Getting back on top after a big negative streak

[Black winter day]

How do you cope with the negative streak in terms of bankroll?
I mean,i had a 3000$ br going into new year (i played 0.25/0.5 NL and lately 0.5/1),which i made from 1$ during about half a year,so i was pretty excited,played a lot hours,got to 3700,then hit a big downstreak and now have 3000 again.
It is not a tragedy,since the br is still big enough,but i am annoyed,that

a)I've played 3 weeks for nothing
b)I have to get to the record number again


I look at the figuers,and i am less motivated to play.
I keep thinking "Hell,i've already had the 3700,why do i have to grind all over again,cause of a few suckouts by fishes agains me and couple of bad plays by me?"

This is stupid and i know all about variance,but i can't shake those thoughts.
I feel,that unless i hit the 3700 again,i won't be able to play my A game.
I also feel like "the money was taken away from me unfairly",which is also dumb.

How do i find the same motivation again,that i had,when making my small "record" every day,climbing up and further?
How do i forget about those few days and play my normal game,instead of being a little bit tilted everytime my big pair is cracked and i think "i've already lost a lot,and now this again"...which of course doesn't help the game,to say the least.

I want to get rid of the sensation,that i've lost money,when in fact,i am up overall.

Hope,you all understood know what i mean in this post...
Thanks in advance.

[andyahighking]

It's gambling - it's going to happen. No matter how good you are, when you play this game, you're gonna take some hits at some point. The idea is to not get anxious and go headlong into trying to win it back immediately.

You need to take some time to distance yourself, and you'll rediscover your motivation. Try some play money tournaments for a week or two, and you'll eventually roll back into the real money tournys.

[Ioz]

I completely understand what you are saying.

I had grown my br to 5k, and had some rough times hit the household. I didn't lose mine from variance, I lost it from having to cash out for unexpected problems, where I needed the cash. I guess its a good thing I have a job to fall back on.

Back to you though. It took me quite a while to get motivated again to start rebuilding my bankroll. The thought of having to start over, go back to the smaller games, and work my bankroll back up was really hard to do.

I finally set personal goals, and things I want to do with the money I make, once I get my bankroll back to where it was. That, and breaking my books back out, and keeping them close, to go back and reference, has really helped me. But I would say it was mainly the goals I set for myself, and not stopping until I have achieved them has done wonders. I really enjoy playing all the time again, and have really worked harder on my game now, than I ever did before.

[revots33]

I've felt the same way during a big downswing. Seeing my br head south made me anxious to quickly turn it around and reach my old high-water mark, so I could get back to the business of making money and increasing my br.

Best advice I can give, from my own experience, is to forget about your bankroll's high point. Once money is lost, it's gone - if you stress over making it back quickly you'll play worse.

The downswing is part of poker, and so it has to be factored into your bankroll anyway. In other words, your $3700 br may have been artificially high because you happened to avoid hitting a nasty streak of variance. Now you have simply come down to where statistical variance says you should be.

The only thing you can do is continue to try and play every hand/tournament as correctly as possible. If you think the recent downswing has you tilting, a break for a few days would be a good idea. Good luck.

[MrWizard]

I'm in the same boat. Made it to 4400 and got beat down to 3000. I just took a couple days off and went back to 100NL. On my days off I enjoyed myself and did some reading. Forget about where you peaked, its just a number. Remember how you got there. You got there by quality play.

[Black winter day]

Thanks all.
It is good to know,i am not alone...
I've decided to take a break till the end of the week,then to come back,with a goal to hit 3700 again - that should restore the motivation.

Btw,MrWizard - were u playing at 200?
I've just moved recently to 100,after reaching 3000,and i still thought,i may-be doing this too soon,since i like to have about 40 buy-ins in my br,since i also multitable and that could increase the variance...

