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tiltisthename · Pair Joined: 25 Jul 2007 Posts: 33

Can someone please tell me if this is just normal variance and I am not just some stupid donk? How do you deal with this? For the past 10-15 games or so I've always encountered a bad beat in every single game (I'm not talking races) I've played. And the problem with these bad beats is that it leaves me severely crippled (usually 5 BB or less) and most often puts me up looking for races just to double up, or ends in me being knocked out of the tourney.

99 lost to 54o
KK lost to JQo
JT loses to J3 (I shouldn't have been playing this but I was so short stacked anyway)
AA lost to QQ (on a straight flush of all hands)
flopped flush loses to a set, all-in flop, when the board paired on the turn
AQs lost to A7o, all-in PF, (rivered a straight)
QQ lost to A3o, all-in on the flop, no A (rivered a straight)
QQ lost to JTs when a flush hits on the turn
AQ lost to JJ with a board of A x x on a runner-runner flush
... and some others I can't remember

I'm talking 10-15 (need to go back to my hand histories to confirm the exact number) straight, no gaps in between. Not all of them are losses though as I was able to come back in about 3-4 games I think. Any chance someone has had the same experience before? How did you deal with it?

nobodys bizness · Straight Joined: 28 Jul 2008 Posts: 122

I am experiencing the same thing.

I had a stretch in $2 9 mans were moneyed 10 out 13. Now I am on a stretch playing the same way, where I have moneyed just 3 times in the last 15. Like you I am getting my money in ahead 80% of the time like I was on the winning streak but the cards fall against me.

I think these streaks both good and bad are part of poker and that's why bankroll management is so important.

Keep your eye on your overall stats not the streaks. Even with this last bad run I am still running at a 15% ROI over 70 $2 SnG's.

Honest_Rob · Posted: Fri Aug 29, 2008 11:55 am Post subject:

Back when I used to play Hold 'em SNGs I went through a stretch of 11-12 SNGs where I failed to cash. It happens occasionally. You have to deal with it by realizing that you're gambling and sometimes you'll experience cold streaks. If you are better than your competition then you will come out profitable in the longrun but today, tomorrow and the next day you might lose every SNG. If it's starting to bother you and affect your play then stop playing and take a day or two or ten off. Once you've gotten over the sting of the loss start playing again.

Camo52 · Posted: Sat Sep 13, 2008 10:52 pm Post subject:

i agree that you should look at the overall stats. i find that the worst thing i can do is actually keep track of bad beats, because it keeps me in a bad state of mind. keep playing and you will get out of the cold streak, and probably go on a hot streak that will cancel out the losses and leave you with a profit. Rob nailed it when he said to take a break if the losses are bothering you too much!

Kam1972 · Pair Joined: 03 Sep 2008 Posts: 31

Bad beats happen, and sometimes you get a run of them. Hell worst 2 for me lately were some of the worst I have had, and came back to back.

First hand I had J2 on the BB. All folded except for one limping in from mid position, so I of course checked in to see the flop.. Flop is Jc2s9d. So I raise up to about pot sized raise, and the limper calls me very quickly. So I'm thinking him on AJ, but still confident and more so when turn is another J giving me FH Jacks full of 2's. So I fire again a big bet and the limper goes over me all in. Now I'm thinking he must be on AJ to be doing this, so I'm happy and call. He turns over AA and of course the river card is his 2 outer A....

This left me on about 700 chips with blinds going to eat half that, and my next hand AK on the SB. I shove it all in the middle knowing I need a double up. all fold except 2 that call. Flop comes Ks6h7c. So i'm feeling good about tripling up on my stack. the chip leader of the table is one of those still in the hand and he pushes all his 16k stack into the middle and is instantly called with the other guy pushing his 4k stack in the middle. So I'm thinking maybe one of them might have AK also.... Nope, the chip leader had JJ, so all good so far. The 4k stack guy had 10c9h and I'm laughing at him quietly for being a retard. Turn is a 10, and river is a 9..... Now those suck as badbeats back to back. and proves that the poker gods favour retards a little to much some days.

Anyway, all have bad runs. I've had a month long run of it on fulltilt, and only in last few days have I skipped as many badbeats.. not counting the story above, which was nasty but not the average of the last few days thankfully.

li2fb · High Card Joined: 07 Oct 2008 Posts: 10

I know how you feel, I think we've all gone through those. I've learned through some courses to solely focus on making the right decision. Bad beats happen, ALOT. If you made the right decision, the rest is in the cards. Think how alive suffering a bad beat makes you feel. When you take one, smile Smile

and move on to the next correct decision.

JustinZee · Pair Joined: 07 Apr 2008 Posts: 48

First of all, 10-15 games is NOTHING from a statistical point of view. The best you can do is be properly rolled for whatever level you're playing and drop down when you need to. I recently had a breakeven spell of 500 games or so and it sucked but I finally managed to pull out of it. Keep on trucking and best of luck.

lovebeefstew · Posted: Sun Nov 09, 2008 7:54 pm Post subject:

Its hard to view the hands in the OP as bad beats as we know nothing of how the hands were played.. For example, if you limp with QQ and end up in a multiway pot then its not a bad beat at all. Im not say you didnt. But for this reason, commenting on them is almost impossible.

