I'm ready to cash out!

[Sendachi 0]

OK guys, I need a little help here. This isn't a bad beat story (I know we're all tired of those). But I'm on such a monster downswing, I'm about ready to cash out and buy some golf clubs.I've been playing online regularly for about 6 weeks. Over that time, I've had up's and down's but trended upwards overall. One week ago, I had worked my way to 6 times my starting buy in. But for the last week, I suddenly can't do anything right. I've lost half my bankroll.I'm losing 4 out of 5 coin toss races. I can't remember the last time I made any money with AA or KK (either they get cracked or everyone folds). And smacktards are "incorrectly" calling my big bets with draws - and hitting them nearly every time! I'm logging almost no winning sessions.So I'm very frustrated and I need to know if anyone else has gone through this. If this continues, I'm afraid of busting out.Does this happen? Do I just suck? Did I post this in the wrong forum? Do I need Jesus in my life?All opinions welcome.

[looshle 6]

I assume you're playing NL. If you are, move to limit. I personally only really play NL tournaments. If you're playing limit, step it down a limit and make sure you have 300X the big bet. Make sure you don't have any major leaks in your game like calling ATo to a raise preflop. NL cash game swings are horrible, it's much easier playing limit because when you are sucked out on, your losses are well, limited. This weeds the good players from the bad players after a while. A pot in limit poker can only get so big, so pots where your hand holds up and when it gets sucked out on should be fairly comparable.In NL you could win a race with AK vs JJ for a $5 pot, and then lose with QQ vs AK for a $500 pot. You're expected to win roughly 50-52% of the time so right now you're 1 for 2, just about right, but still down $297.50. It's things like that that can drive you crazy.

[Uppie_ 0]

Part of the game for the most part i think. But a good thing to do is keep a journal or even a poker buddy that watches you play from time to time to see if you have changed anything. A lot of the time like in baseball or golf you changed something slight with your game and that has affected your play. If you keep a journal you can track you sessions and record how you played hands, big hands you won and how, big hands lost and how. how often you earned a pot or if you were only winning pots with the nuts. If your losing analze your game and see if something has changed, a lot of times when people are losing they try to make it back in one hand and then lose more cause they used bad judgement, they might not even be steaming just going for the big win instead of playing, i know i do if from time to time.And maybe try to avoid some coin flips pre flop in ring games and touraments when you can instead out play them after the flop. better to win small then lose big. But after the flop doese depend on your skill level but is a skill you need to be a good player. I am sure you don't suck but finding jesus or the poker gods might help and if it does let me know. Good luck at the tables

[ElToasto 0]

i'm in the middle of that big down swing as well. I've ended up having to move down from 5-10 stud to 1-2 in the past 48 hours. Some sick #$%@ happens sometimes, your not alone but what can you do. I'm off to play halo 2 and kill some aliens to blow off the steam while whats left of my bankroll sits quietly in the account, neither increasing nor decreasing. and by the way, i no longer believe in statistics, probabilites, or any math for that matter. 2+2 might as well equal 30 in my eyes right now. Maybe some time off will restore my faith.sorry for the whining but just needed to let it out

[Sendachi 0]

I assume you're playing NL. If you are, move to limit. I personally only really play NL tournaments. If you're playing limit, step it down a limit and make sure you have 300X the big bet. Make sure you don't have any major leaks in your game like calling ATo to a raise preflop. NL cash game swings are horrible, it's much easier playing limit because when you are sucked out on, your losses are well, limited. This weeds the good players from the bad players after a while. A pot in limit poker can only get so big, so pots where your hand holds up and when it gets sucked out on should be fairly comparable.In NL you could win a race with AK vs JJ for a $5 pot, and then lose with QQ vs AK for a $500 pot. You're expected to win roughly 50-52% of the time so right now you're 1 for 2, just about right, but still down $297.50. It's things like that that can drive you crazy.

I used to play a fair amount of limit as a hobby. Since I've been playing more seriously, I enjoy NL much better. 1 - 2 BB per hour seemed like a grind and you can't bet enough to protect a good hand. I started playing NL ring games, then moved to STT's where I enjoyed a fair amount of success. I was cashing 1/3 to 1/2 of the time. Also, in an STT going all in doesn't mean losing your BR. The worst case is busting out of the STT and losing your entry fee.I feel like my play is fairly solid. I've done a lot of reading and logged nearly 150 hours in the last 6 weeks.I'm just hitting a real nasty streak where I can't hit a flop or win a race. I'm wondering if my assessment of my play is wrong and I've just been lucky when winning. Or if this kind of brutal downswing just happens once in a while and I need to be prepared for it.

