Breaking out of the rut

WCGRider · #1 06-13-2007, 12:16 AM

We all enjoy the thrill of the chase in a tournament, the huge hands, the massive chip stacks, the large prizes. Its those elements which draw us to these tournaments in the first place. Maybe i had a mistaken idea about how I should be doing in these, probably because in my first few attempts at the 180's i did quite well, then after getting a little better @ MTT strategy, i managed a 1st, a 2nd, and 3 3rds over quite a small sample size. I also managed to qualify for the Sunday warm up in my first ever 3$ rebuy satelite (although i took the T$ : p)

Now, I understand that MTT's have a crazy amount of variance, and that is understandable given the large fields. But in the past several weeks, the MTT well has been quite dry. Every tournament i play in seems to go in the route of losing flips early, getting no hands and having to get my chips in a very marginal situation, or i lose flips a little later on. In an attempt to try to open up my game a little bit more and get some more analysis in, i began reading these forums much more thoroughly, and recently posting more as well. So far, nada.

However, as much as this probably has seemed to be a whining/bragging/ etc etc thread, that is not what i am trying to portray. My question to the MTT strategy forum is, when you find yourself in that dry spell where nothing seems to be going on for you in any tournament you play in, what helps you break out of that rut and get into a more confident mindset? I know eventually ill have that feeling of being late in a MTT, but right now it feels a long way away.

WCGRider · #2 06-13-2007, 12:18 AM

And of course, the literal first hand after i post this.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t20 (9 handed) internettexasholdem.com

Hero (t1430)
MP2 (t2460)
MP3 (t830)
CO (t1800)
Button (t1130)
SB (t1670)
BB (t1430)
UTG (t1520)
UTG+1 (t1230)

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with Q[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], Q[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img].
2 folds, Hero raises to t80, MP2 calls t80, 1 fold, CO calls t80, Button calls t80, 2 folds.

Flop: (t350) 4[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], 3[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], 5[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] (4 players)
Hero bets t200, MP2 raises to t700, CO calls t700, Button raises to t1050, Hero raises to t1350, MP2 raises to t2380, CO calls t1020 (All-In).

Turn: (t6850) 3[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] (4 players, 1 all-in)

River: (t6850) K[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] (4 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: t6850

Results in white below: 
Hero has Qs Qh (two pair, queens and threes).
MP2 has 7d 7c (two pair, sevens and threes).
CO has Qc Jc (one pair, threes).
Button has 5h 8h (two pair, fives and threes).
Outcome: Hero wins t6850.

bobbycharles · #3 06-13-2007, 12:35 AM

The rut really bites. I'm in the same one actually. I've seen my officialpokerrankings drop from being a 99%r to a 65% all in about 2 months. Egad.

But like you said, this isn't a BBV post.

Bottom line: variance is there and we have to learn to deal with it. Read Bonds' WSOP trip reports - what a great attitude. I'm really trying to learn to just laugh it off because I know it will come back my way.

(Now if I was Shaundeeb I'd say Volcano your troubles away, but I"m far too old and mature for that!) [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

WCGRider · #4 06-13-2007, 12:42 AM

Wow, a flush and a set of kings later, and im 9th out of 1161, clearly the answer is to make a post in the MTT forum @ 2p2.

@ bobby, thx im checking out the trip reports right now, and yeah it does bite.

(Just elimianted Ell Oh Ell)

cobrakai111 · #5 06-13-2007, 01:31 AM

I just broke my first mouse ever, I don't recommend that technique. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Keep posting WCG, I've enjoyed your input a lot in these threads.

ItalianFX · #6 06-13-2007, 03:20 AM

[ QUOTE ]
My question to the MTT strategy forum is, when you find yourself in that dry spell where nothing seems to be going on for you in any tournament you play in, what helps you break out of that rut and get into a more confident mindset?

[/ QUOTE ]

I just went through about the worst 2 weeks of my poker career. I had a hot run in May almost tripling my bankroll (very small BR that is) and then having it at the highest it has ever been, and then crash 25% of my BR (remember, it's small to begin with). I subscribed to PXF and started to really take the game seriously. I have watched at least 20 hours of videos and read through HoH1 and I'm almost done with HoH2. Read and Post on 2+2. And most of all, I vowed to stop playing poker through all of June. Since I made that deal, I have played in about 2 or 3 tournaments. It keeps me away from tilt, which I tilted really bad due to being card dead and losing to every worse hand that I was up against.

I just played in a $2 tournament and took 33rd when AK < AQ. I have never made it that deep before. 215 hands total, I had KK once, QQ once, AK once, and AQ 2 times. I had 3 premium hands, 9 strong hands, and a PUFF (on PXF) of 4, where 50 is average luck. I'm definitely in a rut here.

My best advice is to just take a break and try to snap yourself out of the mindset. Frustration comes from the feeling of being out of control. You need to step back and recognize what you're doing and figure out where you're going wrong. Adjust and play, and let the cards fall.

Let me show you how it went for me:

levAA · #7 06-13-2007, 03:51 AM

[ QUOTE ]
My best advice is to just take a break and try to snap yourself out of the mindset.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think this is the best advice.
I have these "everything goes wrong" periods every few month or so.
Read the HoH 1 carefully - Harrington writes in the beginning that poker has much to do with balance. If you are out of your balance you start losing. Losing is part of the game, but if affects you emotionally and you start to change your game because of these emotions you are in these "losing periods" where it's hard to break out.

As adviced above - step back - make a break for some weeks - get rid of the emotions - then start again and you will find yourself doing a much better job.

cobrakai111 · #8 06-13-2007, 08:44 AM

Another thing I personally do when I feel like I "can't catch a break" is switch games for awhile. Limit games like HORSE and Razz won't give you that crushing two outer most of the time.

Mingdu · #9 06-13-2007, 11:07 AM

[ QUOTE ]
clearly the answer is to make a post in the MTT forum @ 2p2.

[/ QUOTE ]

obv.

ssnyc · #10 06-13-2007, 11:46 AM

as long as I can look at my play and feel that I made the right move in each given spot I try not to sweat the results...easier said than done and it's amazing sometimes the factors that go into each major suckout but I gotta hope that the precentages favor better play in the long haul...gl