After reading 'My failure as a poker pro (very long)' by Ten7offsuit

***For those of you who do not know what 'My failure as a poker pro (very long)' is, check out the post list in this 'General' section of the forum. It is one of posts in this forum.

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I first want to thank Ten7offsuit for sharing his sobering story with all of us here. It was the post I was looking for so long.

------------well... let me introduce myself first-----------

I am turning 25 this year, and a graduate who have a BS degree in Aerospace engineering from one of better universities in the USA. I am outstanding in math just like other good engineering students. (I have perfect scores on all of the math tests you are aware of.) ....enough for bragging. Now let's go to my unsucessful poker story.

I have been playing poker for about a year now and have been losing money consistently even though I really believe that I play solid. (I could feel Ten7offsuit. I have also won a few tournaments like him ($5 buyin-200 entrants, a freeroll- 8k entrants) and been to final tables of a lot of online multi-table tournaments)

Straight to the point... I have lost about 1k-2k playing poker for about a year. I can't just figure out what I am doing wrong. (I have been playing 2-4 and 3-6.) I have studied a lot of hold'em books and am following 'Small Stakes Hold'em' by Ed Miller as my guideline. I seldom get on tilt.

Is it possible that I am on bad streak? for a year? or there should be something wrong with me?

Thanks,

GOMOOJOOL

PS. I want to be a pro poker player. (I really want to try out before I get older.) What's your advise? Are there any good posts in this forum that you want to advise me to read? Thanks.

[whodaman]

what kind of a bankroll do you have?
are you currently employed full time?
dont even dream of going pro until you are crushing the games for a long long time.....

How many hands have you played in the last year? It is hard to say if one could have a losing streak over a year without the number of hands. $2,000 at $3/$6 is only a little over 300 BB. My biggest downswing that I have record of was around 200 BB over the course of 7,000 hands. Losing $1,000 or $2,000 at $2/$4 or $3/$6 does seem like a lot but without knowing the number of hours or hands you've played I would say it is definitely possible to lose within that range at these limits. I like to look for ways to improve my game whenever I hit a losing streak. If you have PT stats, you could post those for some helpful advice.

I have a bankroll of about 10k and am a full-time employee.

Thanks for your advise. I think that you are right. I was too ahead of myself. I do not even win money consistently yet. (well.. I am losing money consistently.) I think that I have to understand this game better first before I dream of being a pro. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[ QUOTE ]
I think that I have to understand this game better first before I dream of being a pro. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

You can always dream of being a pro without turning pro. You have a clear cut goal in mind, now you just need to work towards it. Keep playing part time and working on your game. As already stated in this thread, be sure that you are beating the game for a long time before you actually go pro. No harm comes from having a dream.

[stu-unger]

i don't know that variance can be the reason for a 1 year losing streak, im not saying its not possible. how many hands have u played in that year? do u use pokertracker? do u post questionable hands? r u just playing or are u trying to improve your play? do u have a proper BR for the game u r playing in?

if u want answers to if u r a victim of variance u should post the ansers to these questions. as for going pro. i don't understand why people dream of going pro. i love poker, i mean i really love poker. i think about it all day, i play all nite, and i dream about it in my sleep. but i have no desire to use it as a career. if u want to read some articles on this subject check out the magazine on this site for the last 3 months. there have been several very well written articles on the subject.

I do not know how many hands I have exactly played, but let me estimate... In most of times, I play only one table at once. I can say that I have played about 10k-15k hands. I guess that I am doing something wrong then. Way too many hands to be considered to be downswing... hmmm...

thanks...

Are you a pro?

[Subfallen]

If you look at the highly successful pros (Schneids, bike, gonores, DcfrThs) on this board, a few things really stand out.

- They are very intelligent. I think Schneids once said that after he's played with somebody once, he can remember their weaknesses months later. Sobering if you're like me and have to check player notes every 15 minutes. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

- They don't tilt much. And if they do, they make sure they run good while tilting.

- They have good intrapersonal IQ...i.e. they know how to figure out what's making them feel angry, or frustrated, or bored, or whatever. Just read either of the 60k quests and you'll see what I'm talking about.

- They study hard. Gonores mentioned that for the first part of his pro career, he had the highest study time/game time ratio of anybody he knew.

- They keep the game in perspective, mostly at least, e.g. "summer > poker." I assume this reduces risk of burnout.

- They have enough balls to take shots when shot-taking time has arrived.


How do you stack up? Be honest with yourself.

Thank you so much for your comments. I have been working full time for a few years, so BR is not a problem.

To the questions you listed...

I guess that I have played 10-15k hands over that span.

I do not know what the pokertracker is. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

This is my second day to the forum, so I have not posted any questionable hands yet.

I am trying to improve my plays, but I have to find out what I am doing wrong somehow. There should be a lot of things that I am doing wrong since I lose money consistently.

Thanks again,

GOMOOJOOL

[stu-unger]

i agree with what sub said.

15,000 hands is not very many at all to be down 300bbs. i dont think that it is all variance but, that isn't a big enough sample size to judge winrate.

oh yeah and buy Poker tracker. its like $55 and is a must for anyone who plays online. this will allow u to evaluate your play and give u info on your opponents while u play.