Coping with a downswing.

Pysterman

I normally make a small but steady profit playing NL4, punctuated with some larger ups and downs when the big hands come along (more ups than downs).

Over my last few sessions though I have been tearing my hair out. I feel that I'm playing exactly the same way as I usually play, but nothing is working! I just can't seem to win a pot of any decent value.

It seems that...

When I raise preflop with a good hand I miss the flop a disproportionate amount of times. Even in good c-betting scenarios where I can often take the pot down anyway, my c-bets are not working and I have to give up.

Whenever I do hit the flop hardish (e.g. top pair, good kicker), my raise always seems to be folded or called/raised by a better hand. For example today, played AK, flop came KQx, opponent had KQ. But when I have JK and the flop comes JJx, of course my bet is folded.

Whenever I flop a very good hand, someone always seems to have an even better one. For example, I flopped a set of 7's in a 3-way pot, everyone ends up all-in, and someone else had flopped a set of Js. Or today I hit the nut straight on the turn, chips went all in, the other guy had a set and made full house on the river.

I get dealt AA and of course everyone folds pre-flop.

It's just not happening!!!

Basically, whenever I get a playable hand, either I can't extract any value or get 1-upped and end up losing a hefty pot.

Now I know about variance and all that and I'm sure that's it's just a bad run of luck - I'm not thinking that Sky is deliberately stacking the cards against me - but what do you guys think about ways of coping?

Would you just try to play your normal game and trust the probabilities? Or would you adjust your playing style slightly, at least until you perceive that the cards are running normally again?

(I feel that I am still playing my normal game, but it's getting more and more difficult to play my strong hands aggressively because I just feel that my opponent(s) will either just fold, or if they call me I just 'know' that they'll have or they'll hit a better hand.)

Pysterman

PS: I'm about 2½ buy-ins down over my last 373 hands, which I know isn't disastrous, but it's the consistency of the losses and the lack of decent-sized pot wins over that time that's grating at me. It's not come from 1 or 2 massive suck-outs.

For example, out of those 373 hands at NL4, I have only made a profit of more than 50p on 5 occasions, and the highest of those was only £1.20.

AMYBR

I think keeping cool and not overcommitting, nor varying your BI's is an achiement in itself.  Takes more dicipline that most can manage.

Dudeskin8

Strange you should make this post as I'm going through a similar period at the moment, basically just stuck in a little rut despite playing my normal solid game which has been profitable previously (18 BI's up last month over just under 10k hands, currently 3 down this month).

For me though as I presume for you too it's just a case pf plowing on and riding it out. If your bankroll is still at a level where playing NL4 is comfortable (20+ BI's for me) than you'll be fine mate.

SCHOF78

seriously messed up downswing tonight lost the following hands:

TSP tourney: JJ lost to 3 2 off
40 quid lost in dym's lost the following hands:

AK lost to A10 to bloody straight

88 lost to K2!!

these are all people calling me by the way!!

and people laugh when people say Sky Poker rewards bad players hmmm.....

Pysterman

In Response to Re: Coping with a downswing.:

seriously messed up downswing tonight lost the following hands: TSP tourney: JJ lost to 3 2 off 40 quid lost in dym's lost the following hands: AK lost to A10 to bloody straight 88 lost to K2!! these are all people calling me by the way!! and people laugh when people say Sky Poker rewards bad players hmmm.....
Posted by SCHOF78

Sorry you've had a bad evening.

However, my intention for this thread wasn't to complain about bad luck. [I think there are other Forum Topics for that.] I'm having a rough ride at the moment, but I've had my fair share of hot spells too.

I was more interested in discussing strategies for coping with or counteracting a (perceived?) spell of bad luck. Should you adapt your play if you believe that the cards are against you at the moment? Strategies to avoid tilting, perhaps.

walesboy

had this the other day all within first 5 minutes or so at NL4
QQ v AA - called his 5bb pre, flop Qxx - raise, reraise ,allin, turn A
Q10 v AA - flop Q10x - allin, turn A
AA v Q10 - flop Q10

3 BI's down just like that!.
Took  a while but grinded it all back by playing the same way.

If a downswing carries on I take a break for a day or 2 but when I come back I still play the same way

BLACK_MASS

In Response to Re: Coping with a downswing.:

In Response to Re: Coping with a downswing. : Sorry you've had a bad evening. However, my intention for this thread wasn't to complain about bad luck. [I think there are other Forum Topics for that.] I'm having a rough ride at the moment, but I've had my fair share of hot spells too. I was more interested in discussing strategies for coping with or counteracting a (perceived?) spell of bad luck. Should you adapt your play if you believe that the cards are against you at the moment? Strategies to avoid tilting, perhaps.
Posted by Pysterman

You can modify your starting hand selection to decrease variance but overall it's not good poker.
Just do what Dohhh tells you to do and everything will work out alright in the end.
Remember too that some people lose thousands in a day here playing better poker than we can ever understand.
Anyone for monkey tennis ?

delaney09

a few ways coping with a downswing

grind it out ie play more or play less but more tables and hope it all just evens out

take a break ( period of break your own choice) until you feel confident agai... confidence is a big aspect when running bad in poker if you lose all confidence in your play you find yourself losing a lot more money then you would when playing your A game

finally if you can find it in the clinic read Dohhhhhs guid to NL4 has every single thing you need, things will start to change for you in the end which im sure you know... just got to keep at it its tough when you just get beats after beats and massive losig days followed by marginal winning days but it will all iron it self out in the end as long as you stick to your A game

hope you start turning decent profitable sessions again soon good luck

grantorino

2.5 buy ins in <400 hands is just standard variance, it hardly even counts as a downswing

if you are tilting stop playing, if not just keep making the right plays you will come good

jugglegeek

How many tables do you play at once? I used to play just 2 or four tablels at NL4 and found these downswing times really depressing. Recently I started playing 8-10 tablets and I genuinely don't care if my aces get cracked by kings after getting it in pre-flop, or if I get it all in with a set on the flop and the villian has flopped a better set. I don't because by the time my opponent calls my all in or the hand is over I'm already playing other hands on other tablets and I don't watch the cards come over. I just check the ballance at the end of the hand. This way there is no emotion. I just know that I made the correct decision getting all my money in.

Give it a go and see if it helps.

grantorino

I dont think attempting to play 10 tables is the way to combat a downswing if he only plays 1-2 now

unknown_username

This sounds like something i went through a couple of months ago. I really struggled for 3 to 4 weeks. I blamed the villains, i blamed the site, i played more, i played less, i switched to STT's then to MTT's. None of it worked lol.

You know what sorted it out? I went on a 5 day break with our lass to the Lake district and it stopped me from playing for a few days. I got back and looked over a few hand histories and it became clear that it had affected my game and i was playing differently. From there i got back on the horse and i ahve been happily grinding away ever since. Might be worth a look back at some of yours, it could help.

Have a break if it really is affecting you. Go to the Lakes! ;-)