Now these are the kind of words of encouragement I was looking for! Thank you sir.

It seem's that I have gotten this thread off to a really bad start. Either everyone is so caught up in the amount I have lost, or I am not fully articulating what it is that I am trying to say.

I have every intention of getting some hand histories in here, I just haven't gotten around to it yet (I am still re-familiarizing myself with the WPN software as I hadn't played on there in a year or so. Specifically I am having trouble getting hand histories. But my intention is to post hands where I am unsure of my line and ask for advice and constructive critisim)

Actually, I am not looking at the money at all (other than in terms of # of Buy-ins for whatever level I am playing.) I am ONLY interested in improving as a player, and being able to beat the game and move up in stakes. The money will come with the improved skill.

At some point I will do a twitch or a live stream. While I am certainly not good, I really am not nearly as bad as you folks think I am....

I don't have access to PM for some reason (perhaps because I literally just made this account on Tuesday?) but I do hope to get some coaching at some point. But again, I really think my problem is rooted in patience and discipline more than anything. When and if I do get a coaching session, if they can show me otherwise I will certainly be glad to make any adjustments needed to improve my game. But often time (like 80 to 90% of the time) I know when I am making a bad move, but just haven't had the discipline to reverse course. But again, I am trying to change that.

In any event. I am here to learn. I am here to improve. This wasn't some pity party thread, this wasn't a cry for attention. This was an honest to god attempt at finding some help to improve my game. I don't see any reason why I can't be a winning poker player, but I also at times don't fully know why I am a losing player either. Obviously, making those big lay downs will help a lot. But I'm sure it can't just be that, can it? I expect in a month or two that I will have gotten better and playing tight and making those folds when I need to, but I still expect to be a more or less break even player at that point (If i am not, then hot damn! I found my leak) and at that point, once I have started to develop some good habits, I will very much actively seek out more advice and coaching. Right now, I am just trying to learn how to not go broke. Gotta do that before I can really learn how to win money, right?

Awesome man, glad to hear it. Looking forward to seeing some hands on here. You've mentioned the idea of learning how to not lose money before you can win money. I don't agree with those two ideas being mutually exclusive. Having the "discipline" to make tight folds only comes from a well thought out approach. I thought that way when I was a losing player too. I learned that you need to have good reasons why you're taking the actions you're taking, rather than taking them for the sake of taking them (i.e. "making big lay-downs"). Fixing your "bad habits" will go hand in hand with studying and becoming better and more fundamentally sound – trust me.

I'm also more than willing to help you with your game if you want – feel free to PM me and you can add me on Skype. I mostly play low-mid stakes MTTs and live cash but I'll still for sure be able to help you with your fundamentals and thought processes.

Well the reason I say that is because I've been studying since 09 or 10 oh how to "win" money, and I am fairly well versed in those skill sets. Playing in position, hand selection (perhaps not as diligent as I should be, I get splashy and laggish too often) value betting, pot odds, implied odds, fold equity, +Ev moves. All of this is great. It has taken me from a guy that would be a break even or a small winner for a few sessions (before going broke) to a player who ran $200 into $4.4K in about 3 weeks one time (before going broke.) I don't think my issue is how much I can or can't win at the table (I honestly think I have that covered. But in the future, once I start getting some HH in here, everyone is welcome to correct me if I am wrong) the issue is I never seem to preserve what I do win. Not quitting while I am ahead is a big problem.

I really wont have time to do much tonight I don't think, and then I know Friday and Saturday will be no go's, but hopefully Sunday I can devote some time to getting my **** together. I actually have never used a HUD before, so I am going to get me a couple of free trials and see which one I like best. I also am going to make a Skype account. Once I do, I will definitely be glad to hit you up and see if we can't work on some of these leaks!

I have thought about making the switch to MTT's full time but it's such a time commitment, and I work 50ish hours a week and have a toddler, so I don't get as much time to dedicate to playing as I would like (and the ability to just get up and leave a cash game whenever I want or need to is definitely a plus! Tuesday's 30 player MTT not withstanding) I actually prefer to play tourney's (the goal would be to eventually be a full time tourney grinder and leave the cash games alone completely) but that would be pretty tough to do right now. I MAY make the switch to a full time SNG's grind instead of cash, but at the micro's there aren't a ton of SNG's running, plus I don't think I'm good enough to be a winning player at that game (but then again, up to this point I haven't been a winning player at cash either. I expect to be winning at $2Nl, but hell even that could be a pipe dream!)

That's going a little far, he's just a normal reg lol People seem to jizz themselves lately just because someone moved up to midstakes. No offense of course to broken who seems like a good guy and a good player.

Yes from first impressions, I didn't think you were an addict. Just someone who plays poker and probably has a few weaknesses in their game here and there. Losing $50k over 10 years at midstakes is perfectly possible with a marginally losing win rate and playing lots of hands.

