Why You’re Losing at Poker & How to Stop it

Most people who play Texas Hold’em are losing at it. There’s only a small overall percentage that consistently win, year on year. But there are things that players that are losing at poker do frequently that would reduce level the playing field.

In fact, there are a significant number of players that would probably be regular winners if they cut out just one or two leaks. In this article we’re going to share some of the common reasons for losing at poker and offer some solutions too.

Tilt Issues

There are loads of players online who have so many things right technically but lack the mental strength when faced with adversity. That’s a diplomatic way of saying there are good players but they tilt easily! I’ve seen this in live games too. You know the type; they play excellently for hours but get coolered or misplay a hand and proceed to go on tilt. This results in them playing impatiently, executing bad bluffs and being a pay-off wizard.

Suggestion:
The best way to prevent tilt from happening to you is to put safeguards in place. This might mean not playing when in a bad frame of mind, avoiding alcohol or just implementing a stop-loss.

Playing Too High

Another reason for someone losing at poker is playing at inappropriate stakes. One of the great things about poker is that anyone can sit at any stakes. The downside to this is that nobody ever tells you that you’re at the wrong stakes. As such, there are solid players who have decent bankrolls that move up too quickly. Or, perhaps they have an ego and refuse to move down and play NL $25 lower. This is a fairly common reason for losing at poker; people play too high.

Suggestion:
If you are losing at poker and may be playing too high, just move down. Once you’ve found a level where you are winning consistently, stabilise there for 20,000 hands or more, than slowly move up.

Too Many Tables

As awesome as multi-tabling is, it can also be a reason for losing.  Many regulars are break-even or losing but do ok with rakeback and don’t realise they would win if they cut down on the number of tables the play.

Truthfully, the fewer tables you play, the better you will play. This doesn’t mean one table is the best as your cash game hourly win rate may be higher by playing three. Therefore, if you are losing at poker, consider whether you’re not playing the optimum number of tables.

Solution:
The solution to this is to simply find out how many tables you should play. Luckily for you, we created a quiz! Fill in the quick quiz below to find out how many you should be playing.

Poor Continuation Bet Strategy

Continuation betting or “c-betting” is a fundamental part of generating profit  consistently. Some players know what hands to play and where from and can navigate turn and river well, but if they make bad decisions on the flop, they may still be losing at poker. This is because their c-betting is all over the place. C-betting is where a pre-flop raiser continues to bet on the flop.

Many poker players just have their frequencies all wrong, and their sizing. As such, they are failing to know the when, who, how and why’s of c-betting. It’s such a common mistake that I created the most in depth course on c-betting a couple of years ago.

Solution:
A shameless plug but if you think you need help with c-betting, you can sign up today for our c-bet course. Use the discount code “LOSINGATPOKER” in the store for 10% off and get the course for under $79.
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Summary on Losing at Poker

I hope this article has successfully highlighted the most common reasons players lose at Texas Hold’em. Obviously, there are loads of other reasons that may apply; poor hand selection, bad at bluffing, bad bet sizing, stubborn and lack of study.

This article was designed to identify the most common losing reasons for players who grasp the fundamentals but are lacking in a specific area. If you’re struggling, losing at poker and want support, please book in a free half an hour consultation with me (worth £45).