How to Cope With Losing Streaks

A poker strategy for losing streaks. Why do they happen, just dumb luck? It may be partly luck, partly dumb. At times, it’s just a run of bad luck. Yet, the longer a player runs bad, the tougher it is to chalk this up to merely a run of bad luck. The last time I checked, those cards were still being shuffled at the start of each hand. And if you play online, I doubt that the online poker room has a personal vendetta against you. If you find yourself sucked out on every time, cursing how online poker is rigged at the end of most sessions, or you’re in a downward spiral that seems to have no end, here are some tips on how to ride out the storm.

Avoid the Slippery Slope. A disciplined player heads to a poker table with an idea of which hands he will play and which hands he will avoid. This will change somewhat based on the tightness or looseness of a game, but the sharp player will use his head by staying away from hands that could be dominated, keeping alert for tells indicating a player may have outdrawn him, and not chasing with hands that need a lot of company for the right pot odds to make them good hands to chase with. Many poker players can stick to their guns for a while, but when the hours go by and the chip stack begins to dwindle, sometimes hands that really shouldn’t be played get added into the mix. Suddenly, because JT suited was playable, JT offsuit seems okay to play. Or J7 suited — because a straight or flush can come on the flop. “I’ll just see the flop,” says this player. It’s only a limp, he says to himself, and it’s been so long since he’s seen the flop, so why not see one? The problem is, one flop can quickly become another and another. Any pots won in the session are offset by the many times you limped to see the flop. Stay sharp enough to know there are only a select number of hands you can play. Once you begin to play marginal hands pre-flop, many bad things can happen — including making the play of such hands a part of your long-term plan. Be honest with yourself: If you think you have begun to play too many hands pre-flop due to a string of losing sessions, keep track of your starting hands and how they ended up. It will be clear to you what a bad move playing marginal hands can be. (Keeping track of starting hands is always a good idea, and not something you do only when you are on a losing streak.

Do you respect the raise? Most players will raise with something good. This is especially true online, where players are playing multiple tables and multi-tasking, playing often on autopilot. When you have to call two bets to stay in the pot as opposed to just one, you are cold-calling, and contributing to your losing streak because more often than not you are folding on the flop. A typical situation in which cold-calling occurs: When you are ready to call as the action comes to you — and the player right before you raises. Cold-calling with a decent hand is fine, but if you call all the time for two bets when you were going to call for one, you are not going to be a winner at the poker table.

You also have to respect the check-raise. When the chips are down, and you’ve put money in the pot thinking your hand is good, the check-raise can be infuriating. The response is a quick call, sometimes to the River. During my last session, I made a big mistake on a particular hand by falling into this trap. I looked down to see QQ. In early position, I quickly raised, and was called by two players. The flop came 475 with two spades. I bet, and was check-raised by the player to my right. The right move would have been to fold. I called. No Kings or Aces came on the Turn or River, but it didn’t matter, as I still lost the hand, foolishly calling his bets on both the Turn and River. (He held 74 offsuit.) After being ahead early in the session I suffered some rough beats on the River (preceding the fiasco with the Queens). I left the session frustrated with myself, that hand bothering me all night. I know full well I’m a better player than that; I couldn’t have done anything differently to prevent the 74 offsuit from seeing the flop, but when check-raised I definitely should have gotten away from the hand, thinking I had run into a set. Never be blinded by your emotions — especially when running bad. The check-raise means you have to have a powerful hand, and top pair isn’t going to be enough.

Are you playing draws in small fields? Drawing hands like suited connectors and flops with four to the straight or flush prefer large fields. Without a large field, you simply aren’t getting the proper pot odds you need to chase. If you find yourself seeing many flops with small and medium suited connectors in tight games, understand that this is contributing to your losing streak. These hands pose a double threat to you. Not only do you go into the flop as an underdog in a tight game, but what many players are unable to do is fold the hand on the flop even when it hits them.

