21 replies to this topic

[Duff_Man]

Just wondering if and when people here take breaks from poker. And if so do you have a schedule you try to go by or just go by feel. I ask because I am contemplating taking a week off or so from playing online. I've put in at least 2 hours a day everyday (give or take) for about 3 months. I'm thinking about it because last night I dropped a total of $75 playing 2 $10 SnG's and a $50 1/2 HE table. Granted $75 is by no means a huge loss to most and it didn't hurt my bankroll all that much, but a few eeks back I went on a similiar run with bad beats/cards and I ended up losing $250 over about 4 days. Instead of stepping back after going on tilt I kept playing thinking I could reverse my luck OOOPS! SO after depositing another $100 I was able to build my BR up to $450. But after last night I think I should walk away for at least a few days, maybe re-read Winning Low Limit Hold'Em by Lee Jones. Soory this ended up being so long. Just curious on your thoughts about breaks.ThanksDuff

[BPV]

After depositing $50 dollars into party poker, I went up and down in money. Early today i was up to $62 and change... Then a few bad beats later, I was down under 20. I finally lost my last 5 dollars going all in with pocket 10s and being called by k4.. flop came king king 7.. don't remember the rest. But I am also going to take a break, im going to read the book you mentioned, and get back to playing my A game, and ill stick to live games for a while.

[JMHeel]

Duff,I hear ya on that one man. I've taken about a %25 loss on my bankroll in the past three days alone. I definately had to take a step back and review some of my play lately. I try to play tight and aggressive but yesterday I found myself trying to do too many things at once. Playing multiple tables at a higher limit that I was used to for one thing. So when I picked up Kings and raised a good amount I was happy. Until I was reraised a large amount preflop. Not having a read on this opponent was honestly my biggest mistake. I committed too many chips and ended up sending them over to the guy with AA. I like S&G's on Pokerstars but man it's frustrating to finish 5th or 6th right out of the money isn't it? I find it useful to do something completely unrelated to Poker for a few hours and then come back the next day or later that night. After my Kings got beat I just said **** it and left to go grab some grub and see a new movie. The temptation to make up for lost money (even if it's only temporary) is too much for me because I'm such a competitive person in general. BTW, where do you play at Duffman? If your on PS look me up sometime I'm under Heel'Em. Hope your break works out for ya man. JMHeel

[Big_Puke]

Duff, I have had hours in which things have gone off the rails and I lost confidence in my play. However, after consecutive beats, I take a break and walk. This gives me an opportunity to reflect and analyze my play. When i do this, I usually have figured out and accpeted that I was the "author of my own misfortune" most of the time or I accept that someone just got lucky when the odds where in my favour. This analysis builds my confidence up again and I am ready for the next challenge. If you are playing on a Saturday afternoon for example and this happens, wait until 1:00 am or 2:00 am when the drunks come home and hammer them!

[Duff_Man]

I play at Party Poker, I've been thinking about opening up another acct. at a different site just to see how the action is eleswhere. I'm sure everyone has heard all the storied about Party being rigged or at least set so that there's always action. I don't really believe it but there are times that you just shake your head. Like last night (Bad Beat story coming, sorry in advance). $10 SnG I'm short stacked with 865 chips (6 ppl left) 50/100 blinds. Dealt AKo on teh button, 2 players limp in I then move all in seeing as how the blinds have gotten to 10X my stack, SB folds, BB who is the chip leader w/ 2000 thinks for a second and calls. Everyone else folds. He shows K8s. Flop comes 2A8 rainbow. I'm feeling pretty good, turn is a rag (feeling great), the river is an 8 and I'm gone. My comment before leaving was that I wasn't at all shocked by the beat. A couple of players said they weren't either as some early conversations had been about the bad beats at PArty. I won't go into detail about the next SnG I played after, but I ended up losing on the river with that also when I was in 4th (pretty much tied with 2 players) and I attempted a move to get me into second in chips. Needless to say I should just muck JJ right off the bat. I hate those to cards.Later Duff

[Duff_Man]

youngblood19 said:

Duff.....how about losing 1,100 in 4 hours, my all time high for one session.  Now that sucks!

Yeah that would make me contemplate taking up knitting as a hobby I think.

