Prolonged Cold Decked And Losing Sessions? (Much Content, Not Whining)

[AviD]

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I'll be at the Borgata this Friday-Sunday.

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If it rains, I'll likely be down one of those days...but plan on playing at the Taj.

Right now it's looking like rain Fri/Sat/Sun, so I'll let you know as the weekend gets closer! [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[steamboatin]

sory, it was in the first reply to your Op. That guy did the 30+ marathon without sleep.

[Pocket Trips]

yep I was the idiot who played 20+ hours on 3 hours sleep in 2 days [img]/images/graemlins/crazy.gif[/img]

[rtrombone]

You must not play online. Only after experiencing 300 big bet downswings and break-even stretches of 30,000 hands do I understand how long the long run is. Do you have any idea how many hours you have to play in a B&M to log 30,000 hands? A [censored] ton.

Granted, B&M games tend to be much softer than internet games, which makes it less likely one will encounter these kinds of streaks. Still, now I believe what Doyle and other old-timers have said about it being possible to run bad for months.

It's easy to tell whether you're running bad or playing bad. Simply review your big hands after each session. If you kept getting outflopped by dominated hands, missed every draw, ran into sets and got sucked out on on the river, what could you have done? Similarly, maybe you were dealt far less than your fair share of playable hands and missed the flop badly when you did play. It's going to happen.

There will be a few hands you could've played differently. Maybe you got out of line a couple times or played weak-tight or something. But it's definitely not unusual to play well and get your ass handed to you by the donkeys that infest the low- and mid-stakes games. Keep your head up.

[AviD]

[ QUOTE ]
You must not play online. Only after experiencing 300 big bet downswings and break-even stretches of 30,000 hands do I understand how long the long run is. Do you have any idea how many hours you have to play in a B&M to log 30,000 hands? A [censored] ton.

Granted, B&M games tend to be much softer than internet games, which makes it less likely one will encounter these kinds of streaks. Still, now I believe what Doyle and other old-timers have said about it being possible to run bad for months.

It's easy to tell whether you're running bad or playing bad. Simply review your big hands after each session. If you kept getting outflopped by dominated hands, missed every draw, ran into sets and got sucked out on on the river, what could you have done? Similarly, maybe you were dealt far less than your fair share of playable hands and missed the flop badly when you did play. It's going to happen.

There will be a few hands you could've played differently. Maybe you got out of line a couple times or played weak-tight or something. But it's definitely not unusual to play well and get your ass handed to you by the donkeys that infest the low- and mid-stakes games. Keep your head up.

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I play a little online, maybe about 200K hands or so in PT, plus others before I got PT! [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Yes I know about bad runs, I've had plenty and had bigger than 300BB downswings. That is poker, and I'm sure it transcends to live. I guess I am just confused on how well everyone apparently does, perhaps its all a muse or perhaps I'm being mused! [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

And yes, I have heard of month long stretches of running bad. I guess I get caught up in the posts of players beating N/2*N limit games for 4-5BB/hr over extended periods of time and wonder where I'm going wrong. Kind of a n00bular question, but here I am 2 years later still wondering. I guess I'm not improving as much as I'd like...

It's OK, I'll continue learning and pressing on. Thanks for the feedback! [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[steamboatin]

Most gamblers are slow to admit their losses so you hear more about the wins and less about the downswings, here on the forum.

[jordanx]

Happens to everyone. That's poker. Don't worry about it too much.

The worst thing is sitting at a profitable table and getting chewed up by fish. And it's nearly impossible to not let a cold streak affect your play in small amounts. Minimizing that is key.

On the flip side, I've had sessions where I was just amazed at how easy it was. Over half of the pairs make sets and most turn into boats. Suited aces always make flushes. AKo hits the flop and holds up w/ 3 callers to the river.

In one session I had, my first hand was QQ and I lost. My second hand was AJs and I flopped 4 to a flush and lost. A few hands later, AKs... lost. Next hand KK... lost. People thought I was an absolute maniac/fish because I played super aggressive to the river then mucked w/o showing. After that, I proceeded to get rags for about 3 hours and dropped well over 70bb in a little over 3 hours.

[chesspain]

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As an example, this past weekend I went on a 9 hour streak without winning a single hand. This discludes any chopped hands (I think there *may* have been ONE, maybe)...but my question is, at what point during a session, do you think one can be CERTAIN they are not winning due to any single factor or set of factors outside of just running cold and/or bad?

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Assuming that you know how to play poker and you're playing at least 10-15% of your hands, I can't imagine how anyone could go winless for nine hours without it being due to extremely bad luck.

[BigRedAce]

I've had similar sessions (6+ hours at Binions a while back). When I run cold, I like to switch games. Play a little Stud 8b or Omaha, someplace where the crappy cards help (I know it makes no mathematical sense!) More than anything it clears the head.

I snapped my Binions cold streak by switching to no limit (spear the fish!) and then Omaha. Made $700 at NL and more than $800 at Omaha. Made the $300 dropped at LHE seem insignifcant.

[AviD]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
As an example, this past weekend I went on a 9 hour streak without winning a single hand. This discludes any chopped hands (I think there *may* have been ONE, maybe)...but my question is, at what point during a session, do you think one can be CERTAIN they are not winning due to any single factor or set of factors outside of just running cold and/or bad?

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Assuming that you know how to play poker and you're playing at least 10-15% of your hands, I can't imagine how anyone could go winless for nine hours without it being due to extremely bad luck.

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Don't know how to play poker VS. extremely unlucky

I'd say its close! [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]