CARDRUNNERS

testing a long post

I've basically been killing the last few days. I've got my bankroll sitting around 45k. I even managed to take about a 6k hit towards the end of the day at ftp. I've been playing a really wide array of games. Here's a list of what I've played in the last few days...

4/8: HU, 6man
5/10: HU, 6man, PLO
10/20: HU, 6man, PLO

I've basically been bouncing around and finding the best games. It's been working out really well. I think I'll feel completely comfortable about my roll again when I have it at about 60k.

I've learned a ton from this downswing I had. It's so important to have confidence when you are playing. Even if you think you are playing ok, if you don't have confidence, you aren't playing your best. With poker, its essential to make sure you are playing your best as much as possible. During the month or so that I was struggling, I never really felt good about my game. That caused me to play poorly overall and to tilt more. I think the best thing you can do when you are running bad is to take a step back from the game. It wasn't until mentally I thought I wasn't going to play for a long time that my head really got cleared. That combined w/ my friend building my confidence by telling me I could crush the fringe site was really the key. When I got on there and ran well, my confidence came rushing back. In hindsight, I wish I had just stepped away from the game much sooner. I never shoudl have let myself get into the spot where I was on such a huge downswing. I also think that switching sites when you are running bad really helps change your view on the game. I got a fresh mindset when I got off UB.

I think that it can be very hard to understand the variance that is actually associated with a LAG style of poker. I also think that the variance is much higher today than it was a year or two ago. The players, overall, are just better nowadays. I think taht the games at all levels are still beatable by good players, but not as much as they once were (although the highest games may be playing softer lately).

If there's one thing the last 3 months have taught me, its to play in your bankroll. I thought I already knew that. Of course, as always, ego comes into play with poker. For a few reasons, I felt like I didn't need to play in my bankroll. I felt like I was good enough to play higher than I my bankroll allowed. I also told myself, I didn't care if I went broke online. Which, at times, I really didn't. That's pretty dumb reasoning though. I was watching cts, stinger, em2, etc crush the highest games and wanted to do the same. That led me to taking shots. Now I can look back over the last 3 months and see my longest streak of nearly break even poker. I had some good runs and some terrible ones. The fact is that the effect of variance is an incredibly important aspect of playing winning poker. If you don't respect it, you are asking to get burned.

-10 buyin swings are going to happen. In fact, I'd say they will probably happen once every month or two. You need to be rolled to not let that negatively affect you.

Today, I swung down 4 buyins in 20 minutes. I gotta admit that at 10/20+ that probably would have tilted me. I wasn't playing bad to lose those buyins. It was just variance rearing its ugly head. However, since I was at 5/10 this time, I kept my cool and ended up in the profit less than an hour later.

This goes along with confidence as well. I always feel like I have an edge at 5/10. At some of the higher games, I would often feel somewhat scared while I was playing. It wasnt a fear of losing a buyin of that size. Even 10k pots don't phase me anymore. It's the fear of getting outplayed. I was always worried the solid players at the table would outplay me. That fear often led to them outplaying me. It's essential you believe in your abilities at the limit you play.

I guess what I'm asking you to do is to take a step back and see if that's the case for you. Are you playing at the limit where your ability and winrate is maximized? I can say that I cost myself a lot of money this year by playing higher. My maximized winrate is, and likely always has been, at 5/10nl. However, I did learn a lot while playing higher games. That is something to keep in mind. If you are playing only for the challenge and want to improve, then its an entirely different story. If you want to make the most money though, that doesn't necessarily mean playing the highest stakes.