Would you call it quits with this bad of a record?

I play a live tourney at a live casino once a week plus a few here and there during special events. I've read the poker books and played 44 tournament and am down around $4400 with cashes in only three. Average tourney but in $200. I played a lot in 06 and was good then I did the stupid thing and quit the game to go to college and work so I wouldn't have debt. The game feels so different and I feel like my first few months were learning. Should I keep grinding or step away from the game for a bit? I know this is a difficult question with a lot of variables but I just want to to know what you guys would do.

Firstly, it's not stupid to quit poker to concentrate on college/work and not be in debt.

You're playing MTT's where swings are brutal and you're only down 20 buy ins. This is nothing in tournaments but if you don't feel up to scratch and are finding it difficult like you say then by all means take some time of and work on your game.

The game is completely different than it was in 2006. It is almost like you will have to re-learn a bunch. I guess the big question is, are you willing to put in the time and effort to see if you like/want to continue playing the game the way it is today?

Your buying in too high in my oppinion especially if you've only played 44 tournys you might be out of your depth if you want to make good money, $200 could get you 4x as many tournaments online in a weaker field.

how many players in these tournaments? 3 wins 1st place is ok if theirs 60+ its about average a solid winning player might cash anywhere beetween 40/60% of the time and take 1st place double or treble that amount if the field is 60/70 runners ish.

I wouldn't give up keep training/learning thinking about your game and weaknesses etc, if losing 4k or more is alot to you then just play online for lower or find a lower buy in live if you prefer live... Set yourself goals for 'A improving your game and B sustaining a realistic bankroll

Ok first of all going to college isn't a stupid thing in the long run (might feel like that at the moment or in the time that it takes you to graduate+find a job, but it isn't a stupid thing at all)..Heck even if you don't find the job you want/hope for, or we're trained to do in the short run it still is a long term+EV for the future, and also because you want your kids to also achieve that higher education and not be a burden to society.

Now as far as poker goes, theirs really alot of things you need to adapt to in-order to win in a live tourney and it also would help if you spoke in terms of blind levels+how many players play+how many players get paid per game...Yet lets assume a 200+tourney live gets an average field of 300 players from this lets say that only 10% of the field we're to get paid, than that means only top 30 players get ITM... Now it's really critical to know the blind structure of these games+starting stacks...The reason for this being it would help to determine how to play in the said games...

I personally know I suck at turbos, and have a some-what better game plan in 15 minute blind level structure games...

I wish you the best in determining what is the best choice for you in the future but really I don't think anyone here can tell you, you suck, or don't suck without them actually knowing you in real life/playing vs you..

Maybe this is a bit sophomoric as a reply, but it occurs to me to ask yourself, what are you poker goals? Beyond winning that is. What I'm saying is, is this a professional path you want to take or do you play for the entertainment value? If it is more or less entertainment and a way to socialize, than does the money you put into it fall within your entertainment budget? If not, there's definitely a problem... if it does, than have fun. In either case, winning is always more fun than losing so doing your homework and getting in some volume on line, in order to see more hands and situations, can't be a bad idea.

Valorcat said:

I play a live tourney at a live casino once a week plus a few here and there during special events. I've read the poker books and played 44 tournament and am down around $4400 with cashes in only three. Average tourney but in $200. I played a lot in 06 and was good then I did the stupid thing and quit the game to go to college and work so I wouldn't have debt. The game feels so different and I feel like my first few months were learning. Should I keep grinding or step away from the game for a bit? I know this is a difficult question with a lot of variables but I just want to to know what you guys would do.

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I would play low buyin tournaments and freerolls online for a while, and review your hand histories. One reason is you can win a ton from low buyins like $10+$1 or less when you run deep. Another is the online MTTs typically have antes once the BB gets to 250 or so. This makes stealing more profitable and gives you the math experience you'll want when playing live tourneys with antes.

I think you'll feel better grinding up that way for a while, especially if you set goals and study your play. My live casino MTT results aren't so hot either fwiw: one mincash in around 11 attempts, but I expect to improve with training and experience.

I would also scrutinize the structure of the live tournament you're playing. Do you find yourself in disbelief when your M gets halved early on (100\200 blinds jump to 200\400, and starting stack was only 5000)? Maybe the structure is unreasonable, or requires ultra aggressive play or good cards just to stay ahead.

Playing online like mentioned above will be the best help for you. This will be a way to play tons more hands than you can live. Sure, live compared to online is much different, but you can still learn how to play different situations better.

