Is it even possible?

J

Jtl

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Hello,

Is it even possible to get better at poker? I am pretty much a completely beginner, I lose all the time and I never imrove.

I play online poker both freeroll and real money.

I have learned how to count outs but to be honest it hasnt improved my gameplay and I dont really know why.

I am also trying to play position but I am not sure if I am doing it right. In early position I only go with good starting hands and so on:


early:
AA
KK
QQ
AKs
AQs
KQs
AK

mid:
+
TT
99
88
AJs
ATs
QJs
AQ
KQ

late:
+
A2s
A3s
A4s
A5s
A6s
A7s
A8s
A9s
KTs
QTs
JTs
AJ
AT

I dont really know what to do to improve. It feels like mission impossible for me
 
PaxMundi

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What type of game do you play tournaments or cash games 6 max or full ring ? then people can begin to help you. Your starting in the right place with your ranges :) but they do need some working on
 
D

Darth_Moola

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You might just need to give yourself more time playing. There's much more to learn and you can't really fully understand how to apply things if you have only played for a few weeks. Each concept really takes weeks to learn and implement into your game. Outs is a few weeks, ranging is a few weeks, estimating your breakeven and how that compares with your equity is a few weeks, etc.
 
Erpherk

Erpherk

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Based on the info you gave I think you are playing to tight. You have to be unpredictable and playing "by the book" can be obvious and everything in poker is situational anyway.. Poker is a story telling game and the hands don't matter unless it goes to showdown.
Play a tournament and look at it as a training match. I want you to raise utg with any hand 6 high suited and figure out a way to win with it. Putting yourself in these situations will make you better.
You are pretty late to the poker scene and everyone is well adapted these days. It's a bit harder to win even for good players so don't feel bad if your nor winning a bunch of tournaments.
 
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CallmeFloppy

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I don't want to seem cruel, but there are some people that will never become good poker players. They just don't have the capacity for the skills required.

But that doesn't mean you can't be.

Position, hand selection and knowing outs is a good start. This will help to limit the number of bad situations you put yourself into. Next you need to learn how to get our of bad spot when you are in one and how to take advantage of a good spot when you have it.

The more you evaluate your play and think " how could I have done better there? did I get full value? Was I evaluating the hand correctly at each point? Did I put them on the correct range? What range was I representing?" the better you will get and more quickly you will make these observations and decisions. Some without even knowing you did.
 
Eric Salvador

Eric Salvador

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It’s possible but it takes a long time to gather and use the info you learn. Plus you have to keep studying because the game it always evolving
 
X

xy23

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You should try learning about hand ranges. It'll be a pretty difficult concept for beginners but it's pretty much the most useful thing you can learn to up your game.
 
A

A3200304

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There is a lot of different ways to look at the game of poker. I mean I'm no professional or anything I've played live poker here in Los Angeles and online poker in BOL and other sites. In live poker I'm a very conservative player at least when I first started. I would never play suited connectors or even suited cards for example. I felt like they were hands that just couldn't get the job done. I was always so focused and patient on getting pocket aces kings queens Jack's ten that I just be eating myself alive up in a tournament. The blinds and antes would just start killing me and I didn't know why. That's when I started to play online poker. I started seeing the game a whole diffren way. I would would get such bad losses I'd have kings and I would lose to 10 7 off suit. I'd get wo angry I thought the game was rigged that's when I began watching high stakes poker again and really paying attention to what these guys were doing. So I started mixing up my game I wouldint say I became a donkey I'd say I started really learning how to play poker. I would play hands like 5 and 8 suited or maybe Q 7 off suit even worse hands then that. The way I started looking at the game was like this I'd be in the small blind and have a decent or Mediocar hand the blinds were let's say 400 and 800 with a 100 ante there is 9 players at the table so right away to begin the pot there is 2,100 lets say someone raises and makes it 2400 and you gets another caller along the way there is already 6,900 dollars in the pot and if I had let's say suited connectors I'd play it because I'm investing 2,400 to win 6,900 and I started thinking okay hes raising three times the big blind I started looking at what kind of hands he could have maybe pocket tens or jacks and then the second caller might have something like king jack suited or king queen suited or maybe even ace king. So I'd hope to be getting a nice flop something were maybe I can get a flush draw or a straight draw or two pairs . So the flip would come out and lets say I got a flush draw I'd check to see what the other players were going to do. Let's say the first guy checks and the next person In actions raises to 4,800 I'd call because now hes only betting around half the pot and I have a pretty good hand to draw out on. And you see the point believe me sometimes I would get the flush and sometimes I wouldint it all depend if I was getting the right price to call. That's one of the ways try looking at your playing different way. Hope this helped man and dont worry no one ever stops learning in poker. It's impossible to master it because there is so many ways to play it you just gotta learn how to adapt to the table.
 
