Hey all,

I know that this is something everyone deals with but I've reached my boiling point. I've been on the worst downswing lately after winning about 14k through a series of midstakes tourneys. I've moved down to smaller tournaments ($3k gtd and lower to manage my BR to stick to the 1% rule) but find that I get knocked out from idiots who shove with the most ridiculous hands. I would shove with KK and a fish would call with some weird hand like Q2o and hit trips or a 2 pair and knock me out in 12th or 8th....either way this is why I have been losing and it got so bad one night that i broke my laptop. After this happening a few dozen times I've had it. I am normally very laid back but I can't handle losing like this. I'd rather lose to someone who made a good call vs. be the victim of some donkey's luck only to see him lose what he took from me in one orbit or less. I am about to say F it to the lower stakes tourneys and return to playing the bigger ones like I did when I started. Plus I feel as if I am playing bad because I have to adjust when 5 fish call my 4 bet with weak holdings hoping to get lucky. If I keep losing like this I will quit. Any thoughts? Also, I am no expert but I know the differece between a fish and a decent and a good player. Please advise. Thanks.

You really just have to try to not let it get to you. You have to take Solace in the fact that you got your money in good, and you got sucked out on. I get far more frustrated when I make a mistake, which luckily happens rarely these days.

I can tell your a newer player, because if you've been playing a while you would understand that bad beats are just part of the game. I've had some crazy disheartening ones. You just have to take a break from playing for a little bit, and move on. Lol, I remember breaking a door in my early poker career. But, that doesn't accomplish anything. When you've reached the ability to not let a bad beat affect your game or bother you, you will be a better player.

Happens to the best of us. I've made near $30k profit this year playing small stakes but I still feel dejected for hours after busting the local casino $200 donkament after a bad beat (especially when the table is atrocious!).

But the next day it's out of my mind. You have to have a short memory if you want to be a successful poker player. If you're a solid player, the run will eventually happen. That first five-figure score will melt all those bad beat memories away.

I was having a similar issue recently, then finally got a round of good luck, took 3rd place (Busting out with QQ v Kx) and wiped out 30 events worth of losses. I was bummed on the loss, but you have to realize when you do win, at some point you probably got it in bad and got lucky, so it evens out. It's rare that you can get it in good 100% in an event since once you get short certain spots just dictate shoves.

The key is if you play within your bankroll, you will be a long term winner and can weather the downswings. The rational part of you clearly gets this from your post.

If you are feeling so mad that you are breaking things though, my advice is don't play until you feel differently. I have never had a good result playing upset, and have probably severely damaged my winrate the times I've done it.

Remind yourself this is the guy you want at every event because when he doesn't suck out he can set you up for deep runs.

Goto Youtube and type in the Poker Mindset and listen to first hour and you can feel how it relates and it helps you just realize things you thought to be are actually a thing in peoples head and the way people think etc, people get it in bad and win and people get it in good and lose people who play bad win sopmetimes and pepple who play good lose sometimes itd always about making the plus ev decision in the moment your in

it got so bad one night that i broke my laptop. After this happening a few dozen times I've had it.

You broke a few dozen laptops??!!
Wow that's some serious tilt.
I usually draw the line after four keyboards, three iPads, or six monitors. After that I take some time out.

+1

In my case, after breaking five or six laptops, the anger release just doesn't kick in anymore. It's time to start setting fire to my car -- which happens to be an old Nash Rambler. Seeing it go up in flames helps me achieve Nash equilibrium.

Lol

It happens to all of us OP
I've been on a heater recently and carving up live mtt and cash, until a Thursday night session last week where a luckbox hit two pair after trips after straight against my overpairs and put me on chip spewing monkey tilt (I didn't invent that phrase). Then I flopped trips with worse kicker. I went from 1500 up to 2k down in super quick time and was ready to murder the fkr. Trouble was he's one of my oldest poker buddies and we'd already made plans for dinner.

Solution: take a break. Sometimes you simply have to. And a decent break too, often a week.

We want bad players to keep playing bad, because eventually they will punt all their money to the good players.

I'd really suggest not playing for a bit. If you want to do poker-related stuff, read a poker book or review some of your hand histories. Sometimes a week off does wonders.

^^ your outlook on everything in life will improve with some time away from the tables... people have been saying a week, but two or so weeks might be better... of course, if you are so addicted that you cant stay away for even a few days, its probably time to check yourself into the local mental ward for a thorough cleansing of your addiction......

There are just 2 solutions to your problem.

The first is the easy way out and quitting poker. The second one is to improve your own game. When you get better at playing poker you will understand different spots better. A higher skill level means more confidence in your game.

So now you know that you have to improve your game. You need to know how. There are different ways to do that. I would advise to start watching poker channels on Twitch. Watch Lex Veldhuis or Jonathan Little when he is on. Another way is to search hand history reviews on Youtube. Or maybe try a month watching videos on training sites. TPE is the cheapest out there.

@jpgiro I sent you a direct message.

Fish will always suck out. It happens.

But think about this, conversely.

If you're ALWAYS ahead preflop when you're in a big pot in tournament poker... you're probably playing too tight.

"If you're never called while bluffing, you ain't bluffin enough"

I played a lot years ago and would gripe about suckouts in all-in pots, but what I didn't realize was that I wouldn't play for 4 orbits, would dwindle down, finally find my all-in hand with 7BB and then I'm shocked when my AQ is cracked by A4ss called by the BB. WTF. I WAS SO FAR AHEAD! THAT FISH!

No, the fish wasn't THAT fishy, and I put myself in a bad situation from the 50 other good spots I missed chipping up.

Keep improving, it's all that you can do. Think more in terms of ranges rather than hand vs hand equity.

The lower the stakes, the lower the value of any given hand. Even if your already in the $, daily tourneys are full of regs, (including me) and actually think that winning a hand w K3o, 94o, etc. is a good play. Let them go, most are unseasoned amatures that really have not studied poker to any degree and don't even understand position let alone equity or pot odds. You have to be prepared for this type of play in tourneys that have a buy in of $200 and less, $250-$500 and players are a bit more sophisticated and $500 and up the players will be seasoned and you better know your stuff , which it sounds like you do.