[BL Striker]

How often do you win at poker? How much are you up or down?

I have only been playing for 6 months now and I have been keeping track of how many times I play, win, lose, and how much money I am down. I have been in 14 home games and 1 large tournament at a local hall. Of the 14 home games I have been in I have finished first once and come in second once. Our games are always $20 buy-ins so I'm currently down $220 in home games.

I entered a 100 person tournament at a local hall for a $40 buy-in and was the 20th person to be knocked out. This was my first tournament of this kind and felt a little under experienced playing with so many people, but felt this to be a good learning experience for the next time. But once again lost more money.

Next I decided to try my luck/skill on Poker Stars.com. I deposited $50 into my new Poker Stars account and played $5 sit & go tournaments and within 24 hours lost all that too.

Since I began playing poker 6 months ago I am currently down $320. I am starting to think that maybe poker is not my thing and yet I just can't get enough of it.

[Wylecoyo]

I keep extensive notes and track my winnings and loses over time in order to try and improve my play. It may seem strange to others, but I am happy to report I have pretty much broken even over time and, as of today, I am minus $3.00. I may not be rolling in the dough, but I haven't lost my shirt (at least not yet) and, I personally, count this a victory well won - especially considering the skill and experience of a couple of the people I regularly play against.

[dad604]

14 home tourney and a few tourney online is not enough to form any kind of record. Especially with tournaments, you need a lot more sessions before any meaningful stats can be form. Even for ring games those numbers are not enough to form any conclusions.

I personally know quite a few excellent players who have losing streaks many times longer than what you have indicated.

[tomb1]

You didn't mention how you learned to play. If you are learning on the fly or "learning" from TV, then you've had $320 of education. Experience is good, but you might want to read a book. If you are playing tournaments, then Harrington on Hold 'Em part I might help, and it's less than 10% of your investment so far. For limit poker, there are others out there.

Good luck! And good job on keeping track.

[Colquhoun]

Originally Posted by tomb1

Experience is good, but you might want to read a book. If you are playing tournaments, then Harrington on Hold 'Em part I might help, and it's less than 10% of your investment so far. For limit poker, there are others out there.

I agree with the book advice. It will give you a solid foundation of pot odds, implied odds, etc. Every decision you make will be made based on value, and not on feel. That helped my game a lot. The Harrington book is great for tournaments. I have found that the biggest rewards in tournaments is be very patient and very agressive. The object is not to win the most pots, just the big ones. With limit ring games, Ed Miller's "Small Stakes Hold-em" is excellent, because it goes just in-depth enough without being too confusing....while at the same time, doesn't spend time with the basics that you already know.
Lately, I have been playing the best of both worlds, the limit tournaments. To those accustomed to no-limit, it seems a bit slow at first, but I have found it to be very profitttable. Mistakes aren't as costly. Give it a try.

[panthershutch15]

Originally Posted by BL Striker

How often do you win at poker? How much are you up or down?

I don't keep track of home games ($10 buy-in), but I am probably ahead $200-$300 since we began playing a little over a year ago.

I started playing online about 6 months ago on Pokerstars, but haven't played there in about 4 months...I am up a total of $45 there.

And does anyone remember that Powerplayer $10 free thing a long time ago? Well, I took that $10 promo up to over $600 in the past couple months playing only $5 and $10 SNG's. (And I have proof!!) You had to be real lucky at first and win your first couple SNG's, but I got lucky and did and have continued rising. I wish I had more time to play.

I would recommend that you read some books as well. I read Super System and The Theory of Poker (couldn't put them down) and learned so much. After reading I realized all of the things a do wrong (still a lot of things sometimes) but it changes your approach to the game and will surely improve your play. My winning % definately improved after reading and learning more about the game. Also, strategy forums like the 2+2 forums and Texasholdem-poker.com forums were helpful, though I don't visit them very much anymore.

[TommyW]

I really dont keep track now, but I know I am atleast a couple grand ahead. I usually play $10-20 buy in's or cash games, but I have done really good in big tourney's. I won a $150 buy in with 200 people playing, that payed a cool $7500. and got 3rd in a $20 buy in 100 person tourney, and got $300 for that. When I won the 7500 I was just starting out, so I am playing with winnings right now. Not to mention the amount of $ I have won playing internet poker.

[jojobinks]

i don't keep records, but i do keep my poker money seperate, and rarely draw from it for non-poker stuff. so i have a ballpark number.

[RadixLecti]

I've only played with play cash online, but I'm about 20 grand ahead.
Yeah, I'm a wimp, but I like to know what I'm doing before I commit the cash.

[MeridianFC]

Before you get to caught up in the poker record keeping you should first sit yourself down and address the fundamental question:

Why do you play poker?

The vast majority of people play poker as a form of recreation. As long as you're playing within your means, losses (or wins for that matter) shouldn't matter all that much. Losses can be chalked up to the cost of a night out. Wins, well that's just gravy. It's still a good idea to have a bankroll and try to maintain it.

Now if you really enjoy your poker and want to get better, you'll want to analyze your play to see if you are in fact improving. No different than any other avocation, the difference is with poker improvement is measured with dollars rather than a stopwatch or handicap.

The third level is if you want to actually use poker to supplement your income or to be your primary source, in which case you need to keep scrupulous records. Read books, play all the time, etc.

Now as far as where you're at. $320 down over 6 months is not that bad (sure it ain't a picnic either), with the big caveat that your income relative to that number is very important. If that's your beer money you're doing fine (as a matter of fact you're not spending enough on beer). If this is cutting into rent, food, tuition, or other essentials you need to re-evaluate. Also it seems like you're doing a lot of tournaments where the upside is very big (if you win) but there's a lot of downside; don't place you get nada. Cash game play is a bit different in this respect. It's more likely you'd end a session down but not down to the felt (though that too is a possibility).

In short as long as your money situation is ok I wouldn't sweat it. Everyone crawls before they walk. You're not going to be raking in an extra $100 a week if you've only been playing for 6 months. I know it's tempting to look at the schlubs on t.v. who wins $1,000,000 having turned a $2 buy in online tourney investment to riches having only played poker for 15 minutes, instead pay attention to the thousands upon thousands of folks not on tv who turn $1000 into nothing playing all year long.