A \"Swings\" Discussion
 

Hey guys... long time reader... basically first time poster... heres the question I'd like ya'lls expert opinion on:

How do you handle the swings?

Pretty easy question huh? I don't play for a living but I would say I was definitely better than most in cash games (at least live). I have recently started playin online again on Party and I started on an up swing. It lasted for about 2-weeks and since has turned for about the past week.

I know most go throught these swings and I was just wondering how most handle it. When you know youre on a downswing do you just stop playin for a while or do you get ultra aggro or what? All comments are appreciated.

Re: A \"Swings\" Discussion
 

I don't really know what the "correct" way to handle a downswing is or if there even is a correct way. There are definitely a lot of wrong ways though. I subconsciously started playing less frequently and dropped down in limits when I started running bad.

Re: A \"Swings\" Discussion
 

kinda what I was thinking...

I have been playing for a long time live and just jumped onto party... it is like a foreign world... i can almost asure myself constant winning sessions live, but online its like i am much less in control and much more subject to statistical variance...

im sure this has a lot to do with how many more hands are played per hour... but i still seem to see players at my table who are winning despite the cards, much more consistently... it must be a major hole in my game which is being exposed by the rapidity of online play????

Live games I can get fairly accurate reads on people... online all i have to go on is betting patterns and cold-hard math so I try to play table image as much as possible...

Anyways... this is my first major downswing and I was just wondering if others have similar experiences and see how they dealt with it...

Re: A \"Swings\" Discussion
 

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I have been playing for a long time live and just jumped onto party... it is like a foreign world... i can almost asure myself constant winning sessions live, but online its like i am much less in control and much more subject to statistical variance...

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Sounds like my story also. I had been almost 100% live player up until recently and have experienced the same thing.

Live play is easier for a lot of players, obviously because it's easier to tell what someone has in live play and also the quality of live play is much lower than online. Online is mostly players who know at least a little about poker whereas live you get a bunch of donks who are playing for the social aspect.

Re: A \"Swings\" Discussion
 

I drop down in limits usually (haha or move up in limits too, if I'm trying to book a win for the day)

Re: A \"Swings\" Discussion
 

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(haha or move up in limits too, if I'm trying to book a win for the day)

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im doing this more, especially since if you drop down it will be 4 times as hard to make it back to the black than if you move up.

but dont try this at home kids.

Re: A \"Swings\" Discussion
 

I suppose its a silly thing to reply to but moving up in limits to get back to positive for the day is a generic addicted gambler thing to do right? You aren't suggesting that that is actually a good idea right?

Re: A \"Swings\" Discussion
 

suck it up and keep fighting
i learn alot from my downswings

Re: A \"Swings\" Discussion
 

how do i handle the swings?

not very well. i buy a lot of [censored] when im winning and lose more playing when im losing. variance will determine whether im broke with a plasma and a caddy or broke with a sears catalog and a huffy.

Re: A \"Swings\" Discussion
 

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(haha or move up in limits too, if I'm trying to book a win for the day)

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im doing this more, especially since if you drop down it will be 4 times as hard to make it back to the black than if you move up.

but dont try this at home kids.

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dont we all... running bad when moving up to make up for a bad day has been the cruelest thing poker has done "to me"

Re: A \"Swings\" Discussion
 

I play more hands than usual to snap out of the downswing quicker (in terms of time).

Re: A \"Swings\" Discussion
 

I drop the number of tables I am playing. If you dont multi-table... well...

One of the things I do when I start on a downer, is to get up take a walk, fix some food, whatever, just stop playing for an hour or so.

Come back refreshed and CONSINTRATE like a mother humper on a single table. Watch closely each and every hand, work on your hand reading skills, meta game skills, look for betting paterns, patterns in players in general.

I generally am doing all of the above at a more or less automatic mode, curse control mode under normal circumstances, but when I start dropping buy-ins, I know something is up and it is time to wake up and go back to the fundimentals.

Then there are down swings where you are just getting the [censored] kicked out of you by the cards and donks. Nothing you can really do here, they are just bad beats and you have to deal with it. Rather you can look back on a bad beat or two and be happy with your play or not will tell you if you need to work on something or it was really just the way the cards fell that day.

