ITH Poker Forum

[bazooka_joe]

As my losing streak continues to rage like some storm without end, I find myself entering a new stage...I know better of course, so no need to try to talk me out of it, but it's gotten so bad I;m beginning to have paranoid delusions...like it must be fixed or something..

Plus, I'm getting seriously depressed..It feels impossible to win..How can I win if A: I can't hit a flop and B: When I do hit a flop I invariably get beaten...if there's two cards in the deck that can over take me, they'll find one of them...

Think I'm gonna take a few days off...This is just too much....The worst thing is I'm starting to miss river bets on the few hands that I do manage to win..I'm so positive they're gonna catch me that it's hard to pull the trigger in a three way pot when the flush card comes..

[bjornBB]

Do take a day off, and when you return, play some .02/.04 and remove some steam =). I would be happy to meet you HU at PS at microlimit. It helps me in times of anguish.
Wishing you a fast recover

[Streak]

I can relate. I was exactly where you are about 2 months ago. I was beating my head against the wall night after night trying to grind out a small profit at the 5/10 6-max games and I finally got tired of it. The frustration of putting all those hours in with nothing to show for it was carrying over into my daily life and I was miserable.

I decided that I wanted to make $15,000 as quickly as possible so I could buy a car. My answer was to drop back to 2/4 full and become a bonus whore for a few months. I have averaged $1,000 per week for the last 5 weeks and my stress level has dropped considerably. It's amazing how much better life is when I'm winning.

Once I get my car, I'll probably start to work my way back up the limits. But for now, I'm happy with turning a decent, low-stress profit every week.

[bazooka_joe]

Streak wrote

The frustration of putting all those hours in with nothing to show for it was carrying over into my daily life and I was miserable.

Man, you've got me to a "t," except up until now I've been pretty good at letting it go between times...5-10 6 max can be a real bear... ..when the cards aren't falling your way you can get eaten alive in very short order..

How many tables are you playing at 2/4?

A year or so ago I got frustrated and moved down to 3-6 full...But the tedium was just awful...and at the time I was a full table player..I'm not sure I could handle that now, though you're right, it would be nice to take some of the pressure off..

[Streak]

I never minded losing to good players. It's the losing to complete idiots that sends me over the edge. When I found myself being pissed off at work the next day after a frustrating night of poker, I knew I had to do something.

How many tables are you playing at 2/4?

I play 4 tables with no overlap. I've tried adding more, but I like to pay at least a little bit of attention to what the other players are doing. I'm winning 3.03 BB/100 over 24,000 hands so I guess I'm doing something right. Of course GT+ helps a lot.

When I first went back to 10-handed I had to make some adjustments in a hurry. My vpip was through the roof and I was pushing 2nd pair and top pair/weak kicker like I had the nuts and I got burned.

I could move to 3/6 but one of the things I like about 2/4 vs. 3/6 is that the players at 2/4 are much easier to manipulate. They check to the raiser too much and they love to slow play. You see more aggression, stop and go's and bluff raising at the higher levels. Right now, all I want to do is clear $500 per week in bonuses with as little stress as possible and if I make a few bucks on top of that, all the better.

BTW this is the car I'm working toward: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayI ... AMEWA%3AIT

[bazooka_joe]

Very pretty car...I've owned a few beemer's in my day and they're wonderful cars...Good luck with it...even sweeter that you'll be able to say you paid for it out of your poker winnings..

My current ride is a 2004 Mini Cooper "S" with John Cooper Works kit that turns the thing into a little rocket ship...Truly a blast to drive...

[bazooka_joe]

You're right about the aggression of course at higher levels..2-4 and 3-6 are walks in the park compared to 5-10...Stop and go's are becoming more and more popular...It's a viciously effective strategy as it takes your positional advantage and flushes it right down the toilet...It's great when you've actually got a hand, but let's face it, heads-up you usually don't...

[Streak]

...even sweeter that you'll be able to say you paid for it out of your poker winnings..

I finally get my license back next month after 2 1/2 years so you can imagine how sweet it's gonna be getting behind the wheel of one of these puppies. Nobody's gonna see or hear from me for days.

[lundis]

I know exactly how you feel, Im on a long losing streak myself that just will not end. Last night I even lost with quad Qs. But I just try to take one hand at a time and make the best possible decissions. Over how many hands is your loosing streak, mine will soon reach 20 000 hands wich is by far the longest I have had.

Too you other guys, how long is your longest losing streaks.

lundis

[fep]

I like Streaks strategy and I'm going to start playing more 10 handed.

Re length of lossing streaks. I guess it depends on how you define a lossng streak. I define them as how many hands I've played while I've remained below breakeven from my highest earnings point.

I've played 85,000 hands with a 2.05 BB/100 rate. In that period I've had a 14,000 hand lossing streak and I'm currently in a 25,000 hand lossing streak. I'm still 128 BB below my highpoint so it will take a while before I consider myself out of my current lossing streak. Before this recent lossing streak I was at about 3.5 BB/100.