Starting to get very bothered....graph included

[Langerz]

[ QUOTE ]
Bad play magnifies downswings.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well said that's why I think really reviewing sessions during a downswing is important. Downswings always add at least a little tilt and at least for me a little bit of tilt can magnify my leaks making them easier to find.

Also remember the great thing about a downswing is that if you are truly a profitable player when you are on a downswing that just means you are due for a shot of the good side of variance soon. And speaking as a guy currently coming out of a downswing with one heck of a rush, damn is the good side of variance fun.

[M4in]

I feel your pain bloom, I'm in the same situation...

All my cards get cracked, and that makes me play bad. I'm gonna do a 2-table session and try to play good, and after that review every piece and bit of it...
Also on low stakes [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[OziBattler]

for my last 250 downswing it turned out it wasnt just variance...i played sucky poker and it turned out I spewed WAY more than I thought and that I had some fundamental flaws in my game that variance magnified to the point I couldnt ignore. Its very possible that you arent playing as well as you think you are. VAriance is a biatch and with a downswing like that I have little doubt that variance is a factor..the question is....how much is variance and how much is you?

Reviewng your own play is critical to seeing if you are really playing your A game or not but you might want to participate in a few rounds of the organised session reviews and get some feedback on your game.

ozi

[TomTom]

One word from the loyal opposition.

Variance? I don’t think so.

PS .25/.50 is very soft and very beatable. You can profitable play lots of hands there as long as you pay strict attention to the action.

Post some hands you lost in spite of playing expertly.

Post some hands you WON and think you played expertly.

(I bet you learn more from the ones you won.)

[Bilgefisher]

[ QUOTE ]
Reviewng your own play is critical to seeing if you are really playing your A game or not but you might want to participate in a few rounds of the organised session reviews and get some feedback on your game.

ozi

[/ QUOTE ]

Very true, I haven't done a session review since classes started up again. That was the last time I played winning poker. Coincidence, maybe, but I doubt it. Looks like I'm going to have to find time for it again.

[pelerin]

I had a very similar graph earlier this year. At the start of the downswing I stayed philosphical about it but as time went on I realised I was going into every hand with the assumption that I was going to lose, I just knew my AA was going to get cracked every time. I was playing scared, not exactly conducive to good poker. The only way I found to fix this attitude was to drop down to a level where I no longer cared if I lost. I started to play better, I broke even for a bit then started to upswing. I know the flaw in doing this is that I lost more money having a downswing at a higher level than I regained having an upswing at a lower level but for me it was a price worth paying. If I'd continued playing scared the upswing would never have happened anyway. I think with any downswing that goes on for a long period it's worth considering your attitude to the game and whether it is helping you win or helping you to lose.

[rjacobs003]

Question: Can you map out on your graph where u were multitabling. My own 'downswings' strangely tend to happen when I'm playing at more than 1 table....

[death_blooms]

I've always multi-tabled, usually I 6 table but during this bad run I've cut back to 4 tables to watch more. If I single table I get so bored I lose my head and donk off chips.

[rjacobs003]

Maybe not relevant in the context of this post so apologies to OP but why it that I never read a thing about positive variance. There are always posts attributing down-swings to variance but when we're on the up, we seem to call it playing well....just a thought i was mulling over...