No doubt I can improve my game and o do do thing to improve it. That said, improving my game isn’t going to stop a never ending run of coolers. Am I supposed to fold a boat with K full of 5 because dude might have quad 5s with 50% pot size bet left?

How do I improve upon getting boat over boated 2x in a session and then boat over quads in the same session?

More training isn’t going to stop my premium hands from constantly being beat while also running 30 Buy-ins below ev

Same old shot tonight.

3bet UTG open from MP with AJs Co flats. I flop top pair, turn top 2 and lose to a set of 3’s. Dude flat called a 3bet with 33 out of position with people left to act…

Few hands later, UTG and MP limp, I raise to 6bb with KQo dude flats again - he flatted 44 with 5 people left to act and then hit another set. I managed to get out of the hand but dude ended up losing to quad 7s.

Had a dude 3bet ring too wide. I flatted a CO open on the btn with J7s, Sb 3bet, Co folds so I call and flop 2 pair but there is a club draw on board. Villain bets 50% pot, I raise large and he calls…long story short the river gives him A high flush. He tried to trap on the river and I avoided it.

But it’s the same **** every day. I go up 100bb winning small pots and bluffs and then lose it all on coolers and horrible run outs.

Same **** different day

AA lost 3/4

KK lost 3/3

QQ lost 1/1

Flop A high flush, all in on flop lose to flush on river

Flopped top pair, turned top 2, 1.25 pot size bet on turn - river brings in 1 to a straight and the front door flush.

3bet villain with AQ and hit top pair with flush draw on board. Villain leads I raise 3x he calls. Turn is a blank, I make pot size bet and villain calls (150is bb in pot). River brings a K…he checks, I check. - and he shows KQ and wins.

And it goes on and on and on and on

And my hypothesis about having no luck just ****ing continues. After getting mollywhopped on coolers all day long I managed to build up a nice 200bb stack. Im in the BB and it folds around to the SB who opens for 3bb and I call with 97 suited. OMG the flop comes out K 7 7, the turns a J of spades which gives me trips and a flush draw. Long story short A7 beats my 97. Right back down to 125bb.

It is like the story is written before I sit at the goddamned table.

Then I finally make another hand - 3bet AK and hit an A on the flop and ge tit all in by the river. He has AK too.

I think this one might be the straw the broke the camels back for me. After again fighting back to over 200BB I get dealt AA in Early Position. We get 2 callers and a a 3bet from a super tight nit so I just jam it down his throat and here is what happens....spoiler alert Same old Same old: can't win with 92% equity going into the flop.

PartyGaming - $0.50 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 5 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

Hero (UTG): 236.48 BB
CO: 102.7 BB
BTN: 118.96 BB
SB: 220.9 BB
BB: 100 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has A A

Hero raises to 3 BB, fold, BTN calls 3 BB, SB calls 2.5 BB, BB raises to 15 BB, Hero raises to 236.48 BB, fold, fold, BB calls 85 BB

Flop: (206 BB, 2 players) 2 5 K

Turn: (206 BB, 2 players) 4

River: (206 BB, 2 players) K

Hero shows A A (Two Pair, Aces and Kings)
(Pre 93%, Flop 91%, Turn 91%)
BB shows A K (Three of a Kind, Kings)
(Pre 7%, Flop 9%, Turn 9%)
Hero wins 136.48 BB
BB wins 200 BB

Very next time I get Aces

Co opens, I 3bet, sb calls Co calls.

Runout: Js 8s 8d Qs 10s

Villain jams river


That makes 5/7 loses with AA

Another night of the same ****

Maniac UTG open for 3.5 i 3bet to 10bb in Co with 99 UTG calls.