[tekn0wledg]

Duff man, I feel your pain.As mentioned in other posts, we all go through these swings. Sometimes the best thing is to take a day or two off, other times you might need to make some adjustments and play through the streak.I like to play 2-3 hours per night online and I usually only play for a bit on Fridays depending on how the action feels [I tend to find alot of all-in with nothing type of behavior on Fridays and it annoys me because I can't play my game when this occurs every other hand]. I also tend to play only tournaments on weekends and play cash games during the week. If I'm feeling up to it I'll hit up some ring games on the weekends, but I go solely on feeling alone. I don't like to push playing too much and getting stuck in a rut, and trust me I think about poker 24/7 like the rest of us, but you do need to pace yourself so you don't get burned out. Now I know some of you guys are saying "burned out on poker!?!?!?" but yes it can happen. So pace yourself.I actually took a four month break from poker this past summer.... I just felt I need some time off to experience summer and not be in the daily grind. It was nice for a while, but obviously I missed poker.In terms of taking a break when you hit a bad streak, I generally don't do this myself. At most I'll take a day or two off, but I like to play through mine. I spend more time analyzing my play though and figure out where I can tweak it to make more money the next time at the table.I hope you get outta the streak soon!Also trying another online site might help ya break the rut too, but if it doesn't you could have a skewed opinion of that site because you are rolling bad.... so that may not be the best idea.

[looshle]

Anyone who plays on party poker should abandon it ASAP. People always say there are so many bad beats on Party Poker because there are so many fish. It's actually the other way around. There are so many fish on Party Poker because there are so many bad beats. Count how many times your best hand holds up. Itll be considerably stastically lower than it should be. Anyone who has any doubt should look up "Party Poker Cracked", which I bought off of EBay. Don't know where else it is sold, but it is VERY informative and will open your eyes.

[jayboogie]

what is a good site to play at??? I've experienced a lot of bad beats on Party Poker, but it's been even worst at FullTilt. I've had AK cracked god knows how many times in a row on there. I've heard PokerStars is solid. I signed up on FullTilt, because of the 100% bonus, but it's going to take forever to earn, so it really ended up backfiring, considering I dropped 140 in 30 minutes playing 2/4. It really does seem liek Partypoker has way too many bad beats and yes there are a lot of fish there which makes it tough. 1 or 2 fish at a table is ideal, but a table full of them means your game will be totally thrown off.

[Duff_Man]

Well my break lasted all of 2 hours. Seeing as how I work 3p-11p when I get home my wife is asleep (she's a teacher), so I can either watch tv, play games on PS2 or PC, or play poker and hopefully make some money. And since I can't make any money doing the previous two I played online tonight. It was a good thing though, finished 2nd in a $10 Sng at a extremely tight table. Half way through the level 4 blinds(100/50 I think, @Party) there were still 9 players left. The most I've ever seen at that level. So I tightened up even more and finished 2nd, not as good as first but after last nights fiasco I'll take.Later DuffOn a side note anyone else notice how the text size for numbers are different here? For example 123456789. Wonder why that is?

[whirleymob]

i lost 75% of my bankroll at prima (all bad beats) took a couple days off, it just happened, not planned. since i played a sit n go took 2nd and $60 + cashed in both of the multi table tourneys i played in including a trip to the final table (finished 4). so wat im tryin to say is when things are going bad know when to stop and step away, and come back fresh.

[seymour15]

Never hesitate to take a break. You and only you can be completely honest with how your game is going right now. If you are honest with yourself and find taht you are not playing well at all or just catching bad cards don't hesitate to take a break. I have had friends tell me that they took 2-3 month breaks and came back to the game refreshed and found that they haven't forgotten as much as they might think they had. In fact, I would recommend a break to Daniel. (if he can find one in his schedule) I'm sure he can't though because he's chasing that Player of the Year Award.

[Jordan]

jayboogie said:

what is a good site to play at??? I've experienced a lot of bad beats on Party Poker, but it's been even worst at FullTilt.  I've had AK cracked god knows how many times in a row on there.  I've heard PokerStars is solid.  I signed up on FullTilt, because of the 100% bonus, but it's going to take forever to earn, so it really ended up backfiring, considering I dropped 140 in 30 minutes playing 2/4.  It really does seem liek Partypoker has way too many bad beats and yes there are a lot of fish there which makes it tough.  1 or 2 fish at a table is ideal, but a table full of them means your game will be totally thrown off.

AK gets cracked? AK isnt much. If your lossing big pots with this hand consistantly you should look into how you are you are playing it.. It should be a profitable hand for you cause when hits.  its youre normally good and others are drawing. OR someoneelse got lucky and hit a Q or J or has a pocket pair and you simply fold.. Fold when u know ur beat. Too many people go to the rail w this cuz they think they are entitled to win the pot.

