So that's my story.
I've been playing poker for over 15 years, starting with the late Everst Poker and never stopping.
I've taken a few breaks in my life, it's true, but I've never really stopped.
I tried a few times to become a pro, but nothing ever came of it.
I don't consider myself dumb, I have two university degrees.
But for some reason in poker I'm the biggest fish I've ever seen.
I've studied everything you can imagine, read books, seen theory.
But I've never made it past the micros.
Where I live the dollar is absurdly expensive.
I left my current job and had a few months left at home.
So I thought let's study a bit and try again.
Off I went to make a deposit and try again.
And guess what, I failed miserably.
I understand most of the concepts, I have Holdem Indicator and Omahaindicator.
But apparently there's nothing I can do to change my fate in this game.
And now here I am with 16 dollars in my bankroll, wondering what to do with this **** and giving up again.
If anyone has any ideas I'd love to hear them, any idea that doesn't involve a pillar and a rope.

So long as this is your mentality (Google 'fixed vs growth mindset'), poker won't be for you. Nor will many things in life since, unless you're unnaturally gifted, most things worth doing are difficult to master.

Why should winning at poker be any different?

If every loss or mistake prompts thoughts like the above, instead of thoughts like, "Wow, that sucked, but now I've learned not to do that, and am thus a better player than I was yesterday," you will not do well in a game like poker where even perfect play can often result in leaving with less money than you came with.

But at the end of the day, it's math. If you learn to make profitable decisions and play with proper bankroll management, you will win. Or do you think all the winners are lying?

You claim you are the biggest fish ever seen. Why do you believe this? Is it your results or is it when you analyze your play afterwards you see you are making mistakes that you knew were mistakes that you knew were mistakes at the time? Learning to play well has little value if during the game you do not play well. And despite what was said above even perfect play does not mean you will win as opposed to you should win if your opponents play far enough from perfect to offset game costs.

Haha, I played at Everest poker quite a bit, back in the day, long ago, mostly before it became an ipoker skin. I may have taken some of your moneyz, thanks. I think the site basically collapsed when it lost its French players due to some legislation IIRC. RIP

Thanks everyone for take time to answer my topic.
It's hard to come here and make a post like this.
I decided to do it as a way of externalizing what I'm feeling.
I know I have a lot of mistakes to correct.
And as the friend above said, at the end of the day it's math.
But I've really reached a point where I can't even see my mistakes and I'm not really grasping the GTO theory.
I simply haven't found a way to master the game.
Maybe it's time to face up to the fact that poker isn't for me.
I've tried for years, I love the game, but maybe it's like any other sport, sometimes you just can't become a player.
I'll have to live with this defeat, that's life.

I'd like to ask you a question that has always been on my mind.
Is it possible that I'm not making progress on the micros due to the sheer chaotic nature of the stake?
Because I think about it a lot.
That maybe I'm fighting a lot of people who use a random style and that ends up letting luck take over too much.
But I also sometimes remember that there are thousands of stories of people who have risen organically playing micros since NL2 and maybe I'm looking for an excuse for not having succeeded subconsciously.
So many doubts in my head.

You're far from the biggest fish/fool at the table. That honor likely belongs to our very own Paisting. If you think you're terrible run his name threw the search feature here and enjoy lmao. Please run his name and read a bit.....you'll feel much better about your own game and yourself I promise.

I honestly don't know what to say for advice or tips after reading your post OP. Have you consider I mindset, positivity or mental coach. You seem overly hard and down on yourself/game. In my opinion the problem here is likely mostly mental and tilt control. I mean you've read the same books, have almost as much experience as me and from experience I can tell even in 2023 micros isn't that hard to beat even with a basic knowledge of poker and a straight forward TAG play style. You don't need GTO, you don't need any new courses or books etc etc to beat micros.

You basically/seemingly have all the tools you need already when it comes to knowledge, books, software(HUDs) and experience. You're certainly more book smarts then I have with 2 college degrees. I have zero college degrees.

As for living with this defeat well that's one way to look at it not how I would even if I wasn't a micro/low stakes long time winning player. I mean there's nothing wrong with having poker as a hobby if you really love it and enjoy it that much. Losing aside of course no one loves or enjoys that. Most hobbies do cost people money just long as the amount your losing isn't affecting you, or your families lifestyle all is good. Enjoy the hobby you love.


Cheers!!!

No. If you master a solid ABC style you will beat any players that you perceive as playing randomly. Also you will beat them by more than more skilled players. Also humans are extremely bad at randomizing, there are very likely patterns in their play.