Mid stakes these days in NLHE is effectively high stakes, given how little action there is at actual high stakes.

solid

Yes totally possible. What is not possible for a non gambling addict is racking up $40k in debt and not once cashing out in a whole ten years.

OP you have a toddler; quit gambling. If you enjoy playing then go to play money tables.

Yes, but I also have a $45k a year job. I am not destitute here people.

Also I have effectively "withdrawn" from live poker plenty of times (so to speak.)

I am sure I am still net down from playing live, but I have won several thousand dollars that I have been able to use for other things besides just donating back to the poker table. Just because I haven't withdrawn any money off of an online poker site doesn't mean I haven't ever been able to reap a little rewards from the table. Hell, I still play on a Guitar and Rig that I bought with poker winnings. I am not a complete degenerate. Just mostly!

Winning means winning overall though, not certain sessions.

I put $1000 on red and win

Buy a TV

Put $1000 on red again and lose

"I bought myself a TV with my winnings"

I am well aware. I was just point out that when he focuses on the fact that I have never made a withdrawal, like if I had withdrawn a few thousand over the years it would make somewhat of a difference in my skill level. I was just point out that I have won a few thousand playing live. Am I still a net loser, oh **** yeah. By a whole lot.

In any event, I am here to get better. I am not like those other guys, I know i am not a great player, and I want to get better. I'm not one of those guys that just walks around thinking I am great and I have nothing to learn. I'm reading 6betMe's thread as we speak. Holy ****....

Also read TyTytheFly's thread. Ouch. Been there, albeit to a smaller degree. I used to think if I just had a bankroll I wouldn't go broke. Then I finally built up a $4.4K bank roll of a single buy in at $200NL. Then I went broke....

I am trying to learn from other peoples mistakes as well as my own, and I am trying to start at the bottom and slowly (very slowly) build a roll and move up the stakes until I am eventually playing the levels I used to play at (only this time I will have the proper roll and have hopefully put in the necessary hours of practice and study to be a winning player at those stakes)

That's actually good because that means there isn't much on top of that I could possibly say in this thread. He got so much advice it's insane. It now serves as a library for all others.

Exactly! Professional Roulette player now.

Also, true story. Last time I played live I ended up losing most of my buy-in (ran AQ into AK, I knew I was beat. I even said "you've got ace kind?" as I toss in chips to call. I know I have said it before, and I'll say it again. That's the biggest thing I have to change. Calling when I know I am beat...) so I leave the table with whatever I had left (I think it was like $38 or something along those lines) and I take it to a BJ table and run it up to around $100ish. As I am playing there is a young guy there who was just learning the game, but was eager to play basic strategy, so I am explaining the concept hand for hand. Anyway, he does well, and apparently is back to even after having lost several hundred earlier in the night. Eventually he gets up and leaves.

So as I am walking out about an hour later he literally stops me on my way out and tells me he just took all of his money and put it on red. "So your broke?" "Nope, it hit on red" and he pulls out 2 $500 dollar chips out of his pocket. He is high as a kite on that adrenaline and he just darts off before I could tell him by degenerate stories and how he should take his ****ing winnings and leave..... I never saw him again, but I can only assume he went broke that night.....

Last post by 6bet me 30/7; first post by op 31/7

hhhhmmmmm

Wow dude, great stuff, I guess.
At first I was enthralled, at the end, just plain puzzled.
I'm not a crusher but I soon realized what everyone else did.
Dear sir, you mentioned, making a living from poker is the dream.
Dear sir, you are the dream. Hundreds, if not thousands of successful poker players were able to realize the dream of making it in poker because of you and others like you.

Forget it. You'll never be a winning player. The sooner you come to grips with that truth the better.
After that, you can start playing poker for recreation. No, I won't tell you to quit, that's nonsense. I know, no matter what anyone says you won't and, if it's fun you shouldn't. But, once you admit you're a loser( at poker, no offense), you can make the adjustment to someone who plays just for fun. Join a poker league for example, where they play 20 dollar buy in tournaments.

Good luck!

If you want to be helped, do as I say.

Go to https://www.pokerstrategy.com/poker-...quilab-holdem/ and download equilab.

Assume you are playing at a 6max table. Use the software to sketch what you think you should be openraising from UTG, HJ, CO, BTN. If you are thinking something along the lines of "well, that depends on the table", throw that thought out the window. What you are sketching is your default play. Take pictures of the 4 opening ranges and post them in the thread.

I'll get back to you when you have posted.

^^^^^ That's a good idea.

Also, subbed

You have a lot of misconceptions about the game and yourself. The statement above summarizes one of the misconceptions you have. You have stated numerous times that you feel you need to learn when to leave the table when you're up.

