Im on a major downswing (at least for me) over the last three days. Im only playing 1 and 2$ SnGs (and yes i know variance is large in SnGs) so as to build up my smallish BR into ring games, and yet i just cant seem to win. Im down abt 15-20% of my BR, is this alot for SnGs? I know im not playing badly, ive just hit the worse luck of my poker like. So far in the last two days ive had aces and kings cracked no fewer then 8 times, and have only finished first in three of my SnGs...
Anyway how do others deal with a major downswing? Take time off? Battle on? Advice and comments welcome
The first thing you must realize (and this is very counterintuitive), is there's no such thing as downswings. There's no such thing as upswings. There's no such things as streaks, but the brain
tells us the opposite... and we believe what our brain tells us... so, wtf?
The only time a streak exists is when you're thinking about it, otherwise, it's in the past or future.
FOCUS ONLY ON THIS HAND, RIGHT NOW, THIS MOMENT, PERIOD!
Easier said than done, I know, but it's what separates the gr8 from the good. You have no control over yesterday, and tomorrow hasn't happened, so the only other option is RIGHT NOW!
As long as you continue to focus on "trying to deal w/ my downswing," you'll be ignoring today, and the decisions needed to play your best NOW! That statement (dealing w/ downswing) is, by definition, the past. The downswing is what happened in previous sessions.
Moving down limits may take some pressure off, but it doesn't address the "thinking about the past" issue.
If you feel like you can't stop thinking about the past, take a break. Your thoughts have to be about THIS HAND ONLY!
Remember, you'll believe whatever your thoughts tell you to believe... so shift your thoughts to RIGHT NOW!
The results will be what they'll be.
Stay focused,
Dayne