I've hit a serious slump and need advice.

IamVALHALLA · Feb 16, 2018

According to Poker Tracker, my "credit won" stat started dropping about 750 hands ago and has been steadily dropping since.

I play mostly 10NL or 16NL and have now lost $70 which really isn't an awful lot in fairness, but the way I'm losing is annoying:

I'm getting dealt garbage time and again, my VPIP usually settles around 10 on any table, not because I'm a nit but because I'm getting nothing to play with. I'm occasionally trying to play more marginal hands just to stop the rot of "fold fold fold" but I'm almost always facing a 3-bet or a caller to MY 3-bet and a shove on the flop (where I hit nothing).

I've tried representing strength only to be called on each street and then look like a moron by the showdown when villains' weak holding drew a great hand on the flop and I was dead all along.

Something else that is really annoying me - the button, no matter which table or which player, keeps limping in on my BB. This is even more annoying because - as I said - I'm getting garbage hands and can't just fold on pokerstars; I have to check or raise.
If I check, I'll hit *something* on the flop but go on to lose no matter what I do (they always draw better and keep calling my bets).
If I raise their limp, they absolutely WILL call no matter what I raise and they pull miracles cards all over the place.

This is genuinely driving me insane. I know I'm on Tilt, I'm trying so hard to play sensibly, but I'm either getting dealt utter trash or drawing dead with good hands whilst facing huge bets and knowing full well I'm beat if I call.

How do I get through this? Until a couple of days ago I felt I could play poker, but now I feel like a total beginner.

This Fish Chums · Feb 17, 2018

Riding out long streaks of bad luck in cash games

Did you break a mirror to kill a black cat under a ladder or something? This is hideously bad luck.

What I would honestly recommend is that you stop playing cash games and switch to low stake tourney's. At least there you can ride out this streak playing long hours without losing much money.

If you insist on playing cash games, quit trying to force it. You'll eventually start catching good hands again. Don't bluff pre-flop, don't bet weak post-flop hands, just fold and blind out your way into better luck, sorry, variance.

AG04CAS · Feb 17, 2018

By way of support I am on a massive downswing and have been for weeks after crushing it since the start of the new year.

I was up over £500 playing 2c/4c but am down to just over £190.

It is really tough getting up everyday and watching all the hard work going south....As an example I have had AA 26 times over the last 2 weeks and am 0 from 26.....KK 18 times and 0 from 18 I could go on and on ...its tough when the river hates you

Its that bad a reg I play against even said in chat last night he would call with anything against me and shove knowing I would lose.

So all I will say is.....keep playing solid and review your sessions....if your doing that it will turn around....fingers crossed.....

GL at the tables.

IamVALHALLA · Feb 17, 2018

Thanks for the replies guys and the reassurance I'm not losing my mind.I can't really play tournaments because I'm pretty busy and can't guarantee I can sit through them. I prefer the convenience of cash games.

I'm not going to change how I'm playing, I'll just ride out the storm...

Gohaku94 · Feb 17, 2018

750 hands is such a small amount of hands i wouldn't even bother looking at stats.. you can even review your 750 hands in like half hour and see If if you could have played any of them better, even If it would have resulted in the same loses you are getting better at the game

IamVALHALLA · Feb 17, 2018

Hopefully this picture posts, but as you can see my credit won/lost was fairly even for quite a long time. I went up and down regularly, but then a few days ago something happened and there's been a steady decline since.

I've won a couple of big pots along the way with all-ins but I quickly resume my losing streak afterwards.

I hope this isn't bad forum etiquette to post, I don't doubt for one second you guys have just as bad (and plenty worse) streaks yourselves. I just don't understand what has happened and why this sudden downturn

LevySystem · Feb 17, 2018

IamVALHALLA said:
Hopefully this picture posts, but as you can see my credit won/lost was fairly even for quite a long time. I went up and down regularly, but then a few days ago something happened and there's been a steady decline since.

I've won a couple of big pots along the way with all-ins but I quickly resume my losing streak afterwards.

I hope this isn't bad forum etiquette to post, I don't doubt for one second you guys have just as bad (and plenty worse) streaks yourselves. I just don't understand what has happened and why this sudden downturn

It happens. And it will happen again. Just dont worry about it

If something is different over a sample of 50k hands then you should start looking for leaks. Variance is a bitch. Friend of mine was running 15-20 stacks under EV over a sample of 200k hands, now hes running like a madman allways +EV for like 2 months now.

As for your initial post. Even if its hard and you only get dealt garbage, just dont play it. Times will come were you get those juicy spots, no need to try to make something work, because most of the time it wont work. Keep playing your game, and as said above review your sessions and find those little mistakes here and there.

