thank you

[slicer65]

.5/1 on party poker.

[tiltaholic]

[ QUOTE ]
.5/1 on party poker.

[/ QUOTE ]

ok in that case these are the possible explantations in order of likelyhood

1. you're not being truthful
2. you're not trying to get better (overlaps with #1)
3. you have a gambling problem
4. other.

in light of this, i think quitting may be best.

[slicer65]

what would i not be truthful about? and i am trying to get better. been readin posts, reading ssh. Just seem to have a hard time readin situations. Im sure my OCD is not helping. But I am trying. Maybe Im just not putting the effort in the right areas.

[knockonwood]

look mate, there is a massive proportion of the gambling community who gambles passively. Is that you?

As you probably already know, poker has a big, big +EV edge for people who have the ability , psych stability and know-how to beat this game beyond 1bb/100. If your losing, you need to work out which part of you, or your game is behind. Then again, it depends on how serious ou take the whole thing aswell.

[Low Limit Loser]

Slicer,

1) You have 17 posts. You are not utilizing 2+2 as a resource

2) You did not sign up for the last session review, you are not utilizing 2 + 2 as a resource

3) You are playing .5/1, cut back to .25/.5 or .1/.2

4) Get a starting hand chart. I can't remember where I got mine when I first started. If you can find one. Open up SSHE and use it WHILE you are playing. Do not deviate until you get your confidence back.

5) Get pokertracker. When I got it, I actually transferred money from my stars account. I didn't need to write a check or use a credit card or anything. This is great to find leaks (i.e. playing to many hands, going to showdown to often, which hands are losers that shouldn't be, etc.....)

As far as SSHE goes, EVERYONE loses when they start playing like the book details. SSHE is designed to make the MOST money in small stakes. To do this, you are often playing small edges and that INCREASES VARIANCE like a MoFo. Until you really learn it, sometimes you missaply the principles, use aggression wrong and get murdered for it.

I'm guessing based on post count, lack of doing the last session review when you are obviously feeling like you are floundering, and getting SSHE after years of playing, that you felt that just being a smart guy should give you all the edge you need to beat people consistantly.

It doesn't work that way. Intelligence alone is a poor defense against Hold-em opponents.

Knowledge is power.

I am BACK in micros (and happy to be here). I moved from .1/.2 to 3/6 SH in about 5-6 months. I hit a horrendous downswing. $1,200 (started in 3/6, I dropped to 2/4, and again to 1/2). What I realized, is that while I have lots of thoughts that are correct about this game, some of my thoughts were 180 degrees wrong. I am back to figure them out.

What was tough for ME, was the thought that the downswing meant "I" was stupid somehow because I haven't figured out this very simple game (2 cards in the hole and 5 face up, best hand wins).

I equated that if someone took my money, I was "dumber" than them. This breeds all kinda negative crap and leads to tilt.

My job as a poker player is to acquire knowledge. I must take it whenever, and wherever I can get it (even from 18 year old high school kids). I must not equate my BR with my self worth.

You are in a mental mind [censored] right now. The competition is with yourself. Look to get more information, look at past failure as learning experiences, get over any ego issues that are arising, be kind to yourself when you screw up (cause you will LOTS, every session).

and ABOVE ALL, don't feel that how you do in poker has ANY bearing on your intelligence, worth or chartacter. You think Mike Matusow has any intelligence, worth or character? I do think he would be a winning 3/6 player.

Look at yourself as a student of the game. Dude, this is your internship. Get as mch as you can from it.

LLL

[Jaran]

[ QUOTE ]
Ive been playing for 3 years and have played 100,000's of hands. Jaran do you think its reasonable that I am still an unprofitable player? That This amount of time is not an indication that I'm not getting it?

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't know if you are a profitable or an uprofitable player. What it sounds like to me is that you played a bunch of hands without much work on your game, discovered that you were a breakeven player with this method (I'm guessing you were somewhere around 35/10, played to passively, and sucked out enough to break even). Then you discovered 2+2 and thought that it would take your game to the next level, which it will if given the chance to work. Like I said in my first post, I really don't care if you continue to play poker or not, but do understand that learning from the community here is not a quick fix, it is something that takes time and effort. And posting 15-20 times and quitting because you are still not getting the results you expect is selling yourself and this forum short.

-Jaran

[Bona]

My goal at poker is to enjoy playing with the confidence that I am improving and not just financing other peoples games.

I don'twant it to be work so I play much lower stakes than I could afford. I try to study the game and get better but even though I am winning consistently over time I am in no hurry to go up very far and play for more money. For some it is about making money.Is that you? For a very few it is about turning pro or semi pro. Is that you? For the rest of us is just fun and we are only keeping score with the money.

Figure out who you are and what you want. You don't fail till you stop trying to achieve your goals. Clarify your goals and adjust regularly.

[Paxosmotic]

You have not play hundreds of thousands of hands. You don't need to qualify your experience by using an absurd overexaggeration. I'd go so far as to say less than 1% of this entire forum has played > 250,000 hands.

If you want to quit because poker isn't fun for you, then quit. It's the right decision. I'd rather do something fun than make a little more doing something excrutiating. Do what makes you happy. It's the same reason not everyone in college is going for an MBA.

But, if you're quitting poker only because you don't think you can beat it, we can offer some vague and general advice that might get you back on track. If you're enjoying it but just can't seem to get over the hump, you could probably stand to stick around.

Off the top of my head, a few tidbits to get you on the right track:

1) Play one table at a time and think about what you're doing and why
2) Stick to the preflop chart at all times, ignoring our advice for about 5,000 hands (this will change later, but for now, just stick to it)
3) Be very careful about Ed's advice on folding. Make sure that your call downs are on good hands. It's very easy to over compensate and call down with vicious trash. I did the same thing for a few thousand hands.

If I remember correctly, those were the three biggest adjustments I made to my game the first time there were changes to be made. Ignore all of us 9 tabling AJo UTG raising betting the river with ace high morons for a while and play very solid, very rigid poker.

[gharp]

[ QUOTE ]
You have not play hundreds of thousands of hands.

[/ QUOTE ]
I just want to point out that the guy registered for 2+2 in 2004, earlier than most of the people in this forum so he certainly may have played 100k+ hands.

It should also mean that he's lurked enough to know how well posts like this are generally received... Nevertheless I think he's gotten some good advice in here so take it or leave it, OP. If you decide not to quit, then I definitely think you should post/reply more here.

[Perhan]

with all this motivation around you, you can't seriously be thinking of quiting. Put in at least 3 more years of playing and studiing and then decide.

Good support people. I really like this forum a lot!