I need help/advice!!

[Justaloser]

I'm going through a very rough losing streak right now.
I'll never call myself a great player, but I've always felt I was break even/slightly ahead. The last couple weeks I've been on a bad streak.

I like to play mostly sit and go's although I've sat down at a few ring games too. I've lost most all the money I had in the site. I do win a little but it's not nearly enough.
I've had several bad beats, but I've also started playing poorly too. I'll chase, I'll make stupid calls, I'll play loose.... ARGH. I'm just so frustrated right now.

I tried to tighten up the other night in a sit and go, and got sucked out to lose 1/3 stack and then proceeded to go right back into loose play.

It's so bad, I'm missing big things. I'm not seeing straights on the board. If there's no flush draw on the flop, I'll miss it, even if turn and river make it possible.
I'm misreading others hands.

*sigh* Do I need to start over? Begin all over again? Should I take a day off? week? Go back to the play tables?

Please help.
And I'm sure there will be smart comments about my name, but please have something useful to say as well.
Thanks

[Al_Capone_Junior]

Sounds like you need to take a little time off.

It can be very frustrating when you're on a long losing streak, trust me, we all know how it goes.

All you can do is to take enough time off to get yourself off of tilt and start playing your best game again. If you're not playing well, your losing streak will NEVER end.

al

[Justaloser]

Thanks, I've decided to pull back from playing in money games for now. Gonna stick to nightly freerolls for a few days. Read and relax.

Thanks again for the advice.

[bernie]

you found alot of holes it seems. so fix em. what's stopping you from improving? is it patience? maybe. sick of the long wait at times?

when you play sessions where you arent dealt anything playable do you start to play when you shouldnt?

i would take a break and read up, street by street. starting with starting hands again. re-ingrain it in your head. build discipline. that's a huge key. sometimes you have to wait awhile for spots to open up to play. great isnt it?

i wouldnt go back and play the tables in this state. no way. your nose is too far open. nothing will change. youll revert back to blowing chips at the first minor small bad beat.

it takes alot of hard work to not only win, but to maintain the edge. you have to constantly be working on your game. even if it means rehashing. sometimes players will forget some of the basic stuff as they learn more advanced stuff. i did. go back and relearn stuff.

get involved in the forum. test your answers against other responders to hands. AND think of it this way...these are the hands between the constant folding. (we dont post those hands)

sometimes you have to be able to endure the times when you cant get starters and you get cracked when youre in. sit and wait. and watch how the others play. many players get bored when theyre not in a hand. i think one reason is that they dont know hwo to watch a hand that theyre not involved in. just a thought.

only you can plug the leaks. you know what many are. which puts you ahead of many players right there. so do it.

it's up to you

b

ps...learning to play through bad streaks and bad beats is a very tough hurdle for many players. some never get over it. it can take a long time to learn to play through a streak. it's not going to happen overnight. it sure didnt for me. one way is to understand and really believe why you shouldnt mind getting bad beat. also learning how you play through the bad times is how you find out how good you really are. remember, everyone is great when theyre winning.

but nothing wrong with letting out a primal scream in your car on the way home from getting shelled [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[jerome baker]

thanks bernie, thats exactly waht i need to hear for myself.

[Sirens]

I suggest you take a break for atleast 2 weeks and then see if ur feeling better about your game after that. It usually works for me, i hope it does for you.
Sirens

[gilly]

I would say that you should take some time off completely away from poker (3-4 days) then read up and slowly get back into the game. Do not play at the play money games, that will just compound the problem. Those games do not help you learn to play poker.

Please don't take this as a smart ass comment. I seriously suggest changing your handle. It connotes negativity and low self-esteem which is not good for a poker player. [img]/forums/images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

[Justaloser]

>>Please don't take this as a smart ass comment. <<

I won't.

>>I seriously suggest changing your handle. It connotes negativity and low self-esteem which is not good for a poker player<<

I have considered this. The original reason for this handle was partly because of something unrelated to poker, and partly because when I first started playing, I was very tight and thought this might encourage people playing into me. The problem is that I started playing too tight, so I loosened up (and too much so). That's why I'm in this mess now ;>

[ResidentParanoid]

nothing wrong with letting out a primal scream in your car on the way home from getting shelled

I find blowing off steam harmlessly (with primal scream or whatever works for you) is very useful, and much better than steaming at the table.