Why do I suck at poker?

[e_phemeral]

Can someone tell me? I am a very intelligent person and have a high paying 6 figure professional job. I have been playing poker for almost 3 years. I got hooked by the Moneymaker WSOP, started playing online with no great success. Eventually started playing live at the casino.

I have probably lost about $15k online over 3 years playing mostly small stakes cash games and some MTTs. My typical pattern is to put some money on a site, anywhere from $200-$300. Play $25NL or $10NL. I can grind for a while and play good, but even when I play good, I never really go on any great winning streaks. Eventually, I will take some bad beats or coolers, start steaming, and in one session whatever crappy broll I had on a site will be gone.

I will then curse poker, say that I wil never put any additional $ online. That will last anywhere from a couple of days to a week, then I'll put more money online. It used to be that I would lose slowly, but lately, I lose a lot quicker and reload quickr. I think in last 3 weeks I've lost $1k online.

As for live poker, I started out winning modestly at cash games, mostly $1-2NL, then went on long generaly downward spiral. Righted the ship and had a 9 or 10 session win streak at one point which prompted me to think I was ready for higher stakes. Moved up and spewed big time. For 2007, my live play at casino has been horredouse. I have had multiple -5 buyin sessions, which prior to 2007 was unheard for me. I would never lose that much live or tilt like I can tilt online. But dring those two - 5 buyin sessions, I was tilting just like I tilt online, raising every hand like a monkey, etc. So far in 2007, I have probably lost at least $3k or more on live poker.

So WTF is wrong with me? WHy do I keep playing this game that I cannot seem to win? Why can't I stop? What should I do to stop? The money is not a huge deal for me because I make a ton of money. But it is really starting to wear on me psychologically. It annoys the hell out of me that I lose at this game. I feel like I should be able to beat this game, but I am constantly beaten down by it instead.

The reason I'm writing this is because I just lost my onlin roll again. PUt $250 on FT earlier this week, played $50NL 6 max, in first 30 minutes, I stacked off twice to sets. Within an hour I was down to $85 left. So I dropped down to $25NL. Over course of 2 sessions, built back up to $170. Tonight, started playing $25NL, built up to $190, then BANG.....bad stuff happens to me. I can't seem to win a hand. I'm down to $165. Stack off retardedly. Down to $125. Start tiltng.... you know the story. I have zero in my account now and I want to punch my f*cking computer screen.

Ok, flame away.

[kekedarius]

If you're really playing good, solid poker then you wouldn't be losing your money. It sounds to me like you lack a strong grasp on a lot of basic fundamentals that you should be picking up in uNL/SSNL, but I think it's going to be hard for you with such a well paid job since the money is presumably worth so little. In the grand scheme of things I think you lack the hunger or motivation to really buckle down and learn the game, and until you can find the drive to do so you're never going to get any better.

[Mllndllrmn]

What Keke said is true. I am good at poker because I simply cannot stand to lose, whether it is video games, pick up basketball, hearts with my grandma, it doesn't matter. If you don't have that fire, its fine, you jsut will never be a good player. You sound succesful anyways so hey its cool.

One question, if the money doesn't mean anything to you, why do you tilt so hardcore?

Here is some general advice: when I played conerback in high school, I started for freshman, jv, and varsity ove rmy career. My father is my mentor and idol, and he always told me that coners need to have one-play memories. If you made a great play, forget it, focus. If some guy burned you for a TD, forget it, and move on. Remember what he did obviously, but no the fact you gave up a TD. Apply that to poker and you will never tilt the rest of your life.

[El_Hombre_Grande]

On a more practical level, you said "stacking off to sets." It sounds like you are a "top pair" guy.

Top pair is not the nuts. When a tight player wants to put all his chips in, he probably has a very good hand, like a set. Especially if you are recognized as a player who will call an all in with a solid but not great hand. And thus. quite regrettably, sometimes you must fold top pair.

I think most people who are terrible at no limit feel that if they have a good hand, and an opponent flops a set, they are destined to lose their stack.

You aren't. You can hit the fold button.


Oh, and read Miller and Sklansky's NL book if you haven't already.

[Milo]

You answered your own questions, but here goes:

1) You lack a solid grasp on the fundamentals and need to read more.

2) You have an unrealistic expectation about winning. Less than 10% of players beat the game, and even winning players lose about a third of the time (or more) that they play.

3) You have a MAJOR tilt problem.

