this may be my last post for a while. I am takin a break from poker. I went on a sick 250BB downswing in the past week nearly leaving me broke. So i cashed out all my remaining money and I am going to take a break. I dont know if it was my play or just some sick variance but it really messed with me so its time to get away from it..Ill try and drop by but i wanted to say thanks guys and ill see yall around

That sucks man...

It's good that you have the responsibility to do what's best.

Good luck to you.

ok.

I don't recall seeing any hands from you; so I guess you either realize it was bad luck or obvious mistakes, huh?

Tiltinng account for some of that?

I'm curious over how many hands it is....

but sounds like you are already out the door and no coercing will persude you otherwise.

Anyway, I'll be thinking about you and awaiting your triumphant return!

actuary, it's obvious you two were close...

however...

can i fill the man-void while matt is gone.?
i promise i'm good.

- Jordan

Take a break, you'll be ready to come back before you know it. Post more hands when you return.

In a couple weeks seriously analyze your play, and be honest with yourself about how many of those BBs were a result of tilt. Tilt is a disease, winning poker players must cure it.

250+ BB downswings are fun aren't they. Luck to you dude. Just analyze your play and do your best to see what you could do better

ok one last post to clarify so yall dont think im just flaked out or anything.

actuary -

In actuality there wasnt one hand i feel like i should have posted.
Some often occurring cases were:
1. floppin sets only to get rivered by runner flush/straight or somebody else turnin a set
2. Aces didnt hold up
3. ak and aq were big losers
4. My vpip fell to barely over 17 (and you know i advocate a semiloose style from when we have talked)
5. Would flop open ender straight flush draws and just seemed like i couldnt catch a break with those
6. Tilting was a small problem mainly b/c i would wait patiently for an hr only to have aces cracked by a 23 and id tilt a few hands before i quit
7. The iceberg was when i went down to .5/1 and proceeded to dump 15BB in about 20 minutes

Actuary it was over about 3-4k hands basically towards the end of party when we played again till yesterday when i said enough was enough.

Kdawg -

Yeah losing 250BB was pretty demoralizing. I would get sucked out by some clown who felt k4s was a big hand and id be glad that they were at my table and then they would run some 100 card hot streak while i get dealt 270 3 hands in a row.

Im gonna take some time away and decide how and if i wanna make a comeback at some point. I really felt like i was playin strong just couldnt handle the loss anymore. My BB/100 dropped to between -2 and -3BB and with a vpip of 17ish i just could never seem to find a major issue other than getting 3000 hands of crap

Ill still be lurkin tryin to see if im a complete idiot or if i played good just got the sick end of variance

man this really stinks. i really feel for you dude. up until a couple weeks ago i had never had a bb downswing of more than a 100 or so.

i never really understood how good players could go on 250bb downswings and have a losing steaks that reach 10k hands.

but i know do believe it.

this game can rip you apart emotionally and im starting to think that this is somewhere i need to improve to become a long time winner.

all the best to you and hope to see you on the virtual felt again soon.

btw, this is a quote from a little article i came across by Ed Miller and it really helped to restore my confidence.

"Why Will You Succeed?

Success in poker stems directly from outdoing your peers. Play better, plan better, read hands better, and control your emotions better. So why will you succeed? What are you doing better?

If you are reading this series and taking it seriously, you are planning better. You will have an ample bankroll. You will be prepared for financial and emotional emergencies. No bad beat this side of being struck by lightning is going to keep you down.

If you play well and plan well, you have a great chance to succeed. Never forget that. Even if you are in the midst of a bad string of hands, day, week, month, or year, never forget that. It’s who you are, not what happens to you or what cards you get dealt, that determines your chances to succeed.

That’s the irony of poker. In the short-run, your success is almost entirely out of your hands. But over a career it’s all you. If you aren’t getting the results you want, don’t force it. There’s no hurry. Keep playing, keep improving, keep taking your wins and losses in stride. This time next year you’ll be a better player than you are now. You’ll be making more money, and you’ll have more experience and perspective.

Slow and steady wins this race. Plan for the future. Don’t take excessive chances “just because.” Put your big wins in the savings account, and don’t let your big losses get to you. Socking money away, staying at your limit, and keeping your emotions in check may not sound like fun. But success, and knowing that your dedication and study created that success, is more fun than you can imagine."

Im gonna be the new bonus who*re at this forum.

Just finished clearing my first $100 bonus in roughly 4-5 hours at 1/2, with 500 hands. I dropped down because i was unfamiliar with the software... had a few stupid misclicks.

If i was to have a 50BB downswing, i'd be breaking even. (had a 50BB upswing instead :!: )


It's much easier to relax and deal with losses when you know that there's a guaranteed flow of cash coming in just by playing.

play 6 max, and you will then see lots of swings(and unfortuently right now, I'm seeing one of those bad swings)

i don't even think you have to play 6 max in order to see these kind of droughts. im sure its a lot more prevalent at 6 max rather than full though.

From what I've seen it's like night and day - even after my crazy 150 downswing in full ring Friday.

don't embarrass yourself, please.

I went on a sick 250BB downswing in the past week nearly leaving me broke


Try not to to do that.

Seriously though, so what, a bad week? Wait till you lose 20k in an hour. Then you'll seriously ponder taking a break.

good luck.

What stakes do you play? I was under the impression that you played pretty low online. ... or are you not alluding to the fact that you've had that kind of a downswing.

Check out some of the 2+2 stats threads.

I've had somewhere around a -250bb downswing and I haven't really been playing poker that long. Not saying I played great during that period though. If I was playing optimally, it might have been somewhere closer to -150bb.

yeah sounds like variance can be a whole lot harsher than i've ever experienced.

on my current worst streak of -165bb. wish me luck in getting to -250. :-)

I think huge downswings can actually be beneficial. Makes it a lot easier to tough out the smaller ones. Much like a fight.

heh, i yawn at the 50bb swings i have every hour now. 6 max is a cruel mistress.

lol remember that day i went -50, +50, -50, +20 in like 3 hrs. that was fun.

I had my first -60 bb day at 10/20 6 last night (i set my stoploss at -50) and I felt sick. I shouldnt have cuz its only 60 bb's , but I did anyway cuz its $1,200. Ill get used to it i guess.

If a 60BB downswing makes you sick, you should just move down, at least temporarily.

There's no point in giving yourself anxiety just because you have X number of big bets.