Playing pattern Question?

[Fitz]

I've been tracking my results closely over the last year or so, and I've discovered many interesting things. More than 70% of my sessions are winning sessions, and I average a little over 1 BB an hour. This is all great, but I often seem lose early in session. I'll often dig myself into a 12 to 20 BB hole. Most of the time, I'm able to get back to even and then some, but it is a pain when it happens like that. I'm guessing this happens 20+% of sessions. I just wonder if this happens to anyone else regularly, and what might be a cause.

Thanks,

[Ginogino]

Fitz:
Have you ever seen a big woodpecker fly? Their heads are so heavy their flight paths look like a series of U's, with about 5 feet of up and down for every 10 feet forward they fly.
Often it seems like my stack is doing the same thing, and on some nights I'm doing more like 10 feet of up and down for 5 feet forward. Start off on the down side of one of those big swoops and it can get to looking ugly.
What can cause greater than expected variance? For one thing, there's the nature of the game (aggressive vs passive; loose vs tight). For another, it may be a question of needing some warmup time (I live a distance from casino poker and need a bit of warmup when I get to a game just to get to where I don't have to think about the mechanics of the game, etc.). You seem to be doing well overall, however, and that means you're doing something right.
Gino

[Al Schoonmaker]

The warm up issue is quite real, especially for people who have to travel. When I lived about 85 miles from Atlantic City, I found that I did not play well right after driving there. In fact, I ultimately decided to check into my motel, take a nap, then play. My results got much better.
Another possibility is that you play too many hands and rely heavily on your ability to read people. An A,B, C player does not need that much reading ability, especially not at the lower limits. It takes you time to get a sense of who they are and how they play, and you need that sense if you are playing a lot of hands.
A good friend who lived even further from AC than I very frequently started with serious losses, but did very well overall. His game was semi-loose, very aggressive, which means it was heavily dependent upon reading people.
My suggestion is that you play much tighter when you first arrive. Get a sense for the game before you start making moves, pass up marginal hands and use that time to learn about the other players.
My friend, Barry Tanenbaum, said at our Poker Discussion Group that we should get in the habit of sitting out for a complete round by sitting down behind the button and waiting for the big blind. Several excellent players agreed.
Regards,
Alan

[Dwayne]

Good advice. I have noticed in other people and myself that after a whole day of anticipation it is very easy to join the game in a 'gambling mood'. We all need to be aware of that and tighten up a bit with the goal of having higher odds of winning the first hand we play. It really helps to start the session with a win.

Another observation;
There is a long list of players waiting to get into the game. Most of these player have been waiting for an hour. Finaly the house decides to start a new game by filling the table with these players on the list. Be careful, the first half-hour the chips will be flying because of the 'gambling mood' caused by the anticipation. If you get good cards you can clean up. Otherwise, dont'n join them in their loose play. Fold and wait for the looseness to settle down. It will not take long.

Alan, have you noticed this?

I don't believe this is necessarily true. It depends on mix of players on the list. I have often sat down in a newly started game and find them to be 50-50 loose-tight in the first half hour or so. Normally, I think it takes about an hour before the game sort of stabilizes.

<pre><font class="small">code:</font><hr>
Well... for what it's worth I had 400 hours worth of 5-10 stud at the Mirage in my
spreadsheet. In those days I calculated that my average draw down for a session
was about $200. I also noted that was about as far as I could draw down and
come back with a win.
.
Don't know if that helps any. Would try to give better details, but a disk crash
wiped out that file before I ever backed it up. Wish I still had it around, just for the
sake of being able to use actual figures from regular play.
.
Sincerely,
Frank</pre><hr>