All this means that until you can learn more about the game AND learn to control your emotions at the table, you will continue to lose.

[holyfield5]

in related news your BR management blows, 250 should be strictly 10NL so you dont bust.

[saeute]

If I was in your situation I would deposit 50$ to a site with microlevels. You have to play the smallest limit there and work your way up to the bigger limits.
Money won't mean anything to you at these levels, so you can fully concentrate on your decisions. Never sit down with more than 5% of your Bankroll. If you can't find the motivation for these levels, maybe poker is nothing for you.

[e_phemeral]

Thanks for the replies.

Generally, I'm not a "top pair guy," as suggested in one of the replies. The two stack off hands that I mentioned went like this: New guy to table raises from EP, I call on button with AK, flop is A23 with 2 suited. He bets, I raise, he minraises, I push, hoping i'm up against AQ, AJ, etc. He shows 22. Pretty standard. Literally 5 or 10 hands later, same guy raises from EP, I call in late position with AQ. FLop is AQ9 with 2 hearts. He bets, I raise, he reraises all in, I call and he shows 99. I'm generally not one to stack off with one pair. I think these hands are pretty standard coolers. Unfortunately, I had no real reads/PT stats on this guy as he had just sat down to the table. If I had more info/PT stats on the guy, then I might have had an idea as to whether he was the kind of guy who would put all is money in with top pair on those hands. There are a lot of hands that my AK beats in that first one. I guess I mention these hands just as examples of how I "feel" that I always get f*cked. This is within first 30 minutes of playing with my most recent $250 broll that I am down 2 buyins at $50NL. It seems every time I put money online, I start off by losing and getting down. Then I am forever tryign to get back to even.

So generally, I would say that I don't play like a stack off monkey. However, I don't have the ability to play good over long periods of time. Inevitably, if I'm playing good but not winning and then somethign bad happens, a suckout or a cooler, I get angry and the chances of tilting increase. Its like I have a fragile poker psyche. If I play good and win, even just a little, then I am encouraged to keep playing good. If things go a little awry, I can still hold it together for a period of time. But I have a breaking point where the next beat or cooler, or whatever it is, just shatters my ability to continue playing good and then it's off to the races and only a matter of time before I piss away my broll.

Regarding Broll management, I understand the basics and that $250 is nowhere near enough to play $50NL 6-max. The problem for me is that, as I said, I make a lot of money in my career, and sometimes I find it hard to concentrate/play good at such low stakes. I realize that to play $25NL, you should have at least $500 on the site. But I just can't seem to grind properly at that level because the money is sort of meaningless to me. It's much easier to lose it in those small increments, than it is to win. In other words, it is hard to win at poker. I understand that the winrates are very low and you need to adjust to it. Sometimes I think that I should just play a lot bigger, devote some real cash to the game, and play at a level where winning or losing 1 buyin would be meaningful to me. That perhaps part of my problem is that I can't take each poker hand seriously when the most money that I can lose is $25 or $50 - it's too easy to hit the call button or move the slider to the allin position. If I was playing bigger, maybe I would focus more on each hand and really try to not make huge stack-off mistakes? But then I look back at my "career" so far, which as I said is a long drawn out pattern of pissing money away at small stakes, and fear that if I fell into some of the patterns that I have fallen into playing these lower stakes, I could also spew a lot of money that would be meaningful to me and seriously p*ss me off.

To answer one of the questions, it is not the $ that I lose that tilts me. It is the fact that I lose, the fact that I cannot maintain good play over an extended period of time. The $250 that I lost this week is absolutely meaningless to me. Maybe that is part of my problem. What do you think? Am I thinking about this incorrectly? Would it be absolutely retarded of me to try to take a shot at a higher level given that I don't have the discipline to win at the baby stakes? Has anyone else had similar issues as me? What did it take for you to either (a) start playing good and keep playing good or (b) quit the game entirely?

[e_phemeral]

BTW, I really appreciate the replies. Thanks.

[mclaughlin04]

The problem for me is that, as I said, I make a lot of money in my career, and sometimes I find it hard to concentrate/play good at such low stakes. I realize that to play $25NL, you should have at least $500 on the site. But I just can't seem to grind properly at that level because the money is sort of meaningless to me. It's much easier to lose it in those small increments, than it is to win.



thats your problem...if you cant beat 25NL you shouldnt be playing 50NL. It doesn't matter if the money is meaningless, you still should be able to beat the game before you play the higher stakes.