Keep coming back even though i suck

I've been playing poker for a few years online and have never made any money. i have never made a withdrawl becasue i never build up my bankroll enough to make a withdrawl and i end up losing all my deposits. I'll play for a while get really into then lost a lot of money then i stop playing for a couple month and then i come back to it and lost more money. so here i am at that point again in my life where i havet played for a couple of months and now im back it. I tried to play other games online but quickly lost interest. poker get me angry sometimes. but i try to take a break for a while so i dont get too much oon tilt and im trying to play with what my roll allows so with my 50 bucks i put im only playing 1 dollar sit n gos and thats about it i try to stay away from cash games i lost today 4 times in a row playing sit n gos so i stopped for a while . over the years added to gether ive probably put in close to 1000 dollars worth of deposits. Any one else out there been losing and losing and losing never making any money but still trying because you like to play it

make a deposit, try to stay within ur bankroll, there are loads of good articles on here about BRM, never play with money you cannot afford to lose. read the articles on this forum they should answer all questions you have about the game and make you a better player hopefully

Play if you are having fun and as stated visit or re-visit BRM articles.

I will only play buyins when I feel really good.Do not play when you are tired,sleepy,aggravated,or mad.Mood has alot to do with your poker game.
Ideally,you should perhaps play freerolls until you get good and lucky enough to win one or two,thats how I do it.
It really works,because I never lost any of my own money at online poker.(not to rub it in)I decided to earn my money from freerolls,or Im not good enough to be in the game.Plus you never lose any of your own money this way.
I did have to invest in learning how to better my poker game and strategy,before I started to place in the money.I started winning right away too,so it does work.Invest in yourself,and only play when you are feeling great.If ya dont,you will just end up shoving.

yeah... Mood is everthing! It just might be the big leak to your game.

with that kinda attitude i wouldn't be playing with real money thats for sure

IMO the only way to beat the game these days is to study. Books such as Moshmans SNG and Harrington on Holdem is a good place to start.

Some people just play for fun, and never win at a consistent basis. Just like with any hobby, you are gonna spend money doing it. Sounds like you are one of those players, who doesn't mind spending a little money on their hobby to have fun.
If you want to become a winning player, than you have to put the time in to study the game and find your leaks. Make sure that you spend just as much time studying your sessions as you do playing. AND don't forget to post HH in the HA forum to get an outside view on hands your weren't to sure about.

If you don't have a positive attitude when you sit down at a table, then don't sit down.
Poker is not only a game of cards it's a game of attitude, reads and intelligent decisions.

Make a deposit, read up on the BRM rules, and look up some of the strategy articles available here on CC.
If you are still losing, put some hand histories on the forum and someone will give you some feedback.

I play because I enjoy the game. It is my primary reason for continuing to play poker online.

I have been fortunate to not lose massive bucks. My total deposits are minimal, and my withdrawals are comparatively large (compared to my deposits). Not life altering by any stretch.

I can still play freerolls, and even play money (been a while tho). That is a sport aspect of the game that is unexplored, and mostly poopoo'ed by cash players. But then all they really want is your cash..........

OP,

My first question is, do you want to get better? Some people are just recreational players and there is nothing wrong with that. Its how poker survives actually. If you do want to get better, I would suggest reading some basic strategy articles on this site and do some google work to find some other good stuff.

It doesn't take a huge amount of study time to get the basics down so that you can be at least break even/slight winner at the microstakes. It just takes the desire to improve.

Remember, if you keep doing the same thing, you will keep getting the same results.

GL

I play because I love the game and I love anything competitive.
I've read the BRM articles here, read a lot, read some more...and then still even more.

Your situation sounds very similar to mine... I earned some money via the CC freerolls here, started playing micro SnG's, got up a little then down a lot...I actually deposited AGAIN *sigh*...but then it happened...

