Poker is not one or two games, it's not one or two session ... it's a life time.
You may have heard the Kenny Rogers song; "Know when to hold'em and know when to fold'em" ... that's just it how do ya know when?
Experiance is the real teacher and wisdom to understand what's learned.
Sometimes in poker you actually get premium starting hands a lot but you don't hit the flop and people are betting making your best decison a lay down. Sometimes the cards fall your way and sometimes they don't, sometimes you can read other players and what they're thinking and sometimes you can't. Sometimes you do everything right and it still don't work.
Now with all of that said, it's something we all experiance you just have to muddle through it. And here's some of my thinking on your scenario.
Table image, I've noticed that when I play ultra tight looser players will take notice. They totally recognize my betting pattern and can push me off a pot if they think by bet is weak ... which it usually is because I've been too tight. If I've been pushed off a couple of hands and they've seen this they will often enter a pot with me with speculative hands giving themselves a 50/50 chance of hitting the flop or pushing me off the pot. At this point I have to realize that I'm playing the cards and not my opponents or they will rake me accross the coals.
Another scenario is that I've played a few hands and folded too easily, I fold too much and don't challenge a raise with a re-raise. I've lost a few hands and they think I'm on a losing streak... if they see this, if they think this they will enter the pots with you and challenge you over and over.
To counter this you have to enter the game with the proper
bankroll and keep your table image under control as tight aggressive, if you show any weakness they will feed on you.
There's more to poker than the right cards, TAG or LAG, in or out of position. It's pshycological warfare, you can have fun and be smiling, you can enjoy the experiance and you can be civilized about it but never forget it's MEAN it's NASTY and it's BRUTAL.
One of the biggest advantages of internet poker is being able to move to another table easily. You can't do that as easily at a live table. When playing poker you have to take EVERYTHING into account especially at the money tables where deep pockets can rebuy any time.
If in any one session all of the factors are not wokring for you MOVE! Go to another table, table image, position, TAG, LAG, maniacs, tight and passive opponents aggressive losers, gamblers, rocks, pot
odds, stakes, bankrolls, money managment. You have to have it all squared away, you have to have the right attitude and you have to recognize when your on tilt, when things aren't going your way when your in a negative swing QUIT!
If your not winning QUIT! That's the number one rule poker players break all the time. If your not winning quit!
Move, move and move again get all of the pieces working right and win!
LOL I feel like I'm preaching ... I'm not picking on you, I'm just using what you said to clarify my thoughts and if it helps you good, if not sorry about that don't believe everything you read. One of the reasons I like posting in boards like these is that it helps me think stuff through, the bottom line it helps my game. These are the thoughts that came to my mind, now if I can only follow my own advice maybe I'll get somewhere.
Good Luck!
