Taking a Break..

I've just been on a real downswing lately, and been thinking pretty negatively throughout every game. I'm thinking about taking some time off from actually playing poker, but doing some studying..here in the forum, and getting some reading material. I was thinking of going through the HOH series and making a certain number of posts here before returning to the game..any thoughts?

Play games other than hold'em. It forces you to think about theory & strategy in an original way (since there isn't much reading material on other games). And I find that remembering how to think strategically for other games causes me to do so more often when I'm playing hold'em.

It gets you back in the habit of going "okay, on this flop, how am I going to make my opponents make a mistake?"

Sweat sessions are always helpful too.

If you pick HOH back up feel free to jump in these with us:

HOH Volume 1 - Book Discussion Announcement

Sounds good, dakota..I am home from school until tomorrow, but I know I have Vol. 1 in my dorm...I think this could really help.

This has been a topic of discusion with a couple of buds of mine and i will always support taking a break when things are running bad. Especially if its taking you out of your game and, as u say, thinking negativley.
Ive often suggested playing different games from your main game and play chips if you must play. It has worked for me and hopefully it will for you
Gl

I try not to play no more than 2 big tournies a week. One of the biggest things I've realized that's key to poker is that you must be well rested. For example, the day before a big tourney I like to sleep all day long so that my mind and body will be well rested.

i like just standing up and relaxing my nerves a bit. you tilt less imo

definately a great idea...

so many feel that its all about hold-em and end up losing, sometimes because of over confidence or just frustration with the idiots out there. and yup, it can only help you to think strategtically when playing hold-em

guess i'm just copying him, or heavily agreeing...

I agree with this too, a while back when I was playing non stop hold'em, things weren't necessarily running bad but hold'em was losing the fun, it was like I was going through a phase and the phase was ending. I picked up omaha and the fun of poker came back, I got the chip back on my shoulder to prove that I could play a different game. I played omaha for a good period of time at least a couple of weeks, when I went back to Hold'em everything was fresh, I had a different outlook on the game, and I was back in hold'em with a chip on my shoulder.

like everyone else said a break is always good too though, sometimes thats all thats really needed.

I get that way once in awhile too and have taken breaks from poker. If you aren't enjoying it there is no sense in wasting your money. I agree with trying other games too. 2 or 3 years ago I hated playing anything but holdem now I enjoy all of them except for RAZZ LOL. I don't mind Razz during a HORSE tournament but playing Razz for an entire tournament isn't my thing. Good luck!