Online Poker Forum at Full Tilt Poker

mathman1115 · Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2007 6:20 pm Post subject: I need piece of mind

9 handed, $1/$2 limit. I'm in a -200 Big Bet downswing right now. Anyone else experience anything like this? Its been going during about 3000 hands. I started climbing out (+55 BB) but then had a bad day today.

My AK, AQ, and AJ can't hit a flop, my KK loses to a boarded A, and i've only won the blinds the last 5 times i've raised with AA. The one time i got action i was rivered. Nothing seems to be going right, and i am a little too aggressive at times.

I'm not playing perfect, but i can't sit and watch my opponents limp with K4s UTG and win huge pots with runner runner flushes. I don't understand how they don't go broke.

I am way overrolled for this level, so that is not an issue. But it is still frustrating. I already moved down once before, and broke even over 10K hands. I take a 24 hour break after a bad day. I just can't get it going.

Are downswings this bad possible? Am i just in a bad run right now? If you have had this bad of a downswing, were you able to get out of it?

mathman1115 · Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2007 10:36 pm Post subject:

lost 70 more big blinds today. I **** give up.

This is the last hand of the night that topped it all off.

Full Tilt Poker Game #3817901076: Table Yorktown (speed) - $1/$2 - Limit Hold'em - 22:24:46 ET - 2007/10/10
Seat 1: kpoke ($62)
Seat 2: pinkyspoker ($15.25)
Seat 3: dpy150 ($13)
Seat 4: EvilBearth ($49)
Seat 5: Mongoose44 ($45.50)
Seat 6: Texas Winelady ($27.75)
Seat 7: manningssaints8 ($82)
Seat 8: Bazooka JoeIII ($81.50)
Seat 9: Mathman1115 ($13.50)
pinkyspoker posts the small blind of $0.50
dpy150 posts the big blind of $1
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Mathman1115 [7h 5h]
EvilBearth folds
Mongoose44 has 8 seconds left to act
Mongoose44 calls $1
Texas Winelady calls $1
manningssaints8 folds
Bazooka JoeIII folds
Mathman1115 calls $1
kpoke calls $1
pinkyspoker calls $0.50
dpy150 has 8 seconds left to act
dpy150 checks
*** FLOP *** [2h 4h 5s]
pinkyspoker bets $1
dpy150 calls $1
Mongoose44 has 8 seconds left to act
Mongoose44 folds
Texas Winelady calls $1
Mathman1115 raises to $2
kpoke folds
pinkyspoker calls $1
dpy150 calls $1
Texas Winelady calls $1
*** TURN *** [2h 4h 5s] [7s]
pinkyspoker checks
dpy150 checks
Texas Winelady checks
Mathman1115 bets $2
pinkyspoker folds
dpy150 calls $2
Texas Winelady calls $2
*** RIVER *** [2h 4h 5s 7s] [3c]
dpy150 checks
Texas Winelady bets $2
Mathman1115 has 8 seconds left to act
Mathman1115 calls $2
pinkyspoker adds $44.75
dpy150 folds
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Texas Winelady shows [As 6h] a straight, Seven high
Mathman1115 mucks
Texas Winelady wins the pot ($23) with a straight, Seven high
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $24 | Rake $1
Board: [2h 4h 5s 7s 3c]
Seat 1: kpoke (button) folded on the Flop
Seat 2: pinkyspoker (small blind) folded on the Turn
Seat 3: dpy150 (big blind) folded on the River
Seat 4: EvilBearth didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: Mongoose44 folded on the Flop
Seat 6: Texas Winelady showed [As 6h] and won ($23) with a straight, Seven high
Seat 7: manningssaints8 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 8: Bazooka JoeIII didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: Mathman1115 mucked [7h 5h] - two pair, Sevens and Fives

griffinlord · Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2007 11:48 pm Post subject:

Sounds a lot like what I've been dealing with lately, except that I'm letting it get to me and my play is deteriorating on top of the tough beats.

One night I had KK at least 6 times! I either won the blinds or lost to a flopped/turned straight/flush (and I refused to fold costing myself extra bets, sigh). I don't mind the AK hitting a straight (well, yea, I do, but at least they had reason to play) but when some dorky hand like 83s is beating me with a straight I get sort of bugged.

That same night I was in several pots where I was ahead on the turn and lost to the river. There were some in the 60/40 range, but it also seemed like every flush draw and straight my opponents had hit on the river and a couple of pots I got called down by hands that hit two outers on the river.

Its almost enough to make me go back to NL.

griffinlord · Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2007 11:52 pm Post subject:

I almost forget...the last hand of the night I was just talking about:

I have KK in LP and I raise and the BB defends.

