Do you feel like you're getting better or worse at poker as time passes?

[radartodd69]

Hi, I've been playing poker for around 15 years and have had some scattered success along the way as I'm sure you all have. I am noticing that the amount of times I win a tournament in say during a month or years time has been steadily declining during my 15 years. This really does a number on my head. I say to my self I'm practicing more and more but getting worse and worse results. So from strictly a results based analysis, I was better at poker when I started than I am now after having a lot of practice. Tell me what you think. Does any of this make sense in your poker adventure?

 

[SharkyShark1]

It all depends on the day if I feel better or worse. Sometimes I'm playing really well and all my plays go right, other days its like I can't play poker and I'm a complete donk.
Regarding your 15 years and the declining winnings, everybody now has access to youtube videos, theory and everybody studies the game. 15 years ago the field was a lot softer.

 

[alien666dj]

From the moment I began to parse hands and analyze the game, I have grown as a player.

 

[SopianaeExtra]

I'm DEFINITELY better than a few years ago, which I ascribe to my growth as a person. But it seems I might plateau any time soon, judging from my table results. If players could endlessly improve themselves, then ... you wouldn't even notice a damn difference from today's playing field, as everyone would be a master to a certain degree by now, and an advanced master would still be able to trump a lesser one.

 

[fundiver199]

You have probably not gotten worse, but the competition has gotten better, and you have not been able to keep up. What worked 15 years ago, is not enough today, because the average opponent has more knowledge now, unless they are completely new to poker and/or recreational.

 

[marvinsytan]

feel like getting better everyday, just keep practicing and analyzing

 

[GORA1979]

better worse

It doesn't matter how you play poker at all, but the more the better, that's for sure!!!

 

[rachelle2291]

A lot depends on how patient you are and being able to find the fold button. So I think mood can affect this and thus you can go through stretches where you play better and stretches where you play bad. Over a long period like this though if you are achieving less success gradually over time then probably something else is going on.. Maybe your game has stayed the same and opponents have gotten better. It could also be possible that there are more players cheating with bots in todays world (maybe some of them are bots!).

 

[0546474]

15 years ago the level of players you played with was much lower!!! And they had much less opportunities to learn than now !!! Now there is a lot of different material for learning poker including videos and various programs !!! So I think the average level of the player has become higher, or more precisely, there are fewer bad players !!!

 

[Risto234]

No? I'm probably only getting worse at things i do the best ...

 

[igroksash]

I don't see much improvement in my results, as I play freerolls and micro stakes most of the time, where basically no one really loses anything.

 

[rabman50]

I find that the more off felt study I put in the better my overall results, As others have mentioned the fields today have access to training materials that was unheard of in the early 2000's. That means that the players today even the recreational players are much better than they were 15 years ago. If you have not spent time on your game off the felt you are falling behind. Practicing by playing is just reinforcing bad habits and not improving your game.

 

[Newzooozooo]

Hi.
I feel that my game is improving every year and it all started when I became a member of the CardsChat community. Now, every year I achieve much more than in previous years.
Good luck.

 

[misiomick]

I actually have similar conclusions as radartodd69. I have been playing poker for nearly 15 years myself by now and I can confirm that from bankroll point of view I used to win more money and more often than nowadays. I believe that this isn't due to my skills getting worse, all opposite - with time and experience I became more cautions in certain hands as I am able to read them better now than before. Also worth mentioning is that pokerstars and probably other poker servers too constantly reduce prize pool for many tourneys. This with fact that there are more and more players participating nowadays means less money to win if you only manage to reach paid places stage.

 

[plan]

Hi, I've been playing poker for around 15 years and have had some scattered success along the way as I'm sure you all have. I am noticing that the amount of times I win a tournament in say during a month or years time has been steadily declining during my 15 years. This really does a number on my head. I say to my self I'm practicing more and more but getting worse and worse results. So from strictly a results based analysis, I was better at poker when I started than I am now after having a lot of practice. Tell me what you think. Does any of this make sense in your poker adventure?

The game got tougher. How can I tell if I'm better or worse if every second hand ends all-in? Three quarters I'm better, but most of them kill me with all sorts of rubbish. I play Omaha. It's a very violent game.

 

[Haikala2011]

In general I'm sure have become better, but there are days when I think I'm stupid as ass. My ability to play depends a lot how I feel, when tired or in bad mood I avoid playing.

 

[nutself]

The longer I play, it is certain my understanding of the game increase, but this does not necessary mean I'm getting better or win more money at poker, being a mental game, poker requires mental strength and perseverance, which are hard to improve.

 

[Zapahlohotrona]

I have the same thing. In the last 1-2 years my results have become worse and I am not progressing, although I have more knowledge.

 

[ADRI7HO]

What you say is interesting. In the beginning, the game went better for me too. Perhaps it is harder to win these days because developmental methods are much more accessible. Today, with a few weeks of non-stop learning (Cardschat, twitch, youtube ... etc.) You can develop years of knowledge.

Maybe that's the reason.

 

[LetterRip]

Hi, I've been playing poker for around 15 years and have had some scattered success along the way as I'm sure you all have. I am noticing that the amount of times I win a tournament in say during a month or years time has been steadily declining during my 15 years. This really does a number on my head. I say to my self I'm practicing more and more but getting worse and worse results. So from strictly a results based analysis, I was better at poker when I started than I am now after having a lot of practice. Tell me what you think. Does any of this make sense in your poker adventure?

You have two pools of players you are competiting with - the bad players - who mostly stay the same, and the good players.


You aren't getting worse, but the good players are improving faster than you are. The best 20% of players are steadily improving, from year to year as training tools and content have become drastically better.

So if you aren't improving as fast as they are, you will steadily be worse relative to the top competitors.

 

[RedMatrix]

I have an analogy for you.

Lets say you live in a town where the highway speed limit is 50mph (80kph) and you have a lead foot. You end up driving at 60 to 65 miles per hour, on average, every time you drive. Most of the cars are going at 50 to 55pmh, and you pass them pretty quickly, and arrive at your destination 3 to 5 minutes before everyone. (that was going to the same place you were)

Now, for some reason, the governing body decides to raise the speed limit to 60, but you stay at your comfort speed of 60-65. Well, now you are part of the average traffic speed.

Then 10 years later, they raise the speed limit yet again, and how it's 70mph!

Don't stay at the same speed / level. Otherwise, people will overtake you like you were standing still. Watch poker vlogs, read poker blogs, maybe a book written in the past year or two (versus Super System 2, or Ace on the River)

And don't get me started on ONLINE play, where there are more hands per hour, thus more variance, and with more variance, comes more suck-outs. (against you)

 

[MickGreed]

Depends on my mood, an if I'm feeling good, running into some health issues I think is a big part for me, getting tired alot , thats when impatient time hits an take more chances.

 

[791a791]

never advance

for me to be difficult because i think i already know everything about poker then i never advance

 

[iwont20]

A lot of great answers in the thread, so the reason may lay somewhere in the mix of them. Not only you change, things do change too. Different times require different methods .

 

[Luvepoker]

Have I gotten better at poker? Absolutely. The problem is the competition has as well. Poker as a game have evolved over the year. If you are not working on you game at least some of the time, you will be left behind. Just look back to some winning professional players from say 2006. Today many have left the game but some because they became losing players and not because of retirement.