Is this normal????

Hi all

I've just had another loosing night and whilst I understand that loosing nights are all part of playing poker I've noticed a pattern. When I have a winning night I can win anything from a few dollars to ten dollars (I play $0.05/$0.10 NLHE)

When I have a loosing night I tend to blow about twenty dollars.

So I tend to blow three or four nights work every time I have a bad night. Is this a normal pattern? I tend to think that I must be tilting once I start to loose othewise I should have loosing nights where I lost just a dollar or two.

I thought about trying to discipline myself not to re-load but this gives me a problem of playing short stacked compared to the rest of the table and limits my betting options.

I thought about playing to a set time limit but that will give me more pressure to open with marginal hands which is already something I'm struggling to avoid.

Any comments or suggestions welcome.

[Pov]

It's definitely much easier to have a losing session than a winning session, especially if it's a loosing session as well ( /images/graemlins/wink.gif - Freudian slip there?). I actually started my reply to say that my biggest losing sessions tend to be bigger than my biggest winning sessions, but I checked PokerTracker and that simply isn't true. It definitely does happen though that I make a run of 2nd bests and missed draws and as an aggressive player I tend to lose a lot of money very quickly when this happens.

So it could just be that you have a small sample size or that you really are tilting. It's probably some of both. Not re-loading seems like a really bad idea to me. Changing how you play becaues you're losing is what tilting IS other than just a normal strategic adjustment to your opponents. Sitting out and taking a walk or reviewing your hand histories or even quiting for the night is a better idea.

Some large losing sessions are normal, but the absence of small losing sessions is probably a warning sign. I suggest you review some hand histories from your losing sessions and see if there was some Mr. Jekyll going on when your session turned south.

[AKQJ10]

[ QUOTE ]
I thought about trying to discipline myself not to re-load but this gives me a problem of playing short stacked compared to the rest of the table and limits my betting options.


[/ QUOTE ]

Unless you're one of the best NLHE players at your table (and you're not confident you are -- else you wouldn't be asking if you're tilting) you'd be better off playing small stacks. That's Ed Miller's thesis in GSIH and it's been debated on several threads such as this one (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=2683066), but I think it makes perfect sense.

Playing a short stack limits your betting options, true, but it also limits those of your opponents. Keep your bankroll the same but buy in for less and you'll face fewer tough decisions as you're learning NLHE.

Thanks, that was a very interesting thread. I'm not totally sure I agree with the small buy-in theory but I can see why it might work. What I did notice was that when I'm loosing I'm the sort of player that the systems wants to be playing against. /images/graemlins/frown.gif

I don't think that system will help me but it has forced me to really look at my game which has given me some clues as to my problem.

If you're winning $10 in .05/.10 I'm gonna go ahead and say that you're playing WAY too many hands.

If you're having a night of luck you will win that ammount, if you're having bad luck OR a normal set of luck (which happens most of tne time), you will lose money.

Playing by the book will not get you $10 at that limit. That's 100BB right there. Unless you're playing 24 hour sessions.

[ QUOTE ]
If you're winning $10 in .05/.10 I'm gonna go ahead and say that you're playing WAY too many hands.

If you're having a night of luck you will win that ammount, if you're having bad luck OR a normal set of luck (which happens most of the time), you will lose money.

Playing by the book will not get you $10 at that limit. That's 100BB right there. Unless you're playing 24 hour sessions.

[/ QUOTE ]

You are right, I play too many hands. Over 2500 games (still way too small a sample I know) my VPIP is around 27. I also play very agresive which means that on a good night people will call my $3, $4 bet and loose and on a bad night it's me that takes those big hits. I also think that I'm not good enough at reading people. My big losses all look very similar. Aggresive betting of a marginal hand to a guy who just calls all the way. Then he turns over a good hand that I didn't put him on.

It's a learning process and I'm having a lot of fun. I think I've got to the point where I need to decide if I want to play occasional poker the way I'm playing or seriously try and improve my game which means playing less hands and calming down a bit on some of the bets.

While a VPIP around 27% is not THAT high, I'm willing to bet you just don't fold in time.

[ QUOTE ]
While a VPIP around 27% is not THAT high, I'm willing to bet you just don't fold in time.

[/ QUOTE ]

You can fold! Wow, who knew?

Seriously though, that does appear to be the main problem.