Life Time Running Bad

[jesusson]

I have been playing poker for three years now. I play nl, limit, omaha, tripple draw and stud. In every single game I play, I run terribly bad. Actually, I picked up the other poker games besides limit hold em becuase I ran so bad in it.

I have spent hours and hours studying, mining tracker and working on my game. I play about 20,000 hands a month and consider myself a very strong player. However, I am not a winning player. I consistanty run into 2/3 outers hand after hand. I keep telling myself that as long as I play solid I should be beating these games, but this just isn't the case.

The only reason that I am not a losing player is becuase of bonuses and rakeback. However, I am starting to lose interest in this game of poker that has treated me so poorly.

Is it possible to run bad forever?

[chicagoY]

I'm no expert but I can't see how it could. Whenever I, as Harrington pointed out, you only notice the bad rather than good luck, I go to PT and check out the amount of quads I've had.

[sweetjazz]

No offense, but looking at some of your posts, you're not that good of a player. You're probably a winner, but a small one. Your first few hands you probably ran much better than average (which is hard to notice). Now you are running worse than average (which is easy to notice).

I would seriously consider playing less hands, and making time to play just a single table a lot. Work on improving your game by posting in the strategy forums, read other posts, comment on other hands, etc. If you're playing 30% of your hands, you already have a significant leak, and that's in an "easy" area of the game (preflop) compared to the much more difficult area to master (postflop).

The main theme of your posts seems to me that you concentrate too much on running bad (which happens but you can't control it) and not enough on playing bad (which happens but you can improve from these mistakes).

Good luck.

[mikever]

You only run bad consistently when you aren't thinking correctly about the game. Some people form bad poker habbits that keep them from winning, and they are never able to identify them and/or correct them.

I would suggest keeping a notepad next to your computer (if you play online) and write down every bad poker habbit you might have: i.e., I play too many hands; I get too excited about high pocket pairs and can't lay them down on flop; I know that I'm beat, but can't seem to fold; I have a hard time reading the texture of the board; i play above my BR and put unhealthy pressure on my game, etc.

When you've written down some bad habbits, take some time away from the table to think and reflect on them. When all is said and done, you will either improve, or you may want to decide that you are just not going to be a winning player and you should either quit, or play purely recreationally with the knowledge that you will only be break-even or losing.

[Banks2334]

[ QUOTE ]


I have spent hours and hours studying, mining tracker and working on my game. I play about 20,000 hands a month and consider myself a very strong player. However, I am not a winning player.



[/ QUOTE ]
3 years of losing at 20k hands/month does not make you a very strong player. Time to be honest with yourself. Perhaps the game isn't for you.

[mikever]

Also, I've noticed that all of your posts are about how bad you've run and they go back for a month or more. What's up with that?

[jesusson]

I do not get too exited about pocket pairs, I can lay down hands to a 3 bet on the river, I can fold when I am beat, I can read the board very well and I most certainly do not play above my bankroll; I just moved down this month. So leaves "I play too many hands," where 30 vpip is considered too many....

First of all, I have read posts where winning (high limit) players are put in 50 and even 60 percent voluntary. If for meta game purposes is besides the point. The point being that 30 vpip may seem high to some and low to other.

The main flaw in my game is bad luck and running bad. At times, far and few these days, I "tilt" because someone hit a one outer on me. However this is not common as I have learned how to control it.

I have not learned how to run good however, and this is why I am not that great of a player. I don't focus only on the bad and I have maybe one "good" day a month where they don't hit with junk against my top set or flopped flush to runner runner boat. So maybe I am playing scared now, but I just don't see this in my play. What I see is me always losing as the favorite.

I study study study but it makes no difference because when I hit the table I get sucked out on, period! I have tried different sites to no avail. I have tried different games to no avail. I have tried live to no avail. I just plain run bad all the time.

So, in theory is it possible to be doomed to lose by the cards even if you are playing what is considered winning poker?

[LimpyMcGee]

Eventually we're all dealt equal proportions of good and bad hands. What seperates winning players from losing players is how they play those hands.

[Banks2334]

3 years at 20k hands/month= 720k hands. You're a losing player not counting bonuses and rakeback. Its not just bad luck and running bad. You are over estimating your skill level. The fact that you say you have "not learned to run good and that is why I am not that great of a player" says it all.

[jesusson]

No one wants to think its not possible to run bad no matter what?