If you are dropping buy-ins on a consistant basis, time to examine your game and your head. Are you playing scared? Are you getting pissed and blowing it? Are you just blowing it? Are the other players picking up on this and killing you for it? I love to pick on people that are "running bad", I got a guy to lay down KK preflop this weekend because he was running bad and I push his buttons.

Re: A \"Swings\" Discussion
 

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I love to pick on people that are "running bad", I got a guy to lay down KK preflop this weekend because he was running bad and I push his buttons.

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Just thought I'd like to chime in with a General Surgeon Warning that trying to push people off their big pocket pairs preflop is the leading cause of bankroll cancer...

Garland

Re: A \"Swings\" Discussion
 

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I suppose its a silly thing to reply to but moving up in limits to get back to positive for the day is a generic addicted gambler thing to do right? You aren't suggesting that that is actually a good idea right?

[/ QUOTE ]I threw in a haha so you know it's a bad idea...yeah it's classic gambling problem =)

Re: A \"Swings\" Discussion
 

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How do you handle the swings?


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TIIILT!

Re: A \"Swings\" Discussion
 

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I drop down in limits usually (haha or move up in limits too, if I'm trying to book a win for the day)

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sik bastard. to the OP; what stakes do you play live, and what stakes do you play online? I'd guess that you are simply not good enough for the online games you are playing.

Re: A \"Swings\" Discussion
 

isnt it quite the opposite? People with KK during a bad day are less likely to make the fold preflop. "...It cant be aces again"

Re: A \"Swings\" Discussion
 

I normally play 2-5 NL live (between 300 and 500 max buyin) and have been teetering between 400NL and 600NL online... But mostly been stickin to 400NL... I watched for a long time to see which level played simlar to my live strategy and it seemed that 400 was the best bet for now...

Is that wrong compared to my live game limits?

I appreciate all the help guys...

Re: A \"Swings\" Discussion
 

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I normally play 2-5 NL live (between 300 and 500 max buyin) and have been teetering between 400NL and 600NL online... But mostly been stickin to 400NL... I watched for a long time to see which level played simlar to my live strategy and it seemed that 400 was the best bet for now...

Is that wrong compared to my live game limits?

I appreciate all the help guys...

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Where do you play 400/600 NL?

From my experience 2/5 live is pretty juicy. Most of the male tourists who are a husband/father and make less than 100k a year usually will play 2/5. Easy pickings there.

The regulars in 400NL on party are mostly nits from my experience. There is the occasional fish or maniac but for the most part the pots are small and you have to have two pretty big hands to get a lot into the pot.

Re: A \"Swings\" Discussion
 

I still havent figured it out. I think the biggest thing I do when I'm on a downswing is replay my hands and looks at my HH and make sure its not me. A downswing can be even worse if you loose confidence in your game...

Re: A \"Swings\" Discussion
 

The whole live v online thing is strange for me. I hear on 2p2 all the time how the stakes don't compare - 2-4 online is like 5/10 live or 3/6 online is like 10/20 live, and I've decided I generally disagree.

The better players in the live games I play - 5/10, 10/20, 20/40 strike me as being better than most of the posters here, who are mostly online guys playing similar limits.

Re: A \"Swings\" Discussion
 

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The better players in the live games I play - 5/10, 10/20, 20/40 strike me as being better than most of the posters here, who are mostly online guys playing similar limits.

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This may be true... but typically live games have at least a few superdonks, as well, which seem to be a bit less prevalent in the online games.

Re: A \"Swings\" Discussion
 

i personally like moving down to NL25 to vent some anger. raising every single hand preflop, talking some smack in the chat, etc.

long term downswings are a different story however...

Re: A \"Swings\" Discussion
 

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I still havent figured it out. I think the biggest thing I do when I'm on a downswing is replay my hands and looks at my HH and make sure its not me. A downswing can be even worse if you loose confidence in your game...

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When I'm losing I always assume that it's my fault. Even the bad beats. I don't play perfect poker so I use losing as an excuse to examine my leaks (which I never bother to look for when I'm winning).

Marlow

Re: A \"Swings\" Discussion
 

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The whole live v online thing is strange for me. I hear on 2p2 all the time how the stakes don't compare - 2-4 online is like 5/10 live or 3/6 online is like 10/20 live, and I've decided I generally disagree.

The better players in the live games I play - 5/10, 10/20, 20/40 strike me as being better than most of the posters here, who are mostly online guys playing similar limits.

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sigh

but i pwnerificate those dudes online

help?