You Can Become A Winning Poker Player
Should You Make a Living Playing Poker? So even if you fit this profile, the better question might be should you pursue playing poker professionally? Well, regarding online poker the environment right now is not really the best for this. The games have gotten tougher in recent years and the value of rakeback programs have also declined in some. Playing safe poker will only get you so far. Keep playing? Looks good if you're breaking even this far! Do you play 6max or 9max? If you are break even or loosing and won at lower stakes then you should really consider moving down a stake again because you are not suited for NL25 yet. 25k hands should show if you are able to.
I usually keep the tone of articles here light, friendly and deliberately non-preachy… After all, just because someone is new to poker and wants some concepts explaining does not mean they are not intelligent and successful people!
This time it is different. This time I want to get some home-truths out there – address a recurring theme on poker forums, blogs and in chat-boxes which kind of bugs me.
The kind of questions I’m referring to are these:
- ‘I am playing great poker, so why can’t I win?’
- ‘How can I make money when so many donks are making bad calls and sucking out on me all the time?’
- ‘Poker site X must be rigged against me’
- ‘I’m a great player, just constantly unlucky’
- ‘Should I move up levels to where people understand and respect my raises?’
If you can identify with any of these questions then this article is for you.
90% Of Players Feel They Are In The Top 20%
Ok, the statistic is just my estimate, however the vast majority of poker players do think they are naturally talented, or somehow innately better than their peers. When evidence accumulates (they lose!) that, well, they might not be such a phenomenon after all several mental defenses come into play. You’ll tell yourself that you are good but unlucky, that the blame lies with ‘bad players’ who do not understand your skillful play and then keep getting lucky against you – or even that poker sites rig the games against you.
These defenses are all well and good. They explain your frustration and keep you believing that you’ll break through one day…
Except you won’t break through.
You need a change of mindset to do so.
These defenses hold the huge majority of players back. Once you get over them you can start to work on your game in a constructive way, to give yourself a real chance of breaking through.
Here are my 3 ‘core realizations’ which players need to make in order to start constructively working on their games. I’ll deal with each point below.
- – Poker is not rigged, and you are not the most unlucky player who ever lived.
- – If you can’t beat bad players then you will get crushed by strong players.
- – You are not some innate super-talent, you need to study and work hard on your game.
Realization #1 – Poker Not Rigged, You Are Not Exceptionally Unlucky
There have been billions of poker hands played online, even the smaller sites are in the 10’s of millions. These hands are tracked by the various tracking services and individually by millions of players using databases like Holdem Manager 2. You know what, the deal is random. Any perception you have otherwise is not supported by any evidence over large sample sizes. It is 2013, let us put this ‘rigged’ thing to bed once and for all!
Luck in poker is short term in nature. While a downswing can be brutal, the upswings will eventually compensate. What holds players back is blaming ‘bad luck’ as an excuse not to work on their game… the chance element evens out in the end, get over it.
Realization #2 – Too Many Donks Are Impossible To Beat
I know, I know, you read the strategy, studied the forums to see how the experts handle certain situations and played that hand damn ‘perfectly’. Then, *boom* some idiot who did not have a clue about solid poker strategy made a bad call and cost you your stack. This keeps happening again and again… and its getting to the point where you feel the only solution is to move up levels to where people understand your play and don’t make those stupid calls which end up costing you.
This thinking is extremely common, and deeply flawed.
First, players who make bad – as in negative expected value – calls are the easiest of all opponents to beat. Sure, they will stack you with some random hand occasionally, but you have a positive edge every time you play them. Over time you will accumulate money and they will lose it, period… all you need is to play as many hands as possible.
Secondly, poker strategy never works in a vacuum. It is never a case of ‘do x for $$$ every time’. The core of strategy is about playing against an individual opponent – if you are incapable of adjusting your strategy to exploit players who consistently make negative expectation plays of their own free will then you need to work on your game. Instead of thinking about the ‘best way to play hand XX in situation YY’ you should focus on the best way to exploit the weaknesses of players who make mistake ZZ.
If are not capable of understanding the adjustments needed to beat the worst players then those players who are capable of doing this will take your bankroll. They will see your tendencies and weaknesses and play in such a way as to exploit them, sometimes taking small edges repeatedly and sometimes attaching big leaks.
Newer readers, please – poker is about learning to spot and exploit the weaknesses of your opponents. No ‘bag of tricks’ will help you for long if you do not understand this!
Realization #3 – You Are Not Some Natural Talent
Sorry, I’d love to bring you the happy news that you are the next poker superstar – and that you need not work on your game along the way… unfortunately it just is not true. In fact, poker is tough, if you do not work hard on your game those people you label ‘lucky donks’ who have put in the hours will have an edge on you…
What is more this edge will only grow over time.
You see, the players who study their hand histories, locate and plug their leaks, go through areas with friends (virtual or real), read, watch videos and think about how they can maximize the value by changing their bet sizing in different situations (for example) are the ones who will show a profit over time.
The players who feel they know enough and simply log on and play will find themselves getting behind.
What is more, those who get a solid foundation through study will be best equipped to add new ideas and strategies to their games. Instead of an ‘trick’ they can integrate ideas into their solid understanding, knowing how and when to use the new idea to max advantage.
Luckily you can make fast improvements in this area by simply taking one hour of play from every 5 hours and using this for study instead. Or of course you could always blame bad luck!
Playing Great And Still Losing – You Can Become A Winner
I’ll end with some good news, you can become a winner – anyone of average intelligence + and a little motivation can beat online poker.
How far you go depends on how much effort you put in. Not just to education, but aspects like site / table selection, focus on the games and bankroll management too.
