I am a donkey!

joao_,martins · #1 09-09-2005, 02:19 PM

I have been playing seriously now for over 2 and a half years now... and been playing NL HOLD EM MTT/s for over a year and a half.
Overall throughout my poker playing days i have been a winning player and am in the plus column for money earned. My problem here is that I have seemed to been playing a lot more poorly than I have in a long time. I am not really sure what it is that is causing it... even though in my sessions I know excatly why I am not playing well, but can never seem to escape it. Also, it is almost never the same reason it seems... one day Ill be playing too loose too agressive pre-flop, the next day it will be too tight too passive pre-flop, then the next day i'll be overplaying my draws, and then the following day i'll be playing my draws too slow or too passive.
I guess my question is should i maybe take a break from the game and try to collect myself?... should I maybe be playing some smaller stakes until I can get my head back in gear? should I try to maybe incorporate some sort of drill during my session when I feel I am playing poorly to overcome that?
Help me out here guys!

mts · #2 09-09-2005, 02:21 PM

why dont you try putting some thought into each hand instead of guessing what to do and complaining that you guessed wrong.

joao_,martins · #3 09-09-2005, 02:34 PM

i think the main problem is excatly that. I went from a player that took a lot of thought into every action and put people on range of hands, did the math and all of that... now I have turned into a man second guessing my reads, my ranges, and whether or not even though the math is correct if it is alright to call. I think the fact that I have lost my confidence has me playing poorly in a lot of situations.
I realize i am whining and complaining about playing poorly... and there is no way to fix playing poorly but to not, but I figured maybe some of the more experienced players or maybe players that have gone through the same situation as I am now going through could help me figure something out to do.

SixgunSam · #4 09-09-2005, 03:35 PM

One thing I do if I'm slumping, I talk through every decision I am making and each hand being played on the table. It keeps me focused on the game and my opponents. Give that a whirl.