I keep losing, help.

[ansky451]

I have been playing poker for about a year and a half now, and for the last 9 months or so, i have been a consistent winner. I'm a full time university student, so I dont really have a job other than poker, but i can't play all day.

About 50 days ago, i had made around 11 thousand dollars playing poker thus far in my life. now, that number is around 7500. I really am finding it hard to win all of a sudden. Traditionally i would play 1/2 nl cash games, and some tourneys here and there. About half of my bankroll was from multis. Now, anywhere i play, i lose. I sit down for 200 at a 1/2 table, and i lose it. I play the sunday 250k, and i lose it. I've dropped in limits so i dont shatter my bankroll, but i am still losing- just slower. I really dont know what it is and i realize this may seem like a stupid post, just some kid whining about poker.

I really consider myself an excellent poker player, and I feel that that is an accurate assessment, as I tend to be brutally honest with myself. So my question is this, Have any of you ever had a run of losses where you really couldn't explain it to yourselves? I feel as though this run is a combination of poor play and some rough cards. I never like to blame bad beats for losses, so I'm leaning toward thinking that something psychological may have happened, that is throwing off my game.

I have been playing quite a bit with a friend of mine lately, who plays an ultra aggressive style of play, and has incredible raw talent with his poker skills. Without a doubt his style has rubbed off on me. Perhaps this has thrown off my game, i cant tell. Maybe I reached a point in my poker playing where I am too overconfident in my abilities, and I abondon the basics. Has this happened to any of you?

What would you readers out there reccommend as a remedy for this downward spiral? A break from poker? Try a new style of play? I'm lost here, please help.

Thanks in advance for all the responses (and the inevitable flames...)

DS

[mungpo]

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I really consider myself an excellent poker player, and I feel that that is an accurate assessment, as I tend to be brutally honest with myself.

[/ QUOTE ]
I don't think you are brutally honest with yourself. Maybe you see yourself as an excellent player, when actually you are probably pretty medicore. Do you usually post hands you have questions about?

[steamboatin]

That is the problem with poker. Have you turned into a fish or is it normal variance? A complete fish can run good for nine months and be way ahead. An execellent player can run bad and be way behind for nine months.

You need to examine your game. It is very easy to fool yourself about your own poker abilites and also you have to worry about selective memory.

Before I bought Poker Tracker, I was absolutely conviced that I was a tight aggressive player. Poker Tracker said I was Loose Agressive Passive (LAP) I have tighted up but I am still Semi-Loose Agressive Passive (SLAP).

I would have argued until the end of time that I was a tight player.

[revots33]

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I have been playing quite a bit with a friend of mine lately, who plays an ultra aggressive style of play, and has incredible raw talent with his poker skills. Without a doubt his style has rubbed off on me. Perhaps this has thrown off my game, i cant tell.

[/ QUOTE ]

My guess is that here's your problem. You've changed your style of play and maybe it's not working for you. Ultra agressive play increases you variance. It is also a tougher type of poker to play (especially after the flop). So while it might work for your friend, maybe it doesn't work for you.

Could be natural variance, could be bad play on your part - but my guess is that you need to get back to the less aggressive style that worked for you in the past. Ultra-agressive is not the only winning style, and it's not for everyone.

[toots]

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I really consider myself an excellent poker player,

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I find this to be a 100% necessary component for being a poor player. It alone doesn't make you a poor player, but the sentiment has been quite prominent in just about every truly bad player I've ever encountered.

Even though this attitude has been successfully implemented by some truly good poker players, it tends to hinder, rather than help that particular attribute.

[ansky451]

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I really consider myself an excellent poker player, and I feel that that is an accurate assessment, as I tend to be brutally honest with myself.


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I don't think you are brutally honest with yourself. Maybe you see yourself as an excellent player, when actually you are probably pretty medicore. Do you usually post hands you have questions about?

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This is a fair point, as often times everyone thinks they are a great player. Well, yes, I do post my hands here quite often, and I devote at least an hour everyday to reading the applicable forums for my game (NL, Pl, MTTs). I have read (and read again), TOP, TPFAP, SS, CLoutiers book and Caros Book of Tells. I am currently in the middle of Harrington on Hold'em. Obviously just being book read isn't proof enough of my skill, so I suppose it would be hard for me to tell you with 100% accuracy how good (or bad) I really am.

[steamboatin]

I never met a poker player that didn't believe he was great.

[KidPokerX]

Ansky,

Pick up a new game for a week or so (Omaha, Stud-8, Lowball). This may get you out of the game for a little bit as well as keep you mentally sharp at the card table.
When you come back into Hold em, you may find that you understand some finer points of the game better.
If not, it never hurts to know some new games.

Other than that, I'd suggest taking a break for a few days. Do things to get your mind off poker, when you are ready again, pick up a book before playing. Regain your confidence and go back to attacking.
That's the best way to get you back to 11k.

-KidPokerX

[olavfo]

I've just had my first big downswing (250 BB) and it was pretty depressing when I was in the middle of it. After having cruised at 5 BB/100 for two months it was a hard fall.

But I felt a lot better after studying my hands. For example, during this streak I flopped set 12 consecutive times without winning once (I even lost 4 sets in a row to runner-runner flushes) and I had 11 consecutive two pair hands where I lost to straights and flushes. Maybe I could have lost a little less on these hands if I had played better, but the hands mentioned (plus many others) convinced me that it was variance that caused this big downswing, not a sudden change in my play. And that was comforting.

So look over your hands and see where the money has been lost. I'm pretty sure you'll discover that you've had extremely many second best hands and that you've been outdrawn a lot.

olavfo

[chesspain]

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I really consider myself an excellent poker player, and I feel that that is an accurate assessment, as I tend to be brutally honest with myself.

[/ QUOTE ]

If this was true then why would you have created this post?