Flop comes out 5 7 7 rainbow

Villain checks I bet 2/3 pot he 3bets I call. Flop brings a 2

Villain checks I bet pot he calls. River brings a 4

He jams for about 1/2 pot I call and he shows 6-4 for a straight

Meanwhile I have had many A high flush draws on the flop and hit NOTHING

It is amazing how often I get money in good against guys chasing draws way behind their equity to lose it all on the river

And another

3bet JJ get 2 callers. Flop comes J K 6 with 2 clubs

Villain 1 donks, I raise 3x, villain 2 calls v1 folds.

Long story short run out goes club club and v2 wins with 44 with a club.

He called a flop 3bet with 44 and a player left to act then runner runner a 4 high flush

Hi, i just watched this post and just wanted to let you know that right now you are still lucky

Jokes appart, its very hard/frustratting/boring to run stakes like that (also watching other players crush in few months, level up and make a ton of $$$) but there is not very much that we can do besides, grind/study or just move on to work in something else.

gl, sir!

sickkk!

Silky, it sounds like you would benefit from some mental game coaching. I know you feel that the swing is not affecting your play. However, it probably is in subtle ways. Anyone who is feeling frustrated by their luck is probably somewhere below their A-game

I will give you this one for free:
There is pain and there is suffering.
Pain is an automatic response. You can't control that. We feel pain based on stimulus. Suffering comes from the judgements we make about the pain. The meaning we make from it. The why. The truth is, there is no why. The more you look for "why," the more you will suffer. The more you accept what has happened, accept the pain, and accept that the pain might keep coming, the less you will suffer. You can't control the pain, but you can control the suffering.

Every poker player will go through brutal horrible unending vomit-inducing downswings. A reg friend of mine keeps as his desktop background a graph of him losing $40k in 7k hands just to remind himself how happy he is with the way things are now.

Another coach said "Focus on what you can control." That's good advice, although you might need some help actually doing that. Anyways, I offer mental game coaching and my coaching post is sticky in that part of the forum.

Well, I think I'm just done with online poker. The number of bad beats, counterfeits and coolers that I endure on a daily basis just saps all the enjoyment out of the game. Here is just a sample over the last 24 hours.

Bad Beats:

1- AQo vs A9o all-in pre (65bb)

2- AA vs 88 all-in pre (100bb)

3- QQ vs A6 all-in pre (85bb)

4- I have 88 on SB flop is 3way. Flop comes 8c 6c Ad. I check, villain 1 checks, villain 2 bets and I check raise jam all-in. Both call. Villain 1 has set of 6's, villain 2 has a flush draw with a gut shot. I lost to both. The gut-shot came in for villain 2 and villain 1 nailed quads on the river. (100bb).

Coolers and Counterfeits:

1- J6s, flopped top pair with a flush draw. Check raised flop, blasted river, villain called with middle pair and nailed trips on the river. (30ish bb)

2- KK vs AA pre (100bb)

3- JJ vs AA pre (maniac who has open jammed with 86o etc in the past open jams...) (100bb)

4- AA, beaten by trips on the river (20bb)

5- Nut straight in 3bet pot on turn beaten by flopped boat (60bb)

6- Boat over boat: Opened A5c from BTN and maniac on BB 3bets with A9o and I call. I hit 2 pair on the flop and a boat on the turn....unfortunately he made a better boat. (130bb)


So by my reckoning, that is 350bb down in bad beats, and another 430bb down in coolers and counterfeits. It is absolutely nuts, and this does not count the normal times where I have to fold top pair, or top 2 because the flush draw gets there, or the board goes 4 to a flush/straight etc. Basically, when I get it in good I am losing most of the time, and when I have huge equity vs both villains range and hands I am constantly getting counterfeited on the river.

I appreciate the insight and obviously it takes a toll on the mind - like I am at a point now where I think i'm done with online poker, or I will at least walk away for a while. I mean for Christ sakes it has been an entire year of none stop counterfeits, coolers and bad beats. I cannot count the number of times, today alone, that I flopped top pair, bet over 2 streets and villain ended up turning his middle pair into trips. It is at least 7 but likely closer to 10. Honestly though, it doesn't change the way I play. I open a pretty tight range and play aggressively - nothing changes. At the end of the day the issue I have is that I am constantly losing with the top of my range - constantly losing with the hands that are supposed to pay me off. So I end up winning chips 3betting, bluffing, etc etc etc. and then when I make a real hand I lose it all. It is a pattern that repeats over and over and over again.