Anyway,i am constantly reminding myself,that i had 1$ just at the end of july and i managed to multiply it.
Although,if i hit another big swing and will be forced to go back to 0.25/0.5,that's gonna be a real dissapointment,since i've really started to get used to the 0.5/1,and the pots are obviosly twice as smaller - less exciting:)

[in48092]

[ QUOTE ]
I've decided to take a break till the end of the week,then to come back,with a goal to hit 3700 again - that should restore the motivation.


[/ QUOTE ] No. You've got it all wrong. assuming you're a winning player, just accept it. you will have downswings. don't get caught up in 'hitting 3700 again' just play through it. it's like a 3 point shooter in basketball hitting a cold stretch. Reggie miller didn't start pouting if he clanged a few. keep firing. you're putting the #s on a pedestal.

[Black winter day]

Well,why is this bad?
Aren't we in this game for 2 reasons?
a)Cause we like it
b)To make money

When a enhances because of b - excellent.
I don't know,if i am a winning player,as i said - i started with 1$ and turned it into 3700,but i am not playing for years,making money in poker,so i don't know if can call myself winning player just yet.
Anyway - money equals motivation.
So,of course,if i'll have a goal again AND play my usual game,it would just be easier to concentrate.

Reggie Miller didn't shoot 3 pointers in his backyard,he did it in the NBA to win,to become a champion (which he didn't,btw:)
I don't think,that his goal was just "play good",unless he had that championship ring challenge,he wouldn't play for so long.

So,my shortterm chamionship ring in this case is 3700.
Which should be achieved through good game,of course.
How else would i win?

[_TKO_]

[ QUOTE ]
So,my shortterm chamionship ring in this case is 3700.
Which should be achieved through good game,of course.
How else would i win?


[/ QUOTE ]

The reason poker is different from most other games/sports is that your results are very detached from your play.

I believe it was Mike Caro who said that you start every hand break even.

[Black winter day]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
So,my shortterm chamionship ring in this case is 3700.
Which should be achieved through good game,of course.
How else would i win?


[/ QUOTE ]

The reason poker is different from most other games/sports is that your results are very detached from your play.

I believe it was Mike Caro who said that you start every hand break even.

[/ QUOTE ]


Well,short term results.
But not long term.
If i won't set goals for myself,why even bother log on to Party or Stars?
I might as well play in play money yahoo tables,just for fun.

[_TKO_]

[ QUOTE ]
So,my shortterm chamionship ring in this case is 3700.
Which should be achieved through good game,of course.
How else would i win?
[ QUOTE ]

The reason poker is different from most other games/sports is that your results are very detached from your play.

I believe it was Mike Caro who said that you start every hand break even.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well,short term results.
But not long term.
If i won't set goals for myself,why even bother log on to Party or Stars?
I might as well play in play money yahoo tables,just for fun.

[/ QUOTE ]

You agree: short term results are detached from your play. I recently stated in another post that the key to a good goal is being able to measure it accurately. Measuring your dollar-value shift in the short term isn't an accurate measurement. Most of the things affecting it are outside of your control.

I do think that long term statistics are indicative of the quality of your play (of course, this depends on sample size). The results do take care of themselves once you concentrate completely on making good decisions.

Yes, your goal is to win. But being a winner player has nothing to do with turning $3000 into $3700.

[Black winter day]

Ok,my goal is to win.
And i would appreciate if i'll win 700$ to turn the 3000 into 3700:)

[_TKO_]

[ QUOTE ]
Ok,my goal is to win.
And i would appreciate if i'll win 700$ to turn the 3000 into 3700:)

[/ QUOTE ]

How is your strategy to win with a $3000 BR different from your strategy with a $3700 BR?

[Bobb]

Just play good poker, don't worry about having a specific amount of money in your account.

With your way of thinking, how will you feel once your at $3700? Surely you'll be excited, but won't you then be playing scared that you'll fall back below the magic number?

[Roy Munson]

The original poster appears stubborn in maintaing his results oriented mindset even though he states in his original post that he knows this is a problem.

I wonder if once he reaches his goal of $3,700 will he achieve total satisfaction. If so there is no reason to play further once this arbitrary goal is achieved.

