Bad player or cold cards

77rules · #1 06-14-2005, 09:24 AM

I'm trying to find out if I'm experiencing a _really_ hard down swing, or if I just lost my game somewhere. Since the middle of May, I can't seem to win a session. The _feeling_ I have is that I more often then not go into the hand as a favorite, but that I get outdrawn one hell of a lot.

I have Poker Tracker, but we're talking thousands of hands here and I would really like to avoid having to go through them manually.

TIA

karitek · #2 06-14-2005, 09:33 AM

i just went through a similar run - having a 3 week or so downswing. it sucks. it's probably a combination of bad plays and bad cards. (psychologically extreme long runs of bad cards lead to bad plays).

why don't you post some hands? it's hard for anyone to say if you are playing well or badly without any examples.

steelcmg · #3 06-14-2005, 09:39 AM

One thing i started doing is when i seem to get on a bad run i try and tighten up alot. Or u may start getting envolved in a bunch of pots that u really shouldnt be in.

Quercus · #4 06-14-2005, 09:49 AM

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One thing i started doing is when i seem to get on a bad run i try and tighten up alot.

[/ QUOTE ]

Unless you play too loose to begin with, this is a mistake.

Fantam · #5 06-14-2005, 09:55 AM

Why dont you post a few of the more recent hands that you have played and had some difficulty with, so that other players can consider and comment on aspects of your play.

Perhaps some of the times when you have been outdrawn, may have been avoided if you had bet/raised in certain places to protect your hand.

Also try commenting yourself on hands which other players post. Then you can compare your approach to playing a hand to other posters. And if the better players disagree with your suggestions, they will soon let you know!

zuluking · #6 06-14-2005, 10:24 AM

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Why dont you post a few of the more recent hands that you have played and had some difficulty with, so that other players can consider and comment on aspects of your play.

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jay1313 · #7 06-14-2005, 10:36 AM

When I am having a bad run two things help me. 1) I look at pivotal hands during a session and replay them in poker tracker to see if I played it wrong or tilted or if it was just the breaks. I am not talking about hands where your set of K's gets busted by the rivered straight for a bad beat, those are going to happen. Look at some of your recent one pair and two pair hands from poker tracker and see if you missed something obvious. Often when you are in a bad run, you will 'weak/tighten' up. Because of the beats you call instead of raise or call down when everything says you are beat. If you can look at those hands objectively and say you played most of them correctly you are on a bad run and keep plugging away it will turn for you otherwise make the necessary corrections in your game.

2) Just spend some time watching play at different tables, this is great practice for me in card reading and player recognition. You can datamine and use GameTime+ to practice these skills. This is pretty hard because if you have the time to watch, you want to play, but I have found it extremely valuable.

77rules · #8 06-16-2005, 04:22 PM

Thanks for the advice everybody.

No, I don't think I'm involved in too many hands - I play a loose style, but I've always hovered between 19 to 23 percent. I find that I make up for the extra hands with more action. Often if I tighten up, when I do get involved, I tend to win without showdown. Also, I have sort of a temper - if I wait for the big pairs, I tend to hold on to them if I'm playing tightly.

OK, I'll go down in limits, see if I can weather this thing.

Sasnak · #9 06-16-2005, 04:34 PM

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

One thing i started doing is when i seem to get on a bad run i try and tighten up alot.

[/ QUOTE ]

Unless you play too loose to begin with, this is a mistake.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't think it's all that bad if you're tightening up in EP only.

Jakesta · #10 06-16-2005, 06:08 PM

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

One thing i started doing is when i seem to get on a bad run i try and tighten up alot.

[/ QUOTE ]

Unless you play too loose to begin with, this is a mistake.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't think it's all that bad if you're tightening up in EP only.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't think it's that bad to tighten up overall when you are running bad. Sacrificing a tiny bit of +EV on some marginal hands in order to control tilt is just fine.