How does the casual player handle this?

[JordanIB]

So after being busted in 6 or 7 straight tournies on the river, and a busy week ahead of me at work, I decided I would cash out this week and take 5-6 days away from the tables.

A quick background: I'm a casual, mediocre player. I've played about 250 $10 PStars SNG's at an ROI of about 13%. A low ROI, but frankly, I don't care. I have a well paying job, and making a few extra bucks in poker with a couple of SNGs each night is fine by me -- I do it mostly for the fun.

So with the week past me, I decided to borrow $11 from a friend and sit down and play one. And sure enough:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t20 (9 handed)

UTG (t1880)
UTG+1 (t920)
MP1 (t1450)
MP2 (t1460)
Jaded (t1430)
CO (t1600)
Button (t1800)
SB (t1480)
BB (t1480)

Preflop: Jaded is MP3 with A/images/graemlins/club.gif, A/images/graemlins/diamond.gif.
UTG calls t20, UTG+1 calls t20, MP1 folds, MP2 folds, <font color="CC3333">Jaded raises to t80</font>, CO calls t80, Button calls t80, SB folds, <font color="CC3333">BB raises to t1480</font>, UTG folds, UTG+1 folds, Jaded calls t1350 (All-In), CO folds, Button folds.

Flop: (t3120) 6/images/graemlins/spade.gif, 8/images/graemlins/spade.gif, 3/images/graemlins/spade.gif <font color="blue">(2 players, 1 all-in)</font>

Turn: (t3120) K/images/graemlins/spade.gif <font color="blue">(2 players, 1 all-in)</font>

River: (t3120) 7/images/graemlins/heart.gif <font color="blue">(2 players, 1 all-in)</font>

Final Pot: t3120

Results in white below: <font color="white">
BB has 9h 9s (flush, king high).
Jaded has Ac Ad (one pair, aces).
Outcome: BB wins t3120. </font>
I realize that's poker, and it's a bad beat, and it happens. But for a casual player like me, who does this almost more for the competitive nature of it as much as the money -- these wins or losses aren't making or breaking me obviously -- how does one normally handle such frustrating runs? After tonight, I plan to stay away for another week, or maybe I'll even change up my strategy completely, maybe start trying 1/2, 2/4 cash games. Is this wise? Should I just stay the course, start up another SNG right now, knowing that the AA vs. 99's with obviously work in my favor in the long run?

How do you suggest a casual, $10+1 player handle a bad run? (BTW...for reference sake, the run saw my bankroll go from about $370 to $270 in 4 days. And that's with only 2 or 3 tournies per day).

[La Brujita]

This is a really good question actually. You should perhaps think of posting it on the psychology forum.

I wonder myself as well. Does anyone feel the lows of poker are higher than the highs?

Basically to answer your question specifically as to me, it has taken a long time to understand that once the money goes in the job is done. Especially as in your case the money lost doesn't cause much pain.

I have tried to keep score of ring games by how I make decisions rather than how well I do at the end of each day.

Another trick is only cumulating wins and losses each week or month. Of course you will know where you stand generally but perhaps you won't worry so much about hitting your target.

Finally, you might want to check out Zen and the Art of Poker.

None of these thoughts really answer your question.

One final thought that runs through my head a lot is "gamblers" love action and the uncertainty of chance. I really don't. I like poker because of the challenge in making decisions.

[rjb03]

I'm currently running like this myself. However, most of the losses were a coin flip when short stacked or a bad beat when not so shortstacked. As long as you know you're playing a winning game, a few victories will make up for lost money. The cards piss you off sometimes, but you've got to keep at it.

[eastbay]

Taking days off when you get AA cracked preflop is beyond ridiculous. If you're getting emotional about it, you just haven't played much yet. It's a very common occurrence. The way I see it, there's nothing to "deal with." You review how you played the hand, decide if you liked it or not, and then play the next hand.

You have a long way to go if you're getting bent out of shape about losing with AA preflop. Just keep playing. Believe me, you'll see much, much worse than that before long. You'll be chuckling that losing with AA preflop used to affect you.

eastbay

[JordanIB]

It's the not the AA getting cracked preflop.

It's the situation as a whole....6 or 7 straight busts on the river, taking a week off, and then that's the 4th hand of my first tourney back.

[rjb03]

Your luck is not going to change. If you are hoping that when you return you can come back to a fresh start and then get busted hard, it will probably affect you even more. Don't quit because people are drawing out on you for a while. As long as you have a decent bankroll, you should continue to play.

[DoctorJ]

I think you are right on about the lows being lower than the highs are high. I've noticed this in poker as well as other games of chance. I'm a winning long-term player, understand that I want people to play poorly, know that I can only control my own decisions. That being said, it still annoys me more when I lose than I'm happy when I win. And it's not actually all that close.

I think it's because ultimately we all feel that the right should triumph and that the better poker player should defeat the lesser player. And, of course, they do. In the long run. But, I think this general predisposition results in our feeling that when we feel we are the better player and we do win, it is "supposed" to happen. Thus, we don't feel as good about it as we do when the other "lesser" player gets lucky.

Obviously, in the long run we want the to get lucky occasionally, so they keep investing their $$$. Just not against us...

Just the ramblings of a humble psychologist...

DoctorJ

[lastchance]

I disagree with everyone else. I, and probably others, need to take time off when we get dealt bad beats like this because it sticks in your mind. I don't think you need to take a full week off, unless you really been running bad, but I know I'm going to lose money if I'm thinking about being a previous bad beat when I play a game. I get on tilt, and therefore, I try to quit when I'm on tilt. I think it's good to clear your mind if you can't handle the beats for now. But come back when you are ready to come back, don't force yourself to go a week without poker, (unless you're still thinking about it), but never play while tilted.

[rjb03]

If you haven't been playing long then bad beats really suck; truth is, they are a part of poker. You need to accept them and move on. They should not put you on tilt so easily. If they do, take a break, cool off, and return. You shouldn't be thinking about that 2 outer someone pulled on you on the river for very long.