Here is what I've found:
1) Play your game, the same way every time. Ok, so you got clobbered by a K9 soooted in ep last game and a Q3os in the one before that. Does that mean you should now be calling with those hands?
2) Play hands you can raise with. Raise with them. Continue to raise with them. Keep folding because you aren't hitting the flop and your opponent is betting like he did? Good. Keep it up..he really isn't bluffing. Really. Thinking about just limping instead? Don't. Just keep playing your hand, your way.
3) Play fewer hands. No, seriously, play fewer hands. How many SB's do you limp in a game?
4) Find game/format you enjoy. I started with STT satellites, un-reg-ing when I won, buying back in with tourney dollars. I found that I personally like MTT format (maybe all the years of playing CC freerolls ) so I found I really enjoy 45 person SnG's...but that's just me, and where I found I can succeed... to each his own.
5) IF you start losing, figure out what you changed and STOP DOING THAT!
...I realized I was limping when I previously was raising. Checking where I was betting. and *gulp* calling where I was folding...I became my own worse nightmare...a calling station ...it took around 25 or more straight losses to figure that out (a good $55 plummet)

I've now played over 575 micro SnG's since Jan 1st. I'm now winning more than the rake *yeah*...(and won back around $45 of that plummet) first time ever. I'm STILL getting "donked called out" of some of the tourneys... I still occasionally yell and make the wife and the dog jump over some idiot and his idiotic call he just made....but I actually enjoy making fun of the twit now... and I put a little note on him so I don't make the same mistake of thinking that moron would EVER fold his "any two cards"

oh...and keep track of the games you play and how you did...

PokerPete said:

I play because I love the game and I love anything competitive.
I've read the BRM articles here, read a lot, read some more...and then still even more.

Your situation sounds very similar to mine... I earned some money via the CC freerolls here, started playing micro SnG's, got up a little then down a lot...I actually deposited AGAIN *sigh*...but then it happened...

Here is what I've found:
1) Play your game, the same way every time. Ok, so you got clobbered by a K9 soooted in ep last game and a Q3os in the one before that. Does that mean you should now be calling with those hands?
2) Play hands you can raise with. Raise with them. Continue to raise with them. Keep folding because you aren't hitting the flop and your opponent is betting like he did? Good. Keep it up..he really isn't bluffing. Really. Thinking about just limping instead? Don't. Just keep playing your hand, your way.
3) Play fewer hands. No, seriously, play fewer hands. How many SB's do you limp in a game?
4) Find game/format you enjoy. I started with STT satellites, un-reg-ing when I won, buying back in with tourney dollars. I found that I personally like MTT format (maybe all the years of playing CC freerolls ) so I found I really enjoy 45 person SnG's...but that's just me, and where I found I can succeed... to each his own.
5) IF you start losing, figure out what you changed and STOP DOING THAT!
...I realized I was limping when I previously was raising. Checking where I was betting. and *gulp* calling where I was folding...I became my own worse nightmare...a calling station ...it took around 25 or more straight losses to figure that out (a good $55 plummet)

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Good advice in general Pete but I would take exception to the highlighted part. OP has been a steady donator according to his post. He needs to play differently if he ever wants to change that. I see that you do mention that in point 5 but I would emphasize that some more.

He's got to change how he plays if he wants to improve. I'm not actually sure if OP wants to get better or was just venting frustration. I'm not being mean, I just am not sure of the purpose of the post. The only question that he asks is if any of us keep playing and losing for years at a time.

Honestly, I think we have all gone through that phase in poker where we feel like we should stop playing because we are losing money, but maybe you should re-evaluate your play. If you like to play poker just for the fun of it, you possibly could just play with play chips in order to just have fun. If you feel like it is a necessity to play with real money in order to have fun, then make sure that you learn how to actually play the game with the right strategies, I know there is plenty of helpful information at Cardschat. You just need to look for it. Good luck!

alaskabill said:

Good advice in general Pete but I would take exception to the highlighted part. OP has been a steady donator according to his post. He needs to play differently if he ever wants to change that. I see that you do mention that in point 5 but I would emphasize that some more.

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Yep. I agree with you....
I still don't know how to phrase what I'm trying to say here....
I noticed I would have success for a while and then things would go bad, then they'd get worse.... when I stopped and thought really hard about the last couple of games I played I realized I started opening up my starting hand ranges. I fell into the trap of "sheesh, I'm folding better crapola than this joker is winning with. This donk is now chip leader calling pf all ins with 49os." or the "I'm in position and can out play these donks with any two cards" or the dreaded "I'm sure I'm folding waaaaayyy too many hands...this can't be right? It's kind of boring to play this way"

...I was finishing ITM/or near bubble in CC Freerolls but getting killed playing SnG's.
Once I started playing both the same basic style, thing got a lot better in the SnG's. Once things got better and consistent, I could identify "leaks" here and there and plug them. I guess my point here is that it's impossible to find repeated mistakes in a game that isn't repeated

Benjamin5566 said:

Any one else out there been losing and losing and losing never making any money but still trying because you like to play it

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As many have said already, lots of people play because it is fun and do not worry about losing. It is a form of entertainment and you just pay money to have your fun. Nothing wrong with that at all. As a matter of fact, since it has been estimated widely that roughly 80-90% of all poker players lose money in the long run, you should not feel bad about your situation.

