A lil' bit of "Streak Theory"

[lightfungus]

I was sitting in my Linear and Discrete math class watching my professor draw crazy graphs that looked like spiderwebs when I began to think about poker. Thinking about poker during class is not something I dont do, but today I was thinking about how I might have just been on fire the last two weeks. I have turned $50 into $750 at the 25NL tables at PP. However, in the past 2 days I have begun to fluctuate up and down pretty much hanging around the same number or maybe going up like 10 bucks a day where as before it was more like 60 or 70 with a good 3 hours of play, maybe more (I did the 20% on like 520 and got that bonus which is included in the amount).

Anyhoo, we all recognize there are streaks. I think I actually fooled myself into thinking I had finally "got it," the winning poker way anyway. I still think I have improved as I have constantly over the past year and a half but at no different rate than usual.

Sooooo, I was looking at this hot streak and wondering what it was, how it occured and why it may have come to an end. I thought of my hands the past week or so, and they have been good. I have gotten my fair share of pockets, and low pockets have been overpairs probably half the time, I have been hitting flops and getting the cards to hit with. The past day or so I have been folding more and not hitting as often, and my pph (pockets per hour ) have slowed a little, but nothing that should drastically influence anything but making a little less money if i stick to my game. Sooo, I looked into the mentally that you retain after these streaks where you are playing well and winning.

You become confident and arent afraid to call someone down. You risk money, and in appropriate places if you are playing well. You also EXPECT to make money after so many days of good positive flow. The last one there is what I think affects me. When I stopped getting those cards and money stopped coming in as fast as it normally does, I got a little more aggresive and forced some hands and tried to trap for the big win on others. Its like tilt, except tilt after things not being good enough. So, I have stepped back a little and reminded myself that I should be happy with positive even if it isnt as much as it was, because I used to be happy with positive. I guess I just got spoiled.

Anyway, I wanted to strike up a conversation on streaks. Because I was thinking that streaks may come to an end because of mental attitudes as opposed to the cards controlling it. Like streaks could be like a sin curve no matter what. Kinda like a rabbit population in a closed habitat: Reproduce like crazy, food runs out, rabbits die, lots of food, reproduce like craZy and so on.

This may be obvious to people but I would be interested in any other ideas people had on streaks.