Texas Fold'em Blues

[toby]

What do you guys do to stay sane when you get 10-4o and Q2o etc for what seems like hundreds of hands straight? I lost a few buy-ins by overplaying my marginal hands like AQo because I was so sick of folding.

I just tried buying in to a low SNG just to play a little maniac style which was fun, though I busted out in 6th when the other guy spiked his A on the river vs my KK (we both all-in preflop).

[thirddan]

i just dropped about 40BB in 150 hands, i won only one hand during that time, woohoo...so here i am, i signed up for a cheap tourney and i gonna go watch some tv...good luck...

[astroglide]

play more tables

[Reef]

If you don't want to wait, maybe poker isn't for you. Remember the 3 P's of poker. Patience, Position, and Ptable selection.

Playing 2 tables in a limit you're comfortable in would also help, assuming this is online.

[bdk3clash]

[ QUOTE ]
If you don't want to wait, maybe poker isn't for you. Remember the 3 P's of poker. Patience, Position, and Ptable selection.

[/ QUOTE ]

POTD!

[Knockwurst]

Be grateful that you're not getting premium hands cracked and making second best hand. That's when it gets expensive.

[RydenStoompala]

Sometimes, when it feels like hundreds of hands in a row, it aint. You have to have things to do when the hands aren't coming, so that when the averages catch up and you suddenly get ten playable hands in a row, you are ready. The table just saw you fold dozens of hands and suddenly you stomp on the gas. It's a good thing to be very aware of how everyone plays, your position and to be ready to do the math when it's finally your turn. If your target earnings is 3 big bets per hour, you may make your six hour quota in 15 minutes, so dont go falling asleep or get drunk. Think of yourself as a firefighter, a job characterized as extended periods of boredom interupted by brief moments of terror.

[fnord_too]

[ QUOTE ]
What do you guys do to stay sane when you get 10-4o and Q2o etc for what seems like hundreds of hands straight? I lost a few buy-ins by overplaying my marginal hands like AQo because I was so sick of folding.

I just tried buying in to a low SNG just to play a little maniac style which was fun, though I busted out in 6th when the other guy spiked his A on the river vs my KK (we both all-in preflop).

[/ QUOTE ]

I keep mucking and I feel pretty good about it. If, at the end of the nigh, I've blinded off 30BB, I feel like I accomplished a lot by maintaining my discipline.

Last time I had a chance to play in a casino, I sat in at a 5/10 Kill O/8B game and was card dead for hours. I left down two or three hundred from just blinding off so much, but I actually felt GREAT. The table was incredibly loose, I had horrible cards all night, but I maintained my dicipline and never got upset. That made me feel great and made me think, more than any win I could have posted, that I could be a lifetime winner at the game.

I do not always reach that level of composure, especially when I am on-line, but I do aspire to it. It takes a lot of faith in yourself to know that even though you lost money you were playing correctly and will take home the money in the long run. When you can get to that level, playing correctly in bad times gets even easier and the liklihood of bad times gets less.

Since the mentioned experience, I read "Inside the Poker Mind", by Feeney. He talks a lot about making propper play your objective, not winning. You may find his essays of value on this subject. I found the whole book quite good, and well worth the cost.