1/3 Grinding and Bankroll

Do not play when you make mistakes that you know are mistakes. I do not know what will work for you to cure this problem but you are aware it is a problem and that often is the hardest part.

Are you playing any different than you used to? Sounds like you play the same hands as before but are no longer sunrunning so you’re losing those gambles now. When those plays work, you feel like an elite player and when they don’t, you feel like a fish

Breaks that include poker, are not breaks if poker is your job.

Hit the lab, remove highest stakes from game selection, win a bunch and get your confidence back. That's my advice at least 😀. GL!

Good idea. I haven't been playing big lately, trying to rebuild the cash reserves.

True. In my defense, I did go to the beach for a day.

I am playing worse due to runbad and I know it. Just forcing the action preflop with marginal hands, something I've always had to work on.

Today so far playing well, lost a couple AAs, got a bluff raise through KQJT6 Q92dd. 7d, x/x, 2h x/jam, fold. Won an AA v. AA as well. Around even due to runbad in 20/40 mix, got scooped 44 to 9x running it twice on 994 in plo4 (I was around 60/40, unlike plo5 where the trips is a favorite usually). Taking a break now but feel in good spirits due to the good bluff and river jam.

At 1/2 plo, started to 3! a 100% VPIPer and he flopped top set once against my OP+gutshot at spr under 1, and later he woke up with AA once against my KKJ98 and I got felted. Lost my dsAAJ76 to ssAAK93 all in pre (55/45), he didn't see he made two pair until I did and let him know. Also lost another dsKK to TT most of my stack all in pre with a micro spr on the flop. Played 40/80 mix for a while in a decent line up and made a 6 low in badacey and a Q dugi held up but otherwise not much transpired there. PLO broke and I played 5/10 with some 2/5 players but the game was not great which is often the case when smaller stakes player play bigger. Lost a couple grand on the day. $73,841.

Towards the end of my plo session I was stuck and tired and let out a sigh, I didn't realize it but apparently it was while this lady was tanking on the turn in a small $30 pot. (She tanks a lot.) She got extremely upset at me for sighing and threw her cards face up at me across the table. I didn't have her kicked out for the sake of the game but she quit herself probably a little embarrassed and self-86'd.

Running meh so far today, draws missing semi bluffs losing sorta card dead on top of it allÂ…woke up late which wasnÂ’t fun but got an extra good work out in. I think IÂ’m playing well overall though which is hard to do these days so IÂ’ll pat myself on the back for that.

Lost AKJ54dd to 33 on K836dd, lost AJT64hh to 99 on T96hh too. Turned the nut flush but river was a 6.

IÂ’m starting to think some of my overaggrsssion lately is due to a compulsion to gamble. Possibly related to mental illness. Maybe why itÂ’s hard to take long breaks from poker too. I guess itÂ’s all well and good as long as IÂ’m winning. Im going to need another source of income if this doesnÂ’t turn aroundÂ…!

Dumbo, if you haven't read DGAF's 2k post thread, you should. Particularly the section where folks discuss "the abyss" experienced when a prolonged period of runbad becomes play bad and general mindf**k. Here's the OP on the subject.

You need to make a sacrifice to the Poker Gods; it's your only hope.

lol any suggestions?

Thanks…wondering when that will be at this point. It’s been a long three weeks of nonstop losing. I guess three weeks isn’t so long coming off of nine months of rungood.

Thanks…links are expired unfortunately. I think I read this long ago.

did we just learn that mods still have access to "deleted" threads?

Lost again, AA in 3! pot to top set n Q72r against hold 'em fish who had already demonstrated he was pretty clueless about hand strength, when he bet I just crai at a low spr, then top set lost to draw, KKQTds lost three ways against tilted players, got a couple doubles with AA but they weren't full doubles because I was short on chips until I got some from someone who I zelle'd. Played all night and day to reset my sleep schedule. I think I lost around $3,000. This is terrible...I am obviously tilted and am letting it show at the tables. Probably my worst streak ever now.

Take a few days off. Seriously. Try to relax. Take a few walks. Have a nice lunch/dinner.

Hey man - I've been reading your updates for a couple of years now, and when I started I read the whole thing from the beginning. As much poker as you play, a downswing like this is inevitable, and has the tendency to feed on itself. You've realized that you're gambling more, and that's a normal reaction during a losing streak. I'd suggest taking like 5-7 days off, don't think about poker for a few of them and just chill, go on a mini-vacation if you want, and then spend a couple of days studying and working on your mindset & mental game. Good luck! This will end, the only question is when & how you handle it.

DGAF’s thread is anything but reassuring. He was a NL end boss back in the day but then he experienced an incredibly long streak of run bad which he called The Abyss and it lasted for years. Long story short, he went from robusto to busto. That was why he became a content creator for income. To this day no one really knows whether he ran worse than anyone could ever imagine or the game had simply passed him by and he was just running good before. Dumbo is playing PLO 5 where the variance is much higher so he could easily experience an Abyss far worse than DGAF’s.

Thanks to everyone for the support! It makes this easier. I think I need to power through it though.

This isn't the first time I've been through a rough patch and it won't be the last. his one is a little on par with previous ones. But one thing I know from a ton of experience is that it will turn around. I was reading an article yesterday and one of the facets of good poker players is that they are tough and resilient. I would add optimistic too.

Every so often each year I go through this and it never gets easy it always sucks and life is no fun for a while. That's just the cost of playing for a living. But it's not permanent. I can lose less by playing tighter preflop and taking lower variance lines postflop until the rungood starts again.

I remember last year there was a stretch when I was dreading the drive to the casino every day...lol...and later I went on my biggest heater ever to the tune of a few hundred.

I am going to do extra exercise today before I head out, stretch, get in a great mental state to perform at my peak in the middle of a downswing. Every session I am striving for perfection.

You coach PLO. What advice would you give a student that knew they were playing tilted?

It really depends on the student and their mental game. I have a very strong mental game after years of experience and playing through multiple downswings. So I feel like I can power through these stretches no problem. I might tell a student to take a break though or to play shorter sessions. Play smaller easier games. Or do relaxation techniques to make tilt less likely. And decide when you’re ready to start winning again and playing well. A lot is in our control.

Doing very well today so far playing well running well too.

Morning session updateÂ…Won $1500 at 1/2 plo and left for 5/5 in a good game and shortly lost AKJ63ds to an action player, ran into big hands, then lost an AA and AKQQJ to him all in pre as well. Ran top two into his top set at a very low spr too. Playing pretty well all things considered so IÂ’m content. Getting some bluffs through and raising for value. Losing now but day is young.

You've got this! He should be easy to win it back from 😀

It’ll have to be next time, he lost a big pot to someone and left to play roulette. The game broke and I took a break and am back at 1/2 now. Lost overpair nut gutter nfd to a wrap already.

Then lost dsAA in 4! pot flopping top two to naked nfd and lost, got T9876ds all in pre three ways and lost too (this was a tad overaggrsssive due to tilt). Won nut wrap top pair and second nut flush draw too. My friend said I am giving up too much edge preflop and I am starting to agree. I am too quick to get the chips in preflop lately which reduces postflop playability and maneuverability which greatly favors me.