Tired of it

[Noyd]

I been playing for a few days now and i gotten alot of good starting hands, KK, AK suited, JJ, alot of pocket pairs. I raised preflop and the last days i hit nothing!! i get KK,,the flop is A-A-3,, i get J-J the flop is Q-K-8.. really im getting frustraded, then i stopped raising preflop becous of my bad luck and slowplayed the hands..i get beaten now by 2 pairs and that kind of shit. I cant even say how many lucky rivers that come against me these last days. What am i to do? What do you guys do when you feel that your games is good,,but extreme unlucky. Do you take a break? continue playing..or just change your game strategies?

Take a break, go dig a hole in your garden, that's mighty fun!

We all have bad streaks, I always recommend having a week off, maybe looking over some hands for leaks, but most of all, relaxing!

[ensign_lee]

Definitely take time off if you're prone to tilt, like I am.

Play Madden. Go skiing. Play racquetball. Just walk outside. See a movie with friends. Go dancing. DO SOMETHING that isn't poker.

I wouldn't recommend something too quiet like reading a book though. Your thoughts will drift towards your bad luck and it won't help you feel any better. Do activities that make you concentrate on them, so that you won't stew over your bad beats. Sometimes shit happens...(and eats half your bankroll). With a little luck, you'll be over it in time to cash back in.

[Noyd]

Ill dig the hole.. It will come well handy if my bad streak continues haha

[Noyd]

ensign lee- thats sound like a good idea

Maybe start again in a week or 2 on lower tables and work my way up again..

[Noyd]

Right now,,it havent had a big impact on my bankroll..but i fear that the bad streak will continue on and on and ill all out

[dsaxton]

If you have K-K and the flop comes with two aces with one or two other players in the pot, you probably have the best hand. This is actually better than having only one ace on the flop.

[poskid_1982]

We all know how you feel. The sick and tired feeling happens so often that I quit at least once a week. Just take a break from all poker.

[Rondavu]

Don't expct to win with these hands. Expect to have the best chance to win. There's a difference. It psychologically allows you to save money when your beat postflop.

It's especially true of JJ. This is a hand that will lose an undisciplined player money all day long. Losing with these hands is not so bad when you think about that 73 big blind that hit a flop of 33A. Just put your money in when your ahead and you'll win. The trick is knowing when your ahead, and when your throwing money away.

It truly sounds like your angry when these hands lose. I had AA 3 out of 4 hands once and they all got run down. It happens.

[a500lbgorilla]

Yup, I had a big long month down swing.

After awhile, you don't know what hands you're trying to make. Sets getting beaten to death, flushes losing, boats getting runnered by quads. You just lose all value for any hand. You don't think about what you're doing and you stop making the hard folds and begin defaulting to the crying calls.

Then I took a week off, came back and have been right as rain every since.

-'rilla

[DavSimon]

Taking a break is fine if that is truly what you need to do.....however I am not a person that think "a break" will fix anything. Developing the mental toughness to push through the bad times is a big key to success. Somehow finding a way to deal with the disappointment and frustration and continue to play good poker is the mark of a winner. I am not saying if you take a break you are weak or a loser....we all have to know our limits, I feel that too often people will take the easy way out (give up for a while) and do themselves a disservice when they could be learning important coping skills. Find your limit then push beyond it - get a little outside your comfort zone....sometimes personal growth is painful.

I'm not sure how much you have lost, but a few days of bad beats and cold cards is no reason for a break....If you are truly playing well - exercise good bankroll management, faithfully review you sessions and push through the tough patch you will be a stronger player when you turn things around.

[storm75m]

Depends on how big of a swing you're on... you may not need a break. It's poker and shit happens. But just don't let it affect your play that got you where you are today... If you always raise pre-flop with JJ, continue to do so, if you always bet the pot after the flop with tptk, then do so. Don't let a few bad sessions question the value of the cards you're currently holding. Keep playing solid and the wins will come back. Usually if you go on a HUGE downward spiral you can analyze your play and find something that you're doing wrong. Sometimes it coincides with something small you've changed, like moving up in limits, switching to 6 max or full ring, or trying to multi-table. But since you said it's only a few days... most likely you're alright, just on a bad run. Be thankful, sometimes it lasts weeks or months!

[Fortune 500]

The Tilt vacation: Can't emphasize the benfits of that enough.

[Sed]

Taking a break is fine if that is truly what you need to do.....however I am not a person that think "a break" will fix anything. Developing the mental toughness to push through the bad times is a big key to success. Somehow finding a way to deal with the disappointment and frustration and continue to play good poker is the mark of a winner. I am not saying if you take a break you are weak or a loser....we all have to know our limits, I feel that too often people will take the easy way out (give up for a while) and do themselves a disservice when they could be learning important coping skills. Find your limit then push beyond it - get a little outside your comfort zone....sometimes personal growth is painful.

I'm not sure how much you have lost, but a few days of bad beats and cold cards is no reason for a break....If you are truly playing well - exercise good bankroll management, faithfully review you sessions and push through the tough patch you will be a stronger player when you turn things around.

Amen. Forcing yourself to play well through a tough patch does wonders for your mindset and ability to deal with tilt when it really matters.

- sed

[Alibi]

On the flip side, it may run your cash into the ground.

[Noyd]

Thanks guys, when your on a bad run i feels like your so unlucky that nothing can stop it, what i done so far is to take a little break, still playing on a lower level and analyzed my game. A couple of tourneys to build my confidence to start playing at higher stake tables again. Read and talk to alot of people and i found some misstakes i been making.

I have to mention one other thing that i think is a big reason why people get into bad streaks! I can only speak for myself but before my bad run i had a really good period (Of course..If its not bad) I made alot of money quick and i caught many draws and hit alot of hands on the flops. I got so confident at a point that i made many bad decisuis basing on my luck, i started to get careless with my money and did stupid shit like calling big bets with middle pair and stuff like that. Of course didnt win me any money in the long run.. seeing my bankroll getting smaller i was getting more frustretad and eger to win my money back that i made even more bad decisions.Even if i won a little cash i was so hung up on what my bankroll size was before, and building it back..that i didnt react to the cash i made that day. To sum it all up.. My mentality change and thats probably the big reason why i had such a big downspiral.,

[Laeelin]

Don't expct to win with these hands. Expect to have the best chance to win. There's a difference.

wise words.