Dealing with runbad/tilt

[David Wibel]

Hey guys, I am in need of some help. I’m new to poker and the ups and downs that it brings and I need some help. I am experiencing some run bad,both at the table and in life.

At the poker table it’s been the run bad of getting AA in against J7 off and losing twice, getting JJ against ATo and losing to an ace on the river, getting flopped straight over straight then the next hand getting flopped set over set. I’m down a couple of grand over the past few months and just can’t seem to win for losing.

How do you guys deal with the inevitable ups and downs of a game that includes random variables?

[Paul Hewson]

Hi David.

Run bad sucks.

I like to use sklansky earnings to get me through the bad beats (look it up and you’ll see what I mean).

Also, take a good look at the times of run-bad and examine how you played the hands to see if you could have reduced the chances of losing. This can include a lot of variables such as:
– Raise\bet sizing – a lot of players undercut the raw equity value of their cards (i.e. AA are great without any help, A10 not so much) by making very small bets and offering their opponents a very cheap price to improve on them.
– Conversely, many players go to the other extreme – shoving pre-flop with kings to avoid a bad beat by Ax.

You want your bets to offer your opponents a price into the pot that they will accept but which doesn’t give them a great price to try to make their hands. Unfortunately, getting calls means that sometimes your opponent will out draw you and you’ll lose. But if you don’t give them a chance to win you won’t make any money at all (except the blinds). So take some time to watch some videos or read some books on bet-sizing and offering odds on the pot – then you’ll understand the give and take of the game. But none of us actually LIKE the ‘take’.

Another consideration is considering how the community cards would hit the range of hands your opponents might have, and being able to adjust the value you put on your own cards accordingly.

Most importantly though I think is to only play for stakes that you are comfortable withy and at which losses won’t affect your ability to enjoy the other parts of your life.

Cheers
Paul

[Mr. New Orleans]

Well I am a fucking mess.

I am on life tilt.

My runbad is horrific. Im down $100k in the past 5 years. I am totally ass out.

Most of it is just bad decision making regarding money management.

As much as I want to make a post, I dunno. This is pathetic im even using my time and energy to post here because I feel like whining about it is just pathetic.

I always revert back to one time 10 years ago, a winning player told me, that the only reason I lost was because I was just a bad player, not because of the way the cards ran out.

To this day I still cant overcome the runbad. On another note, I feel like alot of people just make up their runbad situations. Its fucking poker, this is what you singed up for, an random card game.

I decided that instead of writing some well thoughout post I would just write what ever came to my mind in this whirlwind of just pathetic failure.

I am at the bottom of the barrel. My losses are more extreme because most of the money I gambled away over the past 5 years was in bitcoins…

Its absolutely pathetic, and as I sit here, I am not paying my beauty of a girlfriend attention. She thinks its weird I am typing because I barely type so vigoriously…

I am down ultimately only $100k-$200k but that could have been $100-$200 MILLION USD worth of crypto.

its so sad my girl bears the most of the brunt, and alot of the money I have ran bad with was ours or hers….

I only logged on here because I was thinking of posting and just seeing if anyone could give me any advice…. but thats just so pathetic.

so thats it, Im down I run bad, but I have to take it on the chin and just know that I am a bad player.

My runbad is so sad but maybe its my curse. I have a smoking adddition and I think it contributes to my run, as its so deep, I think my addictions throws off my playing patterns and puts me in bad “seats’ … had I no addiction I would probably have showed up earlier and got a different seat, played different.

I was a winning player at one point when I started out in college with a house of roomamtes who were online semi-pros before Black Friday…

Oneday I folded the best hand into the muck, I mucked a pocket pair which gave me a winning full house. I was so fucked up on drugs I didnt see the board had paired, giving me the winning full house. I threw my cards into the muck face up, it was all a blur. What can you do…? obviously a lot and get your life together but I just cant find my rythym, and I keep trying to force it on the felt bc I dont want to work but the more I force it the I lose…

As I play more and started to play more live card house games, I find myself playing worse as I run bad. Maybe I am just a bad player and I have to accept that possibility…

I also want to become a professional gambler, who doesnt? I am running so bad on the poker table that I have recently taken up betting on live sports…

I lose consistently when I have…50 cards in the deck giving me the win and 2 possible for the opponent win…

I also lose to 4 outers regularly

I regularly lose my AK to fish’s AQ

I regularly lose pots to lower pocket pairs turning or rivering trips

Now days that it will put me on such tilt I will play hands like QJ and Q10 on my raised button, flop top two, and lose to a set of Jacks or set of Queens or other set because I shouldnt be playing.

I consistently get it all in

Im the type of player that when I 3bet or 4 bet my AK, players call with rags just for the chance to stack me and usually manage to outflop me once I am pot committed…(This is all most likely contributed to my bad play)

But I know that at some point I will over come all this if I just find a stable life outside of poker. That is where I am putting in the most work. Management of game selections and management of bankroll seems to matter more than the cards.

I also play too small of a game because I am now so underrolled, and its biting me in the ass because people dont value $100 or $200 anymore, they just put in in the pot with anything and its like video poker. Maybe if I had the roll to get back on the 5/5 or 5/10 game, I could find my soul, but if everyone knows im scared money Id never succede an yways.

What can you do… Hopefully someone can relate.. wow variance can hurt.

[Scott]

if you or someone you know has a gambling problem……….

[Mr. New Orleans]

Good one… that is about the level of response I expected. Not surprised….

Seems like your kind of intimidated?

[Paul Hewson]

Mr New Orleans, I believe every person in this forum is trying to walk a line between obsession and addiction – so perhaps that’s the reason for Scott’s post.

I have one suggestion for you.

Record every (and I mean all of them) hand you play in your next session and arrange for a poker coach you respect to review your play. If you can get independent and respected advice, that’s where you’ll find some meaningful guidance at long running success.

All the best with your play and endeavours

Paul

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