official end your downswing thread

[bubaloo]

hero calls lose money. hero calls lose money. hero calls lose money. hero calls lose money. hero calls lose money. hero calls lose money. hero calls lose money. hero calls lose money. hero calls lose money. hero calls lose money. hero calls lose money. hero calls lose money. hero calls lose money. hero calls lose money. hero calls lose money. hero calls lose money. hero calls lose money. hero calls lose money. hero calls lose money. hero calls lose money.

[Herrigel]

- stop relying too much on stats, like "this guy folds 70% to river bets, ez 3rd barrel".
- in general bluff less.
- take more time before making big decisions.
- play less tables.
- practice patience.
- find a g00t coach.

that's all.

[Herrigel]

ah, and stop this [censored] BE stretch...

[Chicago Twister]

analyze your play by reviewing EVERY session in PT

[freshbeats]

xanta has a good one, this is my personal recipe to end downswings. 1-2 tables, while quite a bit slower paced, is also quite a bit more profitable:

1) it forces way better game selection: the fact that you're watching most of the hands play out gives you a much more accurate feel for the table that you don't have when 4-6 tabling, leading to your righteous departure from tables that have gone all 12/4/800 on you.
2) along with that, you get way better reads on players and their leaks by playing along in hands you are not involved in. any experienced player will hammer it into you that hud stats are overshadowed hugely by the +EV of knowing what a player's line means, how he plays draws, etc etc. this is a huuuuuuge moneymaker, as it leads to vast improvements in your hand reading of opponents, knowledge of how to exploit those leaks you noticed earlier, and the last added bonus of being able to RUN OVER live games once your card and player reading gets good.

[ama0330]

play happy. ie. be happy and carefree when you play. helps me immensely.

[Leptyne]

OK, here's the real deal. I wish I could say this was mine, but this is all gleaned from 2+2.

First, and I think the real key to understanding the rest, is to understand the basic fact that poker is a game of decisions. You would like for the flush to make, to flop a set, for villain to check behind, etc. but these are things over which you have no control. You do have control over your decisions. Make more good ones than bad ones.

A lot of online players (at least 2+2 posters) are perfectionists. They want to make all their decisions correct and really get down on themselves when they make really bad (dumb, stupid) decisions. Sometimes it can be masochistic. You seem to enjoy screwing up so you can proceed to whip yourself for being such an idiot. And of course many 2=2'ers then proceed to tilt, or at least get a little tilty.

One key here is to start giving yourself a break, understanding that being a perfectionist only sets yourself up for failure, perhaps read a book or two on the subject, and perhaps talk to a buddy about this.

Lastly, you can not properly make good decisions on a consistent basis unless you are mentally sound, got your head screwed on correctly, etc. You need to have your life in order. You know, squared away. Financially stable, no problems with your significant other, no significant personal problems at all. There are poker players that can put there personal lives in a box, close the lid, then proceed to play and make decisions with no emotion. I think these people have problems in their personal lives, problems dealing with people. So, thats where you need to start. Get your head straight. I think that it's helpful to get a life outside of poker. If you need to have some personal counseling then I'd suggest doing that before getting a poker coach.

[jk3a]

I can't remember where I heard this, but...try and remember that you aren't playing badly or running badly but that you PLAYED poorly or ran bad in the past.

The past does not determine the future in poker. One thing that really helps me play better is when I stop feeling sorry for myself.

[HoldEmNewby]

Everytime i hit a break even or losing stretch I drop down to 3 tables, and along with forcing myself to focus on hands i'm not involved in, I sit there and vocalize my thoughts on each hand as it happens. I'll be assigning hand ranges out loud based on past action, justifying my action on the street, and expressing a game plan for current and future streets based on villains reaction and how they should be interpreted. Painfully maximize EV every step of the way and stop testicular atrophy (ie. fear) or karmic balance (ie. suckouts/luck) from clouding judgment. Essentially - force your A game so factors such as your confidence, dwindling bankroll, outstanding bills, constipation, sexual frustration ie. anything not part of the hand in front of you becomes irrelevant.

[Up-grey-de]

I just came out of the biggest downsing in my life, when I think how I got myself in the situation I get sooo pissed at myself. I was winning pretty good at 2/4 and 3/6 NL, and was pretty overrolled for both levels, when I one night decided to try some Omaha 2/4 while drunk.
After I lost around 3K in 1 hour i went to the club. The next day i started playing right away with the intention of winning back everything I lost, and ended up even that session.
The next 3 days I played NL HU and was running sickning bad, and due to that I started tilting like crazy. BAM! half my BR was gone.
I moved down to 1/2 and was hoping that I would win everything back pretty qucik by playing HU, but due to tilt and some sick coolers I lost A LOT again.
This was my first losing month in my 2 years of playing, and when the month(august) was over I was sooo depressed, and had lost my confidence totally.

Now I have learned a lot from it, and promiced myself that I will NEVER get into that situation again.
Here are some examples of what I will do next time when I start running bad:

- Take 2-3 days off from poker totally. The 4th day start watching some CR videos to get the poker mood back.

- If you are playing HU, be VERY honest to yourself when you are starting to Tilt, myself and many friends have lost 7-10 BI in a couple of hours to fishes who they normally wouldnt lose to, just because they started to tilt.
I think that when you have lost 2-3 BI you should quit. It is going to be very hard to keep playing after you lost 3 BI, mainly because you want to win everything back and you become overaggressive.

- Start working out on a regular basis. I have tried to play all day during periods in my life when I was not working out, and every bad beat pissed me off.
When I started to work out everyday, the bad beats and coolers did not piss me off at all when playing 1-2 hour sessions.
Working out gives you an oppourtunity to clear your head and makes you more relaxed.

- Play shorter sessions. I think 2 hours is optimum. After that I noticed that I lose focus, and if I seen a couple of bad beats within those first 2 hours, it does not really bother me, but after 2-3 hours Ive noticed that I get more and more pissed while playing.

- Like everyone else already said, analyze you session afterwards, and ask yourself:
- Would I play the hand the same way now? If yes, it should not bother you. You have to think longterm.

All this is easier said than done, but I hope writing it down will help me and other 2+2 ers, and please feel free if you want to add anything that i ve missed or you think is wrong.

GL