I find the game difficult even at the microstakes. My losses are much larger than my wins. While I haven't spent an incredible sum on trying to learn the game ($500 in the last year) Im starting to think that maybe poker isn't for me since I make up the poker economy by bringing fresh money to the tables and losing it.

Sometime's Ill make great bets, like my last hand that busted me out on Juicy Stakes I had AA and a guy shoved all in preflop. He had a taller stack, but I matched him. He shows AQo, as flop turn and river came, he got a straight off his queen and I lost my last few dollars I had left in the account.

I burned through $100 in just under 3 days on Juicy Stakes. There were a lot of hands where I might have a 93% chance of winning and still lose, some were bad calls, othertimes Im not sure if Im just throwing chips out there and I have no idea why.

I tried making another credit card deposit on Juicy Stakes and luckily my Credit Card company prevented me from doing it. I made one last $25 deposit on Bovada, problem is I can't use this $90 Hold Em Manager2 program on that site, but Im hoping I get more use out of my deposit on this site than I did Juicy Stakes.

'I burned through $100 in just under 3 days on Juicy Stakes' - never heard of the site, so I don't know its minimum stake, but assuming it's no higher than 4NL, I don't know how this is possible.

what limits are you playing?

$5-$7 SNG's mainly. Personally I think Im just a bad player is more of the problem than the stakes I play at.

edit: Probably a lack of discipline too

What are you doing to learn the game and improve?

I probably need to utilize Hold em Manager2 better, lower the stakes. what do you recommend?

At one time I did turn a $50 bankroll into $360 at an earlier time and then donked it off. It was partly because I finished 1st in two large tournaments though.

Sorry for detracting but I've been hearing about juicy stakes a lot lately, is it good? how's the traffic like, is the graphics complicated 3d or simple like stars and ftp?
Add for your question, thinking you have to h grind it out in freerolls and then keep the bankroll. You are wasting money. Find some private freerolls, ask the stupid questions in th his forums, read some professional poke books of your level... They help a lot. you keep thinking about poker and some day you start to understand, like truly understand what you have read. I call it setting a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. I'm cliched like that.

Juicy Stakes has a high volume of players and lots of small bonuses for playing.

I think Ill grind it out at the bottom stakes for now. One of the nights I got drunk and played pretty ****ty as a result, I have a problem with alcohol.

People learn stuff in different ways so it's difficult to know what's going to be best for you, but books and videos have helped a lot of players.

There are guys who just play, play, play and pick it up that way, but they're pretty rare, I'd say.

Certainly tracking software is extremely useful but if you depend on that alone, you're missing out on a ton of useful resources.

Personally, I'd prove to myself that I could beat the smallest games before trying anything higher.

Good Luck.

One thing that is not in my arsenal is 3-betting. I don't do it, Im always afraid that if I reraise that Im raising against an awesome hand and that its dead money anyways. When should you 3-bet? Im usually afraid to do it unless I got a really strong hand.

depends on your villain.
if he raises only 5% of his hands, don't 3bet unless you have a monster.
if he raises 20% you can 3bet wide.

you need to 3bet bluff a bit because otherwise you will not get any action when you do.

I just noticed we are talking about SNGs. forget about your 3bets until you have learned the basics of push/fold SNG strategy.

I don't know what the stakes are but you might simply have been unlucky. 500 uSD doesn't seem that much. I lost roughly the same amount when I started but then it turned around for me and I'm now a winning/break-even player depending on how you see it. It's like any other hobby something that you invest money into IMO.

You should start of grinding on micro stakes and not the 5/7 sngs. those are reg invested and players are better than you without a doubt. Start grinding 0.50/1$ sng's with 100$ bankroll and build your way up. no need to donk away 100$ at 5/7$ stakes that's just stupid and makes you a big fish.

Google "results oriented poker".
It was something i had for a month. Once you get rid of this mindset, you will start to care less about money. And eventually make more money.
Dont play drunk, if you want to keep your bankroll steady.
Also on the quote, many players try to steal blinds and easily fold to 3bet. But only 3bet with premium hands at start.

Play the lowest stakes while you are learning.

You are a victim of "this game's easy to learn and play syndrome" The rules and mechanics are easy and some early success can suck you in to thinking you have some lock on how to play poker. You really learn by playing and studying a lot. It takes a lot of time and effort. You will win sometimes despite being a donk, but you will lose your ass time after time. If you stick with it and have normal amounts of good/bad luck things will improve. And please do like the above poster and play lower limits while you are really learning, it's good advice!

As above play the lowest stakes,consider joining one of the many training sites,depending on what your game is.