Should you stop when you feel you are on a losing streak?
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A lot of people advice you stop playing a few days when you feel you've hit a losing streak.
Is this a good idea? It seems to me that it's a bit of a defeatist attitude.
Sure if you are consistently being beaten by better players, maybe you should move to another table, or move back to lower stakes games.
But if it's simply a run of bad luck, or if you're not playing well, I feel that you should perhaps try adjusting your strategy (tighten/loosen up). If you simply stop maybe you deprive yourself of a lesson to be learned? You might even feel yourself slipping into a losing streak, much more often, without having a strategy of getting out of it, other than stopping... This won't work well halfway down a tournament...
Joined: Aug '10
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I think the best way is a little break for 30 minutes or so to cool down. Analyse some situations and you would see, that no all losses are suckouts. It helps to secure for a tilt with bad play.
Joined: Oct '11
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Its easy if your broke.... Not so easy if your not ......taking a break is a good idea a few hours.... days..... weeks but during this time study your game to find any leaks so ur that much ready to kill the tables when u return.....
I think not. You should be able to continue your regular game but without doing crazy stuff like going up a limit, playing hands you dont normally play and making calls you normally dont make. I cant do that atm but working on it
Joined: May '09
Location: India
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unfortunately it is not as simple as u say, having a long downswing has a big psychological effect. in poker u need full concentration and focus to give your best and if you are preoccupied with ur downswing, you are just gonna make silly decisions. it depends on how well u can tolerate the stress of losing, for many people its better to stop then lose it all on tilt.
Posted by SuperNoob: it depends on how well u can tolerate the stress of losing, for many people its better to stop then lose it all on tilt.
My question was prompted by my thoughts on winning in sports (like tennis). In sports you can't let yourself think "oh well, guess it's not my day today"; it is essential to be able to turn it around. Players who can't do this, will never become winners, because inevitably, they run in to situations where they give up mentally, and loose. I think this is more important to learn, than your level of technique at any one point in time, because technique is always easier to improve upon (just practice)...
Maybe poker is different because you stand to loose way more, than your potential for gain?
Joined: Feb '11
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I think there should have been a third option to yes/no. cause i beleive it depends on situation. sometimes its good to take a break for a few reasons as i do all the time. but as you said a change up in gears or a tighten up rather might do the trick sometimes as well... after all no losing streak lasts for ever.
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Posted by marqis:
Posted by SuperNoob: it depends on how well u can tolerate the stress of losing, for many people its better to stop then lose it all on tilt.
My question was prompted by my thoughts on winning in sports (like tennis). In sports you can't let yourself think "oh well, guess it's not my day today"; it is essential to be able to turn it around. Players who can't do this, will never become winners, because inevitably, they run in to situations where they give up mentally, and loose. I think this is more important to learn, than your level of technique at any one point in time, because technique is always easier to improve upon (just practice)...
Maybe poker is different because you stand to loose way more, than your potential for gain?
Maybe it differs for cash games and tournaments?
Cause you talk about on line poker, lol so we can break anytime we want, live poker as same as tennis, we can't break anytime, so that's advantage of on line poker.
Break is good but why if after break we still play bad ? break again ? of course not we should have solve that situation. Not just break for few days, few minutes maybe or clean our mind for a while
Joined: May '09
Location: India
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Posted by marqis: My question was prompted by my thoughts on winning in sports (like tennis). In sports you can't let yourself think "oh well, guess it's not my day today"; it is essential to be able to turn it around. Players who can't do this, will never become winners, because inevitably, they run in to situations where they give up mentally, and loose. I think this is more important to learn, than your level of technique at any one point in time, because technique is always easier to improve upon (just practice)...
Maybe poker is different because you stand to loose way more, than your potential for gain?
i think u cant compare other sports and poker in terms of losing streak. in poker you have to take risk (your buyin) if u want to play next game while in sports u dont lose much if u dont win. in poker there is a choice, u can take a break and when u start- ur bankroll will be same as u left, similar games will be available.
and losing streak affects sports too. in football when a player is out of form he will not be able to give his best and even though he has the skill, many times he will not be selected to play by manager. few days rest and they'll be back to best.
as for becoming winners, players who been playing for many years face many downswings and unintentionally undergo a series of "exposure-response prevention" episodes which is the most effective behavior therapy to counter stress and anxiety.
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i have a proven method that works great and helps me stop in time, since it is a big secret, not sure if i should post it here, but hey brm is a great community, so i think i will share this military secret: the best way to stop is when you lost your whole bankroll, always works for me. and always in time
Joined: Nov '10
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There is NO PERSON on planet earth who is playing same when on heater and when on losing streak. Tilt, less confidence,bad fililng while you play are all stuff that will make you play worse. No man is robot. We all have emotions. And when they are bad we play bad. How bad? That depends from person to person... So, my answer is: YES
Joined: Mar '09
Location: Greece
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Mostly been said here (BRM forum)to stop playing while you are on tilt not when you are on a losing strike. But eventually its the losing strike that drives you to a tilt. So if it starts to get annoying and you cant focus as you should, or you keep thinking of your previous lost hands then you are on the wrong track and a break is a necessity
I wonder how come you compare a sport like tennis with poker. What one thing has to do with another. Its completely two different things. And if you havent noticed while you need the right mental condition in order to play a good game of tennis you also need a very good physical condition, stamina and of course accuracy in your shots. You cant play tennis without one of the above attributes. Tennis is a sport. Tennis is Athleticism and tennis player is an Athlete. For me a game is called a sport when it requires physical activity or like i said above its Athleticism. Others though tend to disagree. The only common thing you can give to poker and tennis is that you, characterise them as both sports, not that they are alike. You can sit on your ass 12 hours per day playing poker. Can you play tennis for 12 hours straight ? I dont think so Just a simple example.
