Coping with Losing...

dimitrix · #1 10-05-2004, 12:26 AM

I started playin poker about 5 months ago...I feel like im a ok player... I try to study the game as much as possible and i read poker books and am a regular on this site tryin to improve my game... Well this past month ive had alot of success... ive built my bankroll up to 800 from a 50 dollar investment. THe last couple of days ive had terrible losing streaks...so bad that im beginning to question my poker ability... getting outdrawn , losing to higher kickers, hight str8s, higher flushes... miracle 2pair on the river...Ive never been so frustrated when it comes to poker.

Today i lost about 200. Is this normal., And what can i do to fix it? Do i stop playing or do i try to play through it. My morning session today i won 150 and in the evening I lost 300. I just dont get it.

CrisBrown · #2 10-05-2004, 12:38 AM

Hi dimitrix,

Stardard Advice to New Player on Losing Streak, v.1.01(a)

1) Take a break for a few days. Don't read about poker. Don't talk about poker. Don't think about poker. Repeat as necessary.

2) Once you start to feel like returning to the game, go back to your core resources, whatever those are for you. For me, they are Sklansky's The Theory of Poker, Brunson's Super System Poker, and Ciaffone & Rueben's Pot-Limit and No-Limit Poker. Reread your core resources and "recenter" your game.

3) Be open to the possibility that you are not playing well, and as you're rereading your core resources, look for places where your game has sprung leaks. Be brutally honest with yourself. If you don't trust yourself to be that brutally honest, find a trusted friend or coach to do it for you.

4) Accept that bad runs happen to everyone. It's just part of the game. Five years from now, what's happening to you right now will seem like a hiccup.

Cris

Blarg · #3 10-05-2004, 03:28 AM

Yes, it's extremely normal, unfortunately. Just as normal as your nice winning streak is.

Address it via the ways Cris talks about in her post above. We've all been there, and we're all going there again many times. Par for the course.

housenuts · #4 10-05-2004, 06:23 AM

look at your plays. are you putting your money in with the best of it and getting outdrawn? if that's the case then you're not doing anything wrong and just getting unlucky. sometimes it's not correct to take a slight edge (tournaments) but for the most part if you're putting your money in with the best of it then that's all you can really ask for.

dimitrix · #5 10-05-2004, 10:55 AM

Im not saying I play great poker, im fairly new and trying to get better. I do think i play better than most on paradise 1/2 tables. I feel like this is a table i should def. win on a consistant basis. I play very strong hands and i wouldnt call or raise the flop unless im sure im winning the hand at that point. Just hasnt been working out for me.
In regards to taking some time off, iunderstand that . But i like to think if i playing my game it will turn around soon...So i keep playing .

Sundevils21 · #6 10-05-2004, 11:09 AM

You lost $200 at the 1-2 limit hold'em tables.
Losing 100 big bets in a day will happen. Unfortunatly more often than you think. I usually have 2 or 3 100bb downswings a month.

dimitrix · #7 10-05-2004, 11:43 AM

Well that puts things in perspective alittle more. So when i am suffering these downswings can i play through them ., or should i stop playing poker.

Blarg · #8 10-05-2004, 04:59 PM

You might still be playing well, but just for safety's sake it's often a good idea to take a day off or so anyway. It's impossible for most people to tell if they're just on different kinds of subtle tilts -- a little too tight or aggressive, not calling on the river as much, not distinguishing between strong players making a move and weak players making a move because "I'm getting beat so hard everyone must have a better hand than me" -- that kind of thing. Tilt can be small, but poker is about small advantages accumulated over time. A little bit of tilt is enough to keep compounding a losing streak and feeling even worse and more broke.

The extraordinarily disciplined and self-aware or extremely experienced might not have these problems very much. Perhaps you have exceptional discipline and self-awareness, and should just keep on playing. Personal decision there.

I think multi-tabling can really help with this kind of thing. I've often gone down 50 BB on one table and up 50 BB at the very same time on another. It really helps put the swings in perspective for me sometimes, as the proof is in your face while you're playing that big swings are both very common and something you can overcome in the long run. Those 50 BB lost look like nothing, which is exactly what they are, when you're winnning 50 BB at another table right at the same time. In the course of a few hours of 4-tabling, I see so many nutty things happen that it reminds me how crazy poker really is, and helps me concentrate on just playing the game instead of focusing too much on individual losses at one particular table.

SirArthur · #9 10-05-2004, 05:09 PM

When I hit a rough spot, I will sometimes drop down a level and pocket a winning a session or two, to regain any confidence in my playing ability that may have been lost.

Either that, or I will take a couple of days off and come back fresh. Sometimes I will play a few SnG's for a change of pace, or mess around in a low buy in tourney before I go back to grinding out my profits in my regular ring play.

dimitrix · #10 10-05-2004, 08:36 PM

Thanks for the responses... I was looking over pokertracker today, and I only have 2000 hands on there...But i noticed Ive had AA 6 times and lost a total of 42 dollars and ive had pocket KK 3 times and lost a total of 20 dollars... I knew I wasnt winning with these hands but geez...lol.