On the J6s hand I didn’t blast river it was turn. Villain bet 3bb on flop, I check raises to 12bb. On the turn I bet pot and he called and then the river gave him trips.

This was like the 4th or 5th time vs this villain that he called a big turn bet with less than 10% equity and got there on the river…the same villain who quad over set me!

It’s not even just the beats etc that get me. Every run out is horrible so even when I have the best hand I can’t get any value.

I remember a hand I played yesterday that jus sums this up.

I’m in the sb 3 limpers gets to me so I complete with A5o. BB raises to 4bb it folds around to me and I call since I. Lose the action.

Flop comes down 3 Q 5 rainbow and villain bets 1/2 pot. I call and hit 2 pair on the river. Villain then pot sized bets turn and I call. Of course the next card that comes is a Q so it goes check-check. Villain shows 77 and I win.

Villain likely wouldn’t have called any more bets but this stuff happens all the timeZ when I make sets the board goes 4 to a straight or flush…I make 2 pair and the flush draw comes in. I am never able to realise full value with my nuttish hands.

I've decided to pull most of my money out of online poker and just play off a little I leave in there. So far today situation Fing normal.

1- open X9s on the btn and BB calls. Flop comes out X Q J rainbow. I bet 60% pot villain calls. Turn is a blank, villain checks and I check. Turn brings in 9 giving me 2 pair. Goes check-check on the river and villain shows 88 for the bottom straight.

2- Co raises, btn calls and I call behind with 76s in the BB and there is a flush draw on board. Turn gives me an 8 for the straight so I bet 60% pot and get 2 callers. River brings in the flush....I check, villain one bets 1/2 pot, villain 2 raises 2.5x and I fold. Villain 1 had lower straight, villain 2 nailed the K high flush.

3- open A8s on the btn and get 3bet by maniac on the SB. Checks through to the river, villain makes a small bet and I call - he has a set of aces.

4- 3 limpers in front of me in the SB I raise to 6bb with AKo and get 2 callers. I hit a K on the flop and bet 30% pot and both call. Turn brings in the flush draw (checks through) river brings in a straight draw...I bet small and win vs dudes with weaker a weaker k. So again, I get no value because every draw comes in.

Take some time off.

Maybe learn what a range check is.

Whenever I am in your spot(we all have been), I study poker and work off the table, but I really enjoy doing so, maybe everyone doesn’t.

Do you have all of your preflop game memorized?
Not just opening ranges but , all ranges pre, 3 bet 4 bet sqz etc.?

Good luck.

I wouldn't say I have everything mastered but I am fairly solid. I don't know how much credence to give it, but according to Party Poker's "My Game" my skill cumulative skill level is Advanced while for this entire year I am Pro level.

Normally I play a pretty TAG style though my VPIP is slightly above TAG and my vpip/pfr is slightly low...the reason for both of that is that there is a lot of limping in my game and I've taken to limping behind with drawing hands from the SB. My PFR is where it should be though my aggression factor is slightly low.

Beyond that, my 3 and 4betting stats are perfect, stealing and blind defense is perfect, showdown win rate etc. is perfect.

At the end of the day my issue is pretty much what I have diagnosed it as - my strongest hands are constantly being counterfeited and bad beat.

I have taken several breaks - lengthy breaks over the course of the year but nothing changes. Every time I get back in I face the same issues. I am a winning player on the year but my EV graph line has been basically flat for the entire year. I get ahead by out playing villains in small pots...by 3 betting and 4betting aggressively etc. and then lose it all Jamming KK against AA...getting bad beat, and steadily having straights, flushes, sets, boats and even quads counterfeited. Yup, at least 2x this year I had quads beaten by a better quad including one where I made Quads with KK only to lose to Quad Aces on the river. That one cost me nearly 300bb.

