Bad Runs

[bernie]

how often do you play?

some say theyve been losing for 2 months but in that 2 months, have only played maybe 20-40 hours. which really isnt much....

just curious as i see many overstating their streak, when in fact it's hardly a streak at all...

i play 20-30 hours a week...and my worst run was 7 weeks. it started online and went into the cardroom. cardroom was the last 6 weeks... that was quite a hit. so figure...oh, say...150+ hours in the cardroom + online play....

i learned alot in that streak. and the fact that it didnt kill me...well, i can say it made me stronger...haha

see ya

b

[Cory Carroll]

I play 10-12 hours a day 7 days a week, and have had one winning session since October 12th. even if I had been playing every hand and not reading hands i.e aweful play, you would think I would get lucky and win once in a while, and don't take me for a whiner becuase I am sure everyone will go through this at some point, I was just curious to hear about others bad streaks

[bernie]

i asked for the clarification to take you off the whiner list. i never called you one....it was an honest assessment question...

now if youre response was different than what you did, my answer would be different...

not sure how long youve been on here, but if youre relativley new, you'll see posts from guys thinking that because theyre way up in 50 hours of play that they think they have it all figured out, and that were all idiots because they have the secret that no one has found about the game. along with the aforementioned guys who think a bad streak is playing 4 hours a week for 4 weeks and calling it a month. playing this much, a streak could last about a year.

but it sounds like youre on a bad streak. and they suck. and youre right...everyone will have em if they havent already. it's not how you make it through the winning sessions but the losing sessions/streaks that tell what type of player you are.

some ideas...

if youre playing that much, is there a time where you always seem to be ahead a little during your 10-12 hours? you may be doing well until fatigue sets in then losing it back later in the session. might be worth exploring...(meaning youre playing past when your optimal level starts to fade)

lastly...

10-12 hours 7 days a week is a little excessive isnt it? im hoping your exaggerating to make a point. thats about 80hours a week. not much time for any other life huh? i dont think even the greatest winning players play that much. your game may be being affected by burnout. you may be overdue for a break. a day off may seem like a week to you.

hang in there

b

[Cory Carroll]

I do play approx 80 hours a week, I am either playing poker or with my girlfriend...once I get addicted to something there is no stopping me. Lately there have been very few points where I have been up in any sessions, I can't even seem to get my sets to hold up. I know you weren't calling me a whiner, I just wanted to make it clear I wasn't on here bitchin and complaining. I am just gonna relax at home for a few days and see how this goes, it is still early 8-)

[Trefo]

80 hrs a week is a lot maybe you should cut it down to like 40-50 to truly optimize your game and stay focused....Usually when you run into a bad streak there's something in your play or your emotions are getting the best of you and your on tilt even though you don't think so. Even so, when your in a cold streak tighten your game up even more.
When i ran into a bad streak i took a month off and analyzed my play. When i came back i really made sure i had good starting hands and that my flops meshed with my cards. Anytime they didn't and i folded and minimized my loss. The key is when your running cold keep the losses to a minimum.......everyone will go through a streak like yours, it's just some players will be able to keep their losses to like 200 while others will be down 1000 (just an example). Tighten up!

[Fitz]

We've all had downswings; I recently had a 250 bb loss over about 120 hours online. When I began to analyze my play, I found some mistakes; I'm certain, if the losing streak is really of the length described, there is more statistical deviation taking place.

I certainly think the poster needs to examine his playing habits. 12 hours a day 7 days a week; there is no way anyone could do that and be playing his best all the time. One of the changes I have made in my game over the last several months has been to emliminate these marathon sessions. I'll play 3 or 4 hours, and take a break; the game will be there later when you've had some rest, a bite to eat or some quality time with your girlfriend. Think about it this way, casinos give dealers breaks every hour because they are constantly doing calculations in their heads, and this leads to fatigue; after about an hour, their accuracy and effectiveness drops considerably. When we are playing 150 hands of poker an hour, we are making many many calcuations and decisions that are bound to wear on us at some point.

hang in there, try to examine your game as objectively as you can, and get away from the computer for a while and recharge your batteries.

Good luck,