What to do when you run bad

[tantrum]

I ran bad yesterday. Lost 3 times in a row all in with AK v AQ, couldnt win any coinflip blah blah blah. I just battled through it and refused to go to sleep till i was a winner.

25 hours later, i was knackered, but had turned a big loss into a very slight loss. (I physically couldnt play any more)

So i vote, Battle Through.

The number for GA is 0800xxxxxxx;)

[Horneris]

Maybe 25 is an exaggeration. 15

[fearisthekey]

Just a few of my own ramblings.

For me, it's mostly a question of faith. I have to have faith that what you are taught about probability and outs is not a myth that has no basis in fact. When I play AK v AJ, AA v AJ, KK v 44 and lose each one, it is enough to make you doubt whether  you can have faith in the cards over the long run.
Short term, this is what tilt is for me, and I believe at least a little bit that my J4o is good against his raise because hell someone played badly against my big pair and now it's time for me to get my share of bad-play rewarded.
I'm amaaazed by the power of even just a short break, maybe 2 hours, to get rid of this. Playing through for me is the very worst option. The key ingredient in my game is missing. Up against a player who is not on tilt I will lose lose lose. The irony is that the tilt itself blinds you to your susceptibility and the problem will all go away if you just play on and hit that lucky rush. It seldom comes. So I'm a big fan of setting stop limits. Lose half of your roll for that session, that's it, go and do something else. Money not lost is as good as money won. What a fantastic way to pass your time. Not only watch a film or go down the pub, but get paid (in non losses) up to $200/hour to do so!!

Just heard someone say 'how a player deals with the downswings can make or break him', and I tend to agree.

Also, since memory is state dependent (you don't just remember what happened but the context where it occurred is a powerful trigger too), I invariably switch site after a bad session. I suppose moving live from the net may have the same effect.

Good luck.

[NoflopsHomer]

Taking a break is better than playing through it in my opinion.

I've just done 5 PLO buy-ins in 2 hours - each one I looked at and believe I was right to put my money in with and none went my way. But at the same time I don't think I can go and play any more PLO cash tonight. I had my best ever month post Monte Carlo, whereas I'm just breaking even for May so far.

[kinboshi]

Just a few of my own ramblings.

For me, it's mostly a question of faith. I have to have faith that what you are taught about probability and outs is not a myth that has no basis in fact. When I play AK v AJ, AA v AJ, KK v 44 and lose each one, it is enough to make you doubt whether  you can have faith in the cards over the long run.
Short term, this is what tilt is for me, and I believe at least a little bit that my J4o is good against his raise because hell someone played badly against my big pair and now it's time for me to get my share of bad-play rewarded.
I'm amaaazed by the power of even just a short break, maybe 2 hours, to get rid of this. Playing through for me is the very worst option. The key ingredient in my game is missing. Up against a player who is not on tilt I will lose lose lose. The irony is that the tilt itself blinds you to your susceptibility and the problem will all go away if you just play on and hit that lucky rush. It seldom comes. So I'm a big fan of setting stop limits. Lose half of your roll for that session, that's it, go and do something else. Money not lost is as good as money won. What a fantastic way to pass your time. Not only watch a film or go down the pub, but get paid (in non losses) up to $200/hour to do so!!

Just heard someone say 'how a player deals with the downswings can make or break him', and I tend to agree.

Also, since memory is state dependent (you don't just remember what happened but the context where it occurred is a powerful trigger too), I invariably switch site after a bad session. I suppose moving live from the net may have the same effect.

Good luck.

I like that post.  Good stuff.

[vegaslover]

For me it's to take a break, completely. Basically this means withdrawing all my bankroll as well so cant then play.
These runs start off as varience hitting and end up as bad play/tilt. Just my view of it!

[Zanshin]

Drink more and play higher stakes till your even..........

Possible not the best advice but you did ask the question 

[Rookie (Rodney)]

wheres the option for jumping off a tall building or playing with the traffic? I think im going to do that now...

[pokermuppet]

know what youre going thru phil-find myself in very similar situation where after playing am trying to find excuses...eg-bad play by others, cards killing me, cant win a race for love nor money but after analysing my play have found out am playing badly because i feel under pressure and that pressure is making me make wrong decisions-so simple answer is stop playing totally for a while until u feel youve recharged your batteries and raring to go-to both of us poker should be about enjoying it not worrying about-come and join me on the bench for a while!!

[WellChief]

I try and play through it, but it's definitely better if you take a few days off and take a good luck at yourself. I had the first losing month last month I think i've ever had since I started playing seriously. I ran badly but more importantly I played badly (and stepped up too high a few times as well). 

Played better this month and stuck to my level and had the best ever start to a month.

[Longy]

Playing lots of turbo sng's as i do, varience is a sod and you are forced to flip, shove rubbish, get called by rubbish and generally gamble alot in this form of the game.

I have been through runs which literally had left me dumbfounded, the best one was about 2 months ago, i cashed in 1 (a third) in 34 sngs, i was proven double digit roi winner in these gameS over 2k+ sng's. There is famous quote not sure who by who says something along lines, you will at sometime run worse in poker worse than you can possibly imagine.

My solution generally is to take some air and then sift through the mess that is a downswing, picking through hands that i have played and seeing what i could have done better. I have found im normally not playing optimally, good enough normally to win but leaks normal creep in. Though after above mentioned story i did take a few days off, had a few beers and chilled until my motivation was back.

Oh and Horneris system i would not recommend, i think only certain people can do that without ending up in a mental hospital.

[RobS]

Nobody has come close to the right answer yet, let me try.

Simply close all your poker applications, and open a popular online betting exchange website. Pour yourself a nice glass of merlot and switch the TV to Sky Sports. Find a live sporting event, and place some fairly large bets while in progress. Football is always a good one for this, and recently cricket and snooker (winner of each frame in progress).

If you win, it can get you out of trouble for the night, whereas if you lose then you can find this re-motivates you to play winning poker.

[jakally]

Played better this month and stuck to my level and had the best ever start to a month.

Bankroll management plays a big part in dealing with variance.
If you are playing well within your bankroll, it is much more likely that you can shrug off a few horrible beats and just carry on playing.

If you are not, then it is probable that you will start to play less than optimally.

The other key, for me, is accurate record keeping.
Firstly, so that it is clear whether it is short term variance, or whether it is a case of consistently losing.

More importantly, if you have had a couple of losing sessions, to reaffirm that you are a long term winning player.

I play cash primarily, and this is relatively easy to manage - tourneys, I would imagine, are a more difficult proposition (higher variance, playing well for no return etc...).

If I really am struggling, and don't think I can play through it at my normal level, I go and play a game I am more likely to beat to regain some confidence - low level heads up sit n go's are excellent for this.

[celtic]

After all this debate Phil hit a final table last night and from what i could see played well (including a nice bluff with 4 high!!)

Finished 4th i think? Cant remember who won it tho!!!!!!

[Snatiramas]

It was a lovely evening and it graphically exposed what can happen in any tourney. I had KK cracked by 10,10 and I cracked A,10 with A,7. In fairness it has been a reasonable week with a three way split on Monday as well as final table last night.

That's poker one long rollercoaster