For the record, the first live sample I found from Sol ITT was post Black Friday when, I believe, he was switching to live, though also playing on Euro sites. At the time he had a 300 hour sample at 5/10 and was at 180/hr. Not that he claimed that was sustainable, but just to put things in perspective.

He also mentioned playing 10/25 at that time, though I think he only shot-took it.

A $15k loss is completely insane for a single 2|5 session. There is a ~0% chance a winning player posts a 2|5 graph like this. Winning players also don't have $50k downswings at 2|5. This isn't just "wow, unlucky," it's "must suck to get struck by lightning for the seventh time."

I'd be more interested in a BB graph. A $ graph doesn't show how lucky/unlucky he got overall, just that he took shots and ran bad.

Yeah it was mixed stakes, I did say “grinded 2/5 non stop after each of my failed shot or big game where a big whale would appear”.

Someone grinding one stake in a more passive game/style wouldn’t experience this, but I’m hoping it’s still useful reference point, especially those who go back and forth in stakes and try to shot, that this can happen, but more importantly, that there can be happy endings. (I eventually stabilised and I play 10/25-25/50 regularly, the former being my main game, though I mostly play plo now.)

But yes to be fair, during this time my 2-5 winrate was 70+. I think I won around 50k at 2/5 in 2014, and lost 100k or so at 10/25. 5/10 was BE-ish. This is just from memory though.

Also my game is definitely not great in 2014. Running bad makes self assessment hard. Looking back I didn’t realise how much I needed to improve, but also I wouldn’t be so harsh on yourself. It’s hard af to get better when downswinging, in poker and in life. Sometimes holding on is all you can do, which I did.

What’s useful to note is I wasn’t that much better a player in 2016, only marginally. I mostly just ran much hotter than before. It was only towards the end of that year I started studying a lot amidst another downswing which wasn’t too bad partially because my mental game was better and I was able to leak plug efficiently while it happened.

Thanks for posting this Sol. I have been running horrific for huge stretches this year (logged 600 hours+ so far), and i have asked myself several times why i keep doing this to myself on my drives home at night after games. Like i sit in games with huge possible EV due to big fishes/whales in the games: only to get sucked out on in ridic fashion time after time when i manage to get into dream spots EV wise.

Like last night when i got a whale to 4 bet pile 150 blinds pre into me with 5-6 off, because he was tired of me 3 betting him. I call pretty quick with 1010, only to see him turn 2 pair on me and scoop.

Or when i finally flop topset 5 ways in position on 10-7-5 rainbow, and bet all streets only to see whale bink runner runner straight with 99 and scoop.

Its extremely mentally challenging over several hundred hours stretches to keep logging hours, keep getting into huge EV spots only to see the money get shipped to your opponent.

I kind of know how you feel. I've had two 50+/hr years in a row, about 1000 hrs total, but this year nothing seems to be going my way, about 250 hrs in. I'm still up a little bit, basically because I've played a couple of hours in a bigger game than my usual stakes and won some money there, but overall I'm currently at zero BB/hr, and one or two bad sessions away from going into the red. I feel like I just can't beat the game anymore. Luckily I've only ever considered myself an okayish player at best and I'm well aware that, even though I'm truly running horribly, I still have only myself to blame for a good deal of my losses, so I don't necessarily feel entitled to anything either. But poker is definitely not much fun these days, that's for sure.

I'm still hoping my luck will turn and I'll catch a few breaks here and there soon, though. As long as I keep learning from my mistakes (or at least try to lol), things will eventually get better. Right?

Don’t lose your confidence! I’ve been there, too. 250 hours breakeven is really rough, but it’s not a reflection on your ability. You’re the same person that beat the game for 50/h before (hopefully better), and your opponents are all still making the same mistakes.

Hey Homie,
I know u know how to play poker. I respekt yer poasts. I have had some long breakeven stretches and I know exactly how you feel. Self doubt can be a beast. Just continue to make great choices and it will turn. They want to give you their money - sometimes they just cant...but they eventually will

hang in there mang!

you're a good player dude you're probably just running like dog ****.
Are you tilting?

Thanks for the kind words, guys, I appreciate that. I did make a dive into the red last night. Turns out one bad session was enough.

