"Card Dead" -- How do you deal with it?

[Bill C]

Yesterday playing B&M 4-8 w/ 1/2 kill.
Every so often, but seemingly more frequently than others, I'll have a session where I just get NO cards. This happened to me again yesterday. I bought in for a rack, played for about 2 hours and dragged exactly one hand, and that on a bluff. During that time, I had no pair larger that 7's, no Big Broadway suited or not, and suited aces twice, neither of which led anywhere. Finally down to just a few chips, I left. I play reasonably tight pre-flop, much like the recommendations in SSH for "loose" games.

The sad thing was, it was a great table. There were two mega-fish playing, limping and betting with anything, and dragging a lot of pots. It was a great opportunity, had I had anything.

I thought about re-buying, and that's really my question. But I had the thought that while I was coping, and understood that this stuff happens, I didn't want to lose another rack. I could easily afford another rack financially but I wasn't sure I could from an emotional standpoint.

I also could have switched tables, bought in like it was the start of the day, and gone on.

Does this happen to you with any frequency? And if so, how do you deal with it? Your ideas and help will be appreciated.

bill c

[LetYouDown]

I feel your pain. I was playing an NL game at a local B&M casino. I had K-K once and took down a pot, but I was completely card dead aside from that. It was the perfect table too...there was one guy there who knew what he was doing. He was catching cards and they paid him off every time. It's a miserable feeling.

It's particularly frustrating in limit, where marginal hands just go into the muck every time. If I were you, and I had the time...I'd rebuy. Make sure you aren't on any kind of emotional downswing either...as that can obviously affect you. I never believed in the "it's not my night" thing. Probability has no concept of time.

[toots]

Man, if you ever come up with some magic incantation for getting un-card dead, let me know.

Whenever I go card dead, I change games. Basically, when I feel card dead at Hold 'Em, I play Omaha or Stud. If I go card dead on one of those, I switch to one of the others.

Pure superstition on my part, but that usually "solves the problem" for me in the short term.

I remember one particularly bad day, playing B&M Hold 'Em, I was card dead at a table with two maniacs. Had me absolutely salivating at the prospect of raking a huge pot off one of them, but I got absolutely nothing worth playing. The only good part was that being hole card dead cost me a whole lot less than getting reasonable cards that never went anywhere.

[darydarling]

I've been in this situation a number of times in the last couple of months where I'm not even finding good sneaky limp in hands that could flop/turn monsters.
And I'm playing on tables where guys are capping with 3/5 offsuit pre-flop where they hit 2 pair and turn a full house. Or in a spread limit game where they are raising the full spread with unsuited garbage and 4 out of 5 hands they do this flop a straight...LOL
This guy actually got angry when it didn't happen the 5th time.
Then when I finally can play a hand *only monsters preflop because I'm constantly raised off of marginal holdings* they fold and I take down small pots causing me to have a number of losing sessions.
However then there come the days when every hand you have seems to hit.
You raise jacks only to get reraised knowing they have aces and a jack hits on the flop.
Or you limp in with a/r suited in MP to find you're 4 to the flush and getting a lot of multiway action and catching it on the turn.
You have to take the good with the bad, and hope those good days cover those bad... it's the only thing keeping me sane these days...LOL.

[Bodhi]

[ QUOTE ]
The only good part was that being hole card dead cost me a whole lot less than getting reasonable cards that never went anywhere.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ain't that the truth! I'd much rather be "card dead" than have a bad session where none of my favorites hold up, and none of my underdogs come through.

[LetYouDown]

Very much agreed to the "hole card dead" comment. I'd rather be deal 7-2 for two straight hours than A-10 in some of the looser games I've encountered, B&M...especially at limit. At the B&M NL games I play, you can obviously make some moves here and there with marginal holdings. The night I was card dead for 3 hours, I made enough on the one hand I did have, to fund the rest of the blinds. Just fold and ride out the storm.

[lehighguy]

I find that being card dead really negatively effects my B+M play when it happens.

[Demana]

[ QUOTE ]
The sad thing was, it was a great table. There were two mega-fish playing, limping and betting with anything, and dragging a lot of pots. It was a great opportunity, had I had anything.

I thought about re-buying, and that's really my question. But I had the thought that while I was coping, and understood that this stuff happens, I didn't want to lose another rack. I could easily afford another rack financially but I wasn't sure I could from an emotional standpoint.


[/ QUOTE ]

Even if it is a great game, if you are on tilt because you are card dead, you should leave because even when you get a hand to play, you will not play it optimally and if you lose with it, it will re-inforce your bad feelings from the night and you'll worse off.

Edit: Even winning the hand is a potential disaster because if you play it incorrectly, you may teach yourself bad habits that you'll later struggle to identify and correct.

[toots]

[ QUOTE ]
Even if it is a great game, if you are on tilt because you are card dead, you should leave because even when you get a hand to play, you will not play it optimally and if you lose with it, it will re-inforce your bad feelings from the night and you'll worse off.

[/ QUOTE ]

Boy, that sure describes what I do when I re-emerge from card-deadness. I'm so desperate to make something of anything that I end up pushing all my chips across the table to some fish who caught his lucky outs on his 72o, and I was too stupid to see it coming.

Nowadays, if I'm dead for too long, I either:

1) Change games to clear my head - meaning type of game, rather than just table change
2) Go play BJ, where I'm pretty much guaranteed to lose money in the long run for reasons that have little to do with the quality of my play (other than the fact that I don't count)

[HopeydaFish]

I had a similar experience at my home game on the weekend. In 5 hours, I had AKs a couple of times, AQo once or twice, and AJs once or twice. Almost every time I played one of those hands, it was cracked by one of my opponents playing 56o or 34s, or some such nonsense. My opponents are the worst possible fish you can imagine, but because of the cold deck I still walked out of there slightly behind for the night. On most nights I walk out of there with 80%+ of the chips. It was frustrating to say the least. My friends were all gleeful that I finally came out behind for the night.

However, I know next week I'll probably get some better cards, and will be back to winning most of their money. If anything, last weekend might end up being +EV in that it'll give my friends a false sense of skillfulness.