Dealing with a Bad Streak.

[Aaron51_lz]

For the past couple of weeks I have had a largely unreasonable amount of bad beats. Now I realize that this happens in poker, but I am starting to reach the point where I can shrug it off and say, "oh well, I made the correct play." or "bad beats happen often to bad players."

I have been relatively happy with my play, not going away from my usual game(such as becoming looser etc.), yet for the past 3 weeks I have been gradualy loosing money when I have been playing.

I am not so cocky or arrogant to believe that my play has been perfect and my opponents are just getting incredibly lucky, but when I look at my hand histories, it seems that in the large pots that I loose most of them are due to being outdraw.

So finally, my question is, how do you deal with it. Its getting too hard to shrug off and I need some encouragement.

[Demana]

Bad streaks suck, but they go with the territory.

For me, I walk away from the game for a while, post a couple of the hands that have stuck with me, and include the thoughts I had during the hand. A lot of surprising things come out when you write down what you were thinking.

For instance: I was on such a bad run that I considered folding the nut straight draw on the flop because I was caught between two raisers. I had the correct odds to call and was making "long term" money on every call from everyone else in the pot, and yet I thought: "I should fold this hand". [img]/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img]

The thoughts that we have are not always at the forefront of our minds. Post your hand with your thoughts and see what comes out.

[Maddog121]

Take a break. Do something you enjoy outside of poker that demands your concentration and requires a different thinking pattern altogether. Check frustration level. Repeat.

[Zoltri]

If you are a NL player I suggest you play limit stakes for awhile. The bad beats won't sting as much and soon after you will recover your confidence.

Above all else stay focused. If you can't remained focused while playing, take some time off.

[Bodhi]

Demana brings up an interesting point. After you run bad for a while, you tend not to extract as much money as you should with your profitable hands. You begin to expect that you'll lose, so why put in more money than you have to? I have been on a downstreak, and made a bad play for this very same reason. I had 99, no one limped, and so I raised from MP. The guy to my left immediately 3 bets, and the BB caps. I figured I was beat, but I called two more bets just to see, and the flop came down with my 9. We capped the flop, and when I raised the turn and it was 3 bets back to me I thought "He has a set of queens," so I just called. Then the river put a flush out, and so I just called, not noticing that the flush card also paired the board and gave me a boat [img]/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img](the villain had the AK nut flush). I was so sure I was beaten, but if I had been making normal profits I promise I would have capped the turn and raised the river.

These missed opportunities add to your losses. If you still feel good, continue to play your game. But if you find yourself making plays like these, then definitely take a break.

[Orpheus]

Hear hear! You just described one of the major leaks I uncovered after my last long downturn!

I ended up taking a couple of weeks off, and doing some replay analysis (not too much at a time, I didn't want to obsess) I quickly found that, yes, I had suffered a bad run of cards for several weeks -- but for a couple of weeks after it ended, I'd kept losing.

The errors I'd made, caused by my outlook, didn't add up to much per session, but they were enough to have turned most of my losing sessions into winning ones at some point (I have a rule: if I've had to fight my way positive after an hour or so at a table, I quit when I'm ahead, even if it's just a buck. It's not some sort of fishy money management strategy; it's just my acknowledgement that something may be wrong with my play or mental state that I need to reassess -- and I don't like to play long sessions these days, due to life/family issues and a recent temporary health problem)

Let me tell you: after weeks of legitimate downturn, a string of days when I was up slightly would definitely have turned me around, instead of driving me to an irritatingly stupid flameout of what was left in that poker account after my last withdrawal! (It wasn't much money to me, but *man* was it stupid! Fortunately, I'd cashed out my accounts at all other sites before I went into that tailspin!)

I still just consider myself a student of the game. If I'd been a serious player, I could have blown big bucks.

[David]

I have been on a 3 week bad streak. Bad luck and worsening play. I am taking a 2 week (starting last Wednesday) break from live play. I have cashed out my balances from all but 2 online sites and I even cashed out the majority of the balance on those 2 sites. Gonna drop down, play some limit, a few SnG's and play ALOT less and get myself back in the right frame of mind. It ain't just bad luck, I am making plays like those described above and not extracting bets when I am winning. A little balance needed, some needed home improvements on tap for the next couple of weeks and see where I'm at after that. Fear not, for this too shall pass. LOL

[Harv72b]

[ QUOTE ]
So finally, my question is, how do you deal with it. Its getting too hard to shrug off and I need some encouragement.

[/ QUOTE ]

I play about 2-3 hours/day, usually only 2 tables. In the 231 hands I got in earlier tonight, I lost twice to runner-runner two pairs. And over the course of the last 3 days, I've dropped about $700, which ain't exactly chickenfeed to my bankroll. So, what do I do?

I look at the hands I played & identify where I screwed up, when applicable. I try to look at the hands from the points of view of my opponents, and ask myself if I would have played the hands the same way in their place (in some cases, what seems like a suckout at first turns out to be solid play). And then, when all is said and done, I remind myself how much I'm up over the course of the month, and moreso, since I started playing. That generally does the trick. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[jonnyv]

Take time off, reread poker books and do another activity and when you return you will feel refreshed and ready for action. I too am going through a bad streak and have enjoyed time with my family and have enjoyed life. Poker is a game of swings, if you are a good player you will come out ahead. Find your leaks and relax. Good luck to you!!!

[purnell]

You're running bad. It happens sometimes. Do something that makes you feel good.