I suck at live poker

[CrazyLond]

I recently started playing live poker again and thought I'd try to reestablish a live bankroll playing $4/$8.  I previously have some experience playing live limit holdem but have not played for a while.  Unfortunately, I am stuck $1200 in the 4/8 game over my 16 hours of play so far.  It's pretty gross.  I've experienced downswings bigger than this before (up to 300 big bets) online but those were over much larger samples of hands.  I don't remember ever losing so much in so few hands before.  As a result, I may give up on live poker again and return to my online cave where the sweet poker deities of full tilt granted me an $1100 tournament cash yesterday.  It's nasty because I feel the players are terrible and I should be able to win but I have no personal history to prove that to myself.  Maybe I give off tells, maybe the rake's too high, maybe I have some subconscious tilt thing going on, maybe I just can't adjust to the table dynamics and maybe I am just running insanely bad.  Either way, I don't know how much more of this I can stomach.

[Aack Thbbbt]

i empathize, Ive been there myself, your advantage is recognizing and having the ability to analyze your issue(s).

One thing in particular "It's nasty because I feel the players are terrible and I should be able to win..."
Yes you should be able to beat the weaker players individually, BUT if you are at a table that is primarily bad players, and YOU its tough to overcome and beat ALL of them, that is really the issue, its you against 8 others, one of them is going to "suck out".

Game selection, analyze the game for a bit there are 4/8 games with better players, do some table changes, jump up in limit.

Why limit, have you considered the 1/2 game, though they can be nitty as heck, you may find tables with less bad players.

[CrazyLond]

I have played the 1/2 a bit before with reasonable success.  I actually built up a pretty good roll in that game twice but both times I ended up taking it to Vegas and going broke.  I may end up spashing around in it again at some point.

The thing is, I like having bad players at the table.  I want them playing every hand, etc.  I'm not looking for a game with better players.  I mean, I think I could beat a game with significantly better players but I feel I should be able to beat this one for more.  I think there's some merit to what you say about a lot of bad players being more potent than the sum of the individuals.  When everybody is playing a very loose passive style, it actually makes playing that way not as bad because they are usually getting the right odds to play a lot of hands and draw to almost anything.  Despite this, I feel like the games should be beatable for a significant amount.

I did manage to win $159 today which was nice.  I am still down over 1K but it just feels good to cash a win.  Maybe the tide is turning.  I've also ordered a copy of Small Stakes Holdem which, I think, targets correct strategy in these kind of games.  I used to own a copy but left it at a house in Iowa.

[jstarda9]

Dang man! I would cry losing $1200 in 4/8.. When I would play 4/8 before I would stop at $300.. I moved to limit and have been doing ok in regards to my bankroll.. Most of the time it's a win of $50-100 but I have had a few decents cashes in the last weeks.. I had $400+ and $300 on Tuesday. I've never played limit online.. Always stick to .25/.50 NL and tournaments. Anyways good luck man!

[CCremain]

I think the proper procedure to follow after a big loss session is something like...

1.  Disgustedly toss the dealer the remainder of your checks.

2.  Grab a strong alcoholic beverage from the bar.

3.  Play blackjack or craps until you win it all back or double your losses.

4.  Go back to either the poker table or the bar and wreak havoc on either your opponents or your liver depending on what happened in step 3.