Or after a long session of poker go to a tennis player who has just finished 5 sets and tell him. I know how you feel, i was playing poker for 5 hours straight. Then tell me what was his/her reply to you was lol
In order to play poker you need 2 things a) a slight working brain and b) one of the two following senses, not even both of them. Either sight or hearing. (others can help you with the rest)
Stephen Hawking which is a brilliant man (and im getting pissed when he is being a subject of "fun" in movies) can play poker, but can he play tennis?
Every single tennis player can play poker, but not every poker player can play tennis. Not even tennis players after some time can play tennis any more
If you wanted to try and compare or "emulate" poker you should try a game like bowling for example not tennis
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Although I would not argue that poker is a sport, never underestimate the role psychology plays in both sports and poker. Instilling fear or negative expectations in your opponent is an important part of victory no matter what sport or game you play.
Joined: Jan '11
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I would have to agree with the idea to stop playing for at least 24 to 48 hours if you have lost 5 or more games within one sit down. The only reason I support this is, I always seem to do better after taking a break after the losing streak. Vice versus when your on a winning streak don't stop playing. I know you can't win every game, but when your placing in the money at least 75% of the time I think you need to keep playing. I've had results abiding by both of these practices. Maybe it's physchological, but maybe it's not.
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Posted by jovicakralj: There is NO PERSON on planet earth who is playing same when on heater and when on losing streak. Tilt, less confidence,bad fililng while you play are all stuff that will make you play worse. No man is robot. We all have emotions. And when they are bad we play bad. How bad? That depends from person to person... So, my answer is: YES
I'd agree with this. I'd imagine there are VERY few people, if any, can withstand a long downswing & still play their A-game. If you genuinely can then wp but I seriously doubt it. I'd advise to take a few days off & occupy your mind with something else then get back nice and fresh.
RE: the sports comparison. It's relative really. Most sports have a mental aspect to them which you need to stay focused for. If you start to lose your focus, your play suffers. Most people could play any sport given the right training (& obviously physical ability). Being good at it is a whole other thing, which would still apply to poker so there is a comparison in there somewhere.
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Being tilted is a pain since its purely psychological. Sure losing streaks set you on tilt but its only when you expect to win that losing hurts enough to make you question how you played. Most players, myself included dont even fully know how tilted they are when in the moment.
A poor diet, lack of sleep a stressful week can all culminate in one bad beat that totally tilts you. I have seen players online stay tilted the whole time ive been on hero. They are mean angry crusty buggers who have no faith in their game holding and have gone so far as to say the game is rigged yet they will be online right now playing worse and worse poker.
I stayed away from poker for over 2 years because the thought of playing sickened me. I really mean sickened. In the pit of my stomach when someone said poker i would sneer and think... joke game. I was beaten. I didnt even want to play when before i was so in love with all the nuances of the game.
In this state i couldnt be reasoned with. I figured heck i would pick up the game again over the holidays with an extended break in front of me and using brm.com maybe i could pick my game back up. I used the pp.com ndb and my first day i was up. the second day i ran into some real poor play and lost a few dollars. Instantly i went back into pessimist mode. I blew off all my stack praying to stick a beat to someone with pure garbage just to say "stings dont it?"
Like wtf? who is this retod i became? I was so disappointed with myself for being shook i said forget this. Im tilted and must have been for years i thought. I read some theory and made my blog and was set on playing freerolls until i found the joy of simply playing again. Which is really what its all about. If you are having fun waiting for hands or even losing isnt so bad. Because i wasnt expecting anything and because my purpose was to have fun i found just playing enjoyable.
Im sorry this is long as i wish i could better put into words my thoughts but i hope the gist is there. Most importantly remember. there is nothing wrong with the game and bad players are good players best friends. if you feel jaded you need to rethink your attitude and when people say take a break its to put things into perspective. Maybe u go out and see a mom and baby walking and it makes you smile or maybe you stop to smell the roses and it makes you ponder.
Its just a game and there are more important things. Maybe now losing with AK to j9 wont hurt so much.
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poker is a game of percentages remember, i think of it like if im gettin sucked out on a lot, its only a matter of time before im the one gettin suckouts. But u only ever take note of the negative. so i'd say its nothin special, its not particularly unusual 2 get sucked out on, it happens 2 the best of them. dont fix somethin thats not broke, jus play your own poker game, its when you stray from the strategy things go wrong.
Not so easy if your not ......taking a break is a good idea a few hours.... days..... weeks but during this time study your game to find any leaks so ur that much ready to kill the tables when u return..... 
of course not we should have solve that situation. Not just break for few days, few minutes maybe or clean our mind for a while
but I seriously doubt it. 
