Losing micro stakes but winning small stakes
TLDR: Title + advice on recent downswing and improvement. I apologize if this is a bit long, thank you for reading it all the way through and giving advice if you decide to! I'd be glad to receive any feedback.
To preface, I am not good at poker but am trying to get better. I have not fully read any books (working on MPT by Acevedo though) and started playing the game two months ago. I just rely on my gut and pattern recognition. I don't have any fancy GTO theory or math memorized and cannot back up every decision with sound theory.
I recently went on a large downswing, and I think it proves my suspicions about just being lucky. I've only played around 60 hours of poker total and almost all of my winnings come from a few nights when I first started playing (total P&L is in the image). If we count only July sessions, which is 30 out of 59 total hours, I'm down -$204.07.
The total stats for are (11 winning sessions, 13 losing sessions, $9.36/hr):
- 0.1/0.2 = -$88, 24 hours
- 0.25/0.5 = $427, 26.5 hours
- 1/3 = $214, 8.5 hours
- The 1/3 games were all at Canadian casinos and the other games are online games with friends (Lipoker/Poker Now). I'm a bit confused as to why I've been getting crushed at the 0.1/0.2 stakes. Are the 0.1/0.2 players just better, am I playing worse at those tables, or is this just too low of a variance to tell?
- Also, how can I best manage this downswing? I feel like my poker has gotten worse through folding hands I shouldn't have and being shown bluffs, which made me call down more. That then resulted in me calling more than I should be and losing at showdown. Getting coolered a couple of times in large pots has also made me scared of the turn/river, resulting in overbetting the flop/turn and getting less value. Should I just simply focus on studying more or take small break from poker entirely?
- What's the optimal path to improve? Should I be studying 50% of the time and playing 50%? What portion of the studying should be going into reviewing hands/reading books/watching professional VODs and guides?
