15 replies to this topic

[ddudley]

Ugh, last week was horrible. I consider myself I pretty good limit hold 'em player. I've been playing 9 months now and winning 1.7 bets per hour (at one table) over about 900 hours of play. I stick pretty closely to Sklansky HEPFAP and SSHE with a little bit of Hellmuth's post-flop raising technique thrown in here and there.But, last week everything just seemed to blow up in my face. Seems like I got drawn out holding top pair or better at least 50 times. I'd hit a flush and lose to a Boat, hit a straight and lose to the flush, etc, etc. My AA, KK and QQ got cracked at least 10 or 12 times. The cards were just killing me. There were times I could swear the other players could see my cards. By the end of the week I was convinced I had somehow forgotten how to play poker. (I actually hadn't changed anything, but I kept looking for something I was doing wrong.)Anyway, I lost 130 big bets over about 22 hours of play. I had 6 out of 8 losing sessions. It was $1304 total or ($59.27) per hour. (Good grief, it was even worse than I thought.)Just wondering how that compares to other people's worst weeks ever?

[JTPHS]

I've had AA cracked like 4 times in a row.. KK 6 times... QQ? yeah right with two overcards??! someone's gonna hit!i nkow exactly how you feel.. it feels like every hand someone's hitting a one outter on you. 1. AA, 4 bet pre-flop. Flop AQJ rainbow, 4 bet, turn Q, four bet, river 10. I called the third bet... why??? maybe my read of QQ is right... oh yeah.. it is.2. KK, 4 bet, flop turn, called the river cuz 8 3 hit there flush... winning the whole way.3. KK no limit table... raise, call and all in. turn 8, river 8, turns over K84. finally hit a set with 22, board 2 4 6, bet into an almost 10 person hand! get lots of calls... turn a 4... lots of calls... river.. you guess it... a 4!.. lost that one too.I could go on... but i'm just letting you know it's happening to me.. these hands are routine for me since i started playing online i've been in a cold slump for a lot of the time.. i started at xmas.Someone please help us! :cry:

[akishore]

unless there's a leak in your play, it happens. i just suffered a 120xBB losing streak, but have come out of it with flying colors (i'm on a 140xBB winning streak since). it happens, good luck.aseem

[Smasharoo]

Happens.Wait untill you have the 200BB swing, now that's fun!

[JTPHS]

am i gonna hit a winning streak soon?? how long can it last? i mean... can kings actually win 3 way?

[Smasharoo]

The solution to losing streaks is not to change your play, but to play more hands.Not many losing streaks will survive 5000 hands.

[Jensen]

I thought you left?Smash.... O.o

[grass Da 55]

why would u play more hand in a losing streak?? u're emotionally flaming, u have to play tighter and slow down. keep ur lost to a minumin and maximizes ur winnings. u need to take a day off to evaluate ur game and ur state of mind or last night's whooping'll affect ur game night after night.

[ddudley]

Smasharoo said:

Happens.Wait untill you have the 200BB swing, now that's fun!

I don't think I could have taken losing $700 more. I was hoping 130 BB was as bad as it could get. It's happened twice now, the 1st time was about 6 months ago and I was playing 3/6. Somehow, it didn't seem as bad as this one.

[Smasharoo]

why would u play more hand in a losing streak?? u're emotionally flaming, u have to play tighter and slow down.Changing your game at all is a good way to prolong a losing streak.I don't get very emotional over a 100BB downswing. If you're get emotionaly flaming when you lose you're going to change your game and give yourself a good chance of losing more money. If your downswing is caused by playing poorly and you need to adjust your play that's another issue entirely.Playing more hands flattens out variance.

[techlava]

Smasharoo said:

why would u play more hand in a losing streak?? u're emotionally flaming, u have to play tighter and slow down.Changing your game at all is a good way to prolong a losing streak.I don't get very emotional over a 100BB downswing. If you're get emotionaly flaming when you lose you're going to change your game and give yourself a good chance of losing more money. If your downswing is caused by playing poorly and you need to adjust your play that's another issue entirely.Playing more hands flattens out variance.

Smash, Can you give some suggestions of hands that you might play to reverse a bad streak that you normally wouldn't?

[jayistheman]

techlava said:

Smasharoo said:

why would u play more hand in a losing streak?? u're emotionally flaming, u have to play tighter and slow down.Changing your game at all is a good way to prolong a losing streak.I don't get very emotional over a 100BB downswing. If you're get emotionaly flaming when you lose you're going to change your game and give yourself a good chance of losing more money. If your downswing is caused by playing poorly and you need to adjust your play that's another issue entirely.Playing more hands flattens out variance.

Smash, Can you give some suggestions of hands that you might play to reverse a bad streak that you normally wouldn't?

i dont think he means "play looser" he means play more poker.... play longer, thus, more hands. you keep your style, and flatten out variance over time.

[justblaze]

Indeed, his whole point is that the WORST thing you can do is start playing hands you normally wouldnt.

[pogiolithis]

I know how you feel with bad weeks. I'm in a bad week right now. I've been outdrawn 15 times in the last week to the tune of $3,800. It sucks, but that's poker -- really it's NL poker.13 of those hands I was at least a 3-1 favorite, 2 were 52/48 (77 v AKo). I don't mind getting outdrawn, I just hate when it happens 4 times in one night.keep playing your game if you feel it is solid. If not, take a closer look at where a leak might be. Before you know it you'll be back to winning.

[KDawgCometh]

Yeah, I'm in the middle of a 100bb downswing right now too and it sucks. Another good idea is to take a break of a few days to a week and just get your head cleared. This is something that I did once before and you come back rearing to go and in a fresh state of mind

[TheIceman05]

KDawgCometh said:

Yeah, I'm in the middle of a 100bb downswing right now too and it sucks. Another good idea is to take a break of a few days to a week and just get your head cleared. This is something that I did once before and you come back rearing to go and in a fresh state of mind

You're obviously feeling some emotional turmoil, so you need to address that somehow. Suggestion. Sit in an ultra-cheap room, or play an ultra cheap sit-and-go, and just fire chips with two hands, check-raise, blast and reblast at every pot... It's cathartic. It's like getting in a good fight. Even if you get your ass kicked, you feel kinda good afterwards.If you're really getting outdrawn, are emotionally stable, and continue making the correct decisions, you've got absolutely nothing to worry about. You might lose another 4000, but if you're playing right, it'll all get back into your pocket over time. Just be patient. And take your frustration out on some punks in the 5 dollar max NL rooms.Iceman