Bad Runs

[Cory Carroll]

I have recently been on a pretty bad streak for the last 2 months in hold'em, am kind of bored and was interested in hearing about some of your bad beats/runs some of you have encountered

[brad]

once i took too many vitamins on an empty stomache ...

ok seriously

just the other night i win like every hand i play in 30/60 stud but i only played like 2 hours.

but im up a lot (for me anyway_

so i went and plyaed 6/12 he before i go home. (eat breakfast, etc.)

naturally i lost like 1/3 of my win back there. (actually i was up in 6/12 then lost so i really lost a lot in 6/12)

just remember nuk or bio attack coming so dont worry so much about your bankroll. heh

[soda]

I'm sorry to hear about your bad run of late. I recently went through something similar. I play for a living and have been doing so for about a year and a half now.

The first year, I did well, making from 1.5 to 2 BB per hour. Mostly at $9 $18 Commerce style. This September, however, I ran into a cold streak. For that month, I ended up losing a little over 4 grand. The beats were amazing, but my play was also poor. It got so bad, that only one or two beats would knock me off my game. If you've ever played in this game, then you know it doesn't take long to rack up a few beats. It's a very live game. I once went 4 hours without winning a pot, then won 2 in a row and was up $500 for the session.

So, after my September debacle, I took two weeks off and studied the game. I played countless hours online and against the Turbo Texas Hold'em bots. When my game was solid again, I went back to Commerce. I lost and lost and lost. At least my game was on track now. For two weeks, I played well, but only managed one win of $45. Outplaying everyone and still losing, I simply couldn't take it anymore.

I started playing online. I figured with the increase in number of hands, I'd be able to better weather the storm. Two weeks in a casino is about 2400 hands. That's only one day for me online. In fact, I had one day where I played over 4500 hands.

The online switch has been a good one for me. I win 80% to 90% of my sessions. Compare that to the casino where I only win two out of three. My wins are smaller online, just a couple hundred at a time, but more consistent so I make about the same hourly wage.

I remember being very concerned that the bad streak I had would end my short lived career. I'm glad to say that my bad run is officially over and has been for some time.

The problem with running poorly is that a lot of it is poor play. I've always felt this way. I know that, even when I thought I was playing well, I really could have been playing better.

I am playing better now. Every day, I lose to dozens of two outers, runner runner flushes, heads up gut shot runner runner straights. And every day, I make money. In fact, these incredibly poor plays and long shots of my opponents is why I do so well in these games.

Turn your streak around. Make a conscious effort to do so. Only accept your best game, otherwise stop playing. Even in a game with as much luck as poker, you have the ability to effect a change. If you don't like the way things are going, then change them. For me, I didn't like the short term luck factor. So, instead of playing 30 hands per hour, I now play 2 to 3 hundred hands per hour.

Best of luck,

soda

[brad]

'I now play 2 to 3 hundred hands per hour.'

wow how many tables do u play?

[Cory Carroll]

I have also made the switch to online...and I see no end in sigh, I have been playing 5/10 for the last 9 hours and am yet to win a pot, will be interesting to see how long this lasts

[bernie]

"The online switch has been a good one for me. I win 80% to 90% of my sessions. Compare that to the casino where I only win two out of three"

i take it, based on these numbers, that you would conclude that online play is easier than B&M....a difference of 14-24 percentage points is quite large. or is it that you use pokerstat to help your game...which actually makes online play easier also...

i found the online players to be horrendous personnally...just wondered your opinion...

b

[bernie]

how often do you play?

some say theyve been losing for 2 months but in that 2 months, have only played maybe 20-40 hours. which really isnt much....

just curious as i see many overstating their streak, when in fact it's hardly a streak at all...

i play 20-30 hours a week...and my worst run was 7 weeks. it started online and went into the cardroom. cardroom was the last 6 weeks... that was quite a hit. so figure...oh, say...150+ hours in the cardroom + online play....

i learned alot in that streak. and the fact that it didnt kill me...well, i can say it made me stronger...haha

see ya

b

[Cory Carroll]

I play 10-12 hours a day 7 days a week, and have had one winning session since October 12th. even if I had been playing every hand and not reading hands i.e aweful play, you would think I would get lucky and win once in a while, and don't take me for a whiner becuase I am sure everyone will go through this at some point, I was just curious to hear about others bad streaks

[bernie]

i asked for the clarification to take you off the whiner list. i never called you one....it was an honest assessment question...

now if youre response was different than what you did, my answer would be different...

not sure how long youve been on here, but if youre relativley new, you'll see posts from guys thinking that because theyre way up in 50 hours of play that they think they have it all figured out, and that were all idiots because they have the secret that no one has found about the game. along with the aforementioned guys who think a bad streak is playing 4 hours a week for 4 weeks and calling it a month. playing this much, a streak could last about a year.

but it sounds like youre on a bad streak. and they suck. and youre right...everyone will have em if they havent already. it's not how you make it through the winning sessions but the losing sessions/streaks that tell what type of player you are.

some ideas...

if youre playing that much, is there a time where you always seem to be ahead a little during your 10-12 hours? you may be doing well until fatigue sets in then losing it back later in the session. might be worth exploring...(meaning youre playing past when your optimal level starts to fade)

lastly...

