How long have you ran bad? Around 15,000 hands and counting for me.

krazyace5 · #1 06-06-2005, 02:50 PM

I am on a 15,000 hand downswing/breakeven run. I play $50 6 max, this started when I lost 5-6 buy ins taking a shot at a maniac at the $100- 6 max. maniac kept beating me even when I had AA to their 10 4 os for example.

Baack to $50 NL 6 max. Anyway ever since then I have been playing breakeven slightly negative poker.

My big pocket pairs are not winning, my big hands are not holding up and when they do they are not getting paid off.

So whats the longest bad run in terms of hands played you have had, anything I should look for in my playing?

amoeba · #2 06-06-2005, 02:52 PM

I think a lot of my bad swings have been from going against maniacs.

I've lost about 6 buyins to maniacs and just misplaying with too much aggression with missed AK against maniacs.

Suntzu00000 · #3 06-06-2005, 05:11 PM

This is not meant to be an inditement of your poker skills or talent, but at 15000 hands the problem is much more likely to be you than the cards. I have been in the same boat. If you dont have it already buy poker tracker. It will let you review all the hands you lost money on. I was surprised at how many hands I tried to bluff or draw without odds when I checked it for myself. I found that sessions where I thought my cards were awful were almost always filled with just as much bad play as bad luck. Also, there are a couple of books that will have you crushing $50 NL in about 5 minutes.

Pot Limit & NL Holdem by Stewart Reuben and Bob Ciaffone

Harrington on Holdem (2+2 Publishing) you can buy it at this site.

These books along with supersystem are the bibles of NL.

poboy · #4 06-06-2005, 05:42 PM

That is a very long downswing, my longest has lasted around 2-3k hands. When I went back and took a good look at what was happening, I found it had very little to do with my cards. What I found was that it started with a string of bad beats, but than I followed it up with a period of weak-tight-passive play. I think it is natural for someone to go into a defensive shell after a bad run, but this obviously doesn't make for good poker. I'm not saying that this is neccesarily what is happening with you but take a look and I bet you will find you are doing something differently. JMO

kongo_totte · #5 06-06-2005, 05:54 PM

I'm right now on the worse bad run for me so far. For the last 45,000 hands I have been up 10 PTBB/100. For the last 2,500 hands I'm -5PTBB/100.

Can this just be due to bad luck? I hate it. I get so insecure of my play. Still, I'm not sure if I'm playing badly or if it's the cards. I mean, alot of it are bad beats, but alot of the time, the money goes in when I'm a dog, but it seems to be alot of set over sets, PFR hitting his set of ducks on a 8 4 2 board etc.

Just needed to vent. Thanks

amoeba · #6 06-06-2005, 05:55 PM

yes I've been seeing this too. its not badbeats but more running in to big monsters and at the same time not getting your monsters paid off.

Mercman572 · #7 06-06-2005, 06:08 PM

[ QUOTE ]
yes I've been seeing this too. its not badbeats but more running in to big monsters and at the same time not getting your monsters paid off.

[/ QUOTE ]

This happens to me sometimes too. I like the deep stack post on reducing others implied odds that was on the front page a few days ago. When people lable us as TAGs their implied odds go way up. So they call raises with their low PP and fold a missed flop: giving us small wins and big losses with big hands. This might not be the case for you guys but I know it was for me.
Sorry to the poster, I don't remember his name, but maybe give this a try:
" The solution lies in two parts:

1. just play good.
2. cut down their odds and improve shania by adding hands to your raising repertoire.
well, you raise the AQ etc. but you also raise the 67s with position once in a while. check this out: if they can only count on winning that big pot 1/4 of the time (say you have a non-big hand 1/4 of the time and the other 2/4 you're able to get away) then their implied odds are cut way, way down. "

I know alot of people don't even bother with table image at low levels, but I believe it is necessary to some extent. When people are seeing you follow most of your raises and show them down they might try to draw out on you. But if they are seeing you fold or check/fold a decent amount in a short time when your raises are called they may label you as Helmuth's "jackal." This may, tho unlikely, discourage people on trying to draw out on you, but it will probably (in my experice over the last 1500 hands even at the 25NL) lead to your big hands being paid off more.

amoeba · #8 06-06-2005, 06:13 PM

This is good advice, however I think some of my problem also lies in me playing my small hands like big hands as the majority of the time you miss the flop with 67s and have to extricate yourself by bluffing.

PokerFink · #9 06-06-2005, 06:14 PM

To put it bluntly: you are not playing well.

A winning NL player will not have a 15,000 hand downswing at NL50 if they are playing their A game (or even their B game). Period.

PokerFink · #10 06-06-2005, 06:15 PM

[ QUOTE ]
This is good advice, however I think some of my problem also lies in me playing my small hands like big hands as the majority of the time you miss the flop with 67s and have to extricate yourself by bluffing.

[/ QUOTE ]

Check, fold. Problem solved.