Keep an eye on it, but dont make yourself crazy

terryk · Feb 17, 2018

I think a downswing happens to every player,,,but a quality player will play out of it,and the loses are sustained by their winnings/upswings,,,,this chart shows an average player experiencing an downswing. Common sense tells me if i lose more than i win,,,i`m not a winning player yet,,,

Play the same,,,get the same results,,,,:stupido2:

IamVALHALLA · Feb 17, 2018

Thanks guys, I really DO appreciate the comments and advice. I'm not trying to be a moan, I'm just very inexperienced and have never dealt with this before so it's got me alarmed.

Again, your comments are taken on board. I'll sit tight

Scottk87 · Feb 17, 2018

I went through the same thing, all my good hands I flopped would be beat on the river from players calling my big bets with back door draws, and them hitting runner runner. Lol, busted my PokerStars account, mind you only had $50 CAD, but was sitting at the + or - $50 for over 6 months, and hit that down swing playing 2NL, and was gone in 2 weeks lol, so frustrating, same happened in my home games, had 3 home games where i was ahead or even in them all till the last hour, and hit some nice hands, and again runner runner, loss for the session. So very frustrating lol, but it’s the game we all love, and I know it will turn around.

IamVALHALLA · Feb 18, 2018

Well I've stopped the rot (for now) and I'm climbing back up again, going from -$70 to -$45 over the past few hundred hands, playing exclusively at 10NL tables and really paying attention to the HUD stats and my own game. My win ratio is 50BB/100 hands since my upturn.

I'm actually getting dealt some nice hands AND catching pieces of the flop here and there - which does help along with the credibility of my PFR of course

Ahoy · Feb 18, 2018

IamVALHALLA said:
According to Poker Tracker, my "credit won" stat started dropping about 750 hands ago and has been steadily dropping since.

I play mostly 10NL or 16NL and have now lost $70 which really isn't an awful lot in fairness, but the way I'm losing is annoying:

I'm getting dealt garbage time and again, my VPIP usually settles around 10 on any table, not because I'm a nit but because I'm getting nothing to play with. I'm occasionally trying to play more marginal hands just to stop the rot of "fold fold fold" but I'm almost always facing a 3-bet or a caller to MY 3-bet and a shove on the flop (where I hit nothing).

I've tried representing strength only to be called on each street and then look like a moron by the showdown when villains' weak holding drew a great hand on the flop and I was dead all along.

Something else that is really annoying me - the button, no matter which table or which player, keeps limping in on my BB. This is even more annoying because - as I said - I'm getting garbage hands and can't just fold on PokerStars; I have to check or raise.
If I check, I'll hit *something* on the flop but go on to lose no matter what I do (they always draw better and keep calling my bets).
If I raise their limp, they absolutely WILL call no matter what I raise and they pull miracles cards all over the place.

This is genuinely driving me insane. I know I'm on Tilt, I'm trying so hard to play sensibly, but I'm either getting dealt utter trash or drawing dead with good hands whilst facing huge bets and knowing full well I'm beat if I call.

How do I get through this? Until a couple of days ago I felt I could play poker, but now I feel like a total beginner.

Hey friend, hard to suggest you something, but you can actually fold your hand even when there is the check option on pokerstars. I was also confused by this but the solution is following:

When its your turn, and you only have two options, to either raise or check, you can fold by clicking on one, or both of your hole cards - this card will "move up" slightly - this is the indication of showing the card to the table. When you mark one or both of your hole cards, you can show fold your cards. It only works when your fold ends the hand though. :ciao:

IamVALHALLA · Feb 18, 2018

Ahoy said:
Hey friend, hard to suggest you something, but you can actually fold your hand even when there is the check option on pokerstars.

I did not know this! Thank you :five:

IamVALHALLA · Feb 22, 2018

Well I have completely turned my fortunes around lately. I moved down again in stakes to 5NL, and as you can see from this picture I have been steadily climbing upward.

I've went from -$70 to -$3 in approx. 2,600 hands with a win rate of 22.26 BB/100.

I actually feel really comfortable playing at this level. I'm not so arrogant that I believe I'm better than everyone at 5NL, I just feel like I can play properly without being bullied off pots that should really be mine.

Genuinely loving it now

AG04CAS · Feb 23, 2018

As said patience to ride it out is the key..

As for me I think I have plateaued not winning but not losing either so I am taking it as a positive.

Just a word about positive tilt....now your winning again remember to play your A game all the time...a lot of players returning from a big downswing get the rush and start to think they are better than they are leading to lowering starting value and getting in to tighter spots which leads to the inevitable varient swing again.....just play solid and happy days

LevySystem · Feb 23, 2018

IamVALHALLA said:
Well I have completely turned my fortunes around lately. I moved down again in stakes to 5NL, and as you can see from this picture I have been steadily climbing upward.

I've went from -$70 to -$3 in approx. 2,600 hands with a win rate of 22.26 BB/100.

