How can you guys handle it?

[Cerril]

Pick up a book on low limit hold 'em (or any book on limit hold 'em!). Once you get enough discipline to play a couple thousand hands correctly the losses will start to slide off in the face of massive wins.

Just remember that if you can't beat these games you won't do better at the upper limits - you'd have some major leaks.

[detruncate]

First thing you need to do is chill out a little. Getting run over sucks, and every person here has gotten their ass kicked over what seems like an unreasonable amount of time. That's what bankrolls are for. Post some of the hands you got chased down on. Maybe there's something you could have done to improve your chances of winning. If not, not.

I understand the need to vent, but you really shouldn't expect much sympathy. What you can expect is some concrete help with specific problems when you've calmed down enough to ask.

[Sidekick]

As long as you have a bankroll of 300 times the max bet for the limit you are playing you can weather most of these little bad runs (assuming you are a winning player).

Losing streaks aren't fun and if you are going to play poker you are going to have them. I endured a nearly 9k hand bad run a couple of weeks ago... the bad runs pass.

There are basically two options:
1) Suck it up and keep playing. Post some hands for review by the other posters here. That is always helpful to get you to see weaknesses in your own game.
2) Quit.

There is an element of chance in poker. If you are a good solid player, you are going to get sucked out on a great deal more than you suck out on others. Why? Because you are playing quality hands in which you have an advantage, while you opponents are playing crap like 52 offsuit. You can't look at your day to day results, you have to look at where you are at the end of the month or the end of the year.

Variance happens in poker. You just have to get used to it.

If you haven't read any poker books, then check out the books forum and see what books are recommended there for whatever level that you would place yourself.

Most every poster here knows what bad days/weeks are like. Posting to vent is ok, but don't expect sympathy from most of the posters. They have all been through it too many times themselves and heard too many bad beat stories to offer much in the way of condolences (I'm just not that jaded yet [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] ).

I hope this helps some. Good luck!