Slide Charlie Brown

[naphand]

OK I am asking the regulars (or anyone for that matter) to help me get my head sorted.

At the moment I am in the middle of a horrible slide. After absolutely caning PokerStars $1/$2 for 2 months since I started playing there things have gone seriously awry and my head is turning into some kind of toxic sludge.

When I played Party $1/$2 I was winning about 75% of my sessions and making around 2.5 BB/hr. I figured I should be making more, but this may have been more to do with the general passivity of those games. I switched to PokerStars $1/$2 in the search of stronger games where I could sharpen up. For 2 months I hit them very hard, I had 1 or 2 good streaks, plus some incomprehensibly bad ones. Overall it was mostly just average cards (this last week I had one glorious day when I hit a lot of flops hard with hands like AK, AQ, AJ and my pairs were holding up very well).

My session wins over this time were around 87% and 4-5 BB/hr. Running good, maybe, but I don't think so, the figures are dead on average for the types of games and the stats that, I think, are generally accepted as right on the forum (PF raising 14%, V$IP 20-22, Won$ when saw flop 37%, Won @ SD 51%, average pot sizes). Nothing remarkable. The games are much more aggressive than Party with a lot more LAG players and some crazies mixed in. It is possible to get payed off big time against a lot of these players. Very few decent players, some very tight players, mostly nuts and losers.

I was pleased. I had a few bad days, but my play was generally OK even then. And I also have managed not to get so steamed when I hit poor cards.

Then the fun ended. For some reason I dug out Texas Turbo HoldEm for some "fun" while the internet connection was being set up for my new place. I beat up the $10/$20 tables /images/graemlins/grin.gif. Then I suddenly could not beat the Turbo game at all, I was getting horrible cards (yeah I know this is irrelevant but bear with me) and playing everything wrong.

On my return to Stars (and move up to $2/$4), the Turbo game thing just carried on - horrible cards. I got total trash for long periods, when I got good starting hands (AK, AQ etc.) the flop would inevitably come 667 or 789 or 3-suited. Gad how many times - today, as I was playing I said to my girlfriend (holding AKo) "now watch the flop come 667" (it was 665). It is getting comical. My strong hands just are not hitting, my draw are not making it, I only seem to win when I flop the nuts (or have AA, thank goodness). Over this weekend, from close to 2,000 hands, 2 sets (one glorious AA with AK board against AK - that was nice). 1 set per 1,000 hands...perhaps I shouldn't labour the point. My opponents have mostly been terrible to poor players.

But that is not the only thing, my head is wrong. I suddenly find my self in a lot of situations where I am very uncertain and I am either calling down too much, horribly overplaying hands or folding winners (actually this last has been very infrequent, apart from one big hand today). I feel I have become over-aggro, yet my stats do not confirm this and my review only picks out very few badly played hands by me (which is nice) but perhaps a lot of sub-optimal plays. It seems that I am not getting the most out of my good hands (rarely getting multiple bets from people, though that may be because I am playing so few hands, they figure me for a rock).

The obvious answer is to just keep playing the same way; good in theory but not so much in practice, as mentally it's not possible to keep charging in. The mind reacts against the endless head banging.

To be more specific:

(1) I think I have to make an adjustment of some kind. That feels the right thing to do. It feels wrong to just keep on losing by building the pots up to see them snatched away.

(2) I have no problem playing good cards esp. PF but I am thinking I can maybe tone down some plays out of position. Perhaps, for example. not raising hands like AJo from the SB, when no-one is folding. Perhaps the adjustment should be positional rather than general?

(3) Tighten up overall?

(4) Plays less drawing hands? They ain't hitting.

(5) Be less aggro on the flop with just overcards like AKo?

(6) Perhaps less aggro on flop, more aggro on Turn? With less chance of getting drawn out.

(7) Obviously a break of a few days would be good.

(8) Drop down to very low limits and work off some steam for pennies and a bit of fun?

