I am losing my mind

[Frog321]

Thanks to all for the advice. I think I am going to take a break. I am stubborn and want to "get back on the horse" so to speak, but I had another miserable session today and I think I have definitely started serious tilting. I may have had a few very short mini-tilts (maybe a few silly hands before back to normal) along the way, but I'm over the edge for sure now and I know I can't play well, so time to stop.

The plan is no poker for at least a week, then a little reading and studying, then some playing, but if it's not fun for whatever reason, stopping until it is. Or dropping way down in limits and just goofing off without trying to play well. Maybe when I stop for a while and then evaluate with fresh eyes, I'll decide I just suck at poker. Who knows? I can't even tell anymore what I'm doing. The haze of running so poorly has made everything I do feel wrong. Bad results might be poisoning my objectivity. For instance, today I lost a bunch with sets (including QQQ twice and AAA once) with rag boards when my opponent called raises with hands like 7 5 and hit wacky straights. Looking at how the hands played out, I know there was nothing I could have done differently, but I feel completely incompetent nonetheless. So definitely time for a break. [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

[face41]

hey;
Ive been thereb twice in my life.
the 1st time i took two weeks off after a 300bb downswing.
I came back refreshed and was back on winning 450 bb the next week.
The 2nd time was worse i kept getting all the money in as a favorit(i play NL) yet loosing. Anyway i was gonna take two weeks off again. but i felt i was playing to well. So i decided to tighten up very much wait for huge edges and pushem. Eventualy i started winning again in total i lost 750bb before i came around. Another thing ive found helps is booking wins even small ones. Get up 5-10bb and bounce youl start feeling good. Keep doing that and soon youl feel like the winner you realy are again.

good luck

[Al Schoonmaker]

Your post was NOT "stupid, useless venting."

Bt venting you hopefully got some relief. That relief may enable you to play better.

It is MUCH better to vent here than to let your emotions damage your play. I regard our forums as a place to provide a wide range of help to our "community." We provide advice on an extremely wide range of subjects, but we also provide a sympathetic "ear."

So relieve your tension here, and then go back to the game and kick some ass.

Regards,

Al

[CaptSensible]

I feel for ya. I had a two month losing run. I nearly lost my mind. Luckily I found the 2+2 forums and filled some pretty serious gaps in my game. That turned things around for me then I hit a bad run again for a week or so. Things have seemed to level out for me a little bit. That two month losing streak killed me though. I was at my wits end. It's a painful thing to go through. I hope things turn around for you as I'm sure they will.

[Prelude008]

Hey Froggie,

Just hang in there. I am often times in the same boat
online (top set makes top full house on river then loses to bottom set making quads)
live: raise with AA UTG, ep calls with J6os (don't ask), flops 3 sixes and fills up on the turn.

These hands suck. I often find that the put me on mild tilt where I "loosen up to play more like them" and this results in even more loses. I also tend to play some hands farther than I should "I know everybody can't have cards to beat me everytime" ...realizing that yes they can.

I would suggest taking a few days off. In that time, you might consider reading a book (yes poker, i.e. SSH which may help you find some leaks in your game) or give identify some better strategies/ways to play hands.

I play both live and online. I can especially relate to live play since sooooooooooo many people will play any two cards and never think about folding them. Yes a 93os will call you, stay with a 3 to the river to trip up and beat your overpair. I was told in a post that I made that "you want these people playing with you. It's a long run game, just stick to your game and the chips will eventually come." I know it's hard to believe in the midst of losing. Just keep your head up.

[Frog321]

Well, since my last post I have not been playing at all and so far this frog has not croaked. I'm not starting back until at least this weekend. I am already regaining my sense of humor about my poker woes. I have read SSH and all the usual recommended books, and do go back to them to study. I have a fair idea where I could work on plugging leaks and that is what I will concentrate on while playing. Still I think my problem has been 90% variance and maybe 10% tilt/bad play. Maybe you could convince me 20%. That still leaves a whole lot of variance. I feel bad for the guys in some of the other threads who have been driven to quit. I am not so ready to label them bad players. Decent players can get crushed. If all it took to drop hundreds of BB was a leak or two, almost all of us would be in the soup.

I am going to play live some too. Haven't really tried it but I think it will help me enjoy poker more. Too much online poker with all the stats and rates and angry yelping in the chat window (not by me!) is a little one dimensional. I think I need actual cards and a few beers more often.

[TimWillTell]

Losing ur mind, every pro gets his share of bad-runs.
The first time it hit me, I was on a pokertrip to Vegas for three months. I couldn't believe what was hapening, I just kept on losing and I really lost it, I mean I was cursing and swearing publicly and would have been arrested for sure if I wouldn't have used my native language. I was banned from a table in the Horseshoe! Two months in a row i lost and my roll started to look thin. The horror!
The psycological impact of this bad-run was really devestating. I walked on the strip cursing and swearing, people looking at me, I had become a loonatic! I saw a sight of me, I never knew I had it in me, not a pretty sight. I even doubted my sanity!
Now, ten years after, I see my loonatic beheavior as something completely natural, and normal. It's just wat a bad-run does to u, especially when ur roll is drying up.
So what to do?
The answer is simple: talk about it with pokerpro buddy's and always analyse ur play.(make sure that u play winning poker, thight, agressive and forget those nice sooted connecters for a while, they bring huge variance.)
And last but not least, as many mentioned: take a break, many times a break really preformes miracles.

[Vancity82]

I know the feeling, I was playing 2/4 limit when my kings got crushed for the third time in a little over an hour. Too many losing sessions in a row. Good cards but too many suck outs, I picked up my chips went to the no limit table and haven't looked back. I mostly play online now and 4 table. The variance is lower, and there is nothing from stopping you from protecting your hands. Maybe try that, play like a rock till you get the hang of it and things might start to look up. Limit is just such a card catching contest. Just my 2 cents

[Tuben]

I cant do that [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[ihardlyknowher]

[ QUOTE ]
Now I know I am far from a great poker player.

[/ QUOTE ]

IMO this is the first step towards becoming a great player. Keep at it, continue to read and reread the books, and stick within your bankroll. It shall pass. Good luck.