Take 56 suited. You are heads-up going into the flop,and your opponent holds AQ. The flop comes Ah Th 2c. “Not bad,” you think to yourself. Heads-up, you are a 38% to 62% underdog. You’ll have to call the bet on the flop and Turn assuming you want to see this hand to the River, and if you make the flush you’ll win yourself a tiny little pot. The situation where this most often comes up is when you hold two suited or connecting cards in the blind, flop two to the flush or straight and get heads-up. Your hand is deceptively good-looking and needs to be tossed if the player with position on you bets, because the odds don’t justify your trying to hit your hand.

To change or not to change? In a game that is random, seat selection seemingly should not have that much effect on your game. But it has a very big effect, because you can be against very different types of players. Changing seats or leaving the table to find another game are fine — but do it for the right reasons. If you think moving and seeing another player come into your old seat and win a big pot could affect your game, don’t move. However, if a player to your immediate right is getting to you by being super-aggressive, or making snide comments that are getting you off your game, by all means move. Another good reason to move is when you feel you will have excellent control over a player by having position on him.

River fear: missing the value bet and the foolish laydown. Because you play so few hands, when a hand comes along that you are going to play, you have to squeeze every last possible chip out of the hand. Unfortunately when you are running bad, it can be tough to do that with the good-but-not-great hands, especially on the River. Value betting on the River is a must for any serious poker player. Take the situation where you have top pair with a good kicker. The River card appears to have been safe for you, no flush or straight out there. Two players check to you. The player running bad thinks the worst, so just checks and happily takes down the pot. Betting out, though, gives you two ways to win the pot, including a way that’s even better: getting more money into it. Many players will call with middle pair, and this is very well what the other players may have. Make them pay you off and maximize your winnings. This is an even easier play when you have position on the other players, but top pair with a good kicker is a good hand — don’t feel you have to have two pair or better to bet on the River. Similarly, don’t feel the need to make the big laydown on the River. Even if you are pretty sure you are beat, calling one more bet is much better than losing the entire pot.

Playing over your head. Sometimes when a player has a bad session or two, they will move up levels to “get their money back.” This is especially easy to do online. The problem is that here you are typically using a hit-and-run strategy, and also won’t be playing your best because you’ll either be: 1) Angry about the results at lower limits or 2) Fearful of the amounts you are playing for, thus missing value bets or playing too tight. Moving up is no way to fix a bad streak, and will only make it run longer. Be disciplined and move up only when your bankroll gives you enough to play at the higher levels.

Take your Prozac. When running bad, it’s easy to get down on yourself. You may think you are a much worse player than you really are; or think you can never beat the game. This mental game is bound to affect you at the table, typically making you play more like a rock. You have to put the bad sessions behind you. Live out the motto of the Notre Dame football team: “Play like a champion today.” Even the best players have rough sessions. If you can’t get out of your funk, leave the game and come back later to play when you are mentally better prepared.

Don’t get married to the pocket pair. Tens, Jacks and Queens. They look so lovely. But what to do when the flop brings the overcards? Many players will play these (or Big Slick) automatically on the flop to see the Turn; some even feel the need to see the River with them. This is another big contributing factor to causing a player to run bad. A good pocket pair is sometimes no good anymore on the flop. Do not get married to it when the flop misses you. It may still be good and playable if heads-up, or you have other outs such as a four-flush or open-ended straight draw on the flop, but the larger the field, the more reason to release the hand. It’s 23-to-1 to hit a set on the Turn. No pot will give you those odds.

Gamblers are among the most superstitious of people. Luck is certainly an element in poker, and it’s inevitable the best of players will have short-term streaks of wins and losses. This is especially true at low stakes holdem. Yet very often “running bad” isn’t mere bad luck. It’s a number of little things that have crept into your game. Fix those bad habits and get your game back on track by playing the kind of poker you know how to play.

Other Articles of Interest

Bad Beat

Sucker Straight

How to Handle Hot Streaks

Slow Playing

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