Tips For Surviving a Poker Losing Streak
Submitted: August 28, 2007
By BTB
So here are my 10 tips on turning around a losing trend:
1) Poker is a marathon, not a sprint - When Ive dropped some huge sums in a short span of time, it really helps me to look at my overall results. I say to myself, "Okay, I lost $xx this week, but Im still up $xx for the year.” This line of thinking is soothing.
2) Re-Analyze your record keeping - While you have your records out to prove to yourself that you are a winning player, a losing streak presents a good opportunity to analyze those records. This can mean anything from examining how you do during the week vs. the weekend or how you do during the day as opposed to at night to calculating how many standard deviations youve dropped during your streak, depending on how mathematically inclined you are.
3) Losing is only temporary - When you are in a real losing streak, it feels like you
are never going to win again. Although Im a very logical and mathematical person and it still feels this way to me every time. You have to get those thoughts out of your head, though. For me it helps to revisit old losing streaks and then see that I did indeed start winning again. That may or may not work for you. But whatever it takes, get in the right mindset to play and if your head isn in the right place, don take that open seat.
4) Take a break - Perhaps the most common advice you see in print to deal with a losing streak is to take a break. Sometimes that helps. Don play for a day. Maybe don play for a couple of days. Get your mind off the losing streak a little. Do some things you enjoy. See some people you love. Then when your head is clear, come back to it.
5) Change things up – After taking your hiatus switch your poker up a little bit. If youve been meaning to learn a new game - PLO, triple draw, no limit crazy pineapple, whatever - theres no better time. If you play 90% limit hold em and 10% sit n gos, take a week and play all sit n gos. Switch it up.
6) Step down in limits - This is sort of a last resort for me, but it might be great advice in general. Certainly if your bankroll has taken a beating and you no longer have the backup funds to play comfortably at the limit youve been playing, you should drop down.
7) Don’t go broke - Whatever you do, don go broke! A lot of poker writing glamorizes going broke. I don know how many times Ive read the phrase, "All of the best players have been broke at one time or another." No matter how often I read it, it still seems stupid to me. I don know about you, but if I go broke I have to stop playing and get a real job. Thats not very high on my Christmas list. If you
e in danger of going broke, do whatever you have to avoid it.
8) Take a deep breath - When the donkey across the table hits his fourteenth gutshot this hour, take a deep breath. If its really bad, take three or four. This really helps me stay off tilt.
9) Scream if you must - Sometimes you just have to release frustrations. This is another "stay off tilt" method for me.
10) Laugh it off – You are competitive and you naturally want to win. But if you can laugh about a horrible losing streak, you
e taking poker too seriously. The next time you tell a bad beat story, ditch the anger, ditch the sarcasm, and try to tell it like you
e telling a joke.
I hope these tips help.
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