I've said before that I am not one to buy into conspiracy theories and deck rigging arguments. But goddamned, the number of times I get absolutely destroyed when I have the nuts on the turn when villain had under 10% equity going into the river is astronomical. Starting to think there is something to the idea that sites juice the hands to inflate the rake.

side note: This is the only month since I have started playing that my winnings have run above EV. I am currently running about 2 buy-ins above EV for the month. That said, at present it is the first month since I've started playing in August of 2022 that my EV is below break-even all because I went down over 700bb over the last few sessions.

On a ****ing on this **** goes. I played like 50 hands tonight and here are the highlights.

1) first hand, get dealt 99 UTG raise to 2.7bb and get 5 callers. Fold out on the flop.

2) Get QQ on the Btn and raise to 2.7bb…sb +BB call. Flop comes down J 4 6 rainbow. BB leads out for 5, I raise to 15 he calls. Turn it rings in a club draw, he bets 1bb I raise to pot. River is a brick he checks I check and he shows KK.

3) open 55 UTG and get 3 callers including BB. Flop comes out 2 3 5 with a flush draw. BB leads out for 1/2 pot, I raise 3x and BB calls. Turn is an 8 that brings a double flush draw. BB checks, I jam and villain snap calls with 88.

It is ****ing remarkable how often this **** happens. That is 3 sets in a row that have lost, twice to sets and once to quads. Im truly at a point now where the game just isn’t fun. It’s not fun to constantly lose with hands that are at the top of your range.

Change your raise size to 2.8 BB instead of 2.7 BB. You will start running much better for sure.

And it keeps going and going…

Raise UTG with 33 get 2 callers. Flop a set on a board with a flush draw. Villain leads out for 1/2 pot I raise 3.5x and he calls.
Next card is an 8 that brings in a a second flush draw. I over bet the pot this time.of course the front door flush comes in and villain jams what he has left.

So that is now 4 sets in a row that have been counterfeited or bad beat.

Ffs same villain this time rivers a flush when I have the goddamned nut straight. I be basically made 0 hands over the last 2 hours and the 2 hands I do make, a set and a straight, get beaten in the river by flushes after 3/4 of the money goes in

And I would say about 60% of the flops have come out either monotone or paired.

On and on and on

Barely getting any hands to lay I finally get AQo and 3bet a UTG open. Long story short, I hit TPTK and of course villain has a set.

In the BB, CO opens, Btn and Sb call and I call behind. I flop an open ender and there is a flush draw on board. Btn leads out for 60% pot and I call. Turn gives me the nut straight but the flush draw comes in. Long story short i lose to a flush that I called down bc I had a club in my hand.

This **** is just ungodamned believeable. This is the final F*ing straw.

Open KQs from the UTG for 2.7bb and SB and BB call.

Flop comes down K Q 10 with a flush draw. I bet 6bb on the flop and both villain call. Turn is a blank with pot about 26bb. I overbet the pot to 30 SB calls so pot is now 86bb. Of course, river comes an A and it goes check check...villain wins with J8o.

67% to win on the flop, 81% to win on the turn..........Situation normal.

So here is the year's chart. It has been nothing but coolers, counterfeits and bad beats and over the last couple thousand hands I've lost almost the entire profit for the year...I've lost 19 buy-ins over like 3000 hands and yet I am still 27 buy-ins below EV cumulative...over the last 3000 hands I am running -74bb/100.



The pattern just keeps repeating itself. Flop a monster, bet big/check raise flop, over bet turn, get sucked out on river. I know I know, im unlucky...villains are making bad calls betting way beyond their equity and getting lucky...it will turn around. Ya, when. It has been a year of this **** now and it is 2 years of running massively below EV.