Cold decks

[Cactus Jack]

Finished 5 out of the money. Went in with TT vs AJ and the A hit.

final stats--Total played 20 hands out of 205

6 out of 160 times not in the blinds.

You just can't play without cards, but I survived 1145 players without having any cards all night.

That's poker.

CJ

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How's this? I'm three hours into the 25K on PS. I've played 5 out of 142 hands out of the blinds. 18 out of 184 total. I've been all in three times, once with 44 and a straight fell around me, K7 and hit a 7 for a single pair, and Q4, and the Q on the flop held up. That's it.

Talk about a cold deck. It's ridiculous. I had QQ once, and it folded and I got the blinds. It's very hard to play when the card bus doesn't ever stop.

CJ--his bus pass has expired

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If you've been playing so few hands, then you should have a very tight image. Have you tried stealing blinds more in the middle levels, raising (almost) any time it's folded around to you in late position regardless of your cards?

I have yet to figure out a way to win a tournament without getting any cards. While you don't have a chance to make mistakes, what can you do without chips? Nothing.

I find during cold stretches like, watching a movie kinda helps. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Then again, it makes it tough to study opponents when you do that.

[Cactus Jack]

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If you've been playing so few hands, then you should have a very tight image. Have you tried stealing blinds more in the middle levels, raising (almost) any time it's folded around to you in late position regardless of your cards?

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No, I didn't. But, I did buy HOH2, yesterday, so this situation will NEVER happen again. I will either go down in flames, or never allow myself to get in this position again. There must have been several times when my M was in the Red Zone and I could have been first in with all my chips. I had the image, but didn't take advantage. <smacking forehead on desk>

I get it, now.

CJ

In online cash games I don't worry as much. If the table is pretty much come and go I just don't pay much attention after awhile and only play top tier hands. If it seems rather stable I'll perk up and play, and usually given my tight passive nature to that point I can steal some pots with nothing. Tourney games I go through the same thing a lot as well, just be patient and pay attention to the action around you so you're ready when your time does come. In the PS SNG's I play many times I'm mid or short stacked as we wind down to the bubble b/c I haven't had much in cards. Inevitably though that one hand does come, and its a matter of maximizing it. Once I do its a matter of going into end game play, picking up some blinds etc...
Just remember each hand is its own event, no such thing as a "cold deck" that's just an excuse your mind makes up.

Of course, the deck has no memory, but that doesn't change the fact that it can be paralyzing not to see anything better than A2 in EP for most of a tournament.

With that being said, there has to be an optimal, but elusive, strategy to surviving these situations. I'm also eager to hear more about this because I'm going through a really cold two weeks.

[Cactus Jack]

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Just remember each hand is its own event, no such thing as a "cold deck" that's just an excuse your mind makes up.

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Yeah? 6 hands out of 160 that were playable? Trust me, if there was something between 7&159 that were worth playing, they would have been played. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

If you've never experienced a ice-cold run of cards, there are few things more frustrating. When you see a K first card and you know what's coming--a 3--it's funny and sick. When you fold hand after hand after hand, only playing the BB because it's checked around to you, trust me, friend, whether or not the cards have any memory is irrelevant.

You can pretty much trust that during the course of an SNG you're going to get a few hands, then a lot of bad hands, and if you are patient, you'll see a few more hands in awhile. When you go three hours without seeing this ebb and flow, you know what a cold deck is.

Nobody ever talks about it, like if you talk about it you'll get hit with it? It's as much a part of the game as anything else.

CJ