Lately I've been having some difficulty (not tilt wise but more feeling like I'm running in circles) with sessions suddenly turning south where suddenly draws start missing over and over, flopping flushes only to see villian flopped one higher, villians shove junk and catch miracle 2 outers on rivers, etc etc. I'll be up a bit across multiple tables then suddenly just start getting smacked on the river over and over.

It literally feels in the moment like the deck just changes and suddenly every hand that was winning is now losing.

Obviously it's mostly variance and also just how it goes and I know mental game wise it doesn't matter if I end a session up or down (because we can win/lose it the very next time we sit down anyways) but it still feels like a challenge when you get that results oriented thinking seeping in : "if only I left the session 2 min earlier!").

I've looked over this sessions and I'll be up a buy in or two and then "it" happens and I end the session and most of the profit is gone. And often the EV won will be higher than what I "won."

Rationally, and I've seen this first hand through volume of play, if I just keep on playing I sometimes end up winning some of the profit back again...like a natural ebb and flow over hundreds of hands.

So how do you all deal with creeping results oriented thinking when a good session suddenly turns cold and brutal? For me, I just make sure I was making good plays and accept that regardless of whether I left 2 min ago or now, the deck has no memory and I could've won more or lost all that profit the next session anyways/

Online, I would stop playing my level and go down to 5 cent room and let it happen where it wasnt costing me a fortune.

Originally Posted by proud2Bwhack

Online, I would stop playing my level and go down to 5 cent room and let it happen where it wasnt costing me a fortune.

Well said and works like a charm.

This is why poker is so tough and not many people can do it for their sole source of income.

My official advice would be to go through those hands you lost, when things turned around, and see if you are playing them the best way possible. If you are, then don't worry about it. If you are leaking some chips, get those leaks plugged and continue on, wiser and better and keep on keepin on.

Originally Posted by proud2Bwhack

Online, I would stop playing my level and go down to 5 cent room and let it happen where it wasnt costing me a fortune.

Originally Posted by Beanfacekilla

This is why poker is so tough and not many people can do it for their sole source of income.

My official advice would be to go through those hands you lost, when things turned around, and see if you are playing them the best way possible. If you are, then don't worry about it. If you are leaking some chips, get those leaks plugged and continue on, wiser and better and keep on keepin on.

Funny thing. I took a few minutes to look through hands last night while on a break from playing after a few brutal suckouts and felt I was playing well enough. Dropped down some tables to lower stakes and grinded more...what do you know? Ended up going on a hot streak for a few hundred hands, went back into the positive for the session then after a while started losing again but left up about 2 buy ins. So it def feels like an ebb and flow kind of thing...key is to not tilt or not let the ebbs and flows disrupt the next hands to be played.

As for sole income I don't imagine most can do it, I'd think if I ever wanted poker to be income for me I'd still work part time on the side in some fashion. The worst is when you see someone bink a huge MTT win then immediately play higher stakes than they can beat (using BRM but not skilled at those stakes enough) and lose most of it.

I felt this way Friday night.

I was playing well. Making strong decisions (either to fold or call) but I was either having someone River my flush with a boat or my top pair beat by a set ( I usually watch people that seem to be set mining so I don’t get caught here but maybe I didn’t idk) .

After 3 hours of back and forth winning some, losing others I was down $300.

Made a shitty all in with a set of 7s on a club flush board and won it all back in that one hand lol. Funny thing is that the one that would have won had a K high flush and folded to my push thinking I had A high. Other guy who called had pair of Qs.

So poker takes a thick skin for sure and it isn’t my livelihood.

Originally Posted by Hammii5010

I felt this way Friday night.

I was playing well. Making strong decisions (either to fold or call) but I was either having someone River my flush with a boat or my top pair beat by a set ( I usually watch people that seem to be set mining so I don’t get caught here but maybe I didn’t idk) .

After 3 hours of back and forth winning some, losing others I was down $300.

Made a shitty all in with a set of 7s on a club flush board and won it all back in that one hand lol. Funny thing is that the one that would have won had a K high flush and folded to my push thinking I had A high. Other guy who called had pair of Qs.

So poker takes a thick skin for sure and it isn’t my livelihood.

The swings can be amazing can't they?

Too many to count times have a chip lead in a tournament for an hour or so, enter the final table and things go south, religiously, historically. Then the times I've won sitting mid-pack, avg. or just below avg. chip stack at final table and take it down, or 2nd, 3rd.......I'm loving the lead, but this happens all too often.

