cue rocky music

from someone who never ever ever ever ever ever(insert "ever meaning month") wins, what i do is read the biography of Barry Greenstein about the bridge(insert lol). If u can answer that question for yourself, then your on your way.

Also, u know when u lose the wrong way. I mean, if you get your kk vs TT cracked almost everytime,u cant dwell on it. But when u lose the wrong way(tiltfactor), find out why, accept every possibility and consider it. Even losing the right way(as in it really was a coinflip loss or bad beat, or ya did the right thing) is hard to handle.
Watching videos and reading books has helped me untilt. Punching old ladies in the back of the neck, punching self in forehead can help too. Find your outlet.

FOR ME....i send all my bad beats to my buddy, knowing someone else knows how Eft up it can be sometimes, makes me feel better. Try it

If your looking for inspiration from others, dont count on it. Ef what people say.
Look inside yourself for inspiration. Check out the bad beat forums, knowing your not the only UNLUCKY PLAYER seems to be inspiring to some. Hey if it happens to him, its not just me!..lol
the last thing i pass onto u is.

Bluff magazine mike caro quote:
""""""""""""""""""""And what about tournament winners? A top pro can go years without winning a tournament and another with similar skill might win four times in one year. Thats luck, and trust me, it wont even out in 25 years of play. skill matters alot, but not enough to definitively determine whos best, which is another reason i seldom play poker tournaments. I already know im best and if i simply declare it, some folks will believe me. if i play hundreds of tournaments and dont win, theyll begin to wonder. See? Life isnt fair. luck wont even out for you. but the more you steadfastly make good decisions, the better you're likely to do with the cards you're dealt."""""""""""""""
EMA
But the story is, who really cares what people really think?
We probably all do on some level.
Gl, keep truckin, or jump.
OGP

how many mtt's have you played? Significant amount to get clear results? You could just be on a bad run, and believe me, we have all been there. But it could also be that you just may not be playing an optimal mtt game, I mean you could be playing well... but there could also be some leaks that you just cant see. There is always room for improvement...

I felt the same way you do now, I was going through some really bad variance and believed everything your saying right now. but the truth is skill will always prevail in the longrun. just keep on plugging away, im sure things will turn around. another thing you should work on too is getting your confidence level up, thats key.

It isn't surprising that caro has that opinion on tourneys though...

There is clearly alot of variance in mtts but I find that usually people who complain about their hands getting cracked and losing races arent very good at accumulating chips without showdown. The more times you have to have all your chips in and go to showdown the less likely you're going to win - even if u get all ur chips in as a 4:1 favorite 4 times and win you are running pretty damn good. Usually I try to build a stack so I'm racing for 1/2 my stack or whatever... That being said,I've gone through streaks of 400-500 tourneys played as a net loser...

Da problema wit Cardruneers, et al teaching sites, is dat dey assume you knows
thangz dat u don't. Datz why it don't work for most.....LEaRn one facet of pokah,
Sng's, NL Cash, MTT and ExCel at dat OnE foRm of poke-her. You Sir will be
swimming in a plethora of BeJamInS.

Rem-

1) Find Goot games, Findin da BiGGest Suckazz is Da Key to any of dis chit.
2) Play Goot , No Excuses, No TiLt

I think I'm a psychologist at heart, but something just screams at me when I read your post, that no one else has mentioned.

You asked if you should quit poker to spend more time with your family. This leads me to several questions:

1) Why do you play poker?
2) Are you spending time playing poker that you should be spending time with your family?
3) When do you play poker?

For most players, you should only play poker for fun. The money is a nice bonus, but you should be playing to unwind and have some fun. If you aren't having any fun and you aren't winning (making money), there really is no reason to play.

You also need to prioritize your life. Being a losing player is ok (if you are having fun and you enjoy it), but it should never be at the expense of your family. If you are blowing them off, that is putting your life on tilt (terrible pun). There are many articles about poker/life balance in the strategy section, they might be worth a read. If you only play when you have time and everything else is right, the wins may come.

Also, when do you play? Are you concentrating on the game, or do you have tons of distractions? It may help your game if your only playing when you have time and you aren't having other pressures.

Obviously, the pros can work through this. But, for amatures, you have to remember that poker isn't your job. You started it for fun, and it really should stay that way (and even if you end up playing less, that might be a good thing).

I understand how you feel! Its tough to spend what seems like all your time studying and trying to improve and not seeing the results. What is really disheartening is when you look at the top players scores list here on PocketFives and it looks like they are scoring almost everyday in tourneys. Just look at Imper1um's or Annette_15's scores list for the last 6 months and it will just about make you puke. Seems like the best players only go a few days at most without some type of score and if there's any large gap then they probably where away playing live somewhere. So definately makes you wonder what they are doing or what they know about tourney play that gets them in the money so much. Its like they have a bad beat shield over their head! One thing that might be an issue is how many tourneys you play a day/week! You can bet the top players probably play 10-15 tourneys almost everyday and just by that alone they are going to have some tourney where they run well and the cards fall in their favor to get that good score.

It is hard to win a tournament. Its even harder to win one with 2000 people in it. Always remember even though 100r is the toughest tournament on net, there is usually only 150 people in it, so don't try to compare yourself to players in this. There is alot of varience in MTTs, and the more people obviously the harder it is to win.

