cooling off after being coolered

[treydj]

Hi all

hope I find you all well.!!

Now to set the picture... I don"t play a massive amount in terms of volume. Hardly ever deviate from NL Holdem. And only play SNG"s and Tournaments.

I seem to be on a massive downswing, everything I do seems to fly back in my face and I am starting to question my very being!!

This could be good old variance, or I could be subliminally changing my game because I am getting outdrawn or coolered.

The purpose of this post is to ask all you lovely people out there how they deal with this? Do I step away for a while?

at the moment if you gave me a club and a spade, I would hit myself over the head and bury myself!

Any advice would be helpful before my pc goes through the window.

 

[duke3016]

My laptop failed the drop test once, now I just grin and move on. As my level is low I expect bad calls, in fact I want them. Just dont want them to hit. Sometimes they do, and at times that seems always.

Ride the storm, play the same and breathe.........

[duke3016]

In fact the text under your avatar is apt.....

[treydj]

lol - thanks duke!!

it probably happens to everyone, everyday of the year. Its hard to shake off when I only play 1-3 times a week.

I feel like mike matusow - (only better looking!!) - i can imagine the crap card coming out and BANG. goodnight.

I think I need some positivity training! - does anyone know of a monastery that is a)recruiting and b) has NO internet connection!!

[SirPercival]

Lots of ways to deal with this but it depends on what works for you.

If you like reading then try "The Poker Mindset"

Some people find talking to other poker players helps.

Maybe posting some hands on here for people to discus would help.

A break might help, but then again, it might not.

Trying something different (like PLO or NLHE cash) works for some people.

If you don"t already spend time analysing your game after the event then it might help to do so.

If you really want to deal with it then consider a "mind coach" (I can help with this if you want to send me a PM)

If all else fails then large quantities of alcohol might work too!

[Marty719]

Variance can be a big factor, but the skill level of the online game has risen dramatically.  It may be a case of not putting in enough volume, and keeping sharp.  Id recomend putting some study in (even 20 minutes before/after a session) and trying to get confidence up.  Put some hands up in the academy and try and learn from mistakes.

[AMRN]

tilt is a b**tard when it affects your play and causes you to make incorrect decisions, thereby worsening your situation - I sympathise with the spiral of despair!

I play 100s of SNGs per month, and when in a recent huge downswing, I started plotting my chip EV from All In situations using PokerTracker data.... now, when I feel like I"m running bad, I can verify that by looking at my actual chips won compared to cEV.... sometimes I don"t like what I see as my cEV is actually lower than my actual, yet I"ve still lost money, but on other occasions when I see cEV is way higher than actual, I can be satisfied that I"m playing correctly and variance will pay me back at some point.

Downswings produce an emotional reaction which can lead to tilt - knowing that you are actually playing ok does tend to help avoid the tilt factor a little, which means you can focus on keeping your game in good order until variance turns around.  Be careful though that you don"t blame downswings on bad luck without solid information to prove it (with a good sample size!), otherwise you may end up avoiding paying attention to things in your game that may need to be addressed.

[treydj]

cheers guys, i seem happy with my overall play. My money seems to be going in good, but as you say, variance is a b1tch.

one thing i must admit has slipped...... my enjoyment of the game.

I don"t seem to be playing with a smile on my face any more. Perhaps its because of the slump, but that might be something I can work on......

[Paulie_D]

In fact the text under your avatar is apt.....

...if mis-spelled!  

[Swinebag]

Just know you are a class player Jas, keep going

I know you don"t play for huge sums and SNGs are getting harder to turn a consistent profit, even at low stakes.

[nosey-p]

taken from my blog



The Dark Day's      



     There are only three things in life which are certain, you are born, you pay taxes and then you die. If you play poker for any length of time there is one thing that is certain, you will have a bad run. The question is how you cope with it. I would imagine that most of you have been there if not then you will be.
      My bad run came at the end of season one were I went 6 consecutive months of loses. I deposited £20 about four years ago and straight away I was making money, month on month I was in the black and then about one year ago I had a loss then another and then another. This by now was starting to concern me. I started to look at my game and tried to work out were I was going wrong and how I could turn it around but found what ever I did the run got worse. So I posted on the forum of my troubles and got good advice on what to do from different people especially from Daniel (Kinboshi) a lot of them I tried from taking a break, moving down a level, moving up a level, changing to a different game, but with no success.
      In an earlier post I mentioned that I had cash out most of my winnings to keep the wife happy. Now my bank roll was down to the last $100 and I said to my self "when this goes I would pack in poker". I was that down at the time that I was actually considering not playing any more. By now season two had started with the introduction of the live regional games. This is when I met Stuart (Sirpercivl) were we talked about actual hands, which helped me. I also made the FT finishing 9th which gave me confidence (I also learnt how not to play AJ). By now I was starting to win small games $2 STT (that's how low I got) but a win is a win no matter what the stakes are.
     I had gone back to playing how I played before the slump, trusting in my ability, hoping that things would turn around and slowly they did but still not making a profit but not loosing ether. Then came the game of my life a $5 MTT with 1600 runners. You have herd the expression "in the zone" that was me, I was on fire. 7 hours later and $1600 richer, I finished 1st
       The slump is over, all is well, the sun is shinning, and life is good. When you go through times like this, it's good to talk to other people but most importantly believe in yourself.      

[coprey]

cheers guys, i seem happy with my overall play. My money seems to be going in good, but as you say, variance is a b1tch.

one thing i must admit has slipped...... my enjoyment of the game.

I don"t seem to be playing with a smile on my face any more. Perhaps its because of the slump, but that might be something I can work on......

When you are engaged in an activity where you are focussed on the result then ego is at work and you wont be fully in the moment giving your full attention to the task at hand. If your enjoyment is based on winning, then perhaps its time to relook at it. This will definitely affect your game and make you miserable. Time to take a look at your motivation for playing. I suspect it could be a deep desire for success. If you can let go of that your mind will be on the game, youll be more focused and less affected by the outcome. Perhaps in this space you will rediscover a natural enjoyment for the game or find something else to do. :-)

[treydj]

TBH I always focus on winning, if only one hand at a time and see where it takes me.
I think I just need to stay positive and ride the lightning. Eventually 80/20"s hold up right? LOL
I don"t feel I am tilting too much, its just one hit after the next makes it difficult to keep going.

cheers for all the input guys.... now to fire up a SNG!!

[Shogun112]

In fact the text under your avatar is apt.....

...if mis-spelled!  

LOL Paulie..!!

[treydj]

the writing or the pic?