getting through a bad run

[stormswa]

ok im in the worst run I have even been in, I swear to you guys this is going on 4 days now. I have had more AA and KK and QQ hands cracked that I can imagine. Out of 40+ 180s I have gone out with the dominating hand about 25 of them and the other 15 were coinflips which honestly im fine going out with them. Just today I got AA cracked by 88 and JT cracked by a flush draw when I put him all in on turn when I made top 2.

I really dont know im getting scared of running anything but the absolute nuts. Couple days ago I flopped 2 straights and had one guy runner runner me for full house and other guy pair river so his flopped set beat me. I concider myself pretty in control of my emotions and I didnt let it affect me in the actual game but its really taking a toll on my confidence. Im running a stake that has really been affected by this, I look over my hand histories to see if I could of done anything different but seeing as almost 100% of the time I got it in way ahead I dont think there is.

I know pokerstars isnt out to get me but it just feels like they are sitting there watching me laughing their ass's off. It seems like this week im losing coinflips when I really need to win one or 2. Ive been deep in numerous tourneys, like real deep and losing those coinflips. It seems like im winning them vs microstacks and losing them against people that can put me out of the tourney.

IDK Im just wondering how you all deal with it, I dont think a break is in order because like I said im not playing bad but whenever I get KK, AA or AK or some other real good hand I start thinking "great how am I going to get screwed in this hand". I know this isnt the greatest way to think but after I have had like AA cracked 5 times, KK 3 times and QQ 3 times in last week its starting to feel that way.



stormswa

[Talking Poker]

I wish I knew the answer to this question. I'm on one of my worst runs that I've had for a while. It started off annoying, then got bad, then got worse, and when I finally thought it couldn't get worse, it did. I keep thinking, "Maybe today is the day" that it will turn around and I'll be able to beat the idiots who put their money in so badly... but I've been thinking that for like 3+ weeks now. Ugh.

I know some people will play more to try to play through it, but I've tried that in the past and had disasterous results. So now, when I'm running badly, I play less. when I'm running well, I push myself to play a little bit more. Makes sense, right?

Taking a break also helps and so does mixing up what I'm playing. Like, if I'm getting tired of the HU SNGs, I'll switch to cash games for a while, just to play something different, so I can (hopefully) come back fresh in a few days.

I've also notice that cashing out always makes me feel better too, but sometimes that's tough to do when you are running badly. That's why I like to be well overrolled for what I'm playing, so even in the middle of a bad downswing, I can still cash out and not worry about busting my account.

[stormswa]

oh crap the thought of this lasting 3 weeks makes me sick to my stomach.

[Kurn]

IDK Im just wondering how you all deal with it

I keep repeating my mantra, learned from a quote from former Buffalo QB Jim Kelly.

After a win, where the Bills came back after stinking it up in the 1st half, Kelly was asked how he could come out slinging after throwing 3 picks in the 1st half, Kelly answered:

"I'm an optimist with a short memory."

[Wes]

You will run worse than you ever thought imaginable in poker. It really is that simple.

But really there is no answer. You can play more to compensate or you can play less and do other happier things with your life. Most of the time when I am running terribly I have an awful mindset that I just think how am I going to get fucked over in this hand. The problem is that I think that every hand. That usually leads to me playing really badly (by my standards at least).

The way I used to solve that was by not playing for a while. Recently though, I've taken up yoga and it sort of clears my mind and makes me think sharper. This has been really true for poker especially after reading the Tommy Angelo book I sort of block out previous results and know that I am bound to win in the long run so there is no reason to worry about this dumb short term result.

[Fildy]

I think what he means is he vents to me. Says he will never win at poker again. Then has a 12k day the next day.

[hackers238]

I took a 1.5 week break after losing $300 in the first week and a half of April. But while I was on break I made sure to either post or review hands every day. I also dabbled in razz!

[Talking Poker]

This is a good thread. It's reassuring to know that everyone runs horribly from time to time and that even huge ballers like Was have said, "I will never win at poker again."

[PShabi]

Fruitcake.

[thrash1294]

for you guys that play for income it must hurt more than for most. I just change it up and donk it up nopaypoker.com for awhile when I get pissed at poker.Or play 1c 2c nl which is still fun for me its where I started first at onlinepoker.But really youshould look around you and think how great you really have it.That you are lucky enough to do this.Which is better than most have it

[Reel Deal]

My last bad run lasted 5 weeks. Then I decided it was time to play $5/$10 HU and bam, the roll was right back where it was before the 5 week slide!!

[sjay2k]

the only way to get through a bad run is to keep playing and turn it into a good run

[JDMcNugent7]

im down alot of $ this year and just paid 88k in taxes its not very fun.

[Talking Poker]

I think I'm going to change my screen names to:
5outmeplz

Seriously, they get it in so bad so many times, and get there over and over and over. It's like, WTF?

My little HU SNG experiment is quickly drawing to a close. I honestly believe I could (and should) dominate these things in the long run, but I'm not sure how much more BS I can take. I mean, we're talking a couple hundred matches of this crap (I'll guess 250), and it's getting worse, not better.

While my brain "knows" that it's just a sick run of bad variance, I can't help but wonder... I mean, at some point, you have to stop blaming bad luck, right?

/End rant.

[Invigilator]

Standing at the back of class FTW!

[lightfungus]

My thoughts exactly.

Holy shit. That makes tax season a lot worse than it was for me...

[Daomonk]

I do tai chi (like yoga if u don't know), what does that make me?

I'm on my worst tourney run the past 2 months. And i just keep hope because one score and everything is alright. It makes u hate poker, but it happens.

Being able to switch games is the best thing for me. I can go to different cash games or play SNGs. I haven't run bad in all 3 types at the same time yet. If that happens then i might quit poker

[Windbreaker]

No one in particular, but honestly I don't think a lot of the people here know what a bad run is. Until you've put in a ton of volume and gone through massive downswings, you won't fully realize how bad it can get. I imagine most of other people's version of downswings is rather small.

I have gone through swings where it costs me about 150 buy-ins for SNGs, (Turbo multi-table SNGs have a lot higher variance than most games). Part bad luck and part bad play. I know it could have gotten a lot worse, but I also know the more hours I put in, the more likely I'll get out of it ahead.

I typically just play through it. My advice is, if you're going to sit down and play, make the hours mean something. Don't play just for the sake of playing...put in good hours - concentrate, focus, don't let beats knock you down - as long as you made good decisions.

I think one of the things that put people on tilt the most is when they see their cards get run down. One of the things I do often in tourneys is when all the chips go in, I only look to see if I made a correct decision. After I see my opponent cards, I don't even look at how the board runs out. I basically forget about the hand and have already moved onto one of the other tourneys I would be playing at the time.

[stormswa]

Thanks everyone,


after hearing all this im looking really forward to playing today, last couple days I have dreaded it but today im looking real forward to it.