A little help.. please

[TonySanDiego]

Playing 1/2 online. Party, Stars,.. the usual places.

I have hit a drought of sorts. The ones where you only get 2 playable hands per hour, and then they get beat on the river.

Plus I am still make a newbie mistake occasionally, which compounds the problem.

I think some have advocated leaving these losing sessions and coming back another time.

And I have read that it is all one long poker game.

My question is...

What constitutes a "losing session", and how long should I wait til I try another?

I read somewhere that losing a total of 20BB would constitute a losing sesssion. Seems reasonable, but when would you all get back to playing.

I spent all this past long weekend playing online. It just seemed like one big losing streak, even though I changed tables, changed poker sites, changed limits....

Yet the results were the same..... very few playable hands, and then they got beat.

For instance, just as an example of the endless beats, I have NEVER flopped a flush before, ever. Got one out of the small blind, 9 8s. Didn't slowplay it or anything, just bet out. Got a couple of calls, and wouldn't you know it, the spades just kept coming, and somebody had the ace.

This sort of thing just kept happening over and over. If I had queens, the king flopped on the turn or river, had aces in the pocket cracked all 3 times I got them thru these sessions. The card that made my straight, made somebody's flush, or made my flush.. and made their full house. Had a flopped full house beaten by 3 aces when the river card paired a hole card.

I know that any of these plays can happen, but to have so many of them in such a relatively short (probably 12-15 hours cumulatively) time. And they weren't offset by any hands nearly so favorable.

Just wondering how long does it take for the black cloud to blow over? Do you just keep starting and stopping, take a few hours off, a few days..?? Take up golf??

I am sort of new at poker, and I have enjoyed the modest winning streaks I managed to pull out. But I ain't enjoying this. [img]/forums/images/icons/confused.gif[/img]

Thanks for any insight

[SittingBull]

streaks lasts. The questions u propose are really of a personal nature. If U objectively believe that u are playing well enough that u are one of the favorites at your table,there is no formula about stopping,taking a break,etc.
But MOST players' games start to deteriorate when losing streaks set in.
Hence,it's generally advisable to take a couple of days off and do something else. I'm currently taking a break from my 1/5 no ante stud game after encountering a losing session of about 20BB's( about 200.00). I'm now playing some 1/2 Online Hold'em and am doing much better--for the time being LOL!
So take a couple of days off and then come back.
HappyPokering, [img]/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img]
SittingBull
BTW A cooling off period can reveal some leaks in your game that u did not know had previously existed. [img]/forums/images/icons/shocked.gif[/img]
[img]/forums/images/icons/shocked.gif[/img]

[JTG51]

What constitutes a "losing session"...

You have less money when you stop playing than when you start.

That doesn't matter though, you shouldn't be worried about living up to some kind of winning session/losing session standard. Everyone has lots and lots of losing sessions. Some people are obsessed with playing until they get even or ahead for each session. That's just silly and almost always ends up costing them more in the long run.

So, when should you call it quits each session? My rule of thumb is play while I'm having fun, quit when it's not fun anymore. Chances are, if I'm not enjoying the game that means things are going badly enough that I'm probably not making good decisions anymore.

[TonySanDiego]

Thanks for the replies.

I'll get a little forced sabatical in any case for the next few days.

Will get back on the horse when I get back.

Going up to Sonoma State for my daughter's graduation. She is graduating with a BS in business. And better grades than I ever got. [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

When she was growing up, it was always assumed she would go to college.

When I was growing up, it was generally assumed I would go to prison. [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Thanks again for the replies.

[Robk]

Tony, if you are a winning player then someday soon you will hit on a hot streak that more than makes up for these losses- when every hand you touch turns golden. That's just how the game works- 2 steps forward and 1.9 steps back.

[gavrilo]

Longest losing streak I've had in my life is 19 Straight B&M sessions of atleast 6 hours each time where the best hand I made was two pair(twice it happened ). That's a losing streak.