Big Loss in One Session

[Rbower]

I play limit Texas Hold 'em about one or two times per week. This year I've played around 500 hours. I'm winning such a small amount that I consider myself a break even player. I'm learning and I want to win consistently.

I recently started playing at an 8-16 limit table. In my first six sessions I won 4 times and was up $888. Yesterday I played a 9 hour session and lost $778. I’ve played at that table against 8 other tough opponents and won. Yesterday the table was filled with at least 4 bad players all day. I played solid all day, but could not get any hands that held up. In the past when I’ve started losing I felt myself getting rattled and have not always played my best. Yesterday was a break through, because even though I took the worst lose ever in one sitting, I stayed absolutely calm, did not go on tilt in the slightest and kept playing solid all day. It was actually a good feeling, except for the lost money.

Is it possible to lose this much just due to the variance in poker? I’ve read a lot about players going on losing streaks and that it is just part of the game. So far I’ve never had more than 4 losing sessions in a row. I don’t have any friends who play poker a lot so I depend on books and this forum to get advice. I consider yesterday a success because I did not let the run of bad cards get to me.