Not doing well at poker

[patrick52]

Hi, I am a longtime lurker on this forum and your advice has turned me from a losing player ot a winning one. lately I have not been doing well, and I have a few specific questions.

I have dropped about 15 buy ins over the last 5-6 days, and I've been running horribly. I know that everyone here always tells posters about how small their sample size is, i know that, and this could just be bad luck, but I have questions because I no longer feel like a winning player. My confidence is shot and I no longer feel like I'm going to win when I play, so I am using that as a sign of things going badly rather than losing some number of buy ins. I play the 22s, I am probably going to move down tot he 11s.

I had a stretch where I was being too aggressive too early, going after blinds too early, and busting too fast. So i tightened up and decided to focus on survival a bit, rather than just stealing a bunch of blinds.

Now I just feel passive, it feels like Every game I get to level 4 I have 650 chips, and a small chance. I only play Ak, Aq, aj and sometimes At, plus all the pocket pairs. sometimes I will limp in late position with suited broadway cards, is this enough? So often I just don't win any pots early and I have few chips late. The only hands I play really aggressively are qq-aa, those i raise big.

my solutions:

1. I am going to only start playing later at night instead of 12-2pm. I don't win as many easy big pots at level 1-2 earlier during the day.

2. I need to just be confident, at the 11s and 22s do you guys also end up at level 4 with 600 chips a lot as well?

I'm not going to bore you with the bad beats, i just had a headsup match where I had my opponent all in with my jj and tt to his k4 and k8, he won both, and then in another game lost a QQ to Qt, but that is just me whining and i know theres nothing i can to, but its frustrating.

[Karak567]

I've dropped 15 buy-ins twice in the last week and a half.

I'm up a lot.

Variance.

[patrick52]

well i know its variance but read my post, i was mostly talking about my confidence, i just dont feel like a winning player anymore even though i have won money over 1000 games.

so im not like "oh i lost 15 buy ins im done" its more "i dont feel like im playing winning poker"

[Kaufmania]

I feel the same way that you do. Whenever I play I lack confidence. I seem to fold what would be monster hands and lose with my good ones. I don't play very aggressive and have been making more stupid moves lately than ever before. I think the first thing to do is to take a few days off just to remove yourself from the game. Next, reread your favorite poker book, the one that got you started. Perhaps watch some poker on TV, or Rounders. Just to get back on track with a "winning" attitude.

[sahala]

Drop down to the 11s for another 20 buy-ins or figure out a way to not be worried about the money and focus on your game.

600 chips isn't too bad when it hits L4. This happens to me about half the time when my AKs or pocket pairs miss the flop.

[unfrgvn]

I think this has probably happened to almost everyone who plays enough SNGs. I finished OTM in 17 straight 10+1 after being a winning player over the previous 500. My confidence was shot and I found myself playing either too passive or too wild. My reccomendation:
Go through some HH's, see where you are being beat. I found myself getting my money in with the worst of it more than I thought. If beats are really the problem, you should take heart that it's not bad play on your part. The beats and bad beats eventually go back to a normal rate.
I ended up dropping down to the 5+1's and worked on a few holes. I probably played 10 or 15 there until I regained my confidence and lost that feeling that something bad was going to happen every time I came into a hand.
Review some older hand histories where you played well and won.
Put a message on your mirror that says good things always happen to me. (That's a joke, Phil Hellmouth had one in fluff piece I saw on him.)
Have faith that this is variance rearing it's ugly head and if you play well you will win again.

[Runner Runner]

[ QUOTE ]
my solutions:

1. I am going to only start playing later at night instead of 12-2pm. I don't win as many easy big pots at level 1-2 earlier during the day.

2. I need to just be confident, at the 11s and 22s do you guys also end up at level 4 with 600 chips a lot as well?

I'm not going to bore you with the bad beats, i just had a headsup match where I had my opponent all in with my jj and tt to his k4 and k8, he won both, and then in another game lost a QQ to Qt, but that is just me whining and i know theres nothing i can to, but its frustrating.

[/ QUOTE ]

1. Good decision, the games are more profitable in the evening.

2. Yes, I do end up at level 4 with 600 chips often enough, keep playing tight and aggressive in the early levels and make sure you last to level 4 where the real game begins.

3. Don't be too results oriented. Variance sucks, just try and play good poker.

[Iridox]

I would highly recommend reading through some of your hand histories and seeing where you're losing most of your chips. I'm just coming out of a downswing that I thought had been mostly due to being card dead and getting sucked out on. Reading through my hand histories told a different story though, and I found out that I've been picking some really bad situations for preflop aggression. I feel like I'm playing much better again and my results are matching up.

[treeofwisdom7]

you need to read over your HH and post more hands.. your problem is that your a lurker and not a poster.. post the hands you lost with and the hands you won with but thought you could have played them better


1) it doesnt matter how you feel. when you make a move make sure its the correct one. ask yourself am i making the correct move after you think it out. if you say yes then you made the best move you could.

2) learn to play correct by posting your hands and reading about others hands.

3) your prolly making more mistakes because your results oriented. screw results. make the correct decision right now.

then in the long run check your results.. if you know how to play good poker at the 11's and 22's then the rest is a fight to control yourself.




TH