Looking for some intermediate advice

[dandy_don]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm going to try and make this short

[/ QUOTE ]
I'd hate for you to get long winded. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[ QUOTE ]

...and a little less swingy than holdem.

[/ QUOTE ]
[img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]

[ QUOTE ]

It turned into 7 straight days of decent profit. In the past 4 days, I have just gotten hosed.

[/ QUOTE ]
Variance happens...welcome to Stud.

Seriously, I notice this happens more often when I'm not as mentally sharp as other days--tired from work and such. Doc AZ had a post about this a couple of years ago about testing you mental capacity, the types of foods you should eat to improve this, etc.

[ QUOTE ]
I'm just looking for some advice as what to do long run?

[/ QUOTE ]
You've found the right place; stick around, read and study the game. Play the game because you love it, not because you believe it to have less variance than other games. You will find that the major posters here love this game.

[ QUOTE ]
It’s starting to get annoying that I feel like I'm better than anyone I am playing with

[/ QUOTE ]

All of us think that from time to time, then reality bites us in the butt--deal with it but challenge yourself to constantly improve.

Have you read any of the posted hands on this forum? Not even the best players on this site agree with one another on the best method to play a particular hand, so how can you believe you know better than the players you play? Sometimes, there is no right or wrong, only better and best.

[ QUOTE ]
It’s to the point that even when I have a great starting hand, I'm not sure if I want anyone to call. Any help would be great; everything I've read here so far has been extremely helpful.

[/ QUOTE ]

We all have been there. Optimal play wins in the long run, but bad beats happen. Yes it's frustrating when it happens repeatedly, but part of the game is to accept them and wait for pay back time.

In a loose game as you have described, big pairs lose strength because you MUST get in a heads up situation with pairs. If you will have 4 callers despite all attempts to raise, reraise and check-raise, you sometimes have to learn to let the big pairs go and wait for a better opportunity.

dandy

Hey Worm,

Yup, I know what you mean.

Just coming down from a 4-week heater that came to a screeching halt last Friday. I swear, over this period, I had not one losing day and, at any point, I was down 25 BB max which would invariably be corrected by monsters or calling stations.

Of course, since Friday, I'm down close to 100BB.

Somebody recently posted something to the effect that when things are good for a while, you start believing that you are actually good, you are in control, you understand the villains. And then within a few sessions it feels like the whole house of cards is crumbling.

To me, when on a heater, I get more aggressive and it works. I get to push people out of pots. Of course, some of the plays are just plain wrong. This compounds the problem when the cards turn bad. Now, after a few days of steady on-going losses, I notice a reverse effect. I feel compelled to throw away hands that I should probably call with. I've been pushed out of pots that shoulda been mine! I'm less willing to wait till 5h to raise. That sort of stuff.

Anyway, these few things keep me going:
- It's happened to me before and it will swing back.
- It seems to me that after a few losing sessions the regulars become much more loose against me. When the cards turn, there'll be good opportunity.
- I try to accept it. When I take the beats, I try to keep a sense of perspective. If I play enough hands, my K high straight flush will one day be beat (and prob'ly KQJT9xx vs xxTJQKA).
- I try to be more selective of the tables and I try to recognize when I'm playing bad. The idea is to walk away. I hope one day to be so wise.
- When on a losing streak, I tend to analyze my play much more. I think this is good.