Need advice re a bad run!

[pazzorilancio]

Hihi!

I've never played big limits due to being a student.... So first of all this isn't about massive games with hard players!

I like to think I'm a good player. Cashed at some big UK Student tournaments and done very well in previous cash games.

For a good 6 months now though I just haven't been able to catch a break!!!!! I took a few months off (so bad run of 3 months, took a few months off, and another 3 months with no change)... and its just the same!

I know I'm playing proper good poker. I'm reading players, making good bets, and getting outdrawn 3 ways from sunday every big pot I'm in, I've never seen anything like it in all my life!

Plus there are the other little things that are really frustrating me... like everytime I raise late with AQ, i get 3 callers and miss the flop... then when I get AA in late and do the same raise, everyone folds... (This is middle of SNG's as well where I don't have a tight image!)

I've tried dropping a level of cash to just try and make some, but I can't! I'm not losing much at the low level, but I just can't make +EV either! And in SNG's I'm just getting screwed.

I'm sure you've seen many of these rants before, and I am not the type of guy to get annoyed when my aces get cracked! But the odds dont seem to be stacking up for me over a 6 month period, and I can't get my head around it!

I used to make a LOT of profit through the cash games and SNG's, so I'm really worrying its affecting my game... Any advice would be VERY much appreciated.

Thanks

P.S I've been using poker tracker. Havent racked up 1000 hands yet though but can post some details for about 400ish hands if anyone requests. Cheers

EDIT: Oops, was looking at just for 1 level. Have 1400ish hands in total there.

[biohazard]

Hey!

Right, just so people are aware on here, I know Pazzo, and I advised he post on here to get some advice regarding this run.

Firstly, its probably important to state the limits we play (since I play at the same level as him), This is NL10 (0.05/0.10).

We used to make nice profit on this game and then just as happens in poker, Pazzo entered a bad run but it continued for quite some time and its probably at the point now where it's been going on for so much time, that whether conciously or unconciously its affecting his game in some way.

I know this was the case with me, I myself had an unusually bad run in poker (not sure if it was this long) where I just couldnt seem to get things right, and it started to affect my game. I can't remember what I did exactly to rectify this. I think I just told myself that I had to sit down, re-read a few books and look at where the run might have affected my game, whether that was being too tight, or going too aggressive etc.

I made what adjustments I think i needed to my game and over a period I seemed to come out of the run, and got better with the more time I spent at tables etc.

I've recommended what worked for me to Pazzo but, and I can understand since I went through it, it doesnt seem to be working too much for him.

Only advice I can offer is what worked for me, which is re-read a few books, maybe go back to basics and build things up from there, and persevere. But hopefully there will be others on here that can elaborate on advice and give better tips etc.

Good luck though!

[taz115]

Hey pazzo,

I moved this topic to the Psycology forum as I think it is more applicable and Pie is our resident expert when it comes to stuff like this.

One thing I would say is that even though your bad run has stretched 6 months, if it truly has only been 1400 hands you may have nothing to worry about. I have ran bad for 10k hands before... which is a long stretch. Many ITHers play >1.4k hands per day. So recognize that your easily in the short term.

But it does seem that your run may be affecting your decisions so rereading some books is a good idea, so are breaks when your feeling frustrated.

Also, Piemasters book, The Poker Mindset was basically written to address these exact types of situations. It is truly a good read.

Good-luck in getting back to your winning ways.

[pazzorilancio]

[biohazard]

Deffinately a good idea getting to a casino and just having a laugh in a live game.

Remember during my run Pazzo we'd take to the casino and just have a laugh in a tourny or the odds cash game for fun? Broke up the online world nicely and helped I think for me to get through the run.

Yeah I knew you hadn't used pokertracker all that long and you've played a lot more hands in this run than 1400. I think 6k is probably a good estimate, and although this is a normal span for a bad run, its the way its affecting you thats the problem. I haven't checked out the poker mindset yet, although I think I might.

Go back to your first, or one of your favourite poker books, start re-reading it, for me I found that it got me back into the mindset when I first picked it up. Hopefully you'll be able to get through the rest of the run with a more positive outlook. Whatever works really.

Keep posting any updates though .