5.29.2010

Back To Basics

What do you do when you come down with a case of the run bads?

Switch to games with lower variance. I've started mass multi-tabling SnG's with about half of them being turbos and so far I've had positive results.

It's nice to put one in the win column even if it's not what you originally had in mind.

SnG's are pretty mindless, too. You can figure out who is good and who is not very quickly just by seeing what hands get played in the first three levels.

After that if you haven't managed to build a big chip stack you play your push/fold game and hope for the best.

I don't personally know anyone who enjoys playing SnG's but they are very profitable and the object of this game is to make money - some times I forget that and play games that are "fun" for me like Pot Limit Omaha even if I don't have an edge at the table.

This downswing reminded me there's a time for fun and a time to make that scrilla. I'm going to stick with the SnG's for a while in order to better practice bankroll management and also be able to manage my poker playing time a little better.

A couple times I'd find myself down in New Jersey deep in a tournament with a healthy chip stack, but starting to nod off a bit. Not good. Not good for your bankroll or your health so it's time to change that.

When I made a couple Final Tables in March it was ok - but now reality and variance has set in so I need to balance a lot of things: My sleep, my diet, my relationship, my 3-bet range ... it never ends.

But poker is last in line. It has to be.

5 comments:

joxum said...

sometimes just switching game type can be enough to see things in a fresh perspective.

You're right about the sng format. It can be really boring, but if you know how to crack them, they make good money.

Btw, try standing up or walk around in between hands, if you start to doze off. Sometimes help.

/j.

FkCoolers said...

It did help, thank you.

The issue for me was using my girlfriend's laptop in bed - far too easy to become lazy followed by sleepy.

But I took your advice and not only walked around during the 5 minute table breaks but I'd also stretch out when I was in the blinds while I waited for the action to get to me.

Made a huge difference - not so much in my results but at least I cannot blame fatigue anymore!

baglife said...

"What do you do when you come down with a case of the run bads?"

In no particular order:

A) Go on incoherent rants cursing my luck and/or opponent in the chat box.

B) Try to stop myself from border-line yelling out loud as the third two outer hits in the span of 15 minutes taking another full buy in. Sometimes I do yell shit out-loud, especially if I am home alone.

C) Throw a chair across the room.

D) Return to a logical state of mind. I did make the right decision and would have played it the same way.

E) Make up some stupid strategy, acting like I will never become angry at a bad beat again.

F) Repeat A-E

FkCoolers said...

Ha - same here, man.

Now I only make two promises to myself:

1. Don't break shit

2. Don't let my girlfriend see me get upset - it gets her really upset and then I feel like a total jerk for being mad at a card game.

Fact is I'm competitive as hell and am prone to Helmuth Syndrome - if luck weren't involved I'd win every one!

But then I remind myself that I could take first in a $100 rebuy tomorrow and the next day I'd still bitch about losing with AK to AQ.

So... the hell with it. Haha. We're all masochists. Time to face the truth.

baglife said...

Hilarity on the masochists comment, so true. Yeah good move with the gf that's really important. I make serious efforts to not let poker negatively impact the rest of my life. It's like any shitty office job, what happens at work should stay at work.

I actually prefer keeping poker completely separate. Hence,even when I quit on I don't plan to put my real name on my blog.