sickening losing streak

[mrtal]

In my last 10 or so sessions in real life I"ve gone through the worst losing streak I've ever experienced and don't know what to say. I play primarily 1-2 NL and some 5-5 nl and played a very tight game, all my money has been lost on either Aces or Kings every session with all the money in preflop. Either the person has a lower pocket pair, or AK and somehow get it every time. I've won maybe 2 out of the 12 or so hands where I'm either a 4.5-1 favorite or a 95%+ favorite.

[Reef]

happens. keep getting $ in with the best hand

[Al Schoonmaker]

That's exactly the right reaction. As long as he keeps getting the money in with the best of it, he will win.

However, I have found that many people claim that they played properly, but did not do so. I am NOT saying the original poster has deceived himself, but a lot of people do so.

Regards,

Al

[chabibi]

thats exactly my problem. ive hit my first real big loosing streak, and i havent been playing for that long. im down 150BB, at first i wasnt to concerned but as the losses started to pile up without a win i got concerned. i always thought i was a winning player, my first 5 months of play have been very succuessful. but now im not even sure if my sample size is big enough to call myself a winning player with certainty

[SinCityGuy]

[ QUOTE ]
That's exactly the right reaction. As long as he keeps getting the money in with the best of it, he will win.



[/ QUOTE ]

Amen to that, Dr. Al.

As a poker player, think of yourself as a casino. Even though casinos have the edge in every single game, they will sometimes go through a downswing due to variance.

When a slot player hits a big jackpot, the casino doesn't shut down. In fact, they put the sucker's picture up on a billboard. They know in the long run that they'll grind out the profits in slots, roulette, craps, and all of the other sucker games.

As poker players, we will have similar downswings. These too shall pass as long as we are adequately bankrolled, maintain our discipline and composure, and practice good game selection.

[goldseraph]

Just quit poker now. Its an evil evil evil evil freaking game. After this week I am going to attempt to quit. The number of bad beats I've suffered at 25 and 50 NL party in the last two weeks has annihilated my soul. It's sad when you expect KK, AA, TPTK to consistently lose to some jackass chasing a gut shot draw or a three-flush. Anyway wanted to share my rant, and I pray for the souls of those who play NL ring games. Unless you are willing and able to lose a ton of money and have your soul and confidence annihilated over and over , give it up now and go do charity or something.

[kyzerjose]

Only 10 sessions? That's rough but, for what it's worth, I ran cold and dry for roughly 6 months one time. Why? I was playing looser than I thought I was.
You say that you've lost with A's & K's each session, usually to AK or a lower PP. Huh?
Are you saying that your PP A's and K's are getting cracked?
Is it HU or multiple players? A's and K's do well HU (my stats say I win about 87% with A's and 67% with K's) Multiple opponents decrease their %'s to roughly 38% and 32% respectively.
Now without any information about position and opponent strength, and the feel of the game etc. it's really hard to make any rational statement but what the heck, poker players have lapses in sanity.
If you're pushing with Ax or Kx, you will run into alot of trouble.
Too many players over value marginal hands like ATo, AQo, AJo. They're a tad bit better suited, but really they're nothing more than drawing hands. If you don't hit the flop hard ugly things happen.
Same thing with KQo, KJo & KTo.
Personally, I'd never push with those hands unless I was short stacked, drunk or on tilt.
Just make sure you're playing quality hands. Bet your money and take your chances.
Best of Luck

[mrtal]

No honestly no bs I've been all in preflop heads up with Kings or Aces everytime and lost 10/12 of these hands. I'm beginning to lose faith in if I keep getting my money in with the best hand I will win. Last night I said i'll give it another shot and my kings were all in preflop against queens in the 5-5 game, and the queen hit on the river ($700 down the drain again.............). Not much more to say except how do i know it will even out? i don't really have much more hope anymore...............

[ThomB]

Im having the exact same problem as you, all in preflop with KK or AA and constantly being beat, I've decided to take a break for a month as I've started to convince myself I'm playing badly.

[HopeydaFish]

[ QUOTE ]
No honestly no bs I've been all in preflop heads up with Kings or Aces everytime and lost 10/12 of these hands. I'm beginning to lose faith in if I keep getting my money in with the best hand I will win. Last night I said i'll give it another shot and my kings were all in preflop against queens in the 5-5 game, and the queen hit on the river ($700 down the drain again.............). Not much more to say except how do i know it will even out? i don't really have much more hope anymore...............

[/ QUOTE ]

If you're heads up all-in KK vs. QQ pre-flop, you have a huge mathematical advantage over your opponent. You'll win that hand 80% of the time. That's the long and the short of it. The fact that you lost a few hands like that in rapid succession is unfortunate, but those sorts of runs are to be expected over the long haul. If you continue to go heads-up all-in with better hands, it'll work out in your favour more often than not. It's a mathematical certainty.