Hi all. I have been playing online poker for almost a year now and I have never run/played this bad in my life. I started off with $50 in my bank account and slowly built it up to $150. I had been steady for about 4 months, never going below $100. Three weeks ago my bankroll was about $150 again when I played a couple SNG`s where the cards just did not go my way. After about 3 or 4 SNG`s in which i took bad beats early and therefore played terrible after going on tilt, it began to affect my play.


At this point I was down to about $120 and everytime i registered for a SNG or tournament, I felt like I just wasn`t playing good enough to win it. Nevertheless, I started the game. It seems like everytime I play a cash game or tournament/SNG I start out fine but then as soon as I make a bad decision I can`t get myself back on the right track. It seems as though I have some sort of mental block and therefore I am making dumb mistakes and going on tilt.

My question to you guys is twofold: How do I rid myself of this mental block I seem to have and start having confidence in my play?

I am now down to $20 in my account and on UltimateBet the lowest games they offer are 1$ SNG`s and .1/.2 cash games. Should I start playing those or try to play my normal $5 SNGs?

There is absolutely no easy answer on your first question. But the first thing I would do is take a break. Because when you lose sucha big portion of your roll, it will have an effect on you, presumably a negative one.

When I feel fresh and motivated (this could be 2 hours or two months), I would start to go through HH. Everybody got leeks, doesn't matter if your name is Kidpoker or Jbush14. The difference between a winning player and a losing one, is that the winning player finds the leeks and fixes them. To do this properly, you need to talk to other players. You may think that you played you pocket aces perfect, but I'm sure there will always be someone who thinks otherwise. Getting that other side of the coin is very valuable.

Analyzing your game is a crucial part of poker, if you want to become better. I would suggest that you get Poker Tracker for that reason. It will help you tremendously in your analysis.

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Aftter you have done all that, start playing in the 0.02/0.04 game on UB. Be patient and do not force things, and you will be back on track in no time.

Thank you very much for your reponse.

Time off every now and then is a necessity. It will definitely change your outlook and refresh you....

About your game selection - don't bother grinding out microlimit SNGs because the rake's too high. I used to do that before learning that it's virtually impossible to beat a 20% rake.

Once you're ready and refreshed, deposit more and stick to 10% raked SNGs.

Some good advice from IAGTT,

To be honest, you value the amount too much. We all start somewhere, but after a year of online play, and 4 months of spinning your tires between 100-150, you need to advance as a player.
This doesnt only take skill, it takes the ability to take higher risk for reward.

I've gone broke online a few times. Doesnt sound good right? but at my online high point i was playing 1000nl tables and everytime i go back and start again, I am able to crush the lower levels easily working my way up where now I'm back to playing 100nl tables and it feels like a waste, because i know i can eventually get back to where i was. But its a good feeling because ive lost the value of the dollar and can play proper poker without making weak scared plays.

sng's are good if you're good at them. You need to be able to win as often as possible to make them worth it.
just placing in the money is not good enough as over time you'll start to miss the money in 2 or 3 or 4 etc...and the risk to reward isnt worth it

anyways, it sounds like u need to go on some rush of some sort.

my suggestions are as follows.

Take a break,
ask yourself what the 100, (or now 20.00) means to you. can you deposit another 80 to get u back to 100?
start crushing lower limits, and by crushing I mean playing strong poker without having a dollar value in mind.
who cares about 6 bucks or 10 bucks, i want to hear you crush for BB/100 (how many big blinds you are up for every 100 hands)
dont be affraid to jump a level in cash games to help u get over some fears

and lastly, google sng tips, scott fischman has some good ones, and even I posted a thread with a basic beginners sng outline,
u can search it in the general strat

cheers

and good luck

Thank you all very much for your responses; they are greatly appreciated.

I think what I`m going to do first is what you said Royal Hold `Em and re-read my Scott Fishman book which contains a portion about SNG`s. Then once I feel comfartable again and feel the same confidence I once felt, I`ll start playing my $5 SNG`s that I used to do well at.

That being said I am not yet ready to jump right back into it, I`ll take a little time off to the point where I`m feeling refreshed again.

Another point to note. Swings of your bankroll will happen. It will happen more than once. I've been playing for two years and have had at least 4 major swings of over 50% of my bankroll. The way you can measure if you're a successful player is to see how well you rebound from those swings. For me, the adjustments took 6 months the first time, 3 months the second time, a month the third time, and a week the last time.

Swings will often occur during the following situations:

1. First time you have a bad run of cards that magnify one or more of your leaks + tilt play to try to play out of the bad run.
2. When you move up in limits (and sometimes even down in limits).
3. When you try to play a different style.
4. When you try a different game.

I am sure I'm missing a few, but these are things natural to affecting your bankroll. Just make sure that each time it happens, you improve your money management discipline and patience with the game.

Well, first of all, learn to spell "worst."