I started playing poker seriously again after being out for 15 years or so. I play low stakes, I bought in for 50$ and play .10/.20 or .15/.30. The first week it was great, I didn’t make huge money but doubled up. I made flushes, flopped trips 2/3 times with small pairs, on and on. Then the sessions basically broke ever for a few weeks, make a couple bucks, lose a couple. Then I go on a bad run. Horrible really. In one 1hr session, I lost AA to Q4 after a 10x preF raise and a dry flop. ( I find 3x just doesn’t keep the junk out) 2 hands later QQ gets dominated by KK. Then trips lost to a boat and to finish the session off my JJ lost to pocket 6s who hit the river chasing a gut shot straight. I’m not mad that I lost all those hands as it’s poker. I’m just discouraged it went from pretty good sessions to disaster. I don’t usually tilt but now that my bankroll is gone, wondering how I can change my game. What are some of your techniques when either bad beats happen or you have a terrible session? I’m not a pro, but I’m not an amateur either. Generally I’ll limp with low pairs or AT-AQoff. I’ll 3x TT, JJ, QQ, the odd suited connector to mix it up, and I’ll usually limp or 5-10x KK-AA depending on the table and players. I play pretty tight but will also bluff every once and a while for table
Image. Appreciate any help I can get. Looking forward to keeping the bankroll going up, but feel like there’s a hurdle I can’t get over.

I'm not a cash game player usually, I'm a tournament player, but as I understand the game, I believe your range is too wide and that you should tighten up a bit more.

When I find myself in a slump. I take time off. A day or two, sometimes a week. I find that going buy-in after buy-in with nothing to show for it begins to eat away at my style of play. It's not tilt. It's more long term, and less invasive. It's a defeatist attitude that begins to take over.
I've learned to recognize these little niggles of thought, and am working on training myself to push them away.

What also seems to help is to do some learning. Pick a youtuber or a poker learning site, or pick up a new book. Even if I don't finish the program/book/series of videos, I always learn a little something that I can apply to my game. This small change also changes my run-bad-attitude, in that I can believe in the power of statistics again.

It seems like you either need to put in more cash or play smaller games. Have you had any success multi-tabling at the 0.02 and 0.05 level?
You certainly won't be doubling up in a week doing that, but it's more sustainable.

Originally Posted by AllenKll

I'm not a cash game player usually, I'm a tournament player, but as I understand the game, I believe your range is too wide and that you should tighten up a bit more.

When I find myself in a slump. I take time off. A day or two, sometimes a week. I find that going buy-in after buy-in with nothing to show for it begins to eat away at my style of play. It's not tilt. It's more long term, and less invasive. It's a defeatist attitude that begins to take over.
I've learned to recognize these little niggles of thought, and am working on training myself to push them away.

What also seems to help is to do some learning. Pick a youtuber or a poker learning site, or pick up a new book. Even if I don't finish the program/book/series of videos, I always learn a little something that I can apply to my game. This small change also changes my run-bad-attitude, in that I can believe in the power of statistics again.

I agree taking time away from the game is key when you a in a slump. Take a few days off next time and come back with a fresh mind and approach to the game. Spend the off time learning new things about poker like Allen said already.