(9) Play some tourneys? get some kind of change in the system?

How do you guys "clear your head" and re-set yourselves when the doubts are lurking in your mind, and the chips sliding away with horrible regularity. Everyone has been here/there. Ideas and suggestions very welcome, and should I drop back down to $1/$2?

[Nate tha' Great]

Nap,

Have you gone through a bad losing streak before? Like a losing streak on the order of 175-200 BB?

It is *very* *difficult* to go through a losing streak of that magnitude for the first time. It is very much like going through your first bad breakup. It is very easy to have your confidence shattered, and believe that your game has deteroitated beyond repair.

[ QUOTE ]
(1) I think I have to make an adjustment of some kind. That feels the right thing to do. It feels wrong to just keep on losing by building the pots up to see them snatched away.

[/ QUOTE ]

There's no reason for making an adjustment for an adjustment's sake; that's like a baseball player who tinkers with his swing when he's on a bad streak and compounds his problems by doing so. The only reason to make an adjustment is if you've discovered a leak in your game.

[ QUOTE ]
(2) I have no problem playing good cards esp. PF but I am thinking I can maybe tone down some plays out of position. Perhaps, for example. not raising hands like AJo from the SB, when no-one is folding. Perhaps the adjustment should be positional rather than general?

[/ QUOTE ]

I think not raising with good hands is a good way to increase the likelihood that you'll get sucked out on. Obviously position is critically important and it's always possible that you're not taking it enough into accout; it's hard to tell without your posting specific hands.

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(3) Tighten up overall?

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It probably doesn't hurt to avoid the more marginal sorts of hands if you're running bad, especially if your table image is also running bad.

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(4) Plays less drawing hands? They ain't hitting.

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It's possible that you were playing too many drawing hands to begin with, but I wouldn't make this adjustment otherwise. The majority of your profit in these games comes from making flushes, straights, and full houses, which means playing good suited cards and pocket pairs.

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(5) Be less aggro on the flop with just overcards like AKo?

[/ QUOTE ]

I tend to play overcards very aggressively on the flop in an efforto to see how much I can narrow down the field; I'll often give up on the turn and/or take a free card.

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(6) Perhaps less aggro on flop, more aggro on Turn? With less chance of getting drawn out.

[/ QUOTE ]

See above. I think the key is to think about what sort of hands you can fold out with what types of pressure, and also whether you want to fold those hands out or not.

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(7) Obviously a break of a few days would be good.

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Si, senor.

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(8) Drop down to very low limits and work off some steam for pennies and a bit of fun?

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I'm inclined to worry that this is likely to make your game sloppier rather than tighter.

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(9) Play some tourneys? get some kind of change in the system?

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Tourneys tend to tilt me, personally, enough so that I try and avoid them if I've been running bad, but I'm probably a freak that way. They can be a nice change of pace.

[ QUOTE ]
How do you guys "clear your head" and re-set yourselves when the doubts are lurking in your mind, and the chips sliding away with horrible regularity. Everyone has been here/there. Ideas and suggestions very welcome, and should I drop back down to $1/$2?

[/ QUOTE ]

If you just can't play through a bad streak, you need to take time off. That's the only way, really. To continue with the breakup analogy, the best thing to do after a bad breakup is neither to dwell on the previous relationship to the point of suicide or to jump into a new one right away, but to treat yourself to several nights of heavy drinking with your mates.

One other thing that I found helped me when I was running bad was to cut back to one table for a bit.

And post some hands!

[Demian]

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The majority of your profit in these games comes from making flushes, straights, and full houses, which means playing good suited cards and pocket pairs.

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Is this really true? Or are you speaking only of a certain texture of game in particular? I was always under the impression that it was callers paying off my TP with smaller pairs or with dominated kickers and chasing draws that brought in the bulk of my profit in these games.

