Kicking the downswing

Ok we have all been here, I know this. But what do you guys do to shake a downswing? In the last two weeks I've dropped 8 buyins at 25NL, some at FTP and some at Party and I have to admit I am very frustrated.

It seems that every time I have a flush or a straight that the board pairs and I am second best. AK etc seems to be missing on flops constantly and no draws are coming in.

Now I know that this is fairly standard, what I'm wondering is what do you guys do at the table to get through. Just plug on?

The board pairing has been happening a fair bit and I've found myself thinking I'm either getting bluffed or being a POW, either way I'm losing. At 25NL should I be dropping back to a foldathon and just peddle the nuts? Surely people will catch onto this. Should I just change to FR for a bit? What do you do?

Re-evaluate your play. Go through hand histories, analyse and post difficult hands here.

I also tighten up a bit when going bad. And don't tilt! Just play your game, believe in yourself and have patience. If you are a decent player, which you are, or will become after re-evaluating your play, you'll win again...especially at 25NL.

You can nut-peddle at 25NL, no problem. One thing I always look at is scare cards that seem to excite my opp.......chances are, it actually DID help him, and I can destroy his implied odds by laying my now-2nd best hand down.

Conversely, when the scare card is working FOR me, he won't lay down his 2nd best hand, and he may not be phased by that happening once or twice, but it happens over and over again, and therein lies my (& your) edge over folks like that - if you continue to make them overpay "just to see your hand". (So many of them will "just have to see if you're bluffing", and they become bona fide, chip-spewing ATMs)

When I'm having a bad downswing I usually tilt a bit and start playing all streets too aggressively. I call it "win the money back fast" syndrome. I try to force the money back to me. This is very bad.

Recently I've been testing something with good results. My aggression factors for all streets are approx. 3.5/2.5/1.5 when I'm playing _my_ best winning poker. I make a new PT database and start keeping my eye on the stats. When I play my bad tilty style the stats jump up to 4.5/3.5/2.5 or something like that. I tighten up and play more "suspicious" poker until the stats are normal again and at this point I've always noticed I make money once again.

It could be something else for you when you're in a downswing or tilting. For me it's the aggression, for you it could be various other reasons like playing too many hands PF etc. Use the poker tracker to find out what's wrong. If you notice the stats are as usual when you're playing your normal winning game you can blame the variance, forget about the beats and keep grinding.

Good luck.

Ive recently gone on a 5 buy in downswing at 25 NL and decided to drop to 10NL until i feel comfortable again. I feel as though what Jupt3r said happens to me as well. My agression goes way up and I start double or even tripple barreling, and under betting my very premium hands trying to get people to stay in the pot so i can make my money back

Ive begun posting many of my big losing hands out of poker tracker, getting input from various members, and looking at my game as a broken car as of late, not an unnlucky one. wow that was a dumb analogy.

but anyways good luck

you may want to take a short break if you're having a downswing (like two days or so) then just reevaluate your play after every hand and be happy when you get your money in with the best of it, dont let the bad beats tilt you.
if you keep having trouble it probably means you're just outskilled, read some material, watch videos, read posts and and adapt your play. Also dont be afraid to drop down a limit to give your bankroll a breather, for NL holdem you should have 20 times the max buyin (20x25$=500$).

Oh yes since you play at Party, dont look further its rigged XD