Quiting Poker but why ?

[James81]

Hi,

I am thinking about quiting poker. I am playing ouver 2 yeahrs poker and I am not a winning player. The most money I through away on the Micro Tables was because I was unexperienced or just stupid in the past. The difference from the past to today is easy. I understanded the principals of poker.

Other players see me as a real danger at the table. Everybody is very afraid of beeing with me in a pot and I got nice comments about how I am playing! So my problem is I dont have a real buddy that takes the game so far to another level how I do. Maybe I have leaks I dont see.

Why I am thinking about quiting poker is because the bad beats are hitting me hard. I feel mentaly very down. I mean this weekend guys called my raised hands with cards like KJo from UTG after I folded 2 Hours long any hand I got. You know what happend. And that goes on and on. People hitting against me the craziest cards and bust me so hard.

The Problem is in my head, I have problems to see poker as a game of skill. I know the math. But even when you are a 4.5 to 1 favorite you can lose 100 times in a row. You know what I mean ? I also wanna understand the idea behind these players! I cant figure it out why the calling with rag only to get lucky and bust someone... I mean these hands they are playing are totaly dumb.
Otherwise I understand that money comes from these players but I feel so unlucky in my head...

I dont wanna open a bad beat threat or such a [censored], I just wanna ask for a serious idea for helping me. I like that game but know I am at the point where I am not sure if I should more money and menatl energy in it or let it go...

[Qrawl]

Play SNGs. Cash games are sleazy.

[OnYourBike]

What limits do you play?

[Johnes Benjamin]

I obviously can't tell very much from just the OP but it sounds like you commit to your hands too much. Reading hands vs unorthodox/crappy players is extremely important, and you should work on understanding the logic of those who appear illogical. Many people get too confused when playing against someone who is too loose and end up justifying the looseness b/c they stack off too easy when the donk hits hard.

working on your hand reading will also allow you to play more hands yourself, which will make it easier for you to move on when a big hand is cracked. A big mistake I used to make when I played super tight was getting too attached to my big PP's partially b/c I at least subconsciously felt like I had to make as much as possible with them, since I was folding everything else.

also, if handling bad beats is a problem for you I strongly advise you not to move away from cash games. Variance is much less harsh at cash than tourneys.

[Henry17]

[ QUOTE ]
The Problem is in my head, I have problems to see poker as a game of skill. I know the math. But even when you are a 4.5 to 1 favorite you can lose 100 times in a row.

[/ QUOTE ]

This isn't actually happening. It just seems like it is. Now that you have it in your head it is going to screw with the way you play.

Stop playing micro limits. Over two years you have probably slowly lost what would have been a decent mid-low bankroll.

[Rek]

Hi James

It may be that you are not cut out to be a poker player. I don’t mean anything bad by that statement but poker is a very streaky game. Sometimes you feel unbeatable and the deck hits you in the face. Other times you seem to have a gazillion bad beats in a row and you always feel that someone is going to suck out on you no matter what you are holding.

The art is to determine whether you are playing correctly and avoiding tilt as much as possible. Being correctly bankrolled is vital and helps you deal with the variance at this game.

If you are getting your money in correctly but suffering bad beats then it is ok. I know it hurts but long term that is what sorts the men from the boys. If you suffer a beat you just have to move on. Keep in mind that although you may be a favourite in any hand generally you will be no more than 70/30 to win – good odds but 30% of the time you lose. It seems in the heat of battle so unfair but really it is not so unjust when you consider the odds in any given situation.

Some people cannot handle the variance but you either have to accept it or move on and say poker is not for you.

Good luck on whatever you decide.

[James81]

Hey,

thank you for trying to help me with that my problem.

At first I wanna answere the question about my limits I played in. I started at 0.02/0.04 but unsucessful. I started playing S&G very sucessfull for the first month. I finished in the money maybe 80%. My bankroll increases in the first two weeks from something about 20$ up to 200$. After that I didnt play differnet but bad beats got me. I ha problems with playing lower S&Gs so I popped my money away with playing to high S&G.
I started playing on FT. At first I am very focused but after some winnings, I feel to confident about my opponents and bust my money again.

So I tried live some NL 50 and won, but after a while I started winning. I felt to confident again and played to many hands and lost my winnings. The same at this weekend. I played 200NL at the casino. I was realy the best player for maybe 4 hours out of 8 hours. The I doubled up in that 4 hours but I didnt hit any cards. I set up my bluffes good so I could make my money. The problem was after that time, the people wanted to see my cards and my bluffs didn't worked that well.

I know my faults at that night: I guess my biggest fault is playing in Limits without a bankroll. I am not able to play with a proper bankroll.

But I have really to say, that it doesnt matter which limit I am playing in. Everytime I got good repurtations from my opponents. I never felt that I was a real big underdog or something like that. The problem is really when I am losing and I do, I felt that I shouldnt play without a proper bankroll.

@ REK

I agree completely. I need to adjust more to the players and gain my ability to read hands so I dont pay off the junk hands.