how to avoid being disheartened

I built up about $40 in profit at microstakes a few days ago. Three days
and less than 300 hands later, I am down to just a little over $20 in profits
and I am in negative territory again at 2c/5c blinds.

I have not played mistake free, that's for sure, but four hands killed me.
I'd probably be winning a little in the last three days without these. At the same time, I haven't had a single suck out. I show down 7% less than optimal, according to PTR.com, so I don't think it's cuz I am staying in too long.

A10 on a 10 10 5 flop. The other guy had 10 5.

AJ vs. QJ. I got his money in on the turn with pair of A against pair of
Q. Only to have another Q hit on the river.

AQ vs. AK. I was way behind preflop but flopped Q99. He shoved all in on
the flop, I called. Immediately a K hits on the turn. I could have still
won with a spade flush on the river, but no help.

Q9 vs. A9. This one wasn't really a bad beat, but the 9 came on the river
and gave me two pairs, so I called when he reraised me on the river. With
a lone Q I would have folded of course.

I had 4 others that I lost on the river, but those didn't cost me a lot
as I didn't have great hands and the other guy didn't reraise. Only value
bet to find out the other guy had rivered me.

I don't mind losing hands like these, but it's when they all bunch together
in a short period of time that it is really disheartening.

Should I just quit playing for a few days? (I am also trying to free up
the deposit bonus so I don't wanna waste any days)

This hand made me feel a lil better. Maybe my luck's finally turning around.

Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG ($16.68)
Hero (MP) ($1.95)
CO ($7.14)
Button ($4.72)
SB ($10.05)
BB ($2.61)

Preflop: Hero is MP with 8, 8
UTG calls $0.05, Hero calls $0.05, 2 folds, SB calls $0.03, BB bets $0.10, UTG calls $0.05, Hero calls $0.05, SB calls $0.05

Flop: ($0.40) 8, 8, 3 (4 players)
SB checks, BB checks, UTG checks, Hero bets $0.15, 1 fold, BB calls $0.15, UTG raises to $1.95, Hero calls $1.70 (All-In), 1 fold

Turn: ($4.25) A (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($4.25) 5 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $4.25 | Rake: $0.20

its always nice to get paid off with quads. WTF did UTG have that he pushed all in with but didnt reraise preflop?

You just have to try and shake those things off. Easier said than done, I know. If it's bothering you to the point that it affects how you play, then by all means take a break for a while. For the cases where you feel like you played it right, you have to just write that off as being poker. It's never exact. All you can do is try to get all your chips in when you have the best chance to win, and hope it holds up. It won't every time - no matter what.

He flopped a fh. He had pocket 3s.

I didn't realize the hand convert didn't include the other guy's hand.

Nh, but you could've gotten paid off more if you had a full stack.

very true, always have a full stack.

It's hard to stay positive when everything feels like a bad beat, but a couple of things to keep in mind:

1. Poker is a combination of skill and luck. Unless you get it all in w the absolute nuts, there's a chance you will lose the hand no matter how well you played it. Try to focus on whether you played the hand correctly or not, and try to desensitize yourself to whether you actually won or lost the hand.

The key is to develop the skills, which you can control, and accept the luck factor/variance, which you can't. Over the long run, luck evens out and skill wins.

Oh, and just as dwelling on playing correctly and losing can lead you to play poorly, playing incorrectly and winning can lead you to play poorly.

2. In big pots, a single card can lead us to lose a substantial amount of money (good brm is key here obviously), so we tend to focus on the big pots. If only the %$^# river hadn't screwed me over!!! On the other hand, the majority of your winnings and losings are occuring in small and medium pots (unless you're very agg). Dwelling on the big pots can lead us to lose a lot of money in the small and medium pots. Try to focus on playing these pots correctly.

This makes me feel better about today. I blew one hand, when i had aa vs ak, and check the turn, letting him draw out a straight (it was my first time playing 4 tables at cash game, so i was a little overwhelmed). I ended up down for the day, where that hand was the difference. It is frustrating, but if i look at my play in all the small/medium pots, I feel good about it. Thanks for the tip.

I find that I am playing scared now. I am getting carved up by hyper aggressive players. I used to eat them up and spit them out. Now it’s them who’s killing me. Just trying to go back to a neutral state of mind now. I had a winning day yesterday so hopefully I can build on it, but it’s a long climb back to my peak. Before this recent implosion, 75% to 80% of my sessions were winners (according to PTR.com). One problem is that I don’t quit when I am down, so I end up playing more hands-per-session when I am not going well than when I play well. Sometimes I make it back over even, but sometimes I fall more. Definitely something I need to work on. It’s just really hard to keep a neutral state of mind when you get 4 or 5 bad beats in an hour.

Bad beats mean you are playing well but losing. Keep getting in ahead on the flop and you will turn it around.

Three things --

1. You are most likely moving up too quickly before you have truely mastered the level you're at.

When I first started, I went on incredible heaters -- like yours -- followed by incredible, disheartening drops -- like yours. I moved up too fast. I hadn't **really** mastered the level. Jesus Ferguson has an excellent post illustrating exactly that.

2. About the Micros -- aggression is everywhere and you will win more/faster by playing "small ball" and letting the Aggros get it all in against your powerhouses. When you don't have a powerhouse (near-nuts), then keep the pot small!

3. The Micros are nothing like any other poker! While you must learn the ABCs, you also have to realize that those teaching it (Harrington, Sklansky etc.) are writing on the assumption that you are playing in a normal (i.e tighter) game. So, you have to either figure it out your self or consult mocro-specific advice.

GL!

Didn't take long for this (20 hands into the night). I know, I should have folded the turn when he shoved. Just couldn't bring myself to fold. But jesus 3 outter again. When things go bad, they go real bad.

Blinds: $0.00/$0.00
Site: Pokerstars
Dealt to CO:A♣ Q♥
Sklansky group 3
Preflop:
UTG calls [$0.05]
MP calls [$0.05]
Hero raises $0.20 to $0.25
3 players fold.
UTG calls [$0.20]
MP calls [$0.20]
Total folds this street: 3
Potsize: $0.82
Flop:
K♦ 2♦ A♠
UTG: checks
MP bets [$0.15]
Hero raises $0.45 to $0.60
1 players fold.
MP calls [$0.45]
Total folds this street: 1
Potsize: $2.02
Turn:
4♣
MP bets [$1.99] [ all-in ]
Hero calls [$1.85] [ all-in ]
Uncalled bet ($0.14) returned to MP
Potsize: $5.86
River:
J♠
Results:
MP shows two pair, Aces and Fours:
4♥ A♦
Hero shows a pair of Aces:
A♣ Q♥
MP collected $5.47 from pot

Play god awful for two hands and sucked out twice on the river. Go figure. Play bad and win. First time in 2+ months at PS that I've sucked out on the river twice in one day. Generally been ahead when I've gone all in and rarely suck out until now. But then I am long overdue for some good luck.

I had AA on the button, ran into 10 7 suited who called my 4xBB preflop raise. He hits 10 7 4 on the flop. Luckily the river was a 4. (First pocket rockets in 3 days and I run into 2 pairs on the flop... well I will look at the bright side)

I had AQs at CO. Button reraised me, I was getting almost 3:1 to call so I did. Flop was a flush draw with 3 under cards. He raised me all in on the turn. I was getting a lil less than 2:1 to call with 13 outs (9 spades + 4 tens for a gutshot straight), so I called it and hit a spade to complete the flush. Not exactly getting pot odds there but I figured if he had Ks then I had 3 more outs with aces or with Qs if he had AK...