Coping with Losing... - Page 2

pokerstudAA · #11 10-05-2004, 11:07 PM

Bad beats happen. Big swings happen. Learn to deal with them. Smoke a J or something. I have not been playing poker very long either and there is so many different aspects to the game. For example....

I had to leave to computer about 30 minutes ago after getting losing a major hand. I nearly pitched the computer out the window. Tilt is bad, best to be avoided, especially if you are multi-tabling.

My best advice is learn the odds and math involved. If you are consistently getting your change in with the best odds you are playing good poker. Use PT to see if there are ways you can extract additional bets from your opponents when you have the better hand.

Other good advice:
Read hands here....
Responds to hands with your ideas (whatever they may be)....and
Post hands for criticism.

Party Poker 1/2 Hold'em (10 handed)

Preflop: Hero is MP3 with A[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], A[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img].
UTG folds, UTG+1 calls, UTG+2 calls, MP1 folds, MP2 folds, Hero raises, CO folds, Button calls, SB folds, BB folds, UTG+1 calls, UTG+2 calls.

Flop: (9.50 SB) 7[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], 2[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], 8[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] (4 players)
UTG+1 checks, UTG+2 bets, Hero raises, Button folds, UTG+1 3-bets, UTG+2 calls, Hero caps, UTG+1 calls, UTG+2 calls.

I figured that at this point I was up against a set but capped it anyways. Is this a mistake? I figured that with two additional callers it was worth it. After all I might get checked to on the turn. If someone bets out they definately have a set. I guess there is a st and fl draw here also. It helped that I had the A of spades just incase another spade came I would have outs.

Turn: (10.75 BB) A[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] (3 players)
UTG+1 bets, UTG+2 calls, Hero raises, UTG+1 3-bets, UTG+2 calls, Hero caps, UTG+1 calls, UTG+2 calls.

Bingo! Top set. The nuts. I have no idea what the other players had but I put the initial better on a set of 7's. Perhaps the other two are still drawing?

River: (22.75 BB) 2[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] (3 players)
UTG+1 bets, UTG+2 folds, Hero raises, UTG+1 3-bets, Hero caps, UTG+1 calls.

Final Pot: 30.75 BB

The better flipped over 22 after spiking the 2 on the river. Top boat = no goot. I go crying off into bad beat land. I am not sure that there is anyway I do not cap the river. Perhaps I should have eased of the gas and not capped on the flop. Anyways, bad beat happen and these make for big swings in your BR. Honestly, I was coping with losing myself when I came across your post and I had to get this hand off my chest. Soooo I buried it deep within your post so no one would sent the bad beat police after my arrs.

Reef · #12 10-05-2004, 11:19 PM

another problem of yours is WHERE you play. Paradise is one of the toughest sites around. Besides playing at a lower limit than you're used to on your return (for a short time so that you can rebuild your confidence by posting a short session win there), you should check out partypoker.

dimitrix · #13 10-05-2004, 11:46 PM

I just dont find paradise that hard... I feel like i can beat these players in 1/2. I just finished reading Small Stakes Hold'em. It was one of the books recommended on the sites. And i found it to be helpful...but when the cards are not falling... Im losing twice as much. It teaches getting the most bets out of your winning hands, but when i keep losing to 2nd pair on the river, or str8s on the river, im losing twice as much. These losses are really hard to recover from.
I have played on party poker but i wanted to keep my full bankroll on one site.

mosquito · #14 10-06-2004, 12:12 AM

Have you answered your own question?

Losing to higher straights, flushes, and being
outkicked is usually a sign of poor play, if it
happens consistently.

Good players lose by being outdrawn in general,
not by playing weaker cards.

Do you want to cope with losing?

dimitrix · #15 10-06-2004, 12:20 AM

NO...I want to win...and minimize the losses when i lose. I play great starting hands. Im not worried about pre-flop. Im very tight pre-flop and i take position and raises into consideration. The hands im losing, they are lost on the river. Am i supposed to check and call becuase someone might hit a 6 on the river to make his str8.? Do i check and call with top pair and kicker cause 2 spades are on the flop and someone is on a flush draw. I play these hands very agressive when i think i have the best hand. They just arent holding up for me. Im def. losing on the river. But at that point its only one more bet to see the winner. And the pot is right so i call even though i think i got outdrawn.

mosquito · #16 10-06-2004, 12:25 AM

If you are playing correctly, the long
run will see you through.