[Nate tha' Great]

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The majority of your profit in these games comes from making flushes, straights, and full houses, which means playing good suited cards and pocket pairs.

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Is this really true? Or are you speaking only of a certain texture of game in particular? I was always under the impression that it was callers paying off my TP with smaller pairs or with dominated kickers and chasing draws that brought in the bulk of my profit in these games.





[/ QUOTE ]

That's just looking at my pokertracker stats. Flushes, straights, FH = $$$$.

[NLSoldier]

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today, as I was playing I said to my girlfriend (holding AKo) "now watch the flop come 667" (it was 665).

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Aren't there some things you could be doing while your girlfriend is over that are more fun than playing online poker? /images/graemlins/wink.gif

Anyways, when im on a bad losing streak and can't seem to win, I try to remind myself of what its like when im on a winning streak and cant seem to lose. This can also work the other way, when im winning and i start having thoughts along the lines of "this is so easy, how do i ever lose?", i try to tell myself that a losing streak will inevitably come. You know you are better than you competetion and because of this you know you will eventually get their money, so just keep at it and things will be looking up in no time. Dropping back to 1/2 would probably be a good idea as well, at least until you regain confidence in your play.

[Demian]

Nap,

I'm in the middle of a similar situation in my game. Just moved up from .50/1 to 1/2 at UB and had a terrible start. Part of the problem (for me at least--since i'm newer to the game) is being unsure how much is just a bad streak and how much is due to my own play. I'm sure it's a combination though and i've been trying a couple of things to help sort it out. For one, i cut back to one table again, as Nate also suggested, and i've started paying much closer attention to every hand, making sure i know why i do what i do rather than just relying on default plays that became habit at the prior limit. In addition, i'm paying closer attention to my opponents. What i'm finding is that there is a very subtle yet sigificant difference between the two limits that i never noticed initially. The games are equally loose more or less with similar pre-flop standards for the most part and lots of calling down with 2nd and 3rd pair, but the raises that i see post-flop are much less loose and opponents are very often tricky with their good hands. As a result i've had to adapt somewhat and curb some of the all out aggression that worked nicely before. I'm not saying that this necessarily applies to you in the same way, but rather that it might be a good idea to slow down and watch where you're losing more than you were before. It might just be a run of bad luck, but it can't hurt, and will at the very least reinforce your confidence in your game when you can assure yourself that you are making the right decisions for the right reasons against the right opponents. Against bad opponents it's easy to form habits that can be less than optimal when the texture of the game shifts slightly and you don't recognize it. The players still look bad after all. Hope this helps a little.

[stripsqueez]

a fine title nap

i like to think that running bad is the game - the other bits of the game arent all that hard - when we post a hand and consider the merits of various actions we are tinkering around the edges - whether to value bet on the river or check behind is a small + or - in the long term - whether you raise KJo UTG is likewise a nothing decision in the long term etc etc

poker is not technically hard - thats not to say its easy - you have to continually learn and think as i'm sure you appreciate - but - the basics, what you need to know to win isnt hard to grasp and implement

so whats left ? - losing is whats left - your capacity to lose - your capacity to play well whilst losing - the more you can ignore the effects of a losing streak and take it for granted the better player you will be and thats why i like to think that losing is the game - i suppose its the capacity to see it in the long term

i find it a tad bizarre that many try and comfort a person experiencing a losing streak with mathematical explanations that explain that in the long term they should win - whilst its accurate i fail to see how a scientific type explanation is going to solve an emotional problem - i also find the suggestion that you take time off a bit bizarre - it may help so i understand it in that sense but like i said losing is the game and simply avoiding the game is avoiding the problem in my view - its an admission that you cant play whilst experiencing a losing streak - you have to face losing streaks and deal with them - the bigger the better because that makes you that much more relaxed about the next one

in short - get tough - tough is not not being upset or annoyed - tough is knowing what to do when you are upset or annoyed

stripsqueez - chickenhawk

[naphand]

Yes, I went through a 300BB slide late last year, having consistently beaten the $0.5/$1 (5-stud and HE) and $1/$2 (HE) full tables for 8 months. That was my first big slide, and it lasted 6 weeks and coincided with a jump to $2/$4 as well (hence my concern). I dropped back to $1/$2 after about 2 weeks but it went on and on, I moved to Paradise $1/$2 in search of new scenery and it continued. I began to believe the conspiracy theories.....

