Hello!
And thank you for looking at my thread!

I'm currently 19; I started playing poker when I first turned 18. I started at a 2 straight limit table and slowly moved up. Currently I'm playing 2/5 and 5/10 on weekends, but I've ran into some trouble. I need to know if there is something wrong with my play style or if it's just variance going against me. If you guys could offer a second opion that would be much appreciated!


From October 30th to November 3rd I was running very well (+2400$) and my average poker score that I gave myself throughout those 4 days was around a 7.5. Unfortunately, variance has turned against me the past 3 days and I nearly gave back a majority of all my winnings (-2000).


November 5th Journal: I decided to play 1/3 at my local poker room. My first hand I was BB and I woke up with pocket Qs. There was a lady in mid position who raised 4 times BB (11$) when action came to me I reraised 25$, and get 3 callers (Middle position, BB (me), and SB (he was on tilt). Flop comes out: J,4,8 Rainbow, and I followed up with 1/2 bet (40). Small blind folds and middle position lady calls. Turn comes: 3 and I follow up with a 3/4 pot bet (90$) she calls, and the river comes out a J I shoved and she called. she had K,J off took my 300$ my first hand.

Personal note: I figured that she probably had a jack or pocket pair higher than mine, but I felt like I was pushed into the corner since 2/3 of my stack was already in the pot, which is why I shoved rather checked. (Did not tilt)

November 6th Journal: I went to Tampa Hardrock casino and played 5/10, I was on cuttoff and dealer strattled. I had A,K suited and I raised to 60 preflop I get 2 callers (one middle position and dealer). Flop comes : K,5,8 with a club draw. I bet half pot ($80) middle position folds and dealer calls. Turn comes: A, at this point I realized that I had the best hand and feigned weakness and tried to look like I was buying the pot with a 3/4 pot bet ($325) Dealer took the bait and decided to go all in and I insta called, unfortunately he had A,5 suited and hit the flush with the river coming out 6 of clubs.

Personal Note: I personally believe that I played very well, and unfortunately variance give the dealer the winning hand. (Did not tilt)

November 7th Journal: Hardrock decided to move down to 2/5. Cuttoff seat and was dealt pocket 4s. Under the gun seat raised 30 preflop total of 4 people called (2 middle position and me). Flop comes out J,8,4 with a club draw, under the gun seat bets half pot (60$) everyone folds to me. I reraised 3 times initial bet ($160) under the gun thinks about it for a while and then decides to shove I called. He had pocket Ks and hits a K on the turn and a Jack on the river giving him the KKK,JJ and me the 444,JJ

Personal note: I honestly believed I played this hand perfectly and there was nothing I could of done to prevent what happened, unfortunately variance has not been in my favor. (Did not tilt)

Conclusion:
I think I'm going through a bad run, and I'm unsure of what to do. My other poker friend suggested that I should take a break from poker and reflect.

What do you guys think I should do?

Thank you,
Wong

bump

This is pretty standard. +2400 at 2/5 5/10 is not a swing and losing that much isn't. Expect to lose 10 buy ins or more for a "swing"

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My thought is for you to learn better bankroll management that way the losses do not have such a negative impact on you.

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you should post to one of these forums: http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/7/no-limit-holdem/
Storm of Fear gave the right answer, though

This is all Wong

All the above hands you played it perfectly, you got money in as a favorite everytime (except for the qq hand, which you got quiete unlucky on the river). By the sound of things losing the $2000 seemed to have an affect on you mentally, have a look into bankroll management, you're playing at a stake that seems too high for your bankroll. They say that you should have atleast 20 buyins to avoid situations where variance takes its toll. EI. If you have $2000 in poker earnings you should be playing 1/2live etc..

