Handle bad cards, handle a loss and handle a bad week...

I'm planning to take a few days off right now, after a very bad week...
Played for about two months. Won at first, but now lost all of it in one week time... Play NL25 $0.25/0.50 and lost $100 in three days...
At least I still have my initial BR intact...


I have leared a lot these days. Both about myself and about my play.

Now I know my reactions when I get dealt lousy hands over and over...

You continue to play hoping for your "luck" to change. When you've folded 15-20 times in a row you're not as focused as you should be when you finally get that "playable" hand like ATo or KJo... It feels like they are monster hands at the time. You want the pot too much, so you play it too aggressive, and hold on to the cards even tough it's a clear favor for your opponant... You lose...
You lose, get frustrated and... Continue... Now with even less focus!
You fold 15 times more... THEN you get that monster hand that you've been waiting for, AKs maybe, you raise good, one opponant stays in the pot, and then the flop turns you down. You keep betting because you just want that pot more than ever, you can't let go, you're so out of focus, you lose...
And continue... With no change of luck... J2o, 57o, A5o, Q3o, K9o, fold, fold, fold, fold...
When you're on the blinds hoping to play, someone else raises... So you fold...
66, KJo, AT, 88... You play... Big raise from your opponant, you fold...
Or you limp, it gets checked and the flop turns you down... You lose...

Sometimes poker feels like shit... And it's hard to play poker without cards! But I'm not saying it's impossible, just takes endurance... This is what I've learned this week... Losses where inevitable but they could have been reduced with better endurance, maybe 50-60%...

It's almost as if the programmers of the poker-software meant this to happen, to make me more "addicted"... To make me say I HAVE TO PLAY AGAIN... MORE, MORE, MORE... I HAVE TO WIN IT ALL BACK!
Instead of taking a break... Come back... Continue to play tight, continue to fold, and continue with better knowledge on how I will react until this bad spell ends...

I WILL BE BACK!!!
I WILL WIN AGAIN!!!

//Ex

Nice post, Ex. I've been having the same sort of luck lately. After going about a month and a half with the cards coming my way (in home games, MTTs, and SNGs), the cards, skill, and luck has run dry for me. I've done the same thing, losing focus after folding 10-20 hands in a row....and then sure enough, I get a semi-good hand and think it's absolutely GREAT. No matter what the flop tells me I am practically "married" to the hand. Instead of jumping off, I usually go down the with ship in these situations...

My play hasn't been terrible...I've busted out of a few SNGs early playing like an idiot, but I learned from them. I've bubbled twice in a row now and know it's just a matter of time before things start happening for me again.

(On a side note...The same thing happened in my house tournament on Tuesday, except my luck changed. I think A8s and KQo were my only two hands in the first two hours of play that I didn't play from the blinds during my first buy-in. I got trip-kings busted by trip-aces to finish that buy-in....I go ahead and rebuy, and still don't get any cards...$11 left in my stack, six players left, my stack is the smallest by at least 4 X's.....Long story short, I start throwing out AI's with crap, don't get any callers because of my tight play all night....Then I finally get some GREAT cards, throw some AI's out there and end up going from $11 to $180 in about five minutes. Un-freaking-real.)

Online, though, the cards just aren't flowing. And every time I seem to put a big 2/3 pot or full pot bet after the flop (even if I haven't flopped anything), I usually get raised and have to fold. Just hasn't been my week either....Good luck, bro.

Loose=


Lose=


Anyway I think it would be good to take some time off and gain back your focus and confidence. You'll know when you're ready to start playing again, after losing a lot I tend to just lay low for a while too, usually seems to help.

NTidd wins coolest way of pointing out a spelling error in the History of Pointing Out Spelling Errors.

Excalibur: sounds like you need a week off. In the future, though, you might apply Duke's rule to your sessions so that this doesn't snowball again.

Duke's rule: when you've dropped 30BB, quit the session. Take a walk. Have some sex, whatever.
Rationale: you're usually bummed at this point, and if you leave off as soon as you get bummed, well you don't spend ANY time playing bummed (which we all know is not going to help)

$100 sucks but think about when you were going good. You were probably taking some $20+ all-in pots. Don't go for big pots just to get your $100 back but when your luck and (most importantly) your skills improve, you'll make back the $100 and then some - over time.

You have to lose hands in order to learn. It's easier to lose a hand and learn what you did wrong than it is to play a hand incorrectly and win and still notice you got lucky. So look at it as if you are investing in your personal development. If you post your bad hands here (win or lose) you will learn from the other members.

For some reason (luck), I was winning so easily when I first started - mostly because I was overbetting everyone and they folded to my bluffs. Then one day I tried to bluff a large pot with an all-in. I lost with an inferior hand and the guy made a comment about his notes on me said "maniac". Then I came here and realized he was right. I adjusted to preflop betting and hand valuations recommended here. Some days it worked, others it didn't. It works great when you get the cards. But, there is so much more to learn (especially when you don't get the cards). Some is tactical and others you only get from experience. I'm still learning and I usually can tell if I made a questionable call. I post it here and get b*tch-slapped But the next time that situation happens, I know the correct play.

Anyway, if you love playing then don't give up.

That's my biggest problem when I venture from my safe Sit n Go arena to cash games. I loose some money and look to go all in and make some back quick.

My patience level has been getting better though so hopefully soon Ill meet my goal of being a consistent cash game player.

