A Question for the Cash pro's.

[AlexMartin]

Id like to ask all the fulltime cash players how they deal with poor card runs and sustained coolers. Iv recently hit a bit of a slump and find myself playing worse after being taken through the pain barrier of a few beats. Do you buyin for half stakcs? Drop levels even if ur overolled? or take a break from poker completely?

cheers, appreciated, alex.

[M3boy]

Alex, you know the answer really m8.

Just play though it.

If you do not have the enthusiasm, try changing games - play some omaha or something.

If it is affecting your game, take a break m8

You could drop a level or two, until you have a few winning sessions again, confidence does wonders.

[Snatiramas]

I am currently on an extended break and not missing it at all. Maybe because I played on Monday.........scratch that then.

Answer to the eternal question is do what you need to do, to get your enthusiasm for the game back....the answer is different for all

[TightEnd]

but if you HAVE to play, as its your job...and you feel like Alex?

[Snatiramas]

but if you HAVE to play, as its your job...and you feel like Alex?

Honestly I do not know. In my working life if I have to analyse to that degree I probably think about changing jobs. Not much of an answer if you want to follow your dream.

[AndrewT]

If it is things outside of your control (bad cards, bad luck) then, if you are cut out to be a pro poker player, you'll understand these things happen and you'll just play through it, build up your hands played, and let the variance melt away over time. If you're properly bankrolled there's no need to drop down in levels.

Part of the skillset of a pro player is the ability to recognise what he has control over and what he doesn't. If you're sure this is something you can't change (like if you were playing badly) then you just have to ignore it.

[Moskvich]

I'm not sure I'm really qualified to answer this, but here's my answer anyway...

The bad run of cards isn't a problem, nor are the coolers. The problem is that you start playing worse as a result of the bad luck you're getting at the moment. Confidence suffers, etc etc.

But - you probably aren't really playing that badly, at least not yet. Compare the poker player in this situation to a professional sportsman of some sort who's off form. Technically they're still, overall, very good. But maybe there's an issue with one aspect of their technique, a slight adjustment they've inadvertently made to their grip, head position, whatever. How should they solve their problem? Adjust that back again, and practice and focus on keeping that in line. Everything else will then take care of itself. What happens if they don't do that and ignore it, and plough on regardless? That one small technical problem will gradually cause other problems to emerge, as the rest of their 'system' tries to compensate. Before you know it they don't have a clue what they're doing, because everything is out of line.

I think it's the same with poker. How do you mean, playing worse? I think you have to try and isolate one key mistake that you're making. Playing looser? Calling down lighter? Bluffing in bad spots? Whatever it is, focus on that. If you're playing too loose try and make a conscious effort to get your VPIP down a couple of points in your next couple of sessions. Bluffing too much? Play a session without bluffing unless you're 100pc sure it's going to get through. It might not be the optimal way to play this session, but I think it will help prevent the rest of your game falling apart as well. And once you have a couple of decent sessions your confidence will come back and you'll be able to just play your normal game without thinking about your 'technique'.

It's all very well saying 'just play through it', and 'play your normal game', but I'm not sure it's quite as easy as that - when things aren't going well it's all too easy to think you're playing your normal game, when actually you're not at all. Isolate a key problem and correct it, or even overcorrect it, that would be my advice. Good luck anyway.

[dazzaster]

Again I'm probably not qualified, but honesty is the key if you can be honest with yourself and you put it down to just a run of bad luck then it will turn, but be honest with yourself  if there are some small adjustments to be made.
I think a short break is never a bad idea anyway, I know it your job and you need to make money but everyone needs a holiday sometimes, you can then come back fresh with bad beats a distant memory.
Hope this helps.

[totalise]

Id like to ask all the fulltime cash players how they deal with poor card runs and sustained coolers. Iv recently hit a bit of a slump and find myself playing worse after being taken through the pain barrier of a few beats. Do you buyin for half stakcs? Drop levels even if ur overolled? or take a break from poker completely?

cheers, appreciated, alex.

if you find yourself playing bad, either play better or dont play at all. At least you acknowledge that you are playing bad at times... 90% of poker players always blame the downswings on variance and the upswings on their outstanding poker prowess. Spend some time analysing your stats and see if they have changed from when you were winning, identify the leaks and fix them... then get back to work.

this is the business we chose

[bobby1]

make sure you record every sessions results in full, no cheating. Treat it as a mental exercise in patience when the cards arent coming, they will eventually but you have to ride the poor runs and only lose the minimum when its going bad, the single most imprtent thing is to play hands correctly.

[snoopy1239]

Id like to ask all the fulltime cash players how they deal with poor card runs and sustained coolers. Iv recently hit a bit of a slump and find myself playing worse after being taken through the pain barrier of a few beats. Do you buyin for half stakcs? Drop levels even if ur overolled? or take a break from poker completely?

cheers, appreciated, alex.

I don't change my level unless my depleted bankroll suggests I do. What I will do, however, is analyse my game on poker software like Poker Tracker to insure that I am actually being unlucky rather than playing poorly. If it's the latter, then I find out why and try to make the necessary change. If it's the former, then I just see it through. You just have to thicken your skin to it.

[WellChief]

Be very careful in your table selection and don't play any difficult tables, even if it means playing a lot less hands and tables than your used to for a few days.  A few winning days should bring your confidence back.

[riverdave]

I would either jump around sites or disciplines of poker, try a few days of MTTs or just single tables etc. You could even can the internet for a set period of time and put in a solid period of live play.
You could even try a much underated tactic of leaving the house for something other than poker, i tried it the other day and ended up coming in drunk and smashing the games up although probably best if you don't attempt the same.

[AlexMartin]

Cheers v much for advice guys, played a few MTTs last night which i found refreshing and got my head back in the spirit of poker. Also turning things back around with the cash, simply by tightening up oop a lot and playing at the "best" times of day. Cheers for advice all, i analysed my graphs and was running pretty bad, but i had invited a lot of the beats by playing too passive. TAG again.