[J. Stew]

Yooooo

battle through it homey. i've seen some of your posts in small stakes and can tell you're approaching the game in an honest and straightforward way, trying to become the best player you can be. what more can you do?

when going through a downswing, it's hard to find the difference between bad luck and bad play, but it is what you need to keep looking for. since you can do nothing about bad luck, it is actually insane to worry about it, or to let it get you off your game.

now that you're going through a big downswing, you see another aspect to the game, you see that you can be in a bunch of crappy situations you can't do much about, and have them happen in a row. now take that insight you've gained, and move on.

there are lots of things you can control even though right now it seems like things are out of control.

one thing to remember is that your style is flexible. you don't have to raise every normal (for you) raising hand when you sit down at a table. there's no time limit. you can sit down and fold a lot just watching other players to get really nice reads while you wait for the nuts. then maybe start working some more hands in and see how people react. are they aware of your image. do they change their game now that you're raising more hands. if you can see these more subtle dynamics then you have an advantage over people that aren't paying attention. maybe you're at a table where it's good to play super tight because they aren't paying attention and will pay you off with a pfraise% of 8 or whatever. or maybe the blinds are supertight and you can steal a lot.

try to find things that are going on that other people aren't aware of. look at the patterns of how people bet. are they on autopilot playing eight tables? if so then maybe they're c-betting a lot of hands they'd fold to a flop raise, or maybe you could float the flop w/ air and bet when they give up on the turn. get creative. when you start to think of how you can win the pot while still playing good fundamentals then you start to create your own luck, but really you're just playing good poker.