barring incredible comments from the forum, im still gonna write this. I dont have the short hand lingo down yet so bare with me. first thing, i play mainly 1/2nl and 1/3nl, 2/5nl every blue moon when im doin good. i have noticed that i have a repeating process of winning 4 days and then losing one day, the 4 days that i win i average 200 in eight hours and the loser day i get waxed for 400. ive looked at it and i dont know why it happens, most likely i guess because i suck, but i wanna get better. first question, is this normal, or should my weekly winrate be better then that? and i actually look at things on a monthly basis, i take alot of notes and do as much homework as i can.
i guess the purpose of this thread is for the forum to ask me questions that i will answer honestly and hopefully that will help me understand what im missing. so.... ask away, cause ki dont know where to start! im brand new to any forum so if u could take it easy on me.....

Post hands that gave you trouble, it's the best way to learn your thought process and if you're approaching the game the right way.

Punctuation and capitalization man, use them. Little things get you taken more seriously.

Post some specific hands and we can help with those lines/situations.

In general though, I'd start to look for patterns in your win/loss. Are you playing at different times of day? Do you win throughout the week against the nit regulars, then spew on friday nights when the drunks come out? If you're adjusting poorly to changing game conditions you could see patterns like you describe.

Do you quit when you're ahead/behind? Table change?

If you don't know where to start, then start with something basic.
Every single hand that you lose money, every single one, write it down.

If it's as simple as "I limped with XX for $2, and someone made it $50 and I folded write that down."

If it's "I raised to $20 with KK, someone called, someone shoved all in and someone reshoved and I folded" write it down.

If you shove all in pre flop for $300 with AA get called and lose, write it down.

Then look at them later.
If you can't tell by looking at them if they are "bad beats" or "bad play" or just "random unlucky events" then post them here.

We will respond, try to give you advice.

And the most important part:
Rinse and repeat x 50,000 times.

After a while you will start to see patters. You will see that you lose the same hands time and time again. After a while you will stop losing those hands. Then you will evolve and see other things. If you study enough, and post here, and read what other people post and write, you will eventually slowly add more information and get better.

Then come back again in 6 months and maybe ask that question again. (If you haven't figure it out yet.)

Note: If you tell me that there are too many hands to write down as you lose money in too many hands then that's a great place to start thinking about what's going on!

To add to the guy above me, also pay attention to big pots that you win. Just because you win a pot doesn't mean you played it correctly. Since you will rarely win a pot, you need to know that you're maximizing the size of the pots you win.

geez, thats what pisses me off the most, i take notes of hands that im not sure what line is correct. yet im still not learning, partially because im alone in poker- by that i mean- i have no friends that play and the few people at the casino's i can talk to, i obviously dont trust. im in the beleif that a large portion of getting better is to bounce ideas off ther players. that way u get different perspectives of the hand in question. i really think signing up in this forum is gonna help, i finally will be able to bounce shat off u guys.
here's a question--- (using 1/2nl as an example) if u play 8 hours a day, 40 hours a week, what is the normal daily winrate, meaning- how many days on average should u win against how many u lose? ( just so u guys know, i dont run my books that way, i look at a winrate in a per hour basis just like the rest of us)

There's a whole thread on winrates, and the numbers are rather hotly debated from time to time. A lot of it really depends on your location and the types of patrons/action at your local casino.

thats good advice thank you, luckily there isnt too many hands that im losing to write down, but i know im missin somethin- i just dont know what it is. very frustrating, thx J

Please, try to use punctuation. And paragraphs. And spacing.
And formatting. And anything else that you can so that it doesn't look like a wall of text.

And the part of the process that you are missing here:
Posting hands on the website. If you don't have poker friends (and even if you do) post hands here. Let other people weigh in on what a good thing to do is.

There are a number of posts (mostly stickied) at the top about how to craft a good post. A good post will help us to read it, and therefor make us more likely to respond to you.

As a group, we don't mind helping. But it takes time and effort. If you don't give it to us in a digestible form, it makes it harder to help. And you will lose a lot of people.

i guess u mean typing? if so, sorry i type with one finger but if it gets me more help i'll work on it. I play from 4pm to 12, or 6pm to 2 a.m. give or take. I do win through the week against the nits and thats my bread and butter, i do lose against the drunks on the weekend, how do I beat that besides not playing on the weekends? thx J

As for patterns it's likely random at this point but looking for different conditions can help figure out if there is a pattern. Posting hands will help immensely. I'd start out by responding to others posts mostly though. Sprinkle a few of your own in but your first step should be giving your own advice and then brace for the flaming you'll receive because its such bad advice. Trust me we've all been there.

As for win rates, its completely dependent on the skill gap between you and your opponents.

They say a solid winner has about 2/3 winning sessions. That's pretty close to what I've seen born out as well.

Lets start with baby steps...

There's a button on the keyboard you need to become more familiar with.

Its all the way over on the right. Rectangular in shape. Has an arrow on it that points like this <---'

Usually, you tap it twice after you finish a thought. Sometimes you string your thought together with a few of these things . , ? ! But you always tap that rectangular shaped key twice after each thought.

Believe it or not, it makes things better. You'll see.

Okay, I understand what you are saying now. It makes sense and honestly I didn't think of that, what you put in is what you will get out. I'll do my best, one good thing is I will learn how to type because god knows I can't! lol
Thank you for the advice J

Yes, I partly mean typing, and formatting. The better formatted and *clearly stated* posts tend to get the most responses, and better responses.

We'll need to know more about specific hands to tell you exactly, but it sounds like you're not adjusting correctly, and playing a style that doesn't work well against a looser more aggressive game.

For example, C-betting in a spot that's an easy post flop take down against a nit isn't going to be a good idea against a drunken station that'll call you down with bottom pair. If you're just playing your cards and the board, without profiling your opponents correctly you'll make these kinds of mistakes and bleed chips.

Honestly this doesn't sound like you are that bad. 1/5 sessions are losing.

I think the key for you is going to be limiting how much you are losing in your losing sessions. Also recognizing when it's not your day and just cashing out when it's not looking good.

Also a good rule of thumb I keep in mind, is I only expect to make minimum wage. Now obviously we want to make more than 5BB/hour, but keeping a level head like this for expectations will over time decrease your number and degree of losing sessions. It will however curb your huge sessions in the beginning, but you will be more consistently making money and getting that upward trend.

Instead of focusing on your win rate, focus on your decision making. Stop moving around in stakes so much, and post hands you play.

You got your last thread locked for asking this question. That does not bode well for your future as a poker player (or not getting banned from this website).

You got good advice here. I'll give you one more piece of advice. When you stop asking about how much you should win, you'll have made progress towards being a winning player. Next time I see you ask in a thread how much you should win, I will infract you for it.