Flop comes K 9 8

He checks, I bet, he raises, I three bet, he calls.

turn is a T

he checks, I bet, he calls.

river is a 7.

He bets, I call, he shows K6o Rolling Eyes

David Petina · Posted: Thu Oct 11, 2007 12:24 am Post subject:

Mathman and Griffinlord,

It's nice to know that players I respect go through ugly runs like this too. I had one in August that put me way down in limit, probably about 100-150 BB - it hit just as I moved up for some extra pain to my bankroll. I ran ugly for about 3 weeks and by the end got really passive and scared, which is the worst place to be when playing and definitely cost me more than just the bad run alone. It took me over a month and a move back down to get back to where I started, but I'm back up now and thinking about moving back up again. So, it is possible to recover.

Since it doesn't sound like you need to move down Mathman, I'd say take a break from playing for at least a couple days. Do something else like watch the baseball playoffs or catch some football or anything enjoyable that isn't poker just to clear your head. Also, sit down and read or reread some of the poker books you've got. I found the break and refresher course helped me to refocus on picking good spots, being aggressive and paying attention to my reads. The latter reminds me, if you are multi-tabling and hit an ugly run, then you might want to cut down on the number of tables that you play so you can focus more on your opponents. Besides that all I've got is the old advice that bad runs and variance happen to everyone and in the long run good cards and good playing will pay off. Yeah it doesn't help much in the middle of a bad run, but it's true and good to keep in mind.

Good luck!

Dave

ridic x · Posted: Thu Oct 11, 2007 1:24 am Post subject:

It's pretty normal math. If you go over to 4 I'm pretty sure you can find threads about respected players going on 500-1000 BB down-swings.

I myself just went through a month of hell. Nothing was going right, just nothing, everything under the sun was getting cracked, 1,2,3,4 outters all over the place.

One night I went what I describe as "monkey tilt" just didn't care, haven't tilted like that in a long long long time, and has in the past decimated rolls (10/20 is a rough rough game). Fortunately I keep most of my roll in Epass now and only put $300 on at a time. Anyway. I blew through $100 at 2/4 in about half hour, suckouts, tilt, bad-play, was good fun (sarcasm). Then I grabbed what I had left Which was ~$100 and sat SH 2/4, not a good idea, however I used to be a beast of a SH player, and despite tilting, struck a quick $70, got a hold of myself, and stopped.

All I have to say is thank-god my tourney game has been on for the last month b/c I def would be busto of the $300. At this point, I'm only down 38 bets at 1/2 from the $300 but without my tournies I def went through a down-swing of over 200BBs. Things seem to be evening out now though, so I'd just suggest taking a break, maybe a week, stay away from poker, no reading, watching, ect. Then when you're ready to come back, refresh yourself, take a look at SSHE if you have it, hell drop down if you want. But I'd say just take a break.

mathman1115 · Posted: Thu Oct 11, 2007 8:47 am Post subject:

Amazingly, this entire downswing is single tabling. Last night i bought in for 20 BB 4 times on 4 different tables for 4 different sessions. It took me 65, 35, 83, and 140 hands respectively to bust.

I think David is right, i'm hitting the bar tonight, watching some baseball playoffs, and i'll probably take a couple days break to clear my head.

I've read limit books to death by now, but i may brush up. Thanks guys.

griffinlord · Posted: Thu Oct 11, 2007 10:22 am Post subject:

clamper13 · Posted: Thu Oct 11, 2007 10:41 am Post subject:

I don't remember when I read it or who the author was, but the advice I use I found a few months ago right here on this forum.

I'll sit at a very low stakes ring game, .01/.02 on Stars, .05/.10 here, and play like a total nit. Heck, I'll even drop to play chips until the bad run is over.

No preflop raises except AA, KK. If I'm reraised, I push.

I'll limp with the the other 'premium' holdings, and fold to any raise.

When I miss the flop, (most of the time), I'll let them go without a fight.

When I hit the flop, I'll push hard.

And most important, the very moment I make a profit, any profit, I stand up. One hand, ten hands, one hundred hands, doesn't matter. One SB, one BB, one nickle, doesn't matter. Leave with a profit!

Then I'll take a short break and make a sandwich, read a boxscore, or beat the crap out of some aliens on Halo2, then jump back in for another hit and run.

Edit: I just realized that this is in the fixed limit thread.

PS. The best poker advice I can ever give is...

Never take my advice.

drkato · Posted: Thu Oct 11, 2007 11:27 am Post subject:

	Full Tilt Poker is licensed by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission. © Copyright 2004 - 2005 FullTiltPoker.com., All Rights Reserved