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you should really have someone look at your hands, I have a feeling that you got a case of fancy pants syndrome and starting calling raises from small stacks or something along those lines. And combine that with running bad and checking on the river when it is a clear value bet stuff like that.

I just went through the second biggest downswing ever and luckily it was right after I moved to 100NL. The last few hours I was playing I was playing really bad poker. I was spewing chips with AK left and right. Anywho take a break. Look through the hand histories and make sure they were all really bad beats. If they were all really bad beats than it will help your confidence, if they weren't it will help you game.

Thanks for the input. I'm pretty confident that I haven't been playing my best poker for some of this streak. But definitely not to the point where I can't win even 2-3 levels lower than normal. I emailed a lot of information to a friend of mine and he's going to make sure I am not missing out on value bets and things like you mentioned.

Take a break? Never! =)

I actually have taken a couple, just to make sure I have a fresh approach and all. But I'm someone who needs the money and plays around thousand hands a day.

I guess you're saying 110-120k hands (rechecked, 20k shorter than i thought) is a little long for a "cold streak?" I really thought that until I've witnessed this. It's not so much bad beats as it's been coolers and card deadness. Which just logically could lead me to believe that card-deadness could lead to overvaluing strong hands in tough spots which would compound the amount of 'coolers' in this sample size.

At least between the original post and now I've won almost two buyins, maybe complaining about it to the internet was the key to turning it around

the days off always help me. I have found that one isn't enough to completely reset but at least you are back to winning.

I find myself calling small bets with lots of crappy draws that turn into crappy made hands which accounts for some coolers too. It is a horrible cycle.

good advice

the few times i've have very bad runs i've taken 5-7 days off, read up, talked some strat here, and watched some poker on TV. Gotta keep the focus especially when a cold streak is effecting your decision making.

almost the exact same thing i do when Im not running great. It helps. Sometimes you find yourself not playing optimal when you're running bad.

I'd say my longest "coldish" streak would probably stretch to the 50-60k hands mark. It's not that I was actually down much (if at all) over that period, but I was mostly breaking even.

As for breaking it, rereading some good poker books is also helpful. And, if you've specialized in one game, sometimes it's nice to go learn a different one to break up the monotony. Often you'll also discover/refine aspects of the game that you can carry back to your original game.

Chances are you either tilt a lot, arent playing well in general, or cant beat the game.

I see a lot of people talking about these 50-60k hand downswings or breakeven stretches all the time but it tends to be because they are playing bad, after a bad run. I know I was breakeven for a while and when i looked back I noticed a ton of missed value bets and weak/tight play.

Sometimes its helps to get back to the basics .... reread some poker books, make sure you're playing fundamentally sound. Dropping limits to get your confidence back would also be a good idea.

100k+ seems excessive at any low stake.

I'm going on 20k of breakeven myself, all coinciding with my move to $100 NL, which sucks. When you're making the correct read and acting accordingly, and your opponent can't laydown TP 6K, and when you get a hand you get no action, it gets frustrating.

I don't know if what I did was healthy, but I withdrew half my BR to guy some stuff and am moving down for a bit.

Trying a different game is a good idea.