[jayboogie]

Jordan said:

jayboogie said:

what is a good site to play at??? I've experienced a lot of bad beats on Party Poker, but it's been even worst at FullTilt.  I've had AK cracked god knows how many times in a row on there.  I've heard PokerStars is solid.  I signed up on FullTilt, because of the 100% bonus, but it's going to take forever to earn, so it really ended up backfiring, considering I dropped 140 in 30 minutes playing 2/4.  It really does seem liek Partypoker has way too many bad beats and yes there are a lot of fish there which makes it tough.  1 or 2 fish at a table is ideal, but a table full of them means your game will be totally thrown off.

AK gets cracked? AK isnt much. If your lossing big pots with this hand consistantly you should look into how you are you are playing it.. It should be a profitable hand for you cause when hits.  its youre normally good and others are drawing. OR someoneelse got lucky and hit a Q or J or has a pocket pair and you simply fold.. Fold when u know ur beat. Too many people go to the rail w this cuz they think they are entitled to win the pot.

I would say AK especially suted is a big payoff hand in a full table game, but the thing is it was hitting the board. I was getting flops of K T 3, getting re-raised by somebody holding KQ or KJ and their river card would hit giving them 2 pair. I can muck a hand if I'm not hitting, but how am I supposed to fold top pair and top kicker. I've been getting raised with flush draws and having them hit on the river. The thing is it's really frustrating when you read your opponent well and put him on the right cards, for instance I flopped a set and correctly put my opponent on a flush draw, I kept raising and he kept re-raising. Of course he hits his flush on the river, so I just smooth called and I minimized my losses. My instincts are usually right. Some hands I've been getting are just set up so that I'll lose money, I think I've done well to not lose more. It just seemed like everybody was seeing that I was losing with my monster hands and when I raised, ppl would call me with anything. After a little while of this, I just got sick of it and left the table. I don't get how you re-raise somebody on a flush draw in a limit game, it makes absolutely no sense in most instances, yet it pays off for these players online, because it always seems to hit.

[ddudley]

Duff_Man said:

Just wondering if and when people here take breaks from poker.  And if so do you have a schedule you try to go by or just go by feel.  I ask because I am contemplating taking a week off or so from playing online.  I've put in at least 2 hours a day everyday (give or take) for about 3 months.  I'm thinking about it because last night I dropped a total of $75 playing 2 $10 SnG's and a $50 1/2 HE table.  Granted $75 is by no means a huge loss to most and it didn't hurt my bankroll all that much, but a few eeks back I went on a similiar run with bad beats/cards and I ended up losing $250 over about 4 days.  Instead of stepping back after going on tilt I kept playing thinking I could reverse my luck OOOPS!  SO after depositing another $100 I was able to build my BR up to $450.  But after last night I think I should walk away for at least a few days, maybe re-read Winning Low Limit Hold'Em by Lee Jones.  Soory this ended up being so long.  Just curious on your thoughts about breaks.ThanksDuff

Yes, I take a week off every 3 months wheather I want to or not. I feel like it refreshes my brain and keeps me sharp.Instead of rereading that Lee Jones book you should read "Hold 'em, Poker for Avanced Players" by Sklansky. I haven't read "Low Limit Hold 'em" yet but I heard a lot of bad things about it.You need to get away from Party Poker asap. That place is nothing but action flops on every hand. If you play live for a while you will see that poker is not really like this. When you here Pro Players say "wow, that looks like an online flop" they are talking about action flops like on Party Poker (KJT with 2 suited, for example).

[muckrake]

I have recently decided to also just stick to live games for awhile. After about 4 months of straight online play with a few live events in between. Usually I only play online a few nights per week and then every few weeks I force myself to let it go for a week or so.Personally I think that I just find the Live games so much more appealing and I dont have the swings that I get with online play. So take a break man, A week off will you start fresh.

[halvey7]

how do you decide when it's time to take a break??? When you lose how much of your bankroll do you finally decide okay I need to step away for a little while?

[ddudley]

halvey7 said:

how do you decide when it's time to take a break??? When you lose how much of your bankroll do you finally decide okay I need to step away for a little while?

I don't think it's necessarily wining or losing. It's how you feel about your game. Are you feeling confident? bored? exhausted? fresh? distracted? focused? All things you should consider when deciding to take a break.

[Demonde]

BUMP!