Once you get over the ‘excuses’ holding you back you can make the decision on whether to commit to the task of becoming a long-term winner, or relaxing and treating poker as a bit of fun – while enjoying the occasional win.
Plug For My SNG Course: If you are at the stage where you would like to build a bankroll, then please check out my free course ‘The $16 / Hour SNG Blueprint’. This will take you from novice to making $16+ per hour grinding Sit N Go tournaments over 4 parts. I wrote this to help build the audience for my site – and it continues to get fantastic feedback.
Related Article
What can you do if you keep losing at online poker?
The good news is that at least you are aware of losing and you want to improve. There are a lot of players who are delusional about their results and refuse to admit that they are consistently losing.
Each of us plays online poker for our own reasons, and winning money is not necessarily the top priority. Poker is a fun game and if you love this entertainment while losing money that you can afford to lose, it is fine.
But if you are reading this article, you probably want to know how to stop losing at online poker.
I Keep Breaking Even Playing Online Poker Free
Do you want to stop losing at online poker?
Simple. You must change! The only way to solve this problem is to change. There is a so-called 'formula for change' which summarizes this well.
You need to have D x V x F > R, where D measures your dissatisfaction, V measures your vision of where you want to be, F represents the first steps leading to the vision, and R is your resistance level.
Let us clarify this formula. There are four components. D is dissatisfaction. If you are not dissatisfied enough, nothing will happen. V is vision. You must have a clear vision of where you want to be in online poker within a given horizon.
Where do you want to be 6 months from now? You can define this vision with respect to your monetary results. One easy goal is to become a breakeven poker player within 3 or 6 months.
F stands for the first steps leading to change and we discuss this later in the article. But before that, there is a hurdle to leap over, called R in the formula. How much resistance do you have to change? Do you have old habits deeply ingrained in your psyche or do you have a flexible personality? This makes changing easier or harder.
First step to reduce online poker losses
The first steps necessary to change from where you are now to where you want to be in 6 months depend on your personal circumstances. What are the most common reasons for losing at Online Poker? Here is a list of the usual suspects:
- Alcohol: you play under the influence
- Distraction: you play while doing other things
- Action: you play mostly for fun & excitement
- Emotional: you let your emotions control you
- Discipline: you do not follow the plan
- Wealth: you do not care about losing the money
All of the items in the list can be corrected except item 6. If you are very wealthy, it is extremely hard to become a profitable poker player because losing money at the virtual table does not really hurt you. The billionaire Guy Laliberte depicted on top of the page is rumored to have lost 18 million dollars in 2008, but this is not going to affect his lifestyle, is it?
Item 1 & 2 relate to your setup when you play. If you fall into these categories, be aware that playing either with alcohol in your blood or with distractions around you such as television will always hinder your results.
If you are serious about poker, stay sober and fully focused while playing if you want to stop losing at online poker. If you feel thirsty or want to watch Tiger Woods' golfing prowess on the TV, just disconnect from the virtual tables. You can always come back later.
Generally speaking, items 3, 4 & 5 are the most common factors plaguing online poker players. If you want to make money at online poker, you must have a plan and you must follow the plan without deviation.
So for most people reading this article, the pivotal question is F, the first steps of the plan. The first step on the road to profitable poker is the so-called ABC style of poker. Play mostly in a straightforward manner avoiding fancy play. You can find plenty of relevant articles in our strategy and leak sections, as they teach such a solid poker methodology.
Learn the ropes first. If you apply a solid ABC strategy, you cannot lose large sums of money playing online poker at the low-limits.
More steps to reduce online poker losses
ABC poker means first that you should follow a tight-aggressive style. Tight means to be very selective with the hands that you decide to play, aggressive means that you should prefer betting or raising to calling. This is summarized through the so-called VPIP/PFR/AG statistics.
Use poker-tracking software such as Holdem Manager, which let you monitor your statistics and highlight potential leaks in your game. Study optimal play and make the necessary adaptation to your game.
Let us take for example the most frequent source of loss at online poker, calling too much. In full ring No-Limit Texas Hold'em cash games, it is recommended to have VPIP between 10 & 20%; if your VPIP is 50%, you cannot be profitable. This is a low hanging fruit, as you just need to establish a much more stringent starting hand requirement chart.
Check out our leak section for the top ten online poker leaks. If you can make sure none of them apply to you, then you will have made a very big leap toward stopping to lose at online poker. Beyond ABC poker and plugging leaks, there are other more insidious reasons for losing.
Use proper bankroll management. Your bankroll in poker is the money specifically and exclusively allocated to online poker. Bankroll management means that you have to play the limits that your bankroll permits.
Typically in no limit hold'em your bankroll needs to be between 3,000 & 5,000 times the big blind that you play. So if you have $5k, you can play $0.50/$1 NLHE, but playing $1/$2 puts your entire bankroll at risk.
Playing at the correct limit means that if you have lost money, you must move down to a lower limit. In our previous example, if you lose half your bankroll or $2.5K, you must move down to $0.50/$1. Failing to do so is a serious error that will lead to recurrent losses.
If you manage to be profitable at the lower limit, you can then move up in limit. Moving up and down as your bankroll increases and decreases is the secret for minimizing online poker losses.
I Keep Breaking Even Playing Online Poker In Us For Real Money
Finally we would like to remind you of the biggest source of online poker losses: tilt. Tilt is your most dangerous enemy in poker as it can lead to humongous losses.
I Keep Breaking Even Playing Online Poker In Us
Make controlling tilt your number one priority and your online poker losses will diminish.