Time to end the cash room experimentation?

Loss: $20

I spent the morning reading up on forums and watching videos and was really keen and confident of a good poker session. I employed the tactics of always raising and never limping, making continuation bets and so on and so on.

After about 15 minutes I was $3 down. I'd raised preflop three times with good hands in position, made continuation bets and got re-raised on all of them (I'd pretty much missed the flop but the texture was ok on them). Well that was annoying to begin with. Could people just be flopping monsters all the time? It seemed to be the case because for the next 40 hands or so I was raising and not getting called much pre-flop and most were folding to bets I made on the flop. Notably again I hardly ever hit the flop and I didn't hit it hard once. I remember that because throughout all this I didn't play any big pots when I had any sort of big hand.

Then I got Q4 on the button. I raised and got two callers. Flop was Q4K. I bet on the flop and one called, turn was a J. I checked to see what he would do as regards to maybe a straight draw, he checked as well. River was a 2. So I bet and he min raised, I called thinking he had top pair. He showed QJ. Another nice little outdraw to add to my list. The argument may have been to bet on the turn too but if I had even if he had called or re-rasied I would have had to bet on the river or call his turn raise. Things went very wrong from there.

Next hand I got A10 and raised, one tight caller. Flop was 1064. I bet he calls. Turn is another blank so I put him all in (he was a short stack with about the same amount as the pot). He calls and shows JJ. So that's another good one. The perfect flop and turn to get me into trouble. I lost about $4 on that one.

I'm short stacked now and end up pushing with 77, that runs into KK which, again is nice.

In another table things go the same way. The hands I remember are a Q7 hitting a Q63 board. I bet, get called, turn is a 6, we both check it and a 2 comes. He bets about half the board and I call. He flips over 62.

People are just milking me. The worst part of it is I don't think I'm playing that bad. The board either keeps setting me or other players go after me. I have A9, raise it, get called. Flop is A72, I bet and someone just goes all in. His comment is why do you keep betting with shit. I feel compelled to say 'because I'm trying to play the game properly' but I know it's not going to do me any good.

The final nail in the coffin is a raise with K10. Flop is K78 of spades. I bet and again I'm raised all in. This time I call and my opponent shows 99 with a spade. The turn produces a spade and then the 10 of spades on the river as if to mock me just a little bit more.

This all sounds like bad beat stories and cards going against so I'll be the first to admit that there may have been some plays in others hands that weren't so bright. But I can't remember them because they didn't cost me big pots. All these did and I'm left to rue another $20 that's vacated the account. I think, in total, these collection of hands cost me $13-15 of the $20 I lost. Reverse them into profits and I'd have made at least $10.

For the first few weeks of my cash room experience I really enjoyed it and I'd made some decent gains. But for five weeks I feel as though I've had almost nothing but shite. I'm beginning to hate poker because of it. I think I'm going to play sit and gos for a week and see how that goes.

Every adventure has its low points. I'm hoping this one is mine.