Dealing With It
Gotta say I'm extremely frustrated right now. I have been getting just screwed for the last several weeks. My bankroll has went from $240 to $24. Literally, I'm getting all in 80% of the time with a huge lead (3-1 or better) and have yet to cash in the last three weeks. The number of runner runner flushes, straights, boats, and on one oh so wonderful occassion, a runner fucking runner straight flush to crack my AA, has been just sickening.
No, this isn't an online poker is rigged post. I know that this happens. Decks go cold, you catch a shitty run of cards, people just keep sucking out. My problem is dealing with it. I have anger issues that I keep under control for the most part. This has been breaking my control. My wife gets upset, the cats run and hide and I'm fairly certain my keyboard is going to stop working from the number of times I've hammer fisted the damned thing out of sheer frustration.
How can I change this? I know I'm a good player (not great, but good). I get odds, I read people well, catch betting patterns, etc. How can I deal with the sickening frustration and anger better?
No, this isn't an online poker is rigged post. I know that this happens. Decks go cold, you catch a shitty run of cards, people just keep sucking out. My problem is dealing with it. I have anger issues that I keep under control for the most part. This has been breaking my control. My wife gets upset, the cats run and hide and I'm fairly certain my keyboard is going to stop working from the number of times I've hammer fisted the damned thing out of sheer frustration.
How can I change this? I know I'm a good player (not great, but good). I get odds, I read people well, catch betting patterns, etc. How can I deal with the sickening frustration and anger better?
Comments
2) Stop Playing.
Seriously.
If youre getting to that point those are your only options.
/Life Lesson
http://www.pokerforum.ca/f13/running-hot-18852/
Called variance.......
Poker is about control. Lose it and you're done.
I'm not suggesting GA but ya gotta get the anger problem solved for all aspects of your life. My buddy's dad was like that growing up. The dad is very lonely now late in life.
Good luck and may the river be kind.
"you do realize that everyone gets the same cards over a long enough time, right?
surely you realize you are not the only one.
professional cards is about how much crap you can eat, everyday. I have learned to enjoy the taste, as it is essential for anyone who intends to make a serious living out of this. In fact, taking horrendous beats like the ones that you have been posting nonstop is my preferred way of losing, much more agreeable than making a bad call or bluff, because at least when getting a bad beat or mega cooler I can still reflect on the hand by saying, "eh, I played it the best I could have."
I'm trying to make this post as constructive as possible, strongly fending off the urge to simply say NO ONE CARES! YOU ARE NOT SPECIAL! STOP POSTING BAD BEATS as others have already done, because it is very tempting, but in all seriousness let this serve as my community outreach post. I extend it to any and everyone on this board with a similar problem. That problem being the failure to realize that in order to excel in cards you must love the taste of ****.
The sooner you remove your emotions from the game, and learn to play from an analytical and detached perspective, the closer you come to playing your best. I play 2-15k hands daily, have been for four years and in all that time I have learned that one of my greatest strength's has nothing to with playing game theory perfect, or really anything having to do with the way I play hands, but rather, the ability to look at every hand as an opportunity to make good decisions. In that way, as long as I feel I played each street to the best of my ability, the outcome makes no difference.
And let me stop you right there, because I know you're saying "NO!! NO!!! YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND BRO!! SERIOUSLY, LIKE, NO ONE RUNS THIS BAD." No, quite the reverse BRA, because if anyone knows, I do , after millions of hands, thousands of hours and tens of millions won and lost.
The fact is, if you're in there with a level head, making good decisions, day in and day out, no amount of run bad will keep you from a solid earn.
I realize this post has become quite lengthy, but it is something that needed to be aired out, because I see far too many grinders incessantly complaining about beats and coolers. Often times I'm shocked to learn that someone I respect as a player, someone I may have played with for a long time and always imagined to understand, only to read here that they have this counterproductive and annoying mentality. The two seem irreconciliable, on the one hand a winning player, though on the other someone who is constantly bemoaning his "bad luck.""
I can't thanks this book enough...Schoonmaker, "your own worst poker enemy".
+1 to JDAA88
Mark
When things happen like this for me I drop down in limits (currently hanging out in the 1/2NL crowd). Its a good to lose 100-200 bucks instead of losing 500-1000 while you are running bad.
Eventually things turn around as long you continue to play solid poker. Then you move up and carry on again.
I think most will agree here, after a while bad beats/variance is part of the game, and like Pokerjah said its how you handle the swings will determine your ultimate success.
Wetts, very to the point and true. Appreciate it.
GA = Gambler's Annonymous I assume. I honestly don't have a gambling or poker problem (I play a few hours a week), it's like I said in the OP, I have anger issues that I obviously haven't got as under control as I believed, so I'm going to work more on that.
Comp, you're absolutely right. I was definitely just in a tilt mode and unable to remember the "good" times.
Suited, the dad you know is probably mine. I don't know if anger is genetic, but it's definitely environmental.
jd, awesome. I definitely am not one of those thinking that I'm special and I'm the only one this is happening to (which it took me a minute to realize that wasn't what you were saying lol) but that post makes a ton of sense.
Dr and Jah, I don't know about it being BM problems. It's definitely possible, but I actually make sure that I drop down limits when I go on cold streaks for the exact reasoning you said: better to lose $200 when you're running bad and win $2000 when you're running hot. I'm definintely going to look at my BM though. Better smart than stupid when it comes to that.
schabs, I think that sums it up perfectly.
Thanks again everyone for the constructive responses. Hope I didn't come off as too much of a whiny prick. Twas a rough few days.