[Harv72b]

Don't worry. You'll have much worse downswings than this in the future. [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

As said above, 5.5 BB/100 is not sustainable. You ran well initially, and this is just the law of averages bringing you back to earth. Poker is a game of swings to begin with, and the fact that a lot of us tilt to some degree during a downswing only compounds that.

In answer to your question, 100-200 BB downswings are fairly common for any winning player at any limit. 300 BB downswings are more rare, but will most likely happen sooner or later. I believe there was a thread some time ago detailing a proven winning player's 600 BB downswing, although that is very extreme.

FWIW, the toughest single jump in limits I ever made was going from 2/4 to 3/6. The average 3/6 player is much more aggressive than at smaller stakes, both pre- and postflop, and it's probably the first limit where you'll regularly be exposed to things like blind steals/defenses, isolation raises (again, both pre- and postflop), and postflop value raises by players on draws. The first time I tried to move up to 3/6 I suffered a losing streak remarkably similar to yours...in fact, that was the closest I have ever come to busting completely. The game was a lot tougher than I anticipated, and many of my opponents were ruthless about extracting value from me when I was beat.

Now, I recently dropped back down to 3/6 after 50k hands or so at 5/10 (non-poker related bankroll drain). I couldn't believe how easy 3/6 seemed after that long at higher limits.

Best advice? Take some time off. Read a few poker books, go back through your hand histories and look for spots where you could have saved a bet here or won an extra bet there, and keep reading/posting here. Maybe give another poker discipline a brief go, to mix things up...whether a different game like stud or omaha, or trying out some tournaments or sit & gos. Just stay away from your regular game until you've broken the mental funk that your downswing has caused.