For two months my chart was like a stair case going up up up. Since November my chart has been all over the place, up down up down. Some of that is due to lack of emotional control at the table. Some of it is due to variance. Tonight I was in a 1-2 game for $285. I got all the way down to $50 and ended up with a $225 profit. Instead of leaving the game and being content with my winnings, I ran into a set of 6's with my set of 4's and lost everything. Yes that is sick variance but I told myself time and again to leave the game. Sometimes it's hard to walk away, especially when a game is loose and there are a lot of big stacks at the table. I am personally a pretty tight, solid player and don't get carried away too much. All you can do is practice good bankroll management so the swings don't matter that much. Just keep playing solid poker and don't let your emotions bring you down.

Here's some general stuff I've learned and applied recently that allows a lot of profitability and reduced variance (though still on layman's level, 10NL, so it may not apply to you):

1. Avoid very marginal winning hands, for reducing your variance. Basically, high variance is a direct result of your wins and losses getting spaced out among too few hands (not to mention how that spirals down when you tilt and play too loose). Give yourself the time and patience to wait for a solid hand. Not just preflop, but postflop as well.

2. Play farther if the cost remains low (checking or 1/3 bets), you may lose your top two pairs to a set or a straight, but that's a low cost compared to what you'll gain if you get your flush in the process (or the higher one of two full houses, which is pure gold). Just don't chase flushes or do too many 3-card flush bluffs.

3. Play more suited connectors and pairs from earlier positions if table has more passive callers and less reraisers - OR - vice versa if the opposite is true.

4. Gus Hansen advices us to more often lead out with bets - this is a very specific strategy that must be done correctly, I've realized. Lead out against bettor, but c-bet less often as the bettor (a third of the time or so, perhaps), unless you got the goods or you suspect poor opposition. Also, as with any other routine, don't repeat yourself too often and too obviously. People will call your 3/4 bets with air.

5. Expect more Ace high offsuit muck to be played by bingo players (yes!) who call an un-raised bet preflop, especially in Rush/Zoom poker. In other words, fear the flopped Ace but the King is often harmless. It depends on the pre-flop play. AVOID playing those muck hands yourself.

6. Let fish do their bluffing, don't bluff them back. Wait for a better hand or, if your read on him is good and you got the goods: "Reverse-bluff" him, inducing him to go all-in (especially if he's got a short stack). Against some players, value and bluff bets are often perceived as vice versa.

7. Let the more aggressive players do the betting for you, even if they're solid. Passive aggression (alt. "conservative tight aggression") can be a winning play against a certain environment of players.

8. Don't miss your value bets (I do this all the time myself and I hate myself and want to die in the line of fire). Bet on every street if possible, or give a free card to improve the opponents hand into a bigger losing hand and then bet higher downtown.

-----
Also: Stay humble, conservative and fold more hands preflop and you'll probably see an improvement just there. Overly loose play seems to be a common culprit.

Along with BRM, the players at your 5/10 game are going to be worlds better than your 1/3 game. But yeah, 2k is super short for a 2/5 let alone a $5/10.

toss some salt over your right shoulder

Please see my comments in bold below:

I'm currently 19; I started playing poker when I first turned 18. I started at a 2 straight limit table and slowly moved up. Currently I'm playing 2/5 and 5/10 on weekends, but I've ran into some trouble. I need to know if there is something wrong with my play style or if it's just variance going against me. If you guys could offer a second opion that would be much appreciated!

Your all over the place with your stakes. Stay at 1/2 for now. Its a beatable game then you can generate a nice size bank roll off of in a few months of solid play. You really want a minimum of an $8k bankroll to be playing 2/5 comfortably.

From October 30th to November 3rd I was running very well (+2400$) and my average poker score that I gave myself throughout those 4 days was around a 7.5. Unfortunately, variance has turned against me the past 3 days and I nearly gave back a majority of all my winnings (-2000).

You gave back all the winnings because of high variance being experienced against a small bankroll but most importantly, the lack of a bankroll to support your play probably negatively effected your decisions. Meaning, when you put in in a certain amount of money into a hand, its much harder for you to fold when is the correct decisions because the amount of money in the hand relative to the amount of money you have put aside from poker is relatively high.

