Hey,

Firstly, lets get something straight, I'm not complaining, I'm simply asking for advice, to someone who has a little bit more experience, I am not saying poker is all about luck, or that online poker is rigged, or I play every hand the best.

I've been playing for 8 months now, only these past couple months have I played online for money, and I've played in person for money a few times.

The trouble I am having is, well plain in simple, I suck, completely. I started at pokerstars with a $50 dollar bankroll back a couple months, and blew the whole thing within a week. Than I came back with another $50 deposit and its been a month now and I've managed to turn that $50 into $80. I play the $.01/.02 penny tables, and I've still havn't learned how to win steadily.

I'm at that point where im so stressed with losing, that I'm literally scared to play, I'm scared to even get a good hand, because I know deep down someone will either suck out on me or will have a better hand, and most of the time its true. If I have cowboys, someone has rockets, if I have rockets, that guy gets lucky. I mean they say no one remember the bad beats they've given, only the ones they took, well I remember everything. And I RARELY (im talking about once in a blue moon) suck out, if I'm all-in with with KK and the other guy has AA and the flop is all rags, i sit up and live the table because I know theres no way im sucking out, because I never do. Sometimes I'll sit down for 1 hour and fold 75 hands because they are all rags, at other times I'll sit down and kept getting dealt good hand after good hand but none will hit the flop. I've watched guys like H@llingol play on stars and its amazing to see these guys make more than most people make in month in a day. Hell, I'm 21 years old and I'll see guys who are 16 years old that play better than me.

What the hell am I doing wrong? I must be going crazy. Why cant I just win steadily?

you know that guy who seems like hes playing every hand right, but always gets sucked out on, thats me. I'm starting to believe that there is a such thing as luck, and only a few people have a lucky vibe, and I'm not one of them. Now I'm too scared to even play for fun, to scared to even see a good hand, why? because I know im gonna lose, and guess what, I do. Its emotionally scarred me.

so if you were me, would you quit, or what? I feel like im the only guy like this, I know someone has to lose, but why the hell does it have to be me? Its like whatever I do whereever I go in life, something is against me, and its not different in cards.

you should realize two things -

1.you actually do suckout on other people. yes, its always more than it seems. there is no actual way that the odds change for you and you only. trust me, everyone feels that they never suckout on anyone, but they do just as much as the next guy, they just don't notice it (or remember it) - the quote it true


2. you might not be playing every hand the best way it should be. read some more on these boards in the strategy section. read the small stakes no limit forum on twoplustwo.com - chances are you aren't playing correctly if you've never read anything on strategy.

keep with it, study hard ont he strategy, and goodluck.

I second BBoy.

I'm 99% sure you dont play perfectly. (or not even prety well)

Not saying, you suck, or cant improve, your just a newbie like everybody have been.

I will speak for me, but I've been a break even player (slightly over maybe) in cash games the whole time I played before I read my 1st book. And I'm pretty sure everyone here was.

Read and play... and then compare your play to what you've read.
No other way to improve.

KJ

Oh and BTW...

No poker is not for every one....

If you have no fun playing it, it dosent worth the time you have to investbefore being significantly profitable.

However, if you really enjoy it, it's probably less expansive than most other hobbies if you keep it at a reasonable level... and one day, you'll make money playing!

KJ

less than 1% of ppl who play poker online are winners. Some may be potentially winners but never reach the 20k or so hands they need to play in order to find out if they're a winner.

If you watch any poker table your eyes will be drawn to the big stack.. this guy keeps on hitting - how does he do it?

Almost certainly this guy is a winner for the session. I've left tables with 5x the buy in after 30 hands - it doesn't happen often. I lose a bit as well.

You do sound like you're playing scared - which won't help. At 0.01/0.02 level if you get AA,KK, AK or QQ just push all-in - the callers justify it. You're not playing poker against people at this level you are just playing the stats. I you limp in with PP and trip dont even attempt to work out what ppl have just hit the all-in button. Don't attack blinds at this level... you'll go mad.

At the higher levels very different things come into poker - you'd be suprised at the technology that some ppl use - constantly updated databases reflecting up to date stats on the table they're playing with head up displays is very common.

Don't expect to win too much... its typical to get a 5% return on your play every hour or so - this is not a lot.