10-12 hours 7 days a week is a little excessive isnt it? im hoping your exaggerating to make a point. thats about 80hours a week. not much time for any other life huh? i dont think even the greatest winning players play that much. your game may be being affected by burnout. you may be overdue for a break. a day off may seem like a week to you.

hang in there

b

[Cory Carroll]

I do play approx 80 hours a week, I am either playing poker or with my girlfriend...once I get addicted to something there is no stopping me. Lately there have been very few points where I have been up in any sessions, I can't even seem to get my sets to hold up. I know you weren't calling me a whiner, I just wanted to make it clear I wasn't on here bitchin and complaining. I am just gonna relax at home for a few days and see how this goes, it is still early 8-)

[Trefo]

80 hrs a week is a lot maybe you should cut it down to like 40-50 to truly optimize your game and stay focused....Usually when you run into a bad streak there's something in your play or your emotions are getting the best of you and your on tilt even though you don't think so. Even so, when your in a cold streak tighten your game up even more.
When i ran into a bad streak i took a month off and analyzed my play. When i came back i really made sure i had good starting hands and that my flops meshed with my cards. Anytime they didn't and i folded and minimized my loss. The key is when your running cold keep the losses to a minimum.......everyone will go through a streak like yours, it's just some players will be able to keep their losses to like 200 while others will be down 1000 (just an example). Tighten up!

[soda]

3 or 4

[soda]

I personally feel that the online players are better than their casino counterparts. In the online 2/4 games, players are generally better than the 9/18 and 15/30 games at Commerce. Now, it may not be so if these same players were sitting directly in front of me and I were playing only one game. Playing on a computer reduces my visual tells - an important part of my overall B&M game.

However, I find the players at Party to be terrible, yet I cannot win there. I keep calling down 72s and 45o with my pocket aces and kings and, of course, losing to two pair or a straight. This is more like Commerce to me. Just because someone called your raise, does not mean they have a "hand". I'm not sure if my results at Party are short term bad luck or if I'm playing a style that will not win long term. Unfortunately, I don't have a stat program for Party.

I do use PokerStat and it helps out a lot.

The percentage difference in win rates is solely due to the fact that a B&M session consists of 240 hands, while the same 8 hour session online can be over 2000 hands. I'm just getting into the long run more often. Oh, and maybe it's because the games are "tougher", that is to say they are easier to beat consistently.

Try beating the 9/18 at Commerce consistently for a year. It won't happen. You'll be able to win 1.5 and probably even 2 BB per hour. But, you won't win consistently. Terrible nasty losing streaks with big pointy teeth will tear at your soul.

Of course, you'll hit winning streaks of unusual clarity and enlightenment too.

soda

[Fitz]

How are you getting so many hands an hour? I can rarely average over 160 hands an hour playing 2 tables. Are you playing multiple sites? I've done that, but playing more than 3 tables at a time is negative EV for me because I found I was making mistakes trying to play too fast.

Good luck,

[soda]

Yeah, I'm playing at Paradise and Party. I don't like Party very much as I'm not making any money. I may go back down to 2 games soon. Wish Paradise allowed for three games.

soda

[Fitz]

We've all had downswings; I recently had a 250 bb loss over about 120 hours online. When I began to analyze my play, I found some mistakes; I'm certain, if the losing streak is really of the length described, there is more statistical deviation taking place.

I certainly think the poster needs to examine his playing habits. 12 hours a day 7 days a week; there is no way anyone could do that and be playing his best all the time. One of the changes I have made in my game over the last several months has been to emliminate these marathon sessions. I'll play 3 or 4 hours, and take a break; the game will be there later when you've had some rest, a bite to eat or some quality time with your girlfriend. Think about it this way, casinos give dealers breaks every hour because they are constantly doing calculations in their heads, and this leads to fatigue; after about an hour, their accuracy and effectiveness drops considerably. When we are playing 150 hands of poker an hour, we are making many many calcuations and decisions that are bound to wear on us at some point.

hang in there, try to examine your game as objectively as you can, and get away from the computer for a while and recharge your batteries.

Good luck,