I don't think I'm necessarily tilting, but I guess I'm not playing my A game anymore, due to my lack of confidence. I think I've gotten a bit too passive, and when I'm aggressive, my timing is just way off. My tables are horrible too. It's very difficult to find people who actively try to give me their money nowadays in my area. Most of them are playing PLO.

I don't want to go off-topic and turn this into a personal whine thread, so I will leave it at this. Onward and upward!

Maybe give PLO a try? If you have the bankroll. I'm guessing overtime PLO might take over in most areas, it's a better game for gambling whales. I would def learn PLO if I ever start playing again.

Yeah I'd say try PLO if the whales are there, but the variance is massive, and the edge is frequently lower because the hand values run closer a lot of the time. So basically you want around 5x the bankroll for similar stakes, and it frequently plays bigger than the denoted blinds, due to rocks/straddles/etc.

Might not be great for someone currently experiencing a big downswong/breakeven period.

Personally when I am running like ass the absolute last thing I want to do when I am doubting myself is go into a game that increases my variance. In fact I go back to basics. I screw my game down and and just try to play rock solid tag poker. As I come out of things and I get my head back together I begin to re open up my game.

The legend has spoken the truth, as nearly always. Now listen.

Totally agree on your take Squid-and i believe that approach is the most important reason that i manage to not make my downswings even worse like many players do. Lol at advising a player having a very rough 250+ hour stretch in NL, and lost his confidence to jump into a new game PLO with skyhigh variance that could easily wipe out any decent bankroll in a short timespan if you dont know what you are doing.

Misconception I think. Certainly edges being smaller is dependent on the game.

Learning new games ime is a great way to get a fresh feel of the game and combat mental fatigue.

Big +1.

I had about 150-200 hours recently that were barely better than break even and once I got myself focused on just playing super solid/nothing fancy poker I started to get back in the swing of things. Now I’m starting to trust my instincts again and picking up lots of dead $, etc.
Sometimes I really believe it’s important to just strip your game down to the basics again and build back up from there. It’s also an excellent way to notice and plug leaks.

Anyone know if there are any poker tracking apps for android that i can easily transfer my poker income pro stats from my iphone to?
Looks like the poker income app for android does not export data anymore according to the reviews on google play store and i am switching from iphone to android. Have over 1k hours in data i don't want to lose and want to transfer somehow to the new phone.

Stab in the dark would be to export to an excel format and then manipulate the data into the format of an eventual android app you find that you can import.

Taking a brief vaca with daughter, will not play again until July, so here is my 2019 halftime report:

Total $15,420
Hours 395.92
Hrly $38.95

$2/$5 NL Total $15,290
$2/$5 NL Hours 385.25
$2/$5 NL Hrly $39.69 (7.9 bbs/hr)

$1/$2 NL Total $130
$1/$2 NL Hours 10.67
$1/$2 NL Hrly $12.19 (6.1 bbs/hr)

Play in a Northeast room, $2/$5 NL w/a $1k cap BI. Typical $5+$2 drop at $50, no flop, no rake.

Very nice samo solid volume

Ya, nice job Samo.
That’s real solid.
Enjoy the break.

I'm going through the same thing, except I sunran for one week this year and won only a little outside of that. Graph looks like a step function.

If you draw a line from A to B it looks ok but going sideways forever and ever feels pretty bad. I'd almost rather lose like a real man. You post good and play good so just keep at it and don't make ****ty river calls. Anyway I'm glad you posted basically the same thing I'm going through, misery enjoys company I guess

Thx guys.

Buz - will likely play an event/cash during the Borg Open. Maybe our paths will cross.

Mid-year stats (although started in Feb.). Running well so far, but I have a great home game. Don't play often, though.

1/2 and 1/3 NLHE: $5,250
Hours: 108
Hourly: $48.61

2/5 NLHE: $2,200
Hours: 4
Hourly: $550 (LOL)

1/2/5 and 5/5 PLO: $4,905
Hours: 64
Hourly: $79.64

I hope the run-good lasts throughout the year!

Hell I hope you double that measly 550 bucks an hour hourly

Seriously, me, too! When I'm somewhere that has 2/5, they usually have PLO, so that's what I play. Local game is 1/2 or 1/3 with PLO occasionally. Of course, the NLHE usually has a $10 rock or straddle, so it plays pretty big.