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How do you mentally override bad luck?
DeucesLive
Member Posts: 839
I tend to shrug off bad beats, and even now I'm well aware it's all cyclical and it'll turn, but over the last ~20 tournaments I've played (including satellites) I've ended up losing almost every race I've been involved in- pairs against 2 overs from both position, overpair against underpair pre-flop, spiking the set, and lockup hands like AK against AQ where they hit the Q.
This isn't a whole woe is me, I never win anything sky is rigged type post, but more a how do you cope with it- I've been shrugging it off over and over, thinking it can't last forever, but is it better to take a few days off and let it calm down a bit? I'm concerned it's affecting my game, and making me more concerned about putting my entire stack at risk- since every single time I've done it with any kind of hand it's ended up being cracked or walking into a monster.
What do you do when you suffer a major downswing, carry on as normal, change your game up, take a break? Or does it affect your game without you wanting it to?
This isn't a whole woe is me, I never win anything sky is rigged type post, but more a how do you cope with it- I've been shrugging it off over and over, thinking it can't last forever, but is it better to take a few days off and let it calm down a bit? I'm concerned it's affecting my game, and making me more concerned about putting my entire stack at risk- since every single time I've done it with any kind of hand it's ended up being cracked or walking into a monster.
What do you do when you suffer a major downswing, carry on as normal, change your game up, take a break? Or does it affect your game without you wanting it to?
Comments
A good winning player can lose/break even over 50k hands.
keep getting your money in good and all is well in the long run.
If you find its starting to get to you then deffo take a break for a few days.
I try to play through it, but cut back on playing poker, drop down levels, however, it also depends on my BR, if it starts looking too bad, I take a break from playing.
Think of an imaginary bag, a bit like the bag used for the FA Cup draw, but this particular bag contains a million balls all randomly mixed up. 800,000 of the balls are white, and 200,000 balls are black. If Trevor Brooking keeps drawing balls out one by one there's no way they'll always come out as 4 whites followed by 1 black, you will get unlikely sequences all the time. For example you might get 23 whites followed by 5 blacks, then another 7 whites, then 4 blacks, then 11 whites, then 1 black etc.
Compare the bag to a poker situation where you're an 80% favourite. The bad beats are like the blacks, they are guaranteed to come along in clusters sometimes, but in the long run the whites (or the wins) will be drawn 80% of the time.
You should always be happy every single time you get your money in ahead, even when you lose, because the more often that happens the more money you will win.
The human memory is selective. Nobody remembers (or even knows) if their AA holds up say 15 times in a row, but it hurts and sticks in the memory for a long time when it loses 3 times in a row.
Do not get me started on trying to mentally override bad luck because at the minute the poker gods are being the uttermost SOAB's with me with some sick bad beats and it certainly puts me in the foulest of moods full stop (saying that though i'm never usually in a good mood anyway!).
I mainly play MTT's and i've noticed that i seem to play a lot better at the medium/bigger buy-ins then i do the lower buy-ins and if i'm on a bad run like i am at the minute i'm very reluctant to drop a level and i've found one way to usually let some steam off is to play very loose in the freeroll tourneys.
You'll know when you're feeling better about playing this way and it'll get that sick feeling out of your gut and replace it with a WIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Chin up though kidda, it's only a game afterall!!!
x
That is,, i always, ALWAYS,, withdraw when im on a roll and reduce my br. So when i get a bad run, like ive had for the last few months,, im not hitting my profits. So, i add to my bank roll at a reduced rate. Then when i start to play better, get the rub of the green, or get "lucky", i know im still in profit.
I do though, mainly play MTT's and the variables are bigger than say dym's or cash play so i just take a break, reduce my stakes etc.
My bank roll increases as im doing well, and reduces (by withdrawal) when im having a lean period.
Does this make sense?
So, mentally, i handle it by knowing im never playing at a loss.
The key as everyone has said is that over a long period of time if you get your chips in as an 80% fav you will win 80% of the time. If you're really struggling to overcome it keep a spreadsheet and record the times when your hand holds up and when it doesn't. It's easy to forget the times you come out on top.
after the last one i just slammed the laptop shut and stopped playing for the day.
best thing to remember is tomorows another day
and that day will hopefully be your turn to win the races!
Seriously, play cash. Everyone knows that to final table an MTT - you NEED to get lucky, its just a fact.
This isn't the case with cash - although obv you can still run bad - it wont be as disheartening as playing 3 hours and being bubbled by a sick out-draw.
I know about probability theory, and the whole heads/tails coinflip idea, but even so long streaks of harsh beats can sometimes get in your head I think, and that's what I feared was happening- a couple of nice runs makes you feel better though, I think.
Bring on the primo!! ^^