Party 15-30 trouble

[IlliniRyRy]

Thanks for all the useful advice, I appreciate the feedback. It looks like I'm not in as bad a spot as I thought. Hopefully things will turn around soon, we'll see what happens. Tosh, I'll admit to berating people at the tables, it's a bad habit and it's counterproductive. Hopefully I haven't offended you, you're obviously the last person I would ever berate.

[IlliniRyRy]

Enon, isn't the magnitude of your bankroll swings somewhat dependent on your own particular style of play? I'm a rock preflop (13.5-14% VPIP) and I think that has a lot to do with why I haven't ever experienced more than a 200BB downswing until now. Incidentally, I'm playing right now and I've dropped another $1,500 today after getting rivered on probably $3,000 worth of pots, so that makes it about 6k from the peak in my bankroll when I was actually up 4k in my first week. This just gets worse and worse, it's unbearable.

[Ulysses]

Whether or not you're skilled enough to beat the game, it sounds like you're not emotionally ready to handle the swings. Go back to 5/10 and build yourself a bigger bankroll, then give it another shot.

[ChicagoTroy]

Werd.

[IlliniRyRy]

El Diablo, for lack of a less pompous word, my bankroll is huge. I can lose multiple times what I've lost up to this point. Strangely enough, I'm taking this losing streak just as badly as I did when I was playing 3-6. It's not so much the dollar amount that bothers me, but the fact that I'm simply losing a game I'm supposed to be good at. I think I'm learning more and more that it's an inevitable part of the game, but it's still impossible not to be bothered.

[morello]

I think what El Diablo is referring to goes beyond bankroll considerations. If you don't have the emotional stability to handle large swings, you won't be able to beat the game. A lot of good players have mentioned downswings of 300 BB or more.

When you berate others at the table a lot, it's usually a sign that you're unable to handle the losses, and that you're likely to go on tilt.

If you feel that you won't go on tilt ever, then you shouldn't have any problems I guess.

[MarkD]

You've got this backwards. You should berate Tosh before you berate other players. I am not kidding.

This assumes you "must" berate someone. You really shouldn't berate anyone. If you get made just swear loudly and move on.

[steveyz]

Yes your variance will depend on your style of play. I think 13.5-14% VP$IP is way too low for Party 15/30. You should be doing a lot of open raising in MP and later as it will often be folded to you. My VP$IP for 15/30 is 3-4% higher than when I was playing 3/6 (although I might have been too tight back then).
It is not just your own play that determines your variance. It is also the play of your opponents. The average Party 15/30 player is much more aggressive than what you experience at the lower limits and so your variance will be higher as well, even if your playing style doesn't change.
If a 200BB downswing is unbearable, you may want to try harder to control your emotions. If you can't handle bad beats, poker isn't your game.
I think you'll be fine if you just continue to play and adjust to the style of 15/30, since your bankroll is large enough to withstand these swings. The only caveat is that you cannot let bad beats get to you emotionally and cause you to play badly.

[chesspain]

[ QUOTE ]
It's not so much the dollar amount that bothers me, but the fact that I'm simply losing a game I'm supposed to be good at.

[/ QUOTE ]

Who says you're supposed to be beating the 15/30 game? David Ross? Your 5/10 results? Your ego?

I do think you need to play for more than three weeks to ascertain whether you really are supposed to be beating the 15/30 game.

[SA125]

I sat down to 10-20 the other night and got JJ four times and trip K's once in the first 20 hands. I won once when I got the other 2 JJ's in the deck for my JJ. Looked like anything less than 4 of a kind was no good for me. I found another table.

As good as you may be in poker, sometimes you're the dog and sometimes you're the hydrant.