How do you guys get through the "down swings"

Tking4unc · #1 03-01-2007, 08:43 PM

Please dont view this as whining and I know this is a little on the vague side but how do you guys get through the variance of the game(obviously the bad side) Im multi tabling $25 NL these days and I look at my stats at the end of sessions and Im winning an incredible amount of small pots without the showdown, but it seems like everytime the money gets in there Im taking beat after beat. Do you move down to $10 NL and try to stop the bleeding there or do you ride it out and risk torching your bankroll? Do you guys take extended periods of time off from poker when running bad? Im trying to build a good bank roll and I hate to just stop playing and lose time playing the game. Suggestions?

raistlinx · #2 03-01-2007, 08:55 PM

It sounds like you are playing at Full Tilt.

One thing is when you sit down at a table always ask yourself if your money is going to come from winning small pots or big pots and adjust your game accordingly.

Also, if you find yourself losing the big pots ask yourself if it was because of bad luck (suckout) or because you overvalues something like TPTK at a tight table.

That's a little vague but that's about all I can say not knowing more specifics.

MotorBoatingSOB · #3 03-01-2007, 09:50 PM

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It sounds like you are playing at Full Tilt.

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lol

But seriously.

Play with a very large bankroll and the beats won't matter to you as much. Losing 10 buyins on a 20 buyin bankroll is devistating (sp?) both to your bankroll and to your psyche. Losing 10 buyins of a 50 buyin bankroll is "meh" but it doesn't mentally or financially destroy you.

Taking breaks for a few days or a week has always helped me. If things really go bad I sometimes switch sites or games for a while. I would recommend having some money on a secondary site that you can go to when things aren't going well on your primary site. This all might not be possible if you are playing for a living (I'm assuming you don't since you play 25NL). If you normally play NL on full tilt, try stud8 or 5draw on stars for a couple of days. Switching games/sites usually seems to break me out of any clouded mental state that seems to overcome me when I am running really bad.

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Push_Fold · #4 03-01-2007, 10:14 PM

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One thing is when you sit down at a table always ask yourself if your money is going to come from winning small pots or big pots and adjust your game accordingly.

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That sounds like incredibly bad advice. You play with adjustments to table conditions not if today you feel like winning small pots or big pots.

raistlinx · #5 03-01-2007, 10:17 PM

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One thing is when you sit down at a table always ask yourself if your money is going to come from winning small pots or big pots and adjust your game accordingly.

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That sounds like incredibly bad advice. You play with adjustments to table conditions not if today you feel like winning small pots or big pots.

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That's what I mean. I never said what you "felt like" I meant how the games were playing... sorry I thought that was implied [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

MotorBoatingSOB · #6 03-01-2007, 10:29 PM

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One thing is when you sit down at a table always ask yourself if your money is going to come from winning small pots or big pots and adjust your game accordingly.

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That sounds like incredibly bad advice. You play with adjustments to table conditions not if today you feel like winning small pots or big pots.

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I think he means that you should examine the table conditions and base your strategy on what you find, not just randomly decide whether you feel like playing big or small pots during this session.

diebitter · #7 03-03-2007, 02:08 PM

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One thing is when you sit down at a table always ask yourself if your money is going to come from winning small pots or big pots and adjust your game accordingly.

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That sounds like incredibly bad advice. You play with adjustments to table conditions not if today you feel like winning small pots or big pots.

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No it's good advice. You see how the table plays, and decide whether it's longball (you play tighter/for big pots) or shortball (you play looser + aggy, wanting to take small pots off people by aggression).

tight tables = shortball, loose tables = longball, roughly.

it's of course more sophisticated than that at mixed tables (ie most of the time).

And of course you playing the table like that tends to change the dynamic, especially if you're the only loosey on a tight table. It will frequently loosen up for you.

Tking4unc · #8 03-03-2007, 02:31 PM

Well I mean obviously the 44 vs AA hand played itself, and I wasnt "crying a river" I just wonder looking back, since I had the guy on AQ or AJ, a really good read based on my notes on the guy, should I consider taking one more card off before I push back? Or do you take satisfaction on making the right read and right play? I really think if I see the Queen roll off... Im gonna check call and maybe save a bet

FloppyJ · #9 03-01-2007, 09:59 PM

Playing over-rolled helps. I will drop down in levels if I'm running bad for an extended period. I will also regularly switch up my game and donk it up at some MTT's or SNG's for a bit, try some omaha or stud. This is also a great recipe for stunting your poker growth unfortunately.

raistlinx · #10 03-01-2007, 10:20 PM

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Playing over-rolled helps. I will drop down in levels if I'm running bad for an extended period. I will also regularly switch up my game and donk it up at some MTT's or SNG's for a bit, try some omaha or stud. This is also a great recipe for stunting your poker growth unfortunately.

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WTF??? Learning different games will always help your other games.