I play in a game with a calling station, with one tight aggressive player, and two maniacs. This is very low limit because we are high schoolers. Buy in is 10 dollars (u get double the amount of chips) with rebuys and .25/50 blinds. I have been losing a lot. So tonight after reading a book by phil gordon i decide i will play mathematically correct poker using the rule of four and pot odds. Now both times I had dominating position (flopped trips and flopped two pair) I bet out on the flop and the turn and the river kept on giving my opponents the better hand. I bet about 2 to 3 dollars on each round of betting. If I only have 20 in chips what is an appropriate amount to bet seeing that these ppl like to call with top pair and draws. Also any tips on how to finally beat these guys would be awesome. I played extremely tight playing only pocket pairs and suited high cards with few exceptions. Is that right? I know this may just be a bad beat story but i have had ongoing bad beats so there must be a way for me to take down pots without letting my opponent draw (they don;t even think about pot odds). Also how long is an appropriate learning time because i have lost approximately 200 dollars and as a jobless teenager this is very costly. At the same time I know I am getting much better. I know this is long but please help me out. Much thanks