Adjust, hang tough or leave

[betw2outs]

I sat at an aggressive $1/$2 5-max table last night.

Fold, fold while I waited for cards and tried to get a sense of what hands these folks were pounding.

I finally got some cards and started pounding back. Missed (out kicked by one rank), missed (rivered) and on and on (no, this is not a bad beat post /forums/images/icons/smirk.gif ). Looked down, my stack was half gone and I took a break.

While topping off my iced tea I tried to figure out what, if anything, I was doing wrong. Playing too marginally or too aggressively? Being out-played or was it just luck? Should I be in this game or playing at all?

I hope this post will generate some discussion between all levels of players (newbies, intermediates and experts) about whether or not you adjust your play when you are losing. And, if you do adjust, what thought process you go through (or use) to determine the adjustments to make.

Thanks in advance

[betw2outs]

After my break I re-bought to get my stack to where it had been when I started.

During the break, I decided that the losses were due to variance and over-aggressiveness on the turn and river when threatening cards came. An example would be pocket Queen’s that are an overpair to the board. Jam, jam then a King falls on the river. By this time I know the guy on my left (in particular) likes to hang around with overcards. Instead of betting out again, the adjustment was to just check and call. OK, simple stuff.

The variance eventually evened out and things turned out OK.

Maybe this was a lame question. /forums/images/icons/crazy.gif Perhaps you just simply need to constantly monitor yourself to ensure you’re sticking to the straight and narrow.