TUP,

Thx for your efforts keeping and reporting your results on this site. They are very impressive and an inspiration for those of us who are relatively new to the game. You seem to be the real deal.

One question: What's the worst cold streak you have ever been on? I'd be very interested to hear about this because I know even the best players get cold cards sometimes.

I've found cold runs to be the best thing for my game. They force me to look at the things I'm doing wrong and make corrections in my game. When the cards get warm again, and they always do, I feel like I have fewer leaks and do a better job of maximizing my profits.

I've never been on a prolonged cold run, so I'd like to hear if you have and how you dealt mentally with it, adjusted your play, etc...

If we need to start a new topic about this that would be great too.

Thx again for you contributions.

Atorvastatin,

First of all, thanks for the kind words. As far as cold streaks go - I've been on one for weeks (although I think it may have ended last night). I've been giving alot of thought to how I could have better answered icemans question about that in recent days and I would explain my claim of 'cold' this way: Up until yesterday, I haven't held the nuts at the river for about 10 days. Not once. That means, not a nut flush, not a nut straight - not a nut full house (which I would have accepted as the nuts even though quads where possible). That to me is freezing.

The way that I've won consistently then is through value betting hands and playing players rather than cards. For instance, recently I was involved in the following hand on a $2/$5 blind table: I was in late position with the Tc9c and there were five callers for $5 when it got to me. The SB called and the BB raised $20. When it got back to me there was one caller - a regular who I had excellent control over. The BB was a tourist who was trying to play good but really had little clue aside from "big cards - good, small cards - bad". I decided to call. The flop came 448 rainbow. The BB hesitated and then bet out $20; MP folded and I made it $60 feeling that he had AA, KK, QQ, JJ, AK, AQ or AJ. Those are his only possible holdings because he had enough of a clue about position to not raise in the BB without a premium hand. His hesitation led me to believe that he was more likely to not have a pair. He struggled with himself and finally called. Now it was just a matter of following through unless an ace or broadway card fell. The turn was a deuce, he checked and I bet $80 (the reason for this size bet was that $80 left him with $160 left which I was certain would be enough to get him to fold if he failed to improve - but a size of the pot bet - about $195 - would leave him with only about $45 which he would certainly call on the end out of desperation and a sense of being pot committed). He called the $80 and when a 6 hit the river he folded AK face up into the muck when I put him all-in. This type of hand is earning the pot rather than having it handed to you through connecting - which is about the only way I've been able to continue winning these last 2 weeks or so.

Certainly in limit poker there are less opportunities to make these types of plays and so a cold streak is more pronounced but I've not ever had a losing month even when the cards run bad. I have found leaks through bad runs though - although not as frequently as I once did. Too, I've made dramatic changes to my playing habits when I'm running bad - for instance, July 2003 I was down $5000 in 2 days playing my regular $40/$80 with some very cold cards... I skipped down in limits all the way to $4/$8, $6/$12 and $8/$16 and posted a $2500 win for the month. I simply figured if the cards where going to run that bad - they'd have to do so at relatively insignificant levels.

As for how to deal with it mentally - experience has been the only help for me in this category. Seeing the bad runs come - and seeing them go and seeing myself be just fine at the end of the year in spite of them has certainly been a boon.

Here's a story (old story - from a few years back) that might illustrate what I believe to be the right mindset when things go bad:
I spent yesterday in a pretty large NL game ($25/$50 blinds) after the smaller NL game ($20/$20 blinds) I was in broke just as this one was starting - it was a combination break/merge. I had lost 2 key hands in the first game and found myself stuck as deep as I have ever been. I don't believe that I was really down - I was actually UP 5 hours but in conventional terms I was stuck like a pig - which becomes necessary to mention because I was asked by a friend (who left the casino about this time) today if I had recovered at all from that game. When I told him that I had actually posted a small win he excitedly asked me to tell him the key hands.

So I told him. The first hand after you left, I was dealt 88 in late position and there was a raise and a re-raise before it got to me. So... are you ready?! I folded. Very key hand. Next hand I was dealt 8s3c. I threw this away too. In other words, the hands that got me even and winner were not the one or two big hands that I won any more than they were the 200 hands before that were I didn't dig myself a hole I couldn't get out of by continuing to play the best poker I know how.

Btw, the line above about 'being up 5 hours' is just a mindset. If you have a positive expectation of $x/hr then you 'win' $x/hr for every hour you play. You may be losing badly now or winning 100x right now - but at the end of the year you are up 2000 hours - or however many hours you played. So, in this particular case, it appeared that I was down like $12,000 but actually, I was up five hours.

Hope this was informative,

TUP

Wow, glad I asked. That was an excellent post that I'll be sure to come back to over and over again.

The point you make about staying disciplined and not letting yourself dig a hole, always playing your best, is something I'm trying to focus on. I've learned how important a mindset can be, now if I could only be so confident to know that I'm up X hrs just because I've played. Again, something to strive for!

TUP,

Would you mind reflecting back on the sesion and telling us about 1 or 2 hands that went badly, or what you think made the session turn sour?

Atorvastatin,

No problem. There was a maniac at the table who couldn't seem to lose this particular day. He bet, called or raised every hand and quite often the money went in with him having the worst of it but repeatedly got there. I really hate to say that though because I hear people bemoaning this same thing quite often and more often than not they playd their own hands poorly.

Here was the last hand of my $2/$5 session:

I found KK in MP with one EP limper. I raised to $30. Mr. Maniac in LP made it $100 which was meaningless as far as putting him on a hand. I called. I might have raised all-in at this point - he had $300 left and I had him covered but decided that he may fold an inferior hand and I wanted to see a flop and basically not see an ace before I committed that much. The flop came 6d6h3s. I bet $150 on the flop and he called. The turn came a 9s and I bet his last $150 which he called. The river was meaningless as he turned over 6c3h.

In an earlier hand I lost $1200 to him when I raised his pre-flop raise of $25 to $100 with AcAs. The flop came Ad7d2h. He bet $100 and conscious of the flush draw possibility, I raised to $500 - at which point he pushed all-in. The turn was a 6d and the river a 2d. He showed me quads.

One other memorable hand: I saw the flop with 99 for a $25 pre-flop raise by our hero. The flop came 8-4-2. He checked and I led out for $75. He raised $100. The turn card was an offsuit 9. I led out again, this time for $350 and he raised me $350. I pushed in for $675 more which he promptly called. The turn was a 6 and he showed me a 75o for the straight.

Normally I don't quit a game like this but I was getting tired and wasn't convinced that my emotional condition was still 100% - if you are wondering - it's time to get up.

iceman,

I called the $25 raise pre-flop. And in most situations I would fold this hand if an opponent raised me on the flop but not all and certainly not against this opponent.

TUP,

This is a bit off-topic, but I figured you would be the right person to ask. I am pondering a Vegas trip in a couple of months with a few buddies and am looking for some good poker action. Do you ever sit in the 10/20NL Bellagio game, and if so, how tough is it to beat? I want to take a shot at this game but am afraid I don't have a shot in hell of coming out of it with chips. I know quite a few well-known pros sit in it. How deep do stacks typically run? I would imagine there are several stacks well beyond 5K.