[Sendachi 0]

And maybe try to avoid some coin flips pre flop in ring games and touraments when you can instead out play them after the flop. better to win small then lose big. But after the flop doese depend on your skill level but is a skill you need to be a good player. I am sure you don't suck but finding jesus or the poker gods might help and if it does let me know. Good luck at the tables

Post flop play is an area I've identified in my game that needs improvement. Right now, I play it pretty straight forward. I bet if I have something and fold if I don't while mixing in occasional positional bluff.I think you're right, though. I need to not let my tournament come down to a coin toss if I still have plenty of time and chips. It's just *very* difficult for me to not shove in when I have AA and get re-raised (and lately that move has been the kiss of death).

[steve7stud 0]

I'm not sure where you live. But, if you do live near a casino, I would suggest playing there instead. I personally can't stand playing online anymore. Unfortunately, not everyone lives in a city where they have live poker. But I would venture to say that, playing live would be the best altarnative. I don't want to go into too much detail, but if you can, I would certainly tell you to play live whenever possible. Good Luck.

[Smasharoo 0]

I used to play a fair amount of limit as a hobby. Since I've been playing more seriously, I enjoy NL much better. 1 - 2 BB per hour seemed like a grind and you can't bet enough to protect a good hand.Bless your little heart

[Sendachi 0]

I'm not sure where you live. But, if you do live near a casino, I would suggest playing there instead. I personally can't stand playing online anymore. Unfortunately, not everyone lives in a city where they have live poker. But I would venture to say that, playing live would be the best altarnative. I don't want to go into too much detail, but if you can, I would certainly tell you to play live whenever possible. Good Luck.

I appreciate the suggestion and I'm not arguing it. But flesh this out for me. How would playing onland improve the experience for me?

[Smasharoo 0]

I appreciate the suggestion and I'm not arguing it. But flesh this out for me. How would playing onland improve the experience for me?Free drinks mostly.

[Sendachi 0]

I appreciate the suggestion and I'm not arguing it. But flesh this out for me. How would playing onland improve the experience for me?Free drinks mostly.

Fewer hands per hour, dealer and waitperson tips, little table selection, no multi-tabling.I'm not crapping on it, this has just been my perception of onland vs online.

[Sendachi 0]

As long as you're here Smash, tell me....Have you ever had a nasty drought where you could just do nothing right? Does that happen? Or is it possible there's a nasty leak in my play and the winning I've done to date was lucky?And what is your thought on NL profitability vs limit?

[Smasharoo 0]

Have you ever had a nasty drought where you could just do nothing right? Does that happen?I play probably 20,000 or so hands a month at 3/6, sometimes more, very rarely less. If I go a month without a 70BB downswing, I'm amazed. Or is it possible there's a nasty leak in my play and the winning I've done to date was lucky?And what is your thought on NL profitability vs limit?I think NL is probably easier to learn to beat and that limit is where the money is if you can play enough hands.The biggest benefit to limit is that if you're a winning player playing more hands fixes everything, and if you're a losing player it becomes pretty clear pretty quickly. If you're in it for the money, I'd say learn to play limit well. If you're in it for the chalenge or the action or whatever, stick with NL, there's money there too, but there's going to be more mid-term variance and if you change your play even slightly when you're having a bad run you're looking at a ptnetial catastrophe where in limit if you do the same you're looking at a slightly worse downswing untill you correct.

[deadlysyns 0]

As long as you're here Smash, tell me....Have you ever had a nasty drought where you could just do nothing right? Does that happen? Or is it possible there's a nasty leak in my play and the winning I've done to date was lucky?And what is your thought on NL profitability vs limit?

Poker has its up and downs regardless what type of game you play: NL or limit. Both games have its positives and its negatives. You cant go completely bust in limit on a bad beat. In no limit you try to win that one big pot where you double/triple up your buyin but in the same token you can also lose your entire buyin on one hand. You may go all in with the best hand preflop but if that one card hits the wrong way, you can lose your entire stack. Its the nature of the game. Most pros play limit because the swings are not as huge as in NL. More money is made playing limit in the long run.I used to play strictly NL cash game and thought limit really sucked because you could not protect your hand. I started playing 1/2 Limit to give it a try. I lost of course, but once I figured the dynamics of the limit game I adjusted to the game and the players. My NL game has improved because of what I learned playing Limit. It opened my eyes to how players play differently in limit. I used to think that you could not protect your hand in limit but from PokerOffice my most profitable hands are AA and KK. I am currently playing 15/30 online. I will still play NL only in a live setting though. I wont play it online.Do you use any poker programs that keeps track of your hands? You can post some of your hand history here and we can critique your play.

[Guest]

play NL only in MTT or STT's.learn how to play and beat limit cash/ring games.seems simple.