Was it straight away? or did it take work? Maybe after a break and when you came back you were just performing better, maybe more patient or aggressive.

I'm just wondering as I play more I'm recognising more tells from fish and it delights me that I am seeing real improvement in this way. I'm not a winning player yet, not by a long shot but I did come second the other day in a 250 tournament which I think is related to this growth. Just buzzing and can't wait to win!

Still getting shut down in high stakes tables so not gonna be rich anytime soon...

Anyone know where I can post my hands for some analysis?

this forum u can psot ur hands jsut need to find what type of game ur playing theres its a forum for each game and each format

The second I learned the basics of poker and read about some basic strat I knew that I had the CAPACITY to be a good poker player.

I took me a long time to feel comfortable with learning it properly but the small improvements I made in strat and theorem despite losing initially helped me soldier on.

The weird thing is I've always felt confident in my game, not in a prideful ignorant way that negated the need to study and put serious effort into getting better, but confident in a way where I knew I should keep pressing forward and that I was putting my best foot forward. But I always look back and admit that the player I am currently would crush the player I was 6 months ago or a year ago, and that's good thing.

Maybe grow a br and read up on shot taking, take shots but be smart about it. Or you can sattie into some mtts you really want to play.

For the original question I have a pretty funny story looking back. A couple good friends got a place together and we randomly all started playing, it's odd bc we played no limit but it ran like flhe game lol. Everyone was terrible but I crushed. Then on my 18th bday we all went to a local cardroom that had just opened that same day. My first two hands were AA and KK, and I got outdrawn because I opened to $4, and proceeded to min bet lol.

Didn't take long to realize I sucked so I started analyzing the game, reading whatever. Ended making some nice money pre black friday, then did even better post bf at the local cardroom. Then they closed down I quit playing now I suck again.

well i lost all my BR from cash games after posting this siiggghhh... but thanks for the words, I play texas hold em so will post my hands in the appropiate forum, I'll find my big losses and post them all up lol, I'm sure they are fishy plays tbh...

Been there...

It's apart of the process of getting better. It's harder to correct players when they run higher than expectation right off the bat. If I was a poker god and was benevolent in my intentions towards wanting players to get better I would let them taste variance in the form of an initial downswing in their career to rattle their cage bit. If the player still stuck with poker after that then maybe they have what it took to be a poker player long term.

Studying is easier now than ever. You can advance your knowledge and game in 6 months or so to the point that a player 10 years ago would have had to play for 4 or so years to get too...

Try to see poker as an investment, where you will initially lose money in order to learn. I got a lot of flack from friends, family and people in my religious community for choosing poker as a viable source of income and a career and even more flack when I was initially losing. I found it odd that poker however was cheaper to learn than a college degree in a shorter amount of time as well to become a competent winner. I'd say now I'm close to having a bachelors in poker.

good luck my friend!

Thank you for the words guys. I'm falling in love with poker, it's a beautiful game. I like how your skill is determined by your bankroll, a good player generally has more money than bad players...

@ship_dat

Yeah i'm building the BR, we all are though right haha. I decided to step down and ignore my ego for a bit while i crush 5 and 10 nl untill I can comfortably jump into and afford higher BI's.... my mistakes today weren't even bad beats, I was playing terrible, not even running bad, just playing my hands bad lol.

I haven't deposited for a couple of days now though, and my BR is increasing until I tilt.. I'm getting better at leaving a table when I am 2-3 BI's up. I generally don't leave tables until I'm there or bust, this is probably an issue but I can't help it poker is life.

Watching much more replays of my hands, even the ones I win...

@living abortion

I hope it is lol, yeah my mum rolls her eyes but when I told her I won 80 dollars in one session she didn't say anything then... can't wait till I have a bigger bank roll and can start buying things with earnings instead of tilting all the earnings away.

I agree. I see every penny spent as an investment, I think the best way to get optimal experience with money is playing break even. then you start to adjust your play and crush a level.

I think I will start thinking I have potential when I get a 1k bankroll.

Never because I'm not good. I started to notice improvement after about 8 - 12 months. The rate at which anyone progresses is largely dependent on the work put in. Actual length of time someone has been playing poker isn't really relevant.

Best of luck! You sound like a nice guy.