downswing or isap?

[Nutcracker 0]

So I'm down 50 BB today in about 500 hands and starting to wonder if I just suck at poker. I moved up to 1/2 about a week ago and had never experienced a downswing quite like this at .5/1 and below. The games are starting to get more aggressive at 1/2, making me think variance would be higher. Do downswings like this happen to most everyone at this level or is this an indicator that I suck and need to move back down? What's the worst downswings that winning players can generally expect at 1/2 and 2/4?

[TheIceman05 0]

You're down 50 bets? Slag off, it happens.Ice

[MBrady 0]

100 BB in a day is pretty bad, but totally possible. I've been doing pretty well for the last month or so, but right before that I had hit a rut of about -100BB (at 1-2) over 2-3 days.Sometimes you play good poker...and still lose. 50 BB sucks, but is definitely not the worst you will ever see. When I first moved up to 2-4 I dropped 75BB in 2 days. Then I went down to 1-2 again.Just remember that when you win 50BB in a session, you are not the god of poker. And whenyou lose 50 BB you are not the world's worst poker player.

[Mattnxtc 0]

ive had 50 BB swings in a session several times playin 1/2 6 max...its just understood that it happens...50BB loss can mean many things...could mean u have been playing to loose and dumpin chips off stupidly...could mean that you lost a few big hands that cost u...if u have pt go back and take a look and see what it is...u will either find that u just got sucked out on...or that u are playing a little fishy

[Nutcracker 0]

My VP$IP today was around 16%, so I was a tad carddead, certainly not playing fishy. I can think of a few pots where I lost a good 15+BB pot to a gutshot or something, but that's not so rare.. The worst was probably a 4 way cap PF with AA that lost when JT and AT each rivered their gutshot on a J972 board.I guess I was just really lucky at .25/.50 and .5/1, or the worse play at those levels made it a lot easier to avoid downswings, but I'm definately in a better frame of mind now, thanks. Just hope I don't go down 100 BB in 2 days, heh.

[mjd 0]

50BB in 500 hands is a little quick, but certainly nothing to panic about. Keep it solid. review your PT stats. Reread SSHE to reaffirm your values.Don't wuss-out. Look for ways to get better. There's probably nothing wrong and you'll probably hit an upswing soon. But, if you're aggressive about becoming better, you'll feel better AND you'll make more money.

[troutsmart 0]

A regular player will experience such a downturn every 7-10K hands would be my guesstimate. I don't know, Smash would be able to give you a more actuarate number with his huge database. Larger swings do happen as well. I usually have a -100 BB downswing every 25K hands or so. Take a step back, review your hand histories, and start playing again if you don't see anything amiss. Most downswings are corrected shortly if you play through them. The key is simply to keep your head, and don't do anything drastic. If you're adequetly bankrolled, and playing correctly, you'll soon be back on track. On a sidenote: I did go through what I didn't think was possible from April- June of this year. I was down well in excess of 100BB by May. I've just now recovered back to my April peak in my bankroll. That was a combination of bad variance, and bad play. The bad play was almost undetectable at first, but was rooted in my river play, and folding too much. Bottom line: I got shell shocked and turned into a coward on the river. I believe I could have avoided the 3 month recession of my bankroll if I had stepped down one level earlier than I did and looked closer at my hand histories and pokertracker stats. Good luck to you.

[GamblinLeaf 0]

30-50BB is a standard losing session. 100BB downswings come around every few thousand hands. If you get down 150BB then take a good, hard look at your play. It could STILL easily be variance at that point, but it could also be leaks. But at 50BB ... just keep on playin'.