It basically comes down to this... are you better than the other 9 guys at the table? If the answer is yes, and when I sit down at a $10 SnG you better believe I think it is yes, then just focus on playing mistake-free poker. Sure it is easier when 5 guys go out in 10 minutes, but in the end if you play solid poker than you have an edge over everyone else.

I feel for you. I have had nasty dry spells. Moving to limit may be a good idea. But examine your play. Where have you made mistakes? No one plays perfectly, so analyze your mistakes. Did you push too hard with AK when you were beat? Did you check your trips only to be outdrawn? (These are the mistakes I tend to make when I am pushing)

Hang in there and you will win more. Just remember... you are better than they are.

Alright, well I will just speak for myself here, but I think for me it is way too easy to blame protracted losing streaks on luck. I have gone back and examined my play during these periods, and I find the same thing. It starts innocently enough, with a few bad beats or a cold run... but then I push. I try to make things happen. I make mistakes. Almost every time I finish out of the money in a SnG I can trace it to a bad play or plays I made. Doesn't mean I will win every time, but I certainly won't win if the cards are marginal AND I make mistakes.

Sure we all get unlucky, but you have to look at the effect that unluckiness has on your play. In my case it makes me play worse. So even when the luck starts to change, I am playing like a jackass and still can't make money.

Last night I finished 4th in the only SnG I played. It was totally my fault. I lost an all-in to a two outer on the river. That took a chunk of my stack. But I did ok for a while, built a nice chip lead actually. And then I got too agressive. I pushed a draw hard against the guy who sucked out on me, ended up giving him most of my chips. That single hand cost me a spot in the money. That wasn't luck. It was a hand I will almost never go broke on when I am playing smart.

I am not saying you are playing poorly or anything Cactus... just that things happen to poker players psychologically when we lose. And it compounds the problem. The best thing I can do in these situations is try and learn from them. Find out what my part in this is. Try to be a better player. There is a lot of variance in poker, and even good players lose. And sure the cards can be cold for a while. The question for me is who am I? Am I Mike Matusow or Daniel Negraneau? I strive to be the latter.

I completely agree with mollusk. There is nothing you can do to turn around a run of bad cards and a good old-fashioned, butt-kicking losing spell.

But we are humans, and we tend to overcompensate for things we have no control over. And when we hit one of those losing streaks, I think we do blame it on the forces of nature but we tend to compound the problem by subconsciously developing bad habits to try to fix it.

And before you know it, you can't figure out a way to win even when the cards start coming your way. And at that point, that's when you need to stop blaming the dark forces and start re-examining your own play.

Go back and look at my original post. I was on the cusp of that. I was on the worst stretch of losing in my short online-poker career. And I think making the effort to write that original post was the spark that got me to examining my game and realizing that I need to get proactive in fixing it.

So far, it's worked. I had lost about half my online bankroll when I posted that, and since, I've gotten about half of that back. And I notice that I'm using my head a lot more and am much more focused now than I was even a week ago, about the time I started this thread.

I really think it's because I slapped myself in the face and realized it was time to quit whining and get back to work.

A week or so ago, a truly bad beat was sending me into a screaming/whining fit. All of a sudden the past few days, a truly bad beat is just something I have to figure out a way to work around. Makes all the difference in the world.

well spoken indeed....

D.Mol, I know exactly what you are saying and I agree completely. And I won't argue I haven't been psychologically rocked, lately. I've been separated from my wife for seven months--since Hurricane Charley blew away our home--and my marriage has been on the rocks. This past two weeks have been a roller coaster ride to Hell. It's been hard to concentrate on the cards, even if it's a haven for me. I've played some pretty lousy poker at times. I know it. I know it after I've done it. Immediately after.

However, I've also been suffering a spate of really bad luck. I've gotten bad cards, had second best hand over and over. Lots of bad beats on the river. But, mostly, what really sucks is you get 77 in MP and Late, and don't get a set...ever. You get an open-ender and it never hits. You get KK and an A falls on the flop and you know that SOB who's been calling everything in site is playing A2.

We know cards don't have a memory. We know every hand is totally separate from the previous and next. We also know that runs happen. We have seen it too many times when we've gotten three, four, six hands in succession. Luck evens out. You have to wait it out.

Thanks for your advice, man. It's worth listening to.

CJ

Sorry to hear about all your troubles. It sucks when life intrudes on our poker paradise. I am not sure I could concentrate either. Hang in there and play your best. Also when you are having trouble concentrating is maybe not the best time to play. I played a home game a month or so ago and got really drunk... boy did I suck. Turns out I don't play as well when I am shitfaced. Who knew? I turned into a maniac. Then I had to sit there, drunk, and watch my buddies play... with MY MONEY!!! Needless to say I am not doing that again.

Thanks for the sympathy, DM. I've been stuck in the tarbaby for 14 years, first with an alcoholic and then with a bi-polar. Unlucky at love, lucky at cards? I hope so. As I said, we've been separated for 7 months. We both found new loves. She found another guy; I found poker. Poker really finished it off. Not too many women can handle it. The cash keeps me warm at night, however.

Fortunately, I don't drink. I'd be in bad shape if I did. Better times ahead, no doubt. At least I'm lucky my friends haven't abandoned me during my period of insanity.

Back on topic, I enjoy playing SNGs, but they simply are the least profitable area of play. Some make money, like flafishy does. But you have to be nearly 50% in the money to inch up the BR. Limit is just more profitable. For me, anyway. With this new paradigm, it's no contest.

Play well and still lose? That's poker. Sucks, doesn't it?

CJ

SNGs are the least profitable area of play, but at low limits they are also the easiest to multitable -- you don't lose nearly as much 3 or 4 tabling SNGs as you do if you're playing ring games.

my backup is based on my stats from last year at $10+1 SNGs, 1-2 limit, and $25 buyin NL at party poker, comparing 2 tables to 3 tables. At $10+1, the hourly rate per table had a very small change. Limit had a small change as well, and NL ring had by far the largest change.

Admittedly, this probably changes alot at larger stakes, and I do have a much better skill level at SNGs than no limit ring.

I am confussed, How can SNG's be the least profitable and the easiest? For me they are the most profitable because they are the easiest.

I am also like Fishy I struggle playing the rings just to stay even so the bonus pays off. I make my real money playing SnG's and MTT's.