[deacsoft]

I'm going to campaign for the reality of the situation here. Every day I see tons of threads about "running bad" and "down swings". More and more 2+2ers seem to be feeling sorry for themselves whenever the cards just don't seem to be falling they way they would like. They want to know if it will end. They want to know what to do next. They want to quit poker all together. The truth of the situation is they might as well quit.

There are a couple things many of you have failed to acknowledge when you decided to start playing poker.
1) Downswings happen! They'll happen to you. They'll happen to me. They'll happen to anyone who plays the game enough. They'll even happen to the best players in the world. It is inevitable. If this was realized by those of you who are thinking "I knew that" right now we would have all these sob stories all over the forums.
2) The cause of the down swing may be you. I'm not going over the line by saying more than half of the members of this forum are losing players. Quit blaming the seat, luck, the deck, the fish accross the table from you. If you can't put the blame where it will most often need to be (on your own shoulders) you have no business playing poker.

The most common answer I see to these questions about what to do and when will it end are met too many times with "Take A Break". This is insane. Taking a break may be the way to go in some of these situations, but the truth is this...
If you were aware of the the items mentioned above and by being aware had the correct mind-set it wouldn't be an issue. You don't need a break. You don't need a nap. You need to wake up and accept the realities of your situation. Once you've done that you need to do the following.
1) Stop feeling sorry for yourself.
2) Evaluate your game. Study hand histories, post hands here on the forums, ask questions.
3) Study up. Read and re-read your poker books, read posts here on the forums, take dvantage of the 2+2 Magazine.
4) Get on the tables and correctly apply what you've learned!!

It's time to man up everyone. Put the blame where it belongs. Get your mind in tune with reality. Expect down swings and bad runs to happen. Deal with them and get through it. Continue to improve. There's no need for a break because you can't handle these things. If you need to take a break because of these things give it up. Poker is not for you.

Cheers,

deacsoft