Close to giving up on online poker

first off, hello. im new in this forum, but not to poker. i consider myself a decent player. ive read books, calculate pot odds and ev. on average i only play about 20% of my hands. in real life, i beat all of my friends, and i dont even have to look at them for reads. good players ought to beat bad players regularly; it's the return you get from working hard and becoming good. but, why can't i win with online poker? i won when i first started, sure, but now i lose fairly quickly whenever i join a new table. im usually getting beat by fish on the turn or river, or getting 30+ consecutive bad hands. currently, ive lost over twice as much as ive won from online poker. it's as if the whole industry is geared against people who play too solidly.

now im not saying all the major poker sites are rigged, yet, but then it would make a lot of sense. wouldn't it? i dont care what their fairness policies say, but by keeping a healthy influx of new players, it is a HUGE incentive for them to rig the cards. sites want: 1) lot of action for their rake, and 2) for their new players not to get pummelled all the time by better players. if they make a ton of money this way, and im seeing the results of this possibility first hand, then why shouldn't i believe that online poker is rigged? at this point, i feel about 99% sure that it is.

- on a side note, i was reading an article last month about players using bots online, programmed for solid play, thus resulting in major sites "protecting" their players by "enhancing" their software. this scared the frig out of me. i would much rather play against bots all day than to deal with any "enchanced" software that is supposed to drop cards randomly. good players will be performing close to what these bots are doing anyway, and you can imagine the messy results that can come out of this.

anyway, why not quit? my problem is that i love this game too much. so, to those who are winning, steadily, what services are you using? and what types of games are you playing? i usually play small stakes holdem limit, but ill adapt to anything that can win consistantly. im very close to quitting poker for good.

You have 3 choices.
1) stop playing
2) try and improve (coaching site)
3) try another game (limit type games may suit you)

Whether its rigged or not, people have proven to make a profit from online poker.

id say changing your game would be your best option. There are many less know games like Razz, 2-7 which are limit and will make your money go a longer way.

Welcome to CC, you have come to the right place if you feel your missing something pertaining to the online game as opposed to live.

There are a number of tools that are used to help you with your online game, here are 2 of the most popular: http://www.pokertracker.com/
http://holdemmanager.net/.

You can download the trial versions of each software to see which one you like best, they are virus/spyware free and very important to the online player.

Here are a couple of articles that may peak your interest and give you some insight as to why online players fair poorly as compared to live.

http://www.cardschat.com/build-your-...r-bankroll.php
http://www.cardschat.com/f13/why-do-...verall-156245/
Suggestions for experienced live player contemplating playing online.

And this section will be beneficial to the online game: http://www.cardschat.com/poker-strategy.php

Hope this will be helpful.

to be honest thats how i felt about online poker at first. the only advice i can give you is to play only freerolls and try to win with that so you can still get to play online poker and not lose any money as well.

I believe a lot has to do with state of mind. If you are aware you are struggling then it DOES affect your game - sometimes you think too hard, sometimes the feel just isnt right, sometimes you are in a bit of a negative rut. I find my best poker is played when I am in a good positive mood!

Thats just me!!

The notion of "well it's not me it's probably rigged" is one of the more arrogant things I've read here lately. My friend, it's time to eat some humble pie.

1. Chances are your friends are so terrible at poker in a live setting, even a bad player can beat them.

2. You need to understand that online poker is hard. You have players playing everyday and playing hundreds if not thousands of hands per session. That's a lot of experience to catch up to.

3. Even good players go through bad swings. That might be the case too.

Chances are you are playing the micro stakes which should be for fun and experience. My suggestion:

1. Realize online poker isn't rigged.

2. Humble yourself and realize you're not as good as you think you are.

3. Study, study, and study more. best way imo = watch videos posted here at the CC video section.

4. Post hands, get opinions on your play, have someone go through your hands.

5. Use tracking software.

you have to overcome rake...the best way is to only play when you are working off a bonus...a deposit or reload bonus...rakebackhelps as well

Original post edited for clarity.

This looks very similar to this post: Giving up internet poker!

So, I'll just quote myself...

Well....as if I haven't seen one of these before. Boy if I had a nickel for every time I heard "I'm gonna quit if....".

Here are things to think about first :

*****Do NOT play if you are not in a focused state*****

1) Am I playing the right stakes? You have to play at stakes that you can afford to lose. If you are playing stakes where you MUST win to stay playing then you are playing too high.

2) Am I playing the right game? Even if you are at a comfortable stakes level you MUST be sure to play a game you can win at....consistently. Try the easiest games first....be sure to be comfortable with them before playing for money....and slowly delve into others from there...if you so choose to.

3) Am I playing the right strategy for this format? Different table size means people will use different strategies. Be sure to learn different strategies for different formats. 9 handed play will be more tight than 6 handed, and if you don't adjust, you will lose.

4) If you answered yes to the first 3 questions then you have to revisit your game. Do you need to learn more? What are your weaknesses? What are your strengths? Figure out what seems to works best for you and go from there. Remember, poker is a game where you are always learning, always improving.....or success will elude you.

5) Learn to live with the fact that you will not always win. People play differently, expect to find people that will get lucky against you. Odds are variable, so you won't always win with aces, for example. Streaks happen and change...never know when....but they always do.

6) LEARN TO FOLD BIG HANDS. Just because you have aces doesn't mean you'll win. The MOST important part of being a successful player is knowing when to fold the big hands. This part alone will save you LOTS of money in playing.

Some may or may not agree with these points, and they are not in any particular order, but I have found these points integral to a successful game.

I have 2 points for you.
You ain't going to bluff in 2NL, 10NL.
The fish will call you till the river, thats how you make money.