Maintaining discipline during bad, improbable runs

[CmnDwnWrkn]

I know one of the defining skills that separates winners from losers in this game is being able to lay down good hands when they sense they are beaten, but I am finding I have a lot of trouble doing this when my great hand is beat several times in a row.

I am curious if there any strategies that you use to maintain your discipline when you are faced with several improbable losses within a short period of time. This is mostly a mental thing, so is there anything you tell yourself to help yourself through these times?

I'm not necessarily talking about bad beats here. I'm talking about those times when you have a great hand but you lose to an even better hand. I wouldn't really say that I tilt off of this, but I get myself into more of a state of denial, like I can't believe that my great hands can keep getting beat like this. So I get my money in even if I am sensing that I am beat, which is obviously a mistake. Which is because I can't really allow myself to accept that I can go on a run where my strong hands keep getting beat by even better hands. So I lose more money than I should, even though I *know* better, I still find it hard to believe that these runs can occur.


Okay, enough rambling, let me give you some examples. All of this happened within the past two days.

Hand 1:

I have 66 and the flop comes J 9 6. Bet the flop and call villain's all in. Villain shows JJ, and I am stacked.

Hand 2:

I have 88 and the flop comes K86. Bet the flop and call villain's all in. Villain shows QQ, and a Q hits on the turn. Stacked again.

Hand 3:

I have AK and the flop comes AKJ. I bet and call my opponent's all in. Villain had QT, and I am stacked again.


Now here is where I get myself into trouble. Notice I have been stacked now three times, each time with a very strong hand. I don't feel I have really made mistakes here, because I have got my money in behind something very strong in each situation. Now I get myself into a state of disbelief. I can't grasp how these three situations can occur in such a small sample size (I think less than 500 hands). So be now my mindset is that I can't keep losing, so if I put my money behind anything decent hand in the near future, I should win right??

Hand 4:

Dealt QQ, and flop comes J96 rainbow. Bet the flop and my opponent moves all-in. Now my opponent is representing something very strong, and *normally* I would lay this down, but based on the past three situations, I figure I can't possibly lose again. I call, and my opponent shows 99, and I lose yet again.

Hand 5:

Dealt AA, and flop comes K85 rainbow. Opponent moves all-in. Again, my opponent is representing something very strong. But I have AA here, I can't possibly lose again, right? Wrong! I call, and my opponent shows 55, and I lose for a fifth time now.


These are the situations I find the most difficult in poker. I have a very strong hand, and I find it very difficult to believe that my opponent could have an even stronger hand. It's particularly bad when it happens so many times in just a couple of days (< 1000 hands). It just seems so improbable, yet these kinds of beats do happen back-to-back.

What is a good way of dealing with this type of run?

[CmnDwnWrkn]

Sorry if this comes across as a whining bad beat post - I didn't intend it that way. Really I'm just looking for strategies that are helpful to make it through bad runs and continue to play well even after getting your money in good and losing repeatedly.

[Gelford]

Play another 1000 hands, then another ... after a while (say 200K+, you will haev seen all kinds of [censored], so will will start getting used to it. (both good and bad)

[Mingdu]

Don't go crazy thinking you should go pro when you experience the other side of this variance

[HenkvanderMast]

I'm having the same problem.

Taking a break is a possibility.

I think I'm just not playing my best when those hands are still in my head. I'm playing the hands for the big pots badly this way and that should be a reason for me to quit.

I still don't have the discipline to do it but I'm working on that one.

[Frosteater]

[ QUOTE ]
I think I'm just not playing my best when those hands are still in my head. I'm playing the hands for the big pots badly this way and that should be a reason for me to quit.

I still don't have the discipline to do it but I'm working on that one.

[/ QUOTE ]

What I usually do in these situations as well as those described by CmnDwnWrkn is something different.
I know, if I quit, these hands will stay in my head as the last hands of the session and will affect my play the next time I'm at the tables. So I do the opposite, I keep playing but switch to something completely different and (preferably) harmless. $0.04/$0.08 7-Card Stud Hi/Lo, for example. Just a few hands of a variant, I don't really have too much ambitions with, to distract me. Even if I loose, the loss is marginal and I'm not so much in this "why me?" mood anymore. Usually it's even possible to go back to the NLHE tables right after that and play more or less unaffected again.

[geoncic]

Take a break for a few days. Seriously. Hands like this can and will affect your play. review the hand histories. Calculate your EV based on the range of hands you can put your opponent on based on pre-flop play and position.

then take a break and don't even think about poker for a day or two. Then review your fundamentals and get back to the table when you feel like you're confident again.

Good Luck.

[Kasane]

Without reads those are all coolers, except the one where your opponent hit his Q on the turn, that a simple bad beat.

The trick is stop-loss at whatever you feel comfortable with (2 - 6 buy-ins), cool down, play a lot of hands and variance will work itself out.

Works the other way too. I had a day two weeks ago where I won 8 buy-ins in something like 20mins. I didn't suck out, just hit everything while my opponents did as well (or played poorly).

Wednesday I lost 2 and stop-lossed; Thursday, up 4 in a longish grind. It all works out.