When The Poker Gods are not with you...
I have to vent, I'm pretty frustrated and I can't pinpoint what the problem with my online play is....I play solid tight poker all the time....Some days I do really well (for me) I might get my bankroll to 150 or so, I cant seem to break this barrier of $150 - $175 in my account at any given site , it is extremely frustrating. Somedays abosolutely nothing goes right and I'll be fighting to get back what I've lost and the next everything is fine and I build my roll back up no problem. I can never get past that barrier though, and after having a not so good day today, i would have to say im very frustrated. Has anyone else had a similar problem? does anyone have any suggestions??
Comments
I knew before I started that it would be tough, that I might only see cash in maybe 1 out of every 20 mtt's. My results the past 3 days have been, what I would consider to be good. It's the way that I'm losing that is frustrating me to the point where I feel as though I'm wasting my time and that 'solid play' is not the way to get there, luck is. I have tried playing lucky and it doesn't work for me. I'm thinking about changing my signature....
Three 10+ rebuys tournaments: 900 people in each one, top 80 get paid.
With 800 people remaining I'm in the top 50 with about 8K in chips. Everyone limps to me in the bb, I raise with KK. First position goes all in, I call and he has AK. Hits an ace. I'm down to 2K and take the add on at the break. I battle my way back and am now in the remaining 100, barely above water. I have JJ UTG with 17K in chips, I go all in just trying to take the blinds (2000/4000), the BB calls me with his stack of 27K and his pocket 3's and hits one. I go out in 94th.
Next day, I am satisified with my result from yesterday and realize that I got very unlucky. I'm playing well early on and see KK once early on and lose again to AK, I laugh this time. I make the money and am battling knowing that I have not had any cards yet. Im in the SB with 145K in 7th place at this point (which pays about $700) and I see AA for the first time. I raise the SB trying to make it look like a steal attempt and I'm willing to accept it if he folds. He re-raises all-in for about 100K total of my stack, I call and he flips over 99 and hits a 9. I eventually go out in 16th place giving me $170.00, I'm not as satisified. Top 4 places get over 1K and I loose the only times I get KK and AA today. I look for positives, there are many.
Next day, I rebuy three times with a bunch of maniacs at my table. I adjust my play accordingly as I dont want to have to rebuy again. We're down to 200 people and I'm an average stack 24K. Im on the button with AK, everyone folds to me. I raise to 5400, BB moves all-in. I assume that he thinks I'm stealing and even if thats not the case I have to call here I think. I call and he flips over QQ and I dont improve. Out in 194th.
Anyway, I am not winning coin flips and am loosing far to often when I'm ahead. I obviously don't compare myself to Hellmuth but can completly understand when you feel like you're playing perfect and then luck bites you in the a$$. Nothing I can do at this point but take a break, I know it's only three results but when you're in a tourny for 3,4,5 hours and something like this happens it's tough.
Anyone that plays predominantly tournaments have results similar to this on a semi-consistent basis? I know I am playing well, should I just fight through it and continue playing so I don't loose my edge? Or should I do as I suggested and take a 1 month break or so?
stp
Still sometimes it seems like everytime you have aces in the BB, for the first time in two hours the entire table folds into your BB. Or you play your best poker in a tournament and do everything right, for the last 200 decisions and then your 201 decision is also perfect but some guy sucks out some insane hand on you, and your gone.
I find almost detached from those occurances now. I posted a while ago when i lost all-in pre-flop AA vs AA to him making a straight. It was in a $500 buy-in SNG, which was by a huge margin the biggest buy-in i had ever played in. I posted it on the forum cause it was shocking, but after it happened i honestly shrugged my shoulders and said ehhhh, okay now what. Don't sweat the small results, because often your good play will be penalized and you'll be rewarded for bad play in the short run, but over time it's different.
Having said that, the odds tend to be against you, cause while the long run applies mathematically, some person who is new to the game will get their run of beginner's luck (which seems to be a standing rule of this game) and you'll get stuck for it.
Keep plugging away and the averages catch up to you.
Hmm... so it's not poker you're taking a break from, it's online poker? By all means, if you don't feel comfortable with the online game, take a break... But, I've been playing almost equal parts online and live tournaments lately, and I take the same brutal beats in both venues.
That being said, I think it's a wise decision to become a tournament specialist, especially if you're overly protective of your bankroll. Although playing in tournaments without cashing for extended periods of time can get expensive, too. About a year ago I decided to become a tournament specialist, and all I can say is, so far, so good. In other words, I win more money than I spend on buy-in's and entry fees. That doesn't mean much after you bust out with pocket kings when someone calls a big all-in bet with pocket threes preflop and hits one, though. All I can say is what everybody else has already said: if you have a long-term winning game, don't change it. Keep trying. Maybe you need to add more aggression, maybe you need to bluff a bit more, maybe you need to take a few more cheap flops with marginal hands that you can get away from if the flop doesn't hit you hard enough.... tweak your game, but don't overhaul it. And if you make the small adjustments, and you're still getting sucked out on, yeah, take a break. I've done it before.... a lot of players have. And while it's not always guaranteed to make you a winner when you return, it certainly can't do any harm, financially or emotionally.
Regards,
all_aces
MTT's are extremely frustrating sometimes, but when you are making solid decisions and putting your money in with the best hand, there is just nothing you can do except hope the poker gods are on your side that day.
So, the next time you lose with KK to 99, give yourself a pat on the back rather than asking all the "what ifs". However, if you are the one pushing with 99 and losing to KK, then you can start worrying
On the subject of taking a break I have done this at different times and I highly recommend it. As AA said I’m not sure why only online vs. live but that is up to you. Sometimes it just doesn’t seem like you can win and when you start thinking that way you probably need to take a break.
stp
Well, you're also usually dealt more than twice as many hands per hour online compared to live (possibly 3 or 4 times as many online compared to a slow "players dealing" home game). That means twice (or whatever) as many bad beats are expected.
You have a great point about the psychology of a bad beat live vs. online. It's much easier to get angry at a Userid than at a real person when they lay a bad beat on you.* Therefore, you're more likely to remember them, since your emotional state is typically at a higher than level than usual.
ScottyZ
*It's along the same lines as harshly flaming people online when you would probably never say anything rude in the slightest to a live person.