I actually feel really comfortable playing at this level. I'm not so arrogant that I believe I'm better than everyone at 5NL, I just feel like I can play properly without being bullied off pots that should really be mine.

Genuinely loving it now

Thats what I want to see! Nice results man

No need to be arrogant about it. It just showes you that in fact NL5 is quite beatable if you play good solid ABC-Poker. Dont hesitate to move up in stakes once you have the roll. Not just because it could potentially make you more money, but because you will learn more.

Keep up the good work!

glgl

IamVALHALLA · Feb 23, 2018

AG04CAS said:
Just a word about positive tilt....now your winning again remember to play your A game all the time...a lot of players returning from a big downswing get the rush and start to think they are better than they are leading to lowering starting value and getting in to tighter spots which leads to the inevitable varient swing again.....just play solid and happy days

This almost happened to me overnight.

I went on a mini downswing again and dipped to -$8 but shook myself out of it and got back to -$1 today, I realized exactly what you just said there; I need to stick to my A-game no matter what or else I'll get myself into trouble.

IamVALHALLA · Feb 24, 2018

Dipped to -$30 last night in 3 hands.

Got myself back to break even and moved up to 10NL;

Hand one: Dealt KAs on button, CO raised to 3BB, I raised to 10BB, all folded round to CO who shoved all-in. I called but his KK help up despite a club or ace on turn or river needed for me.

Hand two: Dealt 66 in MP, raised my usual 3BB, one caller. Flop K, 6, Q and villain shoved all-in. I called, they had KQ, turn was a Q

Hand three: Dealt AA on button, UTG bet 3BB, I raised to 10BB, Sb shoved all-in and I called after UTG folded.
Showdown: TT versus AA, river was a T

I realise the KAs all-in call was maybe wrong, but the other hands were just bad luck. Annoying as it is.

Back to 5NL today and gradually got up to -$18 again.

IamVALHALLA · Feb 25, 2018

Why is it EVERY TIME I get my credits won into the black, I immediately start losing? This has now happened 4 times in a row, like clockwork. Get into profit and the cards immediately turn cold.

I REFUSE to believe this is just bad luck. I'm playing the exact same way but as soon as I start making a profit I can't even hit bottom pair on the flop

IamVALHALLA · Feb 27, 2018

Managed to get back into profit and keep it there last night for the first time. I'm a winner

I must be doing something stupid each time for my "luck" to change so suddenly every time.

Need to get a grip.

vavilen_ · Feb 27, 2018

Hello! at a distance of 750 hands is too early to talk about something! just turn off the computer and head for a day! completely switch out for a walk with your loved ones go for a visit, forget for 24 hours about poker completely! Tilt will leave feeling of moving! start to win everything will be fine!

IamVALHALLA · Feb 28, 2018

Decided to invest in "The Mental Game of Poker" by Jared Tendler, and on reading it I realized I am absolutely a mental fish on the felts. I'm playing with 10% strategy and 90% emotion, no wonder I'm struggling.

Reassessed myself, prepared properly, and started playing again today. Got myself to $16 in profit overall (remember I was $70 in debt recently), and feel a lot better about my game.

I'm still a mental fish, but at least I'm consciously incompetent now

Much work to be done.

IamVALHALLA · Feb 28, 2018

Up to +$35 now so far, that's a turnaround of $105 inside 5500 hands on micro limits tables.
I'm not gonna get ahead of myself and think I've "got it beat" but I'm certainly feeling a lot more positive about my game.

That's a nice upward trajectory in the image. So far (I won't delude myself).

playinggameswithu · Feb 28, 2018

This is just normal variance. You need a 120,000 sample size.

IamVALHALLA · Mar 1, 2018

playinggameswithu said:
This is just normal variance. You need a 120,000 sample size.

That's gonna take me about a year in real time :embarasse

I've hit a serious slump and need advice.

IamVALHALLA

Rock Star

This Fish Chums

Visionary

AG04CAS

Enthusiast

IamVALHALLA

Rock Star

Gohaku94

Visionary

IamVALHALLA

Rock Star

Attachments

LevySystem

Rock Star

terryk

TheCanuckwithalltheluck

IamVALHALLA

Rock Star

Scottk87

Enthusiast

IamVALHALLA

Rock Star

Attachments

Ahoy

Legend

IamVALHALLA

Rock Star

IamVALHALLA

Rock Star

Attachments

AG04CAS

Enthusiast

LevySystem

Rock Star

IamVALHALLA

Rock Star

IamVALHALLA

Rock Star

IamVALHALLA

Rock Star

IamVALHALLA

Rock Star

vavilen_

Rock Star

IamVALHALLA

Rock Star

IamVALHALLA

Rock Star

Attachments

playinggameswithu

Legend

IamVALHALLA

Rock Star

About CardsChat

Our Community

Our Site