I brush it off when it does, reflect on the hands leading up to. Also applaud the players with nearly wire2wire chip lead wins.

If you lose enough hands in a row you need to stop no matter how well you're playing. Unless, of course, you're in a tounament.

1 quick answer. WALK OUT. Save yourself from going on full blown tilt, frustration, and anger. Just leave. You'll save yourself money. Hard to do but no matter what is always the best thing to do.

This is the unfortunate side of poker. The luck factor. When I start going south I usually play lower limits to avoid losing more money than wanted. Patience and a strong mind can overcome bad luck and tilt. My suggestion and tip is to fold more and wait to play hands like high pairs and strong drawing hands. Poker is tricky sometimes your on a rush sometimes you can't hit nothing. Keep patient at times like these.

You could stop for the day, tighten up, lower stakes or maybe even continue knowing things will return to normal as long as you keep calm.

I do the same either way. Wether i'm winning or loosing a lot I sit out of the tables for 30 minutes or so and get back to the tables. Lately i'll jump onto CC and browse around.

if a session goes south I tend to either change the method...ie go from cash to tourney or sit & go to cash, etc. Oooor end the session for the day

I try to not play. Until, I can get a handle on the game....Then review my game, to resolve any issues.

Just look for the next game coming up and shrug it off move forward and do not let it tilt you good luck.

In my last live session i had trebled up only to bust out with the 2nd nut flush vs a player who had me covered. After a rebuy i got stacked a few hands later... flopped a straight with K9 on a flop of Q J 10 only to be up against the nuts.

I handled it well. At first i felt like quitting but i was up so heavy before those coolers because i had such a huge edge.... there's just nothing you can do about coolers other than playing more hands and chalking it up to variance. I bought in again and won some back, i made a massive fold, laying down 10 10 on a 7 high flop - my opponent showed a set. In this spot, had i been tilted, i would have busted out again, but instead i kept playing good poker. If not for my AA being busted by a 3 outer on the river, just before the game broke... i wouldve been in profit. I finished down by 1 buy in (100 BB) & pretty happy with my play. Always remember, what happened in the last hand doesn't matter: all that matters is you make correct & profitable decisions on the next one.

Great tips all around. Past week or two have continued to seemingly miss almost every draw while villians seem to hit nearly every river (everything from weak pairs hitting a bingo 2 pair river to runner runner flushes not to mention getting boats and losing to rivered higher boats, getting flushes and losing to runnr runner boats, etc). And I say this to say, I've realized for me at least when these kind of feelings creep in and I'm mumbling about something being "wrong" with the site or RNG then I immediately make sure I make a note on the player esp if I played the hand well because they're obviously happy to call bad odds to chase i tag the hand for review to make sure I did play it as well as I could, then take a short break for a snack or drink and refocus.

And I remember Slansky dollars because if I'm getting it in real good and losing then I should be happy not annoyed! Plus, its all ebbs and flows, no point getting steamed over a bad beat or suck out when the very next hand could be mine to win but the only way to get to the next hand and play it well is to make sure I have chips behind me to play with and my head back on my shoulders right.

That's a tilt.
You can maintain your a-game only for while. It is always better to quit in small profit than in profit at all. This same happen to me by the time to time. When things are going to worse, just stop playing and do something fun. Come back later with a clear mind. Breaks are very important in poker.

In my own experience ive noticed that when the cards i play are not hitting or im not winning the pots i choose to play in, the obvious has happened which is the cards im not playin and the pots i didnt want to play, would have actually won. offcourse differences between aq ak aj are very small differences in loss/win it does apply more to a wider range of cards. just pay attention to what you fold and how to board plays out. many times u would have won on the showdown and most of the times you could have gotten into the pot for cheap



Switchin things around can be dangerous so do take caution when doing this but it wont hurt and most likely bring you to an advantage, especially if ur known to play a certain way or the huds got you all figured out.

donks are proof that unplayable cards can win and beat anything one might have. dont be a donk tho, but play those cards with your skill

i feel like when you multitable too much and you are winning to a degree you start to play looser because you expect the trend to continue....

you start playing for the flushes and the straights etc instead of continually playing one way....its tough to stay tight after improbable outers hit against you over the length of a session....

this is the mental discipline on poker over time....staying true to the style that will pay dividends over the long run as opposed to going for the short returns like most players seem to do....
that style is suited for cash games not tournaments....