What Does It Take To Consistently Win $$

[Brucio]

Besides the occasional gathering of friends, I've only been playing for money for a short time.

Initially, I was loving it. Being able to sit down and double my stack in nearly ever session.

The past few days I've been taking hit after hit and just diminishing my bankroll.
Coming out negative after every session is really frustrating.

I'm talking about online play mostly lower stakes.
Hand after hand I'm making the right plays but the cards aren't falling. When they do, it seems like someone always has the 1 up on me.

It's mainly raising pre flop with a great hand and cbetting, then drawing dead or flopping a pair and just plainly getting beat.

I feel like I have a really solid understanding of fundamentals and the courage to make the right move.

I'm just wondering what it takes to consistently take down pots and come out positive.

Just a random rant of sorts.

[buckeyes77]

Well, being someone who plays live poker for a living atm I can tell that you have a LOT to learn before you can even start to think about being a consistent winning player. Experience is key here, just keep playing with a learning/studying attitude and be patient. You probably won't understand some of the reasoning behind the advice that people on this board (including myself) give to you but try to use common sense when reading the advice. It's crazy how often newer players try to overanalyze a reason for doing something when it is really just common sense.

I can't even begin to list all the things that can help you be a winning player but I'll give you a couple general pointers:

1) Bankroll management - I maintain a 90 buy-ins BR and usually bring only 3 BI's for any given session. If I lose that I'm done playing for the day unless some unusual prime conditions arise.
2) Once you think you have a solid understanding of the fundamentals, you'll soon realise how much you don't know and how many deeper levels of thinking you can go into as you progress as a player.
3) Have a very good understanding of variance. You haven't played much but I guess you started to experience variance with your good runs and bad runs. Believe me, the only way to keep your sanity in this game for the long-term is to have a solid understanding of statistics, variance, and odds/probability. I've had times when I was easily playing the most focused and best poker of my life only to run bad and lose during the time period. I have an MBA in finance so solid math and risk/reward analysis is a very big part of my game. Bad runs, bad beats, etc. don't affect me at all. In fact, I don't even really think of poker as a game. Sitting at a table for a session to me is more like participating in a lightning round of investment decisions - gather up as much info as you can and put your money in when you think you'll get a return and protect it when the environment favors against you. Anyhow, what I'm trying to say is unless you have a solid understand of the math and probability behind poker, you could seriously just give up and quit.
4) Again, experience experience experience. If you play to learn at first, you'll start to pick up on some skills and things that you didn't notice or think much about before. You may even surprise yourself. I think one of the first monumental steps in becoming a winning player is the step from playing your cards only to really picking up on the big picture of everyone's hands and why people are doing what they do. This is what I mean when I say that you'll start to uncover deeper levels of thinking in your game. You'll go from 1) having your cards direct your action (2) adding what you think others may have in helping direct your action (3) adding what you think others think you have and using that to help. Obviously the last 2 levels arent really necessary in lower-stakes games but you'll need it as you move up. Now add reading ability, table image awareness, and solid math encorporation in your game and you'll be a winning player.

It's as easy as that! LOL

[crack]

Probably a lot of what buckeyes said but it was getting too long and difficult to read so late so stopped reading.

So in addition to what he/she said, have a bit of self control. Because things aren't going right for you at the moment, don't start forcing the issue and trying to make things happen. For example, really gambling in a spot because you are stuck a few buy ins where you probably wouldn't otherwise.

Stuff like that. You will have to get used to not winning every session. Even the best in the world get cold decked. The only difference is usually how they handle it.

Good luck.

[Brucio]

Thanks for the advice.

The thing that sticks out the most is the experience.
I just haven't spent nearly enough hours at the table.
Can't expect to win big so quickly.

Thanks again.

[supafrey]

The way you are thinking about the game is still in its infancy. You're going to have 3 to 4 serious overhauls before you "get it", trust me. I know this sounds condescending but there's really no two ways about it.

There's just a natural progression in thoughts between being a newb and a pro that have to be done. First you only consider your cards -> then you start to consider what the other people have -> then you start to consider what the other people likely think you have -> then you start to consider the raaaanges of hands that your opponents have, instead of specific cards -> then you start thinking about what kind of ranges they put you on, and how you can exploit those assumptions based on the board texture, etc etc etc. It seems like every few months there's a new epiphany to learn in my own game, and I'm sure most of the experienced players would agree with me. "Experience" is just good because it's a cruel lesson that sticks - if you can somehow absorb these ideas without actually losing the money that would be swell.

Read read read read as much as you possibly can, and start to think about the reasons behind each and every one of your actions. Playing ABC is not enough to win anymore.

[Gunslinger]

Post hands as well for analysis. Never show the results, so you get unbiased opinions. It's good to learn what goes through other people's minds in that situation, so you learn to think about that stuff.

[mortaleclipse]

Run good in one huge big buy in MTT, you get out of the red real fast.

[khaosanroad]

little hands = little pots

big hands = big pots

AA does NOT = big hand.

[Felting]

AA does NOT = big hand.

cash games yes, MTT's no

in tourneys you better be playing huge preflop pots with AA

[xDiamond_CutteRx]

Playing ABC is not enough to win anymore online, or in live games in the mid-stakes or higher

FYP. ABC still crushes live low limit.

[gumbie]

I feel like I have a really solid understanding of fundamentals

What are the fundamentals?

[MrDarling]

...
Hand after hand I'm making the right plays...

No offence, but I doubt it.

Don't worry, we all been there and thought we know everything there is to know and we're simply unlucky. Believe me, we're not.

To be a winning player you need to play better then the competition. Its really as simple as that.

There is not set rules. Sometimes you have to play really tight, sometimes loose is the trick.

[miaowmiaowchowface]

Hand after hand I'm making the right plays but the cards aren't falling. When they do, it seems like someone always has the 1 up on me.

I feel like I have a really solid understanding of fundamentals and the courage to make the right move.

you arent, most money loss in poker comes from bad play, and tilt.
once u realise this it'll probably help you

[PaulieRockets]

Sometimes you're the windshield, sometimes you're the bug

Just a few ramblings....

I don't play for a living, my daytime job is too easy and too high-paying to quit. I've daydreamed about going pro, but that's about it.

I love poker because it is so unpredictable. You have to make snap decisions based on incomplete information, sometimes faulty information, just like real life. As in anything, do your best, improve continuously, and let the results take care of themselves. Focus on what you can control.

I recently went through a 28-0 run in SNGs (yes, OUCH). I honestly did not think I was doing anything different, that is until I dug into PokerTracker and found I was bleeding chips all over the place but particularly from my blinds.

I too have an MBA in Finance. Can't say it helps my game much. But it does lead me to know that you can make the right decisions and still get burnt (believe it, I still remember losing with quad-Qs)

All in all, big hands that don't hold up cause the biggest problems, but deal me AK every hand anyway, please

[UPNCOMERNY]

"To be a winning player you need to play better then the competition. Its really as simple as that."

This is not necessarily true, especially in low-limit. You can play an outstanding game, making all the right moves, and if the donkeys get lucky you can still lose. I'm afraid it is not always that simple.