Losing Streak From Hell

[Redhotman]

I am currently on a hroible losing streak 3/6. I am down over $900 the past 2 days. If it wasnt for a $300 pot, I would be down even more.
My cards have been horible, however I know I have been making some mistakes i nornmally wouldn't make. I havent been as mentally strong because of the horible run.
Yesterday I won 1% of my hands over 5 hours and today I have won <1% of my hands over 6 hours.

I started breaking my play into hour sessions to avoid tilting.

Any tips on getting through it?

[TazQ]

Try dropping down to 2/4 or even 1/2. Make some money, get that confidence back up, and then head back to the 3/6 tables.

[Joe Tall]

[ QUOTE ]
I started breaking my play into hour sessions to avoid tilting.

[/ QUOTE ]

Take 3 days off, have 2 beers a day and play some golf.

Peace,
Dr. JT

[ajizzle]

Yeah. The best way from losing TONS of money in a very short period of time is to set a limit of an acceptable amount of losses (say between 30 and 50 BB), and quit for the day when you hit that limit.

I try to do the same when I'm up too. If I'm up huge for a session, but take a few bad beats in a row, I like to get out with the winnings I have, and try not to blow it in a fury of tilting. Some say that this may diminish your wins sometimes, but I look at it as probability taking it's toll, and get out before I hurt myself.

[brian0729]

Im going with Taz and JT, Take a few days off come back read the boards or one of your books and start with some 1/2 or 2/4 to get the confidence back up.

[ode]

Sounds very familiar. Been like that for me too few days, was down from two days about $700 (in 3/6). So annoying, when you can't win a hand even when you'r 90% or more favorite on flop etc. /images/graemlins/frown.gif

I think it's good idea to limit the losses to 50BB or so for the day when you'r running real bad. I often have a bad habit of trying to play back my losses - and when you can't win a hand, nothing good can come out of it /images/graemlins/wink.gif

It's always good to remember that luck changes, if your moneys last.


|ode

[MrGrob]

I am down just under what you are -- there is something strange afoot on the internet...I would be easily up $1500 AT LEAST with the cards I have been getting, if I could just get people out before the river...every single 1, 2, 3, 4.5, 5.7, or whatever outer is hitting. People are calling with total crap now, and HITTING. I had TT, was top pair on flop, hit T on turn, and lost to rivered st8 to some guy holding 83s in the BB...he called the raise.

Summary of my hands:

Best - lose on flop!
Best - hit flop, lose on turn!
Best - hit turn, lose on river!
Best - hit turn, hit river, lose to some bizarre hand!
Best - hit flop, hit turn, hit river...software says, sorry, but we really meant to deal you these cards, please pass that hand to your left -- thank you!, and thus, lose on showdown.
FLOD -- software says, "We are sorry, would you please pass $50 to your left, as you would have hit the flop, and turn, but been out drawn on the river, and we would not want you to miss this great poker experience -- thank you!"

LOG OFF -- TURN OFF SYSTEM -- site continues to play on my account, catching everything and making a ton of money...then takes it all, sending me an e-mail, "Wow, we were sorry you missed this super great run of cards! This is what you would have made has you not logged off! Sorry, but we must take this back from you now! See you again at the tables!"

I WIN!!! YES!!! I ACTUALLY WIN!!! Oh ****, here comes the wife...after household rake, I am back where I started.

/images/graemlins/confused.gif

[Redhotman]

[ QUOTE ]
I am down just under what you are -- there is something strange afoot on the internet...I would be easily up $1500 AT LEAST with the cards I have been getting, if I could just get people out before the river...every single 1, 2, 3, 4.5, 5.7, or whatever outer is hitting. People are calling with total crap now, and HITTING. I had TT, was top pair on flop, hit T on turn, and lost to rivered st8 to some guy holding 83s in the BB...he called the raise.

Summary of my hands:

Best - lose on flop!
Best - hit flop, lose on turn!
Best - hit turn, lose on river!
Best - hit turn, hit river, lose to some bizarre hand!
Best - hit flop, hit turn, hit river...software says, sorry, but we really meant to deal you these cards, please pass that hand to your left -- thank you!, and thus, lose on showdown.
FLOD -- software says, "We are sorry, would you please pass $50 to your left, as you would have hit the flop, and turn, but been out drawn on the river, and we would not want you to miss this great poker experience -- thank you!"