The reality is that as David Sklansky wrote years ago is that poker is just one long session. It doesn't matter when you start and when you stop playing. You keep wanting to looking at when you took $200 and ran it up to $4400. You're proud of that. The objective person outside is looking at it as you started at -$40,000 at one point and managed to get to -$35,600 before going back to -$40,000.

Once you have this perspective on your game, you'll stop posting about how you "won" a few thousand. You never "won" anything.

The only other piece of advice is to stick to one game. MTT, SNG and cash games emphasize different aspects of poker. You won't get good enough to have a sustainable advantage in any one of them if you keep hopping games. You need to pick one and stick with it, likely for a couple of years. Don't move up until you've won 20 buyins for the game you're playing.

I know that sounds boring, but if you really "love the game," you'll do it. But as I said above, I don't think you "love the game." You're addicted to gambling. Your actions will tell everyone which one of us is correct.

Well I have admitted to being a losing poker player several times throughout this thread, I mean just look at the title.... but why can't I learn from my mistakes and become a winning poker player?

Good deal! I will check that out. It's probably going to be Sunday before I will have a chance (got my son the next couple of days) but I will definitely get into that bad boy!

I have to disagree. Every serious poker player will say you shouldn't play if you are tired, if you are on tilt, not focused, whatever. Well, for me, once I start to lose I go on tilt and get very unfocused. So the leaving while I am ahead or up a significant amount is as much about mental preservation as it is financial preservation.

That's the plan (as stated) at least as far as moving up the stakes are concerned. Right now, I am focused on cash games. While I much prefer SNG's and MTT's over cash, to reach the level I want, cash will be a better game structure to get there. Granted, I will have to work harder, but that's a good thing. Obviously I was missing the mark quite a bit before. I need to start at the bottom and work on my fundamentals.

So, I wasn't planning on playing last night, but I ended up squeezing in a 3 hour session before bed. More of the same. Up on 2 tables, down on 2 others, finishing the night basically break even. +$0.68 but I'll take it. I'll take winning 1/3 of a buy-in over losing several buy-ins (which is what I have been doing as of late.)

So there was one hand I got into that turned out to be quite eventful. Let me know what you guys think. At first I thought I was making a great play (until I got called on the river) upon further reflection (results not withstanding) I thought I was out of line. Now, upon even more reflection after a nights sleep, I see merit in both lines and I really don't know how I feel about my play.

2NL
Hero: BB with 99xx and 110BB
villain: SB with 105BB
Folds around to the SB who min raises.
Hero: 3B to $0.12 SB calls. Pot= $0.24
Flop: K82r
villain: leads out for $0.16
Hero: Min raises Villain tanks for awhile and then calls. Pot = $0.56
Turn: 4x (off suit)
villain: Bets $0.12
Hero: raises all in and villain tanks for almost all of there time bank before making the call. Villain Shows AKo
River: 9 Hero Scoops

So here is my thought process behind this hand. Please let me know if I was out of line or not. Initially the min-raise struck me as a standard play, possible to steal the blinds, or maybe just because. The bet on the flop didn't worry me, as I would have expected the initial raiser to continue with just about any holdings on any board. My raise on the flop really was to test the waters, if they called, I figured I was beat. Of course the most ideal situation was for them to fold or call with a worse hand (but that is very unlikely.) Had they snapped called, or even called after just a couple of seconds I would have totally given up, but the amount of tanking time just made it feel like a weak call. I want to say the K and the 8 were both clubs, so maybe an Ax flush draw perhaps. Either way, it just felt weak at the time. The bet on the turn also felt weak. villain sized down, almost like it was scared money. I jam, in my mind bluffing. I expect our villain to wither have the flush draw I mentioned (or some other ****ty flush draw, a lot of random suited hands turning up at showdowns in these games...) or perhaps a 1010,JJ,or QQ. All of which I totally expected to get a lay down from with that all in bet. The super long tank also sort of solidified my opinion that I was fairly on the money with my range assessment. Until of course they finally make the call at the last minute and turn over AK. Well, apparently my semi-bluff almost work. Considering they had TPTK and I got them to contemplate a fold here, pretty decent move if you ask me. I was sort of curious why they didn't snap call, or at least call quicker than they did. Oh well, GG I guess. Except of course that river card came out and it was favorable as AN says. I even told them in chat that I was sorry for the suck out and that I didn't put them on a King at all.

So was I completely out of line here? Let me know your thoughts. And before you say it, yes I know, I am playing too tricky for the mircros. Remember, I have been playing $1/$2 and $2/$4 mostly before this. I am still in the adjusting phase. But that being said, honestly, these players seem just as good if not better than the mid stakes players, in fact $2/$4 players seem to be the easiest players to play against. I honestly think if $10K appeared in my account tomorrow I could be a winner at that game. But then again, I have always went broke at that game eventually, so what do I know?

I'm actually highly confident you're trolling now. If not; holy **** you were lucky to only burn $50k in 10 years.