Itripped,

I personally believe that the better players have a "knack" for this game. Most of it revolves around pattern recognition or understanding when a play is out of line with the ordinary. Then taking this information and applying it correctly. However, I do have a few thoughts that may help. Play some sit-n-gos.

1) 45 seaters will help work on changing table sizes.
2) 10 seaters for final table play.
3) Heads up play for the end.

When you get there you want to be ready.

I have always been good at patterns, but in the last few months, I am applying better.

Good luck.

When I was a young man I read all the books, watched all the videos, talked with my friends, and watched others (when they would let me hide in the closet) about SEX. I never improved. Then, I started practicing. First, with myself. Then with an inexperienced girlfriend. I asked her for suggestions and critiques. Next, I started to practice as much as possible with any girl that was willing. GUESS WHAT. I got better. Don't know if I am world class, or ever was, but I sure started enjoying it more, and most of my partners at least faked it so I would believe I was "playing better."

So, I suggest you play more and put that book reading, video watching, railbirding experience to practical use. Play some cash games so you see a million hands or so. Play some live tournaments to get a feel for what people might be thinking and their betting patterns. THEN, go back and read, watch and learn from those books and videos. This time you will see & hear things you missed before (or have forgotten). One day (hopefully) the poker light in your head will burn brighter and you will put it all together. Then, come back and make a gigantic Brag Post and tell everyone about your 1st great win.

Best of Luck at the tables. You can do it.

First and foremost I am no pro, but i have had some success in low-limit and high-limit poker. Saying that, I want to give my observations on the differences between a "By-the-book-player" and an online pro player. My brother is probably one of the soundest "by-the-book" players that I continually watch play online. Very patient, low range of hands that he plays, understands position, and etc.etc. He continually places in money but very rarely makes it much further. Now playing more recently in higher limit tournaments, I have a better understanding of what some of the top players do in mtts to progress further than just money and actually win a tournament. I tell my brother constantly that every good player likes to play by the book in most situations. What sets the great players apart do you have the guts to re-raise a board w nothing you've hit when a player shows weakness, can you make the raise all-in call w a mid-pocket pair against a guy w up to half your stack. Can you effectively bluff in the right spot, and do you fire at the blinds enough late to increase your stack. Can you lay down a top 5% hand or top pair to a re-raise. And for god's sake lay down a-10, a-j, k-j to raise or a re-raise. Don't ever push over the top w a-k to a guy w more chips than you late in a tournament if you wanna go far. Hand isolation is also a great tool stay the hell out of pots when three guys have called a raise to. Play the flops and call checking what you believe is the best hand to the river is better than raising all in to catch a player bluffing is better than reraisng all in and getting sucked out on the river.(See Alan Cunningham on this subject.) Watching and categorizing people at your table is also something that top guys do better than you or me. Say what you want about over-aggressive players but it is winning poker. (Any of u out there that want to know how to win constantly while being super-aggressive is watch lilholdem or inverse_12 play on stars.) I think the bigger question for so-called "students of the game" people is r u smart enough to read the book and implement what it says.

So true. i was trying to explain this exact thing to someone yesterday and they just didn't get it. who cares if you get a bad beat losing AA-22...if you get in ahead like this 5 times but you're the smaller stack each time, you're the lucky one if you still have chips after the 5th time. tourneys are about accumulation with the least risk. showing down your cards is a risk everytime unless you have the absolute nuts at the river.

net loser...LOL ape, i wish you could transfer me some of your recent net loser payoffs

I understand how you feel! Its tough to spend what seems like all your time studying and trying to improve and not seeing the results. What is really disheartening is when you look at the top players scores list here on PocketFives and it looks like they are scoring almost everyday in tourneys. Just look at Imper1um's or Annette_15's scores list for the last 6 months and it will just about make you puke. Seems like the best players only go a few days at most without some type of score and if there's any large gap then they probably where away playing live somewhere. So definately makes you wonder what they are doing or what they know about tourney play that gets them in the money so much. Its like they have a bad beat shield over their head! One thing that might be an issue is how many tourneys you play a day/week! You can bet the top players probably play 10-15 tourneys almost everyday and just by that alone they are going to have some tourney where they run well and the cards fall in their favor to get that good score.

You should find this interesting-

<A target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://officialpokerrankings.com/pokerstars/player/playerresults/2/6D5BD1ADE6434909BEB751074A18CFF2.html">http://officialpokerrankings.com/pokerstars/
player/playerresults
/2/6D5BD1ADE6434909BEB751074A18CFF2.html</A>

"I never improved. Then, I started practicing. First, with myself."

LOL.

Yeah I do agree, I think it's just the sheer number of tournaments you play, eventually you will hit a big score, be up in profit and be able to continue. It's easy to play allot of tournaments after a 70K win or whatever. If you read up on her, she played a $9 freeroll and entered tournaments and won enough to never have to deposit, after deciding to play a LAG game, allot of pre flop raises with speculative hands.
I think I am seriously catching on to both MTT's and S&G's, the last 2 I just played I got 8th (7 places paid) in a 50 man S&G on partypoker after I got sucked out on, playing way aggresive at the bubbble when I didn't really have to with my chip stack. Then got 1st in a 6 man S&G, pissed off but playing good after wasting 2 hours on the 50 man. I think my time will come soon, I regularly go fairly deep in tournaments, although I don't play to many of them.