When you become obsessed with future goals and desires you rob yourself of the endless possibilities of the present experience. These preset goals also limit your upside potential.

Progress in poker often follows a zigzag path. We will have short term setbacks. It is inevitable. Stocks that perform well don't go up every day. The truth of poker is undeniable and those that delude themselves do so at their own peril.

I would suggest that anyone who struggles with this engage in some serious soul searching. This type of thinking will not only hurt your poker game but may cause frustration and agitation in many areas of life.

[Black winter day]

[ QUOTE ]
I wonder if once he reaches his goal of $3,700 will he achieve total satisfaction. If so there is no reason to play further once this arbitrary goal is achieved.

[/ QUOTE ]

Then i would have a goal of breaking this record.

Anyway,it's not all black and white.
I know and realise,that i might play good,but still end up losing over few days.
But the money challenge exists,and we would be fools to deny it.

Would you spend this much time in play money tables?

[Roy Munson]

Play money is not poker. To answer your question, I would spend no time there.

What do you mean by "money challenge"? If I knew what it was then I would be in a better position to confirm or deny its existence.

[FieryJustice]

I remember when I first started I simply couldnt get about $10,000...I sat right around $9,000 for about a month, then finally got a nice run and then I couldnt get over 15,000...this process goes on and on...right now I cant get over 45,000 in the party account. /images/graemlins/frown.gif Then again, I was always cashing out 1k here and there to pay bills. anyways, be patient. Make sure you study the game a lot and the results will come.

[Black winter day]

[ QUOTE ]
Play money is not poker. To answer your question, I would spend no time there.

What do you mean by "money challenge"? If I knew what it was then I would be in a better position to confirm or deny its existence.

[/ QUOTE ]

Money challenge is a challenge to win/make/earn more and more money.
Basically - this is the ultimate result of the game.
It determines,whether you are winning or loosing player in the long run.

[Roy Munson]

I will agree that winning money is a goal that exists. But when you allow your obsession with goals to distract you from the task at hand you will have much greater difficulty in achieving said goals.

This is what causes people to choke in many pursuits. Missing a 2 foot putt when alot of money is riding on the outcome. Gagging on a free throw with a big game on the line. Mike Vanderjagt missing a field goal badly that he usually makes easily under less stressful conditions. I could go on but you get the idea.

[TushHog67]

Have you considered playing structured games??..the swings are still there,but if you are disciplined and just play good poker and not the money then you,ll end up on top,against all those "fish"..ive increased my bankroll 5 times by just playing in this fashion...also i suggest educating yourself with literature on poker if you havnt already...the info out there is priceless from the right authors...good luck!

[revots33]

Try looking at it this way. Imagine you had won $3000, then lost $700. You'd currently be obsessing about getting back to the magic $3000 mark. Which is where you are now anyways. My point is that these are all just numbers. They have absolutely nothing to do with how you play poker.

[Black winter day]

[ QUOTE ]
Try looking at it this way. Imagine you had won $3000, then lost $700. You'd currently be obsessing about getting back to the magic $3000 mark. Which is where you are now anyways. My point is that these are all just numbers. They have absolutely nothing to do with how you play poker.

[/ QUOTE ]

I know!
That's why i opened this topic actually.
I had 1$ just half a year,so if anyone would tell me,that i'll have 3000 now,i'd be very happy.

Actually,the pain of a loss is much greater then a thrill of a win.
That's why i am telling myself,that the way i felt about the -700 is just an illusion.

[Black winter day]

[ QUOTE ]
Have you considered playing structured games??..the swings are still there,but if you are disciplined and just play good poker and not the money then you,ll end up on top,against all those "fish"..ive increased my bankroll 5 times by just playing in this fashion...also i suggest educating yourself with literature on poker if you havnt already...the info out there is priceless from the right authors...good luck!

[/ QUOTE ]

What are structured games?
Regarding poker books - i have more then 20...and they are not just for decoration...