Ramblings of a frustrated poker player....

So I'm not sure why I'm writing this, perhaps I think that doing this will help kill my tilt or perhaps I just want someone to feel sorry for me after a massive bad luck streak tonight (which rapidly turned into this morning).

I've been playing the 5.50 9 player SnG's on PokerStars tonight as I normally have good success with them and it is usually a good way to give my bankroll a little kickstart.

I've played 7 of them tonight and I have one 2nd, two 3rd's, a 5th, 2 6th's and a 7th.

Lets have alook at how each tourny ended for me shall we:

Tourney #1: Was 3rd out of 5 players, got dealt QQ raised, one caller. Flop was rainbow Q, 6, 3. I think that I'm in good shape so I move all-in and I get called by some with 8, 9 of the same suit as the 6....... runner runner flush, I'm out. This sucked but it happens no big deal right.....

Tourney #2: Nothing special here, played a decent game and finished 2nd.

Tourney #3: Got into the money again and got dealt KK, was short stacked so pushed all in and got called by A,3 and the river brought an A, finished 3rd.

Tourney #4: Got into the money again, got dealt K,6 suited, decided to try and buy the blinds (again was short stacked) so I pushed and got called by someone holding 6,4 off suit. He then flopped a set of 4's.....
I finish 3rd.

Tourney #5-7: All three times fairly early I got dealt KK and pushed only to have someone flip over A,A and I lose. But to cap off the torture 2 of these times I flopped my set of Kings only to lose to a turn or river Ace......

I have never been so frustrated in my life at anything, my brain is telling me that it is the nature of the beast, this is going to happen sometimes... but I can't cool off...

I'm gonna go to the gym and blow off some steam I guess..... just wanted to vent....

The bad part of this is I'm becomming classically conditioned into fearing getting pocket kings

A 2nd and two 3rds over 7 SnGs is not all that bad, especially when you're running bad. You should be encouraged that you can do that well when the luck is rotten. Minimizing your losses during a cold streak and avoiding tilt is a characteristic of every great player (and I'm still working on it myself).

The coolers with KK suck; I've had long stretches where KK just wouldn't hold up, but I know that in the long run, being dealt KK has made me a lot of money.

I don't know if this should make you feel better or worse, but in your poker life I can almost assure you you'll see cold streaks that make this one seem like nothing. Sometimes it doesn't even seem possible. We've all been there. All you can do is keep your head up, not let it effect your play, and keep getting the money in with the best hand. Good luck to you!

Thanks for the encouragement combuboom. I do realize that cold streaks are part of the game and it will probably get worse than what I have.

Actually I went to the gym and cooled off and then came back and played another one and finished 1st, then played an 8-man RAZZ SnG and finished 3rd so my results got a little better.

I just have the problem of going on tilt really bad, I can't help it I have a bad temper, i get it from my mom's family they are all hot heads

A questions for anyone who cares to answer, what do you do when you go on tilt? I like to go to the gym and besides my regular work out I wail on a punching bag for 15-20 minutes and that seems to help, only problem is I can't go everytime I tilt, my body just can't handle it.

over time the bad beats will cut you less and less

<<what do you do when you go on tilt?>>
Bad beats happen...especially when playing "fish"...the more fishey, the worse the beat

Best thing to do?....Try to remeber that hand where your QQ gave you a str8 ace high vs the trip aces the other guy had...my favorite was a str flush flop from BB (pocket JK) vs pp aces at BOTH a late position and at the small blind and NEITHER raised pre-flop....

All I did was check and then call the ladder raises right to the all-ins D.... STILL makes me smile when I think about it!!!!!

I think I had the same problem with being "classically conditioned" into fearing pocket J's. I always, even now, get the slight urge to fold that hand, even not to a raise, lol. It's horrible I know. Of course, that's not as bad as pocket K's.

Lol pocket J's have been the bane of my poker existance since I started playing. I couldn't count how many times I've run into QQ, KK, AA when making a raise with JJ....

pp Q's is usally the LAST HAND I play in tournies....after that I'm on the rail.

You know...I am at about 65 $3.40 SNGs right now. I play low because I have a wife and 3 kids and she really hates all the money I've been pouring in to get better. Was just about to move up in stakes when I hit a dry run.

For my first 30 or so, I was horrible. I think I placed in the money about 20% of the time. So I kept putting more money into my account because I knew I was learning a lot (coupled w/ this forum, other forums, and books). It also doesn't help I play in a live game about 2-3 times a month. But the last three times there I came home w/ more money than I left with.

Then I hit a really good run over 30 tourneys placing in the money 40-50% of the time. Started to move up a bit in money (at least for my level). Then I went on a 1 and 8 streak (the one was just a 3d place). As I tried to piece together what happened I spotted my problem - at least diff between my good run. My statistics on seeing the flop rose sharply. I'm usually a 20-25% flop player. I rose that to between 30-35%. I started playing hands that I shouldn't and getting overconfident in my hands.

So I played in 3-4 free games to try to get my discipline back. Never mind the other players, just playing my hands.

Then I went back and took 1st place in the next tourney. Got my bankroll back off of life support (was up to $50, then back to $25, now back to $37 - again, I know that's not a lot...but for me, it's where I'm out...I hope to keep building away and maybe raising stakes a bit. Right now I do it for fun...the money is just a way to track my progress).

I have a spreadsheet I keep on each SNG I play, how much I profit or lose, stats on flops, and wehre I place. Lot more green in the last half than the first half...despite my bad run here recently.

Keep the chin up - you'll get back on track.

i'm on such a bad streak right now than i'm getting incredibly frustrated. i almost feel that i should stop playing for a couple of weeks, cool off and come back with a different approach.

my home games are not the problem, i'm rarely not in the money there, it's online that is putting me on tilt. i started a thread yesterday about how i can't loosen up my game, i tried tonight will little success. it's just so damn frustrating when you go big with AK suited and someone calls with 6 4 off and wins the hand with a damn 4. i'm in the same boat as you as far as the money goes. i have a three year old son that i take care of by myself and money is tight. so it's not easy for me to get into a big buy in MTT where the play is better. i play a lot of freerolls to try to build my bankroll and keep getting taken out by some donkey that just picked up the game last week. very very frustrating. i suppose we just have to keep our heads up and keep grinding it out.

I just now started to get into the money in our home games. We play w/ about 15-25 ppl over at a co-workers house. Pretty competitive. Use to be just gut feelings except for one or two people.

But now it's really picked up and we expect a game. 10 of us formed a league...but we let everyone play. Just the league members have priority over certain things and some benefits. Anyway - the mroe we play, the better everyone seems to get. I just use to play from the gut and hunches. Now, about 2 or 3 of us are getting pretty serious about it and reading. I'd say I'm probably the most improved player...but I'm not the best. Lately I've become a little feared at the table and am able to steal some pots whereas before I'd play any 2 cards and call down to the river w/ a bad hand. Feels to good to know I've at least improved.

It has carried over to my online play where I expect to make the money and get mad when I don't. Use to be - I'd expect to not get in the money and celebrate when I did.

Anyway - I guess very little real input - just bored at the moment.

Hi.

One third of my bankroll went "swoosh!" over the past two days.

I suggest doing what I'm going to do: Take a break, hang out with buddies, drink some beer, sleep, play board games, play video games, and then come back in a week or so and move down a limit and rebuild.

Swoosh!

/Fredrik