Keep playing online for the experience it gives you. The game is definitely different from what it was 7 years ago. Many of the younger players, say 21 year olds have more than likely been playing hundreds of thousands of hands before they were old enough to step into a casino.
Experience is one of the keys to success.
Don't be deterred by not getting in the money. If you can outlast the losses Bankroll wise, like, your not losing the rent money, then keep plugging away
Most of the time, the payouts are 10% of the field ITM. That means 90% don't get anything other than experience. There are a couple of people I know who play professionally and their ITM rate is only 15 - 18 % of the time.

Just keep trying to better yourself.

You should deposit on Bovada and play HU PLO cash.

If you're playing within your BR, the fact you've lost $4400 isn't an issue in and of itself. What's more important is whether your current game / skill level are sufficient to give you a positive or at least BE EV in the tournaments you're playing. If you don't belong in them skill-wise, it's not a great idea to be playing them even if you're rolled for them.

If you feel you need to improve in order to be competitive again, don't be discouraged by people saying poker has changed completely. That's an exaggeration, plus it hasn't changed as much at all levels. The lower the level, the less it has changed.

You would have to play a lot more than 44 tourneys before you decide it's time to quit, this sample size is nothing, a lot of online grinders will play more tourneys than this in one day. Just what most others are saying really, put in some volume online at lower buy-ins and see how it goes. Best of luck.

I read all the posts on here and know that it can be very easy to get discouraged when playing poker, especially Texas Holdem. I would have to agree with cotta777 and suggest you give online tourneys a try. You will get a lot more for your money, which not only will buy you into more tournaments and which will give you more experience, but theoretically, it may give you more confidence because since you will be able to play more tournaments, you will have more opportunities to place high and make some cash. good luck

rules from trading

I'm a newbie in poker ,But i think I can help.Follow the rules of trading,figure out the total money your willing to spend.Put 2 to 3% on any one trade(tourney)and 6% to 10% only when your extremly confident of beating the field.

Dee Dee said:

You would have to play a lot more than 44 tourneys before you decide it's time to quit, this sample size is nothing, a lot of online grinders will play more tourneys than this in one day. Just what most others are saying really, put in some volume online at lower buy-ins and see how it goes. Best of luck.

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around another 1956 mtts to be precise.
Lol

Quitting to further your education is never a bad thing. Plus, I'd agree that poker in 2006 is definitely different than poker now in 2013.

Like what rifflemao suggested, joining tourneys with lower buy-ins and freerolls seem like a good way to get back into the groove. I feel that it might also help manage your BR better.

other people's decisions here shouldn't run your life, if you value something enough you should go for it, if you value poker over school go for poker if you value school over poker go for school, it's your life do what you want

Sounds like you are striving to improve maybe you should cut back if anything no need to quit

Like many others have pointed out already, the game has changed drastically since 2006. If you are playing $200 tournaments, you must have a pretty decent life roll to work with. However, unless these are turbo tournaments, I think only cashing in 3 is really bad. You should be able to cash in 10 out of the 44 you played. I don't think you should give up, but instead decide to play less tournaments. If you were playing 3 times a week play just once a week now and those other times where you would've been playing, take the time to study up on your game. Read online forums, also think about 'big hands' from the tournament you did play. What mistakes did you make? What is a better approach to take in the future? If you got coolered/sucked out on, not much you can do. Don't beat yourself up over these.

Keep plugging away, but don't keep playing if you aren't going to try to improve. GL

You guys thought the game changed a bunch from 2006 to 2013... well you hadn't seen nothing yet!!! Wait til' you see how it gets in 2026! TOTALLY different animal!

Sure miss seeing some of these names in this thread.

Go for it ! It will turn around... get back in it !

This thread is 13 year old, but the topic is still relevant today. And the experience of OP is a perfect illustration of the main problem with live tournaments, which is, that its nearly impossible to overcome variance. He had played a tournament every week for nearly a year, which is a lot of to time spend in the casino. But its still only 44 tournaments, which is a completely insignificant sample.

Sure its not great to only cash in 3 of 44 tournaments, if they pay something like 15-20% of the field. But its totally within normal variance to have such cold streaks, and this one is not even extreme. So the truth is, OP had no idea, if he was a winning player or not, when he wrote this back in 2013. Which also goes a long way to show, that a lot of the people, who continue with live tournaments, likely started with a sunrun out of the gate.