decline in play after learning alot?

[chipbrave]

I have been playing over a year now, and for a while was doing very profitable. Have read, and reread all of the important books, and rally approached my game as a serious business. I felt that I certainly had reached a higher level of play, and my record seemed to be affirming that, but...

As of late, I have been loosing quite a bit. It has been so bad that I have decided to stop playing for the time being. Have any other serious players had a lull in their game after they reached what they thought was the next level? Is this a case of overconfidence leading to less concentration?

Any thoughts?

[Dynasty]

[ QUOTE ]
Have any other serious players had a lull in their game after they reached what they thought was the next level?

[/ QUOTE ]

Every serious player has.

[knightunner]

After a summer of studying the game seriously, I am definitely noticing the same thing. It is rough but will eventually even out.

I hope [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]
~knight

[tylerdurden]

I've noticed it as well. I think it's because you have so much new stuff, ideas, strategies, etc running through your head when you play, and it takes time for your brain to adjust and get all the new "subroutines" properly integrated and running smoothly.

[sethypooh21]

I experienced the same thing myself for a time. It's quite simple. ANY piece of specific poker strategy advice is very game/table dependent. Applying much of HPFAP to a 2/4 game is going to cost you a lot of money (either in losses or money not won). Similarly, applying Lee Jones' book to a 10/20 6 max game is going to get you run over and slaughtered.

I think a lot of people got caught up very much in FPS (Fancy Play Syndrome) when the reach a certain level of competence, and start making moves that are wildly inappropriate to the opposition. Bluffing a calling station, slow playing a rock. Not a whole lot of point in playing deceptively if your opponents aren't really paying attention.

[SA125]

In the middle stakes forum JoshW referred to this a while back. There was talk about hand reading in another thread and he said the same thing as you about making great progress and then hitting walls.

He said he felt that, once you have read all the books and have experience, hand reading skill is what makes you the money as you progress further. I thought that was interesting.

[helpmeout]

What happens is you go from a pretty solid game to trying too many things.

Information overload, stick to the basics and once you learn something new you have to remember that these strategies arent always for mainstream play but for rare situations.

They might improve your play by .01/100BB if used correctly. Obviously if you use new strategies too often then they result in losses and a few losses might result in tilt.

I suggest you have a bit of a break then analyze your game, when you start up again stick to a very basic strategy until you regain your confidence.

[Smasharoo]

Yup. Outhinking yourself and giving your opponent too much credit now that you can recognise what might look like a clever play on his part but is really just random.

I'm guilty of giving opponents too much credit much of the time.

[Leo Bello]

[ QUOTE ]
I have been playing over a year now, and for a while was doing very profitable. Have read, and reread all of the important books, and rally approached my game as a serious business. I felt that I certainly had reached a higher level of play, and my record seemed to be affirming that, but...

As of late, I have been loosing quite a bit. It has been so bad that I have decided to stop playing for the time being. Have any other serious players had a lull in their game after they reached what they thought was the next level? Is this a case of overconfidence leading to less concentration?

Any thoughts?

[/ QUOTE ]

Man, this is exactly what is happening with me. I was doing pretty well and then went hard on studying, read everything, participated on the foruns analysing other people´s hands, read Cardplayer, entered IRC channel, reviewed hands in Poker Tracker, and suddenly my game seems to be cracking. It is more or less like I crack some tables and then in others I lose what i have won in the first one. It seems like If I was once more beggining, whereI had no clue and made bad mistakes. funny thing is it seems I am doing the right thing.

Anyway, I don´t really know why this happens with everyone, I just hope things fall into place soon.

[Annie Duke]

This is incredibly common. As a player progresses and learns new things, integrating the new concepts properly into his/her game is very difficult and often results in a losing streak while they work the kinks out.

This doesn't just happen to beginners. I just went through a period like this last winter with my NL tourney game where I was making some drastic changes in my strategy. I was not doing well in tourneys while I was incorporating these new concepts but stuck with it cause I knew it was so important to add these new things to my game so I was willing to weather the storm.

One of the great things about poker is that you are never done learning and adapting your game. And during big leaps in your game you generally will go on a brief losing streak. But it is worth it in the long run!

Annie