Counteracting laggy style when running bad...

So i have had a couple of spewwy sessions this month, more spewwier than ever before. I think it might be cos i have been running hot through whole january and that i am not mentally strong enough handling some downswings.

So... Why am I tightening up when i run good at the tables, and playing very loose and aggressive when i run bad/am on tilt?

I think Doyle has suggested to do the opposite but i find it easier to do this in theory than in practice...

Do u guys have any tip on how to counteract this?

I do it too sometimes. I think the reason is you think a) "I need to win some pots and I can only win when I play", and b) "I can fight these guys at their own game - I don't need cards to win".

- Don't tilt
- Don't make stupid LAGgy plays (I do the same, trust me, they suck and just make you break even forever)
- If you find yourself making more than 2 stupid LAGgy plays in half an hour, quit.

Why am I tightening up when i run good at the tables

1) you don't want to turn a winning session into a loser

2) you fear playing deeper stacked

maybe leave a couple tables (esp if you've busted the fish to get the deep stack) when you're winner and see if you still feel tight on a new table. If so, it's 1 (or both), if not it's 2.

Originally Posted by Andypandy

So... Why am I tightening up when i run good at the tables, and playing very loose and aggressive when i run bad/am on tilt?

problem: playing with scared money, and trying to "get it back."

solution: drop a level...or two. or buy in shorter.

Originally Posted by Chopper

Originally Posted by Andypandy

So... Why am I tightening up when i run good at the tables, and playing very loose and aggressive when i run bad/am on tilt?

problem: playing with scared money, and trying to "get it back."

solution: drop a level...or two. or buy in shorter.

Hey, I faced this last night on Absolute where you can buy in for 200BB. I've been buyin' in at 120BB, but I loaded up full on 6 tables of 6max and immediately stacked off with AA (to JJ, of course). It sucks. I lost 400BB's or 4 normal buy-ins in my first 100 hands.

I know what you're feeling when you have these kick in the balls kind of sessions. I wanted to jump feet first into every pot. I wanted to take those dumbasses and kick a mudhole in their butts, then stomp it dry. And to do it, you have get into some pots.

How do I deal with it? I've just screwed myself over so many times attacking with marginal hands that I know better. I want to do it. I feel that mixture of desperation and hope that makes poker such a lure for the naive and inattentive, and I want to shove over the top with ATo (which, let's face it, is LIKELY ahead of their range dammit!!!).

I got back in the fight and played my game, which is hard, when you've been kicked in the nuts. I'm pretty darn proud of last night's session now that I've thought about it: down only 1.2 BI (so up 2.8 BI in last 1.1k hands ). And trust me, I had some horrendous luck, so keeping focused and making great overshoves and solid calls (AK over AQ twice when hands started holding up - thank god!) was hard.

I don't have any advice other than this: the times I've changed my approach to the game for the wrong reasons rank among the all-time worst EV decisions I've ever made, right up there with the EV you could expect playing 27o for a raise UTG

Thanks for the comments guys!

I still have a long way to go appaerantly; tuesday night i had my worst session ever losing 10-buy-ins, and maybe 5-6 of those buy-ins were due to overaggro/spewwy play looking retrospectively.
Last night started also out quite badly, lost a stack twice during the first 15 min vs two-outers, and was down 4-buy-ins at one point... once again i got the feeling u described good Robb. Luckily i got my act together and managed to break-aven for the night. Which may have helped was that i called a friend and kind of focused on other thing than the tables for while. No good strategy long-term i know but it helped me nit it up.

btw Chopper, i don't play with scared money, it's more like the opposite, when running bad i turn my attention to punishing the opponents rather than making $$$'s.

Don't play against LAggs when you're running bad, tilty or not comfortable fighting fire with fire. Just leave, it's not hard.

Phil Ivy is pretty well known for having a stop-loss strategy online.

Originally Posted by Fnord

Phil Ivy is pretty well known for having a stop-loss strategy online.

Yeah, but I guess I'd have to set the limit a bit lower than him

Originally Posted by Fnord

Don't play against LAggs when you're running bad, tilty or not comfortable fighting fire with fire.

His post said HE played LAggy when tilting, not the opponents. I guess when you can read souls, you don't have to actually read the threads you reply to.

Can you imagine that i lost my AA in a massive deep stack 100 NL preflop all-in last night? TT, QQ, AK and my rockets 4 WAY all-in preflop!!!!
whats your feeling when your opponent's TT hit runner runner straight on the river? So this really comes down to your self control and stop loss limit during your bad sessions. Also, patience and discipline are definitely the hardest part of playing solid poker for the long run. Even though i stacked off huge with my AA early on, i still bounced back and was UP a little bit playing with terrible fish/ donks
When your cards are not running very well, you should tighten up a little bit or leave the table. Seriously, i'm not a huge fan of Lagg style in normal micro-low stake ring cash games whatsoever.

Originally Posted by Robb

Originally Posted by Fnord

Don't play against LAggs when you're running bad, tilty or not comfortable fighting fire with fire.

His post said HE played LAggy when tilting, not the opponents. I guess when you can read souls, you don't have to actually read the threads you reply to.

lol wow

Just don't play when you're on tilt.