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Belok
10-21-2004, 08:12 PM
Made a post about my downward swing a couple days ago, 2 days and 3k hands later I'm still very worried.

I think my concern comes from the fact that i've never really had a big downward swing. Since i started 6 months ago, I was an average-above average player and almost always made money consistently. I've had swings where I lost more money than this one has, but they did not span over 6000 hands.
Another big factor in my concern is the fact that its been a while since I've played 1/2, and this venture was somewhat experimental. Though i was confident with my skills, I still approached the game cautiously.

Over my 6000 hands, here was my progress.
0001-2000 Ended at -1.5BBs, Max of +51BBs
After this dry streak, I bought Small Stakes Hold'em. My game was tightened preflop by about 5-7% and my aggression factor went from 1 to 3.5
2000-3000 -50BBs, Max of 0
3000-6000 -85BBs, Max of -30BBs Min of -110BBs

Quite frankly these numbers scare me. If I knew that I was making mistakes and could fix them, I would not be worried at all. But after going through my major hands, there are very few bets that I could have saved. And the ones that i could have saved were mostly moves that made me money in other situations.

In every room I go to, i can instantly pick out 6-7 people who see way too many hands than they need to, and 1-2 people who are timid and can be bought out of pots frequently. Sometimes there are 1 or 2 other players that are solid, and we rarely butt heads. In all of these situations I consider myself either better than the other players in the room, or smart enough to stay out of the way of someone better.

Yet after 6k hands im losing and near the all time low.

After going through my top 10 biggest losing hands, the result is...well interesting.
Among the top 10 are AA, JJ, AKs, AJs, AJo, ATs, and JQs. KK is in a nearby 13th.

What im really looking for is for someone to tell me that a 6k gradual losing spree is not necessarily regular, but something that happens and can be worked through.

For the record, aggression factor: 3.2, % seen flop between 15 and 20%, my average overall hands won is around 5%. If these numbers mean anything. I think they are actually quite strong, aside from the hands won being 5%.

So...if anybody could just reassure me that streaks like this are no big news, that'd be great.

Thanks
-Belok

ncboiler
10-21-2004, 08:41 PM
The aggession seems a bit high. When you downloaded the poker client did you click on the button "include fold button"? Some people seem like they are misreading SSH and raising any bet. It's OK to fold then you don't hit. Call with low draws and flushes.

eric5148
10-21-2004, 08:44 PM
[ QUOTE ]
Among the top 10 are AA, JJ, AKs, AJs, AJo, ATs, and JQs. KK is in a nearby 13th.

[/ QUOTE ]

If these are your biggest losers, it's obviously just a very bad run of luck. I don't mean to be the sample size police, but your results are very short term. Don't pay attention to your BB/100 until about 15k hands, just work on your poker skills. And make sure your bankroll can handle the swings.

Good luck.

btspider
10-21-2004, 08:50 PM
variance graphs (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showthreaded.php?Cat=&Number=1114425&page=&view=&s b=5&o=&vc=1)

there are 150+ BB drops in most user's graphs..

GrunchCan
10-21-2004, 10:16 PM
What im really looking for is for someone to tell me that a 6k gradual losing spree is not necessarily regular, but something that happens and can be worked through.


A 6k losing spree is something that can be worked through. Everybody goes through losing spells, even when they play well. I'm just coming out of one now myself. That which doesn't kill you (or your bankroll) makes you stronger, and a better poker player.

Weather this helps or not depends on you, but here's a little something I realized that helped me.

There are only 2 possible reasons why I go on losing streaks :

1) A run of bad luck
2) I suck at poker

It's as simple as that.

Once I realized this for myself - and by the way, this was after I bought & read SSH - I saw there was nothing I could do about #1 except see that #1 doesn't cause #2. So the best course of action for me was to ignore #1, and presume #2 to be true. I had to reevaluate everything, and I mean everything. From how to play the nuts, to how to compute pot odds and equity, and understanding the reasons why you should raise. Once I tore my game down and started building it back up, a few fundamental problems were solved and I was on my way. I'm sure - no, I hope - that this isn't the last time I go through this process, becasue it causes growth, not destruction.

That's what helped me, and still does help me. The questions I ask here are mostly basic, fundamental questions, becasue the answers to those questions have more importance on my game than little details like "how do I get the most money from my straight flushes?"

Maybe this will help you too.