Need some encouragement from you seasoned vets

Most of you know I'm fairly new at PS real $ NL, and over the past couple of months I've posted my gradual but consistent BR growth from $50 to $400 at the PS micro tables.

Well, the past couple of weeks have been pretty tough. My ring game has been barely ahead, only about enough to cover my SNG losses. So my BR has pretty much hovered at $400 for a couple of weeks.

But the past couple of days have been just brutal. It seems like everything is getting cracked -- it's maddening because until now I've been taken down at least one bit pot (at least 1/2 of the max buy-in) pretty much every session. The past couple of days I'm losing almost every one of these big pots. Half of the time when I am dealt AA/KK/QQ I run up against a set, and the other half of the time everyone folds before I have a chance to even raise the damn pot.

I know, this kind of shit happens -- I've been expecting it, and have tried to prepare myself so I don't lose it and start playing like a madman. No, I'm not doing anything crazy like moving up to 50NL or playing $10 SNG to make up ground. If I have to, I'll drop back down to 2NL (although I don't think it will get that bad).

As far as BR goes, I'm down from $400 to $330. Ugh, 15% is a big hit. I'm pretty discouraged and losing my confidence. Any tips from you more seasoned players?

I'd drop down if you're running bad, it should be easier to beat and if you are doing something wrong (ie. tilting, just not paying enough attention to your game, have another new miscellaneous leak that you acquired or one that your opponents are picking up on) that you don't realize it could save you some money until your game picks up. If you start winning some games there it'll boost your confidence up also which should help when you switch back up to the bigger game. There's no shame in dropping down to a lower limit to keep your bankroll at a level that you feel comfortable with. Of course that's why you have your bankroll larger than you play with the game to handle the swings, so if you feel confident that your game's good and you've just been getting cold decked keep playing the current level until you get back on track.

15% or $70 is nothing. In poker, you can expect that kind of swing in one day. Just keep studying, improving your game, and practicing good BR management and all will be fine. As you get more experience, you will get used to 15% downswings and come to accept them as a reality of poker. Just remember: 20% upswings are a reality, too.

This is true, but if you have a problem losing 15%, don't risk that much, practice stricter BRM. The general rule is 20 buy-ins, meaning each buy-in you lose is 5% of your BR. If you make sure you have 50 buy-ins than a buy-in is only 2% and you've turned the 15% into 6%. Of course as mentioned you won't win as much in your upswings either. All up to you.

Thanks for the advice and encouragement. Aside from the heat of the moment, I don't really have a problem with a 15% downswing. I am way over 20 buy-ins -- closer to 40 at this point.

In light of the above, I figured I was okay with continuing the 5NL fight -- and if I dropped to $300, then I'd think about dropping to 2NL. Tonight I played fewer tables with a bit more concentration, and my BR has recovered to $390. Pretty good run for the night, up over $50 over just a few hours. Feeling confident again...

Nice to hear the good news, hang in there man and play a solid game.

Took a downswing tonight mainly thanks to two calling stations that kept sucking out hands most would fold. Example, pocket A's floped trips and pushed (flop ace j 7), all but one folded, kept pushing but both turn and river gave his pocket dueces a straight. Since the same guy had sucked out on too many similar junk hands I started to tilt so I left the table before I regreted it.

Did you type this wrong? If he had 22 and it was AJ7 on the flop, the turn and river would have to be 345. Was it like AJ5 on the flop or something?

ya I did, AJ5 on the flop.... couldn't believe he called that hard of a bet with nothing but dueces when I saw the show down and the dealer's chat of the straight winning with hole cards 22.

It was at a new site I'm trying, will see if I can get a HH of a few hands we played so you can see the lovely suckouts he kept hitting. The guy was up 9x max buy in and never missed a flop.

It isn't my night, trying to get HH's but now all I get trying to log onto the site is "error connecting, retrying" Not real impressed with this site so far.

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