Hello this is my first post and I am very impressed by the atmosphere of this forum,

I have been playing poker for a few years now and I do not think I have gotten better at all. I read Ed Miller and Dan Harrington's books. I understand the concepts of bankroll management and stuff. But, I am a pretty competitive Chess player, and for that game I am always reading books and finding mistakes with my game. But when I play Poker I can not figure out what I am doing wrong, it seems like such an abstract game that is dependent on not just oneself but the people one is playing. And thus it seems like one has to adapt to the play of other people.
So I guess my question is,
What qualities make a great Poker Player?
and
How does one refine these qualities in order to become great?

Thanks In Advance Guys!

Not tilting.
Observation and focus. Then, deducing what your opponents have or are likely to have.
Aggression, which takes sophistication to apply properly.

The above just applies to playing well. As far as making a livign at poker, self discipline is very very important. Money management and game selection are big aspects of it.

I think a lot of it is also plain experience. At least for me, you'll eventually bust out of the shell of whether you think your cards are good or not. You'll start to notice trends with certain situations, notice it happening to other people, and how they deal with it.

Then you start thinking about what other people have. Your own cards don't matter quite as much, because if you can pin your opponent on a tight range of hands, you can make the right play virtually all of the time. You might be surprised at the kind of plays you can make if you simply have a semi-full stack and position.

So my advice is to keep practicing. Everyone has their journey. Use your chess skills to think ahead!

welcome to 2+2. i dont want to sound harsh but you probably have leaks that you arent even aware of because as you said yourself "I play Poker I can not figure out what I am doing wrong". Dont worry, this is perfectly standard. Fortunately theres a true and tried recipe for getting better which is to get involved in the forums here at 2+2. lurking is okay but posting a few hands and replying to alot more in teh strategy forum relevant to your game is much better. goodluck

There is software that you can use to find leaks in your game.

Pokertracker, after you have a large enough hand sample, will give you all kinds of information on where the leaks might be. For example, you might find out that you lose money playing certain hands, or playing from certain positions.

Also, Wilson Turbo software will give you practice in certain situation, just as you could get from chess software such as Chessmaster and others.

You can set it up, for example, to deal hands that always give you a low pocket pair in early position, so you can see how you do, and can practice that aspect of your game.