The only people who constantly win in this crazy game of poker are, the people who run the games. The people who hold tournaments and cash games and charge rake. Those are the people who are consistently winning. People who play in these games are looking to play well and hopefully have a good run to win. They are still paying to play in a game and whoever is running the game is instantly winning, just because you and a bunch of others showed up to play in said game. In my experience these people who run the games also play and are usually not to bad at the games themselves, so there chances of winning just sky rocketed because if they win the tourney your playing in, or cash game, they won huge for the night, taking rake and winning the fools that came to play in their games money. If your always playing in someone else's (for example The
casinos, Online or live) game your never really winning all that much unless your super good and lucky. Over time you should create poker networks and start running little games of your own, with players and friends you have met over the years. In my opinion this is the best way to win at a game we all love to play, being a good player sometimes just isn't good enough. That being said it might be illegal to run games where you live and you should always watch out for that, but a group of friends playing a game they love, with a person that is setting it up collecting a little fee for his efforts, shouldn't be illegal in my opinion. But that is just it, my opinion, laws are laws and it is best to check these things first before starting anything just to be safe.