When to move down a level?

Guys, I am desperate for some advice/encouragement. I am on a BRUTAL losing streak right now, down about 30% and losing EVERY ****ing hand at EVERY ****ing table.

At 10NL I'm down from ~$650 to ~$460. I don't know how much more I can/should take before moving back down to 5NL. As much as I would HATE with every fiber of my being to move down, I KNOW I would REGRET even more NOT moving down and crippling my BR.

So do I move down now? At $400? Take a break? Kick the dog?

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take a break and take the dog for a run.

if you continue loosing when you come back then move down.

I think $400 is plenty for 10nl but if you frustrated with your losing streak you should take a break. If you don't feel comfortable at 10nl and feel like your losing too much of your bankroll then you should move down.

I vote take a break... as hard as it can be to do sometimes, moving down a level is even harder for me to do. I've been experiencing some major losses lately too (the past week) and i've really been trying to limit my play time. My head is clearer when i sit down at a new table, and i'm not dwelling on any bbs. GL man.

Id say 460 dollars is more than enough to play 10NL, however if you feel like you are playing bad or playing differently b/c of the downswing you should move back down. On another note a 20 buyin downswing is quite a downswing. Are you sure you are not tilting or playing differently b/c of how you are running?

A 20BI downswing is pure insane. Id say move down now, tighten up a bit and play nl$5 until you get back in the comfort zone and regain your confidence.

You mean I'm not alone. I can't give you any advice since I'm in the same boat but am looking forward to my peoples opinions

You'll be fine at this level. Take a break and be sure that you're in the right mental state when you come back. This would be feeling lucky and confident on the general level, and being unattached from the outcome of a single hand.

20+ BI's d/swongs are not common, but they do happen believe me. I had one a couple of months ago. There truly horrible.

Here's what I did.

I dropped down in stakes, pure and simple. I still dropped BI's but obv at a smaller rate. This preserved my roll, because I wasn't willing to take a break from poker.

If I didn't have certain poker goals, I most certainly would have taken a break from poker for at least a few days if not a week. But seriously drop down in stakes until you get some confidence back in your play, and in how well your running.

Your poker karma and good fortune will return, GL.

Just to put this in some perspective for you. Don't think that your alone here as I said 20+ BI's do happen. especially for grinders, there certainly more common. Thats why they have decent BRM, with anything upto and above 100BI's. There is one famous poster on <ahem> a rival forum who had an amazing 77BI downswing I think this was across several limits from 100nl upwards.

Thanks everyone, I think I may take a break for a few days and then move down to 5NL for a bit. I am starting to have a serious confidence problem, and need to figure out how to move forward without losing my head.

Damn this game is emotional -- it's going to be a real bitch to recover lost ground, but first I need to stop the bleeding.

Hopefully I'll have some good news in a week or two...

Thanks, my decision to move back down to 5NL was pretty clear after I realized that I've lost 2/3 of my buy-ins in the last week.



I'll probably move back to up 10NL after I get back to $500. I think after I get my confidence back I'll do okay...

Taking a break for a couple days sounds like a good idea.

Has the slump caused you to try and force things more? Are you changing your betting patterns any great degree?

You know how sometimes when people are losing when they gamble they think they can increase the bet to win it all back, are you possibly doing the same thing when you're playing poker?

during downswings the worst factor is confidence

if you lose that you will lose buyins faster

if you take a can't win mentality to a table then you can't win

i say move back to $5 nl and when you get your confidence back go back to $10 nl and rip it up

GL and just know it will get better

I really don't think so -- actually, lately I've been paranoid thinking maybe I'm so predictable that everyone at the table has me figured out. Yeah, I know that's pretty far-fetched at 10NL...

You should try making a video of yourself playing at 10NL and maybe some of us could pick up on things you are doing. If you can beat 5NL you can beat 10NL, there isn't much of a difference. So you are either just running horribly or you're doing something differently that you don't even notice

Good idea, you know of any freeware/shareware?

You can use a free trial of Camtasia for 30 days I think, but after that it costs like $300 which isn't really worth it. Of course there is always ways of getting programs for free on the internet . Here is the link to get the free trial though.

Camtasia Studio Screen Recorder for Demos, Presentations and Training

Sorry for the lengthy delay, I have been on a poker break for over a week. I played a few sessions last night, and a few more tonight -- and the verdict so far is...I'm not sure I can beat 5NL anymore either.



I guess I don't really mean that. I'm just in the midst of a very bad run. But now that I've moved down to 5NL at least I've slowed the bleeding. Only down 3 buy-ins since my last update.

I still can't win a ****ing hand to save my life. AA/KK/QQ are still losing big pots or winning blinds. Tonight a rare flush lost to a higher flush, and I folded a (winning) straight to back-to-back all-ins when the river paired the board. Figured one of them had to have a full house, but three of a kind took it down.

Oh, and I forgot all about posting a video -- I'll see if I can do that next week.

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Try posting some HH's so we can see what you're doing. You could also post a shot of your Poker Tracker stats. Maybe someone here can spot a leak or 2.

Hey all, been on a bit of a break for the past couple of weeks. Has really helped me regain my confidence.

I've picked up 5NL (down from 10NL) the past few days, and have been doing much better. Up close to 10 buy-ins, and my BR sits at $517. In terms of BR, I figure I'm ready for 10NL, but I'll probably play a little longer at 5NL until I completely regained my confidence.

These downswings sure can be brutal. This one was pretty bad (~20 buy-ins), but it seems I've come out of this one -- and I've recovered half of my losses rather quickly, considering I'm trying to recover at 5NL what I lost playing 10NL.

Again, thanks to everyone for the encouragement -- I think the advice to drop down to 5NL really helped me keep my sanity. I hope to spend a bit more time playing, so you should see me a bit more around here.

U need to talk to your dog. Chillax. U are being way to serious and tilted, it is plain.

If u kick yr dog the poker dogs will kill you, and I will make sure of it.

This is a blip Jimi, get a hold of your life.

Are you playing Single Tables? Turbo? Maybe you need to change your choice of game. Slow down. MTT or MTT SNG where the blinds change takes longer or have deeper stacks. Definitely back down your investments until you get to winning again. Dont chase.
How far you from your original deposit? Is your BR all profit?

He whas playing 10NL ring games now he he is playing 5NL ring.
Its all in the post

I play mostly ring games. My SNG game needs work (I've lost about $100 there). Starting BR was $50, and I'm currently over $500 (after my SNG losses).

that's good, but i'm not one for moving down. You suffered a 20 buy in downswing at 10NL and have a 10 buy in upswing at 5NL (so equivalent of 5 buy ins at 10NL). If you are happy that you are a good winning player and it just a swing, then you should be going up and down at the same levels, not going down at a high one, then coming back up on a lower one. That's not what a stockmarket investor would do.

You move down to preserve your bankroll and fallow correct bankroll management techniques. Once 10NL is well out of his BRM plan then he moves back down until his bankroll can take 10NL. Great way not to go bust.

Actually, the max buy-in for both is $10. I've been pretty strict and conservative with my BR. The decision to move down was as much confidence-related as it was BR-related. I guess I feel like if I'm not playing my best I'd rather play at a lower level until I am back in the groove. When I'm comfortable with my play again, I'll be back at 10NL.