i think bad flops are the most painful

i was thinking that i don't mind getting cold cards pre-flop and i don't really mind bad beats or getting rivered (runner/runner is pretty painful though).

but playing either tight limit or most no-limit, i just go crazy when i get 6-7 bad flops in a row (i know statistically that it should be pretty common).

i'm defining bad flop as your AK or AQ didn't pair (65% chance) or your pocket JJ-AA getting killed on the flop (10%-50% chance depending on your actual pocket pair - and i don't consider one over card to JJ as getting killed)

does anyone else have this frustration? in no-limit this can eat a ton of chips and worse put you on a mini-tilt which can just devour your chips.

anyone else feel the same way. that unfavorable flops time after time after time is the biggest frustration???? as i said, for some reason getting rivered doesn't frustrate me that much.

[AKQJ10]

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anyone else feel the same way. that unfavorable flops time after time after time is the biggest frustration???? as i said, for some reason getting rivered doesn't frustrate me that much.

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I recall one brutal -40 BB session of $4/8 where it seemed like every time I picked up AK or AQ and raised with it, it missed the flop.

As you said, this is just statistical "noise" much like flipping a coin tails 10 times in a row when you bet on heads or something. Just keep in mind the stats that you gave, that two unpaired cards only pair the flop about 1/3 of the time. With AK, if you have 1/3 pot equity* with six or seven in a raised pot, you've got a bonanza! Your hand has almost twice its fair share of equity in the pot, so you should definitely be raising to get here as much as possible.

In a tighter game with only 3 seeing the flop, your AK unimproved will often be best, and you can often win by betting the flop against a better hand like bottom pair or a low pocket pair.
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*Not exactly the same as pairing, but if you pair you have TPTK and a 3-out draw on the turn and probably 6 outs on the river against flopped two pair. OTOH sometimes AK can win without pairing, by making Broadway or a one-card flush. So I figure 1/3 isn't too far off.

AKQ...

thanks for the response! that was a good response in the "short stack strategy" thread too.

maybe i'll spend more time in this forum. the people seem nicer and you seem to get better advice in the beginner's forum than alot of the expert forums.

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AKQ...

thanks for the response! that was a good response in the "short stack strategy" thread too.

maybe i'll spend more time in this forum. the people seem nicer and you seem to get better advice in the beginner's forum than alot of the expert forums.

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true. i hate getting killed on the flop too, i regularly have the streaks such as thrusday night; in 1.5 hours my JJ ran into QQ with a JQx flop. then i left the table to avoid tilt, first hand i flop the nut straight only to get beat by a runner runner 9 high straight lol. but you have to think that its all evened out in the long run; sometimes you will hit the flop 90% of the time in a given amount of hands played. sometimes the other players are giving their money away to you, and sometimes its like you cant play anything right and always get the cooler. thats poker.

[BillsChips]

I've been playing live for 2 years and just started playing online a few weeks ago. I just finished a second straight brutal day. I've playing 1/2 Limit on Absolute, where the tables seem to be extremely tight. Probably average fewer than 3 seeing the flop.

Anyway, I play a very tight, aggressive style and follow the starting hands for tight games as illustrated in SSHE. I'm getting killed. Example - AA in middle position. I raise, and get reraised, by button and Big Blind. Flop comes KQ rag. I have third best had out of 3, losing to KK and QQ. I know that Aces don't win all the time, but I can't win with anything. When I flop a draw to the nut flush, I hit one out of 100.

How do you deal with this? In a 5 hour period, I was getting great cards regularly - AA, KK, QQ, AK, and didn't win a single hand. Most people here don't believe in luck, but this kind of bad luck can kill you.

I did make one horrible play that cost me a $120 pot at 3/6. I had AKs, 2 overs and an inside straight draw. The board had 4 hearts and I folded to a river raise, not having a heart in my hand. Everyone folds to the button, who shows King Deuce of clubs. At that point I was so tilted by the previous hands that I didn't stop to check out the pot size, which was giving me like 20-1.

I'll be getting PokerTracker as part of a signup bonus and plan to evaluate my play so far. Sorry for the rant, just needed to vent.

Also, for some reason, I do much better in short-handed or heads-up than I do with full rings. I play more hands, more aggressively, and my good hands hold up. I just see way too many suckouts in 6 or 9 handed tables.

By the way, I haven't lost any of my initial desposit, but have lost all of the bonus money.

yeah [censored] streaks like that almost killed my bankroll once, but i managed to pull through. in a two day period i lost all in preflop with bullets 5 times in a row, i counted up all my lost money and it was almost $250. the total pots were over $500 for those 5 hands. i mean it was so bad that i almost considered folding the next time i had AA with somebody going all in in front of me [img]/images/graemlins/mad.gif[/img] i often have bad days where i cant win a hand, and it gets especially bad when you get coolered in big pots. but you have to move on, the bs badluck isnt permanent and before you know it youre back in it. i think my best skill in poker is when this happens, instead of tilting away alot of chips/money, i play even better when the evil variance leaves me alone haha.

It will certainly turn around for you. Try some different sites and bonuses.

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It will certainly turn around for you. Try some different sites and bonuses.

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it wasn't specific to me, although i've felt it lots of times before.

very painful in SNG's and tournaments as you can't survive too many bad flops (either way).

limit it will come around but can get pretty expensive in tight-aggressive games (although i should probably avoid them).

thanks for everyone for their responses! much appreciated!

[AKQJ10]

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I've been playing live for 2 years and just started playing online a few weeks ago. I just finished a second straight brutal day. I've playing 1/2 Limit on Absolute, where the tables seem to be extremely tight. Probably average fewer than 3 seeing the flop.

Anyway, I play a very tight, aggressive style and follow the starting hands for tight games as illustrated in SSHE. I'm getting killed. (Emphasis added.)

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Well, the only reasons to play at Absolute are:

1. Bonuses
2. To learn to play at a higher limit without having to actually move up and risk more money in a tougher game.
3. Loyalty because they really seem to have good customer service (and did I mention the great reload bonuses?)

Actually, I've played a bit of $1/2 limit and found it as you said, full of rocks. You do better to play a bit loose, raising preflop occasionally with marginal hands trying to take down the blinds. Otherwise you'll get blinded out since you make so little on your monster hands.

Once you clear all your bonuses, move to Party or Pacific.

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I've been playing live for 2 years and just started playing online a few weeks ago. I just finished a second straight brutal day. I've playing 1/2 Limit on Absolute, where the tables seem to be extremely tight. Probably average fewer than 3 seeing the flop.

Anyway, I play a very tight, aggressive style and follow the starting hands for tight games as illustrated in SSHE. I'm getting killed. (Emphasis added.)

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Well, the only reasons to play at Absolute are:

1. Bonuses
2. To learn to play at a higher limit without having to actually move up and risk more money in a tougher game.
3. Loyalty because they really seem to have good customer service (and did I mention the great reload bonuses?)

Actually, I've played a bit of $1/2 limit and found it as you said, full of rocks. You do better to play a bit loose, raising preflop occasionally with marginal hands trying to take down the blinds. Otherwise you'll get blinded out since you make so little on your monster hands.

Once you clear all your bonuses, move to Party or Pacific.

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can't remember all their names, but bonuswhores.com, beatthefish.com and one other (name) site rate sites for softness.

the site whose name i can't remember was really good. why isn't it coming to me? i can even see the scoring system.

pacific, party and bodog seem to rate highly for softness, although i've had some frustratingly tight games on party.
also, i like sites that aren't heavy on bonuses, no pockertracker, lots of europeans and maybe sports betting. and i have medium experience at this.