The Sympathy Angle

[thetank]

I agree, except for the word massive.

Which is a good thing really, massive losers don't come back too often.

[M3boy]

I agree m8, managing your stack throughout a tourney is of VITAL importance.

Ths is something I needed to improve on , and have managed to do so over the last 2 years, proved by the fact that in tourneys now (live and online) I have a stack at the business end of a tourney, rather than just managing to "survive".

Even doing this, you can still loose your stack VERY quickly if a couple of hands dont go your way. Nothing you can do about it in certain situations.

This is why I love poker though, so so much to learn ALL the time, and no two situations are ever the same.

[Royal Flush]

I agree, except for the word massive.

Which is a good thing really, massive losers don't come back too often.

They are, they keep coming back assured in their own heads they are winning players because they get it in ahead. A player who is super lose knows he is super lose and is normally aware he is a loser. A player who is too tight normally thinks he is just unlucky and believes 'his luck will turn soon'

The latter is the one most likely to return, and as such do more money than the first.

[M3boy]

James, I agree with what you say.

However,,, it is STILL possible to go on a bad run for en extended period of time, no matter HOW you play tourneys - thats the luck/variance factor and there is NOTHING you can do about it.

My point is, it is not just weak/tight players than have bad runs - so when someone says to me that they are on a bad run, I DO NOT assume they are weak/tight.

[Royal Flush]

I'm not saying they don't.

The OP said:

To be honest, I just can't play any better and it's becoming really frustrating now.

I just don't think thats the case!

[roverthtaeh]

I'm not saying they don't.

The OP said:

To be honest, I just can't play any better and it's becoming really frustrating now.

I just don't think thats the case!

That phrase is based on the fact that I have limited experience and knowledge and am still learning every single day.
Given the standard I have reached, just lately I can't play any better than I have been doing. I have analysed my last 10 games to the 'n'th degree and cannot find a single error. I don't play too tight or too loose, I've found a happy medium suited to my regular opponents. At some stage in a tourney you have to reach a showdown and when you repeatedly do that with a hand which is a strong favourite, then you lose, it becomes demoralising.

[thetank]

I have analysed my last 10 games to the 'n'th degree and cannot find a single error.

This statement concerns me.

[roverthtaeh]

I have analysed my last 10 games to the 'n'th degree and cannot find a single error.

This statement concerns me.

That isn't to say others may find errors, after all, I can only analyse with what knowledge I have.

[thetank]

I should probably elaborate a bit on that.

So many descions are arbitary, and it's difficult to say which is right or wrong. Are you sure this is nothing you can do differently in your game?

[M3boy]

Tank, that is dangerous advice for this reason :

1) Just because you are on a bad run does not necessarily mean you are doing anything wrong - it could just be variance. So why change something that may not be broken in the first place?

Having said that, I think EVERYONE's game can be improved ALL the time.

[roverthtaeh]

I should probably elaborate a bit on that.

So many descions are arbitary, and it's difficult to say which is right or wrong. Are you sure this is nothing you can do differently in your game?

No, I'm not sure. But folding the nuts isn't an option :-)

[thetank]

I'm not saying do change it, I'm just saying consider changing it.

It's win win, because if you don't go for a certain move, you'll have a reason why you didn't do that if you consider it. Through that, a greater understanding of why the move you are doing, is the right one.

Folding the nuts sometimes is sometimes an option on the flop in Omaha, but that's neither here nor there.

[roverthtaeh]

At the end of the day I started this thread asking for some advice about how to deal with variance when it builds up against you. I never intended it as a moan about bad beats. Bad beats are all part of the game and I normally accept them as such. I can bow out of a tournament with grace however far ahead I may have been when the chips went in.
I'm not asking to have my game analysed, because I am happy with it at the moment.
What I'm struggling with is the ability to deal with the recent repetition of outdraws.
As far as the poker ladder is concerned I'm probably only two rungs up, but there are people on here many rungs higher and I was hoping they could shout some advice down to me, that's all.