LOG OFF -- TURN OFF SYSTEM -- site continues to play on my account, catching everything and making a ton of money...then takes it all, sending me an e-mail, "Wow, we were sorry you missed this super great run of cards! This is what you would have made has you not logged off! Sorry, but we must take this back from you now! See you again at the tables!"

I WIN!!! YES!!! I ACTUALLY WIN!!! Oh ****, here comes the wife...after household rake, I am back where I started.

/images/graemlins/confused.gif

[/ QUOTE ]
What I have noticed is people do not notice that you are lsoing on the river, so they attack you even more when you are on a bad streak.

[Mike Gallo]

Redhot,

If you lost 150 big bets in two sessions you might need to step down. I have never lost more than 40 big bets in a session.

Perhaps you should consider if you can beat this game.

Go back and read some of your earlier posts. I think you may find how to stop the losing streak. I do not think you understand the game as much as you would like to think you do.

On a side note,

Why does everyone on this forum lately feel the need to post about losing sessions and bad beats.

I will pass on the wisdom my friend the immortal poster/lurker Fred G. Sanford gave to me. He told me "dummy, go sleep it off and then post." Basically he advised me not to post with emotion after a bad beat or a bad session. You couldnt even spell horrible because you feel so devastated.

Post some specific hands, this could lead to your improvement.

[mauisupaman]

Red,
Hate those loosing streaks. When I get em I play tighter with less risk. I also found that when I'm in a loosing streak, I'll sit down at the computer, play tight, and win a small amount - then quit for the day. Even if the game is loose and juicy I quit for the day. It seems to help me psychologically just so that I know that I can win. Then when my confiedence builds I jump back into the game full force.

[ElSapo]

Why does everyone on this forum lately feel the need to post about losing sessions and bad beats.

Hey MJ... I think because no one else understands.

Who am I going to tell that tonight, for the first 150 hands, I saw 12% of flops and won 3% of my hands? And that for the second half of the night, the cards got better, the flop and win percentage went up, but somehow I lost more?

Who among the people I know (all non-players, really) actually cares that two days worth of winnings went down the toilet today, partly b/c of my bad play and partly b/c of some cards?

Who cares?

The truth is, no one. Save myself, of course.

My friends might care, but they don't understand. The people on this forum understand, but for that very reason, they don't care - it happens to everyone.

I hate reading bad beat stories as much as the next guy. And just reading someone blabbing about their worst losing streak ever, well, that's not helpful either. But really, who else can they tell?

I don't have any answers here, because there are not any. We post b/c we don't have anyone else to blab to, about how yesterday the game was awesome and today it sucks. About how we've lost our nerve, lost our trust in top pair. About how we can't stand to see any more pots get pushed the other way.

Truth is, tomorrow the cards might change. Or they might not. Or maybe it isn't the cards.

But we don't know which of these is true, so we post.

Bah. I'm having another beer, playing some video games and going to bed. Tomorrow I wont be in the BB against an UTG player who's limp-raise with AA failed. I hope.

[Joe Tall]

[ QUOTE ]
lurker Fred G. Sanford gave to me. He told me "dummy, go sleep it off and then post."

[/ QUOTE ]

Red's the man!

Peace,
JT

[Redhotman]

[ QUOTE ]
Why does everyone on this forum lately feel the need to post about losing sessions and bad beats.

Hey MJ... I think because no one else understands.

Who am I going to tell that tonight, for the first 150 hands, I saw 12% of flops and won 3% of my hands? And that for the second half of the night, the cards got better, the flop and win percentage went up, but somehow I lost more?

Who among the people I know (all non-players, really) actually cares that two days worth of winnings went down the toilet today, partly b/c of my bad play and partly b/c of some cards?

Who cares?

The truth is, no one. Save myself, of course.

My friends might care, but they don't understand. The people on this forum understand, but for that very reason, they don't care - it happens to everyone.

I hate reading bad beat stories as much as the next guy. And just reading someone blabbing about their worst losing streak ever, well, that's not helpful either. But really, who else can they tell?

I don't have any answers here, because there are not any. We post b/c we don't have anyone else to blab to, about how yesterday the game was awesome and today it sucks. About how we've lost our nerve, lost our trust in top pair. About how we can't stand to see any more pots get pushed the other way.

Truth is, tomorrow the cards might change. Or they might not. Or maybe it isn't the cards.

But we don't know which of these is true, so we post.

Bah. I'm having another beer, playing some video games and going to bed. Tomorrow I wont be in the BB against an UTG player who's limp-raise with AA failed. I hope.


[/ QUOTE ]
Great Post El Sapso...

MJ, you are correct, my post was completely pointless, I would have been better off posting some hands. Why did I do it? Maybe subconsiously I wanted someone to tell me I suck at 3/6 and need to move down to 1/2...(Although Im looking over my hands and dont think this is the case, remember only won 1% and then <1% over 12 hour period of player.)

I guess posting on here is sort of looking at yourself in the mirror and saying "Focus Man, Focus..Just hang in there and it will turn arouund."

I dont know, I hope to someday be mentally strong enough to not have to post [censored] like this.

[Joe Tall]

[ QUOTE ]
Yeah. The best way from losing TONS of money in a very short period of time is to set a limit of an acceptable amount of losses (say between 30 and 50 BB), and quit for the day when you hit that limit.

I try to do the same when I'm up too. If I'm up huge for a session, but take a few bad beats in a row, I like to get out with the winnings I have, and try not to blow it in a fury of tilting. Some say that this may diminish your wins sometimes, but I look at it as probability taking it's toll, and get out before I hurt myself.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is a serious leak in you game. You should play until you are done playing regardless if you are up or not. Poker is an emotional game and it looks if you need to contol you emotions better when you have winning/losing sessions.

Peace,
JT

[Joe Tall]

[ QUOTE ]
I think because no one else understands.

[/ QUOTE ]

You're kidding right?

[ QUOTE ]
I don't have any answers here, because there are not any. We post b/c we don't have anyone else to blab to, about how yesterday the game was awesome and today it sucks. About how we've lost our nerve, lost our trust in top pair. About how we can't stand to see any more pots get pushed the other way.


[/ QUOTE ]

Looks like some tilt problems bub. For you, 2 days off, 3 beers and 9 holes and you'll be fine.

Peace,
Dr. JT

[Redhotman]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Why does everyone on this forum lately feel the need to post about losing sessions and bad beats.

Hey MJ... I think because no one else understands.

Who am I going to tell that tonight, for the first 150 hands, I saw 12% of flops and won 3% of my hands? And that for the second half of the night, the cards got better, the flop and win percentage went up, but somehow I lost more?

Who among the people I know (all non-players, really) actually cares that two days worth of winnings went down the toilet today, partly b/c of my bad play and partly b/c of some cards?

Who cares?

The truth is, no one. Save myself, of course.

My friends might care, but they don't understand. The people on this forum understand, but for that very reason, they don't care - it happens to everyone.

I hate reading bad beat stories as much as the next guy. And just reading someone blabbing about their worst losing streak ever, well, that's not helpful either. But really, who else can they tell?

I don't have any answers here, because there are not any. We post b/c we don't have anyone else to blab to, about how yesterday the game was awesome and today it sucks. About how we've lost our nerve, lost our trust in top pair. About how we can't stand to see any more pots get pushed the other way.

Truth is, tomorrow the cards might change. Or they might not. Or maybe it isn't the cards.

But we don't know which of these is true, so we post.

Bah. I'm having another beer, playing some video games and going to bed. Tomorrow I wont be in the BB against an UTG player who's limp-raise with AA failed. I hope.


[/ QUOTE ]
Great Post El Sapso...

MJ, you are correct, my post was completely pointless, I would have been better off posting some hands. Why did I do it? Maybe subconsiously I wanted someone to tell me I suck at 3/6 and need to move down to 1/2...(Although Im looking over my hands and dont think this is the case, remember only won 1% and then <1% over 12 hour period of player.)

I guess posting on here is sort of looking at yourself in the mirror and saying "Focus Man, Focus..Just hang in there and it will turn arouund."

I dont know, I hope to someday be mentally strong enough to not have to post [censored] like this.

[/ QUOTE ]
Up until this point I had never lost more than $250 in a day. I've trained for this, I knew it would someday come. But once your out there in combat for the first time its a whole new ball game than training. So I guess I busted my "horible lossing streak" cherry!

[MrGrob]

[ElSapo]

I think because no one else understands.
You're kidding right?

About which part?

Whichever part, no, I'm not kidding.

Who else but a poker player understands the frustration of being rivered three times in a row -- or for that matter, even understands what 'rivered' means?

There are plenty of people in this world who, if told "I lost $300 today," would respond by saying "you should have quit while you were ahead."

Which part did you think I was kidding about?
(and my apologies if I took this bit too seriously)

[Ulysses]

[ QUOTE ]
Take 3 days off, have 2 beers a day and play some golf.

[/ QUOTE ]

Joe, I don't know you, but up until this post you've been one of my favorite posters on this forum. I've always considered you to be somewhat like me - a guy who likes to have fun, likes to hook up w/ hot chicks, and likes to play poker.

And now this.

2 beers a day

Weak.

[Mike Gallo]

Excellent post.

[Mike Gallo]

Redhot,

Glad to see you didnt get defensive.

Suck it up and play better.

[two_dogs]

why would you cut back to two beers a day?

[Joe Tall]

[ QUOTE ]
And now this.

2 beers a day

Weak.

[/ QUOTE ]

You know what, Uly, I meant to say 'at least' two beers a day and once I realized I didn't the editing time expired. Sorry for the confusion, have faith.

[ QUOTE ]
likes to hook up w/ hot chicks,

[/ QUOTE ]

Having such likenesses, Uly, something interesting was brought to light at my brother's wedding in Mexico this weekend. My brother is younger that me but only by a year and a half, and now that I'm 31, I was told by a relative that I respect that I'll never get married because I always have 'trophies' on my arm. I kind of know what he means but I still think the the ulitmate 'trophy' exsists. However, I guess there is an inner doubt that she doesn't.

Being one of my favorite posters, Uly, do you have any advice? Or should I just 'keep the faith'.

Peace,
JT

[Joe Tall]

[ QUOTE ]
(and my apologies if I took this bit too seriously)


[/ QUOTE ]

Poker is part of our lives, and life is serious $hit.

[ QUOTE ]
I think because no one else understands.
You're kidding right?

About which part?

Whichever part, no, I'm not kidding.

Who else but a poker player understands the frustration of being rivered three times in a row -- or for that matter, even understands what 'rivered' means?

[/ QUOTE ]

I thought you were talking about the forum not understanding, now I understand.

[ QUOTE ]
There are plenty of people in this world who, if told "I lost $300 today," would respond by saying "you should have quit while you were ahead."


[/ QUOTE ]

I know when your losing that this starts making sense but don't listen to them. Plus try to think in BBs not $, it's tough yes, but BBs are BBs, it'll put the loss in poker perspective.

Peace,
JT

[ElSapo]

I know when your losing that this starts making sense but don't listen to them. Plus try to think in BBs not $, it's tough yes, but BBs are BBs, it'll put the loss in poker perspective.

Ah, we're all on the same page... No, of course you don't listen to them. I was merely saying that's the response you get (or, I get) when I tell someone who doesn't play about the bad day... Explaining poker as a long-term game, explaining the skill v. luck v. short-term v. long-term issues is a hard thing to do. It took me a long time to really accept, so I don't expect my friends to really understand.

Anyways. Bad runs and bad beat stories are best accompanied by some hands posted, so you actually get something out of the carthatic experience of posting.

[Mike Gallo]

Anyways. Bad runs and bad beat stories are best accompanied by some hands posted, so you actually get something out of the carthatic experience of posting

Excellent advice El Sapo. Very well done.