Hi guys,

as I wrote in the title, I'm a beginner and I'm really lost since I'm losing and I don't know why. First of all I will introduce myself, then I will explain my problems.


Introduction

I come from Italy (born and raised there) where I live and work in the IT sector. I started to get interested in poker in June 2020 after following a course on Udemy, but I didn't start to play right after. I thought that I first needed to train against bots to reach a minimum level of competence before starting the real game, so I made some investments, purchasing a year subscription to both Advanced Poker Training and Pokersnowie.

During these first two months, my only focus was to become the best against both APT bots and Pokersnowie: I literally dropped any other interest and studied/played poker during the time I was not working. I was playing against Pokersnowie until 2 am even during the week, sleeping around 5/6 hours. My only focus was become so perfect that Pokersnowie would have never corrected me during my training. I don't like imperfections, during my life I worked 100% to fix any little problem, so I was really precise in my training.

It was hard, but I managed to beat both APT bots and Pokersnowie over a large sample of hands. At the same time, I subscribed to two different poker training websites (among the most famous) and learned the theory (range theory, pre-flop ranges, postflop, blocker theory, etc.). After two months, I was finally beating Pokersnowie consistently in Training Mode. It is advertised as the best poker bot that beat even 200NL players, and I was beating it! Imagine how I was feeling.

Then I finally decided to subscribe on Pokerstars and start the real play. And then came the first problems. I started immediately to lose, with the same playing style that won against Snowie.


My current situation

Currently, I'm playing on Pokerstars in Italy (we have a different player pool). I started a few days ago playing 5NL, then switched quite immediately at 2NL since the player pool was too strong (or maybe I was too weak) and I was not able to win consistently.

Although I'm a LAG by nature, I'm playing a Tight Aggressive style as it is currently adviced in microstakes. My preflop ranges are those of Upswing Poker (took a while to memorize them), postflop I'm never bluffing, always folding to turn and river check/raises. Basically I'm following all the advice I read on this site, but I'm not getting any results.

The problem with TAG style is that you don't get enough money with your value hands. The only way to extract value is to learn a very precise bluffing method, in order to put the Villain in tough spots. Also, the idea of 3 Betting seems to me unprofitable. I don't know how you can make money 3 betting, since you never hit the flop and Villain always calls. You expose a lot of your stack in marginal spots when you don't have any equity and you need to bluff (then, exposing even more of you stack) to win the pot.

It seems impossible to me to win 15bb/100 at 2NL by simply playing ABC poker. They will always fold if they don't hit the flop, so the only way to extract value for your premium hands is when you have top pair/top kicker and they have middle pair (basically, when they call you with worse hands): also in these cases, they usually fold when you double barrel.

But how about when you don't hit the flop? I lost a lot of 3-bet pots even with premium hands (AK, AQ as the original raiser) because I didn't hit the flop. By following the advices (never bluff) I should have checked the flop, but without any equity I could not call every subsequent villain's flop bet.

Also, I see that player check/raise pretty aggressively at 2NL, so fold to every raise is -EV. They bluff very often, especially on monotone or wet boards in turn and river, putting you in a tough spot when you have double pair or set. You will call (is not optimal to fold since it is exploitable) and you will lose.

It is also very common to check until the river with the nuts. I saw players check flop and turn with flushes, and then calling my river bet. Also, I lost a lot of pots in horrible situations (set vs. flush, full house vs. stronger full house), where I shoved and they called me with best hands.


I think I'm missing something. Maybe I'm not playing TAG, maybe I'm doing some silly errors. But I'm playing in the same way I was playing against Pokersnowie and I'm losing. I invested a lot of money on products that should have worked, but that did not meet my expectations. It's just very disappointing that after all my hard work and dedication I didn't accomplish anything. Maybe I'm just not good for this game and I don't have enough talent.

But I'm sure there is something wrong with the way I play and I want to understand what is it before quitting. You say that even grandmas can learn 2NL in two hours: I have a lot of respect for grandmas, but I think I could play better than them even with my lack of skills


My questions

I'm asking you some things:

(1) Can you give me a precise and effective method to improve? What courses did you follow? Was it a waste of time to subscribe to online training courses and subscribing to Snowie?

(2) What are the exact questions that I should ask myself when reviewing my hands?

(3) During my typical 2NL Zoom session, I start to win around 20/40 bb, then I get stacked on a cooler (I have a set and lose to a straight, etc.). I lost a lot (sometimes even 200bb) and in the following two/three hours of session I only play to recover from my loss. This happens every single time. How to reduce this type of situations?

I don't have problem with tilt or bankroll management. I always lost my hands with a smile (there are more important things in life than poker) so problems are not related to tilt. Most likely I cannot play.

Thank you in advance Sorry for the long post (and for my bad english) , but I'm quite lost and don't know what to do. I can post my hands if this could help (I use PokerTracker). Any help will be really appreciated!