Bad Runs

[Trefo]

80 hrs a week is a lot maybe you should cut it down to like 40-50 to truly optimize your game and stay focused....Usually when you run into a bad streak there's something in your play or your emotions are getting the best of you and your on tilt even though you don't think so. Even so, when your in a cold streak tighten your game up even more.
When i ran into a bad streak i took a month off and analyzed my play. When i came back i really made sure i had good starting hands and that my flops meshed with my cards. Anytime they didn't and i folded and minimized my loss. The key is when your running cold keep the losses to a minimum.......everyone will go through a streak like yours, it's just some players will be able to keep their losses to like 200 while others will be down 1000 (just an example). Tighten up!

[soda]

3 or 4

[soda]

I personally feel that the online players are better than their casino counterparts. In the online 2/4 games, players are generally better than the 9/18 and 15/30 games at Commerce. Now, it may not be so if these same players were sitting directly in front of me and I were playing only one game. Playing on a computer reduces my visual tells - an important part of my overall B&M game.

However, I find the players at Party to be terrible, yet I cannot win there. I keep calling down 72s and 45o with my pocket aces and kings and, of course, losing to two pair or a straight. This is more like Commerce to me. Just because someone called your raise, does not mean they have a "hand". I'm not sure if my results at Party are short term bad luck or if I'm playing a style that will not win long term. Unfortunately, I don't have a stat program for Party.

I do use PokerStat and it helps out a lot.

The percentage difference in win rates is solely due to the fact that a B&M session consists of 240 hands, while the same 8 hour session online can be over 2000 hands. I'm just getting into the long run more often. Oh, and maybe it's because the games are "tougher", that is to say they are easier to beat consistently.

Try beating the 9/18 at Commerce consistently for a year. It won't happen. You'll be able to win 1.5 and probably even 2 BB per hour. But, you won't win consistently. Terrible nasty losing streaks with big pointy teeth will tear at your soul.

Of course, you'll hit winning streaks of unusual clarity and enlightenment too.

soda

[Fitz]

How are you getting so many hands an hour? I can rarely average over 160 hands an hour playing 2 tables. Are you playing multiple sites? I've done that, but playing more than 3 tables at a time is negative EV for me because I found I was making mistakes trying to play too fast.

Good luck,

[soda]

Yeah, I'm playing at Paradise and Party. I don't like Party very much as I'm not making any money. I may go back down to 2 games soon. Wish Paradise allowed for three games.

soda

[Fitz]

We've all had downswings; I recently had a 250 bb loss over about 120 hours online. When I began to analyze my play, I found some mistakes; I'm certain, if the losing streak is really of the length described, there is more statistical deviation taking place.

I certainly think the poster needs to examine his playing habits. 12 hours a day 7 days a week; there is no way anyone could do that and be playing his best all the time. One of the changes I have made in my game over the last several months has been to emliminate these marathon sessions. I'll play 3 or 4 hours, and take a break; the game will be there later when you've had some rest, a bite to eat or some quality time with your girlfriend. Think about it this way, casinos give dealers breaks every hour because they are constantly doing calculations in their heads, and this leads to fatigue; after about an hour, their accuracy and effectiveness drops considerably. When we are playing 150 hands of poker an hour, we are making many many calcuations and decisions that are bound to wear on us at some point.

hang in there, try to examine your game as objectively as you can, and get away from the computer for a while and recharge your batteries.

Good luck,