Originally Posted by NTidd

Loose=


Lose=


Anyway I think it would be good to take some time off and gain back your focus and confidence. You'll know when you're ready to start playing again, after losing a lot I tend to just lay low for a while too, usually seems to help.

I you.

-'rilla

Originally Posted by LeFou

NTidd wins coolest way of pointing out a spelling error in the History of Pointing Out Spelling Errors.

Yeah, if I had thought of that, I would have saved a gotten out of a lot of fist fights and stab wounds.

Originally Posted by Zangief

Originally Posted by LeFou

NTidd wins coolest way of pointing out a spelling error in the History of Pointing Out Spelling Errors.

Yeah, if I had thought of that, I would have saved a gotten out of a lot of fist fights and stab wounds.

Zangieff wins weirdest way of saying whatever he was trying to say.

I've been playing Hold'em in some form or another for over a year now, but only online for real money for 2 weeks. I had my first seriously bad beat yesterday:

I had won two horseraces where I had the edge, back to back. I had taken my $25 buy-in at .25/.50 on Pokerroom.com to $62.50. I had big eyes for $100, and it was my largest single day gain to date. Flying high, I decided to take a shot at pushing the others around with my big stack. The very next hand, I get AQs. I raise, get called. Flop comes AKQ. I move heavy, get called. Two rags fall down, and the bets get bigger and bigger. The showdown shows his trips to my AAQQK. 30 bucks down the tubes, my profits minimal now.

I have never felt like that before. A wave of sickness enveloped me like I was diving into tepid water. Shellshocked, I tried to play a pair of 10s hard and lost to overcards drawing out on the river, down another 6 bucks and under my starting value. I felt like I got punched in the stomach, was sad, angry, totally and irrevocably on tilt like never before.

I sat out a hand, tried to take stock of the last two hands and when I couldnt get the red haze away from my eyes and try to have two sensible thoughts put together, I left. I figured out quickly that I was in no shape to play poker, and would only go through the rest of my stack in seconds.

The next day I won 8 bucks in 2 minutes before I got ready for work, and left while I was up.

Moral of the story? When things start to cascade against you, get out and try again later when you're thinking more clearly and with a better attitude.

Originally Posted by LeFou

Originally Posted by Zangief

Originally Posted by LeFou

NTidd wins coolest way of pointing out a spelling error in the History of Pointing Out Spelling Errors.

Yeah, if I had thought of that, I would have saved a gotten out of a lot of fist fights and stab wounds.

Zangieff wins weirdest way of saying whatever he was trying to say.

Heheheheh. I hate it when I modify what I write and make it look like I can't speak English. If you remove "saved a" from the sentence it makes more sense.

Hello again guys! Or what ever...
Right now I'm really drunk...
I have argued with my girlfriend, lost my frieds at de disco, and I´m still so angry that I'll slap anything that argues with me....

What shall I do now? That's the question? Shakespeare was wrong....
Blaaaaaaaaaaaaa I'm drunk................
bla bla bla bla

F-ck this shit...
I'll win your ass back...

If a KJo comes up I'll wrench my cards............
If a ATo comes up, I'll wrench my cards..........
If you're a dealer I'll slapp your ass..............

And if anyone fucks whit me... I'll fuck you up BIGTIME!!!!!!!!!
Thank you and good bye.............
Fuck I´m drunk...
I met a girl from California this night, She was studing in a fuckass town in Sweden, called Kristianstad. I think I got her thoughts right...

But what the hell.... Who gives the shit anyway...

I'm drunk.... And happy!

It's like the saying says; "Woman is the god damn rake. The god damn rake..."

//Ex

There IS still an edit post feature right? :P

Originally Posted by Excalibur

Hello again guys! Or what ever...
Right now I'm really drunk...
I have argued with my girlfriend, lost my frieds at de disco, and I´m still so angry that I'll slap anything that argues with me....


//Ex

First of all, I'm not sure this is really appropriate.

Second of all... Discos Still Exist? I demand an official FTR fieldtrip!

Fuack you ex you p-ssy light weight ho! I cold tke u!!11

yer chikn shut!111

LOLOLOL

you not as think as you drunk you is!

you type tooooo g0000t tooo be crunk.

and dnot you EVER touch mah arse, cracka!

i kill you fool
i kill you dead!

i need a bottle to break and kill you wif

afk lookin fer a big ass bottle

-'runk

I lost 1500$ in a few weeks and now all of a sudden I can't seem to lose. I have won at least 100$ every day for 12 days straight now. I guess thats poker..

This is my BIGGEST leak, playing when I'm not in the mood or upset. Because I haven't gotten over it yet, I've returned to SnGs until I get my head on straight.

Hmmm...

I can't hardly remember that I wrote that...

I'm impressed by myself... Thought there would be even MORE spelling mistakes.

It's HARD to push those keys in that condition!

This is a little late, but greatest post ever ntidd. Go sox.

Well I suppose my previous post was worth the extra effort

Originally Posted by NTidd

Well I suppose my previous post was worth the extra effort

Read again... 8-)
But if I write "loose" again, maybe you correct me with another beautiful example???

loose, loose, loose, loose, loose, loose, loose, loose, loose, loose, loose, loose, loose, loose, loose, loose, loose, loose, loose, loose, loose, loose, loose, loose, loose, loose, loose, loose, loose, loose, loose, loose, loose, loose, loose, loose, loose, loose, loose, loose, loose, loose, loose, loose,

OK?

I got nothin'.