Hey everyone well today i put in a new deposit on pokerstars $50. last night i lost the rest of my last deposit. And guess what i think i finally found a LEAK in my game that i became AWARE of (i know i have several leaks lol). Any how heres the thing.. I Usually will play poker after i get out of work; you see i work shifts 1 to 10 at my job so i play some poker every night when i get home problem is i'll play and play all night untill my moneys gone. Let me give you an idea of what i do. Also as i explain this im seeing more leaks.

So of course i try to follow good BRM and play the $1.20 sit n gos.I'll play these ok one right after the other and if i lose 5 bucks or more i dont stop (Which i know i should another leak) and then i play beyond what my brm allows trying to get that 5 bucks back playing a 10 dollar heads up sit n go so that i can get the 5 bucks back and make a 5 dollar profit. But if i lose that you know what happens next. Play an even bigger game that that..my hope now is to break even and stay at my 50 not so worried about profit now.
Now this is how my deposits usually always disappear im beginning to see the pattern. And after doing this for so long im finally telling myself ok Ben you lost a couple stop playing like today was great. I got out of work a little early. So my mood was great. I played a sit n go about an hour after i got out and relaxed for a while...and I WONT FIRST PLACE !!! this was huge for me. I felt great about this i played another one afterwards and unfortunately i lost then later on today i played another one and lost. So now im stopping and decided to get on this forum on cardschat. I feel good its around midnight right now and normally on any other day i would still be playing untill maybe 3 in the morning but to night im stopping im cutting myself off untill tomarrow. I am off work tomarrow so i will get a fresh start in the morning. I see if like this.... won one game and i lost two...Ben its time to cut your losses read some articles get on the forum and wait untill tomarrow.
And you know what guys i dont want to make the same mistakes over and over and over again ive done for too long and tired of it I want to make money from poker. I want to learn to win the game for extra cash. I'm blessed to have a good job i make good money and i do like my day job. I love poker as well and even though i've been dabbling with it over the years i have this addiction to it even though i am a losing player.. I want to turn that around..I want to make some withdrawls one day..And to tell you the truth that is my one and only goal right to at least make just ONE WITHDRAWL.
I know that i need to stop making the same mistakes..
--playing when im way too tired
--playing games over and over again when i've already lost 5 in a row
--playing hands i have no business playing
--playing too many hands

these are my major leaks the only i can say i have improved are not playing as many hands with that game i won that i mentioned earlier i played around 20 % of my hands before heads up play so i was in the zone with that game so thats why i feel i need to stop for the day i wanna start doing everything right

I just absolutely love this game. I kept playing for years as a donator because of this. Only recently have I begun to turn it around. I didn't read any books or anything like that, I just read the shit out of every piece of strategy info I could find here on CC and became religious about reviewing my own play. I gotta say I spend more time with study and review than I do playing. A typical day will see me reviewing for at least 2 hours, studying and reading for at least an hour more, then still reading/reviewing while I play a session of MTT.

If I'm playing SNG, I'll do a 3 game set, and if I am ahead after the set, I'll play few more and do my session review the next day. But if I end the set down, I'll review key hands and make notes for a bit before starting another set.

Painful and exhausting, but definitely worth it for me. I'm also sure to not play while I am too tired, while or after drinking (though I do have one or two in an evening to relax after the day), or there is a possibility of a major distraction.

I feel for you. I donot have a winning record. I've cashed in a few tournaments. I play for fun now, micro stakes and freerolls. A few cash games, I usually play Holdem and Omaha hi/lo. Have been learning Razz, Badugi, and dueces 2 to 7. I'll eventually go back to holdem but i think the other game are easy to learn. Less people play them and its easier to cash in them. You should try to learn another game. When holdem isn't doing it for you, switch and release so tension. Badugi is extremely fun to play.

Ben it looks to me that you are on your way to start becoming a better poker player,you are thinking through what you are doing now and that can only help your game.

There is so much free strategy advice out there so use it,i heard a pro poker player saying the other night you should look at how many hours you play per month on average.His advice is to study poker for about a third of the time you actually play.

It is just one guy's opinion but i am trying to stick to it and so far it has helped.

Just keep trying, you'll get it 1 day.

Don't give up now, keep coming back & depositing!