Then I switched back to Party and it was suddenly over, and I started winning again. But it was the beginning of the end for my full ring game play, which I was finding pretty tedious anyway, and I just hated the quantity of suckouts from the army of morons facing me on every table. I switched to short-handed in December (partly prompted by the musings of David Ross) after a (reasonably profitable) spell playing NL.

I think a bad streak can help you to repair leaks in your game, and I think "tinkering" is OK if it takes your mind off the crap flying your way, though I agree it can be counter-productive. My game is not perfect, and perhaps some more time thinking about my plays and maybe even a touch of experimentation/variation could be good.

I suspect my positional play could be better, it may be I am not adjusting my strategy enough, as just tightening and only open-raising up is not enough, as this mostly applies to the pre-flop game. This could be a good areas to work on, though I have been doing this and seen my profits from UTG and UTG+! (in terms of BB/hand) double to 0.15 BB/hand.

I would actually hate to think I have to be making the drawing hands to make any money, as these are precisely the hands I am not making. A quick check of my PT stats shows a ratio of $6/$10 won for pairs-sets and straights and above, so it looks like you are right... /images/graemlins/confused.gif

I definitely think I could be playing too many drawing hands and a feeling of "missing too many draws" would correlate exactly with this. <Makes mental note to follow this up>

Playing tourneys - maybe you are right. One big hand and I am depressed. But maybe some low-buy-in SNG's that will teach me some patience and where SH skills will come into play much sooner could be good.

PLAYING ONE TABLE. This looks probably the most workable solution and helps me incorporate all the other things I need to think about. Has the added advantage of helping me lose more slowly...... /images/graemlins/wink.gif

Thanks a bunch for these words. I'll be back....(in best thick steroid-abused Austrian accent).

[Shawsy]

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...when im winning and i start having thoughts along the lines of "this is so easy, how do i ever lose?", i try to tell myself that a losing streak will inevitably come.

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I find that when I have been on a winning streak and think those kinds of thoughts (just last week I said to myself - "these guys are so bad they are just giving me their money") the losing streak is more immediate than inevitable. /images/graemlins/frown.gif
Five minutes after those thoughts and BAM - 100BB losing session.

I have been playing the $1/2 6-max at Party mostly of late. I took some time to reflect on the bad run and found that the cards had much to do with it, but also I think I was slow to react to the mood at different tables - especially tight vs. loose.
I have been rereading HEPFAP (yet again), especially the sections on playing at loose tables and playing shorthanded. Sometimes I need to have my head handed to me in a big losing session before certain concepts make sense. Maybe I'm a little thick that way.

Shawsy

[Schneids]

Hey Naphand,

First, lets get this straight: you've got game. Don't begin to think otherwise -- I've read most of your posts. So whatever demons pop up in your head during losing streaks, it is essential that you try as hard as you can to block them out.


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My session wins over this time were around 87% and 4-5 BB/hr. Running good, maybe, but I don't think so, the figures are dead on average for the types of games and the stats that, I think, are generally accepted as right on the forum (PF raising 14%, V$IP 20-22, Won$ when saw flop 37%, Won @ SD 51%, average pot sizes). Nothing remarkable.

