learning fundamentals. Math don't lie. Playing by "feel" is usually just playing superstitious hunches and not what actually makes sense. Learn the basics and then add your reads.

Read the stickies.

Locked.