A typical online players today will have half a million hands under their belt. This makes them quite good. When the 'fathers' of poker were winning WSOP in the early days few of them will have played as many hands as some here play in two weeks - its a different game.

Are you a winner? From what your saying you're probably falling short a bit. In some ways its better to start off losing- if you start off by winning you get misguided beliefs about how good you really are

The point has been well made here.. the regulars here actually play and enjoy the game.. it so so happens they make money at the same time. You won't get very rich with poker - you're more likely to get very poor..

__________________
See me playing $10/$20NL like it was play money

http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?...405&q=xxdemexx

Doberman: "but Sarge, isn't poker gambling and just luck?"
Sgt. Bilko:" not the way I play it"

Very nice thread/topic. Gonna rate it 5 stars.

__________________
KiD[ReD]
PokerForums.org
Latest deal: 38.8% SunPoker Rakeback with a $1000 deposit bonus. More info.

Like someone said you are gonna suck out on someone and prolly not remember it but also, it isnt a horrible thing to get suckout on and even though it seems like it at the time, it just means that you got your money in with the best hand but came up short that time. There is a chance that you could lose with AA 100 times in row even though it is small but there is also a chance that you could win 100 times but in the long run it is going to tilted in your favor if u have your money in with the best hand. There is also a huge difference in being successful in play money and real money 2 completly different games and they take some time to get used to the change

__________________
If there wern't luck involed i guess id win everyone

You should definately pick up a book on general strategy...they help alot.

I would also suggest trying some Limit games, these teach a valuable lesson on being patient and waiting for good hands. You also suffer less swings, alot of people don't like Limit because it is a much different game, but it teaches you alot.

Also the low buy-in sit'n'goes are a good place to play NL without the potential of losing as much $.

I started out a losing player, I've read a few books. I play Limit because when I started, I realized that some of the things I needed to play NL well I didn't have. I wanted to use limit to increase those skills without risking my BR. I found I prefer limit to NL unless it's a tourney.

When I started playing (with a $15BR), I kept telling myself that at these levels, the only thing I'm going to have on these guys is hand selection. Since there are so many calling stations, I want people calling with crap. Yes, they will suck out on you, but if you get your money in when you have the best hands, the odds are in your favor and that's a lot to have on your side.

I think one of the reasons (for me anyway) that I don't realize when I suck out on somebody is because I don't feel like I sucked out. I feel like I played the hand the way it supposed to be played, or I had the odds to draw out or I was on a semi-bluff that payed off. Either way, I played it right therefore it wasn't a suckout (Bonch can attest that I can hit a 2 outer to win a huge pot ). I don't remember those times because to me it seemed to be the way I supposed to play...I'm still learning a lot.

I enjoy poker. I enjoy all aspects of poker from trying to learn the game, to winning the money, to the self displine it requires when you're losing. I enjoy the community here at PFO, I enjoy reading about poker, watching it on TV (when are they going to create a poker channel?). I enjoyed it when I was losing (went through a $60BR in less then 2 weeks before I started learning what it takes to win). I enjoyed the process of finding out why I was losing and fixing it. There are so many aspects of poker I enjoy on so many levels that I couldn't possibly name them all.

Remember, 1)proper hand selection is important at micro-limit games. 2)you want your opponents playing crap, you will beat them more often. 3)They call it grinding for a reason. 4)Jst because you have an 80% chance to win, doesn't mean your going to win every time. 5)Life is not a spectator sport...

Good luck at the tables, hope your luck improves.

__________________
Trons
JstTrons
Toyotatruck

I would strongly recommend the following:

1. Read the book "Small Stakes Holdem" by David Slansky (read this page: http://www.pokermagazine.com/Books/w...as_holdem.html). First of all, it will make you realize what you have to learn to become better at holdem and it is a lot more than you probably realize.

Edited Note: Actually this book is not for beginners. Perhaps somebody can recommend a more relevent book for a novice. However, if you skim through this book it will be obvious that somebody just can't start playing holdem and expect to win right away.

2. Stick to limit holdem at lower stake levels while you learn to implement the techiques of limit holdem.

3. Realize that you are not going to start off your poker career as a winner. You want to minimize your losses as you learn and perhaps you can turn into a long term winner.

4. Also realize that your poker bankroll is subject to variance. Even the best poker players can have a bad night, week or even month. In the long term however, they are winners.