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Don't read into these numbers too much. I would guess you may have been running just a little above average. But at the same time, I have many sessions where if you were to look at my stats, you'd think I was a big winner, when really I wasn't -- and vice versa. In fact, just two Fridays ago I had a 1300 hand session, in which I won 54% of showdowns, had normal VPIP, and W$SF % in the mid 30's, yet, I was -$2000 in it. The stats make it hard to measure what type of pots you're winning and losing. As you know there are some days when it seems like all you do is build large pots with the best hand, and get rivered, and the five times you do hold the nuts everyone folds the instant you bet.


WRT your 9 points, I think Nate hit them all right on the head.

[ QUOTE ]
How do you guys "clear your head" and re-set yourselves when the doubts are lurking in your mind, and the chips sliding away with horrible regularity. Everyone has been here/there. Ideas and suggestions very welcome, and should I drop back down to $1/$2?

[/ QUOTE ]

When I am in a losing streak, I cut down to two tables. Also, I usually play about half as frequently as I typically would. Basically, I take a short hiatus from the game and try to return with a fresh mind the next session.


I've played baseball for 14 years of my life, and one of the most important things my coaches would remind us is that baseball is a game of failures. When you go up to bat it is expected that you are going to fail 60-75% of the time. There's no way around it. But it's the good hitters that have a short memory and forget about their last plate appearance in which they hit a scorching line-drive right at the left fielder, and focus on their immediate task at hand. They take from their previous batting encounters not the results, but the little things: did the pitcher's wind up/release change at all when he threw his breaking ball? How many fastballs did I see? Where were they? Can I get him out of a rhythm and frustrate him by stepping out of the batter's box right before he's about to wind up? They learn from their past at bats, but they absolutely CANNOT dwell on the fact they are 0-2 on the day. If they do dwell, it's very likely after their next at-bat they'll be 0-3.

You have to forget about all the poker hands in the past, they are over with. There are going to be some days when you hit 4 balls to the fence and get robbed of a home run each time, and others where you get jammed and hit a weak pop-up that falls in for a basehit. And through it all, you're going to fail with more hands than you're going to succeed with, because poker is a game of failures with occasional successes. Accepting these facts are part of the game will not only likely make your dry-spell be shorter, but it'll also allow you more peace-of-mind.

Maybe that baseball analogy won't help you like it does for me (due to the many years of my life I've spent playing it, year-in, year-out), but relating it to something else you're very familiar with is a very good way to get past worrying about losing streaks.

[naphand]

I believe he played but could never quite make that home run...

As for the rest of the analogy, the closest sport we have to basebell is a game called "rounders" ( /images/graemlins/grin.gif /images/graemlins/blush.gif /images/graemlins/cool.gif), which is played by schoolgirls...(and has nothing to do with Matt Damon)

Seriously, I think I understand your analogy, if even just the enthusiasm you put behind the words, as for a "weak pop-up that falls in for a base-hit" I am going to assume this is like calling with your pocket 6's and making a straight on the River against pocket AA.

I've been through a worse cold spell than this - 6 weeks of totally being unable to win and 300 BB gone. This is not so much the problem, but I feel something has gone wrong in my game or was missing, or resurfaced. At the same time as suspecting this I have had a creeping doubt about how I am playing (the blinds post, then the auto-play post). What I need is some way to clear out the trash that seems to have accumulated and get back to some clear thinking. The Reason - I am missing opportunities, I am failing to maximise my hands, and I am not reading players as well as I did. I am confused as to why this is happening, and now I have a cold streak accelerating towards the 150BB mark, with no sign of getting better.

OK we can kick the stats - or at least that is somewhat reassuring but not very helpful, as you say. I think Nate's point about cutting back to 1 table is what feels most right to me, getting back to thinking about my game play, esp. as I have skipped up a limit. I'm not sure about the shorter sessions, as I have probably been spending too long on the forum and stopping too soon when playing well; I mentally resolved to play some longer sessions, or for 2 hours at least per session.

