So You Can Play... Why Can't You Win

[PittsburghVitt]

I have been playing poker for about 4 years. More seriously for the last 2 of those years. Through my last 2 years of playing I have been able to consistently beat .25/.50 on multiple sites. I am writing this article for anyone who was stuck like I was about 2 years ago on why I was not able to win consistently. I could and would win large sums from tournies but could never break a cash game over time. What worked for me?




1) First I had to realize that there was much more for me to learn about poker and realize that I maybe was not as good as I truly thought. With that I started to record hand histories and think about both wins and loses after the hands. I had plenty of friends and people telling me to review hand histories but it would seem I would never do it.

2) Stoped racing completely. The only way for me to totally train myself was to stop all together and then integrate it back into my game in certain positions. I kept thinking to myself why do I keep racing...if I am truly better than these people dont you think I could find better spots to put my money in.

3) Learning that I can't lose what I don't put in the middle. At the same token you can't win what you dont put in either. I started to choose better spots and fold when I was really un-sure or 50/50. Just trying to make better decisions all around helped improve my game.

4) Thinking the hand out. This seems like a simple task but it is not. When you are playing the last thing your doing is going back in your head and replaying the hand over and over again. Most people say they do but really dont. It is very hard to do but one of the biggest things that improved my game personally.

5) Posting hand reviews and getting peoples opinions on plays on multiple different sites on the net.

6) Learning to walk away when I was both up and down.



Anway just my own philosophy that worked for me... feel free to add or disagree hope this helps someone

[AndRum]

Great post. I have been in a bit of a funk lately and have started to question my play. When I first started to play I was extremely tight in both live and online games. I have since loosened up (no callers when you play tight) and think I may have hurt myself in the process. Hopefully, I can reprogram myself to my original thinking and apply some of what you said as well.

Thanks