It just doesn't make sense

[CDNMAN 42]

I have just finished playing 17- 45 player SitNGos on pokerstars and I cannot understand how things can continuously be so bad. I am a fairly tight player, I don't play junk or small suited cards, when I do have a hand I play fairly aggressively. I have been playing this game on line for 15 years and live for 10 years so I am not a beginner. I have in the past enjoyed relatively decent results...my live career winnings are approximately $25,000. CDN, On line my winnings are significantly less. In those past 17 SitNGos, I have not won one race, flip or once with premium cards. In fact I have been rivered so many times I am giving up...here are the two most recent tournament ending episodes.


https://www.cardschat.com/replayer/724SG3NMJ
https://www.cardschat.com/replayer/624SFaH4a

 

[eetenor]

I have just finished playing 17- 45 player SitNGos on PokerStars and I cannot understand how things can continuously be so bad. I am a fairly tight player, I don't play junk or small suited cards, when I do have a hand I play fairly aggressively. I have been playing this game on line for 15 years and live for 10 years so I am not a beginner. I have in the past enjoyed relatively decent results...my live career winnings are approximately $25,000. CDN, On line my winnings are significantly less. In those past 17 SitNGos, I have not won one race, flip or once with premium cards. In fact I have been rivered so many times I am giving up...here are the two most recent tournament ending episodes.


https://www.cardschat.com/replayer/724SG3NMJ
https://www.cardschat.com/replayer/624SFaH4a

Thank you for posting

I noticed 2 points that are very important if we are to be successful in SNG's

Hand 1 your raise size is too small therefore we are going multiway with a hand that does not play well multiway. Either we check see or we bomb preflop with AT but considering how many players are limping AJ not squeezing it at your stake level I would lean to check see.

Hand 2 We have 3.4bb's with AK-this is not the hand that I would reflect on. I want to do a hand review to find out if I missed spots earlier. Did I miss value? Did I not attack with equity? Did I not play enough hands early? Why do I have 3.4bb? Why am I not already out?

Variance can be brutal at times. When it is, all we can do is review our play and make sure we are playing a winning strategy for the type of poker we are playing.

Hope this helps

 

[donpiatnik]

I have just finished playing 17- 45 player SitNGos on PokerStars and I cannot understand how things can continuously be so bad. I am a fairly tight player, I don't play junk or small suited cards, when I do have a hand I play fairly aggressively. I have been playing this game on line for 15 years and live for 10 years so I am not a beginner. I have in the past enjoyed relatively decent results...my live career winnings are approximately $25,000. CDN, On line my winnings are significantly less. In those past 17 SitNGos, I have not won one race, flip or once with premium cards. In fact I have been rivered so many times I am giving up...here are the two most recent tournament ending episodes.


https://www.cardschat.com/replayer/724SG3NMJ
https://www.cardschat.com/replayer/624SFaH4a

Poker changed a lot.... I think this tactic is old and over. (Let’s add that it’s too simple too.) You can already be really successful if you can win (a lot or) big pots with multiple cards. You can win a lot of chips from many situations without having a hand. Because of this, in some situations it is worth playing multiple cards... Everyone can play a few strong cards aggressively, but there are many weaknesses to this tactic and that are cruelly exploited on a slightly more serious level.

 

[ph_il]

Hand 1
-What were you trying to accomplish with your small pfr? Check option or raise bigger. Raising small just bloats pot and invites everyone in. Personally, I like checking here oop and to keep spr low.
-On that flop with 4 other players in the hand, I think I just jam the pot. The problem with standard cbetting half pot is anyone that calls will be priced for a later street, especially if you get multiple callers. Your stack just isn't big enough to force folds on later streets.
-Unfortunately, once villain called your flop bet they're just never folding on the turn after committing 60% of their stack. Lucky for you they called, unlucky that they hit but that's just how it goes.

Hand 2
-What is the problem here? You're super short stacked, get it in a 60/40 spot, and it doesn't hold. Move on.

 

[puzzlefish]

The problem is that most people just aren't built to handle long losing streaks.

 

[KozakAlex]

Everyone has a game crisis. Your situation is not unique. Get some rest, gain some energy, and get motivated to continue fighting again.

 

[infonazar]

Sometimes this happens to every player, but it can't last forever. Do not be upset, it is better to take a short break and rest.

 

[darthjewel]

With only two years of experience I would not dare to advise,
but as an alternative to taking a break I could suggest to play a different type/s of the game for few days.
Even a different poker room, perhaps.
This is to see a different table layout, get the different pace.
I play once a week or so a testing game, not to win but to check my performance.
Although I focus on one game type , this helps me to understand where is the issue.

