What Constitutes Running Bad?

[theANMATOR]

Wondering what everyone else considers running bad.

Does running bad mean - not getting any good cards to play - so folding a lot and not able to get in the hand and mix it up, chip up?
One can cluck about being able to play well without getting good cards - however - at my buyin (micro) that won't get even the best player very far into any event with the stations and shovedonk fish around.
ACE = shove!!

Or is running bad equal to getting playable cards, even very good starting hands - that turn into total dog crap by the river?
Incorrectly ranging opponents, betting non-optimal amounts - that either could have gotten your more chips, or forced a fold in a certain situation, betting when you are beat, check-raising into the nuts. All of it.

I tend to think running bad = all of the above, but card dead is totally outside of our control. So is the runout of the community cards, but how we play the hand is within our control.

Just wondering what others opinions and definition of run-bad is.

 

[frank174]

to me it means getting your chips in good like 60 percent or better and getting run over again and again but crap happens so we call it running bad:burnout:

 

[Serjo600]

If ur dynamics in relation to the speed of the game played, then all decisions will be correct, and the misses are minimal.:hmmmm2:

 

[TheDude6622]

Getting bad beaten and having it affect your mentally.

 

[pentazepam]

Running under EV (expected value).

It can be pre-flop or post-flop; not getting cards or being out-drawn again and again by worse hands when the money goes in.

 

[wagon596]

For me ? It's playing.....

 

[Norman Vasquez]

For me running bad is observing medium to big negative slopes in your chips vs hands graph, and it could be for all kind of reasons, from just not winning flips, or that your change your strategy a little bit or your opponents changed strategy

 

[blueskies]

Making all the right decisions but still losing.

And you watch donks commit their stack with A3 and 20+ blinds remaining vs. AK and hit not one, but two 3s on the flop to win.

On any given hand, poker is about luck. Don't let ppl BS you about that. Over time, skill wins out, IF you are lucky enough not to get bitten by online magic at the wrong time.

 

[DougPkrMonsta]

You can say you are running bad if you are losing several flips in a row, losing all-in pair over pair, getting coolered (KK vs AA for instance).

Just because you say you are running bad doesn't make it true - these things happen to everyone and it all evens out if you play enough hands.

There are those who get so caught up in the short-term that they will share their terrible misfortune with anyone who will listen or even become angry.

These people are often a good source of profit for others but they make playing and being around poker a lot less enjoyable for all.

Good luck!

 

[Poker_Mike]

Wondering what everyone else considers running bad.

Does running bad mean - not getting any good cards to play - so folding a lot and not able to get in the hand and mix it up, chip up?
One can cluck about being able to play well without getting good cards - however - at my buyin (micro) that won't get even the best player very far into any event with the stations and shovedonk fish around.
ACE = shove!!

Or is running bad equal to getting playable cards, even very good starting hands - that turn into total dog crap by the river?
Incorrectly ranging opponents, betting non-optimal amounts - that either could have gotten your more chips, or forced a fold in a certain situation, betting when you are beat, check-raising into the nuts. All of it.

I tend to think running bad = all of the above, but card dead is totally outside of our control. So is the runout of the community cards, but how we play the hand is within our control.

Just wondering what others opinions and definition of run-bad is.

Running bad is just not winning.

Not sure what I mean? I hope you never find out!

But anything that continues to contribute to a losing streak is running bad.

Sometimes you can see desperation in a player's eyes when they tell you about their streak of running bad.

Good luck !

 

[theANMATOR]

For me running bad is observing medium to big negative slopes in your chips vs hands graph, and it could be for all kind of reasons, from just not winning flips, or that your change your strategy a little bit or your opponents changed strategy

Norman - is "medium to big negative slopes in chips vs hands graph" a poker tracker thing?

Can you translate that into a description if poker tracker didn't exist? Something like your records indicate you are not collecting the number of chips per hand that you should be over a certain time window?
That is a quite odd statistic just thinking about it sitting here typing, since different games have vastly different betting lines and chip amounts. Does that stat take into account the different game types a player might play?

If ur dynamics in relation to the speed of the game played, then all decisions will be correct, and the misses are minimal.:hmmmm2:

Serjo - could you expand upon this - it seems you are suggesting to 'flow' with the game you are playing? If my understanding isn't accurate please add details.
I tend to go against the grain of the flow of the table dynamics - I don't limp when everyone else limps (ever really), I'm not one that shoves preflop often, rather play the game with knowledge and skill instead of relying on luck. This has built my bankroll up to roughly 1k over the past year from zilch, so I'm going to continue to do what has gotten me here so far.
Please expand on your original post with more detail if you can.


Thanks for the input fellas. This post was prompted by a recent 1k tourney where I was the chip leader and then went on a complete suckout streak, loosing 7 or 8 hands in a row when I had the best hand preflop and when all the chips went into the middle of the table.
I ended up bubbling the final table, so the EV is definitely minus from where I would have finished - if just one or two of those best hands would have held up. Its just so weird how a series of events can unfold like that to put a player out of an event. Reviewing my hand history I can say there was no other positive value options for my play.
Yep - very short term situation, but when you grind your but off for over 4 hours and have gone from starting stack all the way up to chip leader - and then within one more hour 7-8 consecutive hands that are 60%+ favorites to win are beat by the river to put you out, it just seems wrong! lol

Turned that around quite fast though, taking down a 400gtd with the same strategy - so, although I didn't make the final table in the 1k as I was expecting, the game I'm playing is working so I'm going to continue to do what is getting me in those spots to increase the bankroll.

 

[bigpappa325]

A bit of a different point of view. I play the cc free rolls with you. You get people like 'my chip win' who like to call with anything. This creates variance or he knows something like the site is going to pay off on his donk move. So like his last tourney he called my 12bb push with his 8 bb out of position but really doesn't matter all in. My a,k got beat by 10,6 off. Thats running bad. Not getting playable cards is card dead.

I have played against you a few times. Your not as tight as you suggest. More hands your in more opportunity for a donk. If i remember correctly your quote was "I don't get into -ev situations". We all do at some time or your exploitable.

As you know in my threads i question online. But even this weekend my aces full of 2 got stomped by quads in live tourney. That's a bad runnnnnnnnn. One i can live with because i made 6330 profit over all for the night. Online seems those beats are way to familiar on a daily bases.

Good news is your a decent player. I see positive things coming your way. Keep your head up and remember poker is about losing the least amount and winning the most. If your lucky it works out. If not your with the 95% who are trying. See you at the tables.:reddy::reddy::reddy::reddy:

 

[fundiver199]

To me running bad is everything related to variance. If 40 hands into a tournament my VPIP/PFR is 5/3, that is running bad, since I did not deliberate nit up. I just did not pick up any hands, it would be profitable to play, even in the most optimistic scenario.

Constantly getting 3-bet or 4-bet with hands, that cannot stand it, is also running bad. It mean, we ran into the top of someones range. Same for getting our light C-bets raised and be forced to fold.

Missing flops and missing our draws is also running bad. Getting outdrawn is running bad. Getting coolered is running bad. If we get AK all in preflop for 30BB, and our opponent flip over AA, that is running bad.

What is not running bad, are the things we control. Piling a ton of chips in on the flop with KK on A high board, and getting called by AX, is not running bad, it is playing bad.

 

[kowrip]

Running bad is a combination of factors that collectively make it extremely difficult to win. These include:

1) Getting a lot less than the expected percentage of strong hands
2) Your strong hands always running into even stronger hands
3) Too much early action every time you are looking to play weak hands in position
4) Too many bad beats / suck outs when you are way ahead
5) Constantly getting terrible flops/community cards when you finally do get a premium hand