Be patient, it could take awhile.

Suggest Gambling Theory & Other Topics
by Malmuth.

TwoShedsJackson · #17 10-06-2004, 07:22 AM

[ QUOTE ]
NO...I want to win...and minimize the losses when i lose. I play great starting hands. Im not worried about pre-flop. Im very tight pre-flop and i take position and raises into consideration. The hands im losing, they are lost on the river. Am i supposed to check and call becuase someone might hit a 6 on the river to make his str8.? Do i check and call with top pair and kicker cause 2 spades are on the flop and someone is on a flush draw. I play these hands very agressive when i think i have the best hand. They just arent holding up for me. Im def. losing on the river. But at that point its only one more bet to see the winner. And the pot is right so i call even though i think i got outdrawn.

[/ QUOTE ]

Fear of being rivered can be quite crippling to your play, you must not play timidly in the fear that you will always be rivered - when you were on your winning streak the same players were calling incorrectly to the same longshot draws and not making them, hence you won.

However, as Al Schoonmaker points out, the human brain is excellent at remembering exceptions to what we expected to happen i.e you can recall every bad beat that's happened to you on your bad run, but you can scarcely remember the dozens of hands you won where your opponent failed to suck out.

Another way of coping might be to remember whenever you suck out on someone and realise it can work in your favour too [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

RydenStoompala · #18 10-06-2004, 07:29 AM

[ QUOTE ]
I started playin poker about 5 months ago

[/ QUOTE ]

There's the rub, Stanley (sorry...quote from a commercial). In my best New York accent, "Fergetaboutit." You haven't been through enough to know what it feels like to "hit the wall." My first FEW times through it, I thought I had somehow suffered brain damage in my sleep. I could not believe that playing poker could be a one-way ticket to endless beatings. It isn't. The swings will happen. The advice you're getting here is all good. I like the suggestion that you take a little time off without thinking about the game (other than some fond memories, of course). Keep grinding, keep improving, keep reading, keep posting and when the streak runs in the other direction, "Fergetaboutit."

ACW · #19 10-06-2004, 08:02 AM

1) Ensure you have plenty of bankroll cover for the limits you play.

2) Keep it in perspective. My last 4 nights results :
+$50; +$90; +$90; +$90; -$180.
Last night truly sucked, but my lifetime winnings are still higher than they had ever been four days ago - it's just set me back a couple of days.

3) Make sure your play hasn't got worse. Most of the play the last few nights has been at 6 max limit 1/2 tables, often with 3-5 players. In these tables aggressively play is the key to success. Open raising with A8 UTG, KT in cut-off, even Q8 UTG when 4 handed can be great tactics depending on how the other players respond. Having even one rock at the table makes life even easier. When I look back though I find I was applying the same tactics to tables which started short-handed but became 7 or 8 player, relaxing my limping requirements too much, and getting reraised by players who'd caught on to my hand types. When any of those three things happen, it's time for a break. When all three happen, you lose in a big tilty haze!
Tonight hopefully I've learnt an important lesson.

Blarg · #20 10-06-2004, 02:22 PM

Another really bad thing about getting rivered a lot is it can make you gunshy to bet or call.

Once the pot is big, folding is something you need a really excellent reason for, so you have to be careful you're not doing it just because you're intimidated, or even because you expect the probabilities are good that you are going to lose. If you are right only a small proportion of the time when calling the river when the pot is big, you make up for many mistakes. You have to call the river more than you probably want to.

And you have to bet it more than you probably want to, also. Losing a big bet is a serious impact on your hour rate. If you get gunshy and start playing safe, never betting the river unless you've got the nuts, it becomes hard to win at a significant rate. One BB is all you expect to win per hour, so losing even one is a big deal. Get in the habit of just checking on the river when you're ahead and you will have no cushion to ride on when you get your losing hands. You need that cushion. And you'll have no profit when the night is done.