Card Dead...How do you adjust?

PokerJudas

PokerJudas

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I simply get no cards! This is by no means gonna be a tilt-rant... But I mean, today has been the days of ace-rag, none suited connectors and hardly any pairs. To a certain extent it feels as if the poker-software can track if you behave a little tiltish and start new STTs when on a losing-streak.

I was wondering if you have had these kind of days and what do you do to deal with it?

Is it a mental thing you think? I mean, I`ve analyzed Pokertracker and it`s really not something I say out of nothing. And I can`t sit and wait either at some point, bc I will blinded out of the game...
 
jordanbillie

jordanbillie

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Best thing to do is just step away, don't worry about the $$ you are down. If you are losing because of a run of bad cards, just understand this is standard and take a break.

The best poker advise I received was, "When you are running good, play more. When you are running bad, play less."
 
flatcaller

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Last year i was card dead for 3 months playing Live. I was getting nothing and for me that is tough cause i have a very wide range. when i picked up something i would get slammed on the flop. it was tough but that's why waiting for hands in poker is not just boring but gets you no where unless you are running good obv. So although i was running like shit and picking up lame hands i still managed to play and win i just had to pay more attention and take risks with weaker hands than i normally would.

Yes it is mentally dont get spewy cause your bored. if you find your self blinding out expand you range of hands. play more and pay more attention to opponents. when you start to observe more you will find spots to steal and makes plays no matter what your hands are.
 
Arjonius

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There are lots of days like that. Even if you play enough to be dealt thousands of hands per day, that's not enough to expect regression toward the mean to occur on a daily basis. So what you need to do is to accept this, and to develop / exercise the self-discipline to keep your losses down (or win less than your average rate) while you're running bad.
 
PokerJudas

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Thanks for the input guys!

My sollution has been as you stated, take a break,but also play some freerolls and as strange as it may seem... play two tables instead of one as it`s not a tilt Im speaking of, but more a case of restlessness. Good to know there are other people having these days!
 
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Deal with it badly,
End up getting impatient and just shoving the first premium hand I see only to be called by some rags despite having been the tightest player at the table for an hour. (and of course the rags suckout).
 
MediaBLITZ

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Thought you were referring to adjusting play - not your psyche - so I'm going to go in that direction.

If I'm not getting cards (and in a tournament you gotta play) I adjust my focus to look for position opportunities and picking my opponents carefully - look to engage nits who will frequently fold the flop to aggression.
Basically if you are not getting cards, act like you are - represent the board.
Just now I was in BB with two limpers and the flop was very dry that included a 4. They both checked and so did I (having 23o). Then another 4 peeled off on the turn. I fired out a half bet pot (repping a BB special) and they folded. So no cards - in a nutshell use your chips to exploit weakness.
 
kidkvno1

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When running Card dead, with a tight image you can be stealing pots. Taking a break and then coming back will not really fix it.
 
BigCountryAA

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When running Card dead, with a tight image you can be stealing pots. Taking a break and then coming back will not really fix it.

This. If i'm running dead for a pretty long period of I try to pick some good spots while in position to steal some pots.

Every now and then someone will wake up with a hand and I'll lose more chips but a good percentage of the time I win enough to keep me going until the cards start flowing again, or I hit the cash.
 
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HotShotX

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When I find myself either card dead or just making brash and poor decisions, I usually have to call it a day. It may not even be full on tilt, but mental fatigue is a very critical component of the game, and knowing when to step away when it's yours, or taking advantage of someone else's is one of the best weapons in the arsenal.
 
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doomasiggy

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Find good steal spots and places to bluff. Look for people who call a lot and fold to c-bets, people who open wide and fold to 3-bets etc.
 
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CANDYMAN1414

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I definately know what u mean. And let me guess, whenu finally get a hand (kq) and flop trips someone played q4o and hit a fullhouse. It makes you not trust online sites and start second guessing. Someone else said it best. Take a break, in a few days/weeks, things seem to turn around.
 
