Can't keep a stack

[college kid]

For a while now, I have had a weird thing happening to me. I play on Party NL $25 buy in tables and my dorm game and dorm tourneys. Whether in the tourneys or cash games I have trouble keeping my chips once I double my buy in. It seems like I always dwindle back down and always cash out just a little up or get blinded out of the tourney. I don't know what is causing this and it's not something that I am used to happening.

I have really thought and though but I don't know why. I don't think I get stupid agressive and I think I play just as well as when I was previously building up my stack. Sometimes it's not just double my buy in--but there is always a key point where I just start to dwindle back down. I am fairly sure that it's not just variance--it happens like clockwork. I am only marginally ahead for my tournaments and live games during these periods.

Has this happened to anybody? Is this the right forum for this? Would I get other helpful responses if this was on another forum?

[jtr]

Maybe you should try the small stakes PL and NL forum.

I would hazard a guess that the reason is some combination of these three possibilities:

1) it's a coincidence; you've doubled up a few times and then drifted back down and you're reading too much into it.


2) you're not realizing that once your stack has doubled, and you're up against an opponent with a similarly large stack, you're now playing quite a different game of deep-stacked NL as opposed to the usual Party 50 x big-blind stacks. In which you stand to get in more trouble with AA if gets cracked, etc., and can call with more dubious hands like suited connectors in the hope of busting the other guy for his whole (large) stack.

3) you get relaxed and play worse when you're winning -- lots of people do this.

[Baseballa19]

I found this to be my problem. I wondered why I was always squandering my stack. When I looked at it and stayed tight pre-flop, I turned it around.

[David04]

Tighten up when you get ahead [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

[Baseballa19]

I don't mean I played tighter than I did to get up. What I mean is, I had started playing too many hands after I won some pots. Becoming more aggressive is one thing. Playing stupid hands is another.

[andyfox]

I don't play no-limit, nor in tournaments, but I suspect it's nothing. I've had three consecutive sessions where I build up nice winnings but then see them "dwindle" away. I think it's just the way the cards have fallen. What you may be seeing as "clockwork" is probably just coincidence.

You'll probably start off your next session getting into a hole. That'll break the "streak." [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

[Jekyll]

i remember having a similar problem when i started. having a larger stack was like a liscense to gamble, and i was playing more hands and more draws, whether the pot odds dictated or not. the average bet seems much smaller in comparison to your stack when you double up, but relative to the pot, it stays the same, and that is what's important.

[Yawkey]

Most of the time this happens to me due to over confidence. I would suggest going ahead and just reviewing some of the basics about the particular games you are playing in, that can help settle your play down when you correct some of your bad plays (this works for me anyway).

The other posibility (more so in live games as opposed to online), is that your opponents are getting a good feel on how you play. You may have to mix it up some and say ok I've been playing tight for the past hour, now I'll loosen up for twenty minutes and then tighten up again when they start catching on.

[BSXX]

Ditto on jtr's list. Numbers 1 & 3 are very likely suspects.

It is not really a "weird thing"....happens all the time.

I wouldn't say you need to play any tighter than you would otherwise play, but don't let your starting hand standards get any looser just because you have a big stack. Let all the circumstances, not just your stack size, determine when you loosen your starting hand requirements. On the other hand, if you played some questionable starting hands and hit some lucky draws to build your stack, you have to accept the fact that you will eventually start missing your draws.

If you play a marginal starting hand, you may find yourself in the terrible situation of hitting a marginal hand or a marginal draw, flinging chips all the while, constantly having to make difficult decisions in difficult situations, and slowly but surely leaking your chips away. I read another article that called this the "gray zone". AVOID IT! It is a state of indecision that results from holding a marginal hand in a difficult spot. The first step to avoid this state of affairs is to maintain strong starting hand requirements for the situation the tournament or game is currently in. Yes, you will give a few chips back by posting and calling blinds, but you will MAINTAIN CONTROL and avoid the big hit to your stack that can throw you off your game.

Finally, remember this, if other players are willing to take on your big stack, you have to give them some credit for a strong hand (unless they are on the verge of elimination), therefore, you have to ask yourself what they are likely holding to be willing to face off with you? Can you beat it, or are you chasing a weak draw that you don't want to fold?