Help! I am Bleeding Chips. (long)

[BusterFlush]

I am a relatively new player who has caught the poker bug. I have read all the books (am now rereading SSH)and play often. I play BM at casinos, underground cardrooms, and a home game. Because of this, I do not have stats on my play like online players. What I do have is results and they are posted below for October and November. I usually play $5-$10 or $6-$12.
This all being said, I am on an unbelievable bad streak of cards and luck. I read about variance but am having a hard time accepting this result. For example, I played Wed night and Thanksgiving day at Caesars Indiana for 12 hours total. I lost $600 during this period. My opinion is that losing a majority of my premium hands with +EV is creating the results. I had A-A 4 times, K-K 3 times, Q-Q once, J-J once, 10-10 three times, and A-K twice. I won four of these hands and none of them were A-A. Lost with sets twice to rivered straights and flushes.
I found myself playing tight weak because of the beatings I have taken of late. I reread half of SSH on the way to the boat on Wed and returned to a much more aggressive style but it did not pay off. As an example of my fortune, I am one off the button and play is limped to me and I make a loose call with A-5. Button raises and it is capped as play returns to me and I quickly muck regretting my original call. Flop is A-A-5.
Surely all of you have experienced these swings and I could use some encouragement or Ideas on how to dig out from this.

Thank you.

October 2004
Hours Played: 38.5 Winnings $1,834 Hourly Rate: $47.64 BB/Hour: 2.8

November 2004:
Hours Played: 60.5 Winnings ($1,847) Hourly Rate: ($30.53) BB/Hour: (3.1)

[AdamL]

Hey man. Just make sure you're playing right. This swing is good thing for you, it's part of any poker player's life. If you have the sense to keep reading and try to play your best even when you are losing, you are passing a gauntlet that will make you a much more experienced player.

That said, if you are regreting laying down A-5 to a cap your head isn't straight. You are getting introduced to a swing that will force you to either die or stop thinking about results so much. So what if the flop came AA5 -- how often will it do that?! Cmon, you know better.

[BusterFlush]

I was not regretting laying down A-5 to a capped bet but using that as an example of how the cards are hitting me.
Thank you for the encouragement.

[SirFWALGMan]

I am new to 5/10 and probably not the best Poker player here or anywhere.. but I have noticed that 5/10 is more swing prone than the lower levels at Party/Empire. I am not sure why. Possibly this is why smart people at 2+2 stay at 3/6?

I recently had a night like your where in the span of an hour I got all the premium cards and none of them held out. AA beat by 84o, you get the idea. It is very discouraging and hard to deal with, but unless you (and I) can get used to it, and ride the long-term upward swings then we do not belong at these tables.

[citizenkn]

Have no regrets about laying down the A-5. It was the right move, and you know it, regardless of how the flop came up.

You hit a bad streak in November, and probably increased it's effects by tilting towards playing too loose (like that original A-5 call). Stay tight, stay aggressive, and over your next several years of playing you will have a lot more months like October than you had in November. As always, patience is the key....

[House-Lion]

Welcome to the forums

Sorry to hear about your bad streak. The bad news is that it could go on even longer, like for several 1000s of hands.

I really sugest you should try playing online as well as live, starting with the $ 0.5/1 or $1/2 games to get a feel for online play, then move up in limit with confidence as your bank-roll grows.

Playing online has the advantage that its fairly easy to play two or even more tables at the same time and at any time convenient. Many pokersites (if not all) offer some nifty bonuses on regular basis when you deposit and reload your account.

Playing online is quick, most hands last just a minute or so, and playing more tables allow you to quicker get past the short term swings.