How do you guys deal with a bad run?

FeetMagic

For those of you who have been playing regularly for a while now its clear that as a poker player you have to be able to deal with bad spells as well as bad beats. Atm Im in the middle of a pretty poor run of luck having lost close to half my bankroll over the last 7 days. Things havent balanced out like they're supposed to, ie. Im losing far more races than Im winning, Im getting outdrawn far more often than Im outdrawing. Its gotten so frustrating that today I didnt even play the IPC which I was looking forward to for quite a while. Investing 2k in a tournament after my last few days just didnt look too good. Anyway im looking for advice from the players who are completely accustomed to this by now. What is some good advice for when you're on a terrible run? Take a few days off? Play less? Buy something new for yourself?
Thanks guys.

a-k-47

If your well bank rolled and have a decent rb deal, then just play through it. I found travelling does the job, take a holiday, dont play for awhile, read back on the strat threads on the forum etc when your ready to come back fresh.

dannydiamond

Alcohol.

gondorff

Tilt sometimes helps. Failing that, Amitriptyline.

Donkathon

Yeah tilt is great for forgetting about money lost the previous week and if you do it just right the week before will seem like you just won a wsop title, its a tricky feat to accomplish but if you really put your heart and soul into it it can be done!

bubbleking

Donkathon wrote: »

Yeah tilt is great for forgetting about money lost the previous week and if you do it just right the week before will seem like you just won a wsop title, its a tricky feat to accomplish but if you really put your heart and soul into it it can be done!

i think tilt is the very thing the OP is trying to avoid...iv been having the same sort of luck myself since the festive season started and its absolutely soul destroying but as a-k-47 said the only thing you can do is get the head down play through it and weather the storm and be secure in the knowledge that lucksacking fish will run out of luck.......eventually

Bluefoam

Put it all on black!

Goodluck2me

take a week off poker completely and do other things, see that there's more to life etc.

FuttBucker

i also have been on a horrible run, cant seem to win a hand where im a 3-1 fav or better, im thinking of taking a break but the money is good...

DAMO72

I have been on a run of bad luck since feb '08, then i realised that i was just a bad player and needed to study my game more to be able to move forward. I got a bit of advice from a couple of players and boardsies and some very good pointers from 1 man in particular that i admire as a top player and took time to help me via PM on here ,and to him i would like to say TVM .I also found that posting hands on the hand history threads was very helpfull to get other peoples opinion on the way they look at different situations and would have done things their way , people like LuckyLloyd ,flushdraw ,semibluff and even though we have our differences of opinion jackyback also, these are guy's that study the game at lenght and are willing to help any1 with their advice. Also try Pokerswat , its a new training site that could be very helpfull. Best of luck to you and i hope it turn's around for you as i hope it also does for me in '09 .

a147pro

ditto, I am on a €3000 MTT losing streak over last 4 months and my account is now empty for the first time in a year. Ran bad at times but definitely played bad and cavalier too.

Think I'm just going to take a break now as I think my life would be a lot better without trying to make time to play on line.

The Snapper

Any of you guys think the online game just gets tougher and tougher ?

flushje

Move down levels?

FuttBucker

The Snapper wrote: »

Any of you guys think the online game just gets tougher and tougher ?

ye players are just getting better, lets this russian poker boom kicks off and adds some more fishies to the water:D

Donkathon

are you kiddin all the russian players i have ever seen play are actually above par, tend to blow up a lot of the time though

Mr.Plough

Taking a break is dumb if you ever want to get any hands in.

Play when you want to, don't force yourself to play. You'll find it's not all bad luck that you're just playing bad aswell.

So just play through it and go busto, then you won't have to worry about variance

Tight Ted

Mr.Plough wrote: »

Taking a break is dumb if you ever want to get any hands in.

Play when you want to, don't force yourself to play. You'll find it's not all bad luck that you're just playing bad aswell.

So just play through it and go busto, then you won't have to worry about variance

??? When you're playing you get your hands in, when you're on break you're on break? It's not like your going on break everytime you've a 3BI downswing.

Van Dice

^^ yeah, what Mr Plough said.
Don't play when you don't feel like you'll be playing your A game.
Though even running badly, I don't think you should have lost close to half your bankroll in a week. That sounds like really bad money management

Mr.Plough

Tight Ted wrote: »

??? When you're playing you get your hands in, when you're on break you're on break? It's not like your going on break everytime you've a 3BI downswing.

wat

Van Dice

this was running badly over the last week :mad:
doesn't even take into account folding a set or two pair in a big pot on the river 5 times, or folding KK in a 3bet pot 3 times. yay poker

FeetMagic, also try reviewing sessions more than usual, look over the bigger pots and post lots of them either here or on twoplustwo

Tight Ted

I don't understand what you're saying.

"Taking a break is dumb if you ever want to get any hands in."

You can still play lots of hands and take the odd break.

But don't bother explaining yourself. Childish comebacks are perfectly acceptable.

Mr.Plough

Tight Ted wrote: »

I don't understand what you're saying.

"Taking a break is dumb if you ever want to get any hands in."

You can still play lots of hands and take the odd break.

But don't bother explaining yourself. Childish comebacks are perfectly acceptable.

I assumed what I said was perfectly clear. If you take a break every time you run remotely bad(i.e a 3 bi downswing) you'll get less hands in.

Bluefoam

It amazes me how stupid people are. You can't win against online companies.You only win when they want you to win. I did some work for a bookie recently and it was scary what he told me. There is no risk from their end. Their computer systems are so sophisticated you can't beat them.

doke

If you think it's affecting your game, it's definitely advisable to take a break. If it's not but it's affecting you emotionally more than is acceptable, then a break is also advisable.

A break doesn't have to be a total break. My breaks tend to take the form of doing something different, like play a crap load of low stakes super turbo headsup STTs, limit cash, Omaha or whatever. You can use your break to work on some specific aspect of your game, or learn a new variant. Reading during breaks is good too. It's also good to have some sort of support system with other players, who can help keep you focused on the big (long term) picture rather than short term losses/variance. It's also important to try to get an idea of whether it's really all just variance, or your game is off slightly.

Mr.Plough

Bluefoam wrote: »

It amazes me how stupid people are. You can't win against online companies.You only win when they want you to win. I did some work for a bookie recently and it was scary what he told me. There is no risk from their end. Their computer systems are so sophisticated you can't beat them.

yeah

phantom_lord

Bluefoam wrote: »

It amazes me how stupid people are.

it never amazes me tbh.

digiman

Bluefoam wrote: »

You can't win against online companies.You only win when they want you to win.

Tell that to Phil Ivey, oh wait he owns full tilt. Say it to durrrr or jman then.

To be honest you probably are getting mixed up with non skill games such as online blackjack and roulette

phantom_lord

digiman wrote: »

Tell that to Phil Ivey, oh wait he owns full tilt.

phil ivey was the biggest winner on full tilt last year, coincidence???!!!! i think not!

Tight Ted

Mr.Plough wrote: »

yeah

Impressive graph, but how much did they LOSE?

mdwexford

Bluefoam wrote: »

It amazes me how stupid people are. You can't win against online companies.You only win when they want you to win. I did some work for a bookie recently and it was scary what he told me. There is no risk from their end. Their computer systems are so sophisticated you can't beat them.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

I would like to say take a break but i normally just play through it unless i feel like i am playing very badly and causing my own problems.
A typical example of last nights session below getting ****ed over in 4/5 decent size pots at 2/4 3/6 but you gotta keep peddling.