I am struggling to take it

BTW - i do understand, 83% to win means 17% to lose, therefore loss is expected and acceptable.

What about when 80% to win wins about 20% of the time and 20 % to be beaten beats you 80 % of the time etc.

I really am about ready to strangle people.

Its not odds and maths it is something else/ its about constantly getting the money in good but constantly losing.

what stakes do you play and how many hands have you played lifetime?

to me it sounds like you aren't a very good player (no offence) and so when legitimate bs comes your way you're scared that you will bust yourself because you know you're a marginal player anyway so it is uncertain that you will "make the money back" once the variance train has calmed down.

people who lack experience seem to feel this entitlement to winning, either through ego or a general misunderstanding of the way it all works. stop feeling like you are owed anything and just play your best. you can't control retards who make stupid plays, so stop worrying about it and keep capitalising on it. if you play it well then that's what counts. if you have to drop down to nl2, so be it - if you are good enough you shouldn't have to worry about it because you will just breeze your way out of nl2.

it's so easy to count all the times your AA get cracked all in pre but nobody gives a shit about the times they hold because that's what "should" happen. so my point is that you should shut your eyes to these annoying things because wherever you look you will certainly find them. the outcome is much less important than the way you get there. every session will have its ups and downs; stop focusing on the downs. so complaining about not hitting a set in ages or always missing your flushes? that's a bit silly. you obviously hit sets and flushes.

work hard on your game and you should begin to feel confident that you will still be a winner despite the negative variance. if you improve your overall game, these hits won't have as much of an effect - it's why a 1bb/100 winner will feel like a massive loser for a long time but a 5bb/100 will feel that much less.

Thank you very much for taking the time to reply in an intelligent fashion, I appreciate it very much.

And certainly no offence taken. I know the variance will even out and the graph will right itself, in time.

I feel however that you have missed my point. Are you a psychologist?

I am venting. As stated in my post I have had a prolonged, many thousands of hands a55whipping that mathematically is exceptionally unlikey, therefore it is beyond frustrating.

I am not talking about "bad beats" and "rigging", but the soul destroying situation of repeatedly getting it in good and losing.

Not a bit, but seemingly hand after hand. Not a day or two but for a month, solid. Thousands of hands, A bankroll decimating, psychologically destroying smashing for thousands of hands that is impossible to justify on an academic level.

My poker history is long (maybe a million hands or more?) and I certainly understand aces cracked, which this is not.

I have a limited entitlement to winning and am fully aware that the worst hand wins sometimes, poker is a lifetime pursuit, the variance evens out etc etc and i appreciate your thoughts but i am not an NL2 1 week splasher that has had AA up against 55 to lose to a set. etc.

Your thoughts are solid and sound and I try to apply such things myself, your post has aimed at a level that is incorrect.

If you are a psych, give me something more because I am at a loss.

Regards,

BoOBs, we all love them.

To clarify:

Its that feeling of no confidence.

You have KK, you get it in pre flop, worried of course about AA but not a great deal else. Mathematically. Aside from 12% or so, expected.

You see muppet show AK.

Good, its dominated.

But as the cards come out you KNOW theres one of the 3 aces coming.

And yes heres the river, glitch, A.

You go through your history. Its happened 7/10 times in the last 2 days.

No wonder you are paranoid. They really are out to get you. Coping mechanisms?

Hi there UnevenBoOBs,

Since you seem to be struggling with your psychological issues, this guy works with some of the top sports people and for sure can help you out;

The Complete Guide to Motivation in Life and Poker

Just post a question for him, I doubt there is much you could ask that he can't find the answer to.

Regards,

Mal.

Thanks, very interesting.

Glad to be of help.

Hello m8,
I REALLY know how you feel,
i had a bad run, (from 116$ to 20$ in 3 days)
than i had a very good run (20$ to 90$ in 2 days)
now i'm on a bad run again (90$ to 30$ in 2 days),
I always get this kind of rivers as you do, getting flushed away with AJs vs KQs....
These thing happen all the time, that's why i downloaded Oblivion and i've been playing it for a few days before i go back to poker
I think "we" should concentrate on playing MORE aggressive on flop draws...
I've had situations like your so mentioned 84os and getting rivered after they didn't draw and called ALL of my bets...

Seriously........

Took a break - came back.

KK 9 times in session, folded to 3 times THE OTHER 6 TIMES RAN INTO AA.

AA 5 times in the session, folded to twice, THE OTHER THREE TIMES LOST to AK, QQ, QQ ALL DRAWING A SET.

So far the two best hands, all in won zero out of 9.

Ridiculous calls from players e.g. raise to 5x pre with AK, flop shows a AK9, bet 80%, raised by muppet, reraise is called, checked down, yep he called the flop reraised etc with J9 off and turned the 9 but then checked. If I did that i would be broke, these guys keep winning.

