"Self Exclusion" and until when

[jfk]

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I think I have been playing some of the best poker this year and have been extracting more value by playing stronger.

Having said that, this downswing has really got me thinking I need a break. It's hard because I'm playing well, but I'm getting really pissed off and can see myself starting to make more small mistakes.

I really don't want to let go of playing now because I feel very connected to the game. But, I don't want to feel this goddamn dread. How long of a break do you suggest I take? Should I not take a break and keep plugging away?

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Everybody runs like this occasionally. Being able to objectively know that things will turn around is a key piece of being successful over the long term.

Not that you're in the mood to hear my own tales of woe, but recently I had one of those 12-15 tourney runs where I always got my money in good and always came up shallow. I vividly remember the AA vs. A5, AA vs. KK, JJ vs. JT. etc, that kept going up in flames. During this time I ran into Tyson Streib in a 2+2 home game and gushed gibberish about getting my money in good and losing. He didn't have any good advice, but his staring at me like I had two heads made me think more clearly about the situation.

Without turning this into a strat. post, it dawned on me that I may be playing unnecessarily and incorrectly tight when the majority of my exchanges had me (like you) as a prohibitive favorite. I'm sure you've gone through this review of your own play, but if you're playing so tight that you're always seeing these huge edges, it may be overly tight.

Other than my mind always returns to fundamental gambling theory in remembering that no one can help getting their money in good and losing. That the playing decision is sound is really all that can be controlled as a player. These things can and must swing back your way.

If you're getting your money in good in a gambling setting that's really all you can control. That you only figure to be "successful" somewhere in the neighborhood of 10% of the time you play a MTT or S&G means that you're due to have many lifetime runs of 18+ buy-in downswings.

As such, and as per your description, I would not take a break from this. Plugging away while unlucky but playing inevitably results in a natural cure.