Re: Ways to improve your game without real money?
One thing about your post that jumped out at me is that you lost money when you tried HORSE.
I lost my first two small bankrolls, and part of the problem was that I was figuring out what I wanted to do.
The original plans wan MTTs, but it just drove me crazy to play one or two tournaments a day, for several days, and never cash. I decided that the variance was two much for me.
I tried various combinations of cash games and various sized SNGs, with an occasional MTT mixed in. Finally, I decided to concentrate on SNG, taking occasionaly shots at the bigger ones (up to 5 tables) as long as my bankroll was moving up.
It was a very long process, several months, hundreds of hours of reading, playing, and studying, and this week I've finally moved up to $5 SNG. I love MTTs, and will still occasionally do them for fun and to try and hit the big score.
I'm serious about turning poker into a part-time job, and to do that I need the lower variance of SNG.
One more very important thing. I thought I was good when I started playing for real money. But six months later, I am SO much better than that other guy (must have been my evil twin) who thought he was going to be the next big thing in poker.
Please consider that some of this might be that you're not very good yet. It took me a long time to break through, but I kept studying and working, and it finally paid off.
I finally moved up when I hit two poker milestones.
1. I wasn't cashing in $1 SNGs, I was crushing them. I won three 1TT in a row last week, and it just seemed so easy, like the other players didn't even belong at the table with me.
2. Two weeks earlier, in the third live MTT, I cashed, 8/83. Again, it felt so much different than the first time! I was sitting next to the person that won my second live tournament, and she suddenly wasn't scary any more. When I got to that final table, I wasn't relieved that I made it. I knew I belonged there.
To summarize, make a plan and stick to it, and remember that you're not nearly as good as you think you are. Not yet.
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