Rise strong pre flop with QQ, get called flop comes 22x. Yep muppet called pre with Q2 off to flop trips.

I MEAN REALLY?

Am I the only person this is happening to?

I am taking massive hit after hit after hit.

Losing 85% plus equity situations more than 50% of the time.

It is just plain wrong.

I also have had a few pretty crushing downswings. What was worse is that my winrate was not very good so the downswings are far worse and the upswings are not so good. You gotta realize just how much money is being taken off the table from rake. When you are winning you will win money, and then lose about 7bb/100 to rake. When you are losing, you will lose money, and then on top of that lose 7bb/100 in rake for the few pots that you do win.

Above all it is important that you do not pridefully remain at the stake if your bankroll does not allow it. I didn't quite follow perfect BRM the other month, and while running what I found to be unbelievably bad, my BR went from $300 to $15. From then I dropped from NL10 to NL2 and grinding out the lowest stakes is very good for rebuilding the confidence that a downswing destroys. Often you will find in retrospect that the stress of running bad is keeping you from playing your A game. It is automatic reaction to question yourself, and dropping to a much fishier stake and crushing it is always a good countermeasure. Of course you can keep running bad at the lower stake, but it's less likely, and also doesn't cost as much. I dropped to NL2 when I was down to my last $40, and still ran bad, until I had just 7BI left. 2 months later BR is now at 360. I would not have believed it, at the time I was sure I was going bust because I kept getting sucked out on and could not win a hand. But you just gotta keep going, dropping down stakes even earlier than necessary if need be because eventually it will turn around.

For example, I'm back playing NL10 now, but the last few days haven't gone so well so I played some NL5 after losing a few BI at NL10, even though I was still comfortably rolled for NL10, it was very helpful in terms of mindset.

understand your frustration, when ladbrokes moved to ipoker network during the first 2 days i had kk against aa 13 times,,

i dont know where you playing , and dont know what limits you play, but this things happens to all of us, just hang in and try stay positive and focus at your play and you takeing good decisions,, what other players do and play you cant affect, bad players will allways make bad plays, sometimes they get lucky, part of the game, take note and use it in your advantage next time,

running bad also happens, part of the game,very frustrating part, but again look at your play did you take good decisions,, things will turn around if you play good poker and manage to focus at your play and how you play,

i have been playing poker for maybe 15 years now and can say sometimes its really tough and you have to be really strong mentally and to stay positive and focused at your play, study alot, post your hands and you will get input from other people, look at videos, read books etc etc
i think basically what i want to say is focus at you and your play and improve, and you are not alone out there haveing a hard time at the tables, but stay strong and positive and i am sure it will be better.

Thanks for your replies. Much appreciated.

After this mornings session and considering a more balance viewpoint, I have decided to take a long forced break from the tables. I am considering stopping playing completely. The reason for this is I am simply unable to accept two things.

Firstly, variance is should affect my game equally negatively and positively. I of course, sometimes suck out too. But the balance is so far toward negative variance that I can not accept it as "natural".

Secondly, some people appear to be playing for example their Q5 off against my AK on a flop of AK5 as if they know the turn and river card will be a 5 and a Q. There is no logical explanation otherwise for a person to play Q5 off preflop and post flop as if they can keep up with strong betting when they have shite preflop and bottom pair crap kicker post flop. I'm not talking about free cards, I'm talking pot sized bets or even more. Just call call call big bets and lo and behold I got to the river with a fh after flopping bottom pair. Over and over again this rubbish happens.

It is turning me into a juvenile when I am in fact significantly beyond that, yet it seems I am emotionally not equipped to deal with it. It has gone on for too long and I have had enough. At least my wife will be happy!!

Many thanks for the words of advice gentlemen, and good luck at the tables. I am afraid they are a circus!!!

Originally posted by UnevenBoOBs

#1. Firstly, variance is should affect my game equally negatively and positively.

It does, but sometimes our brain gets clouded by short term outcome orientated thinking. What goes round, comes round.

#2. There is no logical explanation otherwise for a person to play Q5 off preflop and post flop as if they can keep up with strong betting when they have shite preflop and bottom pair crap kicker post flop.

Welcome to the micros! ♦

Seriously though, Q5 could be a value hand on occasion :), but I would rather the villain called with Q5 and called down with that v my AK on a Kx5 flop than with AA /KK/55 and they will do that to!

Good luck with whatever you decide but be happy.

Mal.

Rise strong pre flop with QQ, get called flop comes 22x. Yep muppet called pre with Q2 off to flop trips.

I MEAN REALLY?

Am I the only person this is happening to?

I am taking massive hit after hit after hit.

Losing 85% plus equity situations more than 50% of the time.

It is just plain wrong.

Actually it depends which site you're playing on. Equity of qq against q2o on Jokerstars is around 50%.