Desperate times

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LuisBoaC

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After nearly a year of almost daily study and play I'm still a very slightly losing player. Thing is I used to notice where I'd lost cos of big mistakes and where I was just unlucky. I'm gradually cutting mistakes out my game but seem to just get unluckier. It now seems in my last 30ish tourneys (1.50 9-max SNGs on stars) I cash about one in five but get sucked out on in the other 4. Tight til I need to make a move, get all my chips in and am way ahead of single opponent and get drawn out on. Every time.
Everything I've read says if I keep going I'll make money eventually but it's tough. My $ev for a single tourney is almost always positive and usually above $1.50 (one buy-in).
Anyone else suffered this and come out the other side? Is there anything else I should be doing? I know I'm not the unluckiest guy in the world and if I just think that I definitely won't improve. Perhaps I'm just hitting an unlucky streak right about the time I'm becoming a solid, winning player but having never been that it's so hard to know. If you've never won consistently how do you know if you're unlucky or just not good enough?
Sorry this is a bit ranty and a vague question, the bad beats are just so disheartening.
:(:confused:
 
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cgcook38

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Have you thought about changing game formats? I have found that I experience a lot more variance in singe table games. As a result I don’t play with very much confidence. MTTs are a larger time suck, but they work much better for me.
 
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LuisBoaC

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Thanks for the input. I tried several formats before settling on SNGs and the timescale was a big factor, I've got a bloody job y'kno. But lately I have been playing a few freeroll MTTs so maybe I'll allocate a little time away from SNGs and into MTTS. The dream was to make money at SNGs, cut down on hours at work, spend those extra hours practicing MTTs then win a bracelet and retire from work to play cards full time! The goal remains but (predictably) the journey won't follow a strict plan.
 
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audacity

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Thanks for the input. I tried several formats before settling on SNGs and the timescale was a big factor, I've got a bloody job y'kno. But lately I have been playing a few freeroll MTTs so maybe I'll allocate a little time away from SNGs and into MTTS. The dream was to make money at SNGs, cut down on hours at work, spend those extra hours practicing MTTs then win a bracelet and retire from work to play cards full time! The goal remains but (predictably) the journey won't follow a strict plan.

I do not think one can expect to win at poker professionally.

I 'guess' some people manage to make it happen but there must be some ratio of like 80 to 1 as to those that actually make it.
 
drejva11

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Try hard, believe in yourself and one day you will make it. You will improve more and feel happier.
 
dragunovich

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I would advise you to stop playing for a week at least .. study a little after the first 3 days, write down what are those errors that cause your losses, after a week a little "relax" or recess, try again ..
 
Spaceman

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By not any means I am an expert, so you dont have to follow my advice.

Are suckouts really suckouts? If you shove pocket fives most of the time you are gonna get called by an ace. Losing to an ace or a seven on the board is not really a suckout when you shove small pocket pairs you shouldnt be shoving in the first place in my opinion.

Also do you check how is your stack compared to your opponent to see if he got you covered? Yes, AQ suited may seem a great hand for a double up, but if the other one is calling with any two, maybe you should better play the small ball strategy.

Also, a known leak most tight players do is folding every hand until they find a premium hand to shove, but in the meantime they had gone so low in blinds because they dont steal often and play that narrow range, that now their kings shove must evade an ace cause now its double up or bust. My approach to minimize variance is to have a stack with some extra chips, so play a little looser, make some moves, open up your range a little, find some spots you can exploit, so you can build your stack even if you dont have that premium hand. So when you got the premium hand and shove it would be doubling up or just lose a lot of chips but not busting.
 
Luvepoker

Luvepoker

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Don't let the bad streaks get you down We all have gone through them and you never know when it will turn around but as long as you play good solid poker it will turn around. I have twice gone over 25 tournament without a cash and my high was 38 in a row. I have gone 9 months and a run of 7 months without a real deep run. I have also won 3 tournament out of 4 in one streak. It will turn.

One bit of advice is look over your recent hand history. When I have one of these bad runs where I think is just bad luck and I was ahead I look over my play and see if it is accurate. Many times its is just the variance of the game, sometime I see a small change in my game that maybe costing me and during my longest streak, it was totally my play that was the issue. Just check and make sure its not something you are doing.
 
infonazar

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Sometimes this happens.
I try take a break, relax.
Usually, I read books. It is very useful to me.
I also recommend it to you.
 
wlad20082009

wlad20082009

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When I started playing, I wanted to win a lot at once ! Now I know it's stupid . Register in several rooms at the same time. Not doing well in one , will go elsewhere . Combine and play . Look somewhere and get .
 
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gabpoker

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30 games isn't enough to draw many conclusions. If you are really always way ahead and get sucked out on then keep doing that and you will eventually see a profit.
 
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formertroll

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Thanks for the input. I tried several formats before settling on SNGs and the timescale was a big factor, I've got a bloody job y'kno. But lately I have been playing a few freeroll MTTs so maybe I'll allocate a little time away from SNGs and into MTTS. The dream was to make money at SNGs, cut down on hours at work, spend those extra hours practicing MTTs then win a bracelet and retire from work to play cards full time! The goal remains but (predictably) the journey won't follow a strict plan.


i second the different game types but for a different reason. use it to mix up your poker "workouts". i play acr so i'll use their terms...try some 1.00+.10 tournaments and the .50 and .10 occasionally, try the .55 sit n go, or the 0/7 step or .28. each one requires different skill sets and strategies. i found that the .55 taught me how to play late game less than 10bb stacks much better than i was before, so during other game types when i got low i was able to survive better or when i hit the final table in bigger touraments what i learned for .55 per game has served me very well.

also, play the cc freerolls and other peoples freerolls, occasionally toss in some bounties, just spread it out and have fun. obviously play mostly game types you win most but once you notice a flaw in your game in any game type that can be the focus of your study for a while.
 
dbchristy

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I love your post. I met my late hubby, and on our first date, he said he wanted to be a proffesional poker player. I laughed, and really thought he was kidding.(Or a nut job) He wasnt . At that time I never played poker. Now 15 years later , Im the one with the same dream. Never give up. And I agree with the guy that said add some MTTS.
 
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