JustinZee · Pair Joined: 07 Apr 2008 Posts: 48

DenverBroncos01 · Posted: Mon Nov 10, 2008 2:29 pm Post subject: Nothing Abnormal About It....

10-15 SNG's is not a big enough downturn to mark anything alarming. However, I also noted there are a couple of comments you made about not needing to play certain hands. I would suggest using some hand analysis and taking this small opportunity to analyze and potentially plug any leaks in your game.

I'm a multi-tabler and managed to get bad beat on five tables all at once. It's easy to get upset, but if you are playing in your bankroll any anger should be fleeting and possible to overcome.

tiltisthename · Pair Joined: 25 Jul 2007 Posts: 33

Can't believe this thread is still alive, LOL!

Lovebeefstew, believe me they were all bad beats, all of those hands I raised PF, and I got my money in good while I was ahead.

JustinZee, maybe I wasn't able to communicate myself properly during those hellish times. I was talking about dealing with the emotional aspect. I was properly bankrolled during those times though so I was able to get over it.

DenverBroncos, yes, that's what I did. Not bragging though but during my analysis those hands were really are just what they are, bad beats. But some other hands offered good insights though about how badly I play other situations though.

Wayniac · Forum Pro Joined: 26 Mar 2008 Posts: 617

You should not just look at single hands when figuring out SNGs... but the entire SNG as a whole as well. When players get bad beat, they tend to not look at other things such as why they were short stacked to begin with.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. One should always assume they played the hand badly or wrong. Figure out if there was something else you could have done or if there was a better way to play the hand. Maybe after all of the analysis is complete, your FINAL conclusion is that there was nothing you could have done to avoid getting beat. However, you'd be surprised at the number of times you find yourself instead saying, "Okay, I would have still lost by doing this other thing, but I think it would be a better move for the future."

I don't mind losing anymore. It used to bother me, but I follow exactly what I said just now. I walk away with something every single time I'm in a SNG. I either get 1st and walk away with a good prize, or I get better because I analyze everything that happened.

tiltisthename · Pair Joined: 25 Jul 2007 Posts: 33

Wayniac, I know what you are saying, but the point here is not the bad plays made. It's how you handle the emotional aspect of handling such streaks. As you indeed mentioned though, after all these analysis, those are just that, bad beats. True, I may have made some other mistakes before the bad beat, but often those mistakes were minor, as we all commit them.

I'm not really to high on myself to say that I don't make mistakes. I do, A LOT, and I'm well aware of that. But I can handle bad beats most of the time since we all know it's all part of the game. Only thing is, in that instance, that was the first time I encountered such streaks were every game you played you always encounter a bad beat which leaves you severely crippled. It was quite an experience actually, but it gave me invaluable insight on the variance involved in SnGs. After that I went on a winning streak, so you can say I experienced both sides of it.

I'm sure I will encounter such streaks again. I would like to believe though that I'm better prepared this time. Take a break, analyze from an objective point of view, post some hands if necessary, whatever it takes.

Might take a while for me to play SnGs again though as I've rekindled my interest in playing cash games. Smile

Lee785 · Pair Joined: 05 Oct 2008 Posts: 23

This is usual, sometimes you get an even bigger stint (try 3 weeks none stop getting killed by the river)

The only way to combat tilt as i have noticed myself is basically cut down your starting hands for example: if before you were playing AK in position etc stop that and just play premium hands.

I read a tourney guide telling the only hands to play at certain levels of S&G's it works but not all the time.

You will have games where some one catches a lucky hit on rivers or outflops u etc but you just have to forget that hand and concentrate on the next if you dwell on past hands/ games u will inevitably hit tilt, i should no i hit it alot but pfft its part of the game.

So

-Try cutting your hands down from AK AQ 10 10 etc to premium only
-Forget about the last hand u played which is hard i must admit
-Drop down in limits till u get ur confidence back
-Take a break
-play freerolls(which i do when i have tilt)

U must remember it is gonna happen and theres no real cure every body gets it it sucks but u've just gotta keep battling through it and it will come good.

Lee785 · Pair Joined: 05 Oct 2008 Posts: 23

This is usual, sometimes you get an even bigger stint (try 3 weeks none stop getting killed by the river)

The only way to combat tilt as i have noticed myself is basically cut down your starting hands for example: if before you were playing AK in position etc stop that and just play premium hands.

I read a tourney guide telling the only hands to play at certain levels of S&G's it works but not all the time.

You will have games where some one catches a lucky hit on rivers or outflops u etc but you just have to forget that hand and concentrate on the next if you dwell on past hands/ games u will inevitably hit tilt, i should no i hit it alot but pfft its part of the game.

So

-Try cutting your hands down from AK AQ 10 10 etc to premium only
-Forget about the last hand u played which is hard i must admit
-Drop down in limits till u get ur confidence back
-Take a break
-play freerolls(which i do when i have tilt)

U must remember it is gonna happen and theres no real cure every body gets it it sucks but u've just gotta keep battling through it and it will come good.

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