One of the hardest things to do in poker is stop a losing run. Bad luck can lead to bad play. Bad play can lead to frustration which itself leads to worse play. Then, even good luck can't help! Okay, so things have not got quite so bad for me of late but I am on a losing run. Good luck has deserted me in my Maui Jackpot games and I am not playing my best poker. It is a while since I have won on consecutive nights and I am getting a little frustrated. The graph below shows good progress over the first eight hundred games this year followed by a shocking run over the next two hundred. Is this really the same player and what the hell is he doing?
More importantly what can I do to turn the tide back in my favour?
Lots of things for sure:
- Firstly writing this blog should help get some of the frustration out of my system.
- I also need to get some perspective about how big a problem this really is and why I really play. I am so lucky in many ways even before I log on to play poker and I need to remember what is truly important. For example my kids (pictured above) have started their summer holidays this week with a big focus on fun.
- Despite this bad run I am still having a winning month anyway in July based on some good form and good fortune on Pokerstars and Full Tilt.
- I play these Jackpot games to give myself a chance at the Jackpot itself, currently running at 45000 Euros. Over the next one thousand games I will get myself in a position to do just that whether I win a $100 or $1000 along the way.
- I mainly need to focus on my game, the way I am playing and a little less on the influence of luck. I will analyse my end game push fold actions a bit more often to promote further understanding and confidence.
- When I am playing well I plan to extend my session. When I am too tired I will not play at all.
- Another way forward is to look at my results in a more positive way (see below). Am I really playing that badly? When you remove the rake from my results during my 'poor' run I am still holding my own against my opponents which is reassuring to some extent.
Time to turn a corner. Signalling left.
Good luck.