Acechador

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One of the best alternatives is to look for books and read them, what you learn apply it immediately and if you are losing a lot of money, stop for a while and keep studying.
 
TheKAAHK

TheKAAHK

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Its entirely possible to get better! But it takes a lot of time, a lot of hands, a lot of patience and practice.

Pay a lot of attention to not only what your opponents are doing but to what you are doing. Take notes. Not just on observed play, but on your own thoughts on your own hands or plays.

This game isn't easy and to get better you have to put in the time. No easy ways about it.

Your starting hand "chart" there is a decent starting guide, but there's a couple problems with it: it's easy to read by most players who are paying attention for enough time, and it results in you playing too few hands in spots that you should be in.

I'd suggest watching poker coverage on YouTube. Stay away from watching wsop Main Event and high stakes cash game clips because the play doesn't really translate to our low level. There's a ton of videos on ranges, position play, icm, odds, and basic strategies. Absorb as much as you can and don't be afraid to test things for yourself to see what you're comfortable or capable of.

Oh, and spend some time in the Hand Analysis section here at CC. Even if you don't post any hands (but you should, you'll get amazing insight), you will still learn a lot by reading the analysis. And don't be afraid to ask questions. There are never any stupid questions.
 
R

redmast

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In addition to knowledge, you need to get skills. Therefore, play at the lowest investment in the game. In addition, the player must have a good sense of and read well someone else's card on the actions of the enemy. To apply bluff at the right moment.
 
Datdude1

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You can improve at anything that you do on a regular basis. Unfortunately for some the level of improvement caps at certain peaks and your skill level will plateau but if that happens to you just enjoy the game wherever your skill level may be.
 
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rafffinamore

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You spoke only of what you do in the pre-flop, but do not forget the other three times of the game, the flop, the turn and the river, and the show down. As you can see, the pre-flop is very important, but it's just the tip of the iceberg. Knowing to give up on a losing hand and knowing how to bet and draw chips on a winning hand is the secret to be mastered in poker. Think about it.
 
This Fish Chums

This Fish Chums

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Before you worry about how well you play at the table, worry about how well you manage your bankroll before you sit at the table. Proper bankroll management will allow you to lose without running out of money. Since you say you've played for real money I'm assuming you have a means of getting money on the site. if so, here's a link on how to manage your bankroll to not go bust every time you lose: https://www.cardschat.com/poker-bankroll-management.php

The second piece of advice is to learn how to learn. For instance, let's say you are in a hand and reraise after the flop because you have 2 pair. But there are 3 hearts on the flop. The the turn comes and another heart lands putting 4 hearts on the board and you don't have one, but you do have 2 pair. Hypothetically speaking let's say they bet and you call. Then on the river they bet again and you call again and they reveal a 5 of hearts giving them a weak flush. Instead of just saying, "Wow, that was an unlucky hand" stop and learn from it. Now, you may not get the right answer, but try to come up with alternate things you could have done to try to win the hand. Think of as many different possibilities as you can, such as:

  1. You could have bet bigger on the flop to push them out of the hand.
  2. You could have folded when they bet on the 4th card because a likely flush was on the board.
  3. You could have re-raised their bet on the turn to bluff that you had a bigger flush.
  4. Or, you could have called the turn to make it look like a trap and then bluff the river with a reraise.
The point is, every hand you lose there are ways you could have either lost fewer chips, or actually won. Take time to think them through and when the situation arises again, try something different. Eventually you will learn what does and does not work.

Finally, don't be afraid to lose hands. Throwing away the second best hand is often the best option.
 
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