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Not aimed at you specifically candyman, but this attitude "It makes you not trust online sites and start second guessing" is hysterical. Do you seriously think an online site like stars, party, etc care about your $10 and not someone elses? What does the site gain by "fixing" it against you? They earn their rake regardless, so why bother?
 
PokerJudas

PokerJudas

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Not aimed at you specifically candyman, but this attitude "It makes you not trust online sites and start second guessing" is hysterical. Do you seriously think an online site like stars, party, etc care about your $10 and not someone elses? What does the site gain by "fixing" it against you? They earn their rake regardless, so why bother?

It`s in their interest to finnish a tournament as fast as possible to earn more rake... (for instance busted players enter new tourneys)
I think its pretty obvious that high-stacks are favoured at some point in online-poker tournaments. But if you get "the feel" for how it works, I think you can have success...
 
bakreni

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we all gets somtimes cards death .It wories me more wen i get lots of god hands end lose every time 1 tme in 1 day i lose 3 times on AA.
 
B

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We all go card. Play the opponent, lag raises-shove. Tag raises try to get it heads up shove flops that miss his range. Every body limps to you squeeze all in,-most likely 1 to no callers were you are a 15-45% underdog, sometimes donks will call with 67suited and you win with 10 high.
 
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buster999

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^
not really good advice because you can't anticipate being card dead.
 
E

essdizzle68

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First of all I make sure to reassure myself that being card-dead happens to everyone at some time or another. But also, being card dead depends on your overall table strategy. I look at factors that determine how often to I play when I'm under the gun, and focus on times that I must play even when I have no hand at all. Position is just as important or more important than the cards you possess. I keep in my that not everyone that I play against are as well versed in the game as well as those who are frigging math and odds geniuses. I obviously do not consider myself the latter but even when I'm skidding, I keep on playing. Sometimes you get the hand that you want but you constantly run into the one hand that meets its match. I do things like thin out the number of callers pre-flop and post-flop. I feel that if I can get at least one person to fold before or after the flop, the greater are my odds are of winning.
 
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essdizzle68

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Deal with it badly,
End up getting impatient and just shoving the first premium hand I see only to be called by some rags despite having been the tightest player at the table for an hour. (and of course the rags suckout).

I combat the dreaded catch-up by pushing post-flop. You get far fewer callers as well as suckouts. Pre-flop pushes invites unwanted wishful caller who will call you with 8-9 suited cards. Its not iron-clad but it works for me sometimes when I'm in a jam.
 
Lafayette2

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I would say you might be able to use that in some areas, such as image. If you play fewer hands then every now and then raise to steal you might get some uncontested pots that will permit you to last longer until the blinds catch you.
 
MasterOfDisaster

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Work on your non showdown winnings.
 
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Eclipsenz

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2 days ago I was card dead for 70 hands the only hand that was playable was 77s, 3 times, I called,limped and ran into aces when I shoved SB vs BB 90 player tourney, down to 45 I was last, I normally wouldn't let myself get down to 3-4BB but I honestly had no choice anytime I was gonna shove person raises before me and with my stack he'd just call and I'd probably be a massive underdog so I waited, I then proceeded to make the final twelve... should of got further pushed 107s utg 5 handed with about 8BBs when blinds were 300/600
 
4thandinches

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Just like any form of gambling, when things are not going your way, the best thing to do is take a little break from the game and clear your head. Just think, being card dead is not as bad as consistently losing big pots with premium hands to suckouts.
All gamblers experience losing streaks, regardless of their skill level. The good ones (which are rare) minimize their losses when things are going bad.
 
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ddeely1

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well patience is important, sometimes you have to play like you are getting good cards and pick good spots to do this. for instance if it folds around to you in late position make a play because you will get respect for having a tight image. dont call other peoples raises or play out of position though.
 
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