Short question regarding downswings... (lc)

Ojo_Rojo · #1 10-26-2005, 07:38 AM

.. and so it continues.

I started today on a bad note when I was wrongly accused by players at a table of abusing the disconnect-protect on Party. I should have taken that as an omen and quit for the day.

Anyhow, is being -3.5 PTBB/100 over the last 13k hands possible for a good 200NL player? Or do I suck?

thanks,
Ojo_Rojo

Ojo_Rojo · #2 10-26-2005, 07:52 AM

bump

Macquarie · #3 10-26-2005, 07:57 AM

Hey,
I certainly beleive it is possible to be a winning player and yet be down that amount over that many hands.

Still, as everyone will tell you, it's probably partly bad luck, and partly things under your control. Do you play differently when you feel you are running bad? Get weak/tighter, or looser to try to make something happen? Do you tilt for a while after a suckout?

Skuzzy · #4 10-26-2005, 08:04 AM

what's your pre-downswing winrate like? It was up once wasn't it?

I suggest you should switch down to the 100's for a week. Play some PLO and or limit 7 stud. Do something other than play poker for a day or two.

Today I lost my stack when my reraise with KK was smooth called behind by AA preflop twice. I lost again with KK calling a reraise from QQ that hit a set on the river. My KK found an Ace on the flop twice more and I folded to pressure, probably correctly. Then a maniac pushes all in with me yet to act, I called and was outdrawn by 72o (obviously he typed 'pwned' and 'HAHAHAHAHA') I was ready to steam. Then later I get KK again this time UTG, 4 callers then the button reraises to 25BB. My heart sinks, my nuts shrivel and I take the full time with my mouse hovering over the fold button cursing my luck. Then I get my head straight just in time to figure I'm ahead of a lot of his range here and call it. The board comes 8 high rags, Button bets 2/3 pot, I push, he calls and my hand is good. nailing his lousy TT for a 200BB stack.

I was down on KK for the day but not by too much and I had too fight my own sense that 'this was all a bad dream', and the feeling 'I couldn't win', just to play that last hand. Downswings have a huge effect on how we play even the short term ones.

Hell go play the 50's and kill it for a day. Winning is a state of mind [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Ojo_Rojo · #5 10-26-2005, 08:15 AM

Wow, your KKs really took a pounding... you did well to keep a clear head after losing to that maniac with 72o.

I like the idea of playing some low limit PLO or stud for a while, as I think my mind is frazzled. I'll give it a go.

thanks,
Ojo_Rojo

Ojo_Rojo · #6 10-26-2005, 08:23 AM

[ QUOTE ]
It's probably partly bad luck, and partly things under your control

[/ QUOTE ]

I think youre right. Due to the downswing, I'm probably looser at the moment, and I'm weak-tight post flop. I'm so sore from being outdrawn that I feel that I'm behind every time flush/straight draw completes, and so I end up making mistakes on later streets.

I'm gonna take a days break and go for a swim.. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

thanks!
Ojo_Rojo

Ghazban · #7 10-26-2005, 08:49 AM

If you're playing on the skins, the games have changed a bit since before the Party split. There are fewer totally clueless idiots and fewer maniacs. There are several fairly straightforward players who were probably small winners pre-split despite having holes in their game (inability to fold any two pair is one I see a lot). With the smaller player pool, its easier to pay attention to specific players and identify what they're doing wrong and exploit it. I don't know your game but you might be one of those players yourself (and are getting your own small leaks exploited moreso than in the fish-filled pre-split days)-- if so, figure out what you need to change in your game to adjust to the current dynamic; its definitely different than it was pre-split.

#8 10-26-2005, 09:02 AM

do you find party is still about the same as it was pre-split?

Ojo_Rojo · #9 10-26-2005, 09:10 AM

Thanks Ghazban.. its possible that this contributes to the problem.

I soon realise when I've made a mistake, and lately I've been paying for my mistakes nearly every time, due to bad variance and better opponents. I guess its a combination of all things. I think I really need to concentrate on my lines, making the standard play automatic and tilt-proof. This should be reasonably easy to fix with some PokerTracker postmortem.

Deviating from this "line" when necessary is one of my strengths, and my metagame is something I'm always working on.

Would be interesting to be able to play against oneself though, wouldnt it? [img]/images/graemlins/shocked.gif[/img]

Ojo_Rojo

Escotme · #10 10-26-2005, 09:19 AM

[ QUOTE ]
Would be interesting to be able to play against oneself though, wouldnt it? [img]/images/graemlins/shocked.gif[/img]

Ojo_Rojo

[/ QUOTE ]

Playing against yourself could be difficult, but remember that playing with yourself is always an option - especially during the downschwiiiings.