The failing more than winning - well that depends on what you mean. Certainly in terms of hands, that is no problem. Session wise I am used to a very high score rate, which actually quite worries me. First of all I thought it would be hard to maintain, but it has not been, in fact it is better than on Party (though that may be because my game has improved since the earlier time on Party). I did notice that strip or nate said they won only 47% of sessions and still were winning 4BB/hr. Now that made me think. If I am winning twice as many sessions but winning less BB/hr then my game clearly cannot be as strong as I thought, or is there something else I am missing?

I guess at the moment I am also struggling to find some way to improve my game, I know it can be improved, but it seems to be in a rut. The cold spell has just brought this all to a head. I think the reality may be that I just need to put in a lot of table time, and spend less time thinking about theory and more time thinking about my opponents. The morons on Party are just such a bunch of clones, my game may have become a bit 1-dimensional. I think there is much more variation on PokerStars, and certainly more so at $2/$4 than $1/$2 (though a lot of players jump between both). I think perhaps I am not adjusting my game to players enough, not thinking enough during play.

Now someone will pipe up that adjusting my game too much to other players, plays into their hands, and I should be forcing the issue with my style.

Thanks for the moral support, the good news is that I feel I recover from bad sessions much faster now, I used to get down for days and be reluctant to get playing again (poor bruised ego... /images/graemlins/smirk.gif). Now I actually want to get back at them, and take the losses much more easily, I have to force myself to take a break and keep myself straight (I have an obsessive nature, though not obsessive/compulsive). Still some room for improvement with the steaming though....

It's charlie and James.

PS
Can anyone tell me what the hell a "chunkstarter" is?

[naphand]

Yep, I think the main thing is to start paying close attention to the game play. It is all too easy to slip into an auto-play mode, and when things go wrong not know what is wrong.

What I did notice is during 2 horrible sessions, I lost more at the start than later, and either held my own or clawed some back in the latter stages, only stopping as I was getting tired. This again suggests to me something a bit loose early on, or it may not, maybe I lost opportunities later that could have won me more. THe only way to work it out is to watch very closely and also give time to review hands in PT afterwards and see where the missed value bets were, where I made the right folds etc.

Most hands are pretty obviously played right or wrong, only a few merit inspection on this forum, so it may just be a case of seeing/thinking enough of thoses hands against those opponents to mmake the decisions easier and alternatives clearer.

[naphand]

tee-hee

My girlfriend co-habits and I am trying to get her playing a little poker as well...

It's not a case of making the most of her time here, but I would certainly subscribe to the notion that if the flop is not pulling my pants down and servicing me (to quote a recent post), I do have alternatives. I try not to let this get in the way of my thinking when I am at the tables..... /images/graemlins/wink.gif

I'm in two minds about dropping back - it could make me more sloppy as I have noticed that the smaller chips seem less significant and throw them about a bit, and the pot sizes frustratingly small. Though this will most certainly fade if I stay down for a bit rather than just the first 1 or 2 sessions. I may not have a choice about this if things do not pick up by tomorrow, but I was aware of this fact before I moved up so it does not rate on the Richter scale in terms of upheaval, just damn frustrating.

[naphand]

I agree.

I'm not looking for mathematical explanations really, which is why I wanted a way to "clear my head". No-one enjoys losing runs though I agree that, with the right attitude, they help you cope better with their inevitable reappearance along the way. This is a good thing to say.

I think in a rambling sort of way in the response to Schneids I may have worked something out. Practically, reducing tables and concentrating more I think will help, as I have become concerned about my play being too linear/1-dimensional, either that or I truly am against multi-dimensional beings/computer psychics.

Demons were visiting me at the tables (have you seen "Jacobs Ladder" with Tim Robbins? what a great film, go out and watch it now, it will at least put thing in perspective) and I was not thinking straight. Maybe I was trying so hard not to think straight that I actually began to believe my game was falling apart. Actually I have never believed it was falling apart, just too frequently sub-optimal.

