How come i can never win at poker? (HOLD EM)?

Question

ive been starting to play a lot of poker with my friends lately ($5-$10 buy in) and ive been losing a lot

im actually pretty good at poker... but i can never seem to win any money

i rarely get good cards during the whole game... and when i do and try to bet even the slightest amount.. everyone folds and leaves me with the small pot. my friends seem to have me figured out... i dont bluff often but when i do they seem to read right through it.

any help??? ive tried switching up the way i bet but nothing seems to work.

also the first game we ever played im kicking butt in (never finished). there are three of us left and i have more money than both of them combined. close to double the money of second place. any tips you guys have to help me win that game cuz i really need the prize money from it. i usually play better when i have a higher stack... but i really need to guarantee the win here

any advice??

Answer 1

You need to work on your bluffing skills dude!

Answer 2

I think you said it all when you said you never get any good cards to play. The truth is you can't sit around and wait for good cards to come your way all the time, that makes you a tight and very easy player to play with. Aces, kings, A-K, A-Q, and medium pair are pretty rare to come around in poker. You need to not be so mindful of getting great cards, rather be mindful of your position at the table, your chip size, and the size and table image of the other players around you. Also understand that a lot of people who are playing in low buy-in events are not very good poker players, so they will make calls with hands they should have folded in the first place. You have to be able to pick out players who will lay down hands to you in the right situations. For example yesterday i had two really tight players to my left, i know that i can make more moves on them because they are only looking to play good hands, this gives me a great opportunity to steal there blinds at will. I then was moved tables and i was in the blinds with a defender who called every attempt i made to steal his chips, so i only made raises when i had a hand.  

Answer 3

i agree ,work on bluffing,if the buyin money doesnt hurt much to lose

Answer 4

Well it's not just a matter of playing good cards or bluffing, it's a matter of playing with the right frequency in comparison with what you're opponents are doing.  The first thing you need to do is lose the "pretty good at poker" and change it to "I'm pretty good in certain games but I need to improve a lot and especially against these guys."  You're also focusing on results too much and the truth is you have to forget about this and just focus on how you're playing and what you could have done differently.  

There's a lot of hands which you will lose where you played perfectly, and there's lots where you win where you could have played better.  So focus on how you're playing and especially how you're playing in relation to your opponents.  Poker isn't just playing your own cards and this is really your big opportunity area.  I play tight but if people start folding to me then I'm going to make some money off them since I'll just start taking down pots.  And when they start to call me more then I'll tighten up some again and have them calling with weaker hands.

There's actually a science behind this but it's not really hard to start improving here and it's all about learning to adjust to the ways your opponents are playing you and staying one step ahead of them.  It won't be hard at all to teach them a lesson once you get the knack of this but it's not a matter of waiving a magic wand it's going to take some effort and patience on your part but you've got to look at the thing as a growing experience.

King Cobra Poker

http://kingcobrapoker.com

Answer 5

maybe its luck......