 

[Gusborgs22]

Hand 1: bad pre flop raise. with 4 limpers the correct is like 5-7 bb's. The guy with KT played it like shit and got pretty lucky with 2 outs on the river.
Hand 2: pre flop all in AK x QT its like 75/35 per cent situation.
Now i'm playing cash games. For me, to win/FT an MTT/ SnG you have to be very lucky.
For exemple. In tournaments you HAVE TO go all in pre several times if you wanna get into FT/win. If you go all in pre 5 times, 3 times was 70-30 for you and 2 times it was a flip. You have 8 per cent chance to win ALL those all ins situations. At cash games you have 100bbs all the time and you can go all in pre only with super premium hands like AA/KK

 

[fundiver199]

Like so many others you choose to focus on the distribution of good and bad luck. And sure over a small sample like 17 SnGs this will have a significant impact on your results. But if you have been playing for 15 years, you really should be able to look past that and understand, that what happen over a single session or a single week is not really important.

Also these 50c SnGs on PokerStars are turbos, so variance is always going to be high, and it can be difficult to overcome the 10% rake even against soft competition. So maybe play some other games with a more favourable structure instead. And maybe play a bit higher as well. If you have been playing for 15 years already, you should not still be stuck in these penny games.

 

[WickedFRoST]

Bad beats happen all the time. Sometimes it can get quite absurd, in terms of runouts. That's just the way it is, bad beats are an integral part of poker, so if you want to become a long term winner you are going to have to get used to them.

If there were no such things as bad beats, then most of us would never have a losing session. But on the positive side, bad beats are what keep the bad players and soft competition. It tricks them into thinking they made the right play, or that poker is always about luck. And for that we should be thankful.

At the same time, I would recommend paying more attention to improving your game, because, as most people already noted, there were some questionable decisions made on your part in the AT hand.

This is important, because, with bad beat - you cannot do anything, they will happen anyways. But what you can change is the number of errors you make while playing. You are an experienced player, but that does not mean there is no room for improvement.

The poker meta is changing on a daily basis, meaning that no one should stop learning ever. Anyways, I wish you best of luck, and hope that your bad streak would end soon. Cheers!

 

[MAGICUZ]

Since you are not new to this business, then you must understand that this is all temporary. You just need to endure it,poker is ups and downs.

 

[terryk]

The days of sitting down and turning your computer on,,,and winning at poker are over,,,poker has evolved.:deal: Evolve with it or move on,,,

 

[Jon Poker]

I have just finished playing 17- 45 player SitNGos on PokerStars and I cannot understand how things can continuously be so bad. I am a fairly tight player, I don't play junk or small suited cards, when I do have a hand I play fairly aggressively. I have been playing this game on line for 15 years and live for 10 years so I am not a beginner. I have in the past enjoyed relatively decent results...my live career winnings are approximately $25,000. CDN, On line my winnings are significantly less. In those past 17 SitNGos, I have not won one race, flip or once with premium cards. In fact I have been rivered so many times I am giving up...here are the two most recent tournament ending episodes.


https://www.cardschat.com/replayer/724SG3NMJ
https://www.cardschat.com/replayer/624SFaH4a

Forgive me since this response is going to be sort of general but here goes. Overall as far as MTT poker goes its normal to go long periods (100 games or more) without a significant cash - this is normal variance and the reason you need to put in sufficient volume to win long term. It's also the reason the rule of thumb for good bankroll management is 100-150 buy ins of your highest stake.

Another factor is game structure. The faster the blind levels, the higher variance the game will be since you will be forced to be all in more often than normal.

The last factor is that you need to reassure yourself that you are playing correctly - review your tournaments, look at all the spots with a group of like minded people and see if/where you are making mistakes. Bad variance is rough enough without compounding it alongside personal mistakes.

Edit:: for example. The first hand you posted runs out to be a cooler and is what it is but you played the hand poorly in my opinion. On your stack size this is either a jam preflop or just a simple check. Your raise to 3x with that many limpers in front accomplishes nothing and you will likely be playing a bloated pot out of position with a good chance of it becoming multiway - which also severely diminishes your equity.

 

[srurrr]

Tournaments are not stable, so if you want to make money, you should move to cash. And such bad beats are often happen.

 

[teepack]

When 4 people limp into a pot before you, you need to do more than a 2xBB raise. At least a pot raise. Nothing five-handed is all that strong.