playing well when running bad

[younghov17]

anytime someone posts a downswing its inevitable to hear people saying you must be playing differently, and to an extent its definitely true, but is it even possible to play unaffected when your running really bad? based on human emotions alone i dont think it is possible. but what do you guys do to try to let it affect you as little as possible?

[Requin]

Serenity Now

[younghov17]

i dont see what that thread has to do with anything.

[Josh.]

having a huge anger problem prob doesnt help you

[coxquinn]

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having a huge anger problem prob doesnt help you

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[JKratzer]

realize the math behind the bad beats. those bad play(er)s are why you win in the long run. once you embrace that fact it shouldn't upset you when that stuff happens. it takes practice but eventually i believe it will eventually happen to anyone that tries enough. that or you'll go broke from tilt.

[jrbick]

[ QUOTE ]
realize the math behind the bad beats. those bad play(er)s are why you win in the long run. once you embrace that fact it shouldn't upset you when that stuff happens. it takes practice but eventually i believe it will eventually happen to anyone that tries enough. that or you'll go broke from tilt.

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I haven't read the whitelime thread yet but KRATZER is pretty much right on. EDIT: realizing that donkeys hitting 2 and 4 outters is actually cash in your pockets and that coolers even out in the long run (when you get in situations where the opponent would go broke in the same spot; that money comes back to you eventually). WHen this doesn't do the trick for me I take as much time off as needed before I have a desire to play again. This helps in distancing myself from a bad run. I think "distance" is important once we start saying things like "I can't win, I never win, I always loose, I never hit, they always have a set," etc etc... speaking in absolutes like that which we all know are just ridiculous statements. Tilt is manifested differently for everyone. For me I start playing weaker than normal and begin to not pay attention to my opponents as well as I should. ANY sign of not playing your "normal" game should be quitting-time imo. Usually it's just the beggining of a steady digression.

Once I can start thinking "normally" about my play and about my edge in a game, I start to have more of a desire to grind out the hands and get back in the ring. Before I do though, I usually watch Taylor's vids at CR, glance at a long term NL graph just to remind myself that no matter what happens I'm never actually "stuck," and maybe start back out playing lower-than-usual stakes just to get my groove/confidence back. Playing at stakes that hurt less helps a lot to maintain aggression etc. I mean think about it, you could drop to as low as NL100 or NL200 and still make VERY good money contra the real world.

So anyway, I pretty much agree younghov. Everyone has a certain threshold though. Generally I can stand taking a few beats here and there and even a few losing sessions here and there. When they happen consecutively (days) and with great frequency durring a given session though, my threshold is met. The harder we all work on pushing that threshold back the better we'll become at playing good poker amidst the negative outcomes.

[billyjex]

my problem is i am extremely results oriented, so i automatically put running bad with playing bad (i.e., making a big call that may +EV but if i'm wrong i think i'm an idiot.) same with big three barrels that get called, etc. if they work i think i'm great, if they don't i think i suck.

[mj12]

[ QUOTE ]
my problem is i am extremely results oriented, so i automatically put running bad with playing bad (i.e., making a big call that may +EV but if i'm wrong i think i'm an idiot.) same with big three barrels that get called, etc. if they work i think i'm great, if they don't i think i suck.

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[KingGordy]

Even if you're playing the same your opponents play better when you're losing, so your expected BB/100 goes down even if you play as good as ever.