What do you do when you hit a losing streak?
 

Recently i have been posting about what games to play with my bankroll. SInce then i have been on a massive losing streak i have had everything beaten and more. Last night on planet i had the AK flush beaten by a straight flush. I had today in omaha HI 4 deuces beaten by 4 snowmen. Anyway i am just curious what you do when u hit a slump. I am unsure whether to keep playing or give up for a couple of days?

Re: What do you do when you hit a losing streak?
 

I usually break a lot of stuff and then continue to lose more money. I really have to work on that part of my game. [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

Re: What do you do when you hit a losing streak?
 

just take a break, I usually just take a weekend or so off, read TOP and then monday I'm ready to get back into it.

Re: What do you do when you hit a losing streak?
 

[ QUOTE ]
Recently i have been posting about what games to play with my bankroll. SInce then i have been on a massive losing streak i have had everything beaten and more. Last night on planet i had the AK flush beaten by a straight flush. I had today in omaha HI 4 deuces beaten by 4 snowmen. Anyway i am just curious what you do when u hit a slump. I am unsure whether to keep playing or give up for a couple of days?

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Welcome to poker. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] Beats like the two you described are exactly the reason that posters suggested playing small until your bankroll got bigger. No matter how good you play, you will go through some losing streaks. When I'm sitting down with twenty or twenty-five buy-ins, the bad beats don't get to me.

The most important thing to remember during a losing streak is that you have to keep playing your best. If you feel like you won't be able to right away, then by all means take a couple of days off. If you feel like you can continue to play with an edge, then just keep grinding it out. I know that for me, a simple break to eat some food or watch TV can do wonders for keeping me from going on tilt.

One more thing. Play your best game when you're having a rough time. It'll be best for your mind if you have the best chance of making a comeback.

Good luck,
Justin A

Re: What do you do when you hit a losing streak?
 

im not as experienced as alot of players so i too am just learning how to ride out a losing streak. for me when it happens i take anywhere from 2-7 days off and get back to it. i actually just went through a terrible losing streak recently but refused to take a break because despite losing i was playing extremely well. i only continued to lose and therefore had to take a break for a couple of days, went back and now im back on my normal track of winning. bad runs of cards are very real and the only way to avoid them is to stop playing for a while no matter how bored you get [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Re: What do you do when you hit a losing streak?
 

I do this most of the time anyway, but:

I review my play, is it me or just a bad run of cards?

I play a variety of games also, I might take a day away from live play and enter tournaments online, I do that often anyhow so I don't get completely fed up with what I hope to keep doing until I am dead pretty much.

If that doesn't fit, I'll reread one or two poker books for a day instead... and/or hang out on poker forums...

I accepted the fact I will have bad streaks, so when they come, not such a shock and I rinse and repeat what I typed above...

>Trainwreck<

Re: What do you do when you hit a losing streak?
 

AtlBrvs4Life ...great minds think alike....or maybe angry people like you and I..heh...But I agree take some time off. Read a new poker book or two. There are always things you can improve about your game. To be a great player you have to have rounded knowledge. So if you play only holdem, try learning omaha and nuances of it, or maybe stud, or stud hi/low, anyways you get the point. Or perhaps read up on a particular aspect of holdem like tournaments, high stakes, low stakes, satellites, psychology, reading players, and so on. Your losing streaks serve as reasons to take time off and improve your poker skills and expand you knowledge of other games out there.

Re: What do you do when you hit a losing streak?
 

I'm with everybody else on this one. Right now I am breaking even for the past two weeks with some of the most amazing beats I've ever had, so I am not playing until Sat. just to clear my mind.

Review and make sure it is the cards and not you. If it is you work on it; if the cards take a day or two then knock em dead. Good luck and hopefully things will turn around soon for you.

Re: What do you do when you hit a losing streak?
 

you dont stop bad runs by quitting, you stop them by playing. if your bad run is causing you to play badly then you should certainly stop, but the only way to break it is to play. your next hand won't necessarily go better for you if it happens a few days after rather than a few minutes. cards are random (hopefully)...

Re: What do you do when you hit a losing streak?
 

This advice is theoretically sound if a computer was playing, but the fact of the matter is, losing streaks will propogate themselves emotionally.

First, stop playing until you aren't thinking about recovering your losses. This will lead you to take more gambles than you normally would.

Second, stop playing until you have the drive to play. You need to play inspired, not desperate to make your money back.

I find that cold turkey works best. Stop until you are even willing to play the penny games. When you have this kind of drive, BRING IT ON!