Live poker is tough man, but it isn't unbeatable.
A good 1/2 player should make $15/$25 an hour. I have a friend who makes $40+/hour at 1/2.
There are a few things you are probably doing wrong. Without someone to help you, you may never figure it out on your own. Someone helped me up my game.
As far as winrates go, I believe they change sometimes faster than we can put a sample in. A good sample is like 600 hours minimum. It is possible we have changed as a player in those 600 hours.
Yes I have had bad runs for months. They are soul crushing. Is this what you're going through? Perhaps. Perhaps not.
My advice to you would be this....
Get a notepad
App for your smart phone.
Note all hands you can, in real time. It doesn't matter how you do it, just make sure to get all the important information in there, like position, stack sizes of yourself, and villains in the hand, what position you are postflop, real time reads/history.
It might seem like a Herculean task, but once you get used to it, it's fairly easy. The downside is that you won't be able to pay as close attention to the game.
Here is an example of notes I take after a hand is played. I did this for over a year to work on my game. It helped me more than I could've imagined.
1. CO ($200) Qc-10c. 1L, we raise to $12, only SB calls. He has $40 back. Flop Qd-6h-4h. Checks, we bet $17, he jams for $40, we call. I know without a doubt we have him. Turn 8x, river Ad. He shows A-Jo. (-$52)
So, you write down hands. You need to have someone who has live experience look them over, and give you input.
I will give you some general tips, they apply to 1/2.
Unless we have
seen evidence at showdown , when passive players raise, they have 2p+, period. Don't call off with your AA when some fish C/R jams on K-8-3r. He has you. I stress the seeing evidence part. You may suspect you are being bluffed. Until you actually see a hand show down, where this guy was
bluffing or raising a draw, he has 2p+. Biggest money saver for me ever.
Watch these folks play. They limp, then call, then fold, or hit TP and lose money because they have a terrible hand. When you see these super passive limp/callers raise pre, they have monster hands dude. They are so passive some of them won't even raise AK. So if you are calling opens from passive players, you better be setmining, or you better have a good hand that flops well. Follow the 10/20/30 rule. This applies to implied
odds. 10x back effective for setmine minimum. 20x back for SCs minimum. 30x back for SGs, minimum. This means $15 open, you need to be at least 300 deep post flop to call him with 9-8s. If the guy has 200 back, and you calling him with 7-5s, you are lighting money on fire somewhat.
So yeah, I fold AQ to a single open many times. They are scared money most times. They don't open bullshit. They limp rags, limp dominated hands. The raise premium, like OMG tight range. Don't be calling opens with trouble hands like AJ/KJ/QJ/AT, etc.
Be aware of your image. If you have a losing image, you're not winning hands, you won't get away with anything dude. Don't
bluff. Play tight. If you have a winning image, people fear you more, and you can get away with more. Don't force action with a shitty image. If you've been really active, be aware of that. If you have played 5 hands in the last two orbits, and won without showdown, your opponents probably think you are out of line. It can be called "the tension meter" (John a coined this I think). If the tension meter gets high, some V is about to implode, and call you down. Be aware of this. Know your image. Don't push it. If you have a bad image, you won't be able to even get a cbet through man.
You should generally know how to classify players at the table. You should watch the action as often as possible. Watch what people show up with. I'm certain you are making mistakes somewhere, you need to take notes, and discover what you're doing wrong.
Read some books about poker theory and strategy. Jonathan Little has a pretty good one on live cash games, a two-part book I think.
John A. also has one for free on here. I read it years ago.
Read "The Mental Game of Poker."
This started as a short post. I got carried away. I play live poker alot. 1/2 is so easy, it should be illegal. Yes you will run bad, but it rarely lasts longer than a month or two.
If you put the work in, and log hands, you'll get better I promise. Just be humble dude.