Losing streaks suck!

I played some no-limit again last night and the cards are just not coming. I can’t hit a flush draw. Can’t win when I call someone’s bluff. Can’t get someone to fold when they should. It’s very frustrating. But…after winning for the first 2+ months of my new serious play, I figure variance is finally kicking in.

Over Thanksgiving break I had my best day ever at ring games, taking down almost $400 in a few hours of play. My bankroll was sitting near $2400, the highest it has ever been. Over the next two days I managed to give about $300 back and it has continued ever since. I’ve had a few small winning days over these three weeks, but the majority have been losses. I know that I’m going on tilt a little bit here and there, but the cards are just not cooperating. I think my bankroll is down around $1700 right now. It’s been almost a month since I set some goals for my poker game and instead of going forward, I’ve gone backwards.

I’ve tried to switch it up by playing no-limit this week, but that’s not where I play my best, especially when I’m losing. I’m a much better limit player because I can play the odds and my losses are limited by the betting structure. During my Thanksgiving peak I had moved up to $2/4 games and the bad beat jackpot tables at Party Poker. I did well to start, but then hit a brick wall and I don’t think I was quite ready for how fast the bankroll can disapper at the higher limit. I’ve been primarily playing the $1/2 6-max tables and they seem to be my favorites, but I may have to go back to the full 10-seat tables and just grind it out. Tighten up and be aggressive. Back to ABC poker with some SSH in the mix.

Thanks to working for SVSU, I have a long Christmas break from work and I expect to play a ton of poker while I’m up at my parents for almost 2 weeks. I’ll be taking my main computer with me so that I have access to Poker Tracker and all of my software. I’m also going to the casino in St. Ignace for New Year’s Eve, so I’m looking forward to some live play finally. I’m hoping to at least get the bankroll to $3000 or so, but in order to achieve my goals, I really need to get closer to the $4000 mark. We’ll see…

I’ve been reviewing bits and pieces of SSH, which really helps to remember things I had totally forgotten. For instance, protecting a hand by checking the flop and betting the turn, so that some of the draws are not getting the right price to call. It’s these minor leaks in my game that are making the bad cards look worse in the numbers.

I also need to rememeber that poker is just one big long session.

My new goal is to practice focus, concentration, logic, patience, aggresiveness, and THINK.