November 5th Journal: I decided to play 1/3 at my local poker room. My first hand I was BB and I woke up with pocket Qs. There was a lady in mid position who raised 4 times BB (11$) when action came to me I reraised 25$, and get 3 callers (Middle position, BB (me), and SB (he was on tilt). Flop comes out: J,4,8 Rainbow, and I followed up with 1/2 bet (40). Small blind folds and middle position lady calls. Turn comes: 3 and I follow up with a 3/4 pot bet (90$) she calls, and the river comes out a J I shoved and she called. she had K,J off took my 300$ my first hand.

Personal note: I figured that she probably had a jack or pocket pair higher than mine, but I felt like I was pushed into the corner since 2/3 of my stack was already in the pot, which is why I shoved rather checked. (Did not tilt)

Shoving because your stack is in the pot is not a good reason at all. You could always check / call in this spot and decide to call off if you think she is shoving with worse then a Jack but your shove was because you were committed to the hand and psychologically couldn't let it go so to make your decisions simple, you just shoved.

November 6th Journal: I went to Tampa Hardrock casino and played 5/10, I was on cuttoff and dealer strattled. I had A,K suited and I raised to 60 preflop I get 2 callers (one middle position and dealer). Flop comes : K,5,8 with a club draw. I bet half pot ($80) middle position folds and dealer calls. Turn comes: A, at this point I realized that I had the best hand and feigned weakness and tried to look like I was buying the pot with a 3/4 pot bet ($325) Dealer took the bait and decided to go all in and I insta called, unfortunately he had A,5 suited and hit the flush with the river coming out 6 of clubs.

Personal Note: I personally believe that I played very well, and unfortunately variance give the dealer the winning hand. (Did not tilt)

Not sure why your playing 5/10. Until you are crushing 1/2 and 2/5 and have a bankroll of $20k+, you have no reason to play 5/10. On the flop, your sizing was too small for two players. I would made made it somewhere around $120. That size would fold out many flush draws (charge them an incorrect price when they call) as well as get called by worse queens. I like your turn bet sizing but your reasoning for it is mis guided. Betting 3/4 pot on the turn doesn't feign weakness, it makes your hand look like AQ+ which is exactly what it is. I like the sizing because you are now applying real pressure to hands that want to call you but unfortunately it is too little too late as they say. The Villain on the dealer button didn't take any bait, he had what he felt was likely to be the best hand (which a good portion of the time it is) and if it wasn't he has the nut flush draw.

November 7th Journal: Hardrock decided to move down to 2/5. Cuttoff seat and was dealt pocket 4s. Under the gun seat raised 30 preflop total of 4 people called (2 middle position and me). Flop comes out J,8,4 with a club draw, under the gun seat bets half pot (60$) everyone folds to me. I reraised 3 times initial bet ($160) under the gun thinks about it for a while and then decides to shove I called. He had pocket Ks and hits a K on the turn and a Jack on the river giving him the KKK,JJ and me the 444,JJ

Personal note: I honestly believed I played this hand perfectly and there was nothing I could of done to prevent what happened, unfortunately variance has not been in my favor. (Did not tilt)

I agree you played this hand well, no major issues with it.

Conclusion:
I think I'm going through a bad run, and I'm unsure of what to do. My other poker friend suggested that I should take a break from poker and reflect.

The hands that you described above with the exception of the last one had mistakes in them that contributed substantially to the outcome. In addition to this, you are playing at a level that is above what you should be based on your bankroll size. I would continue to perfect and work on my game by subscribing to different content sites, I would hire a coach on an ongoing basis or for a few sessions, and I would stick to 1/2 NLHE until I was a consistent winner and built a $5k plus bankroll.

What do you guys think I should do?

Thank you,
Wong