Originally Posted by Murraydan17

I started playing poker seriously again after being out for 15 years or so. I play low stakes, I bought in for 50$ and play .10/.20 or .15/.30. The first week it was great, I didn’t make huge money but doubled up. I made flushes, flopped trips 2/3 times with small pairs, on and on. Then the sessions basically broke ever for a few weeks, make a couple bucks, lose a couple. Then I go on a bad run. Horrible really. In one 1hr session, I lost AA to Q4 after a 10x preF raise and a dry flop. ( I find 3x just doesn’t keep the junk out) 2 hands later QQ gets dominated by KK. Then trips lost to a boat and to finish the session off my JJ lost to pocket 6s who hit the river chasing a gut shot straight. I’m not mad that I lost all those hands as it’s poker. I’m just discouraged it went from pretty good sessions to disaster. I don’t usually tilt but now that my bankroll is gone, wondering how I can change my game. What are some of your techniques when either bad beats happen or you have a terrible session? I’m not a pro, but I’m not an amateur either. Generally I’ll limp with low pairs or AT-AQoff. I’ll 3x TT, JJ, QQ, the odd suited connector to mix it up, and I’ll usually limp or 5-10x KK-AA depending on the table and players. I play pretty tight but will also bluff every once and a while for table
Image. Appreciate any help I can get. Looking forward to keeping the bankroll going up, but feel like there’s a hurdle I can’t get over.

Hi there murraydan and welcome to the community!

I hope that these 2 videos may help you in this time. They have helped many students of mine

You Tube

You Tube

Cheers!

Most days are of loss in poker, the secret is to lose little on the days of loss and gain the maximum on the days of gain, everything is about knowing the time to stop, who uses the technique of loss limit and limit earnings to stop.

Only way to stop a downswing is to quit for a while. In every hand, every session, luck is the ultimately deciding factor. When it's not your day/week, quit.

Play only when you are in a good frame of mind. When you are frustrated or borderline tilting, you aren't likely gonna win. Reset and go at them again. Despite the online magic, if you are good, you can still be profitable. You are likely gonna run below your EV because it's online, but it's still possible to win.

you need to observe discipline in strategy, not give in to emotions and remember to rest so as not to fall into tilt

I have two different strategies that I use:

The first is for cash games: If I'm ahead, I get out. If I'm losing, I've preset a limit, and if I reach it, I get out.
I've also found, that in cash games, I can take 3 hours to build up a good profit, then lose it all in 1-2 minutes. I don't think it's the cards...it's me. After a couple of hours of playing, some amount of tiredness sets in, and someone gets to you. Because of that, I don't play cash games too much, anymore.

With tournaments, it's somewhat different. Sure, you can be tied up for a very long time, if you're doing well, and tiredness can set in. But so is everyone else, that's still in it. I try to remember that, and make sure, that in breaks, I throw some cold water on my face, and do something different for the five minutes, and give my mind a break, also.

Originally Posted by venycyos

Most days are of loss in poker, the secret is to lose little on the days of loss and gain the maximum on the days of gain, everything is about knowing the time to stop, who uses the technique of loss limit and limit earnings to stop.

Pretty much think this is it. Not many hands are going to put you in a position that the villain is drawing dead. So there's always a chance to take a beat.

Money management is just as important as your game. When you are up, you have to close tables and take profits. You also need to have a session limit and if you bust you are done for the session.

I think when you in a bad streak,where nothing goes right,not getting any good hole cards for hrs,and never hitting a flop.I dont think stop playing is the answer.I think you have to play as tight as you can,only play quality hands is the way i seem to get out of a funk.

Originally Posted by Evan Jarvis

Hi there murraydan and welcome to the community!

I hope that these 2 videos may help you in this time. They have helped many students of mine

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bi0eQoTpxA&t=1s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQe4A9bc_vU

Cheers!

Thanks a lot for these videos, I saved them to review whenever I need it

every 1 have to make his experience with the Game ,the more you play the more you Learn

Originally Posted by Qrise

you need to observe discipline in strategy, not give in to emotions and remember to rest so as not to fall into tilt

My problem is not so much about tilt as losing concentration and dozing off. Not so good lol

ddays of fighting days of glory, I'm still struggling to recover my losses from this month, which are negative, since January I didn't lose so much compared to this month, but I played less in January

I tighten up my game as much as possible and ride it out

Originally Posted by gon4iypes

My problem is not so much about tilt as losing concentration and dozing off. Not so good lol

loss of concentration, fatigue ... this is also a tilt. Therefore, I say, you need to act strictly in accordance with discipline, play for an hour, rest ... etc.