I am trying to pull out of my downswing slump. I am down 12 buyins at 10NL over the last two weeks. It started when I moved up to 25NL with a 700 dollar bankroll. I lost 4 buyins and moved back to 10NL and have not been able to do anything. I lost a buyin today with trip 5s beat by trip 7s. I had 55 and raised, he called with 77, flop 5K2, I raised 3/4 pot, he calls, I bet 3/4 pot, he calls, turn 7 and thats all she wrote. I know this stuff happens in poker but I am getting a little discouraged. I ran very well over the first 10k hands and guess I just got spoiled. I am still ahead of my original bankroll but it is getting close. I really hope everyone will use me as an example to not play under rolled.

Thanks for listening

Cliff

Hello Cliff!

U have my sympathy

It seems like I have a more aggressive style in moving up and down the limits in my 5max game than u have and I have to know that when I hit a downswing it can hit really hard. Started my bankroll at 30$ and was up to 330$ after 2 month and I have just been down to 60$ and at the lowest tables again. Im now got up over 70$ again and moved up to 10$ and have won 2 buyins there (at 90$ now). I restarted my bankroll 2 month ago. (picked out a bankroll I had made from 20$ to 350$). I have learned to much this last year that I dont have any problem to restart with a more aggressive "table-climbing-idea".

I have been playing like 40hours a month the last year. When I hit a downswing I try really hard to find a leak in my play, analyse my play in pokertracker(holdem manager), read books, watches movies. When I do find a leak (we all have), even the smallest leak, my confidence go up and I have new energy for poker again and feel that im on the right track to beeing a better player, one piece at the time. Outstandingpoker have been my "coach" for the last two months and the signup was probably the best I could do to be a better pokerplayer.

My plan is to climb this aggressive to the the 100$ tables and stay there for atleast a year in a row before moving further. If I will go down to 50$ after some months I will try to climb up again and stay at 100$ for a year. Just to practice, practice, practice. I dont have any stress to reach those levels. I enjoy the game and if I reach those levels I reach them. Maybe some time there will be a little bonus each month in the households economy.


My "limit-changing-plan"
5$ - 0-70
10$ - 50-140
20$ - 100-280
30$ - 200-420
50$ - 300-700
100$ - 500-1400

Best regards
Johan

Oh, I ment that I restarted my bankroll 3 months ago. Not 2. Its the last month that have been a nightmare

Here is a post in the forum about my bad period. With some statistics aswell.

http://www.outstandingpoker.com/poker-s ... -t340.html


Best wishes
Johan

Thanks Johan,

Part of the reason I am such a bankroll nit is living in the U.S. it has become increasingly difficult to get money on the sites. But the main reason I stay at the same level so long is I wish to feel I can really beat that level before I move up. I know I still have some major leaks. My biggest seems my inability to let second best hands go. In the later streets when someone has caught their draw I refuse to believe them. This has got to change. I need to be able to read players better and unerstand the stats better.

Anyway, I agree about watching more videos and analyzing my play. I also took part of yesterday off and went fishing in the evening! Good fun and a nice break. Back to work today and try a little more poker after work this evening. This is a great site with a lot of good people.

Good luck and keep us posted on your progress.

Cliff

Hi Cliff!

Yes, its hard to let the second best hand go. In those situations I always look at the statistics on that player and then decide. If a player have a VPIP of 40+ I almost never let is go unless its really clear he has the nuts, maybe if he goes all in and I know he dont do that to often. For example a 88AA board with my 98s and he wont let me go. I got to give him credit for the hand and If he bluffs me he get the money. Next time I have an Ace I will earn some. There are other hands that is pretty easyto lay down.

I guess those situations u talk about is mostly against flushdraws when u are the aggressor and Cbets and for example the third heart falls? In those situations I know that my position will often save me money and let me have the advantage to check on river and I also look at the players stats (from pokertracker/Holdemm.). If he generally is not so aggressive and play pretty straightforward I lay it down. If he is tricky and I have position I will maybe check the river if he calls my turn bet. Maybe even call a smaller reraise to see what he does first at the river. All depends on who Im playing.

