Hot streak to funk

[DirtyGamblin2Dub 0]

I've been playing a lot of $200 single table tourney's over the last year. In the past month, my game has gone from decent to great. In two weeks, I came in first or second in at least 80% of games (over15 played). In the last week though, I can't seem to get anywhere. I tend to play conservative for a while and then loosen considerably when the table gets down to about the 5th level. I seem to be getting no credit at the table and often my raises with big slick or big pair get called and I get beaten by crap. Anyway I'm not looking for technical advice, as much as, some ideas about how people break slumps. Should I take a break for a week or two? Lower the stakes? Read a book?-Dub

[koolromeo 0]

i don't know if youre doing anything wrong, but i do know if u drop stakes your raises will get called alot more and this frustrates u. what i think your problem is that you don't realize you're usually getting the best of it when your raises get called. thats why u won 80%. sometimes the fish get lucky, thats part of the game. next time u raise it with jacks and a guy with fives calls u see if youre upset when they hold. i doubt it. they usually will thats why you win. it sucks to get sucked out on, but its part of the game.

[Mister Hand 0]

I don't think that an 80% rate of finishing first or second in the SNGs is sustainable for any player. You said your game went from decent to great. Did you really start to play better, or did you go through a good run of hitting more hands?It's important to remember that a lot of "strong" hands don't win in heads up showdowns where a player is all in before the flop as often as it seems like they should. If someone has two undercards to your AK, they should still win about a third of the time. If they have an overcard to your pair (like K-8 vs your QQ, for example) they should still win about 30% of the time. And just as .300 hitters in baseball can have days when they go 3 for 4 or 4 for 5, so will poker players with weaker hands have streaks where they consistently beat you with lesser hands.Also, keep in mind that if they're short stacked and in the blinds late in the game, the pot odds force them to call with any two cards. It may not mean they don't "respect" your raise, but that they have to take a stand and hope they hit a flop.