blonde poker forum

Although I have been running horrific of late this isn't a whinge thread, I am intrigued to know what steps people take or if people have any sort of superstitions they use which kind of breaks the cycle.

Stuff tried:

Change the music I listen to/ have no music
Sit on couch/ move to desk
Have a break live or online/ complete break from all things poker
Play pokes with pokes on the tv, play with no distractions etc etc.
Take my socks off when i go deep

Reading a book and exercise are a last resort.

Play more

Don't have any superstitions, all bs obv.

Taking breaks is a good idea though, just because after a certain point it affects your game in ways visible&invisible so is generally a good idea to regroup, examine your game, make sure you're playing your best and come back when you feel better. Look at your overall results for the last 12months or whatever to put things in perspective.

http://www.evplusplus.com/poker_tools/variance_simulator/

This is a good tool to simulate the swings you might expect over a certain sample size. It's incredibly really, the swings are always bigger than you might think.

Some like to volume up during downswings, just play a shit load of hands and grind through it. But it takes a certain type of really strong mentality to be able to do that well, I'm weaker and like taking breaks. Hope this helps.

lol and you call yourself a pro! abs no idea!

ive seen people who have held superstitions for 22 years and still play by them! he seemed to be a winner too!

Everything helps man. I have tried the breaks route and never even considered playing more tbh, althought it makes perfect sense. I know my game is decent enough,  I am pretty strong mentally and don't tilt during game time, but afterwards I do bemoan my luck and pretty much think fml.

Will see how i get on with ramping up my volume.

Obv superstitions ftw tho, imposs to bink an online donkament with ya socks on. Fact!

Mrs Milligan84 is lucky!

haha class, you animal! But no shit is she lucky! won the husband lottery that one!

I recommend folding AA pre when running bad

I thought your strategy with AA is to get 2/3 your stack in by the turn then fold??

Try less tables than what u usually play, might help concentrate better, when ur not running as good.

Maybe take less 'flips' - I.e if ur running that bad, put off from making marginal calls/plays etc as I find it never seems to work out for u when ur running terrible.

Hope it turns round soon

gl

exactly - fold pre

not really a superstition but when things are going badly itry put myself in as good a situation as possible to win, try and eat well, exercise, don't have mess around my desk etc remove anything that could tilt me this is diff for everyone pretty much.

Play less tables and really concentrate (sounds obv) but you always get spewy/careless when things are going badly. try and take lower varience plays because losing flips/allins when you're "running bad" can have a really bad affect on your mental state which can badly affect your session.

Just try and take stuff away that's gonna frustrate you/tilt you and try make sure whenever you play you're in a good frame of mind and feeling good.healthy - it doesnt matter as much when your winning cos the momentum from the success is often enough, but matters HUGE when you're losing.

I like this, not so much taking lower variance lines but if you've been running bad or are tilted facing tough decisions its probably best to lean on the side of folding if theres a chance you are unsure.

I think taking a break is one of the best things you could do on a downswing. I find that when you're having a difficult time with anything, especially work-type things, walking away from it for a little while always does some good. Then, you go back to it, feeling less jaded, with a better perspective and a positive attitude. </hippie>

yh thats what I meant, obviously don't become passive and lose equity as a result, but where bad decisions/bad luck have such a bad affect on your mentality it's best to adopt a slightly more cautious approach because in this mindframe not losing has a more positive affect than normal

As usual, Dave has some great advice here.

Can't help but think music is something that is overlooked, though. I often play without music, so I can immerse myself in the game; but I do select my music in the car journey very carefully. When I used to play online, I'd have a couple of playlists saved and ready to go for when I wanted to switch gears.

run bad times call for shakira imo

cmon shakira get those thighs out and make me win,

ty

You should try to review your play and only play when you are focused. Is it a downswing or are you playing bad? Try and find some leaks and fix them. We all have them.

Don't think im playing bad tbh. Just getting KK<JJ, AK<A5, 77<A3 x 1000.

Must admit on reflection i have probs been over playing AK, massively overplaying NFDs and took on a few too many flips with AQ, 99 etc.

Some very sound advice on here as usual, but the main thing which is close to paying off for me is playing more cautiously. Normally my game is pretty aggro, just nitting up and going back to abc until the results start coming in again.  ;pokergods;

Ramping my volume just reduced me to tears more often..

It's very hard to overplay these hands imo

Probs right, just need to connect more i guess.