Goodluck at the tables! Post your progress in the future!

Best wishes
Johan

Howdy guys
what really helped me in these situations was the aggression by street stats and notes
as your database and notes build up on players that you play against frequently
their betting patterns will help you alot.

for instance many players at micros love to check or call when they hit their draw on the turn and then bet or raise river, or they like to check raise the river when they hit flush, or they like to make min lead bet on turn or river. The combination of notes and aggress by street stats can help expose their pattern and let you minimize your loses in these situations. It is difficult to not lose money when a chaser hits their draw, the key is to lose as little as possible. Since they will miss standard flush and str8 draws 2/3 of the time it is key to charge them as much as possible the 2 times, and lose as little as possible the 1 time. Notice the passive/tricky play habits of checking or calling or min bets many micro players like when they hit help you lose less when they hit their draw.

one other thing, once some of the more aggro players see you lay down a couple hands they will start to bluff (the river mostly, very rarely the turn) flush draws and you can snap off their bluff w/ medium type hands like 2nd pr top kicker or better. Be especially on the lookout out for pot size bets (they want you to go away that why the bigger bet, if they had a really strong hand they would have typically bet/raised earlier) and backdoor flushes. I rarely gave credit for backdoor flushes, but the more aggro players would try to bluff any scare card.

Fyi- the chance of hitting a backdoor flush is about 1/20 when you have 3 to the flush on the flop (The backdoor flushes are some the the 40+ VPIP crowd love to chase since you know they love sOOted cards so this is another hint from the stats that can help.), the chance of picking up a third card to make a set when your pocket pair misses the flop is about 1/11 by the river. They both happen, but you cant play scared of them,

The video i did a while back on using stats program on micro games dealt with learning to figure out when the 40+ vpip "fisherman" hit their hand

hope this is helpful HG

Helpful, thanks hg.

A couple of good sessions this AM. I picked up four buyins. I have changed a few things. 1. fold marginal hands when facing resistance. 2. STOP BLUFFING I am bleeding money by bluffing and thinking everyone else is bluffing. 3. When I am sure I am best and face resistance SHOVE, too often I get drawn out on by simply value betting. I am tightening up my PFR a little and that seems to be helping. I find some stacking off with JJ and TT so it is worth waiting for good hands.

I know a good portion of my recent downswing was variance but it also forced me to take a good hard look at my game. It may be a good thing in the long term.

Cliff

Thanks HockeyGuy! Hi again Cliff!

A cool thing I sometimes (not too often) use against more thinking aggressive players at microstakes is to shove on the river when I guess my opponent think I missed my draw. Especially when im out of position. I also know this player will give credit for my early agression with a good hand so I let him think Im drawing. For example when the player raises preflop and I call with my 88 and the board hits as shown below.

Ad 8d 2s

I hope he has hitted the Ace with his AK, AQ, AJ.
I check. He bets. I call.
A non diamond non scary card hits.

Ad 8d 2s 5c

I check, He bets, I call.

Ad, 8d, 2s, 5c, Kc

Now I just shove. Hopefully he call. Maybe he hit that 2-pair with AK. Or he think that I missed my draw and im pushing cause thats the only way I can win the pot. I know he will slow down when a third diamond hits, but sometimes this play has been good.

What u say about this play Hockeyguy?

Best regards
Johan

i like it Johan
especially the thinking process that you are using to try to manipulate your opponent type
non thinking opponents and thinking opponents play differently, by trying to make the thinking opponent believe you missed to get more value than a standard bet size would get. Of course when you shove with the best it sets up a similar play to bluff w/ a lesser hand later and makes it difficult for opponents to read you.

The "value" shove is something i am trying to get more off incorporated into my play, i think i have been a bit transparent recently in my river value bet sizing

good example and good luck HG

Thank you Hockeyguy! Good luck yourself!

Cliff? U still going good? I did go up some buyins? Still moving in the right direction?

/Johan