Prior to black friday, I played mostly online sprinkled in with about 3-4 sessions of live play a month. However, now I play about 4 days a week with online poker being shut down. Being used to 25nl multitabling makes it so a downswing in 200nl live can be stressful. My live bankroll is still mediocre, but it has dropped to just above 2k.

In the last 2.5 years of playing live poker, I have a net profit of about 14k, so the sample size should be sufficient enough to say I am a winning player live. However I am on my biggest "downswing" of my career. I have dropped 3 buyins (yeah some of you will lol at it as being a small downswing)

What is a normal downswing for a winning player? Also, how do you deal with it? I am usually really good with dealing with bad luck and whatnot, but in times like these I begin to question myself. When I struggle, I usually either take a break or buyin smaller, using a solid short stack strategy (50bb). What are some things you guys do to keep your game sharp during rough times?

LOL!!! 3?!?!

No offense buddy, but you don't know what a down swing is until you actually hit one.

3BI is not a down swing...

It's normal to struggle with ANY type of down swings, and the best thing to do is really just play as well as you possibly can. Get rid of fancy plays, pay more attention, and just basically out-grind a normal grind.

Lol, Hey man I know 3 isn't crap but 3 buy ins is enough to get me to re-analyze kinks in my game.

Read "Elements of Poker," which might help you with your current issue.

I just bought "the poker mindset" by ed miller the other day I think I need to get on that one right now. Ever read that one?

This one: http://www.amazon.com/Poker-Mindset-.../dp/0974150231?

Isn't it by Ian Taylor?

I actually meant to recommend this book instead, which I have read a while back. It was a great book with a lot of great information.

I'll admit it, I am still a tilt monkey. Trying to master one's emotion is a lot more difficult than just reading a few books.

oops yes my mistake, Ian Taylor and Matthew Hilger.

12 buy-ins is my worst so far. 2/5 and 5/10 buying in for 200 bbs

I'm in the midst of a 9bi downswing at 1/2 for 100bb BI during the month of July, definitely my worst over a smallish sample size of 1500 hrs...averaging losing about one 85/15 for 250bb+ per day (mostly sets that have been run-down for all the money OTT to river a naked fd, yay retirees) as well as a few AA vs KK AI preflop where V spiked a K.

I ran super hot in June so it takes the sting out a bit, but still pretty frustrating. I just try to think about all the positive upswing I'm going to experience soon and keep playing my game, remembering that variance is the lifeblood of poker, and keeps the fish in the game. Make sure to be a VERY GOOD SPORT about your losses to weaker players, as they're paying your bills the majority of the time!

More pragmatically, I make sure to keep realistic tabs on my image (which, after getting sucked out on repeatedly, is of a LOSING player, *not* TAG-genius who got it in good...) and stay away from lines that require FE as Villains are more likely to call down in spots where they might regularly fold if I'm perceived as weak.

Bart Hanson talks about this concept and illustrates it really well with a couple HH's in his Deuce Plays podcast, episode entitled "Image".

Finally (probably getting flamed for this but whatever) - to boost your confidence, sstack a session or two, play ABC pushbot Ed Miller-style poker, then quit early. It sounds ridiculous because we all know poker is one big session, put in the hours/BI full etc., but if you get locked into a mindset where you EXPECT to lose you might as well not go into work because you'll be playing your B-game at best. Sstack, double-through, and remember what it looked like to have your graph tilt upward

Locking this thread.

This is going to rapidly turn into a BBV thread about how bad of a downswing you can hit. When it is over 100 BIs, I'll let you make a thread about it.

Downswings are poker's reminder that you have leaks. Fix those.