A response that is practical (like concentrating more on the games) rather than theoretical (is my flop % ok?) I think is right. That, and a good slap in the face and "get yerself together man" pep talk. /images/graemlins/grin.gif

[Vazh]

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i also find the suggestion that you take time off a bit bizarre

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People play this game for different reasons and approach it with different personalities. For me, it's a fun hobby and a potential second source of income to supplement my full-time job. My personality is such that I get burned out on things quickly. It happens with everything: job, poker, golf, hockey, etc. As I approach burn-out I enjoy the game less, and since it's a hobby there's no reason to play if I'm not having fun.

There are some people that have one main hobby and are obsessed with that hobby. They never get burned-out, they never tire of it, they never lose their excitement for it. Golf is a good example here in the states. I honestly envy those people. I have 20 major hobbies and hop from one to the next endlessly.

You're right about it being an avoidance of the problem, but in my case trying to fix that particular problem would take years of therapy which my poker winnings can't possibly pay for /images/graemlins/smile.gif so instead I just take a week off when I need one.

I envy those that never need that type of break.

[naphand]

Taking time off could be avoiding the problem, but if the problem is emotional/psychological then time off to straighten out could be the right thing to do.

I know of a guy who trains with weights and has injured his hand, to heal it will needs several weeks, maybe a couple of months. He says he cannot afford to take that time off and get out of shape, so he keeps training. He "deals" with the discomfort, but his hand will never heal and likely sooner or later gets worse. The mind is different, but not that different, time off to deal with a psychological problem or some personal issue (esp. if it is some other thing outside of poker that is distracting you from your game) can mean coming back to the game with a clear head.

I don't think I am psycho yet, but there are issues outside of the game I have to deal with (as most do), and maybe some time off to avoid the extra pressure from a losing streak would not be such a bad idea. I still haven't put those curtains up... /images/graemlins/mad.gif

[Schneids]

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OK we can kick the stats - or at least that is somewhat reassuring but not very helpful, as you say. I think Nate's point about cutting back to 1 table is what feels most right to me, getting back to thinking about my game play, esp. as I have skipped up a limit. I'm not sure about the shorter sessions, as I have probably been spending too long on the forum and stopping too soon when playing well; I mentally resolved to play some longer sessions, or for 2 hours at least per session.

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% of winning sessions really isn't a useful number either unless before you start playing you know you are going to play X amount of minutes (with X a minimum of 60 minutes), and you stick to X no matter what happens. If not, it's too easy to quit when you're up (so it's a winning session) or to keep playing when you are down, trying to get back above even. I don't know if this is you or not, but if it is, then you might be leaving EV on the table if you're quitting when you are up and playing longer sessions when you are down. A lot of the times, if you are up, it's probably a really good game. So why stop playing in it so fast? Likewise, if you are losing, it might not be quite as good of a table be playing at -- yet it's this table you stick at the longest. I'm just generalizing here, this may not be you. But it explains why a lot of people have really high session win %'s.

In my baseball analogy, I was comparing failing to seeing the flop and then ultimately not winning the hand. Like baseball and getting a basehit, most of us win about 30-40% of the times we see a flop.

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PS
Can anyone tell me what the hell a "chunkstarter" is?

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Say what?1?

[Demian]

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I lost more at the start than later, and either held my own or clawed some back in the latter stages, only stopping as I was getting tired.

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I've noticed this too, Nap, in my own bad sessions. I think the clawing back ties in to tightening up and paying closer attention to my oponents' play which you are more apt to do when you are not running well. Also, early on you do not yet know where your aggression will be most effective and where it will hurt you. Combine that with a run of bad cards and you'll quickly find yourself in a hole that you may spend the rest of the session trying to claw your way out of. Consequently, until i can maintain a proper perspective on the swings that take place in this game, i think i'm going to go back to one table at a time and concentrate on learning the most effective way to play against my individual opponents.

Of course, some days it really just won't